Posts tagged FlipSaunders at FanHouse

Joe Dumars took the high road when announcing Flip Saunders' dismissal last week by refusing to dwell on Saunders' failings. One thing he did let slip, though, was how disappointed he was in Amir Johnson's playing time in the playoffs and the regular season.

Michael Curry will be introduced as Saunders' successor later today, and I don't think it's a stretch at all to assume a prerequisite for the job was sharing Dumars' hopes for Johnson to see more time in 2008-09. Why does a 21-year-old reserve merit so much attention? Because he's the most athletic player on Detroit's roster, and despite extremely inconsistent minutes, he's one of the most productive players in the entire league.

Wait, one of the most productive players in the league? Indeed, and that's not an exaggeration. This made it's rounds on the blogosphere a couple of weeks ago, but the blog Count the Basket compared seven different advanced metrics for evaluating player performance independent of playing time, and Johnson rated favorably in almost all of them:

Another eye-popper is seeing Amir Johnson, the 21-year-old Detroit power forward who's been riding the pine in the playoffs, ranked first in the league in Adjusted Plus/Minus. This actually isn't as great an anomaly as might be expected - Johnson rated rather well across the board. His consensus ranking was 15th. He was rated lowest by PER (64th), but he ranked 11th in Win Shares and 20th in Statistical Plus/Minus. Obviously one has to use some caution considering he played under 800 minutes on the season, but the fact that he rated well in several metrics could be a good sign for the future.

An avalanche of hires! Following news Chicago has picked Vinny Del Negro to lead its corps(e), Detroit radio station WDFN reports the Pistons have hired Michael Curry to take over for the deposed Flip Saunders (via BallHype).

Like Del Negro, Curry has limited bench background. However, M.C. does have an illustrious resume with the league, having worked as the president of the Players Association for much of his career and spending time with the league as its veep of player development. Curry also spent the past year next to Flip on Detroit's bench, and reportedly has strong relationships with the players.

Del Negro's a veritable blank slate. But you'd assume -- based on Joe Dumars' ideals and Curry's playing-days oeuvre -- that Detroit under M.C. will be a defensive outfit for the most part. It helps that the team remains chalk full of able defenders, and also with offensive firecrackers. Barring a surprisingly full detonation (possible), Curry's already halfway to the playoffs. The key will be in making it back to The Finals in due time (says Captain T. Z. Obvious).

That's all the job openings, folks, unless Mike Woodson meets his demise (which seems strangely possible, given Sekou Smith's latest dispatch).

Yesterday my colleague Tom Ziller asked the not-so-hypothetical question, "Whatever happened to Doug Collins?" For a few brief seconds it looked like he was a lock to be hired by the Bulls, and yet instead of getting a deal done the team has continued to drag their heels by giving the likes of Dwane Casey and Chuck Person second interviews.

So what gives? Brian Hanley of the Chicago Sun-Times explains:

General manager John Paxson was unavailable for comment and remained waiting for the OK from chairman Jerry Reinsdorf to hire Doug Collins. Reinsdorf is said to be upset that the news of Collins' imminent hiring was leaked last week to media, which is why he has revisited the decision.

Really? If that's the case, wow, Reinsdorf seriously needs to get over himself. If he's confident enough to make a multi-year offer, he shouldn't be so worried about the news getting out a few days before he wanted.

But while the Bulls are still talking to candidates, the Daily Herald reports that the Bulls "have not shown much interest" in interviewing recently disposed Pistons Flip Saunders (much to the chagrin of local bloggers). The Star-Tribune muses that Flip might take a year off from coaching to serve as a television analyst. Considering he'll still collect $5.4 million owed from the Pistons, there's no reason for him not to jump back into the business.

Joe Dumars announced the dismissal of Flip Saunders with a statement released this morning, and he hinted at how drastic the rest of his offseason moves may be during a press conference in the afternoon:

"Make no mistake, everybody is in play right now," said Joe Dumars, the Pistons' president of basketball operations. "There are no sacred cows here. You lose that sacred cow status when you lose three straight years."

It's not often you see a GM put his entire team on the block, but Dumars obviously wants to get the word out -- both to his players and other GM's -- that he'll do anything to improve his team. My personal feeling is that Rasheed Wallace will be the only starter who's traded, but if Dumars has a chance to bring back a superstar (Rasheed and Rip Hamilton for Tracy McGrady?), he just may bite.

It's a different situation from last year when Dumars was hesitant to disrupt his core and allegedly passed on deals for Shawn Marion or Amare Stoudemire that would have required giving up two starters. But with guys like Rodney Stuckey, Jason Maxiell and Amir Johnson waiting in the wings, the Pistons are better prepared to plug holes in their starting lineup if the right two-for-one deal materializes.

If the rumors that Steven A. Smith is reporting come to fruition, and they appear to be manifesting themselves through a relevant Googly news search, Michael Curry will soon be named the new head coach of the Detroit Pistons:

Pistons assistant Michael Curry will be named Saunders' successor, a source close to the Pistons told ESPN's Stephen A. Smith. Curry is a former Pistons player and official in the players' union. [...]

'This will not be a long, drawn-out process,' Dumars said about a replacement for Saunders. 'The next coach is going to be handed a good team. You worry more when you don't have the players to compete at the level you need them to.'

If the two biggest concerns of Dumars are that a) Flip Saunders did not have the confidence of his team and b) that the Pistons need to keep things in-house, then Curry is a perfect choice, as his leadership abilities and current role satisfy both requirements. Curry have just one year on the bench, but as a former president of the NBA Players Association as well as NBA Vice President of Player Development, the guy knows how to lead.

Plus, he bridges the gap between the front office to the current roster: he's one of Dumars' teammates for several years and was a starter during Chauncey Billups, Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince's first year in Detroit in 2002-03, which marked the first of Detroit's six straight trips to the Eastern Conference Finals. Would his familiarity with the players allow him to keep them properly motivated? Or would it simply mean the players can stay comfortable? Only time will tell -- assuming he gets the job.

If the word on the street is true, and it certainly appears to be, the Detroit Pistons have changed their minds on retaining Flip Saunders as head coach.

Saunders appeared to have some job security as reports out of Detroit stated that he would not be fired. But more accurate reports surfaced last night that led to speculation that Saunders would be gone. Which was confirmed today.

President of basketball operations Joe Dumars said Tuesday a change is necessary despite Saunders' successes.

In his three seasons, the Pistons were 176-70 in the regular season and 30-21 in the postseason, but they lost in the conference finals each year.

Well, either that or Saunders was as good as gone all along and someone just got their initial facts wrong. Which is entirely possible considering that all of the initial speculation was the work of Chris McCosky.

So not only can you expect a little beatdown across the 'sphere today, but you should probably be looking for some sort of retraction type post from McCosky's byline. Oh, no ... wait. It appears McCosky is already one step ahead, er, behind. Or whatever you would call a journalistic backpeddle.

Hey, I tend to agree with him -- it probably is a bad decision to can Flip, for a number of reasons, mainly that losing certainly is not his fault (although his playoff track record, folks, is just simply not great). But that doesn't make misreporting the "facts" and then trying to act like you weren't reporting them as such any less embarrassing.

Less embarrassing may be the amount of time that Flip will spend on the open market. As Matt M points out, Steve Kerr would be quite wise to have already gone all Kelvin Sampson on the situation.

You know that "Flip Saunders' job is safe" talk from yesterday? Turns out he's not out of the woods just yet. From Krista Jahnke of the Detroit Free Press:

A person with knowledge of the situation said president Joe Dumars has not sat down with Saunders yet to discuss the past season, which ended last week to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference finals.

Nor has Dumars met with owner Bill Davidson, who will undoubtedly have his say in Saunders' future.

The person said a meeting between Dumars and Davidson will take place "really soon," and after that, questions about Saunders' future should be cleared up. The person stressed that Saunders has not yet been given any assurance he'll be back.

This contradicts Chris McCosky's article in the Detroit News yesterday, although it's somewhat telling that McCosky has backed off his initial prediction today. Obviously no one not named Joe Dumars knows what's going to happen -- and maybe not even him just yet.

No matter what his status may be with the Pistons, there's no doubt that Saunders will coach in the NBA in 2008-09 if he wants to. He's failed to get the Pistons over the hump and back into the Finals, but he's also averaged more than 58 wins each of his three years in Detroit. I imagine there are at least a handful of teams out there who'd seriously consider canning their current coach should Saunders become available.

Yup. According to the Detroit News, Flip Saunders will most likely be back with the Pistons next season, despite what can only be classified as an unnerving series of disappointments that now stretches into its sixth year in the Conference Finals with only one championship, Detroit will not can their coach.

Opinions on Saunders tend to run the gamut, with some saying that he has failed to ever reach this team, and others arguing that he's been made into a scape goat for an under-performing squad that has still managed a great deal of success.

The knock on Saunders has nothing to do with his Xs and Os work. He does a good job adjusting to roster shifts as much as he can, knows how to trust his starters, and has helped develop a highly talented and effective bench unit filled with young players as well as getting maximum contributions from veterans like Antonio McDyess and Lindsey Hunter.

The problem is simply that this team is difficult to motivate. There are times when they simply don't execute like they need to, and in recent years, those lapses have occurred at the worst possible times. Like, say, the fourth quarter in an Conference Final elimination game.

Still, Saunders has done a lot with this team since taking over, and has probably deserves to at least make it through his contract before being evaluated or set free. With Joe Dumars' patented history of managing a highly talented roster within the salary cap and making smart decisions, it's likely he'll stick with Saunders for one more year.

Welcome to a new intermittent NBA FanHouse feature. Peter Vescey of the New York Post throws more crap against the wall than any other ink-stained scribe (now that Sam Smith is a blogger). Vescey Watch is our way of keeping track of how many bad rumors he prints this summer.

Two more teams fell victim to the Offseason Blues this weekend, and our man Vescey knows exactly what will happen to one of them:

FAILING to crash The Finals for the third straight season is guaranteed to cost Pistons coach Flip Saunders a fourth try. ... On the "flip side," assistant Michael Curry - not Terry Porter, a leading candidate for the Suns' vacancy, or Dave Cowens - is certain to succeed Saunders.

At least P.V. backs the conventional wisdom on this one. He rejects at least part of it in his May 25 guarantees concerning the Knicks' draft plans.

I guarantee Donnie Walsh will not surrender his first rounder (No. 6, overall) for the express purpose of liquidating a loathsome contract, as certain hysterical media mopes hypothesize . . . and continue to be employed.

"Hysterical media mopes?" That has a nice ring ... maybe we should rename this feature.

Two days prior, The Viper addresses those pesky Carmelo Anthony rumors.

... [I]t's absurd to think the "Imperial" Anthony is available. Allen Iverson is a different story. On the final year of his deal, it's highly unlikely he'll get a stratospheric, long-term commitment from the Nuggets.

We'll see about that, Pete.

Watson wondered about all things 'Sheed earlier; another Piston rumored to be in varying states of departure in the coming weeks is coach Flip Saunders. As Watson relayed Saturday once Detroit was eliminated, Saunders nears that bedeviled "lame duck season" should he stay with Motown; "if changes are going to be made in any case, why not get started with your next new coach then?" the theory goes.

Shannon Shelton of the Detroit Free Press (via DBB) quotes Pistons heir apparent Michael Curry as saying nothing has been discussed with regard to the coaching situation. Detroit did reject Chicago's prior plea to interview Curry, though ... a constraint not placed on Terry Porter, who is rumored to be the clubhouse leader for the Phoenix job. That would seem to indicate Joe Dumars will at least consider sending Flip to the gallows.

Despite Flip's inability to get to the Finals, he did ring up a 71% winning percentage in Detroit. It makes sense for the Pistons to move on, but it also makes sense for some other team to scoop Saunders up quickly. For all his motivational deficiencies, his systems just plain work in the NBA. Eleven full seasons on an NBA bench, 11 postseason berths, including the conference finals in his last four full seasons.

Of course, the vacancies are drying up. Chicago seems ready to announce Doug Collins any second, and Flip hasn't been mentioned in the Phoenix rumors (despite being a terrific mix of offense and defense). Atlanta, anyone?