g NBA champions is their longest since a three-game slid

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. Adam Lallana England Shirt . -- Stan Van Gundy expects the Detroit Pistons front office to be on the same page as the coaching staff. That shouldnt be too much to ask, considering hell be part of both. "One of the big problems at least in our league right now in a lot of places is there is not a great connection necessarily between front office and coaching," Van Gundy said. "This setup -- nothing to do with power -- it allows us to really create a tremendous synergy and a very unified organization." Van Gundy was formally introduced by the Pistons on Thursday as their coach and president of basketball operations. Detroit went 29-53 last season, missing the playoffs for a fifth straight year. That was the end of Joe Dumars tenure as team president. Coach Maurice Cheeks was fired in February and replaced on an interim basis by John Loyer. Van Gundys coaching is well respected -- he went 371-208 in seven-plus seasons with Miami and Orlando -- but now hell have the added responsibility of handling personnel matters. Its rare for one person to have that much control in the NBA, but Doc Rivers does both jobs for the Los Angeles Clippers. "This is the most important decision we have made as an organization," said Tom Gores, who took over as the teams owner in 2011. "Not only did we hire a coach and president of basketball, we are resetting the culture of the franchise. Im so confident that this is going to work." The Pistons have changed coaches quite a bit in recent years, but this is by far the biggest organizational shakeup in some time. Dumars had been president for 14 years before stepping down as this season drew to a close. Van Gundy inherits a roster that has a few talented players but looked dysfunctional on the court for much of last season. Detroits Andre Drummond is one of the games top young big men -- and Van Gundy has experience coaching big men like Shaquille ONeal in Miami and Dwight Howard in Orlando. "I think we have two responsibilities to Andre Drummond that will help our team, and that is, number one, to do everything we possibly can to develop him as a player," Van Gundy said. "And then secondly, we have a responsibility to put a system and personnel around him that allow him to thrive." Greg Monroe is a restricted free agent, and both Rodney Stuckey and Charlie Villanueva are unrestricted. "I want to start the process by sitting down with Greg face to face, talking about how he sees himself, how he sees our organization, and giving me a chance to talk to him about my vision for what goes on and how I think we can create a system that will fully maximize his abilities," Van Gundy said. Monroe, Drummond and Josh Smith can all be effective around the basket, but last seasons Pistons did not shoot well from the perimeter. And Detroit will lose this years first-round draft pick if its not in the top eight -- part of a previous trade with Charlotte. But with a five-year deal worth $35 million, it looks like Van Gundy will have time to turn this team around. "Part of what we hired here is the emotions," Gores said. "Thats what I want. He cares. Hes got a passion. The reason hes so prepared is he stays up at night thinking about things." The Pistons are desperate to become relevant again in the Motor City, where theyve been an afterthought lately. Hiring Van Gundy has certainly created a buzz, but now he and Gores are both under pressure to restore the franchises lustre. "Theres no excuses now," Van Gundy said. "What happens a lot of times in this thing is -- and I know because I talk to coaches all the time. Coaches say, Im doing a great job but this guy is not getting me good enough players. And the front office is telling ownership, We put together a great roster and the coach is screwing it up. "Theres none of that anymore. Its on us to get it done." Raheem Sterling England Jersey . Then again, he really was at his home away from home. "It was nice to sleep in my own bed last night," Shields said after pitching Kansas City past the San Diego Padres 8-0 Wednesday. Wholesale Blank Womens Football Jerseys . -- Jake Paterson made 39 saves as the Saginaw Spirit halted the Guelph Storms seven-game win streak with a 6-3 victory on Sunday in Ontario Hockey League action. http://www.worldcup2018jerseysengland.com/jersey-david-beckham.html . Head of clinic Josef Obrist tells the Austria Press Agency on Thursday that Morgenstern "is doing surprisingly well. ... He still has a memory gap but thats nothing unusual." Morgenstern has moved to a rehabilitation clinic in Klagenfurt for further recovery.San Antonio, TX (SportsNetwork.com) - The Portland Trail Blazers became the second team this week to beat the San Antonio Spurs in triple-overtime. Damian Lillard had a career-high 43 points, LaMarcus Aldridge scored 32 and the Blazers pulled away in the third overtime to top the Spurs 129-119 on Friday night. Lillard hit game-tying 3-pointers in regulation and the first overtime and scored nine of Portlands 17 points in the third overtime as the Blazers wrapped up their fourth consecutive win. Cory Joseph hit a tying shot in the second OT for San Antonio, which became the first NBA team in 63 years to play in consecutive three-overtime games. At least the 1951-52 Baltimore Bullets split theirs. The Spurs fell to Memphis 117-116 in Wednesdays triple-OT thriller, two days after the Blazers beat them in Portland. The three-game losing streak for the reigning NBA champions is their longest since a three-game slide Jan. 26-29. Tim Duncan had a season-high 32 points and Danny Green added 27 for the Spurs, who lost despite starting the first two overtimes on 6-0 runs. In the initial overtime, they scored just one more point over the next 2 1/2 minutes. Lillards tying 3-pointer came after Wesley Matthews missed a 3 and Aldridge got the offensive rebound, kicking it back to Lillard at the point. Manu Ginobili missed an off-balance shot for the Spurs before the buzzer. Earlier, Danny Green had a 3-pointer waived off after a replay review showed he was still touching the ball when the shot clock expired. In the second overtime, Duncan also had a basket ttaken off the board for the same reason. Blank Football Jerseys For Sale. After scoring the first six points again, the Spurs got two more in the next two minutes of the second overtime. Lillard sparked an 8-0 run with a dunk after splitting the defense, which was followed by 3s from Dorell Wright and Steve Blake for a 112-110 lead. But the Spurs tied it when Joseph rattled in a baseline leaner at the other end. Matthews missed a 3 off the back of the rim at the buzzer with a chance to win it, but the Blazers scored 11 straight points to start the third overtime to pull away. It was the largest lead by either team since the Spurs 11-point advantage in the second quarter. Earlier, after Lillard missed a dunk off the back of the rim with Duncan in his face, the Spurs took a 97-95 lead with 5.7 seconds left in regulation on Greens 3 from in front of the Portland bench. But Lillard tied the score at the other end by dribbling past Green off an inbounds pass and getting a layup to drop with Duncan there again. The Spurs, with 1.4 seconds to work with, were unable to win in regulation after Greens 3 at the buzzer was blocked by Lillard on the high right side. Game Notes Aldridge had 16 rebounds while Duncan and Green both pulled down 10 ... Matthews scored 16 points ... Joseph had 10 points and seven assists ... The Spurs are in Dallas on Saturday to take on the division-rival Mavericks, who expect to have new point guard Rajon Rondo in uniform ... The Blazers opened a four-game road trip that continues Saturday in New Orleans. Cheap Authentic Jerseys Camo China NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Gear Wholesale Jerseys 2019 Wholesale NFL Hoodies Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping ' ' '