When Stan Van Gundy declared the future the clear Pistons priority not quite three weeks ago, getting a look at Spencer Dinwiddie was one of the first things he mentioned.
A seven-game winning streak altered the equation.
Not only did the Pistons dramatically reverse their 5-23 start since Van Gundy talked about the future in the wake of Josh Smith's waiving, point guards Brandon Jennings and D.J. Augustin were central figures in the turnaround.
"They're playing really well," Van Gundy said Friday before the Pistons hosted the team with the Eastern Conference's best record, Atlanta (27-8). "We've had to change our approach from early in the year. That was a change in approach at 5 and 23. So right now, that whole thing with Spencer has to be on hold right because of how well we're playing. You're always adjusting within a game and within a season. This has been sort of a crazy first half of the season, in terms of you lose 13 in a row, then you win seven in a row. It's sort of hard to wrap your head around, quite honeslty."
Dinwiddie was recalled from the D-League after a five-game stint with the Grand Rapids Drive, the first-year Pistons affiliate. He averaged 14.2 points, 3.8 rebounds and 6.8 assists, shooting .435 from the 3-point line and .846 from the free-throw line. He also played 34 minutes a game, the most he's shouldered since his junior season at Colorado ended almost exactly a year ago – Monday will mark the anniversary – when he tore his ACL in a Pac-10 game at Washington.
"Since I got hurt, I haven't played more than probably 15, 17 minutes in a game, so it was a little bit different experience," Dinwiddie said Friday. "I think I performed well and it was fun. It was a good group of guys down there and with us owning the team, we run a lot of similar action."
Dinwiddie won't be back with the Pistons for long. Van Gundy said the plan is to keep him with the parent NBA team for the next three games and go through practice on Tuesday, then join the Drive for the D-League Showcase next week for games in Santa Cruz, Calif.
"He is an important part of our team and our future, so we don't want him gone for two weeks at a stretch where nobody sees him," Van Gundy said of recalling Dinwiddie. "He needs to play, but he also needs to reconnect with teammates. If something happens to one of our point guards, that changes. But that's the plan right now. We're trying to balance his need to play and the need to have him around our team."
Van Gundy watched Dinwiddie's first three games on tape and told him after the first he liked everything about it, especially his playmaking the control of the Drive offense, except he wanted to see a little more defensive intensity.
"Stan is a stickler for defense and obviously I need to keep improving in that area and really show I'm capable of defending and being an impact defender on this level," Dinwiddie said. "Passing is what I do, so it comes easy and when I'm able to get into the lane a lot of things open up. I expected to perform well in that area and I'm glad he was satisified."
The Drive played three straight games against Sioux Falls, the Miami Heat affiliate, and Heat No. 1 pick Shabazz Napier of 2014 NCAA champion Connecticut was also on assignment. Dinwiddie and Napier went head to head most frequently in the third game, Dinwiddie said, with his matchup being mostly against former UCLA and North Carolina guard Larry Drew in the first two.
"He played 135 some minutes, which I think was really, really good," Van Gundy said. "It also puts him in a situation that when he is needed and when we play him, he'll have some minutes under his belt – not a guy who's been sitting all year. He'll probably better ready to play right now than he was a week ago, so it's a positive."