This should be the Knicks next Head Coach. He's currently an asst with the Wolves. Rambis may be in trouble so if we want him we gotta act fast...
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</td> </tr> </tbody></table> Bill Laimbeer
College - Notre Dame
Bill Laimbeer has set the standard for WNBA coaches and executives since taking over the Detroit Shock during the 2002 season.
In just seven seasons Laimbeer has amassed the most postseason wins (27) and WNBA Finals victories (10) in league history. His six consecutive playoff appearances are tied for second most all-time. A three-time WNBA champion (2003, 2006 and 2008), Laimbeer is one shy of the record held by Hall of Fame coach Van Chancellor, who guided Houston to the first four WNBA titles (1997-2000).
In his first full season as head coach Laimbeer orchestrated a historic worst-to-first turnaround, for which he was named 2003 WNBA Coach of the Year. The Shock, 9-23 a year earlier, won a league-best 25 games. The 16-win improvement is the largest in WNBA history. In the Finals Detroit defeated two-time defending champion Los Angeles Sparks, 2-1.
Laimbeer has instilled the belief in his players that reaching the WNBA Finals should be an expectation, not an accomplishment. The Shock have responded by winning the past three Eastern Conference championships (2006-08). Emphasizing a strong regular-season record to secure homecourt advantage for the postseason, Laimbeer’s 136 victories ranks fifth all-time in WNBA history.
The Shock have exhibited remarkable resiliency under Laimbeer when the stakes have been highest. Trailing the defending champion Sacramento Monarchs in the 2006 finals, the Shock won Game 4 in Sacramento and Game 5 at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit to clinch their second championship.
Two years later – fueled by the memories of a five-game series defeat to the Phoenix Mercury in 2007 – the Shock swept the San Antonio Silver Stars, 3-0. Laimbeer directed the Shock to a third championship despite a season-ending knee injury to All-Star forward Cheryl Ford in July and a severe shoulder injury that kept 2007 Sixth Woman of the Year Plenette Pierson out of Game 1 at San Antonio. In the regular season the Silver Stars won a league-best 24 games without losing once to an Eastern Conference team.
Detroit’s title chances were boosted following Ford’s injury by the acquisition of six-time All-Star forward Taj McWilliams-Franklin. It was the latest in a series of bold midseason trades that has made Laimbeer one of the WNBA’s most respected general managers. In separate trades during the 2005 season he acquired Pierson and guard Katie Smith, the 2008 Finals MVP and all-time leading scorer in U.S. women’s professional basketball.
Laimbeer has proven to be an astute talent evaluator willing to make tough decisions. He was responsible for drafting Ford, the 2003 Rookie of the Year, and acquiring 2003 Finals MVP Ruth Riley in the 2003 WNBA dispersal draft from the defunct Miami Sol. Laimbeer traded Riley in 2007 and fellow ’03 cornerstone Swin Cash the next season. Both moves provided youth and roster flexibility essential to the Shock’s continued success. In fact, only All-WNBA guard Deanna Nolan, Elaine Powell and Ford have been on all three championship teams.
The Shock were winless after 10 games when Laimbeer assumed head coaching duties on June 19, 2002, despite no professional coaching experience. He quickly employed a more aggressive philosophy – akin to his reputation as a hardnosed player after 14 NBA seasons – and the Shock finished above .500 over the final 15 games (8-7). The Shock began to attack the basket, increasing their trips to the foul line while shooting fewer 3-pointers. The Shock also became a better rebounding team, grabbing nearly nine more per game after Laimbeer took over (36.4 rpg/ 27.8). Detroit would expect nothing less from a team coached by the Pistons’ all-time rebounding leader.
A four-time All-Star center (1983-85, 1987) Laimbeer led the entire NBA in rebounding during the 1985-86 season (13.1 rpg). He totaled 13,790 points and 10,400 rebounds in his career, making him the 19th player in NBA history to reach 10,000 in both categories. Laimbeer grabbed 9,430 rebounds with the Pistons between 1982 and 1993 – nearly 1,400 ahead of No. 2 on the franchise list, Hall of Fame center Bob Lanier.
Laimbeer’s physicality agitated his opponents and even opposing fans. It endeared him to the Pistons faithful when the “Bad Boys” won back-to-back NBA championships in 1989 and 1990. In 113 playoff games with Detroit. Laimbeer averaged 12.0 points and 9.7 rebounds. The Pistons went 71-42 (.628) in the playoffs with him at center.
Laimbeer retired 11 games into his 14th NBA season on Dec. 1, 1993 with career averages of 12.9 points and 9.7 rebounds. He wore his Pistons jersey – and ‘the black hat,’ as he called it, of being the NBA’s favorite villain – 1,181 times, including playoffs. For one stretch Laimbeer played in 685 consecutive games, one of the longest streaks in league history. He collected more defensive rebounds than anyone between 1982-1990.
Laimbeer’s No. 40 became one of six jersey numbers retired by the Pistons on Feb. 4, 1995. He was named to the Pistons’ All-Time Team on Apr. 9, 2008.
Laimbeer’s NBA career began with the Cleveland Cavaliers, who drafted him in the third round (65th overall) in the 1979 draft. He was traded to Detroit in a multiplayer deal prior to the NBA trade deadline on Feb. 16, 1982. He played college ball at Notre Dame, where his top-seeded Fighting Irish lost to the No. 2 seed and eventual NCAA champion Michigan State, starring Magic Johnson and Greg Kelser, in the 1979 Elite Eight. Laimbeer graduated with a degree in economics.
Reasons to want Laimbeer as Pistons coach
- He’s one of the most intelligent players to play the game. As a guy who was never the biggest, fastest or most athletic player on the court, and he wasn’t even close in some matchups, he got more out of his talent than perhaps any player of his era. He did this by seeing the entire floor, understanding angles when it came to rebounding and using his body exceedingly well to gain advantages in positioning, keep defenders off balance and provide effective rebounding and efficient scoring. Basketball intelligence and rebounding are certainly areas where he could improve the Pistons’ young players immediately.
- Judging by the record of the Timberwolves, the lack of on-court success of that team isn’t going to do him any favors. But if you look at the T-Wolves big men, who have no doubt worked with Laimbeer extensively, that could be where his real value is. If he could help Greg Monroe make a leap at some point like Kevin Love has made from his rookie season to now, it might be worth talking to Laimbeer about a coaching position should one open up.
- Fair or not, often in NBA locker rooms, veteran players who have won titles don’t have a lot of patience for coaches who were not great players themselves or who were not a part of title winning teams either as a key player or head coach. Laimbeer’s two rings as a player with the Pistons would give him a credibility Flip Saunders, Michael Curry and John Kuester have not had. For those coaches, having to coax veteran players who won a title by being headstrong and doing things a certain way is no easy task considering none of the three post-Larry Brown coaches had titles themselves as head coaches or players. Perhaps Laimbeer would have more success dealing with players who are set in their ways.
- He’s vocal. Communication issues plagued both Curry and Kuester. I have little doubt that players would know where they stand with Laimbeer. They might still hate him every bit as much for his honesty as they hated Curry and Kuester for trying to avoid conflict, but if the players are demanding a better communicator, Laimbeer would clearly explain what he wants from them.
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