Comments on: Lawrence Frank was a good hire, but he’ll need help becoming a great hire

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 18:40:01 +0000

When the Pistons hired Kuester, they were unlucky there weren’t any better candidates available who were willing to take the job. The Pistons certainly didn’t dive right into Kuester, but at a certain point, they realized there weren’t better options than hoping Kuester could figure out how to run a team.

When the Pistons hired Flip Saunders, they were unlucky there weren’t any better coaches available. At that point, they were willing to pay big money, and although Flip is a fine coach, for $20 million, there’s often someone better available.

Considering what they’re offering (I’d guess $3 million per year or less), they were lucky a coach of Frank’s caliber was available and willing to take the job.

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Sat, 23 Jul 2011 18:36:09 +0000

Judging any moves by whether they make the Pistons competitive in the playoffs will probably leave you dissatisfied with all of them. There’s no magic fix. It’s all part of a process. As long as the Pistons keep making moves that will get them closer to the end goal, I’m happy.

By: RyanK

RyanK — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 22:39:59 +0000

Trade they. That’s how Joe D corrected errors in the past.

By: brgulker

brgulker — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 18:05:45 +0000

If this team were a new defensive scheme away from being competitive in the Playoffs, I’d be a lot more excited about this.

As it stands, I’m pretty apathetic. This was probably the best choice, all things considered, but I don’t think it will matter all that much in terms of winning and losing any time soon.

By: brgulker

brgulker — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 18:03:11 +0000

Surely you mean Josh Smith and Al Horford.

By: brgulker

brgulker — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 18:00:13 +0000

This.

By: C-Foe

C-Foe — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 17:06:49 +0000

Dan, I just would like to see us hire coaches (assistant or head) who have been exposed to winning organizations in the NBA either as a player or a coach. I think it matters because it helps to shape the winning culture that you talked about in one of your earlier articles. To me, Roy Rogers was an average player on average teams (at best). I don’t know about his D-League success so I can’t comment on that. So I question if an average NBA forward can really make Monroe, Jerebko, Daye, and Villanueva better.

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 15:06:58 +0000

DSV, not that easy. So, if you send the players their record, then what? You think they’ll magically whip into shape?

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 15:03:38 +0000

Ryan, if the next CBA doesn’t have some type of amnesty clause (and I don’t think it will, at least not one that also removes a contract from the cap), how do you suggest Dumars “eliminates” the malcontents? It’s not as simple as just wanting to do it.

By: Dan Feldman

Dan Feldman — Fri, 22 Jul 2011 15:01:01 +0000

I wonder if Mike Woodson will ever get a chance to prove he can win without Joe Johnson.