The Coaching Carousel Continues

So, the Pistons fired there coach again. What does that make it 15 coaches since they last won a championship? No, actually it is has just been 5 since then. Well, it must have been 15 to 20 years since they last won. Wrong again, it has been less than 10 and 1 of those years was with the coach that won the championship. So really, we are looking at 6 coaches in less than 10 years.

And yet, I don’t think that is the real problem with the team. You might be reading this and wondering, well then what is it? The real problem lies with the front office. By saying that, I’m not putting all the blame on Joe Dumars (the president and GM), the blame lies with the former ownership and the resent ownership group. Having sai that, most of the blame does rest with Joe Dumars.  So let’s take a look at why that is, and what blame lies elsewhere.

First let’s start with the ownership. When the Pistons were doing well and chugging right along, the ownership was strong and involved.  Mr. Davidson was a very good team owner and was justly rewarded. But when he became ill and eventually passed away, decision making and the team stalled. Joe Dumars became a lame duck GM and took much unfair criticism as a result. He wasn't allowed to make decisions that could affect the team’s long term goals in a positive way.

When the team was sold to Tom Gores, and his ownership group, they retained Joe Dumars are many of the same assumptions, but he still didn’t seem have the same level of empowerment of endorsement he had when Mr. Davidson owned the team.  Not only had Joe Dumars made coaching decisions, but it is widely accepted that Lawrence Frank was hired because that is who Tom Gores wanted.  So it’s not just the coaches that Dumars hires that fail.

The lowest common denominator is Joe Dumars, and that cannot be disputed. But I don’t want to just continue the same banter that other people always spout on about. Instead, I want to take a little bit different approach to the subject.

In my opinion, it all goes back to the draft. I know I know, queue the “old bit siren”. But it’s true, and not in the way that everyone thinks.  In my opinion, it comes back to player development. It is one thing to pick “bad” player after “bad player”, it’s another to not develop anyone out of the bunch. And before you say “well what about Andre Drummond?” I would argue that 1. He hasn’t been developed yet and that is partially due to time and 2. He fell into Joe’s lap and should have been fired on the spot for not taking him.  I dare to you to read this and think of someone that really developed. Tayshaun Prince is the closest thing that you will find in your search.  I know hinsight is 20/20, but some of these things everyone could see coming.

I won’t even blame Dumars for the Darko pick. So many “experts” and draft gurus were saying it was the right choice, and he seemed like a sure thing. He wasn’t who I would have taken, but I understand why he did what he did. My problem really lies with trying to be the smartest guy in the room, being seemingly lazy with draft prep, and not developing the talent you draft.

The worst seemed to be this years’ draft because it included most of those problems just mentioned. The pistons seem to finally be in good shape with bad contacts coming off the books after this season and what does he do? Joe goes and signs/gets two more bad contracts. He signs Josh Smith to a contact no one else was willing to give him and puts him in a role that isn't conducive to team success. And he trades Brandon Knight and others to acquire Brandon Jennings. Normally I would be all for that trade, but you pass on Trey Burke to do that? Again, it’s trying to be the smartest guy in the room by making that trade, passing on a good talent, and taking an unknown in KCP (Kentavious Caldwell-Pope).

All of that being said, the worst part has been the atmosphere of losing and its tolerance. Players have been left to do what they will, while coaches are continuously fired for not being able to control them. Well no kidding Joe, you’re the one signing and drafting these guys, and then re-signing them. A losing culture had been accepted and tolerated for too long and it has corrupted the locker room.  It really is time for a new voice at the top, hiring the right coach, bringing in the right players, and as a result changing the overall tenor of the organization.