Matt Dery: Joe D Sticking To His Guns
I said this months ago and it bears repeating: John Kuester is going nowhere and will be the Coach of the Detroit Pistons. Why do I write that right now? It is simple. Kue is calling the shots, he is coaching to win games and somehow get this under .500 team to the playoffs, and in order to do that he must make tough decisions.
Benching Rip Hamilton is not that difficult of a decision.
Rip has been a fixture here for a long time. Check. Rip helped the Pistons win a title. Check. Rip is a fan favorite and is being smart with his words publicly. Check. Rip may one day get his #32 retired. Maybe.
But, Rip has not been a good teammate recently, nor has he been a good leader. Kuester has tried everything and said all of the right things, but eventually, the object of the game is to WIN and he must do what is best to accomplish that goal. So Hamilton goes to the bench. Many uninformed "show up at the Palace once every two months" scribes may disagree with Kue's call, but they just don't know. They just don't understand. Kuester has had a headache for a long time, and now he finally has decided to take the strong medication for it.
The bloom is off the Rip rose here. It is over. Time to play Stuckey at the 2, time to play the younger guys, and time to get a good vibe back on the floor. Time to win.
