”I wouldn’t make a decision without Stan Tyron Smith Jersey Womens ,” Gores said at halftime of Monday night’s 108-98 loss to the Toronto Raptors. ”He’s been our partner for four years.”
Gores said changes need to be made because the team isn’t winning enough, adding none will happen until he speaks with Van Gundy. The two are expected to meet next week.
”I think he deserves the conversation,” Gore said. ”He’s been good for us.”
The Pistons are 151-176 under Van Gundy as their coach and president of basketball operations. His 2016 team was swept in the first round of the playoffs.
Detroit (38-43) will finish the season Wednesday night at Chicago, failing to make earn a spot in the postseason for the third time in Van Gundy’s four years.
Injuries were a big problem. Blake Griffin, Andre Drummond and Reggie Jackson were only in the lineup together for four games.
”We probably need a few more games with them playing on the same team if we’re going to be good,” Van Gundy said. ”Still have to own the 38 wins right now. You can’t run from that.”
Gores isn’t necessarily against allowing Van Gundy to lead both the front office and the bench.
”I see value in the front office and the court being connected,” he said.
The Pistons made a major move trying to shake up their lackluster franchise by sending players and a first-round pick to the Los Angeles Clippers for Griffin. The trade didn’t pan out this season Myles Garrett Jersey Elite , and the 29-year-old forward will have to produce a lot to live up to the $171 million, five-year deal he signed with the Clippers last summer. Griffin has been out with an injured right ankle, following a recent pattern in his career in which he struggled to stay healthy.
Gores defended the deal, saying the franchise now has a superstar. He also said Van Gundy didn’t make the move without input from him.
”There’s not a big move that Stan made without me,” Gores said.
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Four times under coach Mike Sullivan, the Pittsburgh Penguins have gone into an elimination game in the playoffs. They have won each en route to back-to-back Stanley Cup titles.
On Monday at PPG Paints Arena in Pittsburgh, the Washington Capitals will try to end the Penguins’ run with a win in Game 6 of a second-round series. Washington Lawrence Taylor Jersey , after winning 6-3 in Game 5, leads the series 3-2 and can advance to the Eastern Conference final with a win.
The Capitals are 1-9 all time in postseason series against Pittsburgh, with two of the losses coming the past two years, so they have a sense of needing to get past the Penguins’ roadblock.
“It’s not over yet,” Capitals winger Brett Connolly said. “They’re a good team. We know that. (Game 5 Saturday was) obviously a big win. We just need to find a way this year. We need to find a way to get that last win no matter what it takes.”
The Penguins will need to win not only Monday but also Wednesday in a potential Game 7 at Washington if they are to have a chance to win a third Cup in a row.
Even with that cushion, the Capitals are taking a conservative approach.
“I can tell you how I feel if there’s four wins,” goaltender Braden Holtby said. “Where it’s at right now doesn’t matter at all. All that matters is the next game. That’s got to be our mindset if we want to have success and take a mature approach to it.”
Pittsburgh can draw on those four elimination games it won in its recent Cup runs for experience. One of those games was a 2-0 victory in Game 7 against Washington last year Jaire Alexander Jersey Elite , also in the second round.
“We’ve done it before,” Penguins defenseman Brian Dumoulin said. “We know we’ve got it in this group. We’re going back home. We’ve been good at home all year. We win one game there, come back (to Washington) and play a Game 7. That’s nothing new to us, nothing we’re afraid of. We’ve just got to bring our best effort again in Game 6.”
Sullivan said the Penguins have another intangible.
“It comes down to character and the people we have in our dressing room,” he said.
Washington’s win in Game 5 might have had a couple of caveats, possible injuries to defenseman John Carlson and center Nicklas Backstrom, although coach Barry Trotz said both were expected to travel to Pittsburgh and should be available.
The Capitals already are without wingers Andre Burakovsky (injury) and Tom Wilson (suspension). Wilson would be eligible to return for a Game 7.
Pittsburgh came away from its loss Saturday — in which Washington scored two empty-net goals — feeling pretty good about everything but the final score.
“I liked our effort Devin Hester Bears Jersey ,” winger Patric Hornqvist said. “I liked our attitude and all that. We just have to clean up our mistakes, and we’ll be fine.”
That is a popular belief among the Penguins.
“Everybody understands the situation,” Pittsburgh captain Sidney Crosby said. “It brings out everyone’s best. You don’t have anything to save it for, so you go out there with one focus, and that’s win a hockey game and get to a Game 7. That’s our mindset here.
“We have a lot of good things to build off. We just need to make sure we keep going, keep playing the same way.”
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