Did Dumars outsmart himself

[Celtic4Hire@xxxxxxx]

I guess I agree with CeltSteve. Detroit was looking like they were going to 
move up to the Nets top shelf area with the no. 2 pick and the continued 
development of the Prince, Okur and Hamilton and Billups. But throw in a guy like 
Brown who will change both the defensive and offensive concepts and who knows 
what you will get. The firing of Carisle and hiring of Brown may be exactly what 
Cs fans need to keep the Pistons from getting any better....

DJessen33

<Authority is the issue

Brown and Dumars could test respect they share for each other

By Chris McCosky / The Detroit News



Shakers and movers?

Will the Pistons' shake-up lead to a championship in the near future?

AUBURN HILLS -- Now that we know Larry Brown will be named the Pistons' next 
head coach at 2 p.m. today, how soon before Derrick Coleman joins the team? 

Don't laugh. One thing that has been consistent about Brown through the years 
is that he likes to surround himself with people and players he is 
comfortable with. 

It's almost certain he'll bring his Philadelphia assistants -- Randy Ayers, 
John Kuester and Dave Hanners -- to Detroit. If Mike Woodson doesn't get a job 
as a head coach, he, too, will join Brown in Detroit. 

And you can bet that Brown will want to make changes to the roster. 

Here's the rub. 

At almost every other stop in his career, Brown has had some authority over 
personnel decisions. He won't here. 

Joe Dumars runs the day-to-day operation with a firm, confident hand. He and 
vice president John Hammond make the decisions. 

Brown will have some input, sure, but at the end of the day, it will be 
Dumars' call. 

In the short amount of time it took to put together Brown's deal -- 
reportedly for five years and about $25 million -- this issue had to have been talked 
about. 

So, it's safe to assume that Brown is fine with the setup and that at this 
stage of his career, with this particular organization, he is content just to 
coach. 

But, at age 62, do you really think Brown will be able to change his stripes 
completely? 

This is a guy whose restless quest for perfection is legendary. He has driven 
more than a few presidents and general managers to the brink of fury with his 
ceaseless demands for roster changes. 

This is a guy who will come in on Tuesday and demand that a player be traded, 
come back on Wednesday and demand that they go get that player back, and then 
want him gone again by the weekend. 

Dumars knows the history well, yet believes this relationship will work. 

What Dumars has going for him is Brown's respect. Brown respected Dumars as a 
player, and he has always given him high praise as a manager. 

And don't forget about that bond between Brown and Hammond. Hammond was on 
Brown's coaching staff with the Clippers. 

So, there is a mutual trust factor, which will be essential. 


Nice start


That brings us to Coleman. 

The Pistons, as they are structured right now, are one of the worst 
rebounding teams in the NBA despite the presence of the league's best rebounder, Ben 
Wallace. 

And they lack a strong, low-post scoring presence. 

Coleman could provide some help. He averaged 16.5 points and 11 rebounds in 
six playoff games against the Pistons. 

So Brown will campaign for the Pistons to sign Coleman, who is a free agent. 

Dumars, who has the mid-level exception -- expected to be $5 million -- at 
his disposal, will have to be convinced that Coleman won't damage the team's 
airtight chemistry. 

This could be the first test of the Brown-Dumars relationship. 

There could be others. 

Brown will love a lot of things about the Pistons. 

He'll love the professionalism and blue-collar work ethic of the majority of 
players. 

He'll love the grit and toughness of players such as Wallace, Chauncey 
Billups and Corliss Williamson. 

He'll love the veteran savvy of Cliff Robinson. 

He'll love the budding talent of Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince and Mehmet 
Okur. 

And he'll love the defensive concepts that are in place. 


Plans change


But Brown won't love the fact that the Pistons attempted 1,488 three-pointers 
last season. That's nearly twice as many as the 76ers tried. 

Brown hates the perimeter game. You can argue that his team didn't have any 
capable perimeter shooters, but that was by design. Brown didn't want any. 

When 76ers General Manager Billy King brought in perimeter scorers -- Larry 
Hughes, Matt Harpring and Tim Thomas -- Brown wouldn't play them. 

That doesn't bode well for players such as Chucky Atkins and Jon Barry. 

It could also affect the way Billups plays. 

Billups won several games for the Pistons with his three-pointers, but Brown 
might ask him to penetrate more and seek out higher-percentage shots. 

And you wonder how Brown will handle 17-year-old Darko Milicic, whom the 
Pistons are expected to take with the second overall pick in the June 26 draft. 

Although he has earned a reputation as one of the game's foremost teachers, 
Brown has never exhibited much patience with young players. He gave up quickly 
on Hughes, Thomas and Speedy Claxton, to name a few. 

The advantage Brown will have is that he will be under no pressure to rush 
Milicic into the lineup. The Pistons have enough talent to allow Milicic to ease 
into the game. 

But if the Pistons are winning games while Milicic sits, Brown wouldn't be 
pressured into playing him at all. 


Ultimate goal


None of this is meant to suggest that Brown is a bad choice to coach the 
Pistons. 

Hardly. 

It's not every day you have the chance to hire a Hall of Famer. 

The Pistons' tough, tightly woven, blue-collar foundation might be the 
perfect match for Brown, the way the foundation of this team 15 years ago was the 
perfect match for a guy named Chuck Daly. 

But Daly had the same restless pursuit of perfection that Brown has. 

Daly and General Manager Jack McCloskey clashed numerous times over personnel 
matters. It was a combustible mix, held in check only by mutual trust and 
respect. 

The ingredients are present to create the same combustible mix between Brown 
and Dumars. 

But if the mutual trust and respect holds firm, it could produce the same 
result: A championship. >