Pistons fans could see it coming, and I’m sure John Kuester could too.
After months of speculation, the Detroit Pistons cut ties with head coach John Kuester today. This is according to Justin Rogers of Mlive.com.
“Decisions like this are difficult to make,” Dumars said. “I want to thank John for his hard work and dedication to the organization over the last two years, however, at this time we have decided to make a change.”
The Pistons have made plenty of headway this past week as they announced Tom Gores as the new owner of the team. During Gores’ introductory press conference, Gores said that Kuester deserved the common courtesy of a sit down meeting.
“We expect to do that (meet) in the next several days,” Gores said. “We’re going to lay out our culture and what we expect. We’re going to see what happens from there. We’ll make that decision I think rather quickly, but I think coach Kuester deserves the courtesy of the meeting.”
You could tell that Kuester’s days as head coach were numbered, especially when Gores kept referring to him as Kooster instead of Kuester.
Pistons’ general manager Joe Dumars wouldn’t place at time-table on getting a new head coach who will become the 7th head coach for the Pistons since 2000.
“As our organization moves forward and prepares for the future, the search for our club’s new head coach is a priority and will begin immediately,” Dumars said. “However, at this time, we do not have a timetable for hiring a successor. We’ll conduct our due diligence privately and announce a decision when we’ve identified that individual.”
Even though the team needed to make a change at the head coaching position, the Pistons’ problems during Kuester’s time as head coach weren’t entirely his fault. Like Dumars, Kuester was part of a bad situation in which the team was handcuffed to bring in talent to the roster and was stuck with a group who for the most part felt as if they were entitled.
An early name to replace Kuester include former Atlanta Hawks head coach Mike Woodson who like Kuester was an assistant for the Pistons under Larry Brown when they won the NBA Championship back in 2004.
Source: Mlive.com
