Detroit produces the top teams in both the NBA and NHL

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."
http://sports.yahoo.com/top/news?slug=ap-detroit-twinwinners&prov=ap&type=lgns

This is perfect as is. Lions futility, tigers being so so, and the only two detroit teams i watch on top. [smilie=2thumbsup.g:

Enjoy it while it lasts. Things like this dont happen a lot. Or not in my life time they havent.

A related topic in NHL forum: http://wtfdetroit.com/viewtopic.php?t=2063

Two sweet!
Detroit would make history with twin titles

T hey've been amazingly good for amazingly long, but everyone knows the deal. The real excitement starts now. The real pressure starts now. The late nights and early angst and constant chatter start now, finally.

As phenomenally consistent as the Pistons and Red Wings have performed, as historic as their dual dominance has been, they're the ultimate "so far" teams, winning so much, so far, the only logical (acceptable?) conclusion is to win it all.

Have they been great? So far.

How far can they go? So, so far.

Here they go, the newest Detroit models, a pair of pro teams doing something no teams ever have done in one city, and doing it in similar ways, with similar parts. The Wings are the top seed in the NHL playoffs, which begin Friday night at Joe Louis Arena against Edmonton. The Pistons, the top seed in the NBA playoffs, tip off Sunday night at The Palace.

No teams from the same city ever have won NBA and NHL titles the same year. No teams from the same city even have entered the playoffs with the best records in those leagues.

Both the Pistons and Wings are favored to win championships, which could make June a dizzy month for parade-planners.

The auto industry is wheezing and the local economy is wobbling, and the games won't fix that. But for the next two months, we'll be reminded, night after night, of the power of passion, driven by sports, fueled by fans, marked by two teams that don't win by chance.

You look at the Wings, you see the Pistons. You look at the Pistons, you see the Wings.

Exact same purpose, almost exact same plan. Quiet, veteran leaders. First-year coaches. Sound defense. Deep, balanced rosters heavy on selflessness, light on superstar ego.

"You know what I like about the Pistons? They play like a team," Wings coach Mike Babcock said. "They're a skilled, talented group with a blue-collar attitude, just like us. We've got professional guys who care about the team. We work, they work."

Pause.

"Now let's make sure we both win."

From NBA oddity to model

No guarantees, obviously, especially in the Stanley Cup playoffs, which are notoriously unpredictable. The Wings have entered the postseason with the best record five times in 11 years, and won the Cup only one of those times. Their other two championships came after tougher regular seasons when they were mild underdogs, a role the Pistons know well.

With a franchise-record victory total, and last year's Game 7 loss to the Spurs still churning in their gut, the Pistons now are big favorites. It's the upside to excellence. The downside for both teams is the notion that anything less than a title is a failure. It's a grim reality, but a welcome reality.

I asked Ben Wallace, spiritual leader of the Pistons, if players take any individual satisfaction out of the season. After all, the Pistons leaped from NBA oddity to NBA model, putting four players in the All-Star Game and earning Chauncey Billups MVP consideration.

I knew the answer before I asked.

"All that hard work is nothing if we don't continue to play the way we've played," Wallace said. "Everybody's focus here is to win a championship. If we don't take that energy into the playoffs, it'd be a wasted season."

Maybe it's just a coincidence the Pistons and Wings win in similar ways. Or maybe it works here -- so far -- because this is a city that detests pretense, and these are teams that fake absolutely nothing. Detroiters don't need to be dazzled by flash.

The Pistons already set basketball's standard for team play, winning the title two years ago with the best and most-cohesive starting five in the league.

Goal is always Stanley Cup

The Wings, supposedly pegged to crumble under the NHL's tighter spending rules, quickly adjusted, plugging holes with skilled role players. They finished with eight 20-goal scorers, most in team history.

So I asked Steve Yzerman, spiritual leader of the Wings, if there's any redemption gleaned from this regular season.

I knew the answer before I asked.

"Our team's goal is always to win the Stanley Cup," Yzerman said. "I don't want to get too carried away with this regular-season success because we've had playoff disappointments the last few years, and I don't forget those. I do think it's overlooked how good a job this organization does finding players, drafting players. That's been the illusion, that we just go out and buy a team."

So is there a thread, a philosophy, that links the Wings and Pistons?

Yzerman, whose playing career is winding down, sees something.

"I follow the Pistons closely and admire what they're doing, and I think it's a reflection of (GM) Joe Dumars," Yzerman said. "For us, it's a reflection of (GM) Kenny Holland. They're both low-key guys, and that's the way they run their teams. They do their jobs, and they don't create a lot of headlines."

Players spread the attention

Dumars and Holland are smart enough to know what they want, and neither is willing to turn over control of his team to a singular star. Just as important, neither is afraid to take risks, which requires supportive owners. Bill Davidson is a proven winner. Mike Ilitch is a proven winner with the Wings, although not with the Tigers.

A year ago, Dumars had a great team, but it didn't win the title. He changed coaches, replacing Larry Brown with Flip Saunders.

Two years ago, before the NHL lockout, Holland had a great team but it didn't win the title. He changed coaches, replacing Dave Lewis with Babcock.

Babcock came here to instill something, to give the Wings a harder edge.

Saunders came here to sustain something, to coax more offense out of the Pistons.

Both are wildly successful -- so far. But you won't hear either make any proclamations. Both deftly put the attention on the players, who then spread it among themselves.

"We've got the right recipe here," Billups said. "Whoever Joe puts in charge, we've got the same players who know how to win, and how to be a coach in the locker room. I'm not taking anything away from whoever's coaching our team, but I'm sure it's easier to coach here than it is anywhere. We're looking at the big picture. You won't see us whooping and hollering about the regular season."

In some ways, that's too bad, because what the Pistons and Wings have done is a feat worthy of acclaim, if not worthy of a parade. Goodness, if the Lions and Tigers ever accomplished something like this in the regular season, we probably would send the floats down Woodward.

That's not the way it works, not with these teams. Here they go, side by side, straight ahead, Pistons churning and Wings flapping.

"I love watching them play," Wings goalie Manny Legace said of the Pistons. "Their leadership is amazing, and they just go about their business. They can be down 20 points and there's no panic. That reminds me so much of us."

So much, so far. Sit back and strap in, because the next two months could be unlike anything any city has ever witnessed, a rollicking two-team ride. If it leaves you seeing double, just rub your eyes and enjoy.
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060420/SPORTS08/604200396/1127/SPORTS0102

The city will be changed to Sportstown if the Wings and Pistons can pull it off.