Detroit Pistons Coaching Search 2018

[TC-Flint]

Just because some of you can write a response here more than 100 words does not mean you are correct! I too lean toward a coach with a winning record and experience. This doesn’t mean I am correct either.

[ChipButty]

Like I stated. People tend to over-react in situations like this. I'm happy that you got to tell us about our "absurdly ill-fitting roster" again. Udoka was reportedly one of the main reasons Aldridge joined the Spurs. Was that a good move?

How is this relevant? He was instrumental in convincing Aldridge to join the Spurs. Do you think he was the one making personnel decisions? No.

And though it's irrelevant, the answer to your question is a solid 'yes.' Signing Aldridge was certainly a good move for San Antonio. He had a weak 2016-2017 season, but his 2015-2016 season was strong and his 2017-2018 season was excellent. In the latter, he was the best player for a Kawhi-less Spurs squad that had no business making the playoffs--particularly in the West--and his 25.12 PER ranked him eighth in the league.

I mentioned it b/c it's one of the few newsworthy items I see reported about Udoka and I was curious to know if you hated the Aldridge signing as much as you apparently hate the Blake signing. Apparently not. So if a 30-something Aldridge can have an "excellent" year playing next to Gasol, there is hope for the absurdly ill-fitting duo of Blake and Dre, correct?

[ChipButty]

How about the logic that Udoka apparently received zero votes in this survey.

https://sports.yahoo.com/set-sidelines-nba-executives-weigh-next-generation-head-coaches-165549990.html

So did Messina, who is the odds-on favorite to take over when Popovich retires---assuming nobody snatches him up first.

What's the logic for hiring him? He works for the Spurs and he's not Dwayne Casey?

He came up under the best coach in NBA history. Gregg Popovich does not select or maintain slouches as his court-side assistants. It moreover behooves the Pistons to take a risk rather than turning to a known but flawed quantity, which Casey absolutely qualifies as.

I understand that the Raptors did not want to lose Nurse, but I think Casey is clearly the fall guy here.

What does losing Nurse have to do with anything? Casey was fired because the Raptors flamed out in the playoffs again, and he coached poorly again. I'm honestly shocked he lasted this long; I thought he should've been laid off after that fiasco in the 2015 playoffs.

Maybe the executives that voted did not like Messina or Udoka. GM's did like Messina in this 2017 survey
http://www.nba.com/gmsurvey/2017#coaches
Still no mention of Udoka though...

Didn't Udoka replace Jacque Vaughn? I guess it's safe to say that not all Popvich's assistants find instant success as head coaches.

I think Nurse was a factor in the firing of Casey. Giving Casey the extension he reportedly asked for, would have probably led to Nurse looking elsewhere for a head coaching position. I guess we will see when they announce the new coach.

[Spider156]

People just don't understand there is more than one factor to building a franchise than winning. The most important factor is MONEY which means attendance to games. This is the ONLY factor that's important to Gores. So when you make decisions you HAVE to place yourself in his shoes.

Say you want to tear everything down and rebuild like how the Hawks are doing right now or the Bulls. You gotta get rid of Drummond, Blake, and Jackson and basically be completely depleted of talent and you'll have maybe 2 first round draft picks plus MAYBE expiring contracts. If that happens, you're basically giving up the next 3-4 years for a complete tank. You understand how much money loss that is? I don't think you do. Detroit is already losing the most out of all teams. Sure you can say whatever they've been doing hasn't been getting fans to the stadium. You can say that but it doesn't mean that you shouldn't try to get fans to attend anyway.

So now you've traded all your talent away whatever it was worth (least value of all time) and you're drafting "talent" based on the roll of the dice cuz that's what the draft is no matter how much you scout, it's pure luck. So at this stage you can get a guy like Udoka, no guarantee he knows how to develop talent but there is a guarantee you're going to lose money no matter who you hired as GM or coach. As an owner this is just unacceptable. The owner's job is to spend and Gores has been spending a lot on the team so I can't hate on him. You guys don't remember Davidson's wife and how she handcuffed Dumars. It's what made the Pistons horrible for at least 5 years and SVG did a fantastic job from the dumpster fire he got without a draft pick to start with mind you.

Next thing you're worried about is you just established a losing culture. No free agent is coming here even if it's a winning culture but you can keep dreaming about cap space as if we'll sign anyone special, you basically have no fundamental knowledge about free agency or you're just plain ignorant. No FAs come to Detroit period. So if you wanna tank, be my guest. You'll lose minimum 200 million dollars in that span of time and if I was the NBA I'd strip away the team and move it elsewhere at that rate or if I was Gores I'd sell the team and let someone else have that headache. All for what? For a chance to fail at drafting like literally half the teams in the NBA. Perfect examples are Orlando, New York, Chicago, Denver, Phoenix. They all suck whichever way you look at them.

Personally as a fan, I don't believe in any of this. In the NBA you need to have a minimum of 1 superstar and 1 all star on your team to contend or you have no chance of making the Playoffs. So pick your poison. Personally I'd be willing to tank a year for a top 3 talent in the draft but it's likely going to be a roll of the dice cuz there's a lot of busts out there. As an experienced fan seeing how Golden State was able to draft mid to late lottery and deep in the draft, seeing how they developed their players, you don't need to tank. Even the Spurs developed their players and Kawhi was late lottery. No need to tank unless you're guaranteed a Duncan or a Simmons type of player.

So by the time you get the talent (3 years) and by the time you develop that talent (3 years) you already have to extend those players for max contracts (like Wiggins) based on potential in the HOPES that they become a superstar. Don't think Tatum and Mitchell, most players are like Fultz and Lonzo. How else can you get a superstar? FA? Not in Detroit. Only in trades or the draft. If you're lucky you'll land one superstar in the draft, if you're lucky an all star will available in trades let alone avoiding getting fleeced of the assets that took you 3 years to acquire.

I mean the process is long and hard for the owner. No thanks said Gores. I'll roll the dice on Blake and an experienced coach to create a winning culture. Maybe we'll be able to land another star the same way Cousins and Blake became available and in the meantime Blake might've been able to save the season and bring me money which is the ONLY thing I care about as an owner. As fans, you guys just don't understand how hard it is to make these decisions. Gores best decision is handling the team to SVG and he did a GOOD job! Not great, but pretty good I can't complain. Now you take what SVG built and retool it. There's no reason to throw away all this talent when the next 4-5 years are gonna be dominated by Lebron and GS anyway, it just needs to fit and have added depth.

So I don't blame Gores for making the decisions he's making after putting myself in his shoes. It's not easy, it's not easy to see 50 million dollars fly out of your account every year and just be okay with it. That's not how Gores became a billionaire and for him to be okay with that he needs to restructure what he's about as a person and that's not happening. He'd probably rather sell the team which I kind of expect to happen if the next 4-5 years don't work out the way he wants them to.

[ducler]

So it's Casey

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[vic]

I have no issue with trying your best every year. Here are the problems with the decisions made by the Pistons:

- Blake is a star but doesn't help his team win. He's a hi-iq version of Carmelo.
- Drafting is the only way to get real talent. You don't have to tank, but you do have to draft well, and with a consistent vision of 2-way, ball handling, high wingspan players. SVG's drafting sucked.

So if
1. your drafting sucks and has no consistent vision (add shooting is NOT a drafting strategy).
2. And you overestimate and overpay marketing stats all-stars past their prime that don't contribute to wins,

then you put your team in a very bad long term situation.

Which is why SVG had to go. We won't know anything about the future of this franchise until we see if they have a drafting plan that fits with todays game (athleticism, 2 way, wingspan, defense, skill), or if they just pick the best short-armed shooter they can find.

[El Chivo]

5 years contract left me puzzled, but he's a solid coach.

[ducler]

So the last game of the season was on April 12th. Today is June 11th. It took 2 months, 1 senior advisor and 2 consultants to do what we all knew will be done from the beginning. What a waste of time!

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[DOBSON10]

Read on Twitter

Meh.

[ImHeisenberg]

I’m not saying he means he’s the best coach. I’m saying the majority of the time it’s a warranted award and a plus on the resume. Obviously I’d rather have Stevens, but it doesn’t mean Casey isn’t a good coach. That said, Udoka is my #1

Did you know Brad Stevens didn't receive a single vote for coach of the year? He must be awful.

The Raps just hired the guy that Masai credited as revitalizing the offense.

Casey isn't a terrible coach. But, he's not what you saw in Toronto last year, and he isn't going to be an agent of change for this team. He's going to keep up churning on the treadmill. Which for many, chasing that 8th seed is good enough.

[TC-Flint]

Spider156, it was way too long of a read. Hope others enjoyed it.

[TC-Flint]

Spider156, it was way too long of a read. Hope others enjoyed it.