NBA Update: Detroit Pistons decide to retain Joe Dumars as the team president
Under their new owner, billionaire Tom Gores, the Detroit Pistons have begun a rebuilding process. Gores has vowed to bring the glories of the past back, even if he has to make a few changed to the overall setup.
However, Tom Gores and the franchise are not intent on disposing off one of their reliable and longest serving assets and have decided to keep the 48-year-old team president Joe Dumars in their future scheme of things. "We're going to lean on him pretty heavy. He knows basketball, and we're going to push Joe. He knows that. Our job is to challenge Joe." Gores said in a media statement.
Dumars will continue to serve as the team’s president of the basketball operation. The former shooting guard is keen to make an impact under the new owners and help his team recuperate from the current sprawl. Joe was a part of Piston’s all three National Basketball Association (NBA) titles winning sides, two times as a player in 1989 and 1990 and one time as the president in 2004.
The last two seasons have been a complete nightmare for the team. During 2009-2010, the Pistons managed to win only 27 games and lost 55 games. In this season as well, the Pistons failed to make much of a difference as the team could only amass 30 victories and finished at the 13th spot in the Western Conference.
Facing daunting situations is not a new thing for the influential Dumars. He faced a big challenge back in 2000, when he was hired as the president for the first time. Detroit was swept out of the play-offs that year by the Miami Heat. Joe took the responsibility for the rebuilding phase and brought the team back in the championship contention in his fourth year, when Pistons took down the mighty Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals to clinch the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
There is no doubting the brilliance of Dumars, however this time things are much worse than before. Considering Pistons’ poor stretch in the last couple of years, the fans ratio in the arena has dropped down to a greater extent and the empty seats were pretty common in the last season.
Dumars has a lot on his plate; however the most important and urgent thing for him is to decide the future of John Kuester who is the current coach of the team. Kuester had a troubled season and was reportedly involved in few spats with senior players. His rotations and tactics in various games were also questionable.
The new owner Gores said has already given an indication that Kuester’s time may be up."We'll make that decision, I think, rather quickly. Coach Kuester deserves, I think, the courtesy of meeting. Until we closed, we really were not allowed to do that."
Tags: