GLENEAGLES -- The secret is out -- Alex Ferguson will deliver a motivational speech to the Europe team ahead of the Ryder Cup in his native Scotland. Josh Rosen Jersey . Europe captain Paul McGinley had been hoping to keep Fergusons identity under wraps so it would come as a surprise to his players. But the former Manchester United manager was spotted walking the grounds of Gleneagles early Tuesday -- and McGinley could not keep the secret any longer. "When I became captain, for a number of reasons, I asked him," said McGinley, who recalled playing with Ferguson in a pro-am about 15 years ago. "Of course he was willing to help, but the one thing he asked me to do was keep it really quiet. And walking around ... is not keeping it quiet, is it, when hes onsite." Ferguson retired as United manager last year after more than 26 seasons at Old Trafford, during which he won 38 major trophies. Widely regarded as the greatest British football coach, he is also known for his temper and for delivering what became known as the "hairdryer treatment" to his players when he was unhappy at their performances. "This is not about him being a headmaster and coming in and preaching to them," McGinley said. "This is about fun." The news is likely to be welcomed by Rory McIlroy, the world No. 1 and a big United fan. George W. Bush spoke to the American team on the Saturday night during the Ryder Cup at Brookline in 1999 -- the year before he was elected president. During the speech, Bush read William Barret Travis letter from a besieged Alamo with the powerful kicker: "Victory or death." The U.S. team came from 10-6 down at the start of Sundays singles matches to regain the cup that year, winning 14 1/2-13 1/2. Chase Edmonds Cardinals Jersey . Lineup news, Fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES Blake Comeau – The Penguins winger had a hat trick in a 4-3 overtime win against Toronto. Andre Smith Jersey . -- Jonas Hiller is cautiously confident he has kicked his vertigo. http://www.nflcardinalsrookiestore.com/Cardinals-Justin-Pugh-Jersey/ . Kadri was dressed in a green jersey at Thursdays practice and skated as an extra forward on the teams fourth line as the Leafs.TORONTO - When the Raptors rolled into Detroit last month, the Pistons had hit rock bottom, a feeling Dwane Casey and most of his team are familiar with. Raptors fans had come down by the busload, packing the Palace and overpowering the home crowd on a night in which the Pistons would go on to drop their 12th straight in Auburn Hills. James Johnson dazzled Torontos traveling entourage with a vicious dunk on Andre Drummond, topped only by his post-game summation of the jam: I cocked that joint back and banged on him. As a miniture malice broke out following Drummonds cheap shot on Johnson, Josh Smith got into a verbal altercation with a spectator in Raptor colours, his swan song as a Piston. His former club has gone 9-1 since letting him go. They remind me a lot of us from last year after the [Rudy Gay] trade, Casey said ahead of Mondays rematch, a 114-111 loss to Detroit. Theyre clicking on all cylinders both on offence and defence. The Pistons are the NBAs feel-good team of the New Year and no one can quite put their finger on the exact science behind it, although weve seen it before. There are some obvious similarities between these two abrupt turnarounds - last seasons Raptors and this years edition of the Pistons - both of them brought on by the removal of a high-usage player. Addition by subtraction. The basics are relatively straight forward. Without Smith, Stan Van Gundy has had 32 minutes and 14 shots to redistribute nightly, doing so in a way that better suits his desired style of play. Much of Torontos leftover shots, following the Gay trade, went to Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan and Terrence Ross. The Pistons - like Van Gundys old Magic teams - are shooting a ton of threes, theyre playing harder on defence and getting unusually consistent production from Brandon Jennings, Mondays hero. But theres more to it than that, evident in the way the visiting Pistons clawed their way back in the second half after the Raptors had roughed them up during the first 24 minutes. The Pistons resurgence, primarily on the defensive end, is difficult to explain. They entered Mondays contest allowing 95.7 points per 100 possessions since waiving Smith, which would rank at the top of the NBA this season. Casey attributes it to something he would know a thing or two about: chemistry. You see something that kind of jolts your system like that, he said. You waive a player that [has] the status of Josh Smith, it kind of jolts your system. And [Van Gundys] been a good coach. Hes proven that what he does works and now theyre buying in and its clicking. I dont know if theres a magic wand. You cant really put your finger on it but sometimes things like that just come together. They play harder, said Patrick Patterson, after the Pistons outscored Toronto 66-51 in the final two quarters to seal their come from behind victory. A lot more intensity, a lot more ball movement. Everyones more active and sharing. There seems to be a lot more trust out there. Its certainly not unprecedented. Often times after a losing team undergoes any major shakeup youll see an immediate spike in produuction. Arizona Cardinals Jerseys. . For players and coaches that feel they might be next it could serve as a wake-up call, for others its a moment of bonding, a cause to come together and defy the odds. The question always is: can they sustain it? More often than not, they dont. Eventually the adrenaline wears off and ordinary players, playing over their heads, crash back down to earth. Even with their improved defence failing them - Toronto shot 52 per cent, scoring 111 points Monday - the Pistons found a way to grind it out, a quality the Raptors had perfected back in 2014. Shooting just 43 per cent from the field themselves, Detroit grabbed 17 offensive boards, got to the line 31 times (compared to just 14 attempts for Toronto) and scored 22 points off 19 Raptors turnovers. We shot ourselves in the foot, Casey said after the Raptors squandered a 12-point halftime lead and career night from Jonas Valanciunas. If you commit that many turnovers against a good team like that, you shoot yourself in the foot and thats what we did. Thats all on us. Are these Pistons for real? Is this sustainable? Thats the million dollar quandary and something no one, even Van Gundy - the teams engineer - can know for sure. Masai Ujiri and the Raptors had no idea what they had created after shipping Gay off to Sacramento in early December last season. Even as the team started to win, as Lowry broke out and DeRozan became an all-star, it took a leap of fate to keep that group together long enough to prove they could sustain their unexpected success. But, until recently, they have. The Pistons find themselves in a similar situation. Jennings looked like a star on Monday, outplaying Lowry, who had an off night. The former Bucks point guard has been the biggest beneficiary of Smiths departure, scoring 34 points to go along with 10 assists and the game-winning steal against the Raptors. Has he turned a corner under Van Gundy, like Lowry did a year ago, or is this another mirage in what has been an erratic NBA career to this point? He made some tough shots, Casey said of Jennings. We double-teamed him, we put James [Johnson] on him, we put size on him, we went under the pick and rolls, we did a little bit of everything. Youve got to shake his hand, he had a great night. Like the Raptors a year ago, Detroit has an opportunity to take advantage of a weak Eastern Conference. After Mondays win they sit just two games out of the eighth and final playoff spot in the East. Do they continue to rebuild, add to their roster in the hopes of making a postseason run, or take a page out of Ujiris book and let this ride? Continue to win, I think it the most important thing, Casey said. I think the things theyre doing defensively [are] sustainable. Theyre shooting the lights out, I dont know if thats sustainable for anytime, whether its Detroit or whoever it is. Thats something that can come and go. But defensively theyre locked in, theyre tuned, theyre down, theyre talking, theyre a totally different team right now than they were when we played them [in December] defensively. And thats sustainable.