In the world of "Let's Make A Deal," the Pistons might have stumbled onto the prize behind the third curtain.
John Kuester was clearly the No. 3 choice, a distant third, behind Doug Collins and Avery Johnson for the head coaching job.
But Joe Dumars might have lucked into a better situation. The domineering personalities of Collins and Johnson would have inevitably created a crash and burn situation sometime down the road.
Kuester will be more low-keyed, low-maintenance and perhaps, quietly efficient. Not to say he's another Chuck Daly but he's a longtime assistant in this league who deserves a shot, much like Daly when he was hired by the Pistons (I'm not counting Daly's short heading coaching stint with Ted Stepien's Cavs). Now, he's got it and he has something to prove, much like many of his players.
And the team he's inheriting is younger and much less accomplished. The only remaining players from the Pistons' elite teams are Tayshaun Prince and Richard Hamilton and there's still a decent chance Hamilton will be traded for frontcourt help. He's not going to have to proceed cautiously while a group of longterm, close-knit starters watch and critique his every move.
This group is younger and needs a good teacher. Collins could have been that guy but why not Kuester? He's been an assistant since 1995. He knows the league, knows what makes players tick and knows the schemes that can make a team successful, without interjecting his ego into the proceedings.