Would Beilein work as coach for Pistons?
DETROIT -- Michigan basketball coach John Beilein has met with the Detroit Pistons to discuss becoming their next head coach, as recently as Thursday.
Which tells us the Pistons have real interest. Which is smart. Because they should — hiring Beilein would be a sneaky great move.
Beilein is smart to consider the possibility, too. He’s a basketball seeker, who has long been curious how his ideas — and ideals — might play out at the highest level of the sport.
Whether the recent talks lead to more talks is hard to say. Both sides have reservations. And they should.
The Pistons wonder how many more years the 65-year-old coach has left in him. Wonder, too, how he’d communicate with NBA players. While Beilein surely wonders if the NBA life — and grind — is for him.
At the least, it’s a tantalizing idea for a franchise that has been circling in fog. An out-of-left-field play for one of game’s best strategists and teachers.
And since the Pistons are stuck — more or less — with much of their current roster, finding an innovative coach to maximize what they have makes sense. Beilein would certainly do that. Maybe more. Remember, Beilein has made his career out of developing strategies, polishing them, moving to the next level, and developing them some more.
With each move, from Newfane (N.Y.) High School to Erie Community College in the same state to Le Moyne to Canisius to Richmond to West Virginia to Michigan, he has had to adapt to increased speed, size and athleticism. Taking the Pistons job, in effect, would simply be another step in his lifelong coaching journey. In other words, this is what he does. That he’s done it with without much ego and, until he got to U-M, very little fanfare makes him a good bet to slip into an NBA locker room and connect. He understands it’s a players’ league. He knows he’s a players’ coach.
A decade ago, Beilein wouldn’t have been ready for the NBA. Maybe he wasn’t even ready five years ago. He liked to control every detail of his program.
But over the last few seasons, he has ceded some responsibilities, while he relentlessly seeks new ideas. It’s why his basketball program at U-M has never been in better shape.
And that’s why the Pistons have taken notice.