Only 50 games into his Detroit Piston coaching career, Mauric Cheeks has been given his walking papers. The ninth seeded team fired their head coach after going on 29-21 through the first half of the season and standing only a half game behind the eighth seed spot in the Eastern Conference. Joe Dumars, the Piston’s President of Basketball Operation, remarked that, “It was a difficult decisions for the organization to make, but we needed to make a change.”
The team has undergone a number of different looks, as there have been some significant accusations made, meaning the lineup has never been fully established. With the additions of Brandon Jennings and Josh Smith, expectations were running high; however, the team never reached their potential or talent level. Piston’s owner Tom Gores summed up the team’s current status by saying, “Our record does not reflect our talent and we simply need a change.”
ESPN’s sources believe that this move was made to acquire ex-Memphis Grizzlies coach, Lionel Hollins. However, as ESPN reports, they may not make a full decisions until after the season. We shall see if this was the necessary step the team needed to attain greatness.
Jimi (@Nativejimi)
