Tough approach takes center court

Saunders and his staff will be more demanding this season; coach will implement zone defense.

Chris McCosky / The Detroit News

Coach Flip Saunders was publicly criticized last season by several players, including Antonio McDyess and former Piston Ben Wallace. See full image

AUBURN HILLS -- It's Thursday, four days before training camp opens. Coach Flip Saunders is relaxed, sitting in his office. A group of players, mostly non-roster guys, are running drills on the court. Saunders is discussing the upcoming season when the subject of the Pistons putting an emphasis on zone defense comes up.

"We are going to play more zone," he said, his tone immediately stern, unwavering. "We have to get out of this mind-set where"

His voice trails off, but you know what he's not saying. The Pistons have to shed that old, macho, man-to-man-or-bust mentality. The way NBA games are officiated now makes it nearly impossible to deploy the physical, straight-up man-to-man defense the Pistons played under Larry Brown in the 2004 championship season. And the man whose unique abilities allowed that style of defense to flourish -- four-time defensive player of the year, Ben Wallace -- is gone.

"You play what's effective," Saunders said. "I think we can be extremely good playing zone defense. But we have to commit to it. And committing to it will not be up for discussion."

That right there might be one of the primary differences with the post-Ben Wallace Pistons. Not that they will play more zone, but that Saunders and the staff are going to lead with a firmer hand.

"We are going to be more demanding," Saunders said, "and I think the players are going to be more demanding of themselves."

Saunders won't all of a sudden become a my-way-or-the-highway tyrant. You won't see him yank power forward Rasheed Wallace off the floor by the scruff of his jersey or anything like that.

But Saunders isn't going to be as accommodating to the Pistons' old ways as he might have been last season, his first with the team. Taking over a team that had been to the NBA Finals the two previous seasons, he walked a tightrope between implementing his own structure without deconstructing what had been successful.

The tightrope snapped late in the season. Some players got too lax. Some took his kindness for weakness. Some started showing up late for team flights and team busses. There were public criticisms of Saunders voiced by players (Ben Wallace and power forward Antonio McDyess, most notably). It wasn't pretty.

President Joe Dumars addressed the issue with the players first, then he addressed it with Saunders.

"I never like to see things aired out in the media," Dumars said. "I didn't approve of that. But I think those who have been around us know that wasn't the first time that guys complained. We handled it."

Dumars made it clear to the players that the coach was secure, that Saunders had his full support. He made it clear that the busses and airplanes will leave when they are scheduled to leave. If the players are tardy, they will have to make their own arrangements.

"My message to the guys was, don't make any excuses," Dumars said. "We didn't get it done last year, and I wanted everybody to come back this year just ready to get it done."

Dumars told Saunders that he had to strengthen his coaching staff. Dumars told him he wanted to hire a couple of proven coaches, guys, as Dumars put it, "that the (players) would respect the first day they walked in here."

Saunders did that, hiring two former NBA head coaches -- Terry Porter and Dave Cowens. However, Saunders correctly pointed out that the Pistons weren't exactly an undisciplined team last season. They led the league and set a franchise record for fewest turnovers (11.2 per game) and were among the leaders in assists.

Still, Saunders is looking forward to implementing his complete offensive system, something the addition of center Nazr Mohammed will allow him to do. Saunders is looking forward to making full use of the zone defense, something his teams in Minnesota did better than any team in the league. And even though there might be some tighter controls and less debate on styles and tactics this season, Saunders doesn't anticipate any friction.

"I have always adjusted and adapted to situations and players," Saunders said. "Even though we won 64 games last year, there were things I think we could have done better. They (the players) are disappointed that they had the year they had, that they were the best team in the NBA for six months and didn't win the thing. But these guys are hungry. They hear people saying they aren't going to be as good without Ben. They hear people already counting them out. I think these guys are looking forward to this year, a lot."

You can reach Chris McCosky at chris.mccosky@detnews.com.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060929/SPORTS0102/609290301/1004/SPORTS

wow, interesting article. the parts about players being late is notable. i mean, it must have bad enough that joe D commented on it.

Would it have killed McCosky to have identified who these "non-roster players" that were practicing actually are?

It would have made him the first beat reporter to do so, as far as I know.

The coverage of this team from the local media is just pathetic.

Glenn-

If you give me $25 and some McDonalds gift certificates I will drive to Auburn Hills this weekend and let you know which guys are running for that last roster spot.

Saunders is looking forward to implementing his complete offensive system, something the addition of center Nazr Mohammed will allow him to do.

that implies that they couldn't run the "complete" offense because of Ben's offensive limitations. i think it'll be interesting to see how much more the offense can evolve. outside of the playoffs, the offense was running very well.

Herm,

You should want to do it for free so you don't have to read me bitching about it anymore.

I know it's a minor thing, but I seriously think we're the only team that hasn't disclosed who their training camp participants are.

Somebody get Keith Langlois on the phone.

That is why I'm doing it, I was just trying to bilk you out of some 10 piece nuggets with hot mustard on the way.

When did McDyess complain about Flip?
<puzzled>

i hate us playing zone D. i know we won't have ben as our fallback guy on D.

but i still say our guys were more suited and more comfortable playing man to man.

whenever we played zone we looked confused and we never boxed out or rebounded the way we needed to. we got killed on the offensive boards when we played zone.

maybe flip just really sucked at teaching it, or the guys did not want to committ to it.

but it will take a lot to convince me that we can be successful rebounding and defending in a zone more times than man to man.

When did McDyess complain about Flip?
<puzzled>

I was wondering the same thing. I think I have a vague recollection of him saying something during the playoffs ... maybe the Cleveland series?

i think dyess said a lil something during the miami series with how flip was (not) using the bigs against shaq. considering sheed had the ankle, ben was left one on one, DD barely broke a sweat, and cato wasnt even brought in for a cheap foul or two, a little better strategy could have been used.

im on the fence on what i think of flips comments in the article and how it will help the pistons this year. as a fan, the word zone scares me. but i can see flips point with how the game is being called for wade and lebron nowdays, the zone could be a help towards the solution. i still think we got a lot of phantom calls in the playoffs, like lebrons off-arm-offensive fouls called against our guys that no defense could prevent. maybe instead of fixing our defense, our guards should just drive with reckless off-arm abandon like the nba primadonnas so we can win. i dont even know anymore though, im just gonna wait til the season plays out some.

Take FWIW from the NY media:

http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/basketball/story/457156p-384755c.html


It just wouldn't be the start of training camp without a coach or two on the hot seat.

Isn't that right, Flip Saunders?

After their conference finals flameout, the Pistons forced Saunders to fire his long-time, right-hand man, Don Zierden, and they would have made him ax Sidney Lowe, too, if Lowe hadn't seen what was happening and wisely fled for the North Carolina State head coaching job. At last check, it was Saunders who burned out his starters in the regular season, contributing to their dead legs against the Heat, but Zierden unjustly ended up as the fall guy.

Saunders enters his second season in Detroit with the organization wondering if he's tough enough to deal with his veteran players, while ex-Bucks head coach Terry Porter and Dave Cowens join the bench as assistants. If the Pistons are struggling into January, Saunders is going the way of the Edsel, with Porter considered the favorite to inherit the job, although Bill Laimbeer is also waiting in the wings.

As for Saunders, he knows where he stands. He has his eye on returning to the University of Minnesota, his alma mater, where his connections still run deep.

Bill Laimbeer? Really? HuH?

At this point I'd even take a quote from the dude's kid saying "That's right daddy!", the term "sports journalism" is an oxymoron.

I think Laimbeer is ready now to coach us. But thats probally not gonna happen. Also I think Billups is gone if Flip goes. I say axe Flip after we sign billups like the Pacers did with JO and Zeke. [smilie=blaha.gif]

At this point I'd even take a quote from the dude's kid saying "That's right daddy!", the term "sports journalism" is an oxymoron.
Case in point.




http://info.detnews.com/pistonsblog/index.cfm

"One last thing, my friend Mitch Lawrence is a good dude. He writes for the NY Daily News and usually does a pretty good job. He got this one wrong, though. You probably saw in his Sunday column that he wrote about how Flip Saunders had to force his friend, assistant Don Zierden to quit. Not true at all. Zierden is having some serious family issues back in Minnesota. The Pistons were willing to do whatever they could to help him. They were going to go as far as allowing him to go home and work as a regional scout -- just so he could be with his family. If he doesn't get the head coaching job of the WNBA team in Minnesota, which he really wants, the Pistons will keep him on the payroll in some capacity. Saunders wasn't forced to get rid of him. Joe Dumars did ask Saunders to beef up his staff. That's why Terry Porter and Dave Cowens were hired. But that wouldn't have impacted Zierden, nor is it an indication that Saunders is on the hot seat. Dumars has told the players that Flip has his full support."

Writing whatever you want > talking to anyone with even a chance of knowing something about the situation.

thanks fool, i remembered that mccosky had a blog, but i completely forgot about it.