There wasn't much hoopla surrounding it, but Tuesday night at the Bradley Center represented a homecoming for former Bucks coach Terry Porter on several levels.

It was the first time that Porter returned to face the Bucks in his new role as an assistant coach with the Detroit Pistons. A Milwaukee native, it was also literally a homecoming because Porter's family is still living in its North Shore home. Terry will join them when the NBA season is over, which he jokes he hopes will be in late June, assuming a deep run in the playoffs with the Pistons.

If Porter feels vindicated that the Bucks are essentially in the same place they were when he was fired after two seasons as coach in 2005, he's too shrewd to come out and say it. "It's a lot different team," Porter said before the game in a narrow hallway behind the Pistons dressing room. "I can't compare it to my teams because the guys I had aren't really getting that much clock (playing time). They've had some injuries and that's kind of hurt them. All in all, they got a pretty good nucleus of young players. So it's just a matter if they can get healthy, they can play well together. They seem to have some of the same issues that I had, so it just doesn't matter what happens. It's hard to say until they really get everybody healthy."

Before accepting a job on the bench with the Pistons, Porter tried to put together an ownership group last summer to buy the Portland Trailblazers, the team he spent most of his NBA playing career with and the city where he made two appearances in the NBA Finals.

But Porter clearly itches to be a head coach again. "The Portland scenario was something special. I wouldn't say it's a once-in-a-lifetime deal but I had friends from when I spent 10 years out there and they had enough resources to raise the capital. They wanted to get some people who had played in the league and had some experience putting together a team. I don't know if that opportunity is going to come by again.

"As far as my future, I want to be a coach. I want to be a head coach again in the NBA. I think I still have a lot to teach. You always learn from your past jobs and I learned a lot from my two years here."