by Keith Coburn

Created on: July 01, 2009

Whether you agreed with the hiring of Michael Curry or the firing of Michael Curry the Pistons are in the market for a new head coach.

The Pistons once again made the playoffs this past season but they did by backing their way in. They won only 11 of their last 25 games and then ended up being swept out in the 1st round by King James and the team from Cleveland.

Curry ended his 1st and only season as head coach of the Pistons with a 39-43 record which in the land of Deetroittt Basketballlll just isn't good enough.

Looking forward who will be the next coach to lead Detroit back into contention for the Eastern title.

1) Bill Laimbeer. So is it a coincidence that Bill steps down as the Detroit Shock' s head man, a team that he has led to 3 WNBA championships to pursue an NBA coaching position? It's my feeling that Bill will be next former Piston, like Curry, to be named as the head coach. Bill played with a toughness that helped create that Bad Boys image of the late 80's and can bring that same kind of toughness to the Pistons again. 2) Avery Johnson had a good run coaching the Mavericks with a 194 wins and 70 losses in the regular season making the playoffs each of his 4 years. Avery only made it to the finals once and lost to the Heat 4-2 after taking a 2 game lead. 3) John Kuester has over 10 years as an assistant for 6 different teams including the Pistons and currently sets on the Cavaliers staff. As noted above, John has no head coaching experience which may assist in Dumars decision making. 4) Jeff Van Gundy has compiled a 413 wins against a 318 losses regular season record missing the playoffs just once and making it the finals once. Jeff could very well be the front runner for this job along side Bill Laimbeer. Jeff comes with a lot of experience and has stepped back and taken the last two seasons off to announce games.

I feel confident that with Joe Dumars at the helm that the correct decision will be made. Joe has lead this team back from a team that struggled to make the playoffs only to loose in the 1stround or not make the playoffs at all to a team that has a spot reserved each season in the playoffs. Let us not forget the 20-62 and 28-54 records we had prior to Joe coming on board.

As I stated above, I think Bill Laimbeer will be the next head coach but rumors are flying around that Avery Johnson was an inside track and is Joe's guy.

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