Pistons Fire Curry

The Detroit Pistons have fired head coach Michael Curry only after one season. The Pistons were 39-43 this past season, making the playoffs as an eighth seed. They were swept by the Cleveland Cavaliers in the first round, with all games being a double-digit margin. The Pistons, a year ago, were 59-23 and lost to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals in six games. Earlier this past season, they traded Chauncey Billups to the Denver Nuggets for Allen Iverson. The trade worked out great for the Nuggets, but it turned out terrible for the Pistons.

I think people who want to be head coaches should be very concerned if they are being pursued by the Pistons. Pistons president Joe Dumars doesn't show any patience with head coaches at all. In 2002 and 2003, the Pistons won 50 games under Rick Carlisle. They lost to the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Semifinals and then lost to the New Jersey Nets in the Eastern Conference Finals the next year. That wasn't enough for Dumars, as he proceeded to fire Carlisle after that. They hired Larry Brown, which was the best choice. Brown led them to an NBA Finals victory in 2004 over the Los Angeles Lakers, and they went to the Finals again, losing to the San Antonio Spurs in 2005 in seven games. However, Brown was fired by the Pistons after the Finals lost for not being committed to the Pistons, apparently talking to the Cleveland Cavaliers about a job.

They then proceeded to hire Flip Saunders. They won 64 games in Saunders' first year in 2006. However, they lost to the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference Finals despite lofty expectations. The next year, they had the top seed in the Eastern Conference again. However, they lost again in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Cavaliers. They went on to lose in the Eastern Conference Finals to the Celtics the next year and Dumars had enough. He fired Saunders and hired Curry, who was Saunders assistant. After one season of transition, Dumars showed no patience and fired him immediately. Dumars was once regarded as a great executive for bringing in Richard Hamilton, Chauncey Billups and Ben Wallace, guys who failed to live up to expectations before coming to the Pistons. But his impatience with this team isn't helping this team grow at all. If I want to be a coach, I am not going to the Pistons because of Dumars.