Larry Brown done as Pistons coach

[Puddy]

Contract had three years, $18 million leftESPN.com

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Pistons coach maintains health is the main issue

 

After back-to-back trips to the NBA Finals under Larry Brown, the Detroit Pistons will have a new coach next season. Pistons president Joe Dumars told ESPN that the team and Brown are in ongoing talks for a buyout of Brown's contract, which has three years left at an estimated $18 million.

 

Dumars added that Brown's staff has been told that the talks are ongoing. No one has been fired or dismissed.

 

There was no immediate word whether the buyout would contain any stipulations that would prevent Brown from coaching another team for this upcoming season.

 

Dumars added that ex-Minnesota coach Flip Saunders, who turned down a lucrative offer from Milwaukee while waiting for the months-long Brown saga to reach a climax, is the leading candidate to replace Brown in Detroit but has yet to interview with the Pistons.

 

Brown said as recently as Friday that he was "confident" about returning to the Pistons next season, having overcome season-long speculation about new jobs to lead Detroit to within one victory of back-to-back championships.

 

Yet Brown, according to sources, could not guarantee that his health would hold up for a full season, which Pistons owner Bill Davidson had made a prerequisite for the 64-year-old's return.

 

It was not immediately known if the buyout arrangement would be finalized Monday.

 

It also remains to be seen whether Brown will take some time away from the NBA, stay with the Pistons in some capacity, or immediately pursue a coaching position with New York Knicks or a front-office position with the Cleveland Cavaliers. New York president Isiah Thomas has held off on making Herb Williams his full-time head coach in the event that Brown becomes available

[KevinL]

I don't want him in Cleveland. Isiah can have him.

[CaptainHook]

Luckily for the Pistons, Larry Brown won a title before moving on for no apparent reason, as he has done with every other team. . .

[Egret]

Asked whether Brown's actions angered him, Davidson said: ``I think a better word is peeved. You're certainly not happy when something like that happens.''

 

Parting ways with Brown ``was kind of easy,'' Davidson said. ``There was too much Larry Brown and not enough Pistons. I wasn't happy with that. You've got to understand that whoever coaches the Pistons represents me. And I'm not going to give (the team and their fans) somebody that's not a good person.''

 

Davidson is Bill Davidson the owner of the Pistons. That pretty much sums up why Brown isn't back. Don't peeve off Davidson or you'll end up like Isiah and Brown. Hmmm... maybe they'll end up in the same place now.

[rhippens]

i've grown more and more tired of larry brown over the past few years. maybe a championship-caliber coach is worth it, but i wouldn't want to deal with his yearly headaches he causes by either complaining about players or complaining about his health or both.

[THE SIX KINGS]

Saunders Introduced As Pistons Coach

By JOSEPH ALTMAN, Associated Press Writer

 

 

 

 

 

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. - Flip Saunders was introduced as the new coach of the Detroit Pistons on Thursday, replacing Hall of Famer Larry Brown and taking over a team that has made two straight appearances in the NBA Finals.

 

Saunders, who was fired in February after 9 1/2 seasons as the coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, says he knows there is an expectation to win in Detroit.

 

"I've been in situations where I've taken bad teams and moved them in the right direction. In those situations, there is no pressure," Saunders said during a news conference at The Palace. "Would it have been easy for me to take another job and not have as much (pressure)? Pressure is what you put on yourself. I don't really feel any pressure walking into a situation."

 

Saunders and the Pistons agreed to a four-year, $20 million contract on Wednesday, roughly 24 hours after finalizing the terms of Brown's $7 million severance package.

 

Saunders compiled a record of 411-326 with Minnesota and helped turn one of the NBA's most lackluster franchises into a contender. He led the Timberwolves to eight straight postseason appearances - and seven first-round exits before a breakthrough to the Western Conference finals two years ago.

 

Last season, the Timberwolves struggled over the first three months of the season under Saunders and ended up missing the playoffs under interim coach Kevin McHale.

 

The Pistons don't have a big-time scorer on their roster like Saunders had with Kevin Garnett in Minnesota, but the cupboard is far from bare.

 

Detroit expects to return the same starting lineup - guards Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton, forwards Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince and center Ben Wallace - that won the 2004 title and came within a game of a second straight crown last month.

 

"When you have a team like we have right now, it's very important the person that you're handing the team over to is qualified and is going to have your respect from day one," said Joe Dumars, the Pistons' president of basketball operations. "I'm very comfortable, Mr. D (owner William Davidson) is very comfortable, we're all very, very comfortable handing the keys to this team over to Flip. We know he's up for the challenge."

 

Saunders will be asked to maintain the production of the starting five while developing younger players like guards Carlos Arroyo and Carlos Delfino and post player Darko Milicic, the No. 2 overall pick in 2003 who failed to make great strides under Brown.

 

Saunders said he feels qualified to work with younger players, considering his background as a coach at the junior college and college levels and in the CBA.

 

"I think the number one thing with young players, you got to get them to play hard," Saunders said. "When you step on the court, they don't check your paycheck to see how much you make, and they don't check your ID to see how old you are."

 

Saunders said he spoke with Billups - a former Minnesota player - for 45 minutes about the situation in Detroit.

 

"Chauncey is a player I respect. He's a big-game player," Saunders said of Billups.

 

Saunders was a candidate in recent weeks for vacant NBA coaching jobs in New York, Cleveland and Milwaukee, but he waited for the Pistons job to open up.

 

"I was really fortunate in the past five months to wait and evaluate situations," Saunders said. "I was going to wait and find the right situation to walk into."

 

There were financial factors that allowed Saunders to be patient - namely the Timberwolves' obligation to pay him more than $5 million for the upcoming season. His deal with Detroit will be worth four times that amount at a minimum, with incentives that could add more than $6 million.

 

The Pistons also had an interest in former Seattle coach Nate McMillan, who decided not to wait out the proceedings between Brown and the Pistons and chose instead to take the head coaching job with the Portland Trail Blazers.

 

Brown, meanwhile, has spoken with Knicks president Isiah Thomas as the first step in New York's courtship of the 64-year-old coach. Brown's agent, Joe Glass, said he expected his client to choose his next career move in a couple of weeks.

[Ursa Majoris]

i've grown more and more tired of larry brown over the past few years.  maybe a championship-caliber coach is worth it, but i wouldn't want to deal with his yearly headaches he causes by either complaining about players or complaining about his health or both.

 

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I don't pretend to be a basketball expert or anything close to it, but doesn't success have a habit fo following Brown around?

 

He seems to be able to lift a team to be greater than the sum of it's parts by identifying and playing to their strengths.

 

Also, I understood the players thought he was great.

Edited July 22, 2005 by Ursa Majoris

[Puddy]

Also, I understood the players thought he was great.

 

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I think that is a misconception. He is not at all a 'players' coach. He has his style which has been very successful, but it isn't necessarily player friendly. He sticks to his rules (i.e. soon as you get your second foul in the first half, you hit the bench for the remainder, regardless of who the player is or the game situation).

 

Plus as this Pistons firing/buyout has unfolded, I'm finding him much less genuine than he comes across in his press conference and such.

 

Just last night, they showed a reporter asking him questions about the Detroit situation. He said he really wanted to come back here and was surprised by the firing. So much so that he didn't even consider a 'Plan B'. He's so full of chit with that one. Funny how he was already in talks with the Knicks the day after for a 5 year deal. Everyone knew for months that he had his eye on the Knicks job. He's a great coach, but brings quite the circus with him.

[chiefjay]

I can't believe the Knicks are going to give him 5 yrs for 60M.

[rhippens]

I don't pretend to be a basketball expert or anything close to it, but doesn't success have a habit fo following Brown around? 

 

He seems to be able to lift a team to be greater than the sum of it's parts by identifying and playing to their strengths.

 

Also, I understood the players thought he was great.

 

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like i said in my first post, i think he's a "championship caliber" coach. i was just saying that i wouldn't think all that crap that he brings along with him would be worth it. then again, owners are more and more becoming "win now or your fired", maybe that's all they need. personally, i don't believe that brown did the work in detroit, i give that credit to carlisle. but either way, i way just stating that brown continues to belly-ache about player relationships, his own health, and contract issues season after season.