Thibodeau Passed Over Again?

Update: Mannix says this is a done deal. Kuester will coach Detroit.

The Detroit Pistons have passed on Avery Johnson and are learning towards hiring Cavaliers assitant John Kuester as their next head coach, according to CBSSports.com.

Kuester's growing reputation as an offensive guru seemed to give him the edge over Thibodeau, who is widely regarded as one of the top defensive assistants in the league. The Pistons teams that advanced to six consecutive conference finals were built on defense, but it could be time for a change. It is not clear whether Dumars had reservations about Thibodeau's fairly rigid rotation system of defense, which is similar in style to the approach that wound up dooming the Cavaliers against Orlando in the conference finals. Thibodeau received credit -- and deservedly so -- for the Celtics' championship run in 2007-08, but his system benefited from having outstanding defenders like Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins.

The give-the-ball-to-LeBron-and-everyone-else-get-out-the-way system makes Kuester an offensive guru? Someone please explain to me how you fault Thibodeau for having KG, yet fail to do the same to Kuester for having LBJ.

I feel for Thibs but this is good news for Celtics fans. This also hurts the Cavs since the hapless Mike Brown is losing a crutch.