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Deleted user Nov 26 '16, 06:02AM

NEW YORK, N. Jeremy Lane Jersey .Y. - Carmelo Anthony likes Eastern Conference playoff basketball, even the pounding and pain that goes with it. The wide-open West was fun, with more scoring and less defence, and it certainly didnt hurt as much. But coming off his first series victory since leaving Denver — and his teams first in 13 years — he has adapted to the way it is on the other side. And here comes a team that represents it as well as anyone. The Indiana Pacers are rough and tough, but the New York Knicks say theyre ready for it when the teams renew an old post-season rivalry Sunday to begin the second round. "Its definitely going to be a challenge," Knicks centre Tyson Chandler said. "We know were going to be in for a battle. Weve got to be prepared physically to match their play, keep them off the glass, limit them to one shot and then run." The Knicks wrapped up their first series victory since 2000 on Friday night by holding off the Boston Celtics in Game 6. They had just one day to rest before facing the Pacers, who were also pushed to six games before finishing off Atlanta on Friday night. Anthony is battling a sore left shoulder, an injury originally sustained when he was whacked in a victory over the Pacers on April 14. That might have contributed to his 38 per cent shooting against Boston, but hes making no excuses as he gets set to match up against another bigger forward in David West. "I aint dead. Im here. Ill be ready to rock at 3:30," Anthony said. Back when second-round appearances were the norm in New York, the Pacers were a regular rival in the spring. The Knicks and Pacers met in three straight years from 1993-95, then again from 1998-00. The occasional Reggie Miller outburst notwithstanding, those series were usually about low scores and hard fouls, much like this one probably will be. Anthony was used to games in the 90s and 100s in the West, but knows Indiana will prefer to keep this in the 80s or even 70s. "Theyre the best 3-point shooting team in history. They made more 3s this year than any other team in NBA history. So we understand what theyre capable," Pacers coach Frank Vogel said. "We led the league in guarding the 3 this year. We have a great deal of confidence that we can guard them if we execute our defence the way were supposed to." The Pacers held the Knicks to just 37 per cent shooting while splitting the four-game season series, including a 125-91 victory in February that was New Yorks worst loss of the season. Anthony was 4 of 17 from 3-point range and the Knicks had ugly numbers all over their roster, from Jason Kidd (3 of 20) to Iman Shumpert (4 of 15) to Pablo Prigioni (2 of 10). Amare Stoudemire shot 5 of 16 and Steve Novak was 9 of 28. Stoudemire, still recovering from knee surgery, will practice during the lengthy break between Game 2 on Tuesday and Game 3, with the hope of returning Saturday at Indiana. Novak is still battling back spasms and is expected to sit out the opener. As for Shumpert and Prigioni, they combined to hit seven 3-pointers in the clincher at Boston, their improved offensive games part of the reason the Knicks arent worried about the regular-season results. "Were a different team than when we were early in the year, too," Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. "I think were a much more defined team versus when we played them early in the season." Neither team looked good in the first round. Anthony missed 19 straight 3-pointers before hitting a big one as the Knicks stopped the Celtics frantic rally that cut a 26-point deficit to four in the final period of Game 6. Paul George, Indianas All-Star, managed just four points on 2-of-10 shooting as the Pacers closed out the Hawks on Friday in Atlanta. But the offensive side of the ball is secondary to the Pacers. Vogel said he was "very encouraged" by the way they defended in the final two games against Atlanta after dropping Games 3 and 4. "Thats what I talked to them mostly about this morning," he said. "When we play our defence with the energy and passion (of) the last two games, we can be dominant on the defensive end. Not just good, but dominant. I dont think it matters who youre playing. I think you can be dominant exercising those fundamentals with the passion and energy." He will be willing to use multiple players on Anthony, who is out of the first round for just the second time in his career. The Knicks won just one game in his first two postseasons after former team president Donnie Walsh, who undertook the rebuilding of the Knicks from 2008-11 before returning to the Pacers front office, made the deal to acquire the All-Star forward from Denver in February 2011. Often the target of blame when things go wrong, Anthony was receiving praise Saturday after hitting two big shots that finally turned back the Celtics, but said he wasnt satisfied yet. "As far as my mindset goes, I havent did anything yet. We havent did anything," Anthony said. "Yeah, we did something special by winning the first-round series against the Celtics, which was a tough series for us to win, but at the beginning of the season that was our goal. We always felt like we had a team, we put together a team to do something special." ___ Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney Luke Willson Jersey . Scott Kazmir allowed four hits in seven shutout innings, Michael Brantley hit a two-run homer in a three-run first inning and the Indians maintained their hold on an AL wild-card spot with a 4-1 win over the Houston Astros on Saturday night. Garry Gilliam Seahawks Jersey . - Chris Tierney snapped a tie with a power-play goal late in the third period as the London Knights rallied from a 3-0 deficit to beat the Erie Otters 5-3 in Ontario Hockey League action on Wednesday. http:///...ney-seahawks-jersey/ . Emery skated the length of the ice and fought an unwilling Holtby during the third period of the Flyers 7-0 loss Friday night in Philadelphia. He was given 29 penalty minutes, including a game misconduct. But Emery did not face even a disciplinary hearing with NHL senior vice president of player safety Brendan Shanahan because rules 46.After three weeks of football you are at the point as a team where you understand what you do well and what you need to improve upon as fast as possible. And thats never so clear right now than in Montreal. On special teams, not bad, defence pretty good, but this years Alouettes have major problems moving the ball when they have the ball. Now I will be the first one to say that the quality of the players is why teams win or lose. But good coaching by design and teaching can make a big difference. How else do you explain the fact that it is almost the identical personnel from last year to this year yet last years offence was amazingly productive and this years is amazingly inefficient? The opening drive for Montreal went for 11 plays, 81 yards, six-and-a-half minutes off the clock and a touchdown. But that was it. For after that blur of success the two-and-out plays became the consistency. So what has to happen? Kinda simple. Either the Als players have to adapt and master the offence run in Montreal or the Als offensive staff has to adapt to the players on offence and run what has worked for the players in the past. In college football it is a one-way street. The coach and coaches have a system in all three levels of football that they believe works because of previous success and the players run that system. Pro football is a bit different. There is more give and take, more communication to create success based on a coaching philosophy and the players ideas. Now I am not saying to run the Marc Trestman offence in full right now for the rest of the season. But I am saying what you have now is not working so it is time to incorporate some of it based on your Hall of Fame quarterbacks success experiences. With Calgary, two aspects of football became conversation points. First, how about Brad Sinopoli. A three-year quarterback becomes a productive receiver. These things dont happen very often and its significant as Sinopoli was looking at an experience of football at quarterback, now he has a chance for a career as a wide receiver. The second is Kevin Glenn or Drew Tate? Three injuries in a season plus two games has to be a concern for Tate. And its an opportunity for Glenn. It may be time for Glenn to take over the show. It will be time if Tate comes back and plays again yet cant finish a game he begins as a quarterback. Montreal has problems, Calgary has solved a few, Saskatchewan has none. I thought, okay, home opener in Edmonton a definite win as the Eskimos had made so many changes. Then Week 2 back home, Taylor Field, all that energy, definite win even though Calgary had played so well before. Then Week 3, on the road, Dome in Toronto, Argos coming off loss: no way. Boy was I wrong. Between Durant, Sheets, Dressler and others the Riders took the game over in the last three quarters. No doubt the Jamie Robinson interception for a touchdown that became a pass interference penalty changed the game, but so did Kory Sheets and his 178 yards rushing. Frank Clark Jersey. The Riders have the Ticats home and away and football logic says they may be 5-0 going into their sixth game at Calgary with the Bye week before. Is Toronto a good 1-2 team or a team with a long way to go? I lean toward the latter, a team with a lot to improve upon. Two rookie players side-by-side on defence in Robinson at corner back and Jackson at defensive back have to improve fast for Toronto to activate the dominance they had last year. Two rookies side-by-side is a big risk that did not work out last Thursday night. With Winnipeg at Hamilton in Guelph, for Hamilton to win with two games against Saskatchewan on the horizon was immense. Could you imagine going to Regina at 0-3 as compared to 1-2? Better pass rush and better running game with Chevon Walker. Hes not just fast but can make people miss in tight areas. Walker can only get better and should remain the starter. Yet, a week ago it was Hugh Charles with a long touchdown run and last Saturday it was Chad Simpson with the same against the Tiger-Cats. And pass protection must improve as Winnipeg has seven more quarterback sacks. With 24 of 42 players either in their first of second year of CFL football, here in 2013 the Ticats are going through a gigantic learning process. How fast the new players learn and adapt will determine a good or difficult season. Now Winnipeg, well I thought it was more of Montreals inability than Winnipegs ability on defence that led to last weeks win. Kind of proven true this week. Still here is the list of special team mistakes for the Bombers in Week 3. 1. Mishandled snap on extra point. 2. Two kick-offs out of bounds that gave Hamilton the ball on the 45. 3. No yards penalty 4. A single on a misplayed Ticat kick-off. 5. Too many men on an extra point (declined). 6. Fake punt that lead to Ticats interception. That for the Bombers has to change and will by Friday night vs. Toronto and knowing Craig Dickenson as special teams coach, it will. Final game to be honest with you was a tough game to watch. Monsoon #2 for Edmonton which means not the best opportunity for quarterback Mike Reilly to excel and improve. B.C. slowly but surely took the game over the longer the game went on and will play Edmonton next week but this one will be in the dome in Vancouver so no rain anticipated. Edmonton missed Marcus Howard and Fred Stamps as both did not play but the issue is Edmonton scored only three points. Was it a good BC defence or poor Eskimo offence? Probably a bit of both. Another issue is the second blocked punt in two games allowed by Edmonton. As GM Ed Hervey said earlier in the week, "we are rebuilding." After three weeks of football teams now have three weeks of game film on all players. Now going into the fourth week, the question is: do we have the right players? And next week, that will be the question I try to answer. Cheap NFL Jerseys ' ' '

Deleted user Nov 27 '16, 06:25PM

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e weeks of football teams now have three weeks of game fil | Forum