Flip Saunders was introduced as the new coach of the Detroit Pistons on Thursday, replacing Hall of Famer Larry Brown and taking over a team that has made two straight appearances in the NBA Finals.
Saunders, who was fired in February after 9 seasons as the coach of the Minnesota Timberwolves, says he knows there is an expectation to win in Detroit.
"I've been in situations where I've taken bad teams and moved them in the right direction. In those situations, there is no pressure," Saunders said during a news conference at The Palace. "Would it have been easy for me to take another job and not have as much [pressure]? Pressure is what you put on yourself. I don't really feel any pressure walking into a situation."
Saunders and the Pistons agreed to a four-year, US$20 million contract on Wednesday, roughly 24 hours after finalizing the terms of Brown's US$7 million severance package.
Saunders compiled a record of 411-326 with Minnesota and helped turn one of the NBA's most lackluster franchises into a contender. He led the Timberwolves to eight straight postseason appearances -- and seven first-round exits before a breakthrough to the Western Conference finals two years ago.
Last season, the Timberwolves struggled over the first three months of the season under Saunders and ended up missing the playoffs under interim coach Kevin McHale.
The Pistons don't have a big-time scorer on their roster like Saunders had with Kevin Garnett in Minnesota, but the cupboard is far from bare.
Detroit expects to return the same starting lineup -- guards Chauncey Billups and Richard Hamilton, forwards Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince and center Ben Wallace -- that won the 2004 title and came within a game of a second straight crown last month.
In the hours before he formally interviewed for the Knicks job, Larry Brown paced around a hot concrete basketball court, under a late-afternoon sun, in a long-sleeve black warm-up shirt and white shorts.
Brown, naturally, was coaching. His charges Thursday afternoon were 10- to 15-year-olds, not NBA stars, and the East Hampton Sports Camp certainly lacked the ambience of, say, Madison Square Garden.
Two days removed from his tumultuous divorce from the Detroit Pistons, Brown could not, or would not, say if he was ready to immediately resume his career with his hometown Knicks. Nor did he say whether he had a timeline in mind for making that decision.
But if his body language and activity level on the court meant anything, Brown is not ready to extract himself from the coaching life. Occasionally, during his brief conversation with reporters outside the Neighborhood House, where the camp was held, Brown indicated as much.
"Obviously, if I'm speaking to them, then I obviously have an interest," he said of the Knicks. "But my concern is what's best for my family and if I can do it mentally."
Isiah Thomas, the Knicks' president, landed at a local airport around the time that Brown, who has a home nearby, began his two-hour clinic here. The two were set to meet to talk about the Knicks' job for the first time in the evening.
Brown, 64, who is coping with a bladder condition, said he had not determined whether he wanted to coach next season.
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