Alright, I was hoping it wouldn’t come to this but I see no other choice. Five losses in a row? Losing by ten to the freaking Thunder?!? Alas, I’m preaching to the choir.
Dear Coach Curry,
Small ball must die. Now. Well technically this should have occurred weeks ago, but us fans would be happy just to see some semblance of activity in your cranial matter so now shall suffice.
What on earth is it doing for us that is good? Outrebounded, outhustled, outworked. Five in a row. Five! That’s the most consecutive losses in five years for our beloved Pistons. Five is not a good number right now, my friend.
We’ve tried to be patient. We’ve made every excuse in the book. “Well, Rip and Sheed were injured so maybe they just needed to get back in shape.” That didn’t do it. Amir might not be the second coming of Jesus but he’s certainly active on the boards and has a discernible effect on the game whenever he’s on the floor. Yes he fouls too much and yes he isn’t Rodman in his prime but he isn’t going to learn by sitting courtside. Why in the heck is Maxiell riding the pine when we can’t control the glass? The sheer idiocy (again, we know you’re the professional and all… but sooner or later things just don’t add up) of the moves – or lack thereof – is mindboggling!
This whole Rip / A.I. telenovela (due credit to DBB commenters here – great title, guys) is worse than the fact that 90210 is back on television. If you’re the player’s coach that they respect that holds everyone accountable and makes the right moves… well, MAKE THE RIGHT MOVES! It’s one thing to play around with lineups when you add a new player mid-season (hey, we understand no training camp affects the whole shebang) but it’s another to consistently keep throwing out five (see? i wasn’t kidding – five’s a bad number right now!) guys who don’t fit together. Whoah, sorry about all the parenthesis there. You can’t even manage a lineup so I don’t mean to do anything else to confuse you right now.
Factiousness aside, we’re only acting like this because we care. We truly care about this team and know we’ve been spoiled with so many consecutive trips to the ECF. But we also hold people accountable (novel idea, eh?) for our team and want to see results. So please Coach Curry, please start acting like, you know, a coach. We’ve already gotten rid of Matt Millen once around these parts and don’t need a second coming.
Signed,
Pistons Fans Everywhere
(Addendum – everything in the comments below)
January 19, 2009 at 10:46 am
Before this five game skid, we didn’t have Rip or Sheed on the floor and we had a two guard lineup. And who knew, we were winning. I don’t think Iverson’s the problem. I think the problem is Coach Curry’s decision to run a three guard lineup. We have always been a defensive team, but with having a three guard lineup it is much more difficult to be one. I think that we should bench Rip, especially since he said that he would do anything for the team, and make him our Manu. Bring him off the bench and give him about 30 min a game. This would help us in two ways, one putting Tayshaun, our best defender back on guys like LeBron, and two, by having another bigman down low to grab the boards.
January 19, 2009 at 10:50 am
I also forgot to mention the fact that while Stuckey and Iverson was the back court, both of them played really well, especially Rodney Stuckey. With Rip back in the lineup he hasn’t played near as well.
January 19, 2009 at 1:01 pm
I can’t believe someone said they miss Alvin Gentry. See what you’re doing Curry. I miss Ron Rothstein and Doug Collins. If we’re going to lose, I want to know we’re going to lose. Give Greg Kessler credit for being the first one to call Curry out on the inconsistant rotation. Its good to know someone has finally found they’re rocks and stated they’re opinion.
January 19, 2009 at 2:58 pm
Jack… I’ve got no problem with you forwarding the letter as long as you give credit and a linkback to the site.
January 19, 2009 at 3:09 pm
Who is ‘Whatsittoya Says’ and why are they even reading this blog? Natalie, apologies for thinking you wrote the letter. Perhaps it should have been prefaced better. I still disagree with the tone and don’t think it should have been posted. But, boy, did it stir up a debate here.
January 19, 2009 at 6:47 pm
hey guys – i dont know if anyone has said this in the above comments, but i really think the following is a great solution to our pistons problems.
You see, the pistons were winning and playing great D with a traditional big lineup, because really, with that line up, they have a better chance of out rebounding opponents, and everything else that comes with big bodies.
Now that Rip is back, a high volume scorer, it obviously isnt going to be golden when another high volume attack scorer like AI is playing next to him. Now, i was talking to a guy who assistant coaches at some community college, and he said the following to me and i agree and think everyone who reads this will also. You see, A.I shines when he has the green light to create and score for himself. He crumples in a un-selfish pistons philosophy. So what he said was, if A.I comes off the bench with the 2nd line, with players like Afflalo and Maxiell, who arent exactly offensive wizards, A.I can do his thing, and it would make our 2nd line that much stronger. This would give us a “Manu-esque” situation, and god knows it worked for San Antonio.
January 19, 2009 at 6:50 pm
and by the way, i agree with all the people who said Curry has to go. It’s not that he doesnt have the potential to be a great coach, it’s just he really is not experienced enough that is going through the kind of change that comes with trading star guards. Especially when the star guards in question are so different in their game play.