| 2070 Beiträge - Forenlegende
|
|
|
TORONTO - Kyle Lowry is playing the best basketball of his eight-year career and it couldnt have come at a better time for the Raptors point guard, his team or its general manager. Coming into camp in the best shape of his life, ahead of a contract season for the 27-year-old, Lowry seemed determined to change the league-wide perception of him following a disappointing 2012-13 campaign. In the process he has raised his expected market value while fuelling the Raptors resurgence, dating back to the trade of his best friend, Rudy Gay. "Hes playing at the highest level I have seen," Dwane Casey said after Lowrys season-high 32 points led Toronto past the Knicks, 115-110 Saturday, sweeping a weekend home-and-home set with New York. "He is playing with such force and such confidence. "Thats him, man," said DeMar DeRozan, who added 20 points in the victory. "He could do that every night if he really wanted to, scoring-wise. We feed off him, thats our point guard, we look to him in late-game situations and he always comes through." DeRozan was effusive in his praise of his teammate. "I think this is the best Ive seen him play, ever since he was in Houston and had that tremendous year,” DeRozan continued. “We need that from him and hes been bringing it every night and thats why weve been winning." Lowry flirted with a triple-double against the undermanned Knicks, matching his season-high of 11 assists to go along with eight boards. In his second year with the Raptors, Lowry has recorded at least six dimes in 20 consecutive games, including the last 10 without his good friend Gay. Since Gay was traded earlier in the month, the Raptors have won seven of 10 games, exceeding 20 assists in eight of them. Despite the distractions that accompanied that trade and the subsequent rumours surrounding his future with the team, Lowry has been a pro. "With all the trade rumours and all the bull thats going around, hes been positive and upbeat and a leader from that standpoint," credited Casey. "He could have gone in a shell and kind of isolated himself from everybody else but hes dived in and been positive about it, so Im happy for him and proud of him for handling himself that way." For Lowry, it seems like a no-brainer. Hes auditioning for potential suitors - should general manager Masai Ujiri find an offer that catches his eye - hes playing for a new contract in the offseason and, most importantly, hes too competitive, too prideful to sulk. "What do you want me to do?" he asked rhetorically. "Its my job, its a business. Be mad? It is what it is to me. Im really not worried about it." After a fourth-quarter comeback sealed a victory in New York on Friday, the Raptors carried their momentum over in front of a sold-out Air Canada Centre crowd 24 hours later. They took an early lead and never relinquished it, despite a late push from the visitors, playing without Carmelo Anthony - the leagues second-leading scorer - for the second straight night. As the Knicks made their final run, to no avail, frustrated big man Tyson Chandler got tangled up with Raptors centre Jonas Valanciunas. It was Lowry who stepped in to defend his young teammate and prevent any altercation. "Im not a vocal leader, Im more of an action leader," said Lowry, who has scored 20 or more in four of the last five games. "Weve got a bunch of guys in this locker room who are soldiers and troupers and theyre going to follow whoevers leading them on the court." With a pair of wins over the Knicks, the Raptors extended their lead in the Atlantic Division to a full game over Boston, four over Brooklyn and five ahead of New York and Philadelphia. Taking advantage of a weak conference and an injury-plagued division, the Raptors are moving the ball, playing hard on defence and carrying themselves with more confidence than they have in the three-year Casey era. One of the biggest beneficiaries has been sophomore guard Terrence Ross. Ross made a career-best seven three point shots on 11 attempts, scoring 23 points in just under 32 minutes on Saturday. "T-Ross is firing that ball and nobody is even second guessing him when he fires it," Lowry said of his teammate. "Tonight, he was 7-of-11 and, if he went 1-for-11, we would still tell him to shoot the ball. I think he knows that we all have confidence in him and thats playing a big part in the way hes playing." "Hes just playing confident," DeRozan added. "I tell him, ‘Dont go out there second guessing yourself. You have the ability to do anything on that court, you jump higher than everybody on that court, youre a great shooter, you could do so much just use it and dont worry about messing up so much. Thats what hes doing." The Raptors will rest up on Sunday before traveling to Chicago for a meeting with the Bulls on New Years Eve. Nike Roshe Run Hyperfuse . Its an influence in football and a big part of the game. Nike Air Max 90 Nere Uomo . 8 Iowa State on Saturday, sending the Cyclones to their third consecutive loss. The Longhorns (14-4, 3-2) got their biggest win of the season with their third in the row in the Big 12. http://www.airmax90scontate.it/nike-air-max-90-pre...tapes.h tml . Its 1987 and a Brazilian playmaker, known as Mirandinha, is being paraded around St James Park to the passionate Newcastle fans. Nike Air Max 90 No Sew donne . Uniteds eighth defeat of a wretched campaign means Liverpool, which currently occupies the fourth and final Champions League place, could go nine points clear of its fierce rival by beating West Bromwich Albion on Sunday. Charlie Adam scored both of Stokes goals at Britannia Stadium either side of Robin van Persies equalizer, with a miserable day for seventh-place United capped by first-half injuries to centre halves Jonny Evans and Phil Jones that forced them off. Nike Air Max 90 Rosse . After a replay, the winner will meet Sunderland in the quarterfinals. Sagbo did well to control Sone Alukos right cross and fire past Brighton goalkeeper Peter Brezovan. Aluko was making his first start in four months after recovering from an Achilles injury.So the Buffalo Bills lost to the Atlanta Falcons by three in the Rogers Centre and the talk continues about the NFL coming to Canada, specifically Toronto. I can see both sides of optimism and possibility as well as pessimism and an unknown. There is no doubt that as a city and country, Toronto and Canada have a superiority by comparison to many American NFL cities in terms of population and marketing business opportunities. By comparison, Green Bay, Buffalo, Indianapolis and Jacksonville are small cities and the truth is, if the NFL can make it in those markets, they can make it happen in Toronto. Because it is high profile and new, the ability to sell out the stadium in the first few years would not be a problem. Im sure many that know little about football would purchase tickets just to be there. It really would be something and the revenue generated for eight home games would be significant and competitive to many established NFL teams. But will it be a success that lasts for years and decades? The presentation of football has changed dramatically over the years because of TV, points spreads, fantasy, red zone channel, pre-game shows and on and on and on. In many of the games, the stands are far from sold out. Even the Monday night game between the Giants and Redskins had many prime seats available. The Rogers Centre holds about 54,000 for football so it would be the smallest stadium in the NFL. A new stadium would cost billions to be competitive with other physical structures. But I do think it is going to happen. First would be London , second would be Los Angeles and third would be Toronto. I can only guess at a timeframe as it would take an identifiable owner of aggressive attitude to push it through. I do hope if and when it happens that the league relocates as opposed to expands. 32 teams is enough. Playoff Watch The NFC East is down to Dallas and Philadelphia. The Cowboys are 4-0 in the division and now have 11 days between games with the next one in Chicago on Monday night. With the Eagles, you cant express enough praise toward Nick Foles and his ability as a quarterback. He has 19 touchdowns and no interceptions this season, one away from equaling Peyton Manning last year (20-0). He is willing to take sacks and not take risks at just the right moment and has an understanding of all aspects of football that now puts him in the conversation with all the young quarterbacks with bright futures. But he has only started six games this year. As always with the NFC East, the teams you play and how they are playing is critical. The Cowboys remaining schedule includes road games at Chicago and Washington as well as home games against Green Bay and Philadelphia. The key game outside of the last one is the Packers if Aaron Rodgers is playing and Green Bay still has playoff hopes. If both answers are yes, that changes everything in that game. The Eagles have homes games against Detroit and Chicago along with road games at Minnesota and Dallas. Both schedules are about the same in evaluation of competitive reality so I would not be surprised if everything comes down to December 29 in Dallas. Pivotal Question I was asked the question the other day if the Jets should draft a quarterback with their first pick, which could be a good player. In the upcoming draft there may be as many as five quarterbacks that could be quick, efficient starters. Geno Smith has had a tough year. Mark Sanchez has had a tough year for different reasons. For Geno it is an inability to protect the ball consisteently and for Sanchez, it is an a heath issue.dddddddddddd I am not sure which one is going to rise to the starters position next year but if you already have two quarterbacks, do you really want a third? I do think with Smith, it is burn-out. When you think about it, it has been a year and a half since he has received a break from football. From the end of his collage season to the All-Star bowl games to the combine to the individual work-outs to the draft to the organized team activities to mini-camp to training camp and now Week 14, you can understand why he has regressed. It does not effect some players like Russell Wilson and some it does. I think Smith needs to take a vacation in February and come back in March and start all over again. So to answer the question, dont draft a quarterback, draft the best receiver you can when you time comes. Winning Ways The New England Pariots have now had 13 winning seasons in a row, which is pretty impressive, not only this year but overtime. Building a football team is one skill, building a good winning football program is a different skill. A team is that year and no other. Every team is different than the last one and a team has a one-year lifespan. A program is a set of circumstances over extended time. No doubt the biggest mistake in the Patriot "program" was the evaluation of Hernandez and its repercussions but the Patriots have recovered and now that block of time is a memory more than a point of adversity. But 13 winning seasons cant be rationalized, the best football "program " is just outside of Boston with the Patriots. Time To Sit In Washington, is there anyone out there who wants to see Kirk Cousins start a game or two instead of RG3? Robert Griffin is coming of his best game of the season but still takes too many shots. He has two knee injuries to the same knee and a third would be pretty much career-ending. I doubt it will happen but I would sit Robert Griffin and play Kirk Cousins for the last three games. It would make for extreme competition at quarterback in 2014 and give Griffin a true block of time to heal and take the knee brace off come summer football. Its a tough decision but sometimes the most logical ones are. Best of the Best And finally, the Seattle Seahawks play in San Francisco this week and I would not be surprised if the 49ers won. But, I was unable to evaluate that 34-7 win in one way. Seattle is very athletic up front across the offensive line. Having Russell 0kung and Max Unger and Breno Giacomini back at left tackle, centre and right tackle respectively was a difference-making trio of success. Their remaining schedule includes road games at San Francisco and the Giants as well as home games against Arizona and St. Louis and hopefully an NFC Championship. At 15-1, it would be well-earned. In the AFC, I look at the way Denver and New England responded and I say Denver is a better team. Both teams were coming off a very tough game against each other and both had to travel the next week (New England to Houston - Denver to Kansas City). The Patriots struggled to beat Houston and the Broncos looked good beating the Chiefs. Finally, football is a complex game and sometimes complicated while other times, its very easy. When we were watching Peyton Manning, it was easy to see his line of scrimmage read. There is Eric Decker out to his right lined up against a rookie cornerback. Just throw the ball to Decker. Sometimes football is complicated, sometimes its simple. Cheap China Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China China NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '
|
