http://www.mlive.com/pistons/index.ssf/ ... r_col.htmlPistons turn into a 'junior college' for NBA coaches
Whoever the Detroit Pistons hire as their next head coach, three words of advice: "Rent, don't buy!"All the talk about building a franchise that can consistently compete at the highest level sounds good. But that's not going to happen until this franchise stops acting like a junior college for head coaches who get the boot after a year or two. President of basketball operations Joe Dumars' reasoning for firing Curry was legitimate. Players began to sour on Curry near the end of last season, and Curry didn't make the kind of strides needed to mend those relationships. The Pistons finished 39-43 and were swept out of the first round of the playoffs by the Cleveland Cavaliers. Coaching has as much to do with managing egos as it does managing a player's minutes. But there was a greater concern. There will be a lot of talk in the coming days about the strained relationships between Curry and key Pistons such as Richard Hamilton. But there was an even bigger concern that those same issues might be magnified with a revamped roster that should be bolstered via free agency, which begins today. If the Pistons sign Ben Gordon and keep Richard Hamilton, would both start? If not, who comes off the bench?
Curry faced a similar dilemma last season with Hamilton and Allen Iverson, and clearly made the wrong choice when he initially benched the team captain (Hamilton) for a player (Iverson) who was not playing nearly as well and seemed to do more harm than good to the team's first unit. He eventually reversed course, but the damage was done. Dumars once again finds himself picking up the pieces from a mess that he had a lot to do with creating. To Dumars' credit, Curry's failure was one of the few times when he hired a coach who didn't bring about as much or more success than his predecessor. Because of that, there's reason for Pistons fans to be optimistic that the next coach Dumars hires will be a good fit. And when you look at what Dumars has to offer for the next head coach, the job is very attractive.Detroit has a ton of salary cap space, a promising young talent in Rodney Stuckey to build around and a couple of veterans (Richard Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince) with something left in the tank. There are plenty of coaches who would jump at the chance to be involved in something like that.But if there's something we've learned from previous coaches in Detroit, it's this: being a good coach in Detroit isn't good enough.
If you were to list the top 10 coaches in the NBA right now, three of the coaches Dumars has fired since 2003 -- Rick Carlisle, Larry Brown and Flip Saunders -- probably would make the cut. That brings us to his next hire, who likely will be announced any time now. Former Dallas coach Avery Johnson and ex-Pistons coach Doug Collins are the two front-runners. Cleveland assistant John Kuester, a former assistant in Detroit on the 2004 championship squad, also is in the mix, although he is considered a long shot. While there will be many who will push for former Piston and ex-Detroit Shock head coach Bill Laimbeer to get the job, the Pistons will be looking to bring in a more seasoned head coach. "It became clear to me that we would need a more experienced coach to help guide us through this period," Dumars said. Dumars hired Curry to replace a coach who had plenty of experience in Flip Saunders. And Saunders won at a regular-season clip unlike any previous Pistons coach. But he didn't get it done in the playoffs, the players began to turn on him and poof! -- he's out of here. Such is life in the NBA's junior college coaching factory, better known as the Detroit Pistons.
