The Pistons announced today that they are parting ways with Flip Saunders, their coach for the past three seasons.
So, I got to thinking about who will be next. Where do they go from here? We know that Pistons coaches have a short shelf life, but at least we can trust Dumars to have a replacement better than, or at least equal to, what we are losing. Take a look.
Rick Carlisle
He took the Pistons from an average team and started this great run of Eastern Conference finals. He was there for three years and only once got the Pistons to the ECF. He was replaced by Hall of Famer Larry Brown
Larry Brown
In his first season with the Pistons they won an NBA Championship. The second season, they made it back, but he started talking to the Knicks about "his dream job." They lost, and he was fired and replaced by Flip Saunders.
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(On a side note, F U Larry Brown for messing up a good thing. Glad to see the Knicks worked out so well for you!)
Flip Saunders
He had previously led the Minnesota Timberwolves to the playoffs for five-straight years and had a very high winning percentage during the regular season. His knock was that his Timberwolves' team only made it to the Western Conference Finals once.
He may not have been quite the same caliber as Larry B. but he was a good replacement who helped the 'Stones reach the ECF for three more straight years (six is the running total).
So I ask you, who is the equal or better replacement out there? Michael Curry, Bill Laimbeer, or Tom Izzo?
These are all names brought up, but not one has NBA coaching experience. That is scary when you have a team that is this good, but at the same time has some ups and downs.
What about Avery Johnson? He took his team to the finals only three short years ago. True, but he also blew a two-game lead in the finals and lost to an eight seed the following year. However, this year, I can't say that it was all his fault.
So who is it going to be? Who will coach the Pistons for the next three years? Maybe Joe D. has something up his sleeve?
I hope so, because I am not sure we didn't just fire the best coach out there.
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3 months ago
Hey BigReg, I couldn't agree more. I'm a card-carrying Pacers fan, but Flip had done a great job over the past 3 season. I was shocked to hear he got the axe. You're right--I'm not sure much else better is out there.
3 months ago
Joey D will step out and take the coaching job. He will then proceed to drop twenty pounds trade rip and tay for Melo, and take over the vacant two spot. He will average a league high 32 ppg and lead the Stons' to glory!
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