Life after Larry
By Steve Kerr, Yahoo! Sports
December 2, 2005

Steve Kerr
Yahoo! Sports Exclusive
With the cameras in the huddle late in Game 7 of the NBA Finals last June, Larry Brown told his team during an emotional time out, "I love you guys." He meant it, too.

Brown loved his players for their effort, their professionalism and the grit and determination they were showing while desperately trying to repeat as NBA champions. In the end, of course, Brown's love wasn't enough to help the Detroit Pistons overcome the San Antonio Spurs, who went on to win the le.

Also, Brown's love wasn't enough to keep him in Detroit.

He exited after a wildly successful yet controversial two-year stint with the Pistons. During Detroit's playoff efforts to win back-to-back les, Brown allowed himself to be wooed by the Cavaliers for their general manager position. The Cavaliers job never materialized for Brown, but he ultimately ended up in his hometown to coach the New York Knicks.

On Friday night, Brown makes his first appearance at The Palace of Auburn Hills as New York's coach. Waiting for him will be a group of Pistons players who not only have moved on without him but flourished as well.

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Flip Saunders replaced Brown and was immediately embraced by his new team for his willingness to open up the offense – something Brown never allowed the Pistons to do. They also welcomed his laid-back, non-controversial style. After an emotional two seasons with the intense Brown, Detroit's players were ready for some stability.

Saunders has been the perfect fit for the Pistons. He has installed the up-tempo, innovative offense he ran in Minnesota for so long, but not at the expense of the defensive intensity that made Detroit a champion. Chauncey Billups, who played for Saunders in Minnesota from 2000 to 2002, was given a longer leash than he had under Brown, Tayshaun Prince has blossomed offensively and Richard Hamilton, who is having his best season, appears to be headed to his first All-Star appearance.

Saunders has given his team license to shoot and run more, and he has done so in a quiet, unassuming manner. The result is a more complete Detroit team – one that is capable of winning games a number of ways.

The Pistons have the ability to outscore teams now that they're averaging 98.9 points per game – 5.6 more points than a year ago – but they have maintained the ability to shut teams down, keeping the defensive iden y that Ben Wallace and company forged. In short, Saunders was the perfect coach at the right time, and he has Detroit primed for another run at a le.

As for Brown's return to The Palace? His ex-players will embrace him, knowing that Brown helped them reach heights they had never reached before. Still, there will be plenty of motivation to beat him. The Pistons players were hardly thrilled with Brown's flirtations with the Cavaliers during last season's playoffs, and while they didn't say much publicly, behind the scenes they bristled at the distraction.

Which was one reason a Pistons official privately said to me last year during the playoffs, "If I was a betting man, I'd go to Vegas and put money on us to win it all next year. Because our guys are going to be fired up to win for whomever the next coach is."

That coach is Flip Saunders. And he has the Pistons looking like a pretty good bet to be hoisting a trophy come June.

Steve Kerr is Yahoo! Sports' NBA analyst. Send him a question or comment for potential use in a future column or webcast.