| Flipped Out: Saunders Is Gone Authored by Leigh Ellis - June 9, 2008 - 10:43 pm
Apparently the Detroit Pistons didn't fire head coach Flip Saunders last Tuesday, rather he simply 'won't be returning to coach the team next year'. Perhaps Pistons president Joe Dumars felt it would be easier for Saunders to hear that way. It’s kind of like in school when the girl you like says that 'she likes you too...as a friend'. But when Saunders heard it, he knew exactly what it meant.
In three seasons as head coach Saunders steered the Pistons to the Eastern Conference Finals each year, yet was unable to convert any of those trips into an NBA Finals appearance. Dumars obviously felt that Saunders wasn't going to be able to take the team there in what would have been the fourth and final year of the original $26 million agreement next season.
Winning a championship is by no means any easy task, but you sense that Dumars feels like he's been a bit short-changed after putting together one of the most talented and consistent teams over the last seven or eight years.
Despite six-straight appearances in the conference finals, Detroit has only one NBA title (2004) and a second-place finish (2005) to show for it.
As a consequence of this year’s defeat at the hands of the Boston Celtics, Dumars has also let it be known to other teams that every player on his roster is available. Of course, this means that the rumor mill will begin churning out all sorts of trade scenarios, with most having little or no foundation.
As one of the more emotionally-stable GM’s in the NBA, this could be as close as Dumars comes to flying off the handle. However, despite his proclamations at a reasonable guess one would imagine that at least Chauncey Billups, Tayshaun Prince and impressive rookie Rodney Stuckey will still be with the team next year. Rip Hamilton is probably safe too, but Dumars might be tempted to part with him for the right price or even to send a message that his statement wasn’t simply hot air. One thing is guaranteed, Dumars won’t panic, nor will he make a silly trade in haste to prove a point.
The Pistons appear to finally have grown tired of Rasheed Wallace's antics. ‘Sheed is a very talented player, but his continual outbursts at referees and officials - especially in the playoffs - make him and his team look silly. Wallace is entering the final year of his contract, which should make him a relatively easy sale for Dumars.
Whatever Dumars decides to do, he’s given himself an extra job by handing the reigns to Michael Curry, in addition to making changes to the roster.
For Saunders though, his time in Detroit may have actually damaged his coaching reputation, rather than enhanced it.
He’s all but confirmed what his critics have long been saying about him. Many believe Saunders is a competent coach in the regular season, but only so-so in the playoffs.
He now holds the uncomfortable record of being the coach with the most trips to the conference finals (four), without having actually coached in the Finals.
Prior to his appointment in Detroit, Saunders’ coached the Timberwolves for more than eight seasons. His tenure began early into the 1995-96 season, and he was eventually fired midway through the 2004-05 campaign.
In the eight years he was in charge for the full season Minnesota made the playoffs each year, but on seven of those occasions they didn’t make it past the first round. For a team that featured Kevin Garnett as its centerpiece, not only was it disappointing, it simply wasn’t good enough.
Blame for the continual playoff failures was often spread amongst Minnesota’s other players and team management. While there was certainly a case to argue that Garnett wasn’t been surrounded by enough quality talent, there were also signs that as a coach, Saunders was out of his comfort zone in the playoffs.
The one season Minnesota did advance beyond the first round was in 2004. That year they made it all the way to the Western Conference Finals, but were eliminated by the L.A. Lakers in six games. In hindsight, Minnesota might not have been a better team than the Lakers, but at the time L.A. was riddled with turmoil and chemistry problems.
In actuality, the Lakers were ripe for the picking.
While Saunders and Garnett remain friends, the coach probably didn’t appreciate the irony when Garnett’s Celtics eliminated Saunders’ Pistons from the playoffs this spring.
The nature of the coaching carousel in the NBA tells us that Saunders will probably find another head coaching role at some point, should he seek one.
Any prospective employer should be cautious to not get seduced by his win-loss record as a coach. It’s said that numbers don’t lie, but also we know that they don’t always tell the truth either.
In 983 regular season games as a head coach Saunders has an impressive 587 wins, roughly six wins for every ten games coached, or a .597 winning percentage.
However, in the last four seasons that he has tasted postseason success, his teams have won more playoff games (40) than they’ve lost (29) which tells us that it’s not how many games you win, but when you win them that counts.
Should Saunders be offered another coaching job, it’s unlikely he’ll find a situation as inviting as the opportunity presented to him three years ago in Detroit.
He was asked to take over a team that had just come off a game-seven defeat in the NBA Finals. The season before that, the Pistons had been NBA champions. The core of that team was still together and still young enough to contend for the title when he arrived in town.
Saunders had a golden chance, but he really didn’t make the most of it, or maybe he only coached to the best of his ability.
To read more from Leigh, please visit http://thedailyhurt.blogspot.com or e-mail him at thedailyhurt@hotmail.com. |
