toledoblade.com --

Joe Dumars was irate, appalled and every other word you could use to describe a very angry boss.

The Detroit Pistons had lost to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals four days earlier, marking the third straight year the Pistons had made it to the conference finals only to be sent packing.

Former Pistons coach Flip Saunders was dismissed, and Dumars also put his entire team on notice.

"I’m not going to sit here and make Flip the scapegoat," Dumars said at a team news conference June 3. "Everybody is in play."

Count Arron Afflalo as one of the Detroit players that took notice.

Afflalo, who will be joined by teammate Rodney Stuckey, new head coach Michael Curry and other team officials at International Park at 3 p.m. tomorrow as the Pistons’ season tip-off tour makes a stop in Toledo, sees the Pistons being very motivated for the upcoming season.

"It’s everything this year," Afflalo said. "Our goal is to win. Nobody is thinking about anything else.

"Our younger players have matured a little bit, and our veterans are hungry to get that championship."

Other team officials joining Afflalo, Curry and Stuckey on the tour include Scott Perry, vice president of basketball operations, and broadcasters George Blaha and Greg Kelser.

Tomorrow’s event will also feature a performance by the Pistons’ dance team Automotion and appearances by team mascot Hooper and the Palace Patrol.

Kelser will host a short program previewing the upcoming season, with Curry, Stuckey and Afflalo addressing the crowd. In addition to the opportunity to win Pistons T-shirts and prizes, the traveling party will be on hand to sign autographs and take pictures at the event, which is free and open to the public.

"It’s great," Afflalo said. "I think it’s a good thing for a few of the players and the coaching staff and people from the organization to get out and promote our season. I think it’s going to be a successful year. We’re just motivated from a business standpoint and from a player’s standpoint to be at our best this year. We want to get the word out and get to meet and greet the fans."

Part of that motivation, Afflalo said, stems from the coaching change to Curry, a former assistant under Saunders in the Pistons’ organization.

"Everything is great," Afflalo said. "Coach Curry is perfect for this group of players that we have. He’s played the game so he knows the effort and intensity and preparation it takes to be champion and the focus that you need. He pays attention to the small things and has his eye on the prize just like the rest of us."

If the Pistons are to get back to the championship-caliber club fans have grown to expect in Detroit, they’ll need contributions from younger players like Afflalo , Stuckey, Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson.

"I think all of us are more than ready and confident that we can go in there and contribute in a major way" Afflalo said. "Amir can give you a lot of athleticism, as well as Max, and then you have myself and Stuckey on the perimeter. I think everybody’s just ready, confident and poised to compete against each other every day in practice and then go out there and execute on the floor."

Afflalo said his own offseason development has gone well and added he’s ready to break out in his second year in the NBA.

"The second is always the year," Afflalo said. "I worked very hard [in the off-season] to make sure that the things that are asked of me, I can do night in and night out."

Contact Zach Silka at: zsilka@theblade.com.