OT: Pistons Hire Stan Van Gundy

Submitted by nmumike on

Van Gundy will join the Los Angeles Clippers' Doc Rivers and San Antonio Spurs' Gregg Popovich as the only coaches with full authority over personnel decisions.

Question is, will he bring along someone to be the GM, or help with that like Otis Smith, and who will his assistants be?

Link:http://www.usatoday.com/story/sports/nba/pistons/2014/05/13/nba-pistons-hire-stan-van-gundy/9065277/

Michigan4Life

May 13th, 2014 at 2:45 PM ^

 
 

SVG did really well with the Magic and took them to the NBA Finals. Yes, Dwight Howard was dominant down low, but he knows how to utilize his team.  He never had a losing record as a NBA coach and that's a pretty good accomplishment.

Look at 2008-2009 Orlando Magic when they went to NBA Finals:

PG: Jameer Nelson

SG: Courtney Lee

SF: Hedo Turkologu

PF: Rashard Lewis

C: Dwight Howard

Bench:
PG: Rafer Alston

C: Marcin Gortat

SG: JJ Redick

SG/SF: Mikeal Pietrus

 

This is pretty average team but he knew how to maxmize their talent and nearly got them a NBA title.

 

Schembo

May 13th, 2014 at 2:38 PM ^

Actually, the Piston job is more favorable.  Sign a 5 year contract, get fired after one season and then sit at your beach house and collect millions for a few years.

mGrowOld

May 13th, 2014 at 2:40 PM ^

If Stan's not to your liking might I suggest the newly available Mike Brown for your head coaching vacancy?

Mike promises to lead your team to the best regular season record in the NBA AND the even the NBA finals.  All you have to do is add LeBron James to your roster.

MGoChippewa

May 13th, 2014 at 2:41 PM ^

be an excellent hire, in my opinion.  Who better to build in a small market around a big-time young C than a guy who has already done it?  I think he'll finally bring in the shooters this team needs around their young bigs.  Not sure how he'll handle the PF situation, seeing as he usually tends to prefer a stretch-four, and neither Smith or Monroe qualifies.

dothepose

May 13th, 2014 at 2:44 PM ^

I'll take Stan Van Gundy over Mike Brown anyday. Get this team to the playoffs and he should be the longest tenured coach here since Flip. It shouldn't be too hard with the core this team has.

mGrowOld

May 13th, 2014 at 2:50 PM ^

I absolutely agree.

Quick question - if you were a HC candidate which roster would you rather take over?  The Knicks, the Pistons or the Cavs?  Personally (and I know I'm biased) I think the Cavs have the most talent of the three but have had horrible coaching to keep them from showing it.

SpinachAssassin

May 13th, 2014 at 11:36 PM ^

It's an interesting question.  The internets have (kind of) spoken:

- NYK, http://hoopshype.com/salaries/new_york.htm
- DET, http://hoopshype.com/salaries/detroit.htm
- CLE, http://hoopshype.com/salaries/cleveland.htm

Each team is likely spoken for next season, with NYK way over.  Yet in the 2015/16 season, both NYK and CLE barely have any money tied up.  DET a bit different with money tied up in JSmoov and Jennings.

So, in this case, if you're Phil Jackson, you're probably thinking to tank in 2014/15 and get as high a draft pick as possible (wondering aloud if they even have one...) and build for the future through a young stud and some awesome free agents who want to play in NY.  CLE could realistically lose Kyrie.  and DET has the afore-mentioned tieups to Smith and Jennings in 2015/16 despite some young talented bigs.

I'd take NY.

TheLastHarbaugh

May 13th, 2014 at 11:49 PM ^

The NBA salary cap is going to rise by $5 million next year. So that means as things stand the Pistons have like $21 million in cap space. Jonas Jerebko has a player option for $4.5 million and is considering not picking it up. The Pistons can also amnesty him if they want. The Pistons can also not pick up Chauncey Billups' $2.5 million player option. So they could potentially have $28 million in cap space. That's more than enough money to totally revamp their roster. If you're looking to build a team in your own image, the Pistons are a prime spot.

MGoChippewa

May 13th, 2014 at 2:47 PM ^

and this is just semantics most likely, but SVG will be the President of Basketball Operations and Head Coach.  Wojnarowksi is reporting that Otis Smith will likely join the organization as the GM.

SanDiegoWolverine

May 13th, 2014 at 2:57 PM ^

With head coaching experience in my opinion and it isn't even close. I think he wood've a fantastic hire although I don't think having full control if the roster is ever a good thing.

Tater

May 13th, 2014 at 2:59 PM ^

SVG had to coach Dwight Howard, who is a walking sack of "player issues."  Look at how the "loaded" Houston Rockets did with Howard this year as a reference.  

I was hoping to see the Tom Izzo circus roll into Detroit, just for Sparty schadenfreude, but SVG would be a great pick.  

Michigan4Life

May 13th, 2014 at 3:04 PM ^

 
 

He played grind it up slow it down with 2 post players with the Heat, but chose to do 4 out/1 in when he's with the Magic when he had shooters with Dwight down low.

A good coach knows how to adjust to his personnel and SVG has been really sucessful in the NBA. Look at his record as a NBA coach:

2003-2004 - Miami Heat: 42-40 (EC Semi)

2004-2005 - Miami: 59-23 (ECF)

2005-2006 - Miami: 11-10 (resigned)

2007-2008 - Orlando Magic: 52-30 (EC Semi)

2008-2009 - Orlando: 59-23 (NBA Finals)

2009-2010 - Orlando: 59-23 (ECF)

2010-2011 - Orlando: 52-30 (1st Round)

2011-2012 - Orlando: 37-29 (1st Round)

He has been very successful and knows how to adjust to personnel. He certainly will take advantage of Andre Drummond's skill set at C.

He has my endorsement and it's way better than the other coaches in the past few years.

Here's a really good quote from the Grantland article:

"Van Gundy is one of a very few coaches known to shape his system to the personnel on hand, rather than imposing a strict system on whatever roster he winds up with. He can be a “fit” for nearly any job he chooses. (That list, by the way, basically consists of Van Gundy, Gregg Popovich, Rick Carlisle, and George Karl, and that’s it.) Most remember Van Gundy as a four-out, spread pick-and-roll devotee, one of the first to truly emphasize the importance of 3s and experiment with “stretch 4” types with the Orlando Magic. But before that, his Miami Heat teams slowed the pace down, almost always deploying two traditional bigs at the same time, and playing largely through Shaquille O’Neal in the post or an isolated Dwyane Wade on the wing."

 

LSAClassOf2000

May 13th, 2014 at 3:14 PM ^

Perhaps some insight into potential terms of such a marriage...

 

mGrowOld

May 13th, 2014 at 3:22 PM ^

I'm jealous - SVG would be an excellent hire for the Pistons.  Now....who can my Cavs get?  I know....Mike Brown!  I hear he's available again.

 Maybe we should sign him - after all, he has experience and he has been to the NBA finals.

MGoChippewa

May 13th, 2014 at 3:49 PM ^

that Smith sucks.  A lot of it is based in fact, but I don't think that would be a huge concern, as SVG would have final say.  Smith did some dumb things, not limited to drafting Fran Vasquez and signing guys like Rashard Lewis to major deals.  I just like that they're freaking out because their arguments are never logical and always way too dramatic.  It's basically this site after a horrific football loss 24/7.

turd ferguson

May 13th, 2014 at 4:51 PM ^

I didn't realize that opinions on Smith are that strong, so I could be off, but their expectations for this "GM" position might be a little crazy. This position will report to the coach/president. To get an experienced NBA GM who apparently has the trust and respect of that coach/president seems to me like all that we could ask for.

MGoChippewa

May 13th, 2014 at 4:58 PM ^

which is why I find their despair so hilarious.  As far as Pistons communities go online, it's the only prominent one I'm aware of.  I just can't bring myself to join it though because it's basically an MLive comment section affair.  Which is off-kilter from what I'm used to on most SBNation sites.

TheLastHarbaugh

May 13th, 2014 at 10:14 PM ^

I don't understand all of this weird Gores hate that has cropped up of late.

He's basically said, "I will pay any amount of money or do whatever it takes for the Pistons to be successful." Sounds good to me. There are a lot of owners in professional sports where that isn't a given.

He gave Joe D one last shot, and fired him like all of the fans wanted. Now he's throwing his check book at the most coveted coach out there, and landed him.

He has been A-OK as far as I'm concerned.