Arroyo wants to start, but likes it in Detroit

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. — Carlos Arroyo sees himself as a starting NBA point guard.

But thanks to a flare-up with Jazz coach Jerry Sloan — one Arroyo says he still does not understand — the Puerto Rican point is a backup these days.

In Detroit.

"I wish I would have kept being the starter (in Utah)," Arroyo said Sunday, before facing his old Jazz team for the first time since it traded him last Jan. 21 to the defending NBA-champion Pistons. "But that's not up to me.

"I mean, I did everything I could to show him (Sloan) I cared, as far as actions speak louder than words — but in the army you're going to do whatever the captain says you are going to do, you know?"

Arroyo calls the events leading to his demotion from starter, and the trade that followed, as "miscommunication, and a misunderstanding."

Yet, even with the benefit of hindsight, he says he'd change nothing to prevent what happened.

"I don't do anything different," he said.

"I don't know what happened. I really don't," Arroyo added before scoring three points, shooting 0-of-4 from the field and dishing three assists while playing 16 off-the-bench minutes in Detroit's 64-62 win over Utah. "But I'm happy I'm here. They really treat me well. They welcomed me great. I feel like I've been on this team a long time."

Sloan, too, says he would alter nothing regarding his role in what he called "a basketball decision" to deal Arroyo just a few short months after the Jazz signed their returning starting point to a four-year, $16 million contract.

The two butted heads, in part because Arroyo thought he should playing more in Utah than he was this season.

"I don't think I did anything, from the way I handled it, that I would change," the Jazz coach said. "When I look back on it, I don't know what I would change."

Now that he is over the initial shock of the move, Arroyo says the change of scenery has treated him well.

"I think it worked out great," he said.

Backing up Chauncey Billups, though, is something of a blow to the ego for the Puerto Rican Olympic star.

He's handling the bench role better for the 39-23 Pistons, though, than he did in Utah.

"Sacrifice, you know?" Arroyo said. "It's something I have to accept, and be better at what I'm doing right now, which is being a backup for a team that has a chance at winning.