Leach's Lists: Top 3 Detroit Pistons Coaching Candidates
By: Dan Leach
Follow Dan Leach on Twitter @dtmleach
With Phil Jackson in Motown this week advising the Pistons on hiring their next head coach, one can wonder what is on the "Zen Master's" Mind? What (hopefully) is not on his mind is recommending longtime friend and his former player, Brian Shaw. No disrespect to Shaw, he definitely deserves to get a head coaching job, as he has widely been considered a top assistant for years, and has done a great job as the associate head coach in Indiana. However he has never been a head coach at any level and I think that is the most important quality the next Pistons coach should have.
This will be the 9th coach since the year 2000 for Detroit, which is why this hire simply has to be right. The Pistons have a great young nucleus with Brandon Knight, Greg Monroe, and Andre Drummond, and I believe are a couple players away from being a real contender. The next coach in Detroit needs to be one that can take this team to the next level and I believe that is why the hire needs to be someone that has actually been the man in charge of a team before. Here are my top three to become the next Pistons head coach.
3-Bill Laimbeer- I truly feel that Laimbeer is going to get a shot as a head man in the NBA, so why not in the town where he made a name for himself and was a key part to two championship teams? He might not have been a head coach in the NBA yet, but he won three titles in the WNBA and all his players praised him as a hard-nosed leader that got the most out of them, which is exactly what this young Pistons team needs. He would definitely put butts in seats and create excitement around a team that badly needs it, as they go from a rebuilding team to a contending one.
2-Jerry Sloan- Yes he is getting up there in age, but it is hard to argue that Sloan wasn't one of the most successful coaches over the past 25 years with his tremendous success in Utah. Sloan accomplished everything a coach could short of an NBA title and had his Jazz in the playoffs at one point for 17 straight seasons. I think Sloan's knowledge of the game, leadership qualities, and intense desire to win would be a perfect fit for a young team on the rise that just needs to start believing in itself and its ability to win.
1-Larry Brown- This may seem crazy, but is it really that farfetched? Brown, who helped the Pistons win their last title in 2004, has never been a man that stays in one place long and after one season as the head man at SMU, there is a good chance he is itching to get back to the NBA for the first time since 2010(Bobcats). Brown may have racked up the most travel miles in the history of coaching, but he is a proven winner, familiar with Detroit, and one of the few coaches out there that has won a title.
Follow Dan Leach on Twitter @dtmleach
