Pistons Blog

What a day

I have been asked probably 1,000 times since the end of the season if Michael Curry was going to get fired. My standard answer was no, that Joe Dumars would probably give Curry a little more time to prove himself. That seemed to be the case after Dumars said at his postseason address that the coaching situation was a non-issue.

Now, I knew, everybody knew, that Curry was on a short leash. I honestly thought the Pistons would wind up having to fire him early to middle of next season, but I expected him to be here at the start. That thought was reinforced Monday when he was out front as the Pistons introduced their three draft picks. I talked to him for a long time, about last year, about all the Rip Hamilton stuff, about his mistakes and how he grew from them, how he would be better this coming season. There was no hint that he was about to be fired.

But, here's what I think happened. Dumars told Curry after last season that he had to mend fences with his players. He had to get Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince, and even younger players like Rodney Stuckey and Arron Afflalo back on board with him. He essentially gave Curry the early part of the summer to reach out to those guys and convince them that things would be better next season. By all accounts, none of that happened. He and Hamilton still haven't spoken.

Dumars looked around, on the eve of a most important free-agent summer, and saw a bunch of still un-mended fences. He looked at three wide-eyed rookies, a roster that was in complete transition and wisely, if not belatedly, decided that Curry wasn't experienced enough for this challenge and fired him.

People are going to say Rip Hamilton got Curry fired, and that is way too simplistic. Hamilton was just the most visible disenchanted player. Just about every player, and most of the coaching staff, had their issues with Curry.

People are also going to think this was done to better attract free agents. Not so much. The Pistons have the money and that's the first, second and third attraction for this group of free agents. I highly doubt that Ben Gordon or Carlos Boozer were holding up their decision because of any uncertainty about Curry. Now, that said, this firing will have a huge impact on Antonio McDyess. There was no way McDyess would have come back here if Curry was still in charge. He didn't hate Curry, but he didn't respect his abilities or methods as a coach. McDyess may still sign elsewhere (Boston, Cleveland, Houston, San Antonio all have interest), but at least now he will again consider coming back to Detroit.

Bottom line, it was just a bad hire. Curry is a bright man, a hard-working man and an otherwise tremendous human being. But he was not ready, in any sense, to be a head coach.

So, what's next. I honestly believe it is Doug Collins' job to lose. He would have immediate credibility with the players. They may not like how brash he is, or how demanding he can be, but they will trust and respect what he's saying. They will know that his only agenda is to make them better players and to win basketball games. This is a more confident and self-assured Doug Collins than the one that coached here from 1995-98. He wants one more chance at winning that title. If he thinks the Pistons can quickly build a roster worthy of that challenge, I think he would be perfect.

The other two candidates on Dumars' short list are Avery Johnson and John Kuester. Kuester, though a bright basketball man with a brilliant offensive mind, is probably the longshot. Simply because I can't see Dumars hiring a first-year coach to replace a failed first-year coach.