Pistons contact Woodson, cleared to speak with Sampson, Frank and Laimbeer
by Matt Watson on Jun 9, 2011 5:30 PM EDT
in Detroit Pistons News
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PrintIt begins. From Yahoo!'s Adrian Wojnarowski:
Detroit Pistons president Joe Dumars has received permission to interview Milwaukee Bucks assistant Kelvin Sampson, one of the top targets for the Pistons’ head coaching job, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.
Dumars called Milwaukee general manager John Hammond on Thursday for the chance to speak with Sampson, and a meeting is expected to be set up shortly, sources said.
Dumars also received permission to speak with Boston Celtics assistant Lawrence Frank and Minnesota Timberwolves assistant Bill Laimbeer on Thursday. Also, Detroit made contact with former Atlanta Hawks coach Mike Woodson.
Sampson, Woodson and Frank are the early frontrunners for the job, sources said.
Vincent Goodwill of the Detroit News is reporting the same thing. Not surprisingly, Isiah Thomas is nowhere on either reporter's list -- looks like all that Zeke talk might have been a "professional courtesy" after all.
I'm curious just how many candidates Dumars will interview before making a decision -- and more specifically, if this group of names are the only candidates being seriously considered. As much as I'd like to see Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer develop into Gregg Popovich 2.0 for the Pistons, I'm surprised someone like Mavs assistant Dwane Casey hasn't been mentioned more prominently.
Of course, the Toronto Raptors have reportedly narrowed their coaching search to Frank and Casey, so if Dumars likes either of those two, he'll probably need to act fast.
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DO IT, JOE!
That goddamn Okra and beans got you Oprah in jeans. Seems to me a little lean cuisine, wouldn't hurt much- Agh don't touch! -Obie Trice
by Skylar on Jun 9, 2011 5:36 PM EDT reply actions 1 recs
I'm not enamored with anyone, not even Bill. Though I wouldn't mind having Laimbeer as an assistant.
But I don’t want Sampson, he looks like a shady character to me.
WWGMD?
You're dead to me Kriz.
Jonas Jerebko once killed a charging female rhinoceros in heat protecting its young with nothing more than a hook shot.
Okay not really...but seriously, not cool.
Jonas Jerebko once killed a charging female rhinoceros in heat protecting its young with nothing more than a hook shot.
Dorothy Mantooth is a saint! You understand me? A saint!
WWGMD?
by Kriz on Jun 9, 2011 7:10 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
Nobody beats Sarah Palin on that
Antlers and Horns......
by alaskanpistonsfan on Jun 10, 2011 3:53 AM EDT up reply actions
I'm with you on this one, Kriz.
I’m staking my entire DBB reputation (of which I have none) on the concept of Sampson being inherently reckless and dishonest and being a worse hire than Curry if it goes that way.
(I also don’t like Mitt Romney. But that’s another tirade.)
My blogs: pakagankarachi.livejournal.com (dormant)
burmahunkalove.livejournal.com (occasional signs of life)
by MrHappyMushroom on Jun 9, 2011 9:28 PM EDT up reply actions
Great
Now I feel like a shitty Pistons fan. Thanks guys.
I love what he did as a player and what he means to this franchise. I love what he did with the Shock and the recognition he gave to that franchise.
That does not equal a good coach for the Pistons to me and I’m afraid that giving Bill the Pistons now, without knowing how much the roster will be cleaned, could lead to little wins and his subsequent firing.
I’d love Bill as a long term coach for the Pistons, I want it to work. I’m just not convinced this team is right for him or that he is ready.
I’d definitely be more comfortable with him than other guys, and I would give him more time and/or leeway than other guys. Simply because he’s Bill.
WWGMD?
I’m in the same boat — I just don’t want the Pistons to turn Laimbeer into a sacrificial lamb like the Tigers did Alan Trammell, handing him the keys when the roster sucks then replacing him to have a fresh start once its ready to take the next step. I’m encouraged by his track record with the Shock and helping develop Kevin Love, but still, it’s hardly a slam dunk.
(That said, if he’s hired, I’m sure I’ll get both feet on the bandwagon very quickly, just like I did with Brady Hoke.)
If Laimbeer is hired as the Pistons coach then here is how he should be evaluated:
- Is he getting the most out of the players on his current roster? If YES, then he stays as head coach.
- Has his impact as a coach instilled a better team dynamic with the current roster? If YES, then he stays as head coach
- Has the team improved in the win column compared to the previous 2 years? If YES, then he stays as head coach
If anything, now is the PERFECT time for Laimbeer to become head coach. So long as he achieves 2 of the 3 stipulations above with the current roster, he should be allowed to go into Year 3 with a drastically improved roster (assuming JoD does his job). That gives Laimbeer 2 full years of head coaching experience to tweak his coaching style and build relationships with the younger layers on this team.
If JoD is being given 3 years to get this ship in the right direction, then laimbeer or whomever we hire will likely be given a similar opportunity.
Jonas Jerebko once killed a charging female rhinoceros in heat protecting its young with nothing more than a hook shot.
by The Boourns on Jun 9, 2011 6:21 PM EDT up reply actions 1 recs
I should say that realistically, this is how the next coach should be evaluated regardless of who it is.
Jonas Jerebko once killed a charging female rhinoceros in heat protecting its young with nothing more than a hook shot.
I agree it's the right time for him
He’s paid his dues and he’s ready – more time as an assistant isn’t going to do him all that much good. Even if this were a 50 win team, we’ve shown little more patience with winning coaches than we have with losing ones so we probably wouldn’t even be doing him any favors by waiting for a righted ship. Our biggest problem right now, even bigger than our roster problems, is cultural and the lack of an identity. Meanwhile Gores is surely looking at Jod’s track record of hiring coaches and Jod probably can’t afford another 1-2 year tenure, could give Laimbeer some increased job security. And if the team turned around, he’d be the one getting the credit for it.
While I'd normally disagree with agreeing with you Shiny, I will agree to agree with you...so long as you disagree to disagree with me agreeing with you.
Jonas Jerebko once killed a charging female rhinoceros in heat protecting its young with nothing more than a hook shot.
But doesn't it give you worry
that he’s been the big man coach of a team laden with numerous high ceiling big men and although their individual play has been good, the team as a whole horribly underachieved?
You can’t blame that on an assistant. But I’d feel a lot better if with his help the Wolves had gone from 23 wins to 33 wins this past year and not in the other direction.
My blogs: pakagankarachi.livejournal.com (dormant)
burmahunkalove.livejournal.com (occasional signs of life)
by MrHappyMushroom on Jun 9, 2011 9:30 PM EDT up reply actions
Their bigger problem is they're running the triangle
but regardless, Beasley was hampered by injuries and playing a good amount of time at the 3. Darko arguably had his best defensive season of his career although he shot terribly. Kevin Love, despite the rest of the team, had one of the best seasons from any power forward in years.
I don’t see how Sampson’s time in Milwaukee is necessarily any better. Understandably, Bogut has been consistently injured and Jennings was out for a good portion, but Jennings hasn’t improved all that much since he got there.
Jonas Jerebko once killed a charging female rhinoceros in heat protecting its young with nothing more than a hook shot.
I'd trust you more than me.
I’m pretty limited in my b-ball knowledge to the point where I’m not really even clear exactly what the triangle is. (I just know that Phil Jackson loves it.)
Like I said, though, the roster and the stats would suggest that the Wolves have good bigs and that they played pretty well. But what an awful, awful team, to the point that they won fewer games than any team in the league (and were nearly doubled in victories by the dreadful Pistons). Again, this doesn’t rest on an assistant coach’s shoulders. But if taking a chance on a guy who’s never been an NBA head coach, I’d feel way more comfortable if it is someone who has been part of a team that was has some success, as opposed to being the worst in the NBA.
Oh, and you can’t use the Sampson comparison on me! I’ve decided to abandon my meds and devote the rest of the hiring period to long-winded, borderline unbalanced rants as to why he would be a bad choice…;-)
My blogs: pakagankarachi.livejournal.com (dormant)
burmahunkalove.livejournal.com (occasional signs of life)
by MrHappyMushroom on Jun 10, 2011 10:51 AM EDT up reply actions
rec'd for "younger layers"
AKA Jonas.
Unbelievable Time distortion space is the place Mean Gene Okerlund go down that lonesome highway but don't be hypnotized no- reincarnation doesn't have to be you can concentrate and you can-mental telepathy YEAH! But the beat goes on.
by SpursfanSteve on Jun 10, 2011 3:48 PM EDT up reply actions
You don’t have to feel like a bad fan.
I think Joe Dumars is a crap executive, while fully recognizing that he was an important part of two championships.
You can be a fan of the player. You don’t have to blindly support them forever, though!
Laimbeer as the value pick
If Laimbeer can make fans forget the past few years of whiny crap by getting the team to play hard and together (even with a mismatched roster and low talent level) then he’s worth it in terms of attendance and TV ratings. The Pistons are going to get more people to watch if Coach Laimbeer gets a technical coaching a .500 team than Lawrence Frank coaching them to 22-18. And it’s not a given that any of these guys are that much better than Laimbeer so why not do the smart business thing and smart fan thing and try Laimbeer?
To put it in Gores own words
Is it the business move that could make the team better? Yes
Will Coach Laimbeer be better for the detroit community? Absolutely
Does he encompass the core values that gores considers important? Definitely
My impression is that if Joe’s next coaching hire fails and he doesn’t do much to change the team, they’ll both be gone because a new GM can often mean a new coach.
Jonas Jerebko once killed a charging female rhinoceros in heat protecting its young with nothing more than a hook shot.
Dumars has seen 7 coaches come and go in 11 years as GM
My impression is that if Joe’s next coaching hire fails and he doesn’t do much to change the team, they’ll both be gone because a new GM can often mean a new coach.
He absolutely needs to nail this new hire. I try to blend being Pro Dumars with a dose of reality, and I can’t defend the man’s continued employment as GM if he fails to install a solid head coach, draft decently, and try to deal smartly.
That goddamn Okra and beans got you Oprah in jeans. Seems to me a little lean cuisine, wouldn't hurt much- Agh don't touch! -Obie Trice
I find it disconcerting
that we are interested in two assistants from Minnesota and Milwaukee. Nothing against Sampson and Laimbeer but…
That goddamn Okra and beans got you Oprah in jeans. Seems to me a little lean cuisine, wouldn't hurt much- Agh don't touch! -Obie Trice
by Skylar on Jun 9, 2011 7:46 PM EDT up reply actions 3 recs
you know what's disturbing?
PistonPowered’s take on the laimbeer situation:
http://www.pistonpowered.com/2011/06/detroit-pistons-coach-dreams-bill-laimbeer/
http://www.pistonpowered.com/2010/09/myth-bill-laimbeer-should-coach-the-detroit-pistons/
Seriously, reading that shit made me want to punch walls, and made me proud as hell to be a member of DBB… instead of the alternative.
Do it Jores!
Piston Pownerds
That goddamn Okra and beans got you Oprah in jeans. Seems to me a little lean cuisine, wouldn't hurt much- Agh don't touch! -Obie Trice
Holy crap...Keri Laimbeer, Bill's daughter commented...or if it wasn't her then it was someone pretending to be her.
But based on how Patrick Hayes responded, he seems to be taking it as her.
Jonas Jerebko once killed a charging female rhinoceros in heat protecting its young with nothing more than a hook shot.
Keri and Patrick have had discussions on Piston Powered about Bill’s viability as an NBA coach before.
she tweeted awhile back about how Dad was eventually going to coach here
…and quickly pulled it down. Sorry, I do not have a screen-cap.
That goddamn Okra and beans got you Oprah in jeans. Seems to me a little lean cuisine, wouldn't hurt much- Agh don't touch! -Obie Trice
Your opinion is based on his coaching ability, so I will try to focus my attention on that part of your piece. Your opinion about his "X & O" are clearly based on someone who did not spend time watching him coach or really understand what his team accomplished. He is a BRILLIANT X & O coach. Ask anyone with a basketball background, or someone who has coached him, played with him, or was coached BY him. Being his daughter, I spend MANY nights up with him in highschool reviewing tapes of upcoming teams and games that were just played. He could see what was going to happen before it happened and it was EVIDENT in the record of his team when he coached. There were many times when he would come up with a play on the fly in a 30 second time out (see the 1st championship Deana Nolan’s shot in the corner last minute of the game). Your opinion is yours so it is respected, but it is wrong.
Keri Laimbeer = coachDP?
by -PS- on Jun 12, 2011 12:26 PM EDT up reply actions 3 recs
how about
Frank for head coach, Scalabrine for lead assistant?
/ducks
//slits own wrists
///curses my kin
////cries for an eternity
/////can’t believe i just joked about something so horrible
Do it Jores!
Laimbeer has everything we need
With the Wolves, experience making white dudes better (Jerebko)
As a player, experience as a tall dude with long range (Daye)
With the Shock, experience with large-chested power forwards (Charlie V.)
" " ", " menstrual cycles (Prince, Hamilton)
Played with Ralph Lewis (Summers)
by Kevin Sawyer on Jun 9, 2011 8:23 PM EDT reply actions 8 recs
Wow...
How can anyone argue with that..
Antlers and Horns......
by alaskanpistonsfan on Jun 10, 2011 3:55 AM EDT up reply actions
On ESPN Radio just now
Ric Bucher said that Pistons sources have confirmed that Detroit are not interested in Thomas or Laimbeer. And that the team will not say so publicly as to avoid disrespecting the former players.
Nothing about it on his Twitter yet
Although he has theorised there that Maurice Cheeks will be considered by Detroit.
I’d take Mo as a Laimbeer consolation prize, mostly because of that gentlemanly national anthem rescue thing he did.
by Jon(athan) on Jun 9, 2011 8:39 PM EDT up reply actions 3 recs
Mo Cheeks
I like Maurice Cheeks a lot. I think he would have done fine as Sixers coach but the Elton Brand’s slow start and contract made him a scapegoat.
if we are talking about assistants for when Bill Laimbeer becomes head coach for the Pistons
i would recommend other assistants like also a former Spurs, Thunders, and current Bulls assistant Ron Adams from what i know he helped out with the Thunders defense and not Mo Cheeks . Also i really like the Pistons to get Mike Budenholzer, from what Matt Watson says about him. He can be a good right hand for a new head coach like Laimbeer.
no way budenholzer leaves San Antonio for another assistant coaching gig when he's been Pop's lead assistant for years and has been with Pops for 15.
Jonas Jerebko once killed a charging female rhinoceros in heat protecting its young with nothing more than a hook shot.
no problem if Budenholzer won’t leave the Spurs, just thinking he can have a better chance to be head coach after Laimbeer if he becomes assistant, there are a lot of good options as far as assistants goes, they just have to shell out the dough to make it happen. Just my opinion, to make Laimbeer successful as head coach i think you have to surround him with assistants who can help him out.
That Cheeks link is awesome.
Thanks for posting. Cheeks seems instantly like a really good guy.
It also got me to the link of Josh Howard on a cell phone purposefully ignoring the Star Spangled Banner, for which I guess he got a lot of flack. Needless to say, the true patriots of America were up in arms, as Howard said that he wasn’t into the Anthem or patriotism because he is black.
I like Josh Howard and I dislike patriotism (as opposed to simply liking who and what you know and feeling a connection with the familiar; that’s quite natural and healthy…), so I would have taken no offense. And it’s easy to see how a seemingly aware young guy would make that connection between race and the military agenda, given Ali’s famous “No Vietcong ever called me nigger” response to why he wouldn’t accept conscription in 1966.
(Ali’s more lengthy explanation, by the way, was “Why should they ask me to put on a uniform and go 10,000 miles from home and drop bombs and bullets on Brown people in Vietnam while so-called Negro people in Louisville are treated like dogs and denied simple human rights? No I’m not going 10,000 miles from home to help murder and burn another poor nation simply to continue the domination of white slave masters of the darker people the world over.”)
My blogs: pakagankarachi.livejournal.com (dormant)
burmahunkalove.livejournal.com (occasional signs of life)
by MrHappyMushroom on Jun 10, 2011 11:02 AM EDT up reply actions
Joe Dumars as the unchallenged face of the Pistons
If Laimbeer is coach and the roster doesn’t get fixed but the fans like the effort of the existing mismatched group the sensible move is to fire Dumars. Fans can shrug and say…we’ve still got our Pistons identity, it’s just on the sidelines and not the front office.
Why doesn’t the press ever ask Joe Dumars if he’s going to pull a Kevin McHale and coach his own players?
I'm sure Lambs
Is the sort of dude who appreciates being drug through a dog and pony show. Good move.
I fear we'll get both.
My blogs: pakagankarachi.livejournal.com (dormant)
burmahunkalove.livejournal.com (occasional signs of life)
by MrHappyMushroom on Jun 9, 2011 9:31 PM EDT up reply actions
What a fool.
Jonas Jerebko once killed a charging female rhinoceros in heat protecting its young with nothing more than a hook shot.
I WANNA TALK TO SAMPSON!
Fly me to the moon like that bitch Alice Kramden! ‘Cause it’s hard being black and gifted! Sometimes I wanna throw it all down and get lifted!
Doctor says I gotta get a backeotomy.
by TDP on Jun 9, 2011 11:47 PM EDT reply actions 2 recs
I'M IMPOTENT BITCH, GET A WAY FROM ME!
Jonas Jerebko once killed a charging female rhinoceros in heat protecting its young with nothing more than a hook shot.
Also, Radko Mladic
My blogs: pakagankarachi.livejournal.com (dormant)
burmahunkalove.livejournal.com (occasional signs of life)
by MrHappyMushroom on Jun 10, 2011 11:03 AM EDT reply actions
I would pay a handsome sum of money for a man in my tax bracket
to katana blade that motherfucker.
Rot in prison, dirtbag
That goddamn Okra and beans got you Oprah in jeans. Seems to me a little lean cuisine, wouldn't hurt much- Agh don't touch! -Obie Trice
FWIW...
Toronto should hire Frank. He embodies their long tradition of being shitty.
by madpoopz on Jun 10, 2011 11:11 AM EDT reply actions 1 recs
Back off, brother
As much as I’d like to see Spurs assistant Mike Budenholzer develop into Gregg Popovich 2.0 for the Pistons
This Bud’s NOT for you.
Unbelievable Time distortion space is the place Mean Gene Okerlund go down that lonesome highway but don't be hypnotized no- reincarnation doesn't have to be you can concentrate and you can-mental telepathy YEAH! But the beat goes on.
I'd rather have a real Beer like Laimbeer than a watered-down Bud.
Jonas Jerebko once killed a charging female rhinoceros in heat protecting its young with nothing more than a hook shot.
by The Boourns on Jun 10, 2011 4:13 PM EDT up reply actions 7 recs
Ohhhhhhhh....touche
Antlers and Horns......
by alaskanpistonsfan on Jun 10, 2011 4:38 PM EDT up reply actions
well played.
Unbelievable Time distortion space is the place Mean Gene Okerlund go down that lonesome highway but don't be hypnotized no- reincarnation doesn't have to be you can concentrate and you can-mental telepathy YEAH! But the beat goes on.
by SpursfanSteve on Jun 10, 2011 7:53 PM EDT up reply actions
Just for this, paired with my newfound interest in beer
I’m on the Laimbeer bandwaggon.
WWGMD?
by Kriz on Jun 11, 2011 12:22 AM EDT up reply actions 3 recs
You could learn a lot about world-class beer from the wealthy industrialists in my beer group.
Do it Jores!
by Mike Payne on Jun 11, 2011 12:25 PM EDT up reply actions 4 recs
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