Course the Flipper was 17-30 before coming here. 27-38 afterwards.

Here are the playoff records for the only Pistons coaches of note since Chuck Daly.

Chuck Daly
before Pistons: none
with Pistons: 71-42, 63%
after Pistons: 7-12, 37%

Doug Collins
before Pistons: 7-12, 37%
with Pistons: 2-6, 25%
after Pistons: none

Rick Carlisle
before Pistons: none
with Pistons: 12-15, 44%
after Pistons: 10-17, 37%

Larry Brown
before Pistons: 69-72, 49%
with Pistons: 31-17, 65%
after Pistons: none

Flip Saunders
before Pistons: 17-30, 36%
with Pistons: 10-8, 56%

Few coaches lead more than one decent playoff team in their career and all except Collins had his best playoff seasons with Detroit. Only three NBA coaches have won titles with two different teams: Alex Hannum, Phil Jackson, and now Pat Riley.

good report Lurk

This is quite an indictment of Mr. Saunders' basketball philosophy. The US has started wars with less evidence.

So true and so frightening on both counts.

I didn't even consider that we might use U.S. government standards for truth. That would significantly decrease the amount of time needed to prep an article since I could just make stuff up. Good thinking.

Ha. Ha-ha. ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha.

Great analysis too. I think the point to be gleaned is not whether Larry would be better for the team than Flip (Larry is gone-gone-gone and he would have been a distraction again sooner or later if they'd kept him) but rather "How can the Pistons get better under Flip?"

IMO, the main thing that Flip brought that should stay is the looser, more flowing offense. The modern NBA is about entertainment, and the Pistons were a lot more "fun" for the casual bball fan to watch this year. The main thing that needs to go is the general softness that he allows. McDyess is the only player whose game seemed to improve - everyone else seems to have been happy to coast.

NBA coaches are always under pressure no matter what, but Flip will be under so much pressure in the next few years as the new direction is in the baby stages for this franchise.

Flip is clearly in my mind the better coach for now, with the whole cliche of the new offensive NBA. No one will ever question Flip as a regular season Head Coach, it is his playoff coaching abilities that will always be questioned and rightly so after this past season.

I think Detroit needs to step up his staff and get the these guys ready for a strong playoff run next year. Flip is a good coach but I will judge him from the playoffs from now till the end of his Pistons era. GO PISTONS!!

What exactly did the Pistons sacrifice?

When you throw in all of the editorial comments like this, it destroys all of the great research that you've done. I stopped reading your article after this paragraph. If you have some great statistical evidence to present, let it stand on its own behalf.