SVG: 'There's no such thing as a longtime Magic coach'

After his firing as Orlando Magic coach following the 2011-12 season, Stan Van Gundy still made his home in the area.

The first-year Detroit Pistons coach watched new Magic coach Jacque Vaughn carry out management directives to develop the organization's young core.

But it wasn't enough to prevent Vaughn's firing Thursday, just 52 games into his third season.

"We were trying to get our hands around the inconsistency we were seeing on the floor," Magic general manager Rob Hennigan said at a news conference. "There's a lot of reasons for that. Jacque's not the only reason for that."

Not surprisingly, Van Gundy finds the situation of absurd -- particularly the way organizations bend over backward to not publicly blame a coach, but the coach is the only sacrificial lamb in such instances.

"All those things are the same," Van Gundy said today. "You get in the press conference, they loved Jacque. He did a great job. You listen to all that, and then I listen to Rob say it doesn't fall on Jacque, but he takes full responsibility. I laugh, obviously, because that's not true.

"You're still sitting there with a job, and Jacque doesn't have one, so I don't know what full responsibility means. But I would say they left the full responsibility on Jacque."

Van Gundy also said of the Magic: "They're an organization that turns over coaches a lot. I don't know if anybody coached there longer than I did. There's no such thing as a longtime Magic coach."

Van Gundy's five-year stint is the longest in franchise history, although former Pistons assistant Brian Hill has coached the most games for the Magic, over two stints.

"Being there for his first two years, being there in the town and following them and reading, I thought Jacque gave them everything that they wanted, so I feel bad for him," Van Gundy said.

The Pistons, of course, have gone through 13 coaches since Chuck Daly left after the 1991-92 season -- a stretch of 23 seasons.

Another 10 days: Van Gundy said that he expects the Pistons to sign John Lucas III to a second 10-day contract next week. He signed the first one Sunday.

"That would be the expectation," Van Gundy said. "Something could happen between now and then, obviously, so we're not doing it today, but yeah, that's the expectation."

Contact Vince Ellis: vellis@freepress.com. Follow him on Twitter @vincent_ellis56.