Sochi to claim gold for Canada. | Forum
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Aug 1 '19
MIAMI -- Pat Riley walked into the room to begin his end-of-season availability annoyed, and armed with history. Tom Brady Womens Jersey . There have been franchises that have enjoyed prolonged runs of greatness during his 45 years as a player, coach and executive in the NBA -- the Lakers, Celtics, Bulls, Spurs and his Miami Heat among them -- and Thursday Riley pointed out each shares a trait. They all lost sometime. "I think everybody," the Heat president said moments after smacking the table to begin the news conference, "needs to get a grip." With that, Riley was off and running on a message-sending session that lasted nearly an hour. No players were there, but they surely heard his themes: He saw his teams mental fatigue during the year, but doesnt accept it; he isnt willing to let Miami fall from the ranks of the NBA elite, and the organization will do what it can to keep LeBron James, Chris Bosh and Dwyane Wade together. "We have a tremendous opportunity here for long-term success," Riley said. "Dont think were not going to get beat again, so just get a grip, everybody. Thats my message. Its my message to the players, also." It was one of his many messages. Riley, who gets a reported $75,000 when hired to deliver motivational speeches, worked in anecdotes on everything from sipping Johnnie Walker Blue to playing James Ingram records to how even at 69 years old he still finds himself dreaming big. He was speaking with reporters, but clearly talking to players through the cameras. "Youve got to stay together, if youve got the guts," Riley said. "You dont find the first door and run out of it if you have an opportunity. This is four years now into this era, this team. Four finals -- its only been done three other times before -- and two championships. From day one to the end, it was like a Broadway show. It sort of ran out of steam. And we need to retool. We dont need to rebuild." How to retool is the question, but the answer isnt up to Riley yet. James, Bosh and Wade all need to decide if theyre going to opt out of their contracts, a choice that was probably going to be complicated even if the Heat hadnt lost the NBA Finals to San Antonio, ending Miamis two-year reign as league champions. From those decisions, Heat free-agents-to-be -- Ray Allen, Mario Chalmers, Chris Andersen and others -- may start charting their futures. Players from other teams will listen as well. Then Riley and the Heat spring into action on July 1, just as they did four years ago when they netted James, Bosh and Wade. Other than Norris Cole, no Heat player currently is locked into a fully guaranteed deal for next season. But Riley doesnt feel the Heat need to recruit current players again. "Were prepared," Riley said. "Weve got the main-themed book all written up and its dependent on whatever the scenario were presented with on July 1. Weve got a lot of room for flexibility. Theres a tremendous amount of flexibility depending on what happens. So were ready." He offered plenty of perspective on Thursday, about how he still feels like he choked away what should have been a title for the Lakers team he coached in 1984, but how they roared back with three titles in the next four seasons. He even referenced how San Antonio got much better this season after seeing a title in 2013 get taken away by Miami in dramatic fashion. "What happened last year with San Antonio? Did they run? They faced it," Riley said. "They faced it and they came back, and we saw the result. Well find out what were made of here. Its not about options. Its not about free agency. Its not about anything. Its about what we have built over four years here." Among Rileys more impassioned defences was the one of Wade, who was widely criticized for both missing 28 games in the regular season -- mainly part of a maintenance program laid out by the team -- and for struggling in Games 4 and 5 of the NBA Finals. "For the last 10 years, this has been a Dwyane Wade-driven thing," Riley said. "Now does he have to reinvent himself a little bit? Absolutely." Riley can only hope that reinvention is in Miami, and that James and Bosh are there as well. "Im an Irish guy who believes in big dreams," Riley said. "Im optimistic. Until thats proven different, I just have a level of optimism that there isnt a better place for players to be than Miami." John Hannah Jersey . Smith, an eighth overall pick, had two goals in only 276 minutes of playing time over 16 appearances last season. The left side midfielder played only 43 minutes in three games this season. Andre Tippett Jersey . The Raptors have been outscored 88-66 in the opening quarter over a three-game span to begin the month of February. Their most recent loss, 109-101 in Sacramento on Wednesday, was eerily similar to Saturdays defeat at the hands of the Trail Blazers.SAINT JOHN, N.B. -- Canadas Rachel Homan opened the Ford Womens World Curling Championship with a 7-5 win over Russia on Saturday. The skip and her teammates know properly managing sleep, diet, stress and downtime for another eight days will keep those wins coming. Homan, third Emma Miskew and front end Alison Kreviazuk and Lisa Weagle have played in enough national and international events to know their off-ice schedule impacts the on-ice performance, particularly in the important games at the end of the tournament. The Canadians will sleep as much as they can and eat at pre-scouted establishments that serve healthy food. When they need to mentally "check out", the Ottawa Curling Club foursome will play cards or "Heads Up", which is a game app popularized by Ellen DeGeneres. In short, winning a world title is a marathon and not a sprint. "We make sure were trying to keep it as loose as possible when were not on the ice because its pretty stressful out there wearing the Maple Leaf," Homan said. "We want to be as stress-free as possible when were not playing." For Homan, that means going to the gym a couple of times during the tournament. Miskew doesnt love napping, but she knows its important to lay down, put her feet up and close her eyes for awhile, particularly on a day when Canada plays morning and evening draws and not in the afternoon. Thats Canadas schedule Sunday when the host team faces the Czech Republic in the morning draw and the United States in the evening. Those days are the toughest when it comes to eating at the right time of the day. "The eating schedule is challenging because you eat in the morning, have a game and youre starving to eat a big lunch," Miskew explains. "Youre not really hungry before your next game, but an end or two in youre starving. You almost have to force yourself to eat before the game so youre not dying during the game." Canada had a kind opening-day schedule in Saint John with one game in the afternoon draw. Homan had hammer coming home with the score tied 5-5. She didnt have to throw her last stone because Russian skip Anna Sidorova was heavy with a draw. Latvias Evita Regza, South Koreas Ji-Sun Kim and Swedens Margaretha Sigfridsson also opened with wins, while Scotlands Kerry Barr, Denmarks Madeleine Dupont and Anna Kubeskova of the Czech Republic joined Russia at 0-1. Canadas average age is 25.5 and the Russians are even younger at 23.5. Sidorova, vice-skip Margarita Fomina and front end Alexandra Saitova and Ekaterina Galkina went 3-6 at the Winter Olympics in Sochi. Sidorova, 25, is making her fifth straight appearance at a world championship and her third as a skip. Rob Gronkowski Patriots Jersey. Russia was scheduled to arrive in Saint John on Thursday, but they were delayed until Friday because of winter storms that wreaked havoc on air travel midweek. The Canada-Russia opener wasnt a classic as both teams made mistakes. But when Canada made a costly error, Russia let them off the hook with one of their own. "I cant say were really tired," Sidorova said. "Were ready to play. We still want to win. "We need to be much better than the others. Thats probably the goal this week and hopefully we will (be). The game was pretty tight, but in the end, they were just better than us." Miskews shooting percentage was 90 per cent compared to Fominas 78. Homan outcurled Sidorova 89 to 66 per cent. Saitova at 78 per cent and Galkina at 91 outcurled Kreviazuk and Weagle both at 71. Kreviazuk missed shots in the fifth and seventh ends, but Russia handed momentum right back with lethal errors. Canada scored two points in those ends to lead 5-3. "Its the first game so youre not going to know the ice perfectly," Homan said. "A couple of spots were learning and a few misses here and there, not because were throwing badly, just because were learning the ice." Russia countered with two in the ninth to tie it up. Homans double takeout that end limited damage from Miskew miscue. Another double from the Canadian skip in the eighth erased Russias chance to score two and forced Sidorova to blank the end. Homan was pleased to start the tournament with a win in front of 2,848 at Harbour Station, which seats 6,000 for curling this week. "It wouldnt have been fun to lose that one with everyone coming out to cheer us on," the 24-year-old Canadian skip said. "Im glad we got the win under our belts. Now weve got the night off to have some dinner with friends and family and re-group for tomorrow." Homan and company won the bronze medal at last years world womens championship in Riga, Latvia. Their reward for a 13-0 record at the Scotties Tournament of Hearts in Montreal was a return trip to the world championship and in their own country this time. The Jennifer Jones team from Winnipeg went undefeated in Sochi to claim gold for Canada. Edmontons Kelsey Rocque won the world junior title earlier this month in Switzerland. Homan wants to continue the domination of Canadian women on the world stage. The last Canadian team to win a womens world curling title was Jones in 2008 in Vernon, B.C. Kelly Scott (2007) and Colleen Jones (2004) earned Canadas other world womens titles in the last decade. ' ' '
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