The Piston Post » coaches http://pistonpost.com Wed, 18 May 2011 12:52:38 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.1 Pistons hire Kuester http://pistonpost.com/pistons-hire-kuester/ http://pistonpost.com/pistons-hire-kuester/#comments Tue, 07 Jul 2009 20:39:51 +0000 Adam http://pistonpost.com/?p=814

By Chris Mannix, SI.com

The Detroit Pistons have agreed to terms with Cavaliers assistant coach John Kuester to be their new head coach, a source with knowledge of the negotiations told SI.com.

Another league source said the contract was for two seasons with a team option for a third year.

The Pistons zeroed in on Kuester on Monday after contract negotiations with ESPN analyst and former Dallas Mavericks coach Avery Johnson broke down over the weekend. Kuester, a former Pistons assistant coach under Larry Brown from 2004-06 and an NBA assistant coach since 1990, is considered to be one of the most qualified lieutenants in the NBA, having been an assistant for six NBA teams and having worked under top coaches such as Brown and Cleveland’s Mike Brown. Kuester is a former head coach at Boston University and George Washington.

A formal announcement will come later this week.

]]> http://pistonpost.com/pistons-hire-kuester/feed/ 11 Avery Johnson a no-go http://pistonpost.com/avery-johnson-a-no-go/ http://pistonpost.com/avery-johnson-a-no-go/#comments Tue, 07 Jul 2009 17:22:48 +0000 Adam http://pistonpost.com/?p=809 Pretty disappointing, to say the least. I felt Johnson was the best candidate for the job, especially because of his ability to whip players into shape and maintain a team’s conduct. I still don’t think Cuban should have let him go from the Mavs.

Can’t really put this one on Joe Dumars either, if Avery was really demanding a long-term contract at $4-5 million a year, it doesn’t really fit into the rebuilding equation.

It looks like the position will now be between Cavs’ assistant coach John Kuester and Celtics’ assistant Tom Thibodeau. Hope those assistant coaches don’t turn out like the last assistant coach Detroit hired.

By VINCE ELLIS • FREE PRESS SPORTS WRITER • July 7, 2009

Pistons president of operations Joe Dumars confirmed this afternoon that Avery Johnson is no longer in the running for the Detroit Pistons head coaching vacancy.

The announcement was made after the two sides could not come to terms on a contract.

It is widely believed that Cleveland Cavaliers assistant John Kuester is now the favorite to get the job, but Boston Celtics assistant Tom Thibodeau remains under serious consideration.

Johnson, currently an ESPN studio analyst, has a career winning percentage of nearly 75% and was once two wins from an NBA title. It was believed that type of resume made his asking price a bit steep. There were also reports that Johnson, 44, wanted a say in personnel matters, something Dumars was unlikely to be open to.

It now appears that Dumars will turn to Kuester, 54, a longtime assistant who has never been a head coach at the professional level but was a member of Larry Brown’s staff in 2004 when the Pistons won the title.

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