Stan Van Gundy considering hiring shooting coach

Jeff Bower is in as Detroit Pistons general manager, but that is just one important piece of the puzzle that Stan Van Gundy is piecing together as he looks to remake the team. While fans are most concerned with changes on the floor, there are changes coming on the sidelines and in the front office that will be key to the Pistons' quest to reclaim their spot as a relevant NBA franchise.

First, Van Gundy spoke about how he is going to continue to fill out the rest of his staff, including the possibility of adding a dedicated shooting coach.

"It's been structured in a lot of ways in different organizations, but it's certainly something that we at least have to think about, and we'll go from there. I think the best way to improve your shooting is to put more shooters on your roster.  But I do think a shooting coach can help."

Van Gundy hired Mark Price as a shooting coach in 2011-12 while coaching the Orlando Magic, but the NBA lockout sabotaged Price's ability to work in any significant way with the players.

He also said that Brendan Malone will work with the Pistons big men and that the team might not hire a dedicated big man coach.

Matt Dery of 105.1 Detroit Sports spoke to Bower shortly after his introductory press conference and Bower talked about how the NBA has changed during his short time away from the game since being fired as New Orleans general manager in 2010.

"Well, I do think the emphasis on the value of 3-point shooting, the corner 3-point shot, more and more teams going to the wide open spread type of attack with the floor being opened has change the game a little bit. I think it allows a team that has a strong paint presence and a strong front line to separate themselves and kind of stand out because more and more teams are playing with less and less emphasis on size and play in the paint so I think that probably is a bit of a change over the last couple of years."

It's an interesting comment insofar as specifying the corner 3 leads me to believe that he's giving analytics more than just lip service. Also, it's nice that he tried to spin that development as a strength of the Pistons, who (for the millionth time), are going to be built around two big men in Andre Drummond and Greg Monroe or Josh Smith.

Lastly, the clock is ticking for all the remaining holdovers that Van Gundy hasn't let go. The new coach let staff members know that they had until the end of June to make an impression and will either be retained or let go at that time. The end of June is when contracts usually expire.

Holdovers who aren't necessarily guaranteed to stick include assistant general manager George David, director of basketball operations Ken Catanella, scouting director Doug Ash and coach John Loyer, according to David Mayo.