The Terry Duerod Interview
By:
Michael D. McClellan
|
Saturday, April 16th, 2005
You scored 1.690 points while at Detroit, this before
the advent of the three-point line. Where, on the
court, did most of your points come from?
From
the top of the key, and from the corners. I really
didn't pay attention to how far out I was shooting,
because it just came naturally for me. That's where I
felt comfortable shooting from – that was my normal
range. Someone brought that up later, and pointed out
that a lot of my shots would be from behind the arc
today. So I think having the three-point line back then
would have played right into my strength as a long-range
shooter.
In 1993 you were honored by being inducted into the
University of Detroit’s Athletic Hall of Fame. What was
this like for you?
It
was great accomplishment, and very nice to be recognized
for my achievements at Detroit. It's something that
will be with me for the rest of my life, no question
about it, and I'm proud that the University honored me
in that way. I don't think it's something that I would
have appreciated at a younger age. Now, I think about
it and I'm very grateful for the recognition. I think
every person wants to be recognized in some way, shape
or form, and that it's important to have something to
point to down the road. When I go to the games in
Detroit people still know me, which is also a good
feeling. They might announce my name over the
loudspeakers and introduce me, and mention what I have
accomplished, and it still makes me tingle.
Following college, you were drafted by the Detroit
Pistons in the third round of the 1979 NBA Draft.
Ironically – and briefly – Dick Vitale was your first
professional coach. What was it like to be drafted by
your hometown team?
I
was very excited. I'd played basketball in-or-around
Detroit my whole life, from middle school to high
school, and then on into college. So to be chosen by
the Pistons was like a dream come true. All of the fans
knew me. They were very supportive and cheered for me
when I got into the game. It helped a lot. It made me
work that much harder. Having them behind me was a
special feeling, and one that's hard to explain, but it
gave me the added confidence to play against the top
talent in the league.
You played in 67 games as a rookie, averaging 9.3
points-per-game. Please share some memories of your
rookie season with me.
From
a team standpoint, we were really struggling. We were
16-66 that season, we were the worst team in the NBA.
Coach Vitale last twelve games and was replaced by
Richie Adubato. It didn't really matter who coached us,
though, because we were a team with a lot of rookies and
old veterans, and not a whole lot of anything
in-between. There were four rookies – myself, Greg
Kelser, Earl Evans, and Roylee Hamilton. Terry Tyler
and John Long were also on that team, and they were just
in their second seasons. We had Bob Lanier but he ended
up getting hurt. We had Bob McAdoo. The injuries did
help me in a way, because it allowed me to play and to
show what I could do on the court. I was showing a lot
of promise, enough that the Pistons protected me during
the expansion draft, but I later ended up going to the
Dallas Mavericks in the supplemental draft. I was
averaging double figures before I got hurt, and when I
came back from injury the team didn't want to play me.
They had chosen to go in another direction.
Well, that's about the time I received a call from Red
Auerbach. He was awesome. He told me about wanting to
draft me in '79, but that the Pistons had gotten to me
first. He said that he wanted me to play for the Boston
Celtics. It was a very good conversation. Red went on
to say that Coach [Bill] Fitch had a problem with free
agents, and that it had something to do with an
experience that he had in Cleveland. But he also
assured me that everything was going to work out if I
joined the team. So I signed with the Celtics and
played hard.
