As I just posted on the FanHouse, Joe Dumars held his annual end of the season press conference today, and in it he confirmed that Flip Saunders will in fact return as head coach next year:
"Just because we haven't gotten to the finals, it doesn't mean Flip has done a bad job," Joe Dumars, president of basketball operations Dumars said Monday.
He added that the team doesn't plan drastic changes this offseason.
"We don't have a fire sale going on," Dumars said.
So yeah, I think we all saw this coming -- now we just have the official word from the top. I'll have more about the rest of his press conference later tonight, but that's probably what most of us have been waiting for (or dreading, depending on your point of view). Let the hair-pulling and wailing commence in the comments.
Update: Dumars talked about more than just Flip Saunders, obviously. I don't have time to give the rest of the topics their proper due just this second, but instead of waiting for my post, you can read about the press conference at the links below:
- Keith Langlois' article on Pistons.com
- A. Sherrod Blakely's blog at MLive.com
- Krista Jahke's blog at Freep.com
When he was done with the press conference, Dumars gave an interview to 1130AM. I haven't checked it out yet, but the guys at PistonsForum.com have the mp3. Like I said, I'll post on this stuff later tonight, but all of this should tide you over in the meantime.