Tuesday, June 30th, 2009 at 2:59 pm  |  99 responses

Michael Curry: He Gone!

by Ryne Nelson

Was it really this easy for the Pistons to get this confused about its identity — to question whether it should rebuild or reload? They’ve finger-pointed for nearly an entire season. They pointed at Allen Iverson and then Chauncey Billups with his tremendous success in Denver. They pointed a finger at the architect of the ’04 championship squad, Joe Dumars. They blamed Rip and his ego, which cast a shadow longer than the Piston bench at times.

Of course, they always blamed Darko. He ruined things from the beginning.

But, mostly, they pointed toward Michael Curry. At every game, during the sweep in the first round, Curry played the scapegoat role. Today, Curry is gone and we can only imagine what happens next:

Pistons coach Michael Curry has been fired, the team announced Tuesday.

“This was a difficult decision to make,” Pistons president Joe Dumars said. “I want to thank Michael for his hard work and dedication to the organization. However, at this time, I have decided to make a change.”

(Note: Not that we’re laughing, but it’s funny how news like this comes after reports like these. The AP wasn’t what it used to be folks!)

A man who captained the Pistons from 59 wins to 39 in just 12 months will receive no extended eulogy. Rather, the talk almost immediately will turn to finding a savior. But with the uncertainly surrounding the team, who will the Pistons dubb as head coach? A quick read through the beat writers’ reports mention three names, none exciting or surprising: Bill Laimbeer, Doug Collins, Avery Johnson.

We’ve said this many times before: A coach is only as good as his players. And, clearly, much more needs to be done than replace the Detroit head man. That said, who do you think has the best chance of pulling the Pistons out of this spiral of negativity?

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  • http://www.nba.com JE

    Finally.

  • Greg Moore

    Laimbeer … or Isiah.

  • http://www.manutd.com Z

    Wow. At what point do we start to look at Joe D? He’s the one that hired him and is essentially saying ‘my bad’ now. He’s the one that pulled the trigger on AI for Chauncey (and indirectly gave Stuck the reigns).

  • http://www.manutd.com Z

    He did take Darko as well. It was controversial then and it’s Bowiesque now.

  • http://www.nba.com JE

    But Doug Collins? I don’t know how his relationship is with Rip, but it’d be wild to see him coaching Kwame again.

  • http://www.nba.com JE

    But Doug Collins? I don’t know how his relationship is with Rip, but it’d be wild to see him coaching Kwame Brown again.

  • josh

    they should go after brian shaw

  • http://slamonline.com Brad Long

    Where’s Tad? Detroit Knickerbockers.

  • Momma No Like Cold

    Worse than the l-wolves

  • http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com Eboy

    Well…..I think this will work out fo the best for the Pistons in the long run but those three guys mentioned sure as sh*t aren’t going to be much better. Laimbeer would be the sentimental pick and had good success with the Shock but c’mon, that’s the WNBA….it’s not exactly the same.

  • Chris

    We of course don’t know what went on behind the scenes, whether or not Curry clashed with ownership, or wasn’t up to the job, but from the outside, this looks like classic scapegoat-ism. The Pistons just aren’t a championship team anymore.

  • http://www.nba.com JE

    They should get Rick Carlisle. Or Larry Brown. Or Flip Saunders.

  • la huey

    shouldn’t have benched rip in favor of iverson. still, not sure if he was so bad that he didn’t deserve another year.

  • http://lastknickstanding.blogspot.com Bryan

    Ha! That’s all.

  • http://lastknickstanding.blogspot.com Bryan

    -20 in the win column with basically the same roster gets the axe, I thought it was a bad hire from the start and he proved me right.

  • http://dsfkl.com Jukai

    Eboy: it’s not the same, but I think Lambier is a better bet than most of the other options out there.

  • http://4point0show.com/ Wes

    I blame Kwame Brown. NO team can ever win, as long as he’s on the roster.

  • tk

    Obviously joe d was thinkin one year of currys tacky suits was enough!

  • http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com Eboy

    I’m just not sure how a team that’s in such flux (there will be a couple of pieces (Sheed/Tayshaun on the move, right?) would benfit from yet ANOTHER rookie head coach in the NBA ranks.

  • http://yahoo.com Such and such

    Doug Collins is the leafing candidate

  • http://www.sonicbids.com/shaemorin doyouwantmore

    HIRE ISAIAH! HIRE ISAIAH!

  • http://thegayestwebsiteever.com Ben

    If my memory serves me right, most mock drafts at the time had Darko going in the top 3; anybody would have looked foolish after the fact, that person just happened to be Joe. Plus, the Pistons had no business having the number 2 overall pick, so they were in a better position than most teams to take a chance on him.

    As far as Laimbeer goes: I’d like to see him get a shot. I know the game is different, but he pretty much dominated the WNBA, which is more about X’s and O’s because you don’t have Lebrons and Kobes and Wades around the league who can pretty much take over a game at will. Also, why not try some new blood in the league? Teams keep hiring the Jim O’Brians of the league, re-treads who haven’t ever really done anything but keep getting jobs because of all of their “experience.” I think Bill could do at least as good as that.

  • http://slamonline.com/ Tzvi Twersky

    I think Doug Collins is not such a gr8 coach.

  • http://thesportsdiaryonline.blogspot.com Roy

    Avery Johnson could be a good fit for the Pistons IMO. :)

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  • Tommy Patron

    As a Bulls fan, I would be delighted to see Dumars hire Doug Collins.

  • Josh D

    Oh yeah, it’s Darko’s fualt even though they won the championship the year after they drafted him

  • http://slamonline.com Brad Long

    Paul Silas. runner up, Avery Johnson.

  • Tuomas

    Thank you, Joe. Next time, try going for an actual coach. The job Curry did was appallingly inadequate. That said, some unnamed players sure as sh*t are to be blamed as well. As they have been. Still so sore of the playoff “experience” that this is really all I’ve got to say. Oh, B. Long: you know that in order to successfully heckle someone, the joke has to have at least some form of realism. Turmoil alone does not a Knick make. Hit and miss.

  • http://www.another48minutes.blogspot.com Gerard Himself

    I agree with Brad Long – bring back Silas! He deserves another shot.(I understand that sometimes posts don’t show up, but right now, this might be my sixth time trying)

  • http://www.slamonline.com wayno

    Mo Cheeks? Doug Collins is actually a very good X’s and O’s coach and is good with younger players. His playoff record is ify though.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    Joe D must be hanging with Rodman again.
    ‘Cause he gotta be high.

  • http://www.another48minutes.blogspot.com Gerard Himself
  • http://www.another48minutes.blogspot.com Gerard Himself

    Sorry, i didn’t want to post that link, my bad. Anyway, I’m with Brad Long here. Bring Silas back!

  • http://www.another48minutes.blogspot.com Gerard Himself

    sorry, didn’t want to post that link!

  • http://www.another48minutes.blogspot.com Gerard Himself

    oh man…. the first six times I couldn’t get my comment posted, and now this happened. Sorry SLAM….

  • Quail

    take it away TAD.

  • #6marjon

    someones gotta give avery a job and if dumars wants to start becoming a great defensive team there’s no other choice.
    FREE AVERY JOHNSON

  • http://slamonline.com Jacob J

    Finally hes out of Detroit. JoeD try getting a coach perhaps Larry Brown or Flip Saunders! When you have no rotation and dont play Jason Maxiell for a game somethings wrong with the coach! MC and AI are hated in Detroit forever!

  • http://allanzuss@yahoo.com Mendel

    Thank you Pistons for finally making a good decision through this awful drought of bad ones. Now I with gambling on Bill Laimbeer. Lets go for it

  • http://www.nba.com JE

    I agree with Brad Long on this one, unless there’s someone out there I’m overlooking.

  • http://www.nba.com JE

    However, a Paul Silas/Carlos Boozer combo would not ever happen.

  • TADOne

    Speechless…

  • iLL wiLL

    Curry was doomed from the beginning. With or without Billups/AI.

  • http://slamonline.com Brad Long

    Paul Silas would slap the skin-rows off Boozers head.

  • http://joeloholic.wordpress.com Joel O’s

    Avery Johnson. I think on hindsight that Curry’s relationship with the Pistons as a player made it hard for him to be an authoritative figure. It’s hard to be both friend and coach, unfortunately. I think Avery’s no bull attitude would be perfect. Sure, his Mavs flamed out in the playoffs a bunch of times but they were downright nasty in the regular season.

  • Teddy-the-Bear

    HUBIE BROWN.

  • Dallas STOKES

    LAMBIER WILL GET IT AND CAN HAVE A LOOSING SEASON FOR SIX YEARS IN A ROW AND KEEP HIS JOB.

  • CDef28

    Joel O’s and to all people saying hire Johnson, if the Pistons players can’t tolerate Curry, I’m guessing they can’t deal with Avery. Over half the Mavs wanted him gone his last year. It’s a good fit, but at the same time it’s not.

  • http://slamonline.com Russ Bengtson

    Name Sheed player/coach. C’mon Joe D., you know you wanna.

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