Moves put pressure on Joe Dumars

Auburn Hills

This was about the coach, although it really wasn't about the coach. With the Pistons, it's never about any particular coach for any discernible length of time.

Oh, John Kuester seems like a bright guy with solid credentials, although he hasn't been an NBA head coach, which gives me pause. I could be snippy and make some joke like, "How soon before Kuester is tossed on his keister?" but that would be missing the point.

The point is, the coach doesn't matter to the Pistons, or at least doesn't matter nearly as much as the guy in the big office, the one who deflects and attracts attention at the same time. Genial, savvy Joe Dumars is the man who matters more than ever now, more than any player (including good, expensive newcomers Ben Gordon and Charlie Villanueva), more than any coach.

Dumars is the focus, and not just because he introduced his sixth coach in a nine-year span Thursday. Dumars has made it clear he values players more than coaches, and in the NBA, that's not a bad philosophy.

Let's be straight on this: What Dumars has done since 2000, reviving the franchise, winning a title and reaching six straight Eastern Conference finals, is remarkable. Anyone who thinks otherwise either has a narrow perspective or isn't being honest.

But now, by not hiring an excellent coach as he did with Larry Brown, or an experienced coach as he did with Flip Saunders, Dumars is putting the pressure on the man who constructs the roster, which happens to be him. He's practically inviting scrutiny and clearly has the confidence to handle it.

Rebuilding mode

Dumars is back to a place he hasn't visited in nearly a decade, asking for patience while hunting for the right mix of players. He hatched a brilliant plan seven years ago -- tying together seemingly disparate pieces -- and I do appreciate Dumars again is betting on Dumars.

He deserves patience, no doubt. As for the roster pieces? Still lots to do.

Near as I can tell, Gordon is a shooting guard and Rip Hamilton is a shooting guard and Rodney Stuckey is mostly a shooting guard. The Pistons lack an on-court leader and absolutely lack big men, with Kwame Brown their incumbent center. Dumars might have no choice but to pull off that Hamilton-for-Carlos Boozer trade with Utah.

"We definitely have more work to do," Dumars said. "And that means immediately -- free-agent stuff and a possible trade to create more cap space. Not only are we transitioning on the court, we're transitioning in the type of players we're acquiring."

That type of player is younger, more athletic and more offensively skilled. Gordon is 26 and Villanueva is 24, and added to Hamilton (if he's still here), Stuckey and Tayshaun Prince, the Pistons could be a fringe playoff team.

"Expectations the last seven years were very high, make or break," Dumars said. "That's not the gun to John's head right now. We just want to get headed in the right direction."

Dumars uses the word "transition" a lot, which in most NBA cities means "rebuild." Fact is, the Pistons are rebuilding, but because Dumars gambled and took such a huge hit on the Chauncey Billups-for-Allen Iverson deal, he basically traded Billups for the hot-shooting Gordon.

That's a nice recovery, and Villanueva's potential also is intriguing. But these are pieces, not a team, and if a season like the 39-43 mess is repeated, Dumars will feel the heat. He already gets heat for viewing coaches as interchangeable parts, although his willingness to replace Rick Carlisle with Brown helped bring the '04 title.

Consistent philosophy

We can question decisions and certainly some drafts, but Dumars is pretty darn consistent in his philosophy. He won NBA titles playing for Chuck Daly, who came here in the same understated way Kuester arrives. Kuester is 54 with modest head-coaching experience in college and 13 seasons as an NBA assistant, including '04 under Brown.

Maybe he's closer to the Daly model, or the Carlisle model. Or maybe he's closer to the Michael Curry model. Most of Dumars' firings and hirings were made to salvage something, but this was made to buy time. I asked him if he's bothered by criticism of his coaching carousel.

"I don't mind," Dumars said. "If you sat in my office and knew how each one of those situations unfolded, you'd have a different perspective."

Dumars also denied Kuester was his third choice, saying he talked with Doug Collins and Avery Johnson but no formal offers were made, so there were no formal rejections. That's probably a semantics argument, but while Collins and Johnson would have created much more buzz, it wouldn't matter without the right players.

For years, the Pistons penciled in Billups, Hamilton, Prince, Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace, with Dumars occasionally moving ancillary pieces. Not anymore. Now that an overhaul is under way, I'd trade Hamilton for the 6-foot-9 Boozer and take a chance on Boozer's expiring contract. I know the Pistons once had a storied three-guard rotation of Dumars, Isiah Thomas and Vinnie Johnson, but replication doesn't always work.

Kuester is on the clock now, and if expectations remain realistic, he might be fine. But Dumars is the big gambler here. Being proactive is a good trait, and we've seen what can happen when Dumars builds anew. This time around, it looks tougher, and riskier.

bob.wojnowski@detnews.com">bob.wojnowski@detnews.com