Flip's not the problem.

Flip must pay the price, because that's the nature of the beast in professional sports, but, in the case of the Detroit Pistons failing to reach the NBA finals, Saunders is not the problem.

The players on the roster are the problem. Joe Dumars, who's now looking for his fifth head coach in the past nine years, is part of the problem. Saunders? He's got to be the fall guy because as the old saying goes, "management doesn't fire itself."

The Pistons need to get better on the floor, not necessarily on the bench.

Dumars, the Pistons' president of basketball operations, hasn't done that well in recent years to boost the team with quality talent. He's drafted one above average NBA player since the 2004 championship team.

That player is Rodney Stuckey, a rookie this year, who's good, but could be great.

Jason Maxiell? He's an average NBA player. Hard worker. Tenacious rebounder and defender. But he's not going to put a team over the hump to win a NBA title.

Here are the some of the other additions Dumars has made to the team in recent years: Juan Dixon (a career backup), Jarvis Hayes (non-existent in the playoffs), Arron Affalo (a rookie who's an average player), Theo Ratliff (an aging backup role player), Amir Johnson (a 21-year-old kid who's very average at this point in his career).

Then there was Nazr Mohammad, a veteran center, who spent a couple of uneventful seasons with the Pistons.

And if you really want to call out Dumars, then let's talk about Darko Milicic, possibly the biggest Pistons' bust of all time, drafted No. 2 overall in 2003. That pick could have been Carmelo Anthony or Chris Bosh or Dwyane Wade, but Dumars picked Milicic, and, now, the Pistons are paying the price for that woeful selection.

In Dumars' defense, he did make some great moves. He traded for Rasheed Wallace, who was the key piece in the Pistons' puzzle in winning the NBA title in 2004. He did draft Tayshaun Prince, trade for Rip Hamilton and Ben Wallace, and sign Chauncey Billups and Antonio McDyess as a free agents.

But in recent years, Dumars hasn't done the job in adding talent to the core.

How would Kevin Garnett look in a Pistons' uniform? How about Ray Allen? Or Tracy McGrady?

It's funny. When Doc Rivers was coaching the Orlando Magic, he was ripped for not being able to win a playoff series. Then as the Celtics' coach, his teams couldn't get into the playoffs.

But give him Garnett and Allen, and Rivers all of a sudden becomes a successful coach. That's what talent will do.

The Pistons rode their core - Wallace, Billups, Prince and Hamilton - as far as they could. It got them one NBA title, another NBA finals appearance, and three NBA Eastern conference finals trips in the past three years.

It's been a great ride, something I'm sure a Clippers' fan or a Knicks' fan would love to experience.

Saunders, who was 176-70 in his three seasons as head coach and 30-21 in the postseason, did what he could with what he had. Other teams - the Cavaliers (LeBron James), the Heat (Shaquille O'Neal) and the Celtics (Garnett and Allen) - all got better with key personnel moves. The Pistons essentially stood still, hoping what they had was good enough for one more run at a NBA championship.

If Saunders had a star player added to his team, he'd still be coaching the Pistons.

Instead, he's out of work. It's not right. But that's the NBA.