Kritik und Lob » Mahela Jayawardene or Michael Hussey -

The Portland Trail Blazers didnt want to pay Evan Turner and Allen Crabbe a combined $35 million per season on mega-deals that will be hard to trade -- a problem for a suddenly capped-out team that can only jolt the roster by swapping players.They wanted Hassan Whiteside, a sneering rim-runner just a year older than Damian Lillard with the potential to plug every hole in a squishy defense that ranked 21st in points allowed per possession last season.When Whiteside spurned them, the Blazers faced a choice: hoard cap room, pursue a lesser center (Bismack Biyombo, Ian Mahinmi), or go whole hog in a fit of irrational exuberance with a team that barely cracked .500. The first path risked spoiling the good vibes of their plucky 44-win season. To maintain even $15 million in room for July 2017, not nearly enough for one max player, the Blazers would have had to choose between Turner and Crabbe; let both Meyers Leonard and Moe Harkless walk; delay C.J. McCollums extension, cracking the door to funky three-year offer sheets from rivals; and fill the roster in the meantime with one-year contracts.All that for cap room in an isolated market in which undrafted Wes Matthews remains the most significant outside free-agent acquisition of the past decade. Good players on favorable contracts are more valuable to us than cap room, Blazers GM Neil Olshey told ESPN.com. Especially in an era where all 30 teams have cap room -- or the ability to get it. The Blazers dont have as much time to wait as you might think; Lillard and McCollum are 26 and 24, squarely in their primes. With our interest in extending C.J., we werent going to be a cap room team next year, anyway, Olshey said.Crabbe and Turner are not on favorable contracts. Turners deal could end up a disaster, and doing nothing is always a better choice than disaster.?The Blazers will barely duck the luxury tax this season, and if they keep this roster together long-term -- which is unlikely -- they would blow past it by nearly $20 million in 2018 and 2019. (A potential amnesty clause in the next collective bargaining deal looms as a wild-card, though the two sides havent discussed it yet).They have the payroll of a championship contender, and fair or not, that creates expectations Portland is already tuning out. We are probably not going to make the quantum leap the salaries might indicate, said Portland head coach Terry Stotts, owner of a much-deserved big-money extension. As a coach, you take the money out of it. We just want to grow.Young teams grow with watering, and the Blazers, expert nurturers, aimed their win-now splurge mostly at young-ish wing players well-suited to a league trending smaller and faster; there is no Tyson Chandler mid-30s appendage here. Portland will start Al-Farouq Aminu at power forward, carrying over a late-season adjustment that jump-started them, and play Aminu there almost exclusively, Stotts said. (Uh oh, Noah Vonleh.)The offense will be fine. The Blazers mostly cycled back the same roster, and they are betting the defense stiffens as the players spend more time in Stotts conservative scheme. The kind of continuity we have can be hard to find today, Stotts said.Lillard has instilled a culture of work and selflessness that will trump any temptation to laze in new wealth.When Dame talks, Meyers Leonard said, people listen.When one recent draft pick entered the league carrying a whiff of entitlement, sources say, the coaching staff pointed at Lillard: Hes way better than you, and hes working harder.The money wont be a factor, McCollum said. Everyone is still hungry. Guys are already talking about their next contracts. We arent going to lose the chip on our shoulder.Its fair to wonder what exactly these Blazers are, and whether all that spending made them any better. They won 44 games and snagged the No. 5 seed last season when every mid-tier Western Conference team crapped out. They eked past the Los Angeles Clippers in the first round after L.A.?lost their two best players for the series in Game 4.You could argue all of Turner, Crabbe, Leonard and Harkless are replaceable, with huge holes in their games. Portland absolutely could have found, say, 80 percent of Turner and Crabbes production on the cheap. The wing position is so thin league wide, the market for merely decent guys like Turner, Crabbe, Harrison Barnes and Kent Bazemore exploded out of proportion with the rising salary cap.A lot of teams have fled those deals, and kicked the can. The Atlanta Hawks spent most of the past three seasons rustling through the scrap heap, hoping to develop cheapo benchwarmers into rotation guys. On the pricier side, a bunch of teams this summer inked veterans such as Jeff Green, Dwyane Wade, Gerald Henderson, Joe Johnson, Wayne Ellington and Arron Afflalo to one- or two-year deals that do no lasting damage to their cap sheets.In theory, both those routes are smarter than overpaying Turner and Crabbe. Teams that are one star away from the contenders circle need to turn every roster spot into an asset that could somehow net that star -- either via trade or free agency.Trawling for the next Robert Covington, DeMarre Carroll or Bazemore on a multi-year deal brings the hope of both keeping cap room and conjuring a trade chip from nothing. Portlands starting lineup with Harkless outscored opponents by 14 points per 100 possessions; why not just keep him, sign a Joe Johnson/Gerald Henderson type to a one-year deal, sift for some bargains that will probably bust, win about the same number of games and stay lean?But all those possibilities -- a free agent star choosing Portland, a minimum-salaried wing blossoming into a killer trade asset -- are extreme long shots. Portland might be trapping themselves into long-term pretty good-ness, but that was the likely result of almost any series of moves. One alternate path -- keeping Nicolas Batum and using a decent chunk of cap space last month -- expired when the Blazers traded Batum to Charlotte.Pivoting from Whiteside to a Hawks-level offer for Dwight Howard would have been interesting; theres some chance Howard rediscovers his All-Star form, and a connected chance that a rejuvenated Howard catapults Portland into a 55-win team. But Howard is 30, and the Blazers -- like most teams -- wanted no part of a long-term commitment to him.Theres nothing wrong with being pretty good, especially for a younger team. Every organizations goal is to win a championship, Olshey said, but when did making the Sweet 16 or Elite 8 -- to use college parlance -- become not good enough while a team is building toward it? With Kevin Durant at Golden State, the West is like a middle-aged man: fatter in the middle, and thinning up top. The San Antonio Spurs will take a step back this season, and their long-term roster around Kawhi Leonard and LaMarcus Aldridge is a mystery. Every important Clipper aside from DeAndre Jordan will hit free agency in 11 months.If Portland improves and catches some breaks at the right time, they could make the conference finals in two or three years.And look again at all those alternatives on the wing. The guys on one-year deals (or two-year deals with player options) -- Wade, Green, Henderson -- have zero trade value precisely because their deals expire so soon. No one wants Dion Waiters. Johnson and Jared Dudley are mostly power forwards at this point, and much older than Portlands core players. Luol Deng represents a better win-now option than Turner, but hes 31 with a ton of mileage.Henderson was a non-threat from deep before Stotts let him fire, and hes not a dynamic drive-and-dish guy. The search for all-around wings in the NBA is desperate. The shooters cant defend or make plays; the playmakers and defenders cant shoot. Some of the proven free-agent 3-point shooters, such as Eric Gordon and Courtney Lee, dont have the size to check small forwards -- a requirement in Portland, since McCollum has the shooting guard spot on lock.Even the administrators at Mike Budenholzers School For Anonymous Wings tired of tutoring projects and finally bit the bullet on a $70 million deal to keep Bazemore.Its disturbingly easy to talk yourself into big deals for Turner and Crabbe. Turner can make plays, Crabbe shot 39 percent from deep (on mostly open looks, mind you), and both are big enough to check either wing position on most nights. Polish the rough spots, and each could turn into at least the facsimile of a do-it-all wing player every team needs.The way the game is being played, plus the dearth of available wings, made us willing to pay a premium for two impact players that fit our model, Olshey said.Those rough edges are rough, though. Turner made 20 3-pointers last season, embarrassing for a wing, and teams will ignore him to strangle Portlands spacing when he doesnt have the ball.The Blazers will give Turner the green light, and theyre confident hell hit enough catch-and-shoot looks in Stotts free-flowing system. People make such a big deal out of his 3-point shooting, Stotts said. Hell shoot it better for us.Portland coveted Turner for his ball-handling; they worried they didnt have enough guys who could dribble and pass last season when either Lillard or McCollum rested -- a minutes hole that shrinks in the post-season. If one got hurt in the playoffs, they were toast. The offense felt aimless; Mason Plumlee became their de facto point guard when defenses trapped Portlands stars on the pick-and-roll. Aminu and Harkless either burped open 3s, or drove without a plan straight toward defenders awaiting them in the paint.Those same defenders will be lagging off Turner, too, but hes a deft drive-and-kick passer with an array of herky-jerky finishes in his bag.But Turner needs the ball to play up to this contract, and if he has it, Lillard and McCollum -- much better players -- do not. Both are good enough shooters to be dangerous scurrying around picks off the ball while Turner acts as Portlands Andre Iguodala. A few minutes after Portland had agreed to terms with Turner, Stotts sent both McCollum and Lillard a 30-minute montage of Turner highlights; McCollum watched on a beach in the Dominican Republic and envisioned ways they could fit.People questioned whether Dame and I were too similar, and we thrived, McCollum said. Its going to be the same with Evan. Were both comfortable off the ball.The Blazers will explore Turners post-up game, just as they did with Matthews, and script sequences in which he catches a pass just as a screener arrives -- a quick-attack antidote to his occasional over-dribbling.Still, the Blazers should maximize the time Turner plays with only one of their star guards, and that means either bringing him off the bench or yanking someone early in both the first and third quarters. Stotts refuted reports that the team has already decided Turner will start. I wont even say for sure what our starting lineup will be in training camp, he said. Thats what training camp is for.Portland should at least consider starting Crabbe at small forward. Even with Aminu sliding down a position, the Blazers still dont have a ton of shooting without either Crabbe or Leonard on the floor. The Crabbe-y version of the starters blitzed opponents by seven points per 100 possessions last season, and Crabbe is smart about skulking into open spaces when his man turns to watch the Lillard-and-McCollum show.Hes still finding his way as a penetrator. He has the assist rate of a plodding center, and he settles for too many pull-ups after blowing by defenders who chase him off the arc.But hes unselfish, with good vision. Trade some long 2-pointers for plays like this, and the Blazers will really have something.Crabbe is also tall enough to launch 3s over little guys, a boon for Portland when opponents slot a wing onto Lillard -- and stash their point guards on Crabbe.He should develop into a solid defender. Crabbe slithers around screens, reads the game well, and works hard. Coaches for the Warriors and Clippers were impressed by Crabbes postseason work guarding Klay Thompson and Jamal Crawford.But hes a poor rebounder, without elite length or athleticism to compensate for a size disadvantage against bulkier small forwards. Turner is a stronger rebounder, but faces the same size issues. Dont be shocked if the Blazers kick around starting Harkless to stabilize the defense,?even if bringing two $17 million guys off the bench is NBA sacrilege.For all the who will have the ball? shrieking, defense will determine Portlands future. When Portland amped it up on that end, they played well -- especially during the scorching 18-4 winter run that saved their season. They were 32-40 combined before and after that stretch, including the playoffs, and mostly struggled on defense.The Blazers are right to bank on organic improvement. Typical sins of youth dot their worst possessions, and the Blazers will iron some of that out as they grow together. Look at all the self-sabotage they fit into 10 seconds: a botched switch on a simple hand-off; Lillard slamming into a pick; Harkless up top lunging for a no-chance-in-hell steal; and both Plumlee and Aminu shrugging off rim protection duties:Lillard and Harkless lose a lot of bad bets.Theres a fine line, Stotts said last season. We want them to stunt and be tight in the lane. We dont want gambling, going for steals, losing your man.Small blips of inattention cascade to become emergencies. Only two teams fouled more often than Portland, and only three had a worse free throw differential. Part of it is inexperience, Stotts said. Experienced teams know how to defend without fouling.Portland will bend the math with a drop-back system designed to barricade the rim, hug the 3-point arc and force teams into midrange jumpers. Even last season, they allowed the sort of shot distribution that would arouse Tom Thibodeau. Cut the errors, and perhaps the Blazers could sniff a ranking of 10th or 12th in points allowed per possession. A healthy Festus Ezeli would help, but no one knows if such a thing exists.A healthy system cant eliminate structural weaknesses.?Lillard is a minus defender, and he and McCollum will always be undersized as a duo. You can hide one, but not both. Golden State went nowhere until they busted up Stephen Curry and Monta Ellis.McCollum is a more well-rounded player than prime Ellis. But unless someone on this capped-out roster pops big-time, trading him might represent Portlands only path to acquiring another stud who might balance their team. None of their other big contracts, save Lillards, are liquid yet, and they dont have extra picks to rival Boston, Philly or even Phoenix.Thats an issue for the future. The Blazers want to see where this team stacks up in the rejiggered West. Its natural to expect incremental improvement, but that isnt guaranteed. Portland could have a fine season, win 45-plus games, and bow out in the first round. Thats fine. The Blazers are good, and theyll stay good with an uncertain path to the next tier up. Overspending this summer cluttered that path with obstacles, but its hard to?find a realistic alternative that would have cleared it up.Dick Butkus Womens Jersey . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. Devin Hester Womens Jersey . Pettersen, winner of last years Evian Championships, had nine birdies and three bogeys, holding off a series of challengers led by Marion Ricordeau of France. The second-ranked Norwegian made her season debut after missing the LPGA Tours opening event last month in the Bahamas because of a shoulder injury. https://www.bearssportsgoods.com/Womens-Devin-Hester-Inverted-Jersey/ . "Jeff is a hard worker who was an important special-teams contributor for us last season," said Stamps GM John Hufnagel. Richard Dent Youth Jersey . Mats Zuccarello and Derek Stepan scored shootout goals, and backup goalie Cam Talbot earned his second win in two nights as the Rangers shook off a late tying tally and beat the Maple Leafs 2-1 Monday night. Devin Hester Youth Jersey . Andrew Luck lost his favourite target and the Indianapolis locker room lost one of its most revered leaders when Reggie Wayne was diagnosed Monday with a torn anterior cruciate ligament in his right knee that will cost him the rest of the season.At the height of Shane Warnes powers, one of Australias Ashes celebration rituals was to sing along to Midnight Oils Beds Are Burning - with a twist. The chorus belted out in unison went something along the lines of Poms are crap when the wickets turning. Whether Sri Lankas music scene has unearthed an Oils-style anthem is unclear, but the hosts had every right to mark their second-ever series victory over Australia in a similar manner.Like Alec Stewart and Michael Atherton climbing the Gabba gantry to watch Warne after being dismissed by him in 1994, the Australians are not falling short through a lack of desire to succeed. On the third and final morning of the Galle Test, almost everyone hit the nets and tried to find a way to negotiate the day ahead.The result of this last-minute cramming was a potpourri of batting approaches, and an equally diverse range of dismissals. In that sense there was the vaguest sense of progress: it could, at least, be said that not every batsman fell the same way.Admittedly, David Warner kicked it off with an lbw to a straight ball, but Steven Smith squeezed a short-leg catch coming down the pitch, Mitchell Marsh padded up to a sharp turner, and the last recognised batsman, Adam Voges, reversed swept his way to oblivion, sending his batting average under 80 for the first time.The replacement of monotony with variety did not do much to change the final result. Australia were still bowled out cheaply, the batsmen still fell short of meaningful scores, and Sri Lanka maintained their cavernous advantage in terms of knowledge and aptitude in spin-friendly conditions.Afterwards, Angelo Mathews offered that Australias batsmen look a bit lost, and delivered it with a tone verging on the sympathetic. One got the feeling Mathews might actually have preferred a closer contest, in which the opposition lasted more than 84 overs across two innings.Given that Australia were chasing a target so far beyond their current capability, their batsmen seemed to abandon whatever plans they took into the series and had a go at something new for future assignments. Never was this more evident than in Voges innings, a bizarre spectacle given the almost mystical calm he had managed to show at times over the past 15 months. After making a start in Pallekele, Voges said his plan was to occupy the crease. Three innings later, he was premeditating reverse sweeps with alarming frequency.This had started with Voges very first ball from Dilruwan Perera. While that initial effort brought a boundary, his timing and judgment deteriorated with each attempt until he was bowled behind his pads. Like Warners reverse sweep with the scoreboard reading 18 for 3 the previous evening, it all smacked of batsmen who had been very swiftly hollowed out by the Asian experience, to the point that their modus operandi resembled one of the maxims once beamed onto big screens of U2s ZOOTV tour: Everything you know is wrong.It is sort of instinct, Smith said of his batsmens methods. All the guys growing up in Australia, the majority of wickets that we play on, theyre pretty true. You dont often see too many spinning past the bat or the one that does go straight, it doesnt speed up off the wicket as such. So its certainly a lot easier to play spin in Australia. We have to find ways of doing it differently.The way we came out today and took the game on a little bit - a couple of the guys went over the top, showed a bit of courage, got the field back, a couple of sweep shots, reverse sweeps, it sort of unsettles the bowler a little bit. And youre scorinng at the same time, which is important in these conditions.dddddddddddd If youre sitting on the crease trying to defend, more often than not ones going to have your name on it. So you have to find a way to score at the same time as being out there. Smith admitted Australias plans were reworked after watching Sri Lankas batsmen who, with little Test-match experience or advance billing, had offered a variety of means to combat Australias spinners. The best and most contrasting exponents had been Kusal Mendis and the captain Mathews, the former sweeping Nathan Lyons spin consistently, the latter hitting out gamely rather than waiting around for the unplayable ball.I think some of the boys have learned a little bit from the way the Sri Lankan batters have played, Smith said. We saw a lot of sweep shots from them, reverse sweeps, so I think the guys have learned a little bit from watching them play and having their own plans and courage to implement them out in the middle. Its never easy when the ball is spinning and skidding and you dont know which one is which, with guys around the bat. Its difficult, but I guess you have to have the courage to find the way to do it.Such experiments, however, called into question the approaches taken into this series. These were supposedly honed over a period of up to three weeks for those squad members who spent time in India before arriving in Colombo. The coach Darren Lehmann has said that the batsmen were guilty of not sticking to their plans under pressure, but the grab-bag seen on day three was the strongest possible indicator that no one in this team trusts his earlier judgment.This calls into question the work of those around the team, whether that be Lehmann, the interim batting coach on this tour Stuart Law, or the man Law is temporarily replacing - the promoted former fielding coach Greg Blewett. The position of batting assistant has bounced around a lot since the exit of Michael Di Venuto earlier in the year, with Graeme Hick taking the reins for an ODI tour of the West Indies. Lehmann and the team performance manager Pat Howard have both insisted Blewetts promotion is temporary, but have not set a timeframe on a full-time appointee.Given the ugly extremes of this trip, it would appear essential that a full-time batting mentor with significant experience of playing and coaching in Asia must be hired in time for the home summer. The appointed figure - ideally a player and coach the calibre of Mahela Jayawardene or Michael Hussey - would need to work with the Australians, build relationships and also to ensure the players keep next years India tour in the back of their minds. To venture to India straight after a home summer of bouncier, pace-oriented pitches will be an even harder task than this one.Yet even if that kind of appointment is made swiftly, Australia seem likely to be facing the problems of Pallekele and Galle for some time to come. The selection chairman Rod Marsh and the commentator Allan Border can recall the indignities of the 1982 tour of Pakistan, when the touring team was thumped 3-0 and was never really in the contest. That trip was the low point of a 23-year span when Australia won only one Test match in Asia. With one win from 17 matches in the region dating back to 2008, and a live streak of eight consecutive defeats, Australia are again building a dynasty of the dreadful. Not even the England teams terrified by Warne did that badly. ' ' '