OT: Isiah fired by Florida International. Tom Gores should bring him back to Detroit
For anybody who was a fan hoping for a contender during the Vitale debacle and the home grey uniforms at the Silverdome in the early 80s, Isiah Thomas is revered. He probably saved pro-basketball in Detroit. In my mind the greatest pure point guard ever to lace them up.
Homer PSA:
His post-Piston's career has been a succession of "I can't look" events save some decent drafts with the Raptors and a good couple years coaching the Pacers. I want him to come home now. Davidson is gone and this new owner became a fan during the 80s. The Pistons are dull and irrelevant and the Captain seems pretty rudderless. The two parties need each other IMO. Find the man some job with the organization where he can help give some life to the Pistons.
Link on today's firing:
To focus on the positive, check out his dual with Bernard King in the 84 Playoffs. No one his size before or since could take over a game like he could.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bOLi-9ENtTM
Thomas hasn't really achieved any success at any of his stop as a coach or executive. In fact, most of his stints have achieved more bad press than good. He's a legend as a player who isn't a good fit for the Pistons front office or coaching staff.
Never advanced past the first round and missed the playoffs twice in his five years. The fact that this was by far his most successful coaching/executive stint says a lot.
Please not back to the Knicks. Our owner loves him despite him being terrible at coaching.
As a Knicks fan - PLEASE GOD TAKE HIM. Before he can even talk to that fat idiot Dolan. Please. Hurry. HURRY
No thanks.
Do the Pistons needs a new mascot?
I loved Isiah as a player, but he's the Matt Millen of basketball as a coach/executive.
Joe D is the Matt Millen of NBA executives.
My two cents: I still don't understand why Lambeer isn't coaching them. If anybody has proven they should be brought back to the team, its him.
I agree that Joe Dumars has done a poor job, particularly in the last five years or so, but he built a team that won an NBA championship. Matt Millen built a team that went 0-16. End of comparison.
as um09 stated he did build a team that won an NBA championship.The past couple drafts, i.e. Knight and Monroe he has done well and Stuckey appears to be coming around. Now that ownership has been solidified I think he'll continue to do well.
Joe Dumars took over a team that hadn't gotten past the first round of the playoffs in ten years. He won a title and made the conference finals six straight seasons.
The Lions under Matt Millen had the worst record since WWII of any team for that length of time.
Yeah, I can't see the difference either.
Joe D has done a poor job lately, but he did build a team that won an NBA championship and came within a game 7 of repeating. Matt Millen was a train wreck from start to finish. There was nothing redeemable about his tenure whatsoever.
I loved his fieldhouse as a kid but come on. Darko over Wade and Melo? And don't give me the we didnt' need a PG or SF since we had Billups and Prince.
Dumars has had one undeniable success -- his 2004 championship team. I don't know if that justifies keeping him around indefinitely -- he's certainly made some questionable decisions since -- but his work leading up to 2004 was brilliant and he deserves credit for that at least.
Since you've arbitrarily decided one perfectly good argument is invalid, how bout I point out that there wasn't a scout anywhere that thought Darko was anything other than an elite talent? I and everyone else would've loved for that to turn out differently, but 100% of executives in the league, if put in the Pistons' position, would've taken Darko.
Darko was 16 when drafted by the Pistons. I would never invest that kind of money in such a raw player.
You can't be 16 and in the draft, not even back in 2003. He was 18, the minimum age for being drafted, just like LeBron.
Jermaine O'Neal and Andrew Bynum were 17 when drafted.
In technical terms it's "turn 18 (now 19) in the calendar year of the draft", so I know you know 16 isn't possible.
Wade was on NO ONE's radar at #2 that year. #5 to Miami was the highest anyone saw him going.
As for Melo, you would probably be talking about no NBA championship in Detroit in 2004 or any season after. The guy is an alpha scorer who wouldn't know how to play an unselfish role. He has never won a damn thing.
There are a ton of things to criticize Dumars about (almost all of them since 2008) but the 2003 Draft is a really unfair one.
Chad Ford, writing for ESPN, graded each team's 2003 draft. Guess what grade he gave the Pistons. Believe it or not, they were the only team to get an "A+".
As soon as the Pistons got the #2 pick in the lottery drawing most "experts" expected them to pick Darko. That's not because they thought Dumars was some kind of moron, but because Darko was considered the best big prospect and matched well with the Pistons' needs.
Hate all you want to but if the Pistons had taken Wade with that pick then we would have him and King James right now.
Cavs got Lebron. Zero titles. Nuggets got Melo (the only other logical pick at the #2 spot). Zero titles. The Raptors got Bosh. Zero titles.
The Heat got D-Wade. One title. Same as the Pistons. All those other players now play for a different team.
Honestly, the draft is overblown. If the Pistons had Melo they probably don't get Sheed, and no Sheed=No Title.
I guess the Pistons couldn't suck any more...
Actually, the should suck much worse than they do now. Stupid Dumars resigned Prince and Stuckey this past year when the goal should have been to tank hard.
Yes he was a great player, but that does not equate to a great coach/executive. He needs to retire and work on some pet projects that help kids or something nice.
He seems like one of those people whose ambition and charisma land them opportunities that their talent and abilities are not suited for. He owned the CBA at one point and ran it into the ground. He was mostly mediocre as coach of the Pacers (especially since Rick Carlisle took over the same team and led them to the conference finals). He was a train wreck as coach and GM of the Knicks. He never won more than 11 games as coach of FIU. I remember his first game as FIU coach (it was against UNC). In an interview before the game, he flippantly said something like "God help us!". Way to show confidence in your team. I think that pretty much sums up his approach to everything he's attempted in his post-playing career.
but just a random, somewhat connected thought: it's interesting that both Jordan and Gretzky have both struggled since retiring from playing their sport. It's still somewhat odd to hear their names attached to anything other than big-time success.
Hopefully we aren't saying similar things about Woodson or Brady in the near future.
Has it really always been Isiah? Not Isaiah?
Yes.
Isiah Thomas has been a disaster in SIX post-playing ventures now (Raptors GM, CBA commish, Pacers coach, Knicks GM, Knicks coach, FIU coach). If Gores wants Isiah to be in some kind of fluff PR role, fine. But there is no reason he should get another chance to do anything significant.
Why hire a guy who was fired from a mid-major college? Are you suggesting the Pistons hire him to sexually harrass the female employees? He was good as a player but has left a trail of train wrecks in his wake.
I'd say the Pistons have about 11.6 million reasons as to why they should probably keep away from Isiah Thomas.
I think it's time for Isaiah Thomas to embark upon his post-coaching career as a motivational speaker....
He's a guy who has had many very close, public friendships with very famous people: Davidson, Magic, Laimbeer, Aguirre, and Knight among them. All ended in public falling outs (although when both needed a character witess Knight and I kissed and made up). I. Thomas was the best point guard in my memory and courageous as hell on the court besides. I would also guess he'd stab a buddy in the back for ....well....just about anything he felt desirable.
Maybe I should proofread my posts.
How much do you have to hate the Pistons to want them to hire Isiah Thomas??? Man was a great basketball player; no one will try to argue that, but he has been utterly incompetent in his off the court career.
My Wizards will pass. Please pass.
And just say no.
Which cliche rejection works best?
The only thing I would take him as is a point guard coach that doesn't talk to anyone else within the organization. I don't know why you would want him.
The city of Detroit and the Pistons franchise has suffered enough lately. Why bring in Zeke to further screw things up??
Just noticed I have -9000 points. Guess you people don't like being told to fuck off. Didn't realize the MGoCommunity was so sensitive.
and you should feel bad. Throwing around expletives doesn't do anything to strengthen an argument or endear yourself to the board.
Oh, I get that someone didn't like my reply. That's fine. But I should "feel bad?" C'mon...I have bigger things to worry about than how many points I have or what some people I don't even know think of my posts.
But people telling me how I should "feel" and what I "owe" to people pisses me off. Just like Trey doesn't owe Michigan anything to come back for year two, I don't owe him anything for what he did either. He got 1 year of college education, and I got 1 year of some fun hoops, and mild-heartbreak. That's how college athletics works. The who owes what argument ends there.
And yeah, maybe my "f him, and f you" post was a tl;dr version, of "Excuse me kind sir, I differ with your point. You see, Mister Burke appears ready to head some poor advice. But if young Trey yearns to sit on a bench in the NBA, then good luck to him. I will be cheering for Michigan regardless of who is the court next season." But its the internet, and its more like a bar here than tea time in merry Ol' England.