The only thing more surreal than Saturday's impromptu press conference announcing the apparently amicable divorce between Rick Carlisle and the Pistons was the 48 hours leading up to it.

``Surreal isn't the word for it,'' said Pistons team president Joe Dumars. ``It goes beyond unbelievable when trying to describe everything that' s happened to get us to this point.''

Larry Brown, the recent Philadelphia 76ers ex, is coming to Detroit. Carlisle may very well wind up in Cleveland. And a city coming off the euphoria of its first Eastern Conference finals appearance in 12 years tries to understand how a coach who won 100 games faster than any of his predecessors in this franchise's history could fall into disfavor with management so decisively.

``This was the best course for everyone involved,'' said Dumars. ``I can't really go into any specifics as to why this happened. It was just agreed that it was in everyone's best interests that we all move on and move forward.''