Now that Flip is officially gone, I figured we could set up a coaching candidates thread. Glenn thinks the binary man is all but a done deal, but that might not be the case.

Who's your choice for the next head coach of the Detroit Pistons?

Anybody who takes this team by the balls. in a non-gay way.

And ESPN's Stephen A. Smith reported that Pistons assistant Michael Curry will be named Saunders' successor, according to a source close to the Pistons. Curry is also a former Pistons player and official in the players' union.

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=3423956

LOCK IT UP

:sas:

McCunty is not pleased.

Seriously, I think this has been a done deal with Curry for a long time.

yea you get the feeling Joe was planning for Flip's exit which was happening in his mind if we didnt go to the finals. He was the toughest to win these 7 game series in the conference finals. I also glad that Joe Honestly fely his team was better than their results, because in spite of what most think i do too.

I don't have a problem with Curry (unless he inserts himself as a player coach). As long as he can get them playing hard and change the aditude that is. He did manage to stay in the league pretty long despite marginal skills, so maybe he can get a little extra out of them.

There was a reason that we denied the bulls permission to talk to Michael Curry. Just shows you how much the pistons front office and Joe D thinks of him. No offense, but im interested to see how much better we play with a black dude coaching our team. I think we will rally more.. Next we need to move Sheed, sick of his bullshit and Maxiell is right there anyways for more minutes and hopefully get a draft pick or a CENTER. We will continue to get to the big game and choke until we get a dominant 7 footer.

I didn't see the coach as the big problem with this team either WTFChris.

yea you get the feeling Joe was planning for Flip's exit which was happening in his mind if we didnt go to the finals.

BTW, I love that with most of the moves Dumars makes, you get the feeling he's been considering them for a solid length of time prior to executing them. Its not very often (see Nazr signing) that it seems Joe acts rashly.

I thought about Nazr yesterday.

Some sports talk caller said that "all the Pistons need is a dude like Kendrick Perkins that can get you 10 pts and 10 rebounds per game".

Nazr might have helped mainly because he's a center. But actually I think we need a multidimensional Center. Scorer, defender, and rebounder.

On Curry, a man has to have some leadership skills and command some respect to get to head of the players union as quickly as he did.

I thought about Nazr yesterday.

Some sports talk caller said that "all the Pistons need is a dude like Kendrick Perkins that can get you 10 pts and 10 rebounds per game".
We need more than a 10 PPG center quite frankly. Perkins works for Boston because KG and PP can also play in the post quite well. We have mostly jump shooters so we can't get away with a guy who simply gets 10 points off of put backs or blown assignments. We need a guy that can get 16-20 PPG operating mostly in the post (unless Amir or Max prove they can provide some of that).

Why isnt Mike Fucking Woodson on this poll?

because he's not available unless atlanta lets him go. and since they kept him in spite of their gm's wishes, I think he's staying.

I also didn't put down Mo Fucking Cheeks or Greg Fucking Popvich or even Phil Fucking Jackson.

I voted for Rudy Tomjon.

Doesn't he have cancer and mental health issues?

Doesn't he have cancer and mental health issues?


We only keep guys for 2 year Glenn. Catch him on an upswing.

Maybe he could be Curry's "co-head coach".

Good cop that handles the offense/playbook?

He's a scout for the Lakers. He beat cancer before his last return to the league.

Alcoholic, too, right?

And his face is all busted up.

That's hard.

please take down tom izho as an option. I question the reality of anyone who sees him as a viable option for a successful season in Detroit.

I heard Blakely during drive time and he speculated that since Joe has said that he plans to talk to both Curry and Porter that he wouldn't be shocked if PHX hired Porter as soon as tonight.

Also heard Tirico say that he wouldn't be surprised to see Flip hired by PHX.

did this news make you swerve a lil' bit?

please take down tom izho as an option. I question the reality of anyone who sees him as a viable option for a successful season in Detroit.

I had to put it up. Doesn't mean I agree with it.

Tom Fucking Izzo

I had to put it up. Doesn't mean I agree with it.
But he's not an option is my protest. Not even close to a thought on any radar outside of raving lunatics somehow on his jock. Same guys who'd love for us to play a team of 19 year olds.


Joe D. gets my respect for not singling out Sheed in spite of the stoney and wojo badgering. Hold the whole squad accountable.

MoTown is my pick. He embodies everything this team should be about.

how much Seagrams benadryl did you drink SDB?

zekyl does wine coolers, I don't.

Not hyped about the Michael Curry era at all. Yuck.

Not hyped about the Michael Curry era at all. Yuck.
he's not going to play man...lol

Serious though we dont know as muich as Joe does about him, but he commands respect and at the moment i can live with that.

Not hyped about the Michael Curry era at all. Yuck.


I remember when Michael Curry nearly single handedly beat the Celtics in Gm 1 of the 2002 ECF, I think he had like 20+ pts, and then we lost 4 straight...

I remember when Michael Curry nearly single handedly beat the Celtics in Gm 1 of the 2002 ECF, I think he had like 20+ pts, and then we lost 4 straight...

Brings back memories of our offensively challenged starting five consisting of Curry, Ben, and "Playoff Cliffy". Maybe that's why I'm looking at this so negatively.

it's been said for some time now that curry was being groomed to replace flip in 2009. this is just a year early, that's all.

while i agree that flip was not THE main problem, i think i'll yield to joe on this one. he knows this team best and i'm sure he can see what appears obvious to outsiders too- the players simply do not respect or buy into flip's concepts enough.

some of that is on the players (their stubborness i mean) and a lot of the problem is the players themselves. so no doubt, we DEFINITELY need some personel changes. for sure.

but i think it's also wise to install a head coach who will be able to be tough and also be respected by the players. players SHOULD respect a coach and follow his instructions regardless, simply because he's the head coach.

but in reality they can be stubborn and it is critical to have a coach they can relate to and believe in.

curry is inexperienced but i think he has the pedigree and is perhaps a perfect fit for what we need.

now let's hire him already and then move on to making a big trade or 2. i was disapppointed to hear joe say no moves will be made until after the draft though- i was hoping we could do something sooner and get a decent pick as well as a player. or something.

but let's see what he does next.

If we don't provide Curry with a lot of support this could blow up in our faces.
If Porter heads elsewhere, who do we have to give Curry some sort of offensive insight?

Tim Legler as assistant coach?

http://img252.imageshack.us/img252/313/leglerve1.jpg

He can serve up his wife as the locker room hooker, for those quick halftime pick-me-ups.



http://bp1.blogger.com/_1OMiSrEJXnY/RvGD7QllPvI/AAAAAAAAD68/t19d4zBeqOY/s1600-h/legler.jpg

Holy shit is that actually his wife? I'm going to have to rethink my opinion of Legler...

Legler is the man.

Having as badass wife isnt hard when you're atleast 12 percent famous. Legler is 13 percent.

Per RotoWorld, Pistons asked Atlanta for permission to interview Mike Woodson...

I like where this is going, he's the closest thing to LB this franchise would ever have again...

The Pistons have reportedly asked the Hawks for permission to talk to coach Mike Woodson about the opening in Detroit now that Flip Saunders has been fired.

It's nice that they are helping Woodson get an extension from Atlanta.

It's nice that they are helping Woodson get an extension from Atlanta.


What's taking Sund so long...

:lathamjahnke:


Pistons' next coach? Michael Curry has diligent reputation
June 5, 2008

Pistons president Joe Dumars planned to sit down Wednesday with the man he wants to hire as his next head coach. No one should be too surprised that the man is Michael Curry.

One day after firing Flip Saunders, Dumars planned to begin a quick coaching search by interviewing Curry, one of Saunders' assistants. Curry is considered, by far, to be the leading candidate, a notion that has some raising their eyebrows.

It's true that Curry is light on NBA coaching experience. He has served only one season, this past one, as an assistant.

And before that, it seemed he was building a résumé for a front-office position or a job with the league. In addition to owning a master's degree in sports management, he has served as the NBA Players Association president and the vice president of player development for the NBA Development League.

It wasn't until Dumars lured him to the Pistons last summer that Curry got his first taste of running practices, scouting opponents, suggesting adjustments and dealing with wins and losses.

Some question whether, given his lack of experience, he can command the respect needed to deal with the egos and viewpoints of NBA players, especially the veterans he likely would inherit in Detroit.

The truth is no one, not even Dumars, will know for sure until Curry is in the boss' chair.

But there are the reasons Dumars believes in him.

Curry played in the league for 11 seasons despite being undrafted out of Georgia Southern. He made his mark not with extraordinary talent but with hard work and basketball smarts, and he demanded the same from his more-talented teammates. Although he was 6-feet-5, small for a forward, he managed to gain playing time by doing the little things teams need to win. He served as a leader in that sense, despite not being a leading scorer.

One can only assume that he will bring the same characteristics -- a commitment to defense, hard work and winning -- to a head coaching role. That's one thing Dumars is seeking. He had a brilliant X's and O's coach in Saunders, and that didn't produce a championship. He's ready to try something different, something more visceral.

Asked last weekend about his lack of experience, Curry scoffed and said, "I've been on the bench as an assistant for 15 years. For me, personally, it was an easy transition (this season). Having all those leadership roles I had as a player made it that way."

Curry had no trouble gaining the respect of the locker room this season. Anyone who has played in the league will garner some leeway in the NBA brotherhood, but Curry took that advantage and went much further.

He made his mark well before training camp, when he began running workouts with some of the young players.

The Pistons' practices were always tinged with lightheartedness, a spirit of joking around that kept everyone loose. Curry didn't squelch that atmosphere, but he did turn up the intensity a bit as the season went on.

He installed a mandatory pregame routine that put every other team's pregame routine to shame. Like clockwork, about 90 minutes before tip-off, Curry had the entire bench gather on the floor to stretch and run drills together.

He put his background as a defensive specialist to good use, chiding players who favored driving one direction and forcing his young guys to beat him soundly. When he saw something he didn't like, everyone knew it.

In the playoffs, several players referred to something "Coach Curry" had told them. On ESPN, guard Lindsey Hunter called Curry "his strategist" and said they were going to study what went wrong with the defense in Game 5 against Boston and fix it for Game 6.

He had an air of urgency about him all season, a straightforward seriousness that was just a little different than most of the other Pistons.

If Dumars wants new urgency in his team, it's understandable why he believes Curry might be the voice to demand it.

But then again, if Curry gets the job, there's no guarantee. Dumars admitted he's taking a risk in firing a proven winner -- at least, to some degree -- in Saunders. Curry knows, too, that if he winds up as an NBA head coach, he can't predict what kind of success he'll have.

"Until you do it," Curry said, "you don't know how you're going to be judged or how you'll play it out."

Reading that, I have no idea how:

a) anyone could think this wasn't a done deal a long time ago.

b) how Flip could say that his firing was a "surprise".

It's nice that they are helping Woodson get an extension from Atlanta.

I've been thinking about this some more, and it seems to me that doing this not only helps Woodson get his decision from Atlanta sooner (extension or fired, so he can re-join LB) but it keeps Curry from having too much leverage in contract negotiations, keeping his price tag down.

there is no search. curry is the man and SHOULD be.

I'd give pause for Mike Woodson. But I personally wanted him to follow in LB's footsteps here from the jump, so i'm bias.

I'd give pause for Mike Woodson. But I personally wanted him to follow in LB's footsteps here from the jump, so i'm bias.


If I had to pick between the two, I would pick Woodson soley on the fact that he's had coaching experience before. The fact that Curry has just one year as an assistant, under Flip Saunders no less, doesn't exactly come off as being "ready" if you ask me...then again what do I know. I'm bias too.

not to be a bitch, but i think the term you're looking for is: biased.

go ahead and beat on me for being anal about grammar. lol