Yesterday, the Detroit Pistons fired head coach Michael Curry after a disappointing 39-43 season and a first round playoff exit to the LeBrons.  The Pistons’ problem was, indeed, head coaching but it stems back to the summer of 2005.

Detroit won the NBA title in 2004.  They took the dynastic San Antonio Spurs to the limit in 2005, entering the fourth quarter of Game 7 tied at 57.  Most teams would see that success as a sign their methods were working.  The Pistons did not.

During that summer, Detroit fundamentally misapprehended their situation.  They bought out Larry Brown’s contract, allowing the insufferable flirt to join the Knicks.  They hired Flip Saunders to bring in his zany free-flowing masses, altering the team’s identity.

Larry Brown disciplined with gravitas.  The players did not like him, but they respected him, they listened to him and they consequently played better because of him.  He maximized the talent of a good collection of players and made them great.

The Pistons thought differently, considering their roster a bevy of stars shackled by Larry Brown’s demands.  They believed their team of delicate artistes would flourish with a soft touch.  They were wrong.

Detroit may not have foreseen Ben Wallace’s demise.  It’s not intuitive that the maligned, skill-lacking player, who clawed his way into the league with hard work, would become moody and selfish when de-emphasized and dollar obsessed.  No one would have predicted that the lovable fella with the gong, the headbands and the heart of gold would skunk a locker-room.

However, Detroit should have known their most talented player and largest personality Rasheed Wallace would devolve without restrictions.  Under Saunders, Rasheed languished about the perimeter, lost focus for series of games and only briefly capitalized on his talent.  That’s not surprising, considering it’s exactly what he did in every other similar situation.

The Pistons were the hardest working team in the NBA under Larry Brown.  Under Flip Saunders, they became entitled and lazy.  Saunders was the wrong type of coach for that Pistons team.  He was also, simply, not a good coach.  He made the playoffs a number of years in Minnesota.  That’s the minimum one would expect from having Kevin Garnett during his prime.

Michael Curry was ineffectual when Detroit’s facade fell around him this season.  Allen Iverson hastened the crumbling.  But, the cracks in Detroit’s foundation have been there since 2005.  The blame for that rests with the front office.