What we already knew became official yesterday as Pistons coach Lawrence Frank sat in front of media to discuss his appointment to the same position once held by Chuck Daly and Dick Vitale.
If this would have been in June, or pretty much any other time in the history of the NBA, Coach Frank would have been able to highlight what current Pistons he looked most forward to coaching. At any other time Frank could have discussed how any of the Pistons roster fit into his coaching scheme. Well, this is not any time, and this news conference highlights how the NBA that we have learned to appreciate may forever be changed.
The only news the NBA has had as of late has been about their players that are departing the league for other locations around the globe. Even with the league not scheduled to start for another 100 days, some of the league’s finest have already settled on playing everywhere but the NBA next season. The NBA has always touted itself to be a global game, and now it is having that theory proved by its own players.
Whenever the league, and the Pistons, get started up again, who knows what the Pistons will even look like? There’s a chance that some of the team’s veterans may see the final years of their contracts eaten up by a season that may never take place. From what I heard from one NBA beat reporter, the league is willing to take this well into next year to gain “NFL-like” command on its players. If that’s the case, Tom Gores’ first full year as Pistons owner may come without any income from ticket revenue.
As Coach Frank looks forward to cleaning up quite the mess that has been left behind by a team still stuck in 2004, he will have an incredible amount of time to draw his plans out as he is not allowed to have contact with his players. For some players that could potentially report anywhere from game ready to completely out of shape, Frank will try to frame a defensive philosophy to a team stuck in an offense-first league. In the meantime, there’s got to be a coaching clinic somewhere to lend his skills at.