At least, that’s what I gather after reading this from Krista Jahnke in the Freep:
Rookie center Cheikh Samb, who had dental work last week to repair two knocked-out teeth, went through full contact at Thursday’s practice. He likely will be reassigned to the NBA Development League.
Still no word on the status of his jaw, which was originally thought to be slightly fractured when Samb took the hit that dislodged his two incisors.
My Case for Flip Saunders.
Well over the years we as fans have beat Flip Saunders brains in and called for his head. But now I think its time to give the man his due. Yeah he has not won a ring , however I think that time will come this year or the next. We would always cry about him not playing the subs. Now no starter plays more than 34 mins a game. I don’t think Mad Max was ready the last two years, and our subs during Flips first two seasons were not good. All this guys has done is win. He has done everything Joe D ask of him and more. He has a good relationship with ownership ( LB and Rick did not have that). He has maintain the workman mindset of the team as well as the hard nose defense that made this team great over the years. Even the zone has been a plus for us. Even the way he and Sheed seem to patch things up over the summer. I think its time to extend his contract. He is one of the top five coaches in the NBA. I don’t there is anyone else I would want to coach this team. What do you guys think?
Carey: I have flip-flopped on this issue many times over the 2 years & 28 games tenure Flip has with us, but at present day for this season (not necessarily longterm future), I’m about 95% behind Flip. It seems to me that he’s done everything right this season, but he can’t earn that last five percent from me until he leads us to the NBA Finals (and hopefully a title).
In the past, I don’t think that Flip maintained the “hard nose” defense but I think it’s pretty much been in full effect this year.
Is he one of the NBA’s top five coaches? I dunno, but I think it’s a hard case to argue. I don’t think it’s fair to assert the claim as fact. I would imagine that Pop, Sloan and Jackson are probably generally accepted as better than him without argument, and I would venture to guess arguments could (and in mind my for some of these guys, should) be made for coaches to be ahead of him like: Byron Scott (who I’m a big fan of), Rick Adelman, Stan Van Gundy, George Karl, Avery Johnson, Don Nelson and my personal favorite flying under the radar Jim O’Brien who I think is magnificent and is in the right place in Indiana.
I agree with a lot of what you’re saying, but I also believe it’d be premature to extend Flip Saunders now. I’d wait until we’re able to see the full results of this entire season. If it ends as well as we’re hoping/expecting, then it absolutely makes sense to extend him this offseason going into the final year of his initial contract. He still has to prove he can make it past a conference final though, but this year all signs to me indicate he can.
On a related note, assuming Flip finishes out this season at the helm as it appears he will, he’ll be the first Pistons’ coach since Chuck Daly (1983-1992) to last three full seasons with the squad (2005-2008). The coaches in between them is basically a who’s who of (in some cases very successful) NBA journeymen coaches: Ron Rothstein, Don Chaney, Doug Collins, Alvin Gentry, George Irvine, Rick Carlisle and Larry Brown (sprinkle a little bit of Gar Heard taking over for “ailing” Larry at times).
It’s clear he’s grown as a coach the last three years. Whether he’s grown enough, only time will tell. The real test of his growth comes playoff time, but there’s a lot going on now that’s positive. There’s a pretty good balance of playing time, and a pretty good balance of veteran leadership and youth.
I don’t know if he’s a Top 5 coach, when your GM is a stone cold genius, it does make your job easier.
Ha! I’m scooping Matt Watson with his own stuff! This from Matt’s blog on HOOPSWORLD:
“After the game, I caught up with Cheikh Samb in Detroit’s locker room. If you remember, Samb’s D-League assignment was cut short earlier this month after his top two front teeth were knocked out in a game. He teeth were put back into place by a dentist, though, and as he showed me, he’s currently sporting a braces-like apparatus in his mouth that are holding the teeth in place until they completely heal. When he first suffered the injury, there was a concern that he might have also fractured his jaw, but he said he’s fine and completely pain-free.”