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Maurice Cheeks liked the Detroit Pistons' showing at summer league.

(The Associated Press)

ORLANDO, Fla. -- Maurice Cheeks sat quietly at one end of the press table for much of Orlando Pro Summer League, where the new

coach got his first look at some of his new players.

"I was impressed," Cheeks said after the Pistons' youngsters finished 2-3 here. "(Andre) Drummond, really love the way he plays, the way he competes. Just overall, our guys, I think they got better, and I think that's a great sign."

Drummond, the team's second-year center, and the Pistons' three draft picks all had good weeks, which is what the team wanted to see most after a two-week period when they also added four free agents, Josh Smith, Chauncey Billups, Luigi Datome, and a re-upping of Will Bynum.

Cheeks took a few minutes to speak with Pistons beat writers at the end of summer league.

--On what he learned about Drummond's game:

"He's a big guy, a big, imposing guys. He has great hands, can rebound, can run the floor. We just gotta get him -- and I told him in there (locker room) -- he likes to put the ball on the floor, make passes, he likes to do some things that guards do. We've got to get some of those things out of his game. But as a big guy, the hands he has, the way he runs the floor, his post-ups, it was just something that was encouraging to see."

--On Kentavious Caldwell-Pope's ability to stay involved in games even when shots weren't falling:

"That was huge. I talked to him about trying to get to the rim a little bit more, so when he wasn't making shots, getting to the rim would allow him to open up his game a little more. The last few games, he was getting to the rim a little bit more and his game just looked more polished. He started making some shots, he started getting to the rim, and he didn't press at all. When he started missing shots, he didn't press. And he always played on defense. That's a plus. When you're not making shots, you can always play hard on defense and something good is going to happen."

--On Drummond's leadership ability:

"I don't necessarily know about that. I think he's still a young guy. I think he realizes he's still a young guy. He tries not to play young. That's one of the important parts. You can be young and not play young. And I think his game will speak for himself, not his words, I think his game will speak for himself. I liked all the things that he did out there. He was in the game. A lot of guys that play in the league, they come in here and they kind of go through the motions. He didn't go through the motions. He was in every game. He committed himself to playing. And I liked our older guys -- not necessarily older -- but guys just coming around, being around the team. I thought that was huge for us."

--On Tony Mitchell:

"I like Tony Mitchell. I like the way he competes. He establishes himself down low. He didn't take a lot of crazy shots. He did the things that he's capable of doing. And that was one of the positive things about this week. I think guys did a lot of things they they're capable of doing and if we can enhance their game a little bit more and just get used to playing the pro game ... I just like the involvement of most of the players that were in the game this week."

--On an animated one-on-one conversation Thursday with Rodney Stuckey, in their first meeting, at a shootaround, which one writer described as "preaching from the pulpit":

"I wasn't preaching. I was just letting him know what I think about him, the game itself. I talk about the game because I've been around this game a long time and I try to get my message to guys about the game itself, because I appreciate the game so much because I've been fortunate enough to be in the game so long. So when I have guys that have ability -- and certainly, he's one of the guys that have ability -- I don't want his ability to be wasted. So when I have the opportunity, and I will have the opportunity, to put a stamp on him, I want him to understand about the chances that are here for him. And I don't want them to go to waste. So that's what I was giving to him is the knowledge that I have, and will be giving to him throughout the year. And I will not waste my ability to give him that knowledge -- or whomever -- because if I'm wasting it, I'm not doing my job."

--On how the expansive roster overhaul of recent weeks, which has many believing the Pistons are a playoff-level team, changes the equation:

"It was always envisioned that way for me, from the beginning, that we were going to make a run at the playoffs, that's for sure. Certainly, getting a certain player here, a certain player there, allows you to have that vision a little bit more further. The vision hasn't changed for me. The vision is still the same. Of course, when you get a pretty good player, a pretty good player there, the vision gets enhanced. So for me, it hasn't changed that much. I'm excited. I'm excited about some of the players we acquired, and the players we have, and trying to blend them all together."

--On whether he believed when he took the job that roster overhaul in Detroit could happen so quickly:

"You know, for me, when you are a coach, you coach the players you have. So I'm excited about the additions we have. But had the additions not come, I was going to still going to coach the players that I have in the manner that I think we can try to win and try to get to the playoffs. So the players we got enhanced the vision a little bit more but whether we got them or not, I was still going to (do my job)."

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