Flip Saunders=Mike D’Antoni
The Detroit Pistons severed ties with head coach Flip Saunders this morning. Since the announcement speculation has begun that the Suns and Saunders could be a logical fit.
After reading HoopsWorld.com’s take that Saunders is the man for Phoenix it became apparent that the exact opposite is the case.
Flip Saunders plain and simple is Mike D’Antoni east (well now Mike D’Antoni is Mike D’Antoni east but you get the point).
Saunders had one of the best regular season records, 176-70 while with the Pistons as did D’Antoni with the Suns, 267-172. His .608 winning percentage with the Pistons is exactly the same as Mike D’Antoni’s regular season winning percentage with the Suns.
The biggest knock against Saunders? He couldn’t get the Pistons past the Eastern Conference finals. Sound familiar?
Saunders is more sound defensive coach than D’Antoni ever was but has managed to get less out of more when it comes to talented players. Look at his minimal success in Minnesota with Kevin Garnett.
Let’s do a little experiment. Below is a passage from a newspaper column. Is it A) referring to Mike D’Antoni before he left for New York or B) Flip Saunders before he was fired by Detroit?
Having said all that, I still make a move on INSERT COACH HERE. INSERT GENERAL MANAGER is in a tough spot. This is the classic “one in the hand versus two in the bush scenario.” Are the INSERT TEAM good enough to win? I still say they are. So do you make a change just because you feel like it’s time? If you keep this team together, they still could contend next year. If you break them up, there are no guarantees they’ll even get past the first round of the playoffs. But then again, you could get better.
Even though it did apply to both coaches it was written about Flip Saunders in the Detroit Free Press.
Why take a chance on another retread coach? Especially one who just got fired for the same reasons that Mike D’Antoni was let go.
If the Suns do hire Flip Saunders at least you know what you will be getting as a Suns fan….more of the same.
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Posted by Greg Esposito
Co-founder of AzSportsHub.com. Greg provides the sometimes serious, sometimes sarcastic and always interesting takes on Arizona sports (at least we hope). Whether it’s on In The Zona with Matt or in his column Greg reports, rants and raves about whatever is in the news for Arizona Sports.
http://www.azsportshub.com/author/espo
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