Basketball: Pistons fire Carlisle

Fifty victories. A spot in the Eastern Conference finals. It just was not enough to earn a third season in Detroit.

Rick Carlisle has been fired as head coach of the Pistons after two seasons, he told ESPN The Magazine's Ric Bucher late Friday.

Carlisle's Pistons went 50-32 this season, the best record in the East. Detroit advanced to the conference finals before getting swept by the Nets.

Carlisle's impressive resume with the Pistons also includes an NBA Coach of the Year award for the 2001-2002 season, his first season in Detroit.

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Thats surprising, I thought he has done a good job with the Pistons.

I am very unhappy with this decision. I feel it was very unfair considering what he has done with the team. I really want to see the press conference to see if they shed some light on all of this.

I just heard that Detroit wants to hire Larry Brown to coach the Pistons.

Yeah it was tough for him getting fired from the pistons i dont see why they would fire him. They did a very good job the last couple of seasons, but they came up a little short. I do belive that they are going to hire Brown, they are supposed to name it on Monday.

yea joe dumars said in press conference that the reason that carlisle is gone is because they are able to get a big name guy like brown. he then compared brown to pat riley and phil jackson. I guess that # I said about brown goin to cleveland was wrong lol

yea joe dumars said in press conference that the reason that carlisle is gone is because they are able to get a big name guy like brown. he then compared brown to pat riley and phil jackson. I guess that # I said about brown goin to cleveland was wrong lol

Originally posted by Osobad28

I am very unhappy with this decision. I feel it was very unfair considering what he has done with the team. I really want to see the press conference to see if they shed some light on all of this.

Just curious if you still feel this way now that you know it was because of Larry Brown.

I have to be honest, I am totally caught by surprise that he is going to the Pistons. I am sad to see him leave Philly, he is a great coach and Pistons fans will see that in no time.

The Pistons will be awfully tough next year with the returning team they had, Brown as coach, and that 7 foot rookie they want to draft.

I feel better now that I know we at least have a very very good coach coming in instead of some bum taking ricks spot

- By Dick Vitale

What happened in the Motor City flat out S-T-I-N-K-S! Get out the spray deodorant, man!

It is incredible what happened to Rick Carlisle. The job he did warranted a multiyear contract extension, not a dismissal. What an absolute joke to hear he was set free.

Give me a break. He got the Pistons to the Eastern Conference finals despite injury problems affecting guard Chauncey Billups. Detroit lacked a really dominating big player on offense, so in my mind, Carlisle did an amazing job. I can't believe that back-to-back 50-win seasons wasn't good enough.

The good news in Detroit is that Brown is likely to land there. Still, you have to feel for Carlisle.

It looks like Jeff Van Gundy will end up in Cleveland early next week. It will be interesting to see him teach LeBron James and company.

Will John Calipari return to the NBA and end up coaching the Sixers? Allen Iverson has put in a plug on behalf of Calipari to Billy King. Since Maurice Cheeks wasn't given permission to talk to Philadelphia, and with Smith saying he wasn't interested, Calipari is a viable candidate.

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Since we cant call him Dick Vitale, we'll have to refer to him as Dicky V. :tum:

tough business, however I think Brown is the best coach in the Eastern conference quite frankly. Sometimes you have to give up someone good to get someone better.

ex: The Lakers dropped Vlade Divacs so they could sign Shaq O'neal as a free agent.

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