By: Larry Sternberg, a typical Detroit sports fan
First of all, let’s acknowledge one thing: it was a great season. This always gets lost in the post-loss nonsense. They finished with the second best record in the NBA and made the sixth straight conference finals. The problem is in the expectations. They could have won game 5 in Boston in a dramatic fashion, but they didn’t. They could have held on to a 10-point lead in game 6, but they didn’t. Now heads will roll.
Flip Saunders was the first head to roll. He got fired after three years with the team. Flip did a fine job, but nothing special. The Pistons still took nights off and were often lethargic. The personality of the team still reflects the players rather than Saunders. Flip knew the deal when he came: get to the finals or it’s your job. The Pistons had one title and just missed another when they lost the seven-game finals to the Spurs. Bottom line: no finals, no job. Bye, bye Flip!
With Flip gone, however, who do you hire as coach? Michael Curry makes no sense. He is an assistant coach with no NBA head-coaching experience. Terry Porter is a little better, but he is not exactly a step up from Saunders. The Pistons are a veteran team that needs a high profile coach. Joe Dumars has his work cut out for him.
Lastly, what do you do with the Pistons? They are missing some vital component to get them over the hump. I think Rasheed Wallace is expendable; he is just too much trouble at this point. Tayshaun Prince may be expendable as well. He did not step up his game on the offensive end.
