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I think he was having a hard time command-wise
OKLAHOMA CITY - Thunder general manager Sam Presti is aware of coach Scott Brooks critics. Dallas Goedert Jersey . An NBA Finals appearance in 2012 fueled expectations, so when San Antonio beat the Thunder in Oklahoma City this season to close out the Western Conference finals, it didnt go over well with some locals in this era of winning coaches getting fired. Naysayers also believe Brooks offensive strategy gives point guard Russell Westbrook too much freedom at the expense of MVP Kevin Durant. Presti did his best to squelch the talk on Thursday. After all, he said, the Thunder finished with the second-best record in the NBA this season, despite numerous injuries to key players. "Scotty, I think, did an excellent job," Presti said. "I understand, we all have a tendency to look at the last game and the last series. I respect it. Thats part of sports. I cant do that." Brooks took over for P.J. Carlesimo during the 2008-09 season and led the team to a 22-47 record. The team has won at least 61 per cent of its games each season since. Brooks has a 293-170 record with the Thunder. "Hes stacking successful seasons on top of each other, increasing our odds to take a really unique amount of time that weve been successful and extend it to a very, very unique amount of time," Presti said. Durant said this week that he feels Brooks is the man to keep things moving. "Thats our guy," Durant said. "Im riding with him." Brooks has praised Westbrook while often publicly pointing out his three-time All-Stars need to find a balance between shooting and passing when he attacks. Westbrook also spoke highly of Brooks this week. "Hes done a great job of having confidence in me personally," Westbrook said. "Theres times when things have gone south and hes the only one that always — regardless of what happened — always had my back. Regardless if people were saying I was doing this or doing that, I was being selfish, he always was the first person to step up and have my back and support me regardless of whats going on." Brooks will have plenty to work with. Durant is signed through 2015-16, and Westbrook and defensive ace Serge Ibaka are signed through 2016-17. Backup centre Steven Adams figures to be a prominent part of the future. The 20-year-old from New Zealand improved dramatically late in the regular season while Kendrick Perkins was out with an injury, then continued to get better in the playoffs. Presti sees Adams talent, but says he has work ahead. Perkins is still a solid defender, but his offensive limitations allow defences to pay more attention to Durant and Westbrook. When Presti was asked about the amnesty clause, which allows a team to waive one player without his salary counting against the cap or luxury tax, he hesitated before offering perspective. He said though Adams was solid against the Los Angeles Clippers and San Antonio, Perkins played a key role in the grueling seven-game series against Memphis. Presti said he wouldnt consider waiving or trading Perkins unless it could help the team strategically long term. Shooting guard Thabo Sefolosha is an unrestricted free agent who lost his starting job during the playoffs. Caron Butler, a mid-season pickup, is an unrestricted free agent. He had his moments, but was out of the rotation by the end of the playoffs. The team has the option to keep Hasheem Thabeet, a 7-foot-3 backup centre. Thabeet played little, even while Perkins was injured. Presti was non-committal in each case. Presti seemed uncertain what unrestricted free agent Derek Fisher will do, but said he will be successful whatever he decides. The 39-year-old guard has been connected to the New York Knicks head coaching job. "We have absolutely no reason to expect Derek to keep us informed of his plans," Presti said. "The only thing we have a right to do is to support him because hes left an impact here in a positive way." __ Follow Cliff Brunt on Twitter: www.twitter.com/CliffBruntAPMichael Bennett Jersey . Jamies number grades given are out of five, with five being the best mark. Steve Mason, Philadelphia (4) - Mason was brilliant all night long with save after big save on Benoit Pouliot, Carl Hagelin and Derick Brassard. Josh Sweat Jersey .com) - Australian Open champion Li Na, former Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova and former world No.(SportsNetwork.com) - No team was hotter than the Cleveland Indians down the stretch. The Tribe shoots for an 11th straight win on Wednesday when they welcome the Tampa Bay Rays to Progressive Field for the American League wild card game. Cleveland won its final 10 regular-season games to earn the No. 1 wild card position. The Indians also became the sixth team in major league history to finish a season on a winning streak of 10 or more games. Prior to the Indians, the last team to do it was the 1971 Orioles. Cleveland also went a major-league-best 21-6 in September. It was the first time Cleveland won 20 games in a month since doing so twice in 1995, a year in which the Indians reached the World Series. "This is what you play for," Indians pitcher Justin Masterson said on Sunday. "You play to win a World Series, but youve got to get there first, get to the playoffs. So you play to get to the playoffs, and here we are with that opportunity. Its just been incredible. The ups and downs of this organization the last few years, we couldnt ask for anything better." Hosting the game may also be a benefit for the Indians, who were 51-30 in front of their fans this season. However, Cleveland was an absurd 36-52 against teams with .500-or-better records this season. "Its been a long time since Clevelands had something like this," Indians first baseman Nick Swisher said after Cleveland clinched the wild card spot on Sunday. "I hope the fans are as excited as we are." The 92 wins for the Tribe were quite a contrast from a year ago when they lost 94 games. General manager Chris Antonetti made a bevy of offseason moves, but none may have been bigger than landing manager Terry Francona, whose leadership and calm presence has helped the Indians back to the postseason for the first time in six years. "I have no doubt," Antonetti said, "that we would not be in the position we are without Titos leadership." As big of an impact as Francona has had on Cleveland, it was the teams starting pitching staff that carried them to the finish line. Clevelands 3.16 ERA since the All-Star break was the second best in the American League and the fourth best in the majors. During the 10-game winning streak, Indians pitchers held the opposition to two runs or less seven times. One of those starters, right-handed rookie Danny Salazar, gets the call for the Indians on Wednesday. "This is awesome," said Salazar, who has never faced the Rays. "The team has trust in me. Im just going to do my best there." Salazar has been brilliant since joining the rotation in July, boasting a 3.12 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 65/15 K/BB ratio over 52 innings. He pitched to a 2.53 ERA in five September starts and recorded 33 strikeouts over 25 innings in that span. "Hes not a finished product," Francona said. "The finished product is going to be special, but hes comfortable on the mound. We wouldnt do it if we werent comfortable." If theres one drawback to Salazar its the fact that the 23-year-old has pitched more than six innings in only one of his 10 starts. So, Franconas bullpen will have to be ready and its a unit without a leader at the moment, as the Indians will likely employ a closer-by-committee arrangement after Chris Perez was demoted from the closers role following an awful final month that saw him pitch to a 9.64 ERA. "Im here to help the team," Perez said. Markus Wheaton Jersey. "I went into (Franconas) office the other night and said, Im not going to cost this team a playoff spot. You need to make a change right now. Youve got four or five guys who are throwing the (heck) out of the ball. I dont have an ego. Make the change. And he did." One player who could emerge as a huge factor in the bullpen is Masterson, who missed most of September with a strained oblique, but threw three scoreless innings of relief upon returning. Tampa, meanwhile, needed an extra game to get into this position, as it defeated Texas, 5-2, on Monday in a tiebreaker game to secure the second wild card spot. "Get your 92nd win, you go to Cleveland against a really good ballclub," Rays manager Joe Maddon said after his teams win on Monday. "Theyre rested. I like the notion that weve pretty much been playing this (elimination-type) game for about a week now." David Price went the distance for the fourth time this year and Evan Longoria belted a deciding two-run homer to pace the Rays, who are back in the postseason for the fourth time in the past six years. "Its a whirlwind, like it always is," said Longoria, who was on base in four of his five at-bats. "We went through so much in the last three days, the ups and downs and the emotions, that it kind of feels like the whole season. Weve had a lot of disappointment here, and to be able to celebrate here, its pretty fitting." Longoria could be getting hot at the right time for the Rays, as he is 11- for-19 (.579) with seven homers, 11 RBI and nine runs scored over his last five games. Price (10-8), who came in sporting an ugly 10.26 ERA in four career starts in Arlington, made sure the Rays moved on by limiting the Rangers to two runs on seven hits. The ace struck out four, walked one and retired 11 of the last 12 batters he faced to finish off his gem. "My last time against these guys, I beat them as well, so that kind of gets lost in it, just getting that first game out of the way," said Price. "Getting that first win against a team youve never beat, thats huge. Last time on this mound, I beat those guys. We did it again tonight. Its pretty special." Getting the call for the Rays on Wednesday will be righty Alex Cobb, whose season was almost derailed back in June when he was hit in the face with a line drive. The young hurler returned after missing two months and ended the year 11-3 with a 2.76 ERA. Cobb was unbeaten over the final month, going 3-0 with a 2.57 ERA and tossed seven scoreless innings his last time out against the New York Yankees. "He pitched extremely well once again," Maddon said. "Curveball outstanding, changeup ... I think he was having a hard time command-wise with the changeup early. ... Then he started using his fastball more, which I thought was a great move. But overall, a fantastic performance." Cobb is 2-1 with a 2.70 ERA in his career against Cleveland. This year, he faced the Indians once and beat them, 6-0, with seven shutout innings on April 6. Pitching continues to be the Rays calling card. They threw a team-record 17 shutouts this season, including four in their past 18 games. Their 32 shutouts over the last two years are tied with the Dodgers for most in the majors. They are the first AL team with 15 shutouts in consecutive seasons since the 1989-90 As. Tampa won four of its six matchups with the Indians this season. Cheap Arizona Cardinals Jerseys Cheap Falcons Jerseys Cheap Ravens Jerseys Cheap Bills Jerseys Cheap Panthers Jerseys Cheap Bears Jerseys Cheap Bengals Jerseys Cheap Browns Jerseys Cheap Cowboys Jerseys Cheap Broncos Jerseys Cheap Lions Jerseys Cheap Packers Jerseys Cheap Texans Jerseys Cheap Colts Jerseys Cheap Jaguars Jerseys Cheap Chiefs Jerseys ' ' '
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