Alles was gibt :) » r-Cats can finish first place, sec

NEW YORK -- Another win for the New York Knicks, in another game they mightve lost last month. Carmelo Anthony had 29 points and 16 rebounds, and the Knicks held the Phoenix Suns without a field goal in overtime to win 98-96 on Monday night for their fifth straight victory. Anthony scored four of the Knicks six points in the extra session, and New York allowed only four free throws while forcing the Suns to miss all seven shots. The Knicks pulled it out after their 14-point lead turned into a five-point deficit late in regulation. "I think now as a team, I think mentally were a different type of team," Anthony said. "I think now were starting to believe that when we do get down, we still have a chance to win the basketball game." Raymond Felton added 19 points for the Knicks (15-22), who climbed into a tie with Brooklyn for eighth place in the Eastern Conference. Goran Dragic had 28 points and eight rebounds for the Suns, who dropped their third straight. Leandro Barbosa scored 21 in his best game since rejoining his old team on a 10-day contract. But the Suns endured dreadful games from starters Gerald Green (2 of 16) and Channing Frye (3 of 12), ending their road trip with a 1-4 record. "For the fifth game in seven nights against a team thats playing well, I thought they gave a heck of an effort," Phoenix coach Jeff Hornacek said. "We didnt make shots. Dont know if its because its the end of the trip." Playing their fourth straight game without Tyson Chandler because of bronchitis, the Knicks beat a Western Conference team at home for the first time in seven chances and improved to 7-12 overall at Madison Square Garden. Despite their miserable start to the season, they can continue climbing the rest of January, as they open an eight-game homestand on Friday. "The game is not over until the clock hits zero," Knicks forward Kenyon Martin said. "We lost some close games early on, so (were) just learning from the mistakes that we made early, just trying to build on what weve been doing." The Suns ran off nine straight points midway through the fourth quarter to open an 88-83 lead on Barbosas jumper with 4:50 remaining. The Knicks recovered to regain the lead on Feltons 3-pointer from the corner with 53 seconds to play, and after Gerald Green and Anthony traded misses, the Suns had one final chance. Though Martin appeared to have his hand on some of the ball, a foul was called and Barbosa sank both free throws with 1.2 seconds left. J.R. Smith, who beat the Suns on a jumper at the buzzer last season, was long on a chance to do it again. Martin found Anthony for a basket to open the scoring in overtime, then dunked a missed shot to make it 96-92. The Knicks could only manage Anthonys turnaround jumper with 2:41 remaining from there, but it didnt matter because the Suns couldnt get anything going. Phoenix compounded its problems when Frye made the second of two free throws with 2.5 seconds left, leaving the Suns down 98-96 without a timeout left and unable to get another possession. With Eric Bledsoe lost to right knee surgery, the Suns just didnt have enough to support Dragic, who had been starting alongside him. "Its a little bit harder now with Eric out. Its much easier when youre playing together and you have two ballhandlers. But it is what it is and I have to keep my head up," Dragic said. The Knicks built a big early lead in the first half, when the highlight was when the Suns Markief Morris was ejected for picking up his second technical foul for shoving Smith after he was fouled. Because Morris was scheduled to shoot, the Knicks were allowed to pick someone off the Phoenix bench to do it. Coach Mike Woodson went all the way across midcourt to tab Slava Kravtsov, a second-year Ukranian centre who had attempted just six free throws all year, making three. With fans howling, Kravtsov went 1 for 2. But the Suns opened the third quarter with an 11-2 spurt to tie it at 54. The Knicks quickly regrouped and rebuilt a double-digit lead, and were ahead 75-68 heading to the fourth. Barbosa, the Sixth Man of the Year in Phoenix in 2007 who just returned to the NBA last week, scored eight straight Phoenix points to trim it to 78-76. The Suns eventually pulled ahead when Barbosa blew by his defender on consecutive trips for layups, one of them while getting fouled, to make it 84-83 with 5:51 to play. NOTES: Chandler worked out before the game and said he hopes to play Tuesday in Charlotte so he can get some minutes before facing Indiana centre Roy Hibbert on Thursday. ... Anthony was the Eastern Conference player of the week last week. Jerseys Outlet . The Tinkoff-Saxo rider was still dealing with the right shin he broke in a crash which ended his Tour de France on Stage 10. He hoped to defy his doctors and race in the home Grand Tour he won in 2008 and 2012, but he says there have been complications in his recovery. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping . Kripps, of Summerland, B.C., and Edmontons Barnett used a terrific second run to move up two spots, putting the Canadian duo in medal contention with the final two runs set for Monday (11:15 a.m. ET, streaming live at cbc. http://www.cheapjerseysdiscount.com/. In a pregame tribute commemorating his final contest at Coors Field on Wednesday night, Helton caught the ceremonial first pitch from his daughter with his wife, younger daughter and good friend Peyton Manning watching from the field. Cheap Jerseys . -- Deshorn Brown scored twice, the first coming 13 seconds into the game, and the Colorado Rapids beat the undermanned Seattle Sounders 5-1 Saturday night. China Jerseys . "Youre not really spending time to sit back and analyze what your competitions doing and things like that," Anthopoulos said. "Youre so focused on what were trying to get done." Ultimately, while the landscape around them changed with trades both major and minor, the Blue Jays did nothing before Thursdays non-waiver deadline.The situation in the East is simply fantastic for fans of the CFL. All Week 20 games in the East matter as to who is in the playoffs and that’s how you want it to play out. I will be on site at the marque game of the week, Montreal at Hamilton. I am looking forward to seeing Hamilton’s new stadium and the facilities they have for the players and coaches. I can remember when I worked for the Ticats, Jamie Barresi and I shared an office which was fine except for when we had to meet with the players there. The players sat on the floor and watched practice and game film on two TVs we jerry-rigged to play the same video. We had to do this because the room had a weird shape and the guys closest to the exit could not see the big TV. The big TV was actually one I had at my house and had brought in to be able have a bigger screen! I have heard nothing but great things about this new facility that will provide the players with a professional work environment they deserve, looking forward to seeing that. Speaking of Coach Barresi, he is now the head coach of the University of Ottawa, and led them to a 5-3 finish and a first round playoff win over Windsor. He will now come home to Hamilton to take on McMaster this weekend in the second round of the playoffs. I am not sure that this situation has ever happened in the CFL. The Hamilton Tiger-Cats can finish first place, second place, or be eliminated from the playoffs! You don’t often have to prepare your team for all those possibilities within a week. But I think there is a very interesting coaching situation for the Cats, let’s talk about it. Hamilton’s playoff scenario is this: if they beat Montreal by eight points or more they clinch first place; if they win by less than eight points or Toronto loses they earn second place; and if they lose and Toronto wins, they are eliminated from the playoffs. Teams that finish in first place statistically have a greater chance of going to the Grey Cup, so does Hamilton change the game plan to put themselves in first place? I think I would. Let’s say Toronto wins the game Friday and Hamilton is eliminated with a loss, this is the harder scenario. Hamilton starts the game basically down 7-0 to the Als for first place. Do they become more aggressive to make up the point differential and go for first place? Aggressive might be a fake punt or special play on Teams to be able get a few extra offensive scoring possessions. Could it be a more aggressive defensive scheme or pressure package trying to limit Montreal scoring? Third and goal from the two-yard line early in the game, usually you kick the field goal but do you go for it to make up the points to try to get first place? All these things mentioned have a risk that when not executed can hurt your chances of winning the game, which is the ultimate goal for Hamilton because they would be eliminated if Toronto wins. Late in the game this will be employed but early in the game is when it could easily affect the outcome. Certainly late in the game, if Hamilton is up by three, you will see the best of both teams, because Hamilton will actually be trying to drive the length of the field and score a touchdown with the lead. That situation does not happenn often.dddddddddddd These are the decisions that a head coach must have a good understanding of not only at the end of the year, but at the beginning of the year. In 2009, when I was the offensive coordinator of the Saskatchewan Roughriders we were in the first of a four-game series with an opponent. It was late in the game and we were winning but I called a few more passes and scored a late touchdown. A coach from the other team after the game sought me out on the field and took offence to my offence (funny?) of scoring a touchdown when we could have taken a knee at the end of the game. I looked at him somewhat surprised and said we are playing you four times and there is the very real possibility that we will end up tied at the end of the year and the next playoff tie breaker is points scored. That is why we were scoring points late in the last drive, we don’t know how we will end up, so you assume you will be tied. Points-scored has to be thought of when you play an opponent twice or four times because you could be tied at the end. Playing someone three times, points is not an issue (unless there was a tie) because someone usually finishes 2-1. Back to Hamilton, let’s assume Toronto loses and a loss by Hamilton will not affect their playoff chances, they would have second place locked up no matter what happens in their game. Now you can see the Ticats being aggressive and be ready for anything that can help them score points. No huddle to get more plays, going for it on third down, onside kicks. Mistakes or poor execution of those plays can also hurt your field position which can help Montreal’s opportunity to score, so executing these calls is key. If you have a chance, look up Head Coach Kevin Kelley and the Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Arkansas, a coach who calls for onside kicks every kickoff and will not punt throughout the season. The guy must be crazy and must lose every game right? A state Championship, a loss in the finals, and a semi-final appearance in three years tells another story. Although some of his data may not correlate with the CFL, he believes on kickoffs the difference in the field position is only about 15 yards if an onside kick is recovered by the receiving team and coach Kelley’s teams recover one out of every three onside kicks which is a turnover, and we know turnovers are one of the most telling stats in winning football games. In the CFL, a failed onside kick would probably be a 30-yard difference in field position which is certainly a reason not to do it every time. Kelley never punts because his philosophy is you have to score more points to win the football game and you cannot score without retaining possession of the football. That is why he will always go for it on fourth down, to keep possession of the ball. So if your team is in a fourth and 3 situation four times in a game and they average 5.5 yards per rush, why not go for it? Kelley believes he will make three out of four conversions and will keep the football. Interesting thoughts and I thought of this philosophy this week to see if the Ticats would employ some of these tactics to get to first place. Either way it will be a great weekend for football, punt or no punt. ' ' '