Flip Saunders fired. Not returning. Not up in the air.
After a few days of speculation, going back and forth, it’s official. Flip Saunders is out.
“Decisions like this are difficult to make, especially with the success we have had throughout the last three regular seasons,” president of basketball operations Joe Dumars said in a statement. “However, at this time, I feel it is necessary to make a change.
“I thank Flip for his hard work and dedication, but it is time for a new voice to lead our team.”
Interesting timing. Kevin Garnett, who lost playoff series after series with Flip at the helm, is finally in The Finals, winning more playoff series this past month than in all of his years with Flip combined. The Pistons had another great regular season full of promise, but once again come up short of that magical land only Larry Brown was able to deliver them to.
The coaching carousel continues to revolve. Judging the trends, learning from recent hires, the only logical move at this point for the Pistons is to hire either Chuck Daly or Isiah Thomas!
90 Responses to “Flip Saunders fired. Not returning. Not up in the air.”
Jun.3 at 11:41 am
Edmond says:
haha isiah? whow man, even the pistons wont recover from his “coaching”
Jun.3 at 11:42 am
Edmond says:
interestingly, sports.yahoo.com/nba was faster in giving us this news rather than slamonline.com guess i was only surprised ^_^
Jun.3 at 11:43 am
Edmond says:
the only way the pistons will win with isiah as coach is NOT TO LISTEN TO ANYTHING HE SAYS. hahaha
Jun.3 at 11:44 am
Eboy says:
Congratulations TAd!!!
Good luck, Russ?
Jun.3 at 11:46 am
Russ Bengtson says:
Flip should consider using his real first name in the future. Whatever it is. You are not a character in Animal House.
Jun.3 at 11:50 am
truce says:
Hire Avery
Jun.3 at 11:54 am
TADOne says:
WOW! I step away for training and come back and see this. For anyone who cares: it will be Michael Curry.
Jun.3 at 11:55 am
AD25 says:
Yeah I agree with truce, they need to get Avery while he’s still available, regardless of whether he’s a “perfect fit” for the Pistons..
Jun.3 at 11:57 am
Khalid Salaam says:
Good.
Jun.3 at 11:57 am
TADOne says:
I’m quite sure Joe will do his due diligence and interview candidates, but this is Curry’s job to lose.
Jun.3 at 12:01 pm
Bryant Reeves says:
Curry all the way, which will turn out to be a huge mistake and will force Detroit to make some drastic midseason trades next year
Jun.3 at 12:10 pm
TADOne says:
Thanks for your input Big Country. Now go away.
Jun.3 at 12:11 pm
People's Princess says:
Congrats Tad..Now watchu gonna do with your frontcourt?? Unless Baby Eater improves dramatically on D,thats one ooooooollllllldd frontcourt…
Jun.3 at 12:13 pm
Captain America says:
Sam, you’ve exceeded even your stupidity bounds. (1) KG was a part of Flip’s teams and shares in their successes and failures, (2) if KG played for Flip with his current team, they would have been just as successful the playoffs. Sheesh, get a clue.
Jun.3 at 12:19 pm
B. Long says:
Paul Silas….
Jun.3 at 12:20 pm
TADOne says:
I just noticed Sam’s last sentence. I wouldn’t be against briging back Daly. It would never happen of course.
Jun.3 at 12:23 pm
Captain America says:
Pistons have what, three ballers under 40?
Jun.3 at 12:24 pm
TADOne says:
PP: I guess I can include Eboy in this, but not sure why you guys are congratulating me? Again, Flip should have probably taken us to the finals at least once, but didn’t. On the flip side, he did have the best regular season win percentage in his 3 seasons than any other Pistons coach ever, Daly included. Like I commented yesterday: Does/did Flip deserve to be fired? No. Should he be/have been? Probably. Does this make me happy? Not exactly.
Jun.3 at 12:33 pm
People's Princess says:
Well with the perceived playoff-ready “veteran” talent plethora at the Piston’s disposal I would guess that the last 3 ‘Off runs have been disappointments.Atleast to outside observers like me.Daly won two chips while handling a combustible squad,to put it mildly.
Jun.3 at 12:34 pm
B. Long says:
Paul Silas…
Jun.3 at 12:36 pm
DP says:
players don’t like him. that’s why he got axed.
Jun.3 at 12:38 pm
B. Long says:
@DP: Are you talking about Flip or Paul Silas?
Jun.3 at 12:41 pm
TADOne says:
PP: Absolfeakinlutely they have been disappointments! Now, does all that blame go at the feet of Flip? No way. Mind you, I am in no way a fan of Flip, but he is not as horrible as people make him out to be. He only had one more year left on his contract anyway, and I wouldn’t have disagreed to have him back one more season. Then again, i’m not terribly disappointed that he is leaving. But, I would hope that whoever replaces him has a plan in place. Also, I want to see what else Joe has planned as far as roster moves, if any.
Jun.3 at 12:42 pm
TADOne says:
DP: Where do you get that??
Jun.3 at 12:42 pm
DDB says:
Paul Silas + Rasheed = Latrell Sprewell + PJ Carlesimo
Jun.3 at 12:42 pm
DP says:
Lil Flip, B.long. Paul should have been given another chance. but I like Paul on nba matchup more thatn I like him coaching. He is kind of like watching paint dry on wall.
Jun.3 at 12:45 pm
People's Princess says:
On a side note Tad:Aren’t big men in the Sheed mould supposed to age well????
Jun.3 at 12:46 pm
DP says:
It just looks like they don’t rise up to the challenge with flip, TAD. He just isn’t a good motivator and his players just looked like they didn’t respect his authority. I like what I heard on FIRST TAKE this morning when some dude from the Detroit news said it was a possibility that Rasheed could go to the Bobcats with Larry Brown. that would be quite a pairing. You feel that the Pistons should rid themselves of sheed, TAD?
Jun.3 at 12:49 pm
dfrance says:
When you can’t make major personnel moves, and the team is losing, the next thing to do is fire the coach. I just think Flip has bad luck. i don’t think the fact that they didn’t get to the Finals is his fault, just like I don’t think it’s his fault KG only got out of the 1st round once. This is virtually the same team that one the Chip in 2004. These guys are professionals so it’s not Flips fault if they don’t play as hard for him as they do for another coach. That’s BS. Someone had a rant on here yesterday about the Pistons being overhyped and maybe that’s just the case, we expect more of them than they are capable of.
Jun.3 at 12:50 pm
B. Long says:
I love him and NO I don’t want him on the Lakers but for the sake of the Piston’s future, Sheed needs to go.
Jun.3 at 12:50 pm
DP says:
Trade Tayshaun for Ron Artest. sounds illogical but they won’t be losing much. Defense for defense with a bit more offense in the tank with artest.
Jun.3 at 12:52 pm
iLL wiLL says:
Zeke to the Pistons!
How will he screw up the Pistons?
Jun.3 at 12:55 pm
TADOne says:
PP: Not sure what you mean? DP: Ok, the players may haved tuned out Flip in the huddle and such, but that does not mean they didn’t like him. To a player, I have not heard one of the players speak ill of Flip as a coach or a person. Did players disagree with him? Of course. Even great coaches and their players will disagree. As for Sheed: I commented somewhere today or yesterday, but i’ll re-visit what I said; Sheed is coming into his last year of his contract, so the best time to trade him would be now. Would he get back equal talent by himself? Probably not. You could also keep him and expect him to perform well since it is a contract year, and then use his $13.7 that comes off the books to sign a free agent. You could also look at trading Wallace and another core player, like Billups, for another combo of say Okafor and Richardson.
Jun.3 at 12:57 pm
sab says:
TAD: “Does/did Flip deserve to be fired? No. Should he be/have been? Probably.”
I’m pretty sure that doesn’t make sense. Is it just me?
Jun.3 at 12:57 pm
TADOne says:
DP: No way in hell would Artest play for Detroit. Also, Joe would not trade Prince anyway.
Jun.3 at 1:00 pm
TADOne says:
sab: That is why I prefaced it with the “Like I commented yesterday” quote. I had said the same thing yesterday before Flip actually got fired, so I was using past tense as well as current tense with that comment. Sorry to confuse you.
Jun.3 at 1:04 pm
People's Princess says:
Tad I meant a combo PF-C like Sheed (who was arguably the first 6-10 guy after McAdoo to shoot fadeaway 15-footers) has consistently fallen off in the ‘Offs for the past 3 years.Offensively he’s not even cracking 13 ppg.What’s up with that? I mean before the Celts series I could’ve sworn Sheed would’ve battled KG to a draw..
Jun.3 at 1:10 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
I could see the Pistons having a trainwreck of a season next year.
Jun.3 at 1:11 pm
TADOne says:
PP: Sheed is an unselfish player. He doesn’t demand the ball and doesn’t worry about getting his numbers. His best games are when his defense is top notch and he is rebounding. Also, every player in the Pistons starting five has led the team in soring multiple times thruout the season and during the playoffs. That is the teams philosophy. They don’t care who gets the shine, they just want to win. If they were to force-feed Sheed, i’m quite sure he could score 18-20 a game easy.
Jun.3 at 1:12 pm
TADOne says:
Russ: Other than the obvious reason that Flip has been fired, can you elaborate why you think that?
Jun.3 at 1:15 pm
B. Long says:
@TadOne: Sheed shot like 15 three’s in a playoff game without taking one inside the rainbow shaped line. It was like a force field or something holding him on the perimeter and although he hit quite a few of them your star power forward not takeing a shot inside the stripe is Dirkish at best. Piston’s need a fresh start.
Jun.3 at 1:19 pm
Russ Bengtson says:
I feel like the whole “team first” thing has to crack at some point. Sharing the glory is great and all, but what has it gotten them? One title. And now they have to start over again next year, when the Eastern playoff picture should be free of 37-win aberrations. The Heat should be back, as should the Bulls. The Magic will be better. The Celtics will be coming off a Finals appearance, whatever the result, with a much more confident little two. The Cavaliers—well, maybe they’ll have an offense. It just seems that the Pistons have existed in their own little bubble for the past four years, and it just can’t last forever. Maybe a new coach will be the catalyst that causes said bubble to burst. Maybe Sheed will play like it’s a contract year. Maybe Rodney Stuckey will believe all the hype (which could be true, but still). Maybe Tayshaun will decide that he should be a goddamn All-Star by now. Who knows? It’s just a hunch.
Jun.3 at 1:27 pm
Silky Slim says:
Game Over…Flip, Flip, Flip, Flip, Flip…Game Over.
Jun.3 at 1:32 pm
TADOne says:
All very valid reasons Russ. I wasn’t trying to disagree with you, I just respect your opinion and wanted to know what you thought. That is why i’m not sure how I feel one way or another about the Flip firing. I do think the “team first” thing can co-exist just fine because that is the type of players Joe brings in. The players from these last six seasons who wanted to “get theirs”, they were allowed to. Those players being Ben and Memo. You are absolutely correct that Detroit has lived in a bubble of sorts, and it probably won’t last. Then again, I don’t see Detroit falling out of the playoff picture either.
Jun.3 at 1:46 pm
matt r says:
we’ll take him in utah if sloan retires. flip is great
Jun.3 at 1:55 pm
Co Co says:
Bill Lam…….
Jun.3 at 1:58 pm
AC says:
I’m voting for Avery too…. He’s an aggressive defensive coach… My only thing is would he get along with the Sheed/Billups tandum? (Although Sheed was listed as trade bait on TSN).
Jun.3 at 1:58 pm
rainman10 says:
Is Flip the Andy Reid of the NBA? In terms of “success”?
Jun.3 at 2:01 pm
TADOne says:
Very funny Co Co.
Jun.3 at 2:10 pm
Maurice Garland says:
its only fitting that they bring Chuck Daly back…especially with Collins going back to Chitown…our trip to the 80s will be near completion then.
Jun.3 at 2:17 pm
sab says:
TAD - tenses weren’t my problem. if someone doesn’t deserve something, surely it shouldn’t happen to them? it jarred when i first read it, and i still can’t quite get the distinction right in my head…
Jun.3 at 2:33 pm
Bryant Reeves says:
Thank you Russ - D-Town is going down next year. They need to trade prince or RIP for an actual center. If they could somehow snag Camby from the nugs and pair him with Sheed, they’ll be back on top as the #1 defensive team.
Jun.3 at 2:33 pm
E. Sneed says:
TAD you were right…it is Curry!
Jun.3 at 2:33 pm
B. Long says:
That sound you hear is Larry Brown packing his bags in North Carolina. Sorry BETcats.
Jun.3 at 2:40 pm
TADOne says:
sab: Oh, I got you. I actually said much more yesterday. Basically, it boils down to the fact that Flip has the best regular season winning percentage of any Pistons coach, ever. But a lot of Detroit fans and media, myseld included, felt as though he should have at least reached, if not won, at least one out of the last three championships. So I was saying that Flip is a very good coach, just not a championship coach. So he didn’t deserve to be fired with one year left on his deal, but he probably should be if Joe D. determined that he had run his course with the team.
Jun.3 at 2:41 pm
TADOne says:
E. Sneed: Did I miss something? I just got done listening to the Joe Dumars press conference, and he stated he hasn’t made any decision on who the next coach will be.
Jun.3 at 2:42 pm
Billymagnum says:
Wow, they finally fired Flip, ’bout damn time…not that the first round exits and underachieving CF appearances weren’t enough…they have that in other sports too…like the braves and the bills, but hey, it’s not the coaches fault, it’s the players…yeah right, it helps to be able to coach your way out of a paper bag.
Jun.3 at 2:45 pm
TADOne says:
Also, I must add that Joe D. is the man. I also must retract some of my earlier statements. Joe was very clear that changes will be made with players and that NO PLAYER is safe. He said that Flip was no scapegoat. He promised that changes WILL be made to the core of the team. Let the rumors run wild!
Jun.3 at 2:50 pm
Chou says:
Why isn’t Paul Silas getting any interviews?
Jun.3 at 3:26 pm
Garrett says:
TADOne: You’re like the sole representative of DBB! You’re a one man comment army!
Jun.3 at 3:35 pm
B. Long says:
Why doesn’t Joe D. coach’em? I guess that’s too isiahish for his style.
Jun.3 at 3:49 pm
TADOne says:
Garrett: I guess i’m the sole Pistons fan who on this site that doesn’t back away from the team whether things are good or bad. Then again, a lot of people just don’t like the Pistons for whatever reason. I’m fine with that.
Jun.3 at 3:50 pm
TADOne says:
B. Long: NNOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!! Joe sticks to what he knows, and I am happy for this.
Jun.3 at 4:05 pm
AC says:
Piston’s will be alright… If this is hard times for a team… Detroit has it too good. I wouldn’t tap yourself on the back for being a good piston fan when they continue to be a top tier team, year in and out.
Jun.3 at 4:08 pm
TADOne says:
AC: I wasn’t. And I have been a Pistons fan all my life, pre and post Bad Boys. Those were some pretty lousy teams.
Jun.3 at 4:21 pm
AC says:
You knocking the Teal? That firey pony gimic? As for before the bad boys… you have me there… Can’t raz what I can’t remember.
Jun.3 at 4:34 pm
TADOne says:
Those were the worst jerseys EVER.
Jun.3 at 4:34 pm
TADOne says:
Much respect to Grant Hill though.
Jun.3 at 4:35 pm
Hova says:
The Pistons are going downhill. They’re getting old and firing a good coach? Dumb move. Pat Riley anyone? We all know he likes to jump on contenders and pull them over the finish line.
Jun.3 at 4:38 pm
Co Co says:
Bill Lam……
Jun.3 at 5:40 pm
AC says:
True… Grant was awesome… breaking his wheel like that was killer.
Jun.3 at 5:52 pm
Sesa says:
it’s Avery Johnson
Jun.3 at 6:13 pm
ciolkstar says:
The Rockets striped Uni’s (from wen they had Drex, Barkley and Hakeem)looked like kid’s pajamas, THOSE were the worst eva!
Jun.3 at 6:25 pm
E. Sneed says:
TAD, I was going off of Stephen A.’s report…no timetable on it but he says Joe Dumars is settled on Curry
Jun.3 at 6:45 pm
ALLRIGHTS says:
stephen a don’t know anything. Joe D gave a presser and he specifically said NO DECISION HAS BEEN MADE ON COACH. Mike Curry would be a bad decision, but then again Bill Davidson is a strange old coot and he is making the real call. Who knows what will happen. Ask McCosky, he’s a strong resource. HEHE
Jun.3 at 7:04 pm
TADOne says:
Yeah, Stephen A. is a unreliable source. Then again, Curry has been the worst kept secret to be the successor in Detroit for almost 2 months. Allrights: I’d tell you to wait and see on Curry if in fact that is the decision they go in. Everyone is high on him. He has only been an assistant for one season, but he honestly was an assistant for longer than that because the only reason he carved out a 15-year career was the fact that he was such a student of the game, a leader on and off the court, and a team captain in every place he played. I trust Dumars to make the right decision. If Curry is his choice, I will be 100% behind it.
Jun.3 at 8:28 pm
Dacre says:
TADOne / RUSS >>> I wonder how bad the Pistons will be next year? Bad enough to get the 1st pick? Psycho T…!
Jun.3 at 9:31 pm
B. Long says:
@Tadone: Congrats Man, Curry deserves it. Still need to get what you can for Sheed though.
Jun.3 at 10:44 pm
Guaransheed says:
Maybe Flip could coach the Suns………
Jun.4 at 2:52 am
Russ Bengtson says:
They’re about as likely to be bad enough to get the No. 1 as Psycho T is to be said pick. It’s not like I think they’re gonna fall off the face of the earth—I fully expect them to make the playoffs next year—but it seems to me they’re gonna get worse before they get better. I wouldn’t be at all surprised by a first-round out.
Jun.4 at 4:29 am
Dunkadelic MC says:
Flip couldn’t get it done in Minnesota and he couldn’t get it done in Detroit. Flip is now done. period!!!
Jun.4 at 4:45 am
Hursty says:
theres always going to be teams looking for a guy who’s been to the conference finals on at least 4 times. Larry Brown had never won a ring until the pistons dont forget.
Jun.4 at 5:21 am
Froggiestyle says:
DMC - and in Minny he had Chauncey and KG, both have left him and both are going to (or have been to) the finals since becoming Flip-less …. coincidence? You be the judge
Jun.4 at 7:45 am
Russ Bengtson says:
Yes, actually, it is a coincidence.
Jun.4 at 8:10 am
TADOne says:
Bad coincidence too.
Jun.4 at 8:12 am
Froggiestyle says:
Russ you actually at work this early? I’m in France, what’s yer excuse? ;0)
Jun.4 at 8:15 am
TADOne says:
And yeah Russ, I expect them to get worse before getting better again. I wouldn’t be completely surprised at a 1st round playoff exit. Unless Joe can get a completely one-sided trade pulled off, Detroit will go down from the 59 wins they had this season.
Jun.4 at 8:35 am
Hursty says:
it wouldnt surprise me TAD. Hopefully they can stay competitive though.
Jun.4 at 10:31 am
AC says:
Curry is it eh? It was on the wire last night… Nice to see its getting good reception though.
Jun.4 at 4:14 pm
P.Slight says:
No Flip Saunders, No Flip Murray or Flip Wilson what the hell is goin on in Motown?