Guest column: Flip Saunders lived, breathed basketball
Krista Jahnke arrived at the Free Press as a sportswriting intern in 2003 and stayed for nine years. She spent three seasons as the Detroit Pistons beat writer — all when Flip Saunders was the coach. Each season, the Pistons lost in the Eastern Conference finals.
As I left church this morning, I ran into Ryan Hoover, a colleague from my days of covering the Detroit Pistons.
We caught up briefly, and my husband asked him whether he’d heard how former Pistons coach Flip Saunders was doing in his fight against Hodgkin’s Lymphoma.
“Not good,” said Hoover, who still works for the team. “Seriously, he needs our prayers.”
How shocking to hear only hours later that Saunders had died in Minnesota. How shocking, and how sad. Saunders was only 60.
When I talk about my past as an NBA writer, I typically call it “The Flip Saunders Era.” For three years, he coached the Pistons. And for three years, I wrote about Saunders’ team, before moving on to other things.
My memories of Saunders center almost exclusively on basketball, which, of course, seems natural. But I believe it’s also telling.
Flip lived and breathed the sport. He had a deep respect for other coaches. He loved talking about the game, about coaching in the minor leagues, about great players he got to work with. He seemed to inwardly beam every time someone asked about his coaching of Kevin Garnett with the Timberwolves. There always was another KG story to tell.
With the Pistons, Saunders constantly was juggling how much control to exert over a team deep with veteran experience, strong personalities and locker room leadership. No coach always juggles that correctly, and Saunders was no exception.
From the beginning, he had to work for his veterans’ respect, especially guys such as Ben Wallace, who was intense while Saunders was laid-back. Wallace eventually moved on from the team, citing differences with Saunders as a major factor.
But I thought Saunders picked his moments and his fights well. He gave his players creative room within his system but stood up for that system — and himself — in the process. Isn’t that the best you can ask of a coach?
Even when he fought, Saunders typically was even-keeled, rarely letting emotions drive his words or actions. He took things as they came, squatting or pacing along the sideline, and adjusted quickly to adversity.
One of the most outspoken moments I remember was in an early season game in his second season. The Pistons lost to the Utah Jazz by two points. The game featured 53 foul calls and three technical fouls (a theme of that Rasheed Wallace-led team).
After that game, Saunders trashed the officials and also called his point guard, Chauncey Billups, “terrible.” A rare moment of visible frustration for Saunders.
But two off-the-court facts also came rushing back to me Sunday. One was that he had four children. Occasions to talk about his kids with the media didn’t come up often, but Saunders was like any other dad when they did: proud and doting.
The other memory is when the I-35 bridge collapsed in 2007 in Minnesota, killing four and injuring 37. Saunders was at the scene when it happened. He stopped and called 911 and later sounded shaken as he described the scene.
“It’s very sad,” he said. “It’s hard to stomach.”
The basketball community feels much the same today.
Sports figures we've lost in 2015:
Unforgettable
Coach Flip Saunders finished all his seasons with the Pistons at the top of the Central Division. His record:
2005-06: 64-18. Playoffs: Lost to Miami in Eastern Conference Finals
2006-07: 53-29. Playoffs: Lost to Cleveland in Eastern Conference Finals
2007-08: 49-23. Playoffs: Lost to Boston in Eastern Conference Finals
