Flip Saunders Could Be Best Candidate for the Phoenix Suns Head Coach

The Phoenix Suns endless search for a new coach continues. There have been a number of assistant coaches that have interviewed with Steve Kerr, but none with the head coaching experience he wants. 

Terry Porter, the assistant coach in Detroit, is rumored to be the leading candidate at this point. But, who is still left over in the pool with head coaching experience? As of today there is a new candidate that has recently become available. The newly departed Detroit Pistons coach Flip Saunders.

Steve Kerr has stated that the Phoenix Suns would like to hire someone that brings head coaching experience to the team. It is well known that they need to hire a coach that can create a relationship with their franchise player Amare Stoudemire and push him to his full potential both offensively and defensively.

The coach also needs to know how to deal with the veteran player personalities of Nash, Hill, and O’Neal and gain their respect. They have young talent in Diaw, Barbosa, Bell, and even Tucker and Strawberry.

The Phoenix Suns also have the 15th overall pick in the draft. There is a lot of potential still left with this team and they just need a new coach to get them to the promise land.

This could be the situation Flip Saunders needs to turn his coaching career around. Flip has coached the last 13 seasons with two teams. He started his career in Minnesota with the Timberwolves and coached the team to eight consecutive playoff appearances.

He worked very closely with NBA superstar Kevin Garnett and helped him develop into one of the most dominant forward/centers in the league. 

He then took over the Detroit Pistons for his last three years. He led the team to an overall regular season record of 176–70 and a playoff record of 30-21. He led the Pistons to the Eastern Conference Finals for the last three years, but was unable to get past that round.

He coaches with the style and tradition of tough Detroit defense that the Phoenix Suns organization desperately needs.

However, even with that impressive record in Detroit, things do not always go well. There were many rumors that the Detroit Pistons players did not respect Saunders as a coach. The owner became very unhappy with the team not being able to get out of the conference finals under his direction. The team fell apart in the playoffs against Boston much like Phoenix did against San Antonio.

He has more experience than any other candidate available. According to his qualifications, he is the coach that Steve Kerr has been looking for. He is a great defensive minded coach that could bring the change that the Phoenix Suns need.

Could he finally be the coach to get the Phoenix Suns to win the championship or is he just another candidate on the list?