From Terry Foster at The Detroit News:Although weak from chemotherapy treatment, former Pistons coach Chuck Daly never stopped being a coach. Daly grabbed a sheet of paper from his old friend Rollie Massimino and jotted down a play.
It was meant for Villanova coach Jay Wright to use against North Carolina during the Final Four in Detroit. Daly thought the play might work and he wanted to help out one of the schools from his old Philadelphia days. He asked Massimino to pass it along.
Daly always said he was a lifer in basketball. He came into the world thinking basketball and he went out that way early Saturday morning when he died from pancreatic cancer in Jupiter, Fla with his family by his side.
Daly allowed players to grow by making their own mistakes. If the team wanted to do things a certain way, he'd allow it even if he knew it was the wrong road. Later he'd come back and ask how are we going to get this thing back on track. Often players would bring up ideas that he'd brought up earlier.
It was his idea but players executed it better because they believed they had ownership in it. Players respected Daly even though he failed in Cleveland because he did not try to pound his defense first philosophy when the came to Detroit.
Daly allowed players to play and he slowly incorporated the need for defense through out the years.
He was always open to listening, Rothstein said. He kept telling us that we are managing 12 corporations and he wanted us to keep that in mind. And let me tell you this was not an easy group to coach. It was a very talented group but the personalities and the egos and his ability to make it all come together I tell you I am not sure too many coaches could have done this.
Pistons Team President Joe Dumars played for Daly and as a team executive he understands the importance of looking for coaches like Daly to lead the Pistons.
"Players are going to play hard for him," Dumars said. "He knows how to connect with each player on the roster. He is a no b.s., no nonsense guy. He is a straight shooter and as an athlete you want to play for him."
He also kept players on edge.
"He never allowed you to get comfortable," Dumars said. "We'd be on a 10 game winning streak and Chuck would come in and say "I am afraid we are going to lose the next three or four games."
A FEW CHUCK DALY QUOTES:
"Offense is spacing...spacing is offense."
"There's nothing like being involved with a team that can go that distance."
“If you're going to have to beg them to play, it's not going to work.”
"It's discouraging to make a mistake, but it's humiliating when you find out you're so unimportant the nobody noticed it."
"I don't look at them as if they made a lot of money. I don't care how much money they make or where they come from. You have to take athletes and you have to reach them. And if you don't reach them you lose your job. They are all entirely different."
"Player allow you to coach them. If you don't understand that, you have no chance to succeed in this business."
A FEW ARTICLES ON COACH DAILY:
