Pistons Done for the Season

It is only late March, but the Detroit Pistons’ season is all but over. Of the 14 games remaining on the schedule, they are more than likely to lose at least half of them. This is not surprising seeing as they have already dropped the last 12 games on the road.

With nine of the remaining 14 games on the road and the five home games against playoff bound teams like the Miami Heat and Toronto Raptors, any remaining hope that Pistons fans have should be squashed. Instead of trying to salvage this broken season, the organization needs to focus on rebuilding the pieces into a winning team.

First on the organization’s list should be finding a real head coach. Since John Loyer was thrust into the spotlight, his role in Detroit has been less like a head coach and more like a pilot guiding a plane to a crash landing.

Loyer’s Pistons began with a 109-100 victory against the San Antonio Spurs. Since Feb. 10, the team has been 4-14. Maybe Joe Dumars and Tom Gores will take this as a lesson next time they decide to can a coach midway through the season.

Next on the Pistons’ checklist is a new general manager. Dumars has had his highs and lows with Detroit like any general manager would have. However, Dumars also proved his ineptitude as general manager. He is quick to fire coaches and slow on making smart draft decisions. All arrows point to a vacant position by the end of the season. Firing Dumars immediately would be problematic for Detroit, though for the same reason, firing Maurice Cheeks ended up biting them in the backside.

Before Detroit can successfully rid itself of Dumars, it needs a proper replacement. There was much speculation that Isiah Thomas would be next in line for the position. So far the organization, luckily, has denied that it was considering Thomas for the job. Besides Thomas, Phil Jackson looked like a successful and qualified replacement. Pistons fans who hoped for this alternative had their hopes dashed when Jackson signed with the Knicks.

Other potential replacements still lurk in the waters and Dumars needs to go. Gores and the rest of the organization need to go out and find one. Once the front office is intact, they can go about solving the roster’s problems and make sure next season is a winning one.


Colin Jackson is a multimedia journalist for Impact Sports.