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RIP Bill Davidson

Discussion in 'Sports and News' started by Hank_Scorpio, Mar 14, 2009.

  1. Hank_Scorpio

    Hank_Scorpio Active Member

  2. mustangj17

    mustangj17 Active Member

    Awesome owner. Also owned the Tampa Lightning for a while.
     
  3. Dan Hickling

    Dan Hickling Member

    His teams won both the Stanley Cup and the NBA Championship in the same season (same month maybe)
     
  4. Eight days apart. Lightning beat the Flames in Game Seven of the Cup Finals June 7, 2004. June 15, 2004, the Pistons finished off the Lakers in Game Five of the NBA Finals.

    RIP, Mr. D.
     
  5. KJIM

    KJIM Well-Known Member

    Believe the Shock won the WNBA title that year, too.

    Mrs. Hockey and Mr. D in a week. Sad for metro Detroit and the entire sports world.
     
  6. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    Built The Palace of Auburn Hills with his own money, not taxpayers', and made a mint.

    When he bought the Pistons, they were the equivalent of the Memphis Grizzlies -- had never won a division title, only made the playoffs a handful of times in their history -- finishing .500 was a major miracle. They've been in solid contention for about 20 of the 30 years since. They've had a few dud stretches and appear to be entering another one, but overall he's got to know what he's doing.
     
  7. Football_Bat

    Football_Bat Well-Known Member

    His smartest move of all was hiring Joe Dumars.
     
  8. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    That's kinda looking like a wash these days as the current incarnation of the roster falls apart. Supposedly they're all lined up to make a major splash on the free agent market in the summer of 2010, but so are half the other teams in the league.
     
  9. Batman

    Batman Well-Known Member

    And getting Darko with the No. 2 pick in the 2003 draft is like being promised a million dollars if you can just hit the dartboard, and then you chunk it into the wall.
     
  10. Starman

    Starman Well-Known Member

    To be fair to Dumars, virtually every scout rated Darko as an el-primo prospect. Maybe not the No. 2 pick, but certainly a high lottery choice.

    His big mistake, in the wake of that, was allowing Larry Brown to bury him down on the end of the bench, and never, ever playing him. Not that he would have developed into an all-star, but he might have become a passable player.
     
  11. slappy4428

    slappy4428 Active Member

    Jack McCloskey and Chuck Daly might beg to differ
     
  12. mustangj17

    mustangj17 Active Member

    You forgot that Chuck Daly announced he had pancreatic cancer, and the week before former Lion Corey Smith was lost at see. Sad week or two for Detroit sports.

    In a roundabout way the Darko pick may not be that bad. They won a title the next year, eventually traded him for a pick that was used on Stuckey.

    Dud stretches... a 30-52 season here or there but nothing bad like the Lions or Tigers went through. Bad stretches in the 90s were a few years getting the 8th seed in the East.
     
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