Van Gundy backs 'high-character guy' Caldwell-Pope after DUI arrest

Stan Van Gundy defended Detroit Pistons shooting guard Kentavious Caldwell-Pope following his DUI arrest early Wednesday morning.

"Look, I’ve been around KCP for three years," Van Gundy told Vince Ellis of the Detroit Free Press. "He's guy we believe in - not only as a player, but as a high-character guy. We're aware of the situation, and we'll let things run its course."

Caldwell-Pope said very little on his own behalf after the Pistons dropped a painful 108-105 overtime loss to the Milwaukee Bucks on Friday.

"I've talked to (Pistons owner Tom Gores), the coaches, my agent, they're handling it right now," Caldwell-Pope said. "It's no effect on the team so we're trying to move forward from that. I'm not trying to stress about that, just think about basketball."

The 23-year-old Caldwell-Pope told police officers that he ingested two drinks of Hennessy Cognac before getting behind the wheel, according to David Mayo of MLive Michigan. Upon being stopped, Caldwell-Pope struggled to recite the alphabet and couldn't correctly repeat a backward number sequence. He also registered a blood-alcohol level of .08.