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Leave it to Joe Dumars, he will always keep you guessing.
And if you are a citizen of the Detroit Pistons nation, you likely will be second guessing.
Dumars has come under fire from the folks in this small yet not so humble country. To these folks, the question "what have you done for me lately?" is less a saying and more a mantra.
To the outside observer, these fans are viewed with a sense of bewilderment. Out here on the west coast, I am constantly bumping into basketball people that cannot quite understand the mind set.
"How can they be unhappy with him? They are always contending."
It is a strange phenomenon, but Detroit fans are a strange bunch when it comes to their Pistons. The reasons are too many to get into here, but the short answer is that they have a king-sized inferiority complex.
Largely, this stems from a belief that they are constantly looked over and passed when the league's top teams are discussed.
The Current Situation
The Pistons new hire, in a way, re-enforces this feeling.
Many fans view this hire as a second-rate choice that signals a precipitous fall from the spotlight.
In a way, they are right. Dumars said as much when he discussed the reasoning why he did not want to hire Avery Johnson.
Basically, Dumars said that his team was not in a position to hire a $4 or $5 million head coach. Essentially, he said that his team is in a position similar to when they hired Rick Carlisle before eventually firing him to bring in Larry Brown.
To the ears of Pistons fans, that sounded a lot like a surrender. A surrender of the rightful place of their team at the top of the NBA food chain. All that scrapping and clawing that they did, all of the respect that they gathered over the last decade was forfeited.
That new mantra of theirs is now ringing in their ears—"what have you done for me lately?", and they realize it describes them and their team's place in the league's hierarchy.
Is it possible that they are reading this correctly? Absolutely. However, these fans have not taken the time to see this thoroughly. For all of the doom and gloom being broadcasted, there is a flip-side to this coin.
John Kuester may represent the best of both worlds.
When Carlisle was hired by Detroit, they were a middle of the pack team dealing with the loss of the cornerstone of their franchise. They were at a fork in the road, deciding how to become a winner. Their new coach, as well as their roster, dictated this direction—they would become a defensive powerhouse.
And while Carlisle did a great job developing his team, he was not a closer. However, Larry Brown was a closer and guess who was instrumental in Kuester's development as a coach? You guessed it, Larry Brown.
Today, the Pistons are in a similar situation. They are dealing with the loss of the cornerstone of their team. They are deciding how to become a winner. This time, the direction is different. They will become an offensive powerhouse.
At least that is the plan. With the additions of Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva, Dumars believes that he is on his way. And just like Carlisle was brought in to accentuate talented defenders, Kuester will be asked to lend his considerable offensive know-how to a stable of talented offensive players.
Additionally, Dumars is likely going to add another strong front court player.
Today, Dumars dealt guard Arron Afflalo and forward Walter Sharpe to Denver for a future second round draft pick. This move will give Detroit around $3.5 million to spend on a player, and given that it is a buyers market, this could easily translate into Chris Wilcox or Glen Davis.
While the Pistons roster is far from upper-tier, they are a solid playoff team. If Kuester handles this team properly, with time he could build them into a contender.
There lies the good news: This team is young. What's more is that they are talented. With the right kind of coaching and development, this team could be a contender for years to come.
This could be the beginning of something, not the end.
The Challenges
While Kuester has a great reputation and some championship pedigree, he still has to find a way to take over a new team that still has a couple crucial pieces left over from their title year.
Additionally, he has to change the culture from one predicated on defense to one that is built around offense.
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