subject: The Detroit Pistons Tickets : The Pistons Has Won Five Championships Recently [print this page] The Detroit Pistons is a team in the National Basketball Association based in Auburn Hills, Michigan, a suburb of Detroit. The team's home arena is The Palace of Auburn Hills.
The team was originally founded in Fort Wayne, Indiana as the Fort Wayne (Zollner) Pistons as a member of the National Basketball League in 1941. The club joined the NBA in 1948 and moved to Detroit in 1957. The club has won five championships, most recently in 2004.
The franchise was founded as the Fort Wayne Zollner Pistons, a National Basketball League (NBL) team, playing in the gym of North Side High School in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Owner Fred Zollner's Zollner Corporation was a foundry, manufacturing pistons, primarily for car, truck and locomotive engines. In 1948, the team became the Fort Wayne Pistons, competing in the Basketball Association of America (BAA).
In 1949, Fred Zollner brokered the formation of the National Basketball Association from the BAA and the NBL at his kitchen table.Pistons players are believed to have conspired with gamblers to shave points and throw various games during the 1953/54 and 1954/55 seasons. In particular, they are believed to have thrown the 1955 NBA Finals to the Syracuse Nationals.
In the decisive Game 7, the Pistons led Syracuse 41.24 early in the second quarter, then allowed the Nationals to rally to win the game.Syracuse won on a free throw by George King with twelve seconds left in the game. The closing moments included a palming turnover by the Pistons' George Yardley with 18 seconds left, a foul by Frankie Brian with 12 seconds left that enabled King's winning free throw, and a turnover by the Pistons' Andy Phillip with three seconds left which cost Fort Wayne a chance to attempt the game-winning shot.
Though the Pistons enjoyed a solid local following, their city's small size made it difficult for them to be profitable. In 1957, Zollner moved the team to Detroit, a much larger city which had not seen professional basketball in a decade. In 1947, they had lost the Detroit Gems of the NBL, who moved to become the Minneapolis Lakers (now the Los Angeles Lakers), and the Detroit Falcons of the BAA, which folded.
Due to Detroit's economy being extremely reliant on the manufacturing of cars, they decided to keep the Pistons name. The new Detroit Pistons played in Olympia Stadium (home of the NHL's Detroit Red Wings at the time) for their first four seasons, then moved to Cobo Arena. The franchise was a consistent disappointment, struggling both on the court and at the box office.
In the 2009 NBA Draft, the Pistons selected Austin Daye of Gonzaga University with the 15th pick. The Pistons also took DaJuan Summers and Jonas Jerebko in the second round.
On June 30, 2009, Joe Dumars fired Michael Curry as the head coach after only one season. Avery Johnson, a former head coach for the Dallas Mavericks, and Doug Collins, a former head coach for the Bulls, Pistons, and Wizards, were both considered candidates. On July 1, 2009, the Pistons reached an agreement with the former Bulls guard Ben Gordon on a 5 year/$55 million contract, as well as an agreement with former Bucks forward Charlie Villanueva on a 5 year contract worth $35 million. That same month, Pistons lost one of their key starters, Rasheed Wallace, to free agency. Wallace signed a two year, $5.58 million contract with the Boston Celtics.
Following the departure of Wallace, former Antonio McDyess signed a one-year contract with the San Antonio Spurs for the mid-level exception. On July 8, 2009 Dumars hired former Cavaliers assistant coach John Kuester to be the Pistons new head coach.
The next front court move was the signing of former New York Knicks power forward Chris Wilcox to a multi-year contract, hoping he can regain his form as displayed with his Seattle tenure. Per team policy, terms of the contracts were not disclosed.In the offseason, the Pistons added two veterans to the roster, both former Pistons players. Center Ben Wallace to a one year $1.3 million contract and a point guard Chucky Atkins to a non guaranteed contract.
Despite these changes, the Pistons regressed even further, hampered by injuries to key players including Hamilton, Prince and Gordon. On March 23, 2010, the Pistons were eliminated from playoff contention with a loss to the Indiana Pacers, assuring their first Draft Lottery appearance and their first 50-loss season since 2001. The Pistons finished with a 27-55 record, and were last in the Central Division. It was their worst record since 1994.
In the 2010 NBA Draft, the Pistons selected Greg Monroe of Georgetown University with the 7th pick. The Pistons also took Terrico White of the University of Mississippi in the second round.
Chris Wilcox exercised his player option, from the 2-year contract he signed in 2009, so he could stay with the Pistons.
