Kritik und Lob » Even though its a different format in

MILWAUKEE -- After dropping back-to-back games against opponents that had yet to win a game this season, the Milwaukee Bucks will look to get back on track Saturday night when they host the Memphis Grizzlies at the Bradley Center.To do that, Milwaukee will need another strong night from forward Jabari Parker, who has averaged 23.2 points on 46.3 percent shooting over his last five games and is coming off a season-high 33-point effort in the Bucks 112-106 loss to the Pelicans on Thursday night.Jabari was great, Bucks head coach Jason Kidd said after the loss to New Orleans. He came out and played. He kept us in the game on the offensive end. At the end, we kind of made a game of it. You have to be perfect coming down the stretch, and we just werent.Parker also made three 3-pointers in that contest but the Bucks, as a team, are still looking to bolster their 3-point attack, especially late in games.Improving that aspect of the offense was a key focus over the summer for general manager John Hammond, who added Matthew Dellavedova, Mirza Teletovic and Tony Snell to the roster before the season began. But Milwaukee lost its go-to long-range shooter in training camp when Khris Middleton was lost for most of the season with a knee injury.It is going to be a group effort, Kidd said. Its not just we can lean on Khris. We can look at Jabari in that group to be able to get a three, and not just be able to get a three but to make a three.The Grizzles come to Milwaukee looking to string together consecutive victories for the first time this season. A Marc Gasol buzzer-beater allowed Memphis to narrowly escape with a 108-107 victory over Denver on Tuesday night that the Nuggets ultimately protested because they believed -- and the NBAs two-minute review confirmed -- that the ball went out of bounds on the previous play.Andrew Harrison scored 10 points with six assists and four steals in that contest as he battles fellow rookie Wade Baldwin for Memphis backup point guard role behind veteran Mike Conley.Head coach David Fizdale handed the assignment to Baldwin for the teams first six games and he responded well, averaging 4.3 points and 3.5 assists in 21 minutes per game. But Baldwin has sat out the last two games, looking on from the bench as Harrison gets his shot.Its a good competition, Baldwin told the Memphis Commercial Appeal. Coach has been even with it. Well see how it goes.I want it. Its a team environment but at the end of the day hes going to put on the floor who he feels most confident with, Baldwin added. When Im out there Ive got to be productive. The last game I played I had four turnovers in however many minutes I played. Thats unacceptable. I look at that, among other things, as why Im not in games.Fizdale said both players will see plenty of action as the season goes on and will, at some point, share the court together.Were feeling our way through, Fizdale told the newspaper. Andrew did a heck of a job last game. He was a big reason why we won. He stepped up and helped us on both ends of the floor. They both understand that they are always on deck. No one is out of the rotation. I might play them together. Theres never a time when you can get down and feel sorry for yourself. I have confidence in both of them.The two teams split the season series a year ago, with each winning on its own home court. The Grizzlies have lost two straight at the Bradley Center.Ryan McDonagh Lightning Jersey . -- About a third of the way through the regular season, the Washington Wizards are at . Martin St. Louis Lightning Jersey . -- Nathan Pancel scored twice as the Sudbury Wolves defeated the North Bay Battalion 4-2 on Saturday in Ontario Hockey League action. http://www.lightninghockeystore.us/Ondrej-Palat-Jersey/ .R. Smith realized how easily basketball can be taken from him, and he wasnt going to take his place in the NBA for granted anymore. Tyler Johnson Lightning Jersey . The veteran safety was a starter for the Bengals from 2008-2012. He totaled 41 tackles and three interceptions while starting all but four of the 13 games he played last season. Andrei Vasilevskiy Jersey . The Hall of Fame defenceman told Landsberg that he believes fighting still has a place in todays game, but thinks staged fighting needs be outlawed.After initial hesitation about playing in a day-night Test, South Africa are now anxious to begin preparations for their first fixture with the pink ball that will take place in Adelaide at the end of November. Although the match is the last in the three-Test tour, it is foremost on South Africas mind because their first practice match in Australia which starts on Saturday, will be played under lights and stand-in captain Faf du Plessis is excited about taking on the unknown.I havent faced or thrown the pink ball around so its all pretty new to me. It will be nice to see how it plays, du Plessis said. I know some of the guys have pink balls in their kit, especially the bowlers. Weve asked around a little bit and read the stuff other teams have been saying about the pink ball. Ive got no expectations of it. Im going in without any experience of it at all.With a ball that is expected to swing and conditions that should favour seamers, South Africa will likely go into the match without their most experienced batsman and will also need to prepare for that. AB de Villiers was ruled out of the tour after undergoing elbow surgery and even though he is holding out slim hope of being able to recover in time to play that game, du Plessis played down suggestions that de Villiers will rejoin them for the match.I dont think so. Hes just had an operation. Were not expecting it, du Plessis said. If it happens, great. If it doesnt, weve got some guys who are capable of putting in good performances.He wants to play. Its pink-ball Test cricket, and most of us in the team are not young pups anymore. ABs a very competitive guy and he wants to put himself out there against the best in the world. So Im assuming hell be in South Africa trying to get ready. But after a big operation like that and from the doctors reports that Ive read it doesnt seem likely that he will be fit.Instead, du Plessis will lead South Africa in the two matches before the day-night Test and probably also in Adelaide, where he can call on some happy memories as inspiration. On South Africas 2012 tour too Australia, du Plessis debuted at the Adelaide Oval and scored a stubborn century to save the game and keep the door open for an eventual 1-0 series win after a victory in the final Test at Perth where du Plessis top-scored in South Africas first innings with an unbeaten 78.dddddddddddd He has since played 29 more Tests after that debut series and scored four more hundreds but still the first hundred remains the most special to him.I walked into the hotel and I had a massive smile on my face because I had such great memories, remembering that night after we saved the Test match, fantastic memories. That was the highlight of my career to date, he said. There was obviously the emotion of what went through that match but not just that. I remember drawing this match and moving on to the last one, where things completely changed for us as a team. Australia were dominant for the first two Tests and then moving into that last we finally had an opportunity to be on top.South Africa consider themselves in a confident position again because they have just come off a 5-0 victory over Australia in ODIs at home. Even though its a different format in a different place, their self-belief is soaring.We had an exceptional series. A lots been said about the Australian team but I felt we played consistently good cricket, and we take a lot of confidence from that, du Plessis said. We by no means think well rock up here in Australia and itll be easy. It never is. Australia in Australia is as hard as the Indian team in India. Theyre an extremely competitive team and well have to play good cricket to compete with them but the performances we had in South Africa does bring us here a little bit more confident.South Africa will play two two-day warm-up matches ahead of the first Test in Perth with the first of those beginning on October 22 in Adelaide. They will have another practice game between the second and third Tests, under lights, in Melbourne. ' ' '