Le Basketbawl

Just because you can be a good assistant coach does not automatically mean that you can be a good head coach. Some men were born to be Generals while others were only meant to be Majors. Every body has their own role; their own little niche if you catch New York Vinnie’s drift. As long as people stay in that role they are safe; but we are human beings; we have emotions and aspirations. So sometimes we try to stretch the boundaries and reach for the stars. Sometimes we see our dreams come true and other times we fall flat right on our Frickin faces.

It takes a lot of something extra to be a successful head coach in the NBA. Just because you know the game does not mean you will be a great head coach. You can diagram a play 13 Frickin ways until Sunday and that does not translate into being a good head coach. Subsequently you may not be able to draw up a Frickin play to save your Frickin life and still be very effective as a head coach.

Look at Larry Bird when he was coaching the Indiana Pacers; he delegated all the play calling to his assistants. Bird had Rick Carlisle, in charge of the offense, and Dick Harter, who coached the defense.

However there was no doubt about who ran that team.  It was Bird who set the tone Bird was the guy who dealt with the media and when it came right down to it was Bird’s behind that was on the line. In the 1999-2000 season his third as head coach he took the Pacers to  their only appearance in the NBA Finals which they lost to the Los Angeles Lakers. And after the series was over he just walked away from coaching; been there done that. They don’t make too many that classy in Sports these days.

Back in July after months of speculation Detroit Pistons President Of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars fired rookie head coach Michael Curry with Dumars stating that he wanted to get a more experienced man being the head honcho during games.

The candidates were said to include Doug Collins and former Dallas Mavericks head coach Avery Johnson. The experienced man he ended up hiring was John Kuester a career assistant-coach. Dumars said he wanted to bring in a veteran; but a veteran is somebody who has done something before. The Pistons hired another rookie head coach.

Just like anybody else who is training on the job Kuester has made his share of mistakes; but the one he made on Friday night was a huge Frickin blunder. The Pistons had lost their third straight game  to  the Oklahoma City Thunder by a score of 109-98.

One of the few bright spots on the team this season has been the play of starting point guard Rodney Stuckey and the guard had a great game as he knocked down 31 points, 5 rebounds and 3 assists in the loss. A reporter asked Kuester in the Post Game press conference according to the “Detroit Free Press.”  The Pistons bench boss replied “He scored points.”

A reporter then asked Kuester for any further thoughts on Stuckey. Kuester said “Rodney has had a wonderful start but we need him to lead. … He’s a very gifted offensive player, but we have to generate things with being shorthanded from everybody, not just Rodney. Everybody has to take ownership. Even if you don’t make the right play, your body language tells you whether you’re ready to react the way that we want you to and that’s all I’m asking.”

The statement you just read was the biggest problem with on the job training as an NBA coach. Kuester was frustrated; his team had just lost its third straight game. He has probably made similar statements after lots of NBA games when he was an assistant. The difference though is in those he would say those things to other assistants; Friday night he said it to a bunch of reporters.

Kuester apparently got “Sissy-Slapped” after opening his mouth about Stuckey because he addressed the issue with reporters before the team played the Lakers on Sunday. Kuester this time could not say enough positives about his point guard; and he wanted to clarify he has nothing but the highest regard for his starter.

The Detroit head coach said “He has done so many wonderful things for our team this year. He has at times played at an All-Star level. “He has had to handle a lot on his plate with things having not gone this season the way we had hoped in certain situations, but Rodney Stuckey has done a wonderful job! And don’t lose sight of how important he is to this team.”

New York Vinnie is sure that you won’t forget as long as you are employed by the Pistons. You must have gotten quite a butt chewing to do that kind of about face in just two days John! As New York Vinnie wrote at the top just because you can be a good assistant coach does not automatically mean that you can be a good head coach.

Back in August New York Vinnie wrote an article asking How Much Of Dumars Success Was Due To John Hammond? New York Vinnie thought it was a question that needed to be raised after some of the unexplainable moves that Detroit Pistons Team President Joe Dumars had made over a period of a little over a year. As we entered the Summer of 2008 the Pistons had come off their second straight loss in the Eastern Conference Finals. The previous year they had fallen to the Cleveland Cavaliers and in 2008 the Boston Celtics sent the Boys From Motown home for the summer on their way to winning the NBA Title.

The Pistons had been one of the elite teams in the NBA for most of the decade; however they were getting a little long in the tooth and needed to make some changes. However something was changing on the management side of the ledger with Detroit at that point.

One of the major changes that took place in the Pistons Organization was long time Assistant General Manager and Dumar’s right hand man John Hammond left the team. Hammond who had resisted overtures from other teams in the past became the General Manager of the Milwaukee Bucks. Hammond took over from Larry Harris who had a roster that was basically a bunch of Frickin Crappola along with Andrew Bogut and Michael Redd. This summer when the original article was written Milwaukee was coming off a lack luster season however New York Vinnie could see the team was heading in the right direction.

Meanwhile in Detroit their fortunes were heading the other way. Dumars made the still Frickin unexplainable trade that sent Chauncey Billups to the Denver Nuggets for Allen Iverson. Of course that turned out to be a Frickin disaster for the Pistons as Iverson helped the team spiral downward finishing below .500 and grabbing the eighth seed in the Eastern Conference Playoffs. The Pistons to no one’s great surprise were swept and were sent home for the summer.

Now Dumars had some money to spend for Free Agents this past summer but in New York Vinnie’s mind it was not spent wisely. He signed Free Agent forward and former Milwaukee Bucks player Charlie Villanueva after rumors of trying to acquire Carlos Boozer never materialized. Now New York Vinnie believes that Boozer would have been a definite upgrade from Jason Maxiell but Charlie Villanueva is no Carlos Boozer if you catch my drift.

The other big name Free Agent they picked up was former Chicago Bulls guard Ben Gordon a player who had a career year last season as he was teamed up with NBA Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose. Gordon led Chicago in scoring and allowed them to rid themselves of a total Pud Larry Hughes whom they unloaded on “MY BOYS” the Knicks.

New York Vinnie did not think that the moves would help the Pistons get back to elite status this year so I asked how much did Hammond’s input have in Joe Dumars final decision making. One Detroit based fan site “Pistons Forum.com” thought the question was Frickin ridiculous. New York Vinnie is wondering how much they are laughing on November 23? Most Likely not as much.

If you take a look at the NBA Central Division standings you will notice that John Hammond’s Milwaukee Bucks are in second place in the division with a record of 8-3 just a half game behind the Cleveland Cavaliers. And their best player Michael Redd has not even played a minute this season. Oh; and the “Once Mighty And Powerful Detroit Pistons” they are in “LAST PLACE” in the NBA Central Division with a record of 5-9.

Now is New York Vinnie going to write that I predicted this fabulous turn around for the Bucks and that I knew Brandon Jennings was going to score 55 Frickin points in a game? Of course not, New York Vinnie would be out and out lying if I did that.

New York Vinnie also realizes that it is very early in the NBA season and Milwaukee could very easily fall back to earth and the Pistons could turn it around. New York Vinnie has seen nothing that would indicate to me that Detroit will turn things around but that is still possible. However New York Vinnie is wondering if my fans over at Pistons Forum.com will have the Stones to reprint this article like they did the first?

New York Vinnie has been puzzled for just over a year now with the actions of Detroit Pistons Team President Joe Dumars. In a little over a year the Pistons went from being an elite team in the NBA Eastern Conference to a team that will literally have to battle to make the Frickin Playoffs in the upcoming season. You look at their roster as we are in the latter stages of August and it is not about to strike fear in too many teams souls!

The team’s best player Richard Hamilton is now 31 years old which usually is about the age where the dings start to show up on a Pro Athlete. Tayshaun Prince the other corner-stone of the team is 29 which is about the age that an NBA player starts to peak at. Other than those two guys they have some nice players but no Frickin All-Stars. Point guard Rodney Stuckey and forward Jason Maxiell show promise and potential but they are still pretty much unproven commodities.

Dumars had some money to spend this summer but in New York Vinnie’s mind it was not spent wisely. He signed Free Agent forward and former Milwaukee Bucks player Charlie Villanueva after rumors of trying to acquire Carlos Boozer never materialized. Now New York Vinnie believes that Boozer would have been a definite upgrade from Jason Maxiell but Charlie Villanueva is no Carlos Boozer if you catch my drift.

The other big name Free Agent they picked up was former Chicago Bulls guard Ben Gordon a player who had a career year last season as he was teamed up with NBA Rookie of the Year Derrick Rose. Gordon led Chicago in scoring and allowed them to rid themselves of a total Pud Larry Hughes whom they unloaded on My Boys the Knicks.

However Gordon has proven consistently he can not Frickin score coming in off the bench. Now there is no way he is going to start over Hamilton so does that mean Dumars is going to trade Rip? Or are they going to allow him to walk away as a Free Agent at the end of the season and Gordon will be his replacement?

You look at the other guys on this roster led by the Big Pud himself Kwame Brown and the team that won the NBA Title under Larry Brown does not come to mind. And this has New York Vinnie wondering why Dumars has seemingly lost his instincts over night? It is not like with an athlete that age has gotten to him Joe-D is still a young man as an NBA Executive. So what other reasons could lead to this team going from the Penthouse to the Outhouse?

One of the major changes that took place in the Pistons Organization was long time Assistant General Manager and Dumar’s right hand man John Hammond left the team. Hammond who had resisted overtures from other teams in the past became the General Manager of the Milwaukee Bucks. Hammond took over from Larry Harris who had a roster that was basically a bunch of Frickin Crappola along with Andrew Bogut and Michael Redd. Now chances are pretty good that the Bucks will end up in the Lottery but the team is starting to see light at the end of the tunnel.

So how big a role did Hammond play with the Pistons and their success? How much did Dumars count on Hammonds expertise to keep Detroit at the top of the Eastern Conference. And if Hammond was the talent behind the curtain than why has Dumars not gotten another sharp guy to take his place? You can’t tell New York Vinnie that John Hammond was Frickin irreplacable!

Now there is nothing wrong with relying on talent from the people under you. There are a lot of very successful people out there that their best management quality is to delegate! But you have to have the right people in the right spots to get the job done. So Joe if you need some help in the front office go out and get it and stop letting your fans down!

New York Vinnie is starting to have some serious doubts about Detroit Pistons Team President Joe Dumars. Basically it comes down to one of two theories. Either the Pistons have this other guy in Dumar’s position who looks and sounds like their former shooting guard but does not know squat about the NBA. Or the other thing that makes sense is Dumars suffered a terrible injury and his brain just does not work as well as it used to! Because if neither of those things are true why has Dumars been pulling off all these Frickin Bone Head moves for the last year?

The “Associated Press” has reported that the Pistons have signed former Pistons center Ben Wallace for the upcoming season. Wallace was traded earlier this summer with Sasha Pavlovic from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Phoenix Suns in the deal that brought Shaquille O’Neal to Cleveland. The Suns then bought Wallace out of the last year of his contract and released him.

New York Vinnie wonders if Joe Dumars could have possibly watched the Eastern Conference Finals? If he did he surely saw that Wallace looked like a Frickin old man when he was on the court. The veteran was talking about hanging it up after the Playoffs why does Dumars think he can be of any Frickin help to his team in the upcoming season?

New York Vinnie has always held Joe Dumars in very high respect as he has kept his team among the top teams in the Eastern Conference this whole decade. However he started making questionable moves last summer signing the Frickin No Talent Pud Kwame Brown to a contract. Then he made the Frickin trade for Iverson and the team fell apart.

Dumars signed Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva to free agent deals last month. Gordon especially does not seem like a good signing unless Dumars plans on trading Richard Hamilton. Hamilton does become a free agent next summer so that could be the Team President’s plan. Wallace is not going to cost them a lot just the veteran minimum. But what kind of a Frickin message does it send to the fans of the Pistons? Remember how good we used to be?

So Joey D. good luck in Motown (if it is really you and not a double!) However New York Vinnie believes your team will be lucky this upcoming season just to make the Playoffs!

This has not been a great period for the city of Detroit over the past year. Their Mayor Kwame  Kilpatrick had to resign because of scandal. The lifeblood of Motown the “Big Three Automakers” are seeing their industry a shadow of what it was less than five years ago. And to top things off the Detroit Pistons an NBA team that was considered one of the elite teams in the league have hit the skids.  The Pistons who were a major factor in the East up through the 2007-2008 season took a nose dive in the season that just ended.

President Of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars looked like he was gonna be able to turn things around though a week ago. After months of speculation Detroit fired rookie head coach Michael Curry with Dumars stating that he wanted to get a more experienced man being the head honcho during games. He also had $20 million that he could entice free agents to his team filling holes that desperately needed filling.

Well Detroit last week settled on the two players they wanted to bring in with the Chicago Bulls guard Ben Gordon and Milwaukee Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva each geting long term deals. Now to New York Vinnie those deals do not look to be all that great for the Pistons. Gordon came alive this past season as a two-guard when he was paired with Derrick Rose. He will not start on Detroit as the Pistons have Richard Hamilton as their starting shooting guard.

Charlie Villanueva is a hard nosed gutty player who has gone past what was expected of him and has turned into a very good NBA player. But the Pistons needed a center not a power forward they already had Jason Maxiell chomping at the bit to be a starter. So once again in New York Vinnie’s eyeballs not too great a way to spend the cash.

Now according to ESPN.com Detroit has made up their mind on who they want as the man to lead them into the battle next season. The names that were mentioned were former head coaches Avery Johnson and Doug Collins who are both good guys and have experience. The man whom it appears that they are taking is John Kuester; yes that John Kuester! A man whose name causes opponents to shudder thing about matching up against him.

Now nothing against Kuester but he is a career assistant-coach. Dumars said he wanted to bring in a veteran. Joey a veteran is somebody who has done something before! You are bringing in another Rookie My Man. You can’t spit on New York Vinnie’s head and tell him it’s raining!

Now maybe Kuester will be a good fit for the Detroit Pistons. But he is what he is a career assistant. Joe Dumars is guy chiefly responsible for Detroit being the great team they have been up until last year. But it seems like he has stepped into quicksand and the harder he tries to get out deeper he sinks.

They are partying at the Palace as well as in Motown as the Detroit Pistons finally did something right after a lost season. According to the Associated Pressthe Detroit Pistons have just done the old addition by subtraction routine.  The Pistons announced Tuesday that they have relieved rookie head coach Michael Curry of his head coaching duties. Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars told reporters that he is looking for a more experienced head coach as Detroit tries to bounce back from their worst season of the decade.

Curry was brought into replace former head coach Flip Saunders who had kept the team from Motown near the top during his reign but never could capture an NBA Championship. Curry with a roster in flux as Detroit traded Chauncey Billups for Allen Iverson just were able to get into the NBA post-season as the team got the final seed in the East with a record below .500. The Pistons made an extremely early exit as they were trampled by the Cleveland Cavaliers in a four game first round sweep.

Detroit is looking to a very active participant in the Free Agent market this Summer and reports out of the Motor City was Dumars did not think that he could attract quality players with Curry at the end of the bench. Iverson and Rasheed Wallace are both free agents which gives Detroit lots of room under the NBA salary cap.

So far two possible coaching choices have been mentioned former Bulls and Wizards head coach Doug Collins and Avery Johnson who was fired after last season as head coach of the Dallas Mavericks. Collins is now a TV Analyst for TNT while Johnson has the same job for ESPN. Last Summer there were reports of a deal almost happening between Collins and the Bulls but in the eleventh hour Collins withdrew his name from consideration.

Albert Einstein defined insanity as doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Now, I have far too much respect for Detroit Pistons President of Basketball Operations Joe Dumars to suggest that either he or head coach Michael Curry are mentally impaired, but one does wonder when they are going to realize that they will not win with their current starting five. As of this writing, the Pistons have lost five straight games, and in this long time NBA observer’s opinion, it all comes down to the Pistons starting five as a whole, being less than the sum of their collective parts.

The Pistons decided to re-boot in November when they traded Chauncey Billups to the Denver Nuggets for Allen Iverson. Detroit decided that their elite point guard (Billups) was expendable, because they had a talented successor in Rodney Stuckey. Stuckey showed great promise last season in his rookie campaign even though he missed a great deal of the first half recovering from surgery. Stuckey was hurt in an exhibition game on the eve of the regular season, after being a standout in the preseason. Whether Stuckey can become as good as Billups remains to be seen, but the premise is sound.

The true question in the deal was why did Detroit trade for A.I. in the first place? Was he as myself and others speculated a rent-a-player for a year, so that they could use his salary slot to rebuild? Or did Iverson truly fit into the long term plans of the Detroit Pistons? The question remains unanswered in January, but the bottom line is that the Pistons were a better team before the deal than since they consummated it. And the five game losing streak they are currently experiencing is just a symptom of a far deeper problem. The current makeup of the Detroit Pistons does not work, and unless changes are made their record, and more importantly their fans will continue to suffer.

When the Pistons first made the deal, they tried a starting five of Rasheed Wallace, Kwame Brown, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, and Iverson. That did not stay in place for long, as Tayshaun basically became a “point forward” and Brown showed that he is a a cipher. There have been cases of teams trying to tap that unfulfilled potential from big men as long as the Association has existed. Every once in a while it will pay off (Tyson Chandler seems to be the real deal with the New Orleans Hornets. Chris Kaman showed great improvement last season with the Clippers, but injury has kept him on the sidelines since late November.) Kwame Brown has not been one of those cases with Detroit.

The next incarnation of the starting lineup, is the one that the Pistons greeted the New Orleans Hornets with on Saturday at the Palace of Auburn Hills. The Hornets handed Detroit their fifth straight loss winning the game 91-85. The Pistons were severely under-sized as their starting five was Rodney Stuckey, Iverson, Hamilton, Prince, and Wallace.

Rasheed Wallace is not a pure center, and Tayshaun Prince is certainly not a power forward. How Curry and Dumars thought that pair could match up well against Tyson Chandler and David West, to me is mind boggling. Detroit actually played quite well in the game, hanging around until the end, but they were not strong enough to overcome the team from New Orleans.

Detroit has another very talented young player on their roster in power forward Jason Maxiell, who should be part of their starting five. The troika, of Iverson, Hamilton, and Prince, needs to be broken up, and Maxiell needs to replace one of them. The question is which one?

If Iverson is as I expect just a rent-a-player, then he should be the Pistons sixth man for the rest of this season. If Iverson is going to be re-signed, then the Pistons have to figure out, do they trade Tayshaun Prince or Richard Hamilton. Because Detroit will not win with those three players as part of their core.

The Detroit Pistons barring a total collapse by Boston, Cleveland, and Orlando, will not be in the Eastern Conference Finals this season. Those three teams are just superior at this point of the season, it’s that simple. So Curry and Dumars should use the rest of this season to figure out the long term direction of the Detroit Pistons. Jason Maxiell is part of the future for Detroit, their current starting lineup is not.