Pistons fire Flip Saunders

[Mystery_Meat]

At least according to the ESPN scroll.

 

[alleyallen]

Let me ask this...he takes the Pistons to the conference finals and they fire him. WTF? Is there more to this than I'm aware of? I'll readily admit I know next to nothing about the Pistons.

 

[93Devil]

He should have coached his players to stay healthy.

He is no Larry Brown. That's what did him in.

 

[slappy4428]

According to the Freep too...
http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080603/SPORTS03/80603068

 

[Mizzougrad96]

I wonder at what point do they finally make Tom Izzo an offer he can't (but should anyway) refuse...

 

[Pete Incaviglia]

Let me ask this...he takes the Pistons to the conference finals and they fire him. WTF? Is there more to this than I'm aware of? I'll readily admit I know next to nothing about the Pistons.

He's horrible at adjusting in timeouts/quarter-time/halftime. He's routinely out-coached in the post-season.

I also get the feeling some of the players don't respect him or listen to him.

In 2006 he couldn't get by the Cavs, who were worse than they are now and the Pistons were as good if not better than they are now.

They same could be said for last year.

Detroit's been deeper, better balanced and more experienced than the Cavs two years running but lost.

Twice against the Celtics the Pistons blew big leads. The Pistons were outscored 29-13 in the fourth on Friday.

Flip's a good regular season coach, a terrible post-season coach.

I think he'd make a terrific assistant coach.

 

[Overrated]

Let me ask this...he takes the Pistons to the conference finals and they fire him. WTF? Is there more to this than I'm aware of? I'll readily admit I know next to nothing about the Pistons.

He's horrible at adjusting in timeouts/quarter-time/halftime. He's routinely out-coached in the post-season.

Flip's a good regular season coach, a terrible post-season coach.

Exactly. I've been saying it for three years...ever since Mike ****ing Brown outcoached him the year the Pistons got past the Cavs. They did it despite Saunders.

 

[alleyallen]

Thanks for the explanations, folks. I still have quite a bit to learn about the NBA's Eastern Conference.

 

[Ben_Hecht]

When they win, they win despite him.

Sustained in-game focus from that bunch is a sometime thing.

 

[bostonbred]

Pistons need to make some changes anyway.

Trading 'Sheed and maybe Tayshaun would be a good start.

 

[Starman]

Let me ask this...he takes the Pistons to the conference finals and they fire him. WTF? Is there more to this than I'm aware of? I'll readily admit I know next to nothing about the Pistons.

He's horrible at adjusting in timeouts/quarter-time/halftime. He's routinely out-coached in the post-season.

I also get the feeling some of the players don't respect him or listen to him.

Gee I wonder who

He should have coached his players to stay healthy.

He is no Larry Brown. That's what did him in.

No, he's not; he didn't spend half the season (and the playoffs) trolling for other jobs with other franchises, he didn't tank games on purpose to make his GM look bad, and he didn't turn in a couple of the worst coaching jobs in the history of the sport of basketball.

If Dumars and the Pistons really want Larry Brown, I am sure he'd be happy to bust another contract and make the jump. All it takes is cash.

 

[Chef]

I said this when they hired him; He will never stand a chance with that roster.

Izzo should get the first phone call, and if he goes, Skiles needs to start house-hunting in East Lansing, pronto.

Yeah.....a hell of a long way from here to there, but........

 

[Tiger16]

Avery Johnson, anyone?

 

[Pete Incaviglia]

The Pistons need an old school dictator, IMO. I'm not this current roster would respect a fresh-from-college coach. I'm not sure a "players coach" works either. Hell, with Sheed, I'm not sure a dictator is the answer either.

The more I think about it, the more I feel Sheed needs to go — and quickly.

 

[Football_Bat]

Avery Johnson, anyone?

That was my first thought. Probably not the first time teams ended up swapping coaches, after a fashion.

 

[spnited]

The Pistons need an overhaul. Fact is, they just aren't that good.

 

[Overrated]

I think Michael Curry will be the next coach. There's a reason Dumars wouldn't allow Curry to interview with other teams.

'Sheed will be traded. They didn't give up **** to get him, so anything they receive isn't bad. He's also a somewhat-valuable commodity considering he's in the last year of his contract.

Rip will be the next likely to be moved. A good player, who I believe is relatively cheap, and never gets in trouble. They need to clear room for Stuckey, like now.

With the right trade or two, the Pistons can re-position themselves as the top team in the East with a core of Billups, Stuckey, Maxiell and Prince, along with whatever they can bring in a trade...which will be more than most people think.

 

[Starman]

I think Michael Curry will be the next coach. There's a reason Dumars wouldn't allow Curry to interview with other teams.

'Sheed will be traded. They didn't give up **** to get him, so anything they receive isn't bad. He's also a somewhat-valuable commodity considering he's in the last year of his contract.

Rip will be the next likely to be moved. A good player, who I believe is relatively cheap, and never gets in trouble. They need to clear room for Stuckey, like now.

With the right trade or two, the Pistons can re-position themselves as the top team in the East with a core of Billups, Stuckey, Maxiell and Prince, along with whatever they can bring in a trade...which will be more than most people think.

They gave up Mehmet Okur to get Sheed.

The Pistons and their public perception have evolved into a whining, inconsistent, erratic, underperforming, finger-pointing, excuse-making, coach-defying, accountability-evading complete antithesis of the "go to work" ethic they claim to represent.

There's one reason why.

 

[Overrated]

I think Michael Curry will be the next coach. There's a reason Dumars wouldn't allow Curry to interview with other teams.

'Sheed will be traded. They didn't give up **** to get him, so anything they receive isn't bad. He's also a somewhat-valuable commodity considering he's in the last year of his contract.

Rip will be the next likely to be moved. A good player, who I believe is relatively cheap, and never gets in trouble. They need to clear room for Stuckey, like now.

With the right trade or two, the Pistons can re-position themselves as the top team in the East with a core of Billups, Stuckey, Maxiell and Prince, along with whatever they can bring in a trade...which will be more than most people think.

They gave up Mehmet Okur to get Sheed.

Okur signed with the Jazz as a restricted FA, IIRC. They got Sheed for Zelly Rebraca, Bob Sura and, I think, two first-rounders.

 

[dooley_womack1]

I've never bought into the "can't coach in the postseason" ****. They're the exact same coach they were when leading teams to a darn good regular season year after year. The main thing is to get a team to the postseason, then it's more or less a crapshoot with 3-4 of the teams having a true chance. So many franchises have tailspinned with this kind of thinking.