Kuester

Pronounced Q-ster.

I think the freep put it best: Dumars' pick - obscure assistant John Kuester. Big time egg-on-the-face for Joe D. Doug Collins turned him down. Avery Johnson turned him down. Dumars finally got long-time assistant John Kuester to say yes.

The reports say that Kuester is the offensive mastermind behind the Cavs resurgence this past season. There may be an element of truth to that, but Kuester will find it much harder to score without Lebron James. Kuester will have a high-scoring shooting guard in Ben Gordon, shifty point guard Rodney Stuckey, and multi-dimensional PF Charlie V. As of now, Tayshaun Prince is still on the team, and so is Rip Hamilton... though I don't expect that to last.

Dumars compared this team to Rick Carlisle's first team - a team in transition. If this random collection of talent wins 50 games as Carlisle's team did, I'll do cartwheels. I just can't see it happening. I still see too many holes. But I will admit that Joe is charting out a direction. Gone are the days of a swarming defense. Dumars is switching to an offense-first outfit. I'm not sure how that will play in Detroit, but at least the team will have a semblance of an identity. My guess is that the new players will play defense if the team notches a few wins. If they start 5-10, it could get ugly.