E20
04-19-2006, 10:37 PM
LINK (http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ap-detroit-twinwinners&prov=ap&type=lgns)
DETROIT (AP) -- Hockeytown or Hoopstown?
Detroit is both. The top teams at the end of the NBA and NHL regular seasons are in the same city for the first time, with the Pistons and Red Wings combining to pull off the feat for the Motor City.
"It's always cool to be a part of anything that hasn't happened before," Joe Dumars, the Pistons' president of basketball operations, said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press. "This is a great sports town, and the fans around here are about to really have some fun following both teams."
The Red Wings ended the regular season Tuesday with an NHL-best 58 wins, and the Pistons closed Wednesday night with a 96-80 loss to Washington, finishing the season with an NBA-best 64 wins.
"We both established ourselves at home with great crowds, and both have been the best teams on the road," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. "Different sports, but it's like we've been looking at each other in the mirror."
The Red Wings will face the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of the first-round playoffs Friday night, and the Pistons will open the postseason Sunday night against the Milwaukee Bucks.
If the Red Wings and Pistons win titles in two months, Detroit will be the first city to have NBA and NHL teams win championships in the same year.
Anything less will be a disappointment for both teams -- and their fans -- because of a championship-or-bust mentality that has been cultivated with sustained success.
The Pistons won it all two years ago, came just short of repeating last season and have won 50-plus games five straight years. The Red Wings, easily the NHL's winningest team the past 15 seasons, won three titles in a six-year span before two straight early exits in the playoffs before the lockout that canceled last season.
Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said his players did not want to touch the Presidents' Trophy -- awarded to the NHL team with the best record -- because they want to hoist the Stanley Cup.
"We all know what it's about here," Babcock said.
For Detroit fans, they know it's wise to enjoy the Pistons and Red Wings while they're in season because the other two pro teams in town -- the Tigers and Lions -- will likely let them down.
Detroit hasn't had a baseball team with a winning record since 1993 and hasn't won a World Series since 1984. The Lions have been the NFL's worst team since 2001, and they have one playoff victory since their last title in 1957.
For the Motor City's Big Four, success -- or lack of it -- seems to come from the top.
Mike Ilitch owns the Red Wings and Tigers, and his hockey team's reign atop the league was established when he hired general manager Jim Devellano in 1982.
"Hockey wasn't on the map when Mike Ilitch bought the team, but Jimmy D. did a great job by changing that," said Red Wings GM Ken Holland, who has kept Devellano's momentum going since being promoted in 1997. "We would not be the franchise we are today without Jimmy D.'s moves and vision."
Holland kept the Red Wings on top this season despite cutting their payroll almost in half to get under the salary cap because of the NHL's new collective bargaining agreement.
While it was Jimmy D. who turned around the Red Wings, who used to give cars away to attract fans, Joe D. made the Pistons a championship-caliber team after they sunk following back-to-back titles he helped them win in 1989 and '90.
Brendan Shanahan said the Pistons were irrelevant when he started playing for the Red Wings in 1996.
"It was like they didn't exist," Shanahan said. "It's been great to see what Dumars has done to turn the Pistons around because I root for all of the pro teams around here."
The Lions and Tigers have been harder to pull for because their owners -- William Clay Ford and Ilitch -- have not seemed to find a GM like Devellano, Holland or Dumars.
That doesn't stop Dumars, who has evolved into a "certified Detroit sports fan" since being drafted by the Pistons in 1985.
"My wish would be that all four teams could be contenders," he said. "The Pistons and Red Wings are there, and the other two are not far behind. I think the Lions are going to take (Michael) Huff in the draft to help right away, and I think the Tigers have a chance to be in the playoffs."
DETROIT (AP) -- Hockeytown or Hoopstown?
Detroit is both. The top teams at the end of the NBA and NHL regular seasons are in the same city for the first time, with the Pistons and Red Wings combining to pull off the feat for the Motor City.
"It's always cool to be a part of anything that hasn't happened before," Joe Dumars, the Pistons' president of basketball operations, said Wednesday in an interview with The Associated Press. "This is a great sports town, and the fans around here are about to really have some fun following both teams."
The Red Wings ended the regular season Tuesday with an NHL-best 58 wins, and the Pistons closed Wednesday night with a 96-80 loss to Washington, finishing the season with an NBA-best 64 wins.
"We both established ourselves at home with great crowds, and both have been the best teams on the road," Pistons coach Flip Saunders said. "Different sports, but it's like we've been looking at each other in the mirror."
The Red Wings will face the Edmonton Oilers in Game 1 of the first-round playoffs Friday night, and the Pistons will open the postseason Sunday night against the Milwaukee Bucks.
If the Red Wings and Pistons win titles in two months, Detroit will be the first city to have NBA and NHL teams win championships in the same year.
Anything less will be a disappointment for both teams -- and their fans -- because of a championship-or-bust mentality that has been cultivated with sustained success.
The Pistons won it all two years ago, came just short of repeating last season and have won 50-plus games five straight years. The Red Wings, easily the NHL's winningest team the past 15 seasons, won three titles in a six-year span before two straight early exits in the playoffs before the lockout that canceled last season.
Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said his players did not want to touch the Presidents' Trophy -- awarded to the NHL team with the best record -- because they want to hoist the Stanley Cup.
"We all know what it's about here," Babcock said.
For Detroit fans, they know it's wise to enjoy the Pistons and Red Wings while they're in season because the other two pro teams in town -- the Tigers and Lions -- will likely let them down.
Detroit hasn't had a baseball team with a winning record since 1993 and hasn't won a World Series since 1984. The Lions have been the NFL's worst team since 2001, and they have one playoff victory since their last title in 1957.
For the Motor City's Big Four, success -- or lack of it -- seems to come from the top.
Mike Ilitch owns the Red Wings and Tigers, and his hockey team's reign atop the league was established when he hired general manager Jim Devellano in 1982.
"Hockey wasn't on the map when Mike Ilitch bought the team, but Jimmy D. did a great job by changing that," said Red Wings GM Ken Holland, who has kept Devellano's momentum going since being promoted in 1997. "We would not be the franchise we are today without Jimmy D.'s moves and vision."
Holland kept the Red Wings on top this season despite cutting their payroll almost in half to get under the salary cap because of the NHL's new collective bargaining agreement.
While it was Jimmy D. who turned around the Red Wings, who used to give cars away to attract fans, Joe D. made the Pistons a championship-caliber team after they sunk following back-to-back titles he helped them win in 1989 and '90.
Brendan Shanahan said the Pistons were irrelevant when he started playing for the Red Wings in 1996.
"It was like they didn't exist," Shanahan said. "It's been great to see what Dumars has done to turn the Pistons around because I root for all of the pro teams around here."
The Lions and Tigers have been harder to pull for because their owners -- William Clay Ford and Ilitch -- have not seemed to find a GM like Devellano, Holland or Dumars.
That doesn't stop Dumars, who has evolved into a "certified Detroit sports fan" since being drafted by the Pistons in 1985.
"My wish would be that all four teams could be contenders," he said. "The Pistons and Red Wings are there, and the other two are not far behind. I think the Lions are going to take (Michael) Huff in the draft to help right away, and I think the Tigers have a chance to be in the playoffs."