Shane Battier Getting Second Interview with Pistons

Submitted by uncle leo on

https://www.detroitbadboys.com/2018/5/22/17381314/shane-battier-expecte…

Pistons seem to like Shane. Not sure exactly what the position would be, but would have to assume either GM or Pres. He's pretty high up already with the Heat organization, so I doubt he'd do anything laterally to leave Miami for Detroit.

Poor Jeff Bower. Dude literally has no direction right now.

mGrowOld

May 23rd, 2018 at 2:07 PM ^

I thought he was in the drivers seat for the GM job no?   I was bummed when the Cavs missed out on him last year when Gilbert low-balled the contract offer (shocking I know) and we got Aultman instead.

I think Billups wil be an excellent GM for whoever gets him.

wolverine1987

May 23rd, 2018 at 5:55 PM ^

that ex-players like Chauncey with zero experience can simply take over running a team? You would never see that in other leagues (matt millen being a prominent reinforcement of how dumb that is). It's ludicrous to take any ex-player and put him in charge of drafting and building a team

stephenrjking

May 23rd, 2018 at 6:53 PM ^

And yet it happens in the NBA a lot, and with a track record that is at least not embarrassing. The Joe Dumars era finished with a whimper, but not before his team won a title and went to game 7 of a second Finals. The guy they beat for the title? A team mostly assembled by Jerry West. Danny Ainge's team is missing its top two stars and is still tied in the Eastern Conference Finals right now.

And coaching? Phil Jackson was a player before he started piling up NBA titles. Steve Kerr was a player from the era that people are griping about with Laimbeer, which suggests that just maybe some guys are capable of changing a bit with the times. Former players become successful head coaches all the time. 

Playing experience guarantees neither success nor failure, but a lot of guys make such transitions in the NBA and it actually works. 

Cali's Goin' Blue

May 23rd, 2018 at 9:07 PM ^

I agree with you that playing experience doesn't guarantee being good or bad, but you did cherrypick the good ones. Isiah Thomas in NY was absolutely awful, same with Stojakovic so far in Sac. I think being a coach with playing experience has a much better track record, especially recently with Kerr, Lue, Phil Jackson, and Doc Rivers. But we all saw the tirefire that Jackson left behind in NY as a President/GM. I think usually the best GM's are analytics/stats nerds from the likes of Ivy League schools, Stanford, UM and the such. The league is trending in such a direction towards that, that even the intelligent former player coaches are not equipped to handle it usually. Doc Rivers as a coach:mostly good. Doc Rivers as a President/GM: mostly awful. 

In the end, like we both said, it can go either way, but I think the track record of players being Presidents/GMs is more bad than good. We like to revere the players for their smarts and leadership on the court, but that does not mean that they will be good leaders of analytics teams and scouting teams that are the backbone of NBA franchises nowadays. It's completely different to be a leader of a bunch of nerds(in a good way), than a bunch of NBA players who look up to your skill on the court. 

Louie C

May 23rd, 2018 at 7:25 PM ^

Never heard about that, but what a former neighbor of mine said about him years ago makes sense now. She said that her granddaughter had an internship with the organization, and that she was hit on numerous times by him; despite him being married and having a child recently.
According to her granddaughter, her was quite the flirt with the women there.

reddogrjw

May 23rd, 2018 at 2:12 PM ^

in salary cap hell, no real way to compete in the East, let alone with the West

Gores needs to sell the team and they need to ride out these bad contracts and re-set

uncle leo

May 23rd, 2018 at 2:33 PM ^

Lord no. I don't want either of those dudes within 50 miles of the Pistons facility.

Not sure if this is a sarcastic comment. 

Laimbeer played in an age that doesn't exist anymore, and I'm pretty confident he would not adapt to the new style. I do not understand Detroit's really odd fascination with old players and nostalgia. 

If you were ever a fan at any point, I think you'd return if they started winning again, regardless of who is running the team.

uncle leo

May 23rd, 2018 at 2:48 PM ^

32.6 percent from three. He was not great at it, at all. 

OK? Coaching in the WNBA translates to the NBA?

I'm tired of these franchies looking to the past. I don't want to see Bill Laimbeer here. Which is good, because I'm pretty sure he probably doesn't want to coach the Pistons. 

Quailman

May 23rd, 2018 at 3:04 PM ^

Well, 1: I think his point was that he was a big who shot the three in an era where that did not happen much. There weren't a lot of Dirks and guys like that playing the perimeter with Bill was around. He probably understands that part of the modern game.

2: Here are the league averages for 3p% from 87-94, when Bill really started to shoot from out there:

.301

.316

.323

.331

.320

.331

.336

.333



He was above league average in 6 of those years. Different time, different era, but Bill could hit 3's for a big back then. 

uncle leo

May 23rd, 2018 at 3:10 PM ^

However, he still existed in an era that's gone by. He played a physical style, often times dirty, that isn't allowed or done in today's NBA. And I think he's the type that would embrace that Bad Boy stuff that doesn't win anymore.

He's also been considered to be a pretty huge jerk, and he's had a cup of coffee at most as an assistant. I don't want him getting a gig because of Piston nostalgia.

Communist Football

May 23rd, 2018 at 4:22 PM ^

Aside from being a DCDS alum (where he won the Headmaster's Cup for being the best all-around student), the Sporting News rated him one of the smartest athletes in sports. He was Academic All-American of the Year at Duke. Michael Lewis profiled him in the New York Times as a guy who made teams better without flashy stats. Runs the analytics program with the Heat. This is the kind of guy who can identify diamonds in the rough.

Best quote from the Lewis article (which is a fabulous read in its entirety):

“I call him Lego,” Morey says. “When he’s on the court, all the pieces start to fit together. And everything that leads to winning that you can get to through intellect instead of innate ability, Shane excels in. I’ll bet he’s in the hundredth percentile of every category.”

USMC 1371

May 23rd, 2018 at 3:55 PM ^

The only difference between Bill Laimbeer and the last guy is that I will watch a game if Bill was coach. I haven’t watched a game since they traded Chauncey.

Take a chance, Columbus did.

Cali's Goin' Blue

May 23rd, 2018 at 9:14 PM ^

That would be the smartest thing any team that needs a rebuild could possibly do. Ace has been saying it on Twitter ever since he got forced out in Philly. Dude is absolutely the most thoughtful and intellectual person I have ever heard and hopefully has learned his lesson about media silence from his days in Philly. 

Just please let him see the whole thing out because he isn't just a tanker. He was Morey's 2nd hand man in Houston for like 5 years and knows what it takes to remain a contender. You gotta Trust The Process all the way through.... I hate the Sixers owners/NBA for forcing him out before he could watch his Process bear fruit. 

/rant over

Boy did that feel good

Blue_In_Texas

May 23rd, 2018 at 5:04 PM ^

I would be absolutely thrilled if somehow we got Sam Hinkie. I would gladly tank for a few years to end up with a core like PHI, especially considering we have spent almost 10 years on the treadmill of mediocrity. 

Cali's Goin' Blue

May 23rd, 2018 at 9:21 PM ^

But the point off the Process is to put as many bullets in the chamber as possible to maximizing your chances. And he absolutely won every single trade he made convincingly(especially in hindsight). All it takes is one look at the assets he started with and the assets the Sixers had when he left to understand that he conducted probably the best 3-year rebuild of all time. I can find that chart for you if you would like to get really sad about the last 8 years of Pistons basketball. 

Gucci Mane

May 24th, 2018 at 12:47 PM ^

Drafting up for Fultz oooks like the one really bad move and that obviously wasn’t Hinkie. I’m still hoping Fultz ends up being great. He’s only 19 so who knows. But Tatum would have been a lot better. Oh well. Hopefully they can add lebron. If they can’t add a superstar, at the very least a new all star.

Cali's Goin' Blue

May 23rd, 2018 at 9:21 PM ^

won the lottery only once. Which also happened to be the only year they finished with the worst record in the NBA during Hinkie's tenure. Although the media will tell you that the Sixers went 0-82 for 7 years in a row only to draft Okafor and a bunch of injured rookies. Good thing we now have Brian Colangelo who brought us JJ Redick for $23 mil and Amir Johnson for $11mil. He is the true savior.