MARQUETTE - Former Detroit Pistons teammates Bill Laimbeer and Rick Mahorn were both members of the team's "Bad Boys" group of players who eventually wound up with two NBA championship rings.
Both were in Marquette Thursday for the Upper Peninsula Celebrity Golf Classic at the Marquette Golf Club and both offered simple answers as to what needs to be done by the Pistons to get better:
"They need to get better players," Laimbeer said, adding improving through the draft is not always the answer. "You never know about rookies. Sometimes they're good, and sometimes they're bad."
Article Photos
Former Detroit Pistons star and WNBA?coach Bill Laimbeer putts on the third green during the U.P. Celebrity Golf Classic Thursday at the Greywalls course of the Marquette Golf Club. (Journal photo by Adelle Whitefoot)
Detroit picked Connecticut big man Andre Drummond with the ninth overall pick in the first round of the NBA Draft on Thursday night.
Laimbeer, a four-time NBA All-Star who became the 19th player in league history to score 10,000 points and grab 10,000 rebounds, said he misses coaching after leading the Detroit Shock of the WNBA from 2002-09.
"I miss the competition," he said, adding he does some work for NBA TV now. "It's fun to get people to play together."
Laimbeer golfs two or three times a week and shoots in the "low 70s" most times out.
"This (Greywalls) course is interesting," he said. "That's a good word to describe it. It has some interesting holes.
"You don't get a flat lie and the greens are unusual to putt on."
Mahorn said "I can't play golf," but was happy to support Beacon House for the second straight year.
"It's all about the Beacon House and coming up here to help Steve Mariucci in a great cause," he said.
Mahorn, a radio analyst for the Pistons and also a former Shock coach, said the NBA team has to "get good players."
"It's no mystery there," he said, "either by drafting good or through free agency. You try to find pieces for the puzzle in which to build your team."
Mahorn said he didn't find out the Pistons had traded veteran guard Ben Gordon and a future No. 1 draft pick to the Charlotte Bobcats for swingman Corey Maggette and $15 million in salary cap space until Thursday.
"I just got off vacation and didn't even watch the (NBA) Finals," he said. "That's how much I know about what has been going on."
Craig Remsburg can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 251.