John Kuester Is Fired in Detroit, so Who Will Coach the Pistons Next?

After owning the Detroit Pistons for a little over 96 hours, Tom Gores made his first major move as the teams new owner by firing Coach John Kuester.

Kuester had been with Detroit since 2009 and was 57-107 in his two seasons. While he was a part of the Pistons 2004 NBA championship coaching staff, he was never able to recapture the magic as head coach of the team.

In his first season Detroit went 27-55 and last season they showed slight improvement at 30-52. His Detroit team made headlines this previous season after players refused to show up to a shoot around prior to a contest and rumors began circulating about a mutiny in the Piston locker room.

Kuester and Richard Hamilton spent most of the 2011 season in disagreement. Hamilton was unhappy with Kuester's coaching style and his role on the team and, in turn, he was benched for the better part of six weeks. The Pistons struggled without their leading scorer.

In defense of Kuester, the Pistons are not swarming with talent on their roster. The signings of Charlie Villenueva and Ben Gordon have done little to spark the offense and have made the team a laughing stock on defense. Nevertheless, John Kuester looked befuddled on the sidelines for the better portion of his two seasons in Detroit. Perhaps, he is better suited as an assistant coach.

The next question is—who will the next coach of the Detroit Pistons?

The two most talked about candidates are Piston legends, Bill Laimbeer and Isiah Thomas. Others mentioned are Mike Woodson and Kelvin Sampson. I don't know that the coach of the team will be very important until the Pistons are able to add some talent to the team and bolster their starting five. Whomever they decide to go with, they had better make sure that he will demand respect from his players. Respect is something that Kuester was never given and that's his own fault, most likely.

While, Isiah was a great Piston, I fear that he is little bit too "off the wall" to be handed the reigns of such a historic franchise. His time in New York was disastrous and the drama and theatrics seem to follow him wherever he goes. I think Bill Laimbeer would be a solid choice. He is hard nosed, respected in the community, and would require immediate respect from his players. Plus, he had great success with the WNBA's Detroit Shock and that has to count for something, right?