Take what Langlois says for what it's worth, but I'd like to think a guy that is actually employed by the Pistons has a little knowledge of what's happening. I'll paraphrase: -Woodson makes sense as the frontrunner as having ties to the Pistons and being a successful head coach. -Sampson impressed him by beating an overrated MSU team that included Paul Charmin Davis. -Mark Jackson is already hired. Also, he didn't fit into Keith's three types of coaches: previous head coaches, assistants who are ready for the head job, and guys with ties to Detroit. Apparently he forgot to include a category for Mark Jackson called "completely asinine since he has absolutely no coaching background". Then he says he wouldn't be surprised if Jackson was very successful, but the last time he said that about a first year guy with "perspective, communication skills, and basketball intellect", it was about Mike Curry. Yikes. -Laimbeer should be taken more seriously this time around than the past two times the Pistons have been searching for coaches, although he would be surprised if the Lamb even landed an interview. -Budenholzer, Newman, Casey are all lumped into one group as long shots. Curiously, there's no mention of Lawrence Frank, who I would put third on my list behind Budenholzer (after reading Matt Watson's piece on him) and Laimbeer. I don't want Woodson since Joe wouldn't go after Josh Smith, and I sure as hell don't want Kelvin Sampson's sad face on the bench. My thoughts. Now yours.

ESPN's Eamonn Brennan on Kelvin Sampson's strange journey from NCAA pariah to NBA coaching prospect.

"We need a coach that's not gonna take any nonsense, first of all," he said. "He can't accept any of the things that happened this year."

I've already stated my preference for Mike Budenholzer, but Perry Farrell of the Detroit Free Press throws out fellow Spurs assistant Don Newman as "another name to keep an eye on." Farrell writes: "Newman, 54, is a physically imposing person. He played seven seasons in the Canadian Football League and attended training camps with the NFL's Seattle Seahawks and New York Jets. He started his coaching career working with football and basketball teams at an Idaho high school. He went on to coach at the college level -- including five seasons as head coach at Sacramento State and time as the interim head coach at Arizona State -- before stints as an NBA assistant with the Milwaukee Bucks and New Jersey Nets."

Pistons fans have two reasons to be happy: 1) Mark Jackson officially cannot be hired by the Pistons; 2) Spurs assistant / Gregg Popovich protégé Mike Budenholzer is still available.

Mitch Albom gets a one-on-one phone interview with Tom Gores. More insight into the mind responsible for the next era of Detroit Basketball. Good stuff.

Hiring Isiah Thomas would be like un-tilting Gores head. Crazy.

I think I'm settled on 2 bigs and a pass first pg for this draft. Kahwi is good, but Biyombo/Valancianas will probably be available. Beyond lottery level talent I don't think we need a small forward, considering that Jerebko could be an excellent defensive small forward. And we already have 4 combo guards. That being said, We need 2 bigs and a pass-first pg. New candidate: Julyan Stone Benefits: he's 6'7, he can defend 4 positions, he's set assist records Drawbacks: not much of a scorer If D Morris and Norris Cole aren't available... I think he'd be a good consideration, as well as Isaiah Thomas.