http://need4sheed.com/2009/06/michael-curry-fired.htmlUPDATE: Pistons.com Keith Langlois - Who’s Next?
“The names that have floated to the top of the list are Avery Johnson, Doug Collins and John Kuester – and all make sense, if for varying reasons. Johnson has the most recent track record of success in the NBA. His strength is implementing a structured system. There were whispers in Dallas that his style eventually became overbearing, but the type of discipline the Pistons seemed to lack last year was never an issue in Dallas under Johnson.
Collins is universally recognized as a brilliant basketball mind – his TNT telecasts are mini-clinics, in much the way Hubie Brown’s once were – who, like Johnson, also comes with a reputation for burning through relationships within a few seasons. Pistons fans will recall how Collins milked more wins than seemed possible out of his teams here in the ’90s. When he considered the Bulls job last summer, Collins reflected on those days and said he’d learned to pull back. Kuester was a highly respected piece of Larry Brown’s staff here previously and was seen as the counterbalance to Brown’s mercurial mood swings with the mettle to voice dissent. He doesn’t have the head coaching track record of Collins and Johnson – though he did run his own college basketball programs before leaping to the NBA – but he was credited by Cleveland coach Mike Brown for making the Cavs a much more efficient offensive team the past two years while Brown focused on defense, his specialty.
That Curry’s firing comes on the eve of free agency is nothing but coincidental. As Dumars said upon announcing the decision this afternoon, it was not one easily reached. It’s fair to assume it’s something he’s considered since the season ended, based on the dysfunction he perceived as the Pistons finished the season in a tailspin and put up little resistance during Cleveland’s four-game sweep in the first round of the playoffs. Changes come with no guarantees, of course. Acknowledging a problem doesn’t ensure its resolution. But it’s a necessary first step that many in positions of power avoid for the reflection it casts on them. As the tough decision to fire Michael Curry one season into the job proves, the path of least resistance is one Joe Dumars steadfastly avoids.”
