Flip Saunders Fired - Now What?

And the Detroit Piston faithful rejoice. I am far from a Detroit Pistons fan, but even I wanted Flip Saunders to be fired. I honestly am not even sure why he was hired in the first place considering his background and the make-up of that team. That Detroit team had a clear identity, attitude and approach to the game. They were physical, tough-minded and determined. What the hell happened?

Is Flip Saunders a good coach? Sure. But the better question is, and should have been before Joe Dumars hired him, is he a championship coach? A coach that can handle stubborn veteran players? A coach that can manage players who have won a championship and are still of that caliber even though as a coach he has not reached that level? My answer is, No.

For a Piston team coming off an NBA championship and 7-game Eastern Conference Finals loss, this team was either going to digress or rise back to championship form. And it would be the next coach as the catalyst for either proposition.

The team hasn’t changed that much to not have gotten to another Finals. The top 4 players have remained steady in Hamilton, Billups, Prince and Wallace. The constant veteran presence of Lindsay Hunter has also been there the whole time. You swap out Ben Wallace for Antonio McDyess, Mike James for Rodney Stuckey and Mehmet Okur for Jason Maxiell, and I actually like this team better than the ‘03-’04 team. So again, what the hell happened?

Depending on where your head is there are a few different theories:

• The Eastern Conference is just better, and the Pistons weren’t good enough to make it through to the Finals repeatedly.
• After winning the championship in 2004 the players got fat, happy and content. They lost their edge, that undeniable determination that allowed them to blast through a Laker team with two of the best players in the history of the game.
• Flip Saunders sucked. He just wasn’t the right coach for this particular team. He reinvented the wheel and deviated from what had gotten the Pistons to the promise land. He lost his players, and a consequence of that was they lost their focus.

It is probably some of all those points. The Pistons ran into Dwayne Wade and LeBron James who proved unstoppable during their series with Detroit. Then into a very hungry and stacked Boston Celtic team.

It has been reported, written about and preached forever: it’s always harder to win the second time around. You have the bullseye on you and get the best from everyone you face. You have slightly less to prove having won it all already, so maybe it is natural to lose some of that competitive edge.

I personally thought Flip Saunders came in with the wrong ideas when taking over Detroit. He wanted to up the tempo, run and add more emphasis on offense. But can you blame him if that is his background and expertise? Joe Dumars had to have known and discussed this with him before hiring Saunders. I also think the team took on the worst trait of their coach. Although Saunders handles his press conferences and public appearances with poise, his on-the-court demeanor is much different. He is very animated in a whiny, cry baby kind of way. And you can see some of that slowly seeping into the rough-and-tough Piston players. Overall I think the coach contributed greatly to the lack of consistency of the team during his tenure.

So what’s next? There are reports assistant coach Michael Curry all but has the job locked up, but Terry Porter may also be under consideration for the Pistons’ head coaching job. I think the next coach should be based on what the direction of the team is now. Will they keep the team intact and continue the expectation of reaching and winning the NBA Finals? If so I think they need to bring in a Phil Jackson-type coach. A guy that lets veteran players play. Keeps motivation and focus at a consistent and high level. And commands the respect of veteran, championship-caliber players. Maybe Curry or Porter is that guy.

Or will Dumars look to move some (or all) of his aging stars to free up minutes for Amir Johnson, Rodney Stuckey and Jason Maxiell to develop and take hold of the reins. In that case Terry Porter or Michael Curry seems like the logical way to go as they have already played a big role in developing the young players and have built a good relationship already.

I kind of feel like Saunders may be portrayed as the scapegoat here, but is he really the biggest reason for the disappointment? Rather, should Flip Saunders be the only person to go? I will let the die hard Piston fans fight over that last point as they likely know best.

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