AUBURN HILLS, Mich. Brett Favre Youth Jersey . -- 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." Calvin Ridley Falcons Jersey . It was just time for him to make a big play. Nicolas Batum had 20 points and 10 rebounds, Wesley Matthews scored 18 points, and the Trail Blazers overcame poor-shooting nights by two of their best players in a 94-90 victory over the New York Knicks on Wednesday. Kendall Sheffield Womens Jersey . Louis, MO (SportsNetwork. http://www.thefaclonsshoponline.com/Youth-Deion-Sanders-Falcons-Jersey/ . JOHNS, N.(SportsNetwork.com) - Postseason baseball returns to the Steel City for the first time in 21 years on Tuesday when Justin Moreau, Russell Martin and the Pittsburgh Pirates host Joey Votto and the Cincinnati Reds in the National League wild card game at PNC Park. There have been over 600 playoff games contested in Major League Baseball since the Pirates lost to the Atlanta Braves in Game 7 of the 1992 NL Championship Series. None of those games, though, have included the Pirates, who are back in the postseason for the first time since their last winning season way back in 1992. This will be the first playoff game in Pittsburgh since Game 5 of that 1992 NLCS. "Thats a long wait," said Pirates second baseman Neil Walker. "Our focus is winning games and series, and we play for each other more than anything else. But we also play for the city and the fans. After teasing its fans with two straight second half collapses, Pittsburgh put it all together this season behind NL MVP candidate Andrew McCutchen and ended the year, 94-68. The Pirates spent a good deal of time atop the NL Central and were 26 games above .500 on Aug. 8. However, they were a .500 team in 48 games after that, but won five of six to close the campaign. In fact the Pirates cemented their season by sweeping the Reds over the weekend to secure homefield advantage for the wild card game, outscoring their NL Central foes, 16-6 in the process. "Itll be electric," Bucs outfielder Marlon Byrd said. "This city, its sports fans ... they love their sports. Theyve had their Steelers and their Penguins, and have been waiting on their Pirates. And here we come. "We wanted to make sure were able to bring it back to Pittsburgh. One game. Now its time to get it done." Pittsburgh had five All-Stars at this years Midsummer Classic, but none shined brighter than McCutchen, who continued to state his case as one of the best young players in the game. McCutchen hit .317 with 21 home runs, 84 RBI, 27 stolen bases, a .404 on-base percentage and .508 slugging percentage in 157 games. He became just the fourth major league center fielder since 1947 to have consecutive seasons of hitting .300 with a .400 slugging percentage and .500 on-base-plus-slugging percentage, joining Mickey Mantle, Willie Mays and Ken Griffey Jr. In addition to the great McCutchen, a big reason behind the Pirates success was the man that will be taking the ball on Tuesday, left-hander Francisco Liriano. Signed as a free agent this winter, Liriano missed the first month of the season recovering from a broken arm, but showed no ill effects of the injury upon his return and ended the year, 16-8, while pitching to a 3.02 ERA. Liriano, the Pirates first postseason starter since Doug Drabek, struggled against the Reds, going 0-3 with a 3.70 ERA against them in four starts. However, the Dominican hurler was terrific at PNC Park, where he has just one loss in 11 starts (8-1) with a sparkling 1.49 ERA. Pittsburgh, as a team, was 50-31 in front of its fans this season. While the Pirates are back in the postseason for the first time in over two decades, Cincinnati is making its third appearance in four years after going 90-72. Chris Lindstrom Youth Jersey. Like Pittsburgh, the Reds were in cruise control for the better part of September, despite being six games back in the NL Central as late as Aug. 10. Still and all, Cincinnati essentially knew it would be postseason bound in some capacity after taking three of four from Arizona from Aug. 19-22. The Reds, though, enter the postseason riding a five-game losing streak after losing three straight home games to the Pirates. "Youve got to block it out," manager Dusty Baker said of the rough finish. "Its a situation where its a new season. What you did previously, it doesnt matter. What you didnt do previously doesnt matter. Now you start the season all over." Cincinnati has something to prove this October after an awful collapse in last years NLDS. The Reds had won the first two games of that series with the San Francisco Giants, only to lose the final three at home in the best-of-five set to the eventual World Series champions. Johnny Cueto made only eight pitches in that series before leaving Game 1 with a strained oblique and will take the ball for the Reds Tuesday following an injury-plagued 2013 that saw him make three trips to the disabled list. "Its a really meaningful game for me," Cueto said via translator Tomas Vera. "This is the most important game of the season. All I have to do is keep doing my job. Baseball is still the same. I hope to do what I have to do." After missing 2 1/2 months with a lat strain Cueto returned to make two starts late in the season and allowed just one earned run in 12 innings. He ended his year 5-2 with a 2.82 ERA. "Im going to be normal. Im going to be the same guy," Cueto said. "What happened to me in San Francisco, I was excited. I was so emotional for the game and I think I overdid it too much. I really dont know what happened that day or how I got to that point." As bad as Liriano was against the Reds this season, Cueto has been the exact opposite versus Pittsburgh, posting a 13-4 lifetime mark against the Pirates with a 2.37 ERA in 21 starts. "They have a great team," Cueto said. "They have really good players so Im going to have to do my job as well." The matchup between Cueto and Liriano is just the third in postseason history between two starting pitchers from the Dominican Republic. In both 1999 and 2004, Pedro Martinez faced off against Bartolo Colon. "I want to tell my people in the Dominican Republic to follow this game," Cueto said. "There are two Dominicans on the mound. I want to give advice to all the youth in the Dominican that you have to work hard and continue working hard to do things like this." The Pirates took 11 of their 19 meetings with the Reds, including five of the nine matchups in Pittsburgh. Tuesdays winner will face NL Central champion St. Louis in the NLDS beginning on Thursday. ' ' '