OT John Kuester fired as Pistons Coach
Per http://twitter.com/#!/vgoodwill
#Pistons coach John kuester fired today
Dumars: “Decisions like this are difficult to make. I want to thank John for his hard work and dedication to the organization over
the last two years, however, at this time we have decided to make a change.”
Jumpers can be fixed. Not that I expect Stuckey to represent the Pistons in the Three Point Shout Out anytime soon, but to say that his J will be anything but broken is a bit extreme.
You can have more than one "sixth man". There are 240 minutes to go around, meaning 8 players could average 30 mpg. Some team shorten their playoff rotations down to 7 men, and you'll rarely see a team that has even 10 regulars.
Daye's overmatched at SF, too. He's about the same weight as Rip despite being 4 inches taller, and has even slower feet. Playing Daye at SF for 20+ minutes will hurt us just as badly as playing Rip there for 16 or less, as I propose. Again, I just want to get our best and highest paid players on the floor. At the very least, we need to get the nearly-ruined trade values of Gordon, Villanueva, and Rip back up.
Daye is not a good defender. He's been a "sensational" player. You'll remember the three pointers and come-from-behind blocks that he gets, but will forget about his missed rotations, poor effort, terrible body language, and general n00bery. He's not ready for starter's minutes. Not even on a bad team.
You can have more than one 6th man, but at the same position? Ideally, Stuckey and Gordon would be in situations where they could come off the bench and if that were to happen in Detroit, I don't think they'd be happy sharing alot of minutes. I don't like rolling both out there because both are players that create for themselves and not others. I've seen minimal improvement in Stuckey's J since he's been in the league. I'll take my chances with Daye considering we haven't seen very much of him and I think he has some unlocked potential. You complain about Daye's attitude, but Stuckey's isn't one to write home about. I can agree that we need to get the trade values of our veterans up, but I'm not sure that's going to happen. Even if Rip plays well, he's still getting older, so his stock isn't going to rise much. And Charlie is trash - no idea why we signed him in the first place. Gordon should be playing alot more minutes than he has the past two seasons. Hopefully a new coach will know how to utilize him.
Joe's trying to recreate the 04 championship team.
Stuckey reminds him of Chauncey, a big strong combo guard playing point. Rip is still Rip, and Gordon's even more versatile as a scorer. Joe's always wanted that three-guard rotation, and I think he envisioned Ben playing some PG. Tayshaun's still here, and Daye is another long, rail-thin SF (although he's not a good defender and is more assertive than Tayshaun offensively). Villanueva is another underachieving perimeter-oriented PF that ignores defensive rebounds, a la Rasheed Wallace. Ben Wallace is still here, as well.
I do believe that Villanueva was conceived as a value signing that could be packaged later. If he was putting up Milwaukee level stats we'd be much better off.
Well if that's what he's trying to do, he's doing a poor job. Stuckey and Billups are very different IMO. Billups is a career 40% shooter from 3. Stuckey, not so much. Stuckey is a bit bigger too and lacks the PG and leadership skills that Chauncey developed (in defense of Stuckey, it took Chauncey a decent amount of time to come into his own). And although Rasheed didn't mix it up on the boards as much as he should have, and spent too much time on the perimeter - he was capable of doing the dirty work and was a very underrated defender. Charlie V is a terrible defender (probably the biggest reason why I have no idea what he is doing on our team) and although he has the skills to be a versatile scorer, he rarely takes advantage of it.
I think you'll see some roster reshuffling around the draft, especially if the proposed #8 pick to Minny/Cleveland deal occurs. The next coach will definitely want to see a couple more bigs, but with Jonas (hopefully) coming back and Monroe in the middle, there are some parts there to work with. I do think they need to figure out how they are going to use Gordon and Stuckey together, but there are headaches for every new coach.
Dumars has gone from one of the best front office execs in pro sports to one of the most questionable in a matter of a few years. There is one decision he can make that can start turning back around his reputation along with returning the Pistons to where they were in the early 2000's. This decision should have been made in 2008, and again should've been made in 2009. Don't screw the pooch on this one Joey D, you know what to do:
...punch Larry Bird in the neck?
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<br>(I agree. In both interpretations.)
Well played, sir.
We still have no closer. Watch how many times the Pistons were competitive in games this season and then it comes down to the fourth quarter Stuckey is getting the ball and drives to the lane and either gets blocked or is wildly out of control and turns it over. Yeah sometimes he finishes but more often than not it goes the wrong way.
This team has some decent pieces but it still has no central core.
Don't forget that 2004 Pistons not only got Rasheed Wallace but they had Mehmet Okur as a sixth man. Stacked.
Count me in the "Laimbeer for Coach" club. That guy was a beast with the Bad Boys. He has also been winning with the Shock. It's his time now. Make it happen
According to Dumars, two premlinary candidates for the HC position are Kelvin Sampson (please god no) and former Hawks HC Mike Woodson.
http://ken-berger.blogs.cbssports.com/mcc/blogs/entry/11838893/29820840
Not according to Dumars. According to a writer who is speculating on Dumars' thinking.
would love Laimbeer to be the head coach!
Coach Bill Laimbeer and assistant Rick Mahorn would bring home some much needed Bad Boys attitude.
Laimbeer sounds good.
Maybe Kuester will head out to L.A. and join his old pal.