Hello Chauncey! He isn't here anymore...that's okay... I have the Answer! He is leaving too? Well if I can control Rasheed's temper I am good to go! He left? F@#K! Who is left?!?!?!
Avery Johnson will not be the next coach of the Detroit Pistons, who are instead closing in on hiring Cleveland Cavaliers assistant coach John Kuester, according to ESPN.com
Johnson, an ESPN NBA analyst, confirmed in a SportsCenter interview Tuesday afternoon that he and the Pistons have broken off contract talks after more than two days of negotiations.
“At our present stage, we just feel it’s important that we continue to make decisions that are best for our team,” Pistons president of basketball operations Joe Dumars said.
Sources close to the process told ESPN.com that the job would instead go to Kuester in a deal likely to be completed later Tuesday or Wednesday.
They had met several times and it seemed like they were on the path for an agreement. Doug Collins stepped down and Flip had already signed with the Wizards (although it is tough to come home again…) ESPN.com explains the reason for the empasse
The Pistons’ pursuit of Johnson ended, sources said, because Detroit — having paid both Flip Saunders and recently fired Michael Curry last season and still owing an estimated $5 million to Curry over the next two seasons — was only prepared to extend a two-year offer to Johnson with a team option for a third season.
So Joe Dumars did it because he is cheap…that is a sad commentary on the state of the economy…
It’s believed that Johnson wanted no less than the security of a four-year contract, given where the retooling Pistons stand in the Eastern Conference hierarchy after a 39-43 season and the fact that Detroit is looking for its sixth coach in Dumars’ 10 seasons running the front office. When that gap couldn’t be bridged, sources said, no formal offer was made to Johnson.
“I looked at it, I was interested in it, but I was only interested in it if we could agree on a vision for the team going forward,” Johnson said in the SportsCenter interview.
Dumars told the Detroit News: “Where we are right now as a team is kind of like where we were at the start of the Rick Carlisle era. And a $4 [million] to $5 million [per year] coach is not what we need right now. We didn’t have one of those until we were close to contending for a championship when we got Larry [Brown].”
Memo to Joe D… You are right in that you are no where near a championship team right now. When are the owners going to hold your feet to the fire for this?
You drafted the guy NOT on the cover...
Doug Collins pulling out is not a surprise. I think that he enjoys being courted and gets some weird vibe from rejecting others. This might be the fourth job he has turned down, after kicking the tires and looking around and taking it out for a test drive…
TNT analyst Doug Collins withdrew from consideration last week after sources told ESPN.com that he was formally offered the Detroit job. Boston Celtics associate head coach Tom Thibodeau is the only other known candidate, but sources say Dumars was always planning to move quickly to Kuester if no deal with Johnson could be reached.
It’s believed that Kuester’s offensive expertise and his history with the Pistons after working in Detroit as an assistant under Brown appeal greatly to Dumars. That’s despite that fact that Kuester — who was expected to travel to Detroit to meet face-to-face with Dumars later Tuesday — has never been a head coach in the NBA.
I cant believe that the finances and mistakes by Joe Dumars are going to cost the Pistons plenty by not getting a good coach like the Little General. But, lets meet John Kuester
John Dewitt Kuester Jr.[1] (pronounced: QUE-ster[2]) (born February 6, 1955, in Richmond, Virginia) is a retired American professional basketball player. He was a 6’2″ (188 cm) 180 lb (82 kg) guard and played collegiately with the University of North Carolina Tar Heels from 1973–77.[3][4] He played in the NBA from 1977 to 1980. He is reportedly the new head coach of the NBA’s Detroit Pistons.
Here is his coaching bio
After his playing days, Kuester began a basketball coaching career, volunteering as an assistant at the University of Richmond in 1980 to 1981.[4] From 1981 to 1983 he was an assistant to Rick Pitino at Boston University, before succeeding him in 1983 as the youngest head coach in NCAA Division I .[2][3][4]
From 1985 to 1990 he was the head coach at George Washington University. His 1988-1989 Colonials team compiled a 1-27 record, one of the worst ever in NCAA history.[4][6]
He continued his career on the sidelines in the NBA, joining the Boston Celtics in 1990 and serving as an assistant from 1995 to 1997,[4] and from 1997 to 2003 an assistant for the Philadelphia 76ers under head coach Larry Brown. In 2003-04, Kuester followed Brown to the Detroit Pistons where he also served as an assistant. In 2004-05 Kuester was an assistant with the New Jersey Nets,[3] and returned to the 76ers once more in 2005-06. In July 2006, Kuester was named as an assistant coach for the Orlando Magic.[7]
On August 12, 2007, it was reported from league sources that Kuester would be named to Cleveland Cavaliers head coach Mike Brown‘s staff, replacing the departing Kenny Natt.[8]
His record as a head coach doesn’t inspire feelings of championships. Admittedly, he was the youngest coach in Division One, but all the shows is that he was over matched.
School Season Record Overall Conference Boston University 1983-1984 20-9 0-0 Boston University 1984-1985 15-13 0-0 George Washington 1985-1986 12-16 7-11 George Washington 1986-1987 10-19 6-12 George Washington 1987-1988 10-17 0-0 George Washington 1988-1989 1-27 1-17 George Washington 1989-1990 14-17 10-6
You started to turn them around, but the 1-27 was probably too much to overcome. He has NBA bench experience, but…all we can do is wait and see if Dumars dumpster diving is going to work out…
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