Jeff Bower - The Pistons new GM

[NCHeels2008]

i regretted making detroit one of my 5 teams on league pass broadband. Though that game against okc to close the season was a promising look at life without Josh Smith and more KCP.

That may be the funniest thing I've heard about the Pistons in a long time. I appreciate the faith you had in our team, but man, that's rough if you got stuck with the Pistons all year!

it's okay I had the Bobcats/Hornets who got better as the season went along, Pacers (who were fun till March), Blazers and I watched the last two weeks of the Knicks playoff push

[Kilo]

First order of business for Bower - trade for a late first rounder. Get PHX on the horn for their #27 or something.

[wallace72]

I feel sorry for Bower & our new assistant coaches though. SVG has said he refuses to discuss the roster with his crew until everyone has watched all 82 games! That's torture

Thats probably why Otis and Stu turned him down. They started watching the film and couldn't stand to be tortured anymore and GTFO

You're better of with death penalty, we'll see......

[Ghost]

I'm impressed, didn't see his name getting thrown around but I think he'll fit in fine. SVG needs a guy to "push the paper" that also has experience with working trades. Hopefully he will start calling around the league early in his career to see what he can deal, which I think all of us are fine with! Not an extremely sexy hire, but better than some of the other names that have been thrown around. Think it deserves a passing grade, maybe even better.

Every GM who ran a team for any period of time will have some misses on their draft pick resume. That's just the way it is.

You either die a hero GM, or live long enough to make enough mistakes to have the stink on you the rest of your life.

Should've just quoted Batman.

[Smirk]

And nearly every fan of every team who didn't win a championship thinks their GM was terrible.

I don't know if this was a good hire but I know that there's important things we don't know:

I understand fans need to feel optimistic, and I'm really not trying to poop in anyone's cheerios...

But I know people who worked in the FO, for the Hornets at the time. Bower was considered a really great guy, and a really great yes man...but not a good GM.

There were many many many moves and rumors beyond just "he made this transaction or this one". Bower is well liked by owners because he will do whatever they say. He was disliked by fans because he was generally pretty poor at his job.

[kf96]

It is offical now

Sent from my C6603 using Tapatalk

[Snakebites]

And nearly every fan of every team who didn't win a championship thinks their GM was terrible.

I don't know if this was a good hire but I know that there's important things we don't know:

I understand fans need to feel optimistic, and I'm really not trying to poop in anyone's cheerios...

But I know people who worked in the FO, for the Hornets at the time. Bower was considered a really great guy, and a really great yes man...but not a good GM.

There were many many many moves and rumors beyond just "he made this transaction or this one". Bower is well liked by owners because he will do whatever they say. He was disliked by fans because he was generally pretty poor at his job.

I'll give you the benefit of the doubt since you're not a poster here.

I am by no means an optimist. I'm the most pessimistic guy on this board, or at least one of the guys near the top of that list. I was among the first to decry every recent coaching hire we've had before SVG, and was first in line to crucify the previous management for the signings of guys like Gordon, Villanueva, Smith, and Jennings. With what SVG is trying to build I'm willing to give it some time, though.

I'm just willing to see how he fits with the rest of what we're doing here before I pass judgement. You could be entirely right, but I'm not going to concede that before anything has even happened.

[Q00]

Press conference tomorrow at 11:30am

http://www.nba.com/pistons/multimedia/live-stream

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Keith_Langlois/status/473917646312714240[/tweet]

A bulldog at GM. A hedgehog at coach. A penguin at center. A moose at PF.

The Pistons are a zoo, literally and figuratively

[Pharaoh]

Assuming Bower is a yes man...maybe that's why he got the job?

SVG wants final say and while he'll welcome the opinions of his suits he wants everyone on the same page: HIS page!

Sent from my GT-I9300 using RealGM Forums mobile app

[ImHeisenberg]

Assuming Bower is a yes man...maybe that's why he got the job?

SVG wants final say and while he'll welcome the opinions of his suits he wants everyone on the same page: HIS page!

Sent from my GT-I9300 using RealGM Forums mobile app

People being on the same page and constantly agreeing with one another isn't the same thing. A "yes man" isn't a person with any real ideas or at least ideas they're willing to stand up for.

But, Bower's perception as a "yes man" for ownership, well, what else is he going to do in that relationship? Tell the owner no? That's not really an option unless you can back it up with some great counter-points that can convince the owner otherwise. And working for George Shin, anything that cost NO money probably was met with a quick "no".

[The Penguin]

Press conference tomorrow at 11:30am

http://www.nba.com/pistons/multimedia/live-stream

[tweet]https://twitter.com/Keith_Langlois/status/473917646312714240[/tweet]

A bulldog at GM. A hedgehog at coach. A penguin at center. A moose at PF.

The Pistons are a zoo, literally and figuratively

The two clowns we've got running around make me think circus not zoo

[Kilo]

Every employee is a yes man to their boss or they're unemployed. You can offer your opinion, argue it with facts, but the boss makes the decision, and ultimately Gores will have the final say over and above Stan, though I assume he gave Stan a helluva lot of autonomy and control on the basketball side of things. It's about Stan respecting Bower's opinion enough to give what he says strong consideration and sees merit in it before weighing all the opinions and making his decision. Also Bower wouldn't take a gig where he wasn't going to have certain power himself one has to assume.

Finally this isn't a SVG connected hire in that this isn't Smith or Jackson who he's worked with before - that's a good thing at least.

[Pharaoh]

Finally this isn't a SVG connected hire in that this isn't Smith or Jackson who he's worked with before - that's a good thing at least.

That suggests Bower was the best candidate, at least in the eyes of Gores & SVG.

Personally I love the fact Stan just didn't hire one of his boys. That suggests he's open to other opinions

Sent from my GT-I9300 using RealGM Forums mobile app

[Sheeeeed]

Assuming Bower is a yes man...maybe that's why he got the job?

SVG wants final say and while he'll welcome the opinions of his suits he wants everyone on the same page: HIS page!

Sent from my GT-I9300 using RealGM Forums mobile app

People being on the same page and constantly agreeing with one another isn't the same thing. A "yes man" isn't a person with any real ideas or at least ideas they're willing to stand up for.

But, Bower's perception as a "yes man" for ownership, well, what else is he going to do in that relationship? Tell the owner no? That's not really an option unless you can back it up with some great counter-points that can convince the owner otherwise. And working for George Shin, anything that cost NO money probably was met with a quick "no".

Woj described that front office in New Orleans as Bowers, an assistant gm, and a couple of scouts as the smallest in the league at the time. Definitely not an easy situation.

[Smirk]

Assuming Bower is a yes man...maybe that's why he got the job?

SVG wants final say and while he'll welcome the opinions of his suits he wants everyone on the same page: HIS page!

Sent from my GT-I9300 using RealGM Forums mobile app

People being on the same page and constantly agreeing with one another isn't the same thing. A "yes man" isn't a person with any real ideas or at least ideas they're willing to stand up for.

But, Bower's perception as a "yes man" for ownership, well, what else is he going to do in that relationship? Tell the owner no? That's not really an option unless you can back it up with some great counter-points that can convince the owner otherwise. And working for George Shin, anything that cost NO money probably was met with a quick "no".

Woj described that front office in New Orleans as Bowers, an assistant gm, and a couple of scouts as the smallest in the league at the time. Definitely not an easy situation.

Woj got extremely butthurt when Bower was fired. It was heavily rumored in the NOLA media afterwards that Bower was a very regular direct source for Woj, so that is why Woj went so crazy on the fire.

But yeah, that is an accurate depiction of the situation at the time. It was tough for sure. Shinn was an incredible cheapskate, so I do give Bower some credit for dealing with that.

[bballnmike]

Finally this isn't a SVG connected hire in that this isn't Smith or Jackson who he's worked with before - that's a good thing at least.

That suggests Bower was the best candidate, at least in the eyes of Gores & SVG.

Personally I love the fact Stan just didn't hire one of his boys. That suggests he's open to other opinions

Sent from my GT-I9300 using RealGM Forums mobile app

Well technically they were both assistant coaches for different schools in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference in the late 80's (SVG at Canisius and Fordham, Bower at Marist) so they are connected . Not a strong connection, but they probably knew each other.

[E-Z]

My greatest concern now is group-think; everyone being on the same page, whether if it's related to job security, or pressure from Tom Gores. This off-season and the trade-deadline will be interesting going forward.

[mercury]

If they have to watch all 82 games they should come to the conclusion that a PG is #1 priority.