Charlie Villanueva Wants Jonas Jerebko’s Job

Charlie V wants to start in Detroit next season: “Jonas Jerebko endeared himself to John Kuester and his coaching staff last season with his relentless motor and wound up starting more games, 73, than any Piston. He followed up by starring for the Swedish national team this month in Eurobasket play, a pre-Olympic qualifier, averaging 25 points and 12 rebounds a game. That logically makes Jerebko the odds-on favorite to again start up front next to Ben Wallace. But Charlie Villanueva is going to training camp with the intention of winning the starting power forward position. ‘That’s my mentality – to be a starter,’ Villanueva said after a heavy workout Monday following a weekend spent celebrating his 26th birthday with friends and family. ‘But at the same time, I don’t want it to be given to me. I want to earn it. I believe I can be a starter in this league. I’ve done it before. When we get closer to training camp, I would like to sit down with (Kuester) and just share thoughts, expectations for my role, and just take it from there.'”