From NY Daily:

It just wouldn't be the start of training camp without a coach or two on the hot seat.

Isn't that right, Flip Saunders?

After their conference finals flameout, the Pistons forced Saunders to fire his long-time, right-hand man, Don Zierden, and they would have made him ax Sidney Lowe, too, if Lowe hadn't seen what was happening and wisely fled for the North Carolina State head coaching job. At last check, it was Saunders who burned out his starters in the regular season, contributing to their dead legs against the Heat, but Zierden unjustly ended up as the fall guy.

Saunders enters his second season in Detroit with the organization wondering if he's tough enough to deal with his veteran players, while ex-Bucks head coach Terry Porter and Dave Cowens join the bench as assistants. If the Pistons are struggling into January, Saunders is going the way of the Edsel, with Porter considered the favorite to inherit the job, although Bill Laimbeer is also waiting in the wings.

As for Saunders, he knows where he stands. He has his eye on returning to the University of Minnesota, his alma mater, where his connections still run deep.

__________________
With politicians the future lies ahead