In a fairly unsurprising move, the Detroit Pistons have fired head coach Flip Saunders.
Saunders led the Pistons to a combined 176-70 regular season record (.715), which is enough to get your clipboard retired with most teams. But it was his “failure” in the playoffs that was his undoing. His Pistons were 30-21 in the postseason and lost in the Eastern Conference Finals three straight times after making the Finals the two previous seasons.
It’s a risky move for the Pistons to let Saunders go. He has a proven track record (he won 50+ games in seven of his last nine seasons), but just hasn’t been able to get over the hump in the
playoffs.
No replacement has been named, but Avery Johnson seems like he’d be a good fit.
Wow. I know many in Detroit feel that Flip didn’t have that mean streak push the Pistons to get to that next level (i.e. the Finals). But this is still a bit of a surprise with how well the Stones did over the past couple seasons.
I think Flip and RaWEED Wallace need to go. Flip never got it done at Minn either. I never liked the fit. RaWEED is a mess – get him out of Motown.