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Stan Van Gundy poised to hit milestone with the Pistons

By Duncan Smith

DETROIT, MI - JULY 26: Detroit Pistons president of operations, Stan Van Gundy and CEO of Flagstaff Bank, Alessandro P. DiNello announce they will add Flagstar Bank as a sponsor on the left chest of the new uniforms on July 26, 2017 at the Nike Store in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images)
DETROIT, MI - JULY 26: Detroit Pistons president of operations, Stan Van Gundy and CEO of Flagstaff Bank, Alessandro P. DiNello announce they will add Flagstar Bank as a sponsor on the left chest of the new uniforms on July 26, 2017 at the Nike Store in Detroit, Michigan. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges and agrees that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License Agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 2017 NBAE (Photo by Chris Schwegler/NBAE via Getty Images) /
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Stan Van Gundy has had a somewhat mixed tenure as head coach and president of the Detroit Pistons, but he’s brought consistency to a once-volatile job.

Not long ago the Detroit Pistons chewed head coaches up and spit them out like a wood chipper. The organization hasn’t gone through dozens of coaches since winning their first championship in 1989, only one dozen.

Plus two.

That’s right, including Chuck Daly, who led the Pistons to their first title in 1988-89, and current head coach Stan Van Gundy, the team has had 14 different coaches.

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They have fired coaches mid-season three times. They fired Larry Brown a month after losing the NBA Finals to the San Antonio Spurs in seven games, and a year after winning the NBA championship. Brown coached the Pistons for two years and led them to the finals both times.

They fired Flip Saunders after three straight Eastern Conference Finals losses. Saunders averaged just over 58 wins per season in his tenure with the Pistons, but Joe Dumars decided they needed a new voice. That voice ended up being once year of Michael Curry, which led to two years of John Kuester, which led to two years of Lawrence Frank, which led to 50 games of Maurice Cheeks before getting fired and replaced by interim head coach John Loyer.

That’s when Stan Van Gundy came into the picture, hired as both coach and president of basketball operations. Assuming he doesn’t get the boot before the season begins (we can assume that won’t happen), the start of the 2017-18 campaign will make him the longest-tenured Pistons head coach since Chuck Daly back in the 1980’s.

Next: Reggie Jackson's season outlook for the Pistons

Van Gundy has averaged just shy of 38 wins per season in his tenure, and this season looks to be the biggest. He has two more years on his contract, and it’s expected that a decision about his future with the organization may come sometime this coming season.

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