truth or rumor: Flip headed to Motown?

[milkyway21]

replacing Larry Brown as Detroit's new coach.

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2005/scorecard/07/08/nba/index.html


Several sources have said it is quite likely that Flip Saunders eventually will replace Larry Brown as Pistons coach.
-- Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

:rolleyes

[Spursdaone]

That would be a stupid move by Detroit to have Flip. That team played with little heart the last year he was there.

[CalsonicKansei]

third post

I think that Flip is a big possibility if Brown chooses to lie to everyone and then say he cant coach because of a hip problem.

[ducks]

I heard that flip wants a break for a year

[constantstate]

there was something on the espn website about him wanting serious money and total control of the next team he coached. (maybe it was bs) i had also heard he was holding his name out and waiting to see what happened in detroit.

[ducks]

nate would have been better then flip

[H1Man]

nate would have been better then flip

Most people in Detroit prefer Nate over Flip. But since he is off the market, Flip is the best available candidate.

The reason that most people are skeptical about Flip revolve around how well he would fit in with this team. Carlise, LB are defense-first coaches that stress ball movement. Flip plays a lot of zone defense and his offense is more of iso's and 1 on 1 plays.

[Spursdaone]

Flip is a joke. He has no control over his team and that is worst that can happen with a coach. He doesn't get respect either

[T Park]

Flip Saunders is a good coach.

Just don't hope for his players to improve their games under his guidance.


If Larry leaves, I agree with the Flip hiring, that would be a great move.

[jochhejaam]

It's a rather bizarre situation. It's makes us feel like we're being held hostage, like are hands are tied.

I'm wondering if Larry's medical problems are to the point where he himself is worried about his ability to function full time in any capacity in any position with any NBA team. If his bladder problem gives him pain when flying or sitting on the bench it's going to cause him the same pain if he were president of the Cavs or coach of the Knicks.

If he steps down from the Pistons job because of medical issues, what team in their right mind would hire him in any capacity. No job means no salary and I imagine he lives a rather lavish lifestyle.

Tough situation all the way around.

Guess I should comment on the theme of the thread, Flips a good coach but Larrys one of the best!

[BronxCowboy]

You Piston's fans better hope that Saunders isn't the next coach in Detroit. That would be enough for me to put all my money against the Piston's getting back to the finals any time soon. Completely wrong fit.

[polandprzem]

I agree.
Pistos would not be enywhere neer the Championship under Flip.

The players will just jump on his head. And all the mentality will be lost or will go in a wrong direction.

[mookie2001]

Truth

[milkyway21]

we already knew Flip is now the new coach of the Pistons.

some of us are wondering how Brown(if he signs with the Kincks), and Marbury works together in N.Y.

here's another article on what Marbury thinks if Brown goes to New York:

http://www.nj.com/sportsflash/basketball/index.ssf?/base/sports-6/1122077392281290.xml&storylist=basketball

Marbury backs Larry Brown for Knicks job
The Associated Press

NEW YORK (AP) — While Larry Brown pondered the pros and cons of coaching the Knicks, Stephon Marbury endorsed the prospect of his former Olympic coach taking over in New York.

Brown and Knicks president Isiah Thomas met for four hours Thursday night at Brown's home in East Hampton, N.Y., a summit the Knicks described Friday as "positive."

Marbury said he was OK with Brown taking over — or with keeping interim coach Herb Williams. Marbury also guaranteed the Knicks will make the playoffs.:angel

"How can you not be supportive of Larry Brown being the coach?" Marbury told WEVD radio. "He's one of the best coaches to coach the game. So for me, that's a no-brainer."

Marbury and Brown clashed at last summer's Olympics, where the U.S. team lost three times and finished a disappointing third.

The Knicks said they did not expect to make any announcements regarding Brown over the weekend.

Brown would be coaching his eighth NBA team if he takes over the New York, but he has expressed reservations in recent days about possibly nudging Williams out of a job.

"If Herb was the coach, I think with our team, we'll still be great," Marbury said. "Larry brings something totally different to the table because of his experience, and everyone knows experience rules. So for him to be the coach, it'd be great."

The Knicks have made several offseason changes to their roster, dealing forward Kurt Thomas to Phoenix for guard Quentin Richardson, reaching agreement with Seattle free agent center Jerome James and drafting center Channing Frye, guard Nate Robinson and forward David Lee.

Under some prompting, Marbury went on to make a bold statement about the Knicks' chances coming off a 33-49 season.

"We're making the playoffs," Marbury said in the radio interview. "I'm guaranteeing that. We're going to make the playoffs."

Isiah Thomas waited patiently while the saga of Brown's departure from the Detroit Pistons played out, and Brown is clearly his choice to take over leadership of a rebuilding franchise that's been mediocre at best during the past several seasons.

If Brown were to take the job, he would give the go-ahead to his agent to work out the contract language with Knicks executives.

"Nothing has changed today," agent Joe Glass said Friday. "I talk to him at least two times every day."

As presently constructed, the Knicks don't fit the mold of one of Brown's typical teams.

Aside from Richardson and Jamal Crawford, both with low career shooting percentages, the Knicks' corps of shooting guards includes gimpy-kneed Allan Houston, who could be waived before November in a luxury-tax saving move, and the over-the-hill Penny Hardaway, playing out the final season of a long-term contract that pays him more than $14 million next season.

Tim Thomas, a career underachiever, is New York's best small forward, while the front line will be manned by work-in-progress Michael Sweetney and James, who brings an underachiever reputation along with him from Seattle.

Then there's defense, another key facet of all Brown's teams. The Knicks don't play it very well, and they also fail in the toughness category that Brown's Pistons teams so embodied.

Still, Brown loves challenges as much as he craves attention and new jobs.

His picture has been plastered across the back pages of the New York tabloids, and he even was interviewed and photographed at a boat harbor after returning from a leisurely afternoon with his family on the waters off Long Island, N.Y.

Photographers followed Brown's wife, Shelly, after she picked up Thomas from a small airport Thursday evening.

"If I'm speaking to them, I obviously have an interest," Brown said. "But my concern is what is best for my family and if I can do it mentally."

"I don't want to string this thing out for Herb or their organization," Brown said. "But the biggest thing, to be honest with you, is I've got to get it straight with my family what I'm going to do."

[sickdsm]

Most people in Detroit prefer Nate over Flip. But since he is off the market, Flip is the best available candidate.

The reason that most people are skeptical about Flip revolve around how well he would fit in with this team. Carlise, LB are defense-first coaches that stress ball movement. Flip plays a lot of zone defense and his offense is more of iso's and 1 on 1 plays.

Huh? As much as I hate flip as a coach that's a really uninformed thing to say. Flips offense is VERY complex, to the point of being confusing. He's probably the best at designing offensive plays in the league. Lots of passing, picks, backpicks, screen and rolls. Very little one on ones.

Are you talking about when he played as a player? I don't get you.