Detroit Pistons: 5 best and 5 worst coaches in team history

Detroit Pistons: 5 best and 5 worst coaches in team history

3rd Worst: Dwane Casey

This one hurt. Dwane Casey comes across as such a nice guy. He has a reputation for developing players, which he did an excellent job of while in Toronto coaching the Raptors. It’s crazy to think about, but when he arrived in Detroit he was the reigning NBA Coach of the Year.

There is no doubt that Casey had a Herculean-task cleaning up the mess left by Stan Van Gundy. Even so, he oversaw one of the worst periods in team history. His 121-263 win-loss record is abysmal, despite the fact that he managed to go 39-43 during his first season with the Pistons as Blake Griffin put the team on his back and took it to the playoffs (where it promptly got swept). The .315 winning percentage is among the team’s very worst, but all the worse for the fact that it is the product of five long seasons.

Yes, he was entrusted with the clipboard during an era that was about rebuilding, and looking toward the future. Winning basketball games wasn’t especially important while Casey coached the Detroit Pistons. It showed. For all of the excitement about this team during the last couple of years, Cade Cunningham feels like the only sure thing they have. It feels like the Pistons should be in a better place than they are.

3rd Best: Rick Carlisle

Rick Carlisle could have risen high enough on this list to serve as a 1b to Chuck Daly’s 1a. Forgive the lack of spoiler alert. I respect you all enough to know that you know there is no other choice. I’ll hope you stick around to read my case for him. Back to Carlisle – his .610 regular season winning percentage could have soared even higher, his 12-15 playoff record was certain to be improved upon, and his two seasons in Detroit could have been the first of ten had Joe Dumars not fallen for Larry Brown.

We all know that Brown coached the Pistons to a championship, and we’re left with wonderful memories because of it. I still contend that Carlisle would have eventually brought a ‘chip to The D. It may have taken longer, but once he had managed to lead the team to the top of the mountain they may have stayed there longer, too. Carlisle was still just 44-years-old when he left Detroit. Eight years after doing so he led the Dallas Mavericks to their first NBA championship. In 12 seasons since, with both the Mavericks and the Indiana Pacers, he has failed to coach a team past the first round of the playoffs. That’s somewhat shocking to me. Even so, he has avoided starting any Van Gundy-like dumpster fires and is no worse than the fifth best coach in Pistons history. I have him at number three.