A little over a week ago Joe Dumars fired Michael Curry after one up and down year. The Pistons came into last season coming off of its 6th straight conference finals appearance and a pretty good chance to go back again, but things changed quickly. Three games into the season Dumars shook things up by trading away Mr. Big Shot, Chauncey Billups to Denver for Allen Iverson. On the court it turned out to be a disaster. A.I. never meshed well with Rip & company leading to an embarrassing four game sweep in the first round to the Cleveland Cavaliers. However, the trading of Billups and subsequent decision not to resign Iverson & Wallace, left the team with about $19 million in cap room. But Joe dropped another bomb just one day after he and coach Curry introduced the three new draft picks, firing Curry and leaving the team with no head coach heading to summer league play.
In his statement regarding the firing of Curry, Joe stated that he wanted a coach with more experience than Curry. Assuming that, many people believed that ESPN Analyst Avery Johnson was the man to be hired. (Joe and Johnson could never come to agree on contract terms) But instead Joe hired Cleveland Cavaliers Assistant John Kuester. Kuester was the offensive brain trust all season for the Cavaliers, drawing up many of their plays during timeouts during their entire playoff run. Kuester was an assistant under Larry Brown in 2004 when the Pistons upset the Lakers in the Finals. Though Kuester has never been a head coach in the NBA, he does have more experience than Curry. Kuester has been an assistant for the Celtics, 76ers, Pistons, Nets, Magic, and Cavaliers. Time will only tell whether that experience will make a difference.