Meet the Pistons A winning basketball team runs like a smooth powerful eerrffuull engine That’s a great way to describe the Detroit it Pistons when they are at their best In fact the team is named after an engine part A piston helps transfer energy from the motor to the wheels of a car The Pistons are fun to watch but no fun to play They look for big physical players who combine their skills to attack an opponent’s weakest areas The Pistons play with great toughness and intelligence However teamwork is valued more highly than anything else in Detroit This book tells the story of the Pistons Detroit is a city that has seen its share of ups and downs So have the Pistons s Yet like the city the team never gives up never gives in and and always builds for a brighter future Brandon Jennings and Andre Drummond celebrate a win during the 2013 14 season The Pistons are at their best when their stars work together and share the basketball 5
ld f i fh Glory Days The Pistons are one of the oldest teams in professional l h basketball They started as a factory team for the Zollner Machine Works in the 1930s The company was located in Fort Wayne Indiana and made pistons for the automobile industry Company owner Fred Zollner liked to hire basketball players after they graduated from college They would work in the factory during the day and then play for the company team a couple of nights a week Pro basketball did not pay much money during this time the best players could make more money working day jobs By 1941 Fort Wayne was good enough to be invited to join the National Basketball League NBL Zollner recruited Paul Birch and Bobby McDermott to lead the team on the floor The pair didn’t know much about pistons 6
but they knew how to win And win they did The Pistons lost just 32 league games in their first six seasons They won the NBL title in 1943 44 and 1944 45 The team’s success and the high salaries paid by Zollner attracted top talent to Fort Wayne The stars of the championship clubs included forward Buddy Jeannette and centers Jake Pelkington and Ed Sadowski In 1947 the Pistons joined the Basketball Association of America BAA The BAA later joined forces with the NBL to form the National Basketball Association NBA During the 1950s the Pistons were one of the NBA’s most exciting teams They reached the NBA Finals twice in the decade but fell short of a championship both times The Pistons top player was George Yardley a high scoring forward with great leaping ability They also had stars such as Larry Foust Frank Brian Mel Hutchins Bob Houbregs Andy Phillip and Gene Shue LEFT This program is from a time when the Pistons were better known as the Zollners ABOVE As this booklet shows George Yardley knew a lot about putting the ball in the basket 7
