Terry Porter was fired by the Suns and replaced by Alvin Gentry.

GM Steve Kerr has no clue. He took the very successful running offense that could not get it done in the playoffs and fired its architect in Mike D’Antoni.

Then Steve hired Terry Porter to bring in the Detroit Pistons defensive style of play. Huh? Same players completely opposite styles? Won’t work and it didn’t.

Porter was in the first year of a three-year, $6 million deal to replace Mike D’Antoni, who left after four highly successful seasons to coach the New York Knicks.

D’Antoni is a coach who lets his players run and shoot, and maybe play defense once in a while. It was Kerr’s insistence on emphasizing defense that led, in large part, to D’Antoni’s departure. Porter wanted a defense-oriented team in the tough mold of the Pistons.

It was a bad fit.

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Now Steve brings in Alvin Gentry, always the coach to replace the fired coach, because the players like him. Gentry says he will bring back the racehorse style, only D’Antoni won’t be there, and Steve Nash is 2 years older, and All Star MVP Shaq is 37 and can’t run.

Good Luck with that.

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Man, today there was this crazy thought rolling through my head. What if the Pistons had kept Chauncey Billups and Iverson had stayed on the Nuggets?

Nowhere to go with that thought, so how about taking a look at how some of this player movement and coaching movement is working out?

Chauncey Billups from Detroit to Denver
Denver is 7 – 3 in their last 10 games and in 1st place

Allen Iverson from Denver to Detroit
Detroit is 4 – 6 and in second place.

Ron Artest from everywhere to Houston
Houston is 7 – 3 and in 1st place

Jermaine O’Neal from Indiana to Toronto
Toronto is 3 – 7 and dead last in the Atlantic Division

Rick Carlisle to coach Dallas
Dallas is 8 – 2 but only in 4th place in the Southwest

Terry Porter to coach Phoenix
Phoenix is 5 -5 and in second place behind the Lakers

Mike D’Antoni to coach the Knicks
3 – 7 and 4th place in the same division as the Celtics

Mo Williams to Cleveland
9 – 1 in the last 10 and first place over the Pistons

This is a fun one
Elton Brand from L.A. Clippers to Philadelphia
Baron Davis from Golden State to L.A. Clippers
Corey Maggette from L.A. Clippers to Golden State

76er’s 4 -6 3rd place
Clip’s 2 – 8 5th place
Warriors 1 – 9 but still in 3rd place

Which just begs the question, what if Chauncey Billups had never left the Pistons?
Photo source Newscom

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Dwyane Wade helps put a whole new spin on which NBA Conference is dominant

This year will finally be the year where balance is restored. The Eastern Conference of the NBA will be dominant. It is time to crush the West!

Let’s start with Elton Brand and Dwyane Wade.

Elton Brand went from west to east, making one potentially decent team subpar out West and making one average Eastern team suddenly look very, very good. Meanwhile, Miami essentially adds a superstar in Dwyane Wade because he’s fully healed, and the Heat should improve from league doormat to something in the general vicinity of average.
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Lesson two would involve the Boston Celtics and Detroit Pistons.

At the very top and very bottom, the East rules. Boston, obviously, is the reigning champ, and Detroit had the league’s second-best record last season. Meanwhile, I’m projecting every Eastern team to win at least 27 games; rebuilding Western teams in Memphis, Oklahoma City and Sacramento all figure to do worse.

There are wild cards in the new way Dallas and Phoenix will play under new coaches Rick Carlisle and Terry Porter.

On the flip side the Knicks will have a real coach in Mike D’Antoni and Scott Skiles will head up Milwaukee.

All in all, it looks like a great year in the East!

Photo source Newscom

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The Shaq has let us know he is a force.

“I’m always going to be a force,” O’Neal said. “Whatever team I’m on is going to have a great shot.”
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The Shaq always will be a force, even in his basketball old age.

Shaq bemoans the fact that he will never be a jockey

These are the new Suns and they must be given the chance to prove themselves under new coach Terry Porter. The good news is that Shaq seems motivated.

The new Suns are a fascinating study in change. The coach has changed, the system has changed, and the point guard has his mop-top back. The Little Team That Didn’t has morphed into something bigger and deeper, where defense and discipline are no longer empty promises.

It’s going to take some time. It’s going to take some patience. But as usual, it’s going to come down to O’Neal, his emotional investment and how bad he wants to stick it to the Lakers.

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The Phoenix Suns are a team that has the ability to play the half court on both defense and offense now. They will still have one of the best point guards in Steve Nash. The real question will be how much Shaq has left in the tank.

Photo source Newscom

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Michael Curry will try to right the Piston ship

The NBA is proud to bring a brand new coach to your area. They did it for 8 teams.

Think about that. 8 new coaches.

Ever heard of a brand new coach immediately winning it all? It has probably happened, but not to my knowledge.

Usually you just fired the last coach because the team stunk so bad he could not make them win.

So this year we bring you the 8 trying to make the magic happen.

Michael Curry, Pistons

Curry, 40, was an assistant to last year’s coach, Flip Saunders, who was fired. From 2000 to 2004, Curry was president of the National Basketball Players Association. He’s also a former NBA vice president for basketball operations and played for six teams in an 11-year career.
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Michael is lucky. He inherits a veteran team with a real honest to god chance to win it all. The team knows him. The GM, Joe Dumars, knows him. Heck, the hotdog vendor in section 133 knows him. Michael Curry was a defensive minded team oriented over achiever as a player. He even used to plan out bike trips and movies for when the players were on the road.

But can he coach? Well, he can as an assistant, but can he as the head coach?

Vinny Del Negro, Bulls

Del Negro, who has no coaching experience at any level, follows interim coach Jim Boylan, who replaced Scott Skiles. Del Negro, 42, formerly was assistant general manager for the Phoenix Suns and played for five teams in a 12-year NBA career.

Scotty Skiles and Jim Boylan is a tough act to follow. Vinny has his hands full with that crew in Chicago. Skiles whipped and beat them to play defense and play as a team. Boylan found out they are lacking depth, size, speed, etc. Good Luck!

Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat

Club President Pat Riley named Spoelstra, a seven-year assistant, to succeed him. Spoelstra, 37, is the youngest coach in the league.

This guy just has the job on loan until Pat Riley sees a good enough team to take over. Sure doesn’t hurt to have Dwyane Wade and the Matrix auditioning for jobs.

Larry Brown, Charlotte Bobcats

Have witnessed Larry up front with my Pistons and he is an amazing coach and complicated man. He is always chasing after something that is missing in his life. Some think he is looking for his father that left him at young age, not literally, but figuratively.

Larry will put them in half court sets and make them play playoff style basketball. If teams listen, they win, but most young players do not want to play that way. Example: Chauncey Billups was close to a triple double one night and Larry pulled him and said “You don’t have a clue as to how to play point guard for me, do you?” Think about it.

Rick Carlisle, Dallas Mavericks

This one will be fun to watch. The Dallas Mavericks and Dirk Nowitzki were often shooting before crossing half court and now will be playing half court. Rick was the Piston coach before Larry and he alienated so many people that he had to be fired with a winning record. Chauncey Billups used to say they knew exactly what plays would be run in the last two minutes as Carlisle called all the plays. Rick also does not like to double on defense. Can Dirk defend?

Mike D’Antoni, New York Knicks

Mike has his hands full until the Knicks can clean house and find some D’antoni style players. He needs speed and outside shooting to go along with a pass first dribbling point guard, a la Steve Nash. Mike is a great coach and the players love his style. The ball gets shared and the pace is quick.

Can he play enough defense to win a title though?

Must be Michigan week in the NBA or something

Michael Curry, Detroit Pistons
Larry Brown, former Detroit Pistons coach
Rick Carlisle, former Detroit Pistons coach
Vinny Del Negro replaces Jim Boylan former assistant at Michigan State University
Before Jim Boylan was Scott Skiles former player at Michigan State University
Mike D’Antoni was brought in to replace Isiah Thomas former Detroit Piston
The D’Antoni wanted to trade Zach Randolph former player at Michigan State University
Terry Porter, former Detroit Pistons assistant coach
Scott Skiles, former player at Michigan State University
Scott will work for GM John Hammond and he worked under Joe Dumars of the Detroit Pistons.

Terry Porter, Phoenix Suns

A hustling guard as a player and an average coach at Milwaukee, Terry will have some talent to work with, but will drastically change the style for the Suns. Terry is a real believer in defense.

Scott Skiles, Milwaukee Bucks

Scott will have some hungry players in Michael Redd and Richard Jefferson. Maybe not enough talent to win, but that has never been an issue with Scott. He just wants you to bring the desire.

Photo source Newscom

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Steve Nash can play defense with his hands tied behind his back

Now that is something we are not used to, the Phoenix Suns adding defense to the lineup, but new coach Terry Porter wants more balance on the court.

Remember the legendary Suns vs. Mavericks games that included barrages of points from both sides? Steve Nash against Dirk Nowitzki. Well, forget that, it is not going to happen anymore. Rick Carlisle is running the Mavs and Terry Porter is running the Suns and both of them believe you need defense to win championships.

It is the end of an era in the West with maybe only Golden State hanging on to the all offense philosophy.

So what is Porter thinking?

“I don’t foresee scoring to be a problem going forward,” Porter said. “Are we going to be scoring 115 a night? Probably not. I’d like to be a team that defends a lot better. That’s going to be a focus of ours. And a team that scores in the 100s.

“I’m more of a traditional type of guy about guys playing the same positions and traditional sets. I’ll be running pretty basic NBA sets but just have different wrinkles than they’ve had in years past.”

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Hey, just trying to keep you informed.

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Clyde Drexler played on the great Portland teams with Kevin Duckworth

Kevin “Duck” Duckworth was found dead at the age of 44. Much too young to die. Cause is yet to be determined, but foul play has been ruled out.

Duckworth played on some great Portland Trailblazer teams with Terry Porter bombing from the outside and driving to the hoop, Buck Williams providing the upfront muscle, Jerome Kersey floating around the paint with mid range shooting and drives to the basket, and, of course, Clyde “The Glide” Drexler exploding to the hoop for another slamma jamma.

Kevin Duckworth was drafted by San Antonio, and then played most of his career with Portland. He also had stints with the Washington Bullets, Milwaukee Bucks, and the Los Angeles Clippers at the end of his career.

Duck was the big man inside. He was the easy going big guy and got the job done.

“Within the world of basketball, within those Trail Blazers teams, he was a jokester,” said Phoenix Suns coach Terry Porter, who played with Duckworth. “He was a big loving teddy bear. At times guys got frustrated because he didn’t have a mean streak. He was just a great guy. He loved the team atmosphere, loved being a teammate in those successful Blazer teams.”

The 7-foot Duckworth averaged 11.8 points and 5.8 rebounds over 11 seasons in the NBA, helping Portland reach the NBA finals in 1990 and 1992. The two-time All-Star also played for San Antonio, Washington, Milwaukee and the Los Angeles Clippers.

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Michael Curry

Not in my wildest imagination would it seem that Joe Dumars would hand the reins over to an unproven coach. In Joe D we trust, but this is to the extreme.

Michael Curry, former Piston, gets the head coaching job in Detroit.

The move comes one week after Dumars fired Flip Saunders. Curry will sign a three-year deal worth with a fourth season a team option. The deal is reportedly worth $2.5 million a year. This will be the first head coaching job for 39-year-old Curry.
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Michael coached 1 year as an assistant under Flip Saunders. He also coached at…well, nowhere, none, nunca, nada. In Joe D we trust, just keep saying it.

Terry Porter

Also under Flip was Terry Porter. The Phoenix Suns announced Porter as their new coach. Evidently they talked to Flip, but he is a tad expensive and also collecting 5.4 million bucks to do nothing next year.

Terry was unremarkable as Bucks coach. It did not hurt to have been a former teammate of Steve Kerr and current friend.

Phoenix general manager Steve Kerr said Saturday he had agreed to terms with Porter, who was an assistant with the Pistons the past two seasons.

Porter, 45, played in the NBA for 17 seasons and teamed with Kerr in San Antonio.

“He’s got a great combination of leadership skills,” Kerr said in a telephone interview. “He’s a great communicator. And his coaching experience, two years as a head coach, is important to me. The fact that he’s sat in that chair, that was a key factor. He’s very tough-minded.”

Porter is expected to sign a three-year deal worth about $7 million, and he likely will be introduced at a news conference this week. His hiring was first reported by ESPN.

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Vinny Del Negro

Maybe the most surprising hire was Vinny Del Negro by the Chicago Bulls. Zero coaching experience is his resume.

Vinny Del Negro has been offered the Chicago Bulls head coaching job, according to a person within the league who is familiar with the situation.

The person spoke on the condition of anonymity because an announcement had not been made Monday.

An official announcement, which could come this week, would end a nearly two-month search that included courtships of Mike D’Antoni and Doug Collins.

Del Negro, the assistant general manager of the Phoenix Suns who has never been a head coach, would take over a team that went from 49 wins to 49 losses this past season and missed the playoffs after making the second round in 2007.

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Be happy the same old retreads are not being hired, but isn’t there supposed to be some kind of head coaching credentials to get some of these jobs?

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Flip Saunders is told by the Detroit Pistons Joe Dumars to take his ball and go home

Image details: Detroit Pistons v Boston Celtics – Game Five served by picapp.com

Who will be the next coach of the Detroit Pistons?

Saturday Joe Dumars spoke to Flip about his final year. All decisions have to go through the owner Bill Davidson. Evidently Bill sees what my good friend RonB pointed out to me, “good thing the Pistons did not go to the finals or Flip would get a five year hiring extension”.

In other words, Flip was not the coach to take them all the way! (So it would be a problem if he made the finals and lost.)

Does not matter, as of Tuesday, Flip Saunders is fired.

President of basketball operations Joe Dumars said it’s “time for a new voice to lead our team.” Saunders had a year left on a four-year deal he signed in 2005. The decision comes three years after Saunders took over for Larry Brown, who led the Pistons to two straight NBA finals.

“Decisions like this are difficult to make, especially with the success we have had throughout the last three regular seasons,” Dumars said in a statement. “However, at this time, I feel it is necessary to make a change.”

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It is odd only because Joe Dumars has raised the bar so high.

In Saunders’ three seasons, the Pistons were 176-70 in the regular season and 30-21 in the postseason, but they lost in the Eastern Conference finals each year.

The Pistons have appeared in six straight conference finals, the first franchise to do so since the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1980s. But they also are the second team in league history to lose in the round before the NBA finals three years in a row, joining the Celtics from 1953-55.

So who will be the next coach?

Assistant coach Michael Curry appears to be the leading candidate to replace Saunders. Other possible candidates include Detroit assistant coach Terry Porter and former Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson.

Hmm, Michael Curry – no head coach experience.
Terry Porter – Losing record with Milwaukee Bucks.
Avery Johnson – could not keep Houston Rockets motivated.

Can this be it?

Time for a Joe D miracle!

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