Lawrence Frank had few concerns about entrusting the Pistons offense to rookie point guard Brandon Knight, even though Knight was just two years removed from high school.

"It was all through merit," Frank said. "Brandon came in, his work ethic -- I would say both he and Ben Wallace are consistently our two hardest workers. He just had a great aptitude and just soaked everything in. He just earned it.

"He didn't start the first six games. We started Rodney Stuckey and Ben Gordon. Rodney got hurt, and really from that point on, Brandon had the keys. He learned through trial and error but continued with his work ethic and his preparation."

Knight averaged 12.8 points and 3.8 assists over 60 games during the regular season.