WOMBAT-Empfang » me good enough players. And the front o

AUBURN HILLS, Mich. -- 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." Vans Sale Ireland . Scott scored a career-high 30 points, Jeff Teague added 28 and the Hawks rallied to beat the New York Knicks 107-98 on Saturday night. "We were down Paul, down so many bodies," Scott said. Wholesale Vans Authentic .com) - Whew! North Dakota States reign as the three-time FCS national champion was pushed to the limit by South Dakota State on Saturday, but freshman R. http://www.cheapoldskoolireland.com/. The Marlies centre set up three goals, including the game-winner, as Toronto cruised to a 4-1 victory over the Oklahoma City Barons in American Hockey League action. Vans Old Skool Ireland . Terry came from Boston along with Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce but has appeared in just 35 games after a knee injury, averaging 4.5 points on 36 per cent shooting. Evans was a favourite of fans but not coach Jason Kidd, who used him in just 30 of their 51 games. Cheap Vans Old Skool Ireland .ca. The NHL Play of the Year showdown kicks off with some slick moves going head-to-head with a combination of soft hands and endless patience.KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Jason Vargas pitched seven shutdown innings, Mike Moustakas cracked a two-run homer and the Kansas City Royals romped to a 5-0 victory over the Minnesota Twins on Friday night. Alcides Escobar had three hits and Omar Infante also drove in two runs for the Royals, who followed up a sweep at the hands of Minnesota last weekend by sweeping Houston and then taking the first of their three-game set against the Twins this weekend. Ricky Nolasco (1-2) gave up five runs on 11 hits in 5 2-3 innings for the Twins. He was coming off a 7-1 win over Kansas City in which he allowed one run on four hits in eight innings. Vargas (2-0), who signed a $32 million, four-year deal in the off-season, allowed seven hits while striking out four in another dazzling start. The crafty left-hander lowered his ERA to 1.24 while going at least seven innings in each of his four outings this season. Vargas put runners on base each of the first five innings, though he was never in serious trouble. Only twice did a runner reach second base and each time a lazy fly ball ended the inning. Even when the Twins hit a ball hard, Alex Gordon was there to make a play. The Royals Gold Glove left-fielder threw a strike from the warning track to second base in the fourth inning, cutting down Josmil Pinto as he tried to stretch a single. Two innings later, Gordon made a running catch into the padding in foul territory on Jooe Mauers fly ball.dddddddddddd Escobar sent a charge through the Royals anemic offence with a double in the third inning, and consecutive singles by Nori Aoki, Infante and Eric Hosmer staked them to a 2-0 lead. Infantes single drove in Escobar to make it 3-0 in the fifth. Billy Butler, in the throes of a massive slump, singled in the sixth before Moustakas, also off to a slow start, sent a pitch sizzling into the seats in right. His second homer of the season made it 5-0 and chased Nolasco from the game. Neither team threatened to score again, the Royals wrapping up their first shutout win and the Twins getting blanked for the first time this season. NOTES: The Royals placed OF Jarrod Dyson on the bereavement list and recalled INF/OF Jimmy Paredes was recalled from Triple-A Omaha before the game. ... An MRI exam on Royals OF Lorenzo Cain (strained groin) came back negative. Manager Ned Yost hopes to have him back after a 15-day DL stint. ... Twins OF Jason Kubel got the night off from the starting lineup. He flied out as a pinch hitter in the seventh. ... LHP Bruce Chen (sore back) will start for KC on Saturday. He was initially scheduled to pitch Thursday. RHP Kevin Correia will start for the Twins. ... There was a moment of silence before the game for the victims of the shootings Sunday at a Jewish community centre and nearby senior living centre in suburban Kansas City. ' ' '