Michael Curry was fired today, leading to mass speculation that Bill Laimbeer will be holding the clipboard next season. The consensus is that MC was fired because, like Flip Saunders before him, he was unable to earn the respect of his players. But can Bill?
Don’t get me wrong, I love Laimbeer and would love to see him coach the Pistons some day. The truth is his players are too young to remember the Bad Boys and sexist though it may be, will not respect his success in the WNBA. They do know him from his media days where he traveled with the team and was one of the guys. Tough to take orders from one of the guys, which certainly helped doom Curry.
In my unprofessional, completely amateur blogger opinion, the Pistons need an old guy. A Don Nelson/Jerry Sloan/Larry Brown type figure. Someone who will strike the fear of God in to them and not accept their “we can coach ourselves” attitude. If he’s not currently in jail for anything, I would give Bobby Knight a call. For that matter, hire Bill Parcells. I don’t care what sport you are in, you’re not going to slack playing for the Big Tuna.