Was firing Flip Saunders the right decision?

Of his three seasons in Detroit, I think Flip Saunders did his best coaching job this year. He developed the young players and showed he wasn't afraid to let them battle through mistakes. And as a result, he kept the starters' minutes down. I thought he pushed all the right buttons in the Orlando Magic series, too.

That being said, I feel he failed to take advantage of a vulnerable Celtics team that had no semblance of consistent point guard play. Eddie "No Handles" House, Sam "Washed Up" Cassell and Rajon "Let Me Try To Force This Pass Through Two Defenders" Rondo are clearly not the makings of a championship backcourt. (Though, the Big 3 may be just good enough to beat the Lakers.)

In the first two games of the series, Saunders would wisely insert Lindsey Hunter into the game whenever House was running the point, and the savvy veteran would pressure the ball like crazy. But why stop there? Why not give Lindsey some minutes on Cassell and Rondo, too? Why not try to trap the hell out of the backcourt at every opportunity? Don't give Rondo the chance to find the open man.

I also question Flip's decision to hardly play Maxiell in Games 1 and 2 against Boston, as well as his decision to not play Amir Johnson in the playoffs (other than a few garbage minutes) after he had a breakout regular season.

The old adage is: "You can't fire the players." And the feeling is that the Pistons players have tuned out Flip over the course of his time there. I thought the coach and players seemed to be more on the same page this year, but when things unraveled late in Game 6, that may have ultimately determined Flip's fate.

According to Stephen A. Smith -- I can't believe I'm actually referencing him -- Pistons assistant and former player Michael Curry will be the next coach. Sure, he may garner more respect from the players. They may listen to him more, at first. But how good of an X's and O's guy is he? And how good will he be in game situations?

Only time will tell, but the Pistons core doesn't exactly have a lot of time to waste as a first-year coach gets his feet wet. It (almost) worked for Avery Johnson and the Mavericks. Maybe it could work for the Pistons, too. But I think it ultimately comes down to the players, and I'm not sure this current roster is good enough to win an NBA title. And as Pistons fans, we want nothing less, right?

Speaking of the players, stay tuned for Part 2 of "Should Sheed Stay or Should Sheed Go?"