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." Wholesale Fake Yeezys .S. routed Sweden 7-0 Sunday to win its fourth straight title and seventh overall under-18 world championship. Olson earned his third shutout of the tournament and the Americans allowed only four goals in six games to set an International Ice Hockey Federation under-18 record. Fake Yeezys From China . The former central defender calmly nodded it down and quietly went about celebrating a win with his staff. For a man who has had a lot on his shoulders this season, it was an appropriate moment. http://www.fakeyeezysforsale.com/. The CFL club is making the move after holding its camp and regular-season practices at the University of Toronto campus in Mississauga, Ont. Fake Yeezys Boost .com) - Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant combined for 51 points and the Oklahoma City Thunder took down the struggling Bucks 114-101 on Tuesday. Fake Yeezy Boost 350 V3 . At a news conference Tuesday where it was thought that the fiery Schallibaum may be shown the door after a dismal finish to the Major League Soccer season, team president Joey Saputo said no decision has been made on whether the Swiss Volcano will be back in 2014.Miami, FL (SportsNetwork.com) - The BYU Cougars will meet with the American Athletic Conference champion Memphis Tigers in the inaugural Miami Beach Bowl on Monday, Dec. 22, in a showdown at Marlins Park. BYU, which finished the regular season at 8-4 and on a four-game win streak, will participate in its 10th consecutive postseason bowl game, and owns a 6-3 record in that time frame. BYU took down California, 42-35, in the teams regular-season finale. Memphis, which won a share of the AAC title this year, also enters the clash on a win streak. The Tigers have won six in a row, including a 41-10 thrashing of UConn in the teams regular-season finale. Memphis will be playing in its seventh bowl game all time, but the first since the 2008 St. Petersburg Bowl. This contest between the Cougars and the Tigers will mark the first-ever meeting between the programs on the football field. BYU suffered some crucial mid-season injuries that appeared to set the team back, but the Cougars recovered. Most notably was the injury to quarterback Taysom Hill, who went down in October with a leg injury. Hill had his name mentioned with the Heisman hopefuls at that point, but Christian Stewart came in and did a phenomenal job replacing the talented Hill. Stewart threw for 2,273 yards and 22 touchdowns against only six interceptions in relief of Hill, adding in a 58.7 completion percentage. Perhaps not quite as notable but still equally as devastating a loss was to Jamaal Williams at running back. He suffered a knee injury early in November that sidelined him for the season. Williams rushed for 518 yards - a team high - but Paul Lasike picked up some of the slack with five rushing scores in 12 games played. BYU averaged 190.5 rushing ypg and 36.2 ppg, but plenty of that production came from Hill and Williams. Huge 6-foot-6 receiver Mitch Mathews has provided Stewart with a fantastic outlet option in the passing game. The receiver has caught 64 passes for a team-best 840 yards and eight touchdowns this season, averaging 70.0 ypg receiving. Jordan Leslie (five touchdown receptions), Mitch Juergens (three receiving scores) and Lasike out of the backfield have provided Stewart enough of a security blanket to be successful. While BYUs offense has been strong following some key injures, the teams defense has just been consistent all season long. The Cougars are allowing opponents to score 25.2 ppg and gain just 384.2 offensive ypg this season, with a special focus on stopping the run (117.5 opponent rushing ypg). But a strong scoring prevention defense down the stretch run (35 points allowed to Cal was the most since an Oct. 24 battle with Boise State) helped the Cougars along. Skye Povey leads the team in tackles, though the defensive leader has registered just 69 stops all season long. Still, he has notched two interceptions with four pass breakups to increase his vaalue.ddddddddddddIn mid December, the team lost safety Craig Bills for the Miami Beach Bowl due to a neck injury. His prowess in the secondary will be missed by the Cougars, but that doesnt diminish the teams fight for a postseason win. Our team is excited to be in the postseason for a 10th straight season and looking forward to the challenge of facing Memphis in the Miami Beach Bowl, BYU head coach Bronco Mendenhall said. Memphis had a great regular season, winning a share of the AAC title. They are well coached with a strong defense and a balanced offense. It should be a great matchup in Miami. With both teams coming off two very strong win streaks, it should be a great matchup. But for BYU to control a strong Tigers team, the Cougars will need to stop Memphis quarterback Paxton Lynch. Lynch has been a dual-threat machine this season for the 9-3 Tigers, throwing for 2,725 yards and 18 touchdowns while adding 10 rushing scores to his resume. Lynch is the leader of a Memphis offense averaging 34.7 ppg and 422.7 offensive ypg. His contribution to the running game has helped tremendously following the season-ending injury to Doroland Dorceus in September. Lynchs 10 rushing touchdowns is a team high, but Brandon Hayes and his 900 rushing yards and 81.8 ypg average on the ground are both the highs on the team this season. The Tigers have scored a whopping 28 rushing touchdowns in 12 games in 2014. When it comes to the receiving game, Lynch likes to spread the ball around. Mose Frazier leads the team with 43 receptions and is tied for the lead with three receiving scores. But the team lead in touchdown receptions is shared with Tevin Jones, Alan Cross and Hayes. Even Keiwone Malone is up there with a team-best 480 receiving yards and two scores. But no one has to look much further than Memphis strong scoring defense as a reason for the Tigers success this season. Memphis brings in a 17.1 ppg mark allowed to opponents into the clash, and allows just 125.2 rushing ypg to opponents. In the teams six-game win streak, only Tulsa and USF managed 20 points; the rest of the challengers in the streak couldnt even surpass 13 points against the Tigers. Tank Jakes has been a beast this season for Memphis, not only leading the team in total tackles (83), but also in tackles for loss (15.5), sacks (six), and forced fumbles (four). In the secondary, Bakari Hollier will be useful against BYUs Stewart, having broken up 10 passes this season. Bobby McCain has intercepted four passes as well, so the two players will try to shut down a potent BYU offensive aerial attack. We have a special group of kids who have worked extremely hard for what they have accomplished this year, said Memphis coach Justin Fuente. They have adhered to the values of selflessness, teamwork and playing together. This bowl invitation is a reward for the season they have had. ' ' '