Comments on: Flip Saunders apparently won’t be fired

By: Matt Watson

Matt Watson — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:58:38 +0000

DD — by saying that he’ll never be a champion coach, aren’t you conceding this team can’t win a title next year? Considering the starting backcourt is already over 30 and I’d probably cut off a pinkie for McDyess to win a title, I’d rather not just give away seasons.

By: Detroit Dreshaj

Detroit Dreshaj — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 12:25:43 +0000

Getting rid of Sheed is favorable over getting rid of Flip, not only for what the Pistons would get out of it; but also because Sheed’s attitude is not improving. He gives up, then bitches. Well, that doesn’t win championships. It’s time to rebuild. Give Flip a year, then replace his ass too at the end of his contract. He will never be a champion coach.

If we keep our backcourt (which I’m sure we will), and our young guns, who gives a shit.

By: V

Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:50:00 +0000

1) Nothing is in stone yet. Nor will it be for a while.

2) Note that Terry Porter has a pretty good chance of getting the Phoenix job, which means that Michael Curry will become the lead assistant. Which I think is a good spot for him to be in.

3) What are Dumars’ options at this point? He chose to take the middle road, and most flexible route. Knowing what I know, this would be my call, too.

4) How can I figure this out where guys like Dery and Blakely cannot? And they get paid to tell the public what time it is (but Blakely frequently posts speculation as fact, which is why I don’t read him anymore. See (6), below.

5) Flip’s status is not dependent on Sheed’s, and vice versa. We’re too early in the off-season to delineate the tea leaves just yet.

6) The guy who probably knows best is Drew Sharp. Another guy who has posted spec as fact, but he called Rick Carlisle’s firing several weeks before it went down. The national media skewered him over it, and apparently forgot to apologize when it turned out he had a scoop. Someone high up the PS&E food chain has his digits.

By: Not everyone is convinced Flip is staying | Detroit Bad Boys

Not everyone is convinced Flip is staying | Detroit Bad Boys — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:30:42 +0000

[…] Chris McCosky was confident that Flip Saunders would stay put: We were all wrong. All of us who speculated that the Pistons’ […]

By: Laughton

Laughton — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 07:02:17 +0000

First, whoever it was that first mentioned the McGrady option, you got my attention.
The little devil on my shoulder wants to add something.
As its already been mentioned, TMac could be an interesting option. What he has done with that Houston team is vastly underrated in my book. He has had to carry a team of role-players that are vastly inferior to what we have. The guy can flat-out score and he would not have to be the man in Detroit, thus his conditioning would probably be improved.
I love Rip, he has been a bloody good player for us, I want him to stay, but a trade in sending Sheed and Rip to Houston for McGrady and B. Jackson would be something to consider.
I certainly wouldn’t mortgage the farm for the bloke, but if Joe made a smart offer then it would be worth a look. It would sort out our offense when it falls apart as it so often has.
This would potentially give more minutes to our young bigs to play and develop (I’m looking at you Amir-Samb) Stuckey gets to keep his 6th man role without being prematurely thrust into the starting group and we can have more flexibility as TMac can also play SF. This will allow Afflalo more minutes and give Tay a rest.
Flip can coach a team that’s been shaken up. TMac gets to play for a coach that has been considered an offensive genius. We all get to sit back and…
Win?

By: Laughton

Laughton — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 06:22:10 +0000

Flip stays, fine. Sheed needs to go, but only if we can package him for a superstar (TMac intrigues me) or young big that lives off the block. If we cant get fair value for Sheed then perhaps Joe can talk him into a role off the bench and we see what Amir is made of. I have come to like the idea of developing our team more with most players returning, even Hayes. We make wholesale changes and we wont win it all unless we get a superstar. If Joe is looking at next year as a building year, then lets build with what we got and let Flip coach out his final year. I agree that Avery Johnson would probably stymie the development of our young guys.
No matter what happens, I trust Joe to do whats best for this team, whether its for next year or the one after.

By: Mike Payne

Mike Payne — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 04:06:30 +0000

Kyle, I gotcha, I see what you’re saying. My only disagreement would be that we ever gave Herrmann a shot. I’m not saying that was a big mistake, as we had already worked on integrating Hayes and it would have carried risks with our playbook and our players to make a mid-season switch.

As for Herrmann’s time on the court as a Piston, I’d give him the same defense I gave Amir for much of this season. We didn’t run plays for Herrmann, just as we didn’t run plays for Amir. That changed for Amir as the season wore on and our confidence raised in him, but Herrmann never got that chance.

IMO, Hayes had his chance and blew it, time to move on. We never gave Herrmann that chance, and I think its worth a roll of the dice on him.

I should underline and boldface that abbreviated “in my opinion”, though. Because I could be far from right. I appreciate your points and insight, Kyle.

By: Kyle

Kyle — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 03:21:21 +0000

MP, i get what you’re saying and i’m not trying to be purposefully argumentative, but amir looked like a god in the d-league and i don’t rank end of season games with the bobcats as much more than that. if i’d seen anything from him besides weird finger rolls and occasional threes i’d agree, but he got minutes with the pistons in the regular season and never made much of a case that he should play and not hayes. his value was speculative and based on the aforementioned d+ league situation. if we focused on what he does and did our best to exploit them he may be something, but ask flip murray and carlos delfino, we don’t do that.

By: Sauce1977

Sauce1977 — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 03:18:09 +0000

I need my team to stop playing like they resent having to play extra games every year. I need them to stop stepping on the court in the playoffs and expecting the rebounds to come to them. I need Flip Saunders to stop craning his fucking neck. I need to see the Pistons take themselves off autopilot.

By: JackDutch

JackDutch — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 03:03:40 +0000

sigh.

here’s something i’ve come to admit to myself: when i got excited about the detroit pistons this season, it wasn’t because of tough victories against rivals like the cavs or the c’s or big road wins against supposedly superior teams like the spurs and the suns. it was when i saw that we’d SMOKED a team from tip on. because i knew i was going to see the kids play. amir, spellcheck, stuck, and max. those are the guys who get me excited about this team. to me, this is a realization that i’m ready to move on and be on the cusp of something new and great again.

retaining saunders is the opposite of that. it feels like checking a friendster page. it’s done. it’s over. 55-60 wins resulting in a 4-2 series loss in the ecf, watching superstars dominate us on our floor, watching our guys sing the same chorus over and over in the after game pressers: “we’ve been here before.” “when we play our game, we can beat anybody.” over and over and over again. well, it’s over. again. and i’m exhausted.

i personally need something to tell me that i have something to look forward to for ‘09. it ain’t gonna come with the 29th pick, it ain’t gonna come with a mid-level exception, and it ain’t gonna come with the same ol’ flip twitching away on the sidelines.

By: Mike Payne

Mike Payne — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:55:26 +0000

“I’d love to find a wing shooter that can hit upwards of 46% of his shots…” in limited minutes, that is.

By: Mike Payne

Mike Payne — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 02:54:13 +0000

@MW:
Streaky is my main knock on the guy. I know it is very difficult to get into rhythm in a short amount of time, but I’d love to find someone that can be a sure thing off the bench. Hell, I don’t even know who WOULD bring such a talent at SF. I’d love to find a wing shooter that can hit upwards of 46% of his shots…

@Kyle:
I’ve been ready to write off Garbage for a while, and I completely gave up on him during the playoffs.

“as my father constantly points out, we’ve never really seen an offensive explosion from herrmann”

You guys must not have watched him last season. Look at how he closed out his season with Charlotte:
http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/4207/gamelog;_ylt=AgnCY__SsolxUk2ygmjRe7qkvLYF?year=2006

More on my thoughts of hayes vs. herrmann (from back in february):
http://www.detroitbadboys.com/archives/2008-02-20/the-argentine-solution-why-herrmann-should-replace-hayes/

By: Sauce1977

Sauce1977 — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:39:04 +0000

No problem. I’m sure Saunders would have liked one less speculation naming him, but hey.

By: Matt Watson

Matt Watson — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:37:14 +0000

Sauce: Ha! Fixed …

By: Sauce1977

Sauce1977 — Tue, 03 Jun 2008 01:35:17 +0000

Hmmmmm

Update: Matt Dery of WDFN remains convinced “McCosky” is gone (via Full-Court Press):

Hmmmmmm, Flip Saunders AND McCoskey, that would rule for many fans.