FIVE QUICK HOOPS THOUGHTS: 1. Norm Standlee Jersey . CHRIS ANDERSON (Heat): He played big last night with 12 rebounds. One of those unsung players with a cast of stars that does the dirty work and plays with incredible energy. When you play the Pacers you need one of your big guys to stand his ground and match their physicality and paint dominance. The Bird-Man has not backed down in his game whatsoever. Miami had lots of concerns with their ability to match Indy in the paint. If Anderson plays like he did last night it will go a long way towards winning this series. 2. PACERS BENCH: Nine points? Gotta get a whole lot more from this unit. I know that Evan Turner was sick, but when you reflect on his contributions since coming over from Philly for Danny Granger, it hasnt worked out the way theyd like. When Rasual Butler - at this stage of his career - is your top scorer off the bench youve got some challenges to overcome. Ive always been a fan of Luis Scola, but if the Pacers could rewind things back a year, theyd be more than happy to have Gerald Green and Miles Plumlee back from the Phoenix Suns. Cant do anything about that now. Simply put - more production needed. 3. TONY PARKER (Spurs): In Game 1, he was brilliant with 14 points, 12 assists and only one turnover. He was masterful at getting into the lane and breaking the defence down. He changes speeds as well as anyone in the game today and is so crafty getting his shot off in traffic. Good to see that the nagging hamstring issue wasnt a problem. A major impact guy when hes right - and was he ever right! 4. KEVIN DURANT AND RUSSELL WESTBROOK (Thunder): Played 41 and 36 minutes respectively in Game 1. I know Westbrook has had knee issues, but whatever extra few minutes he can play - hes gotta play. And if Im Scott Brooks, I dont ever substitute KD out of the game. With no Serge Ibaka they need their best players to play every possible minute. Will be a significant chore to overcome that challenge. 5. OKCS OTHER STARTERS (Nick Collison/Kendrick Perkins/Thabo Sefolosha): A combined five points on 2-10 shooting in Game 1? Seriously? Man I feel for Scott Brooks - hes searching for answers and more importantly if these guys continue to be ineffective it allows the Spurs to leave them and Gang up defensively on Westbrook and Durant, making them take even more difficult shots. You must have shot makers and guys who you have to guard who space the floor out. If not, the court gets very congested and your stars are limited in the types of quality possessions they have. Cant win this series with this type drag on your offense from three struggling players. They pick it up and they give The Big Two a fighting chance - thats all you ask for. Gary Lewis Jersey .ca NBA Power Rankings. Winners of 15 straight, with a healthy roster, the Spurs have overtaken the Clippers and Oklahoma City Thunder for the number one ranking. Terry Kirby Jersey . Fellow Argentina forward Gonzalo Higuain also had a brace for Napoli. And Samuel Etoo scored for his fourth different team. On a night of standout individual performances Wednesday, Schalke goalkeeper Timo Hildebrand had a game hell want to forget. http://www.custompatriotsjersey.com/custom-jon-morris-jersey-large-561f.html . - Kyle Wood and Barclay Goodrow scored second period power-play goals to provide all of the scoring for the North Bay Battalion in a 2-0 victory over the Erie Otters in Ontario Hockey League action on Thursday.Having served the first game of his suspension in Game 3 of the Blackhawks-Blues series, Seabrook will miss only two more if the series should end in five games, and regardless, thats all he will miss according to the NHLs handling of this affair. But my amendment will force him to miss one or two more games if the series goes that long and if Backes does not return. You see, Im interested in fairness, and theres no fairness if theres a discrepancy between the number of games Seabrook misses and the number of games Backes is forced to sit out. In short, Seabrook should only return to the series if Backes does. If Seabrook comes back and Backes doesnt, imagine the outcry if Seabrook scores the winning goal to eliminate the Blues. I dont want to see that. I dont think the NHL does either, but given the chance to prevent that scenario, the NHL took a pass. On fairness. Now, I will save both of us time by asking you to go to the top, insert the names of Matt Cooke and Tyson Barrie where Seabrook and Backes were mentioned, and read this again. Same deal—Cooke should not return to the Minnnesota-Colorado series unless Barrie does, and we know Barrie wont, due to an MCL injury, so Cooke is either finished for the season or waiting to play St. Louis or Chicago. No need for a hearing, NHL. ------- Heres item two - the 2015 NHL entry draft, to be known as the Conor McDavid-Jack Eichel sweepstakes. McDavid and Eichel are two so-called "franchise-changers". The NHL teams that land them wont just be better, they may succeed for many years to come solely because of them. So there will be more interest than normal in the draft lottery that will identify the teams with 2015s first and second picks, and more interest than normal, so the theory of "tanking" goes, in playing just badly enough to secure the most favourable lottery odds next year.Heres where I come in. I will create more interest than ever in the draft lottery and, at the same time, end all thought and any mention of tanking. I will do that by giving all 14 non-playoff teams an equal shot at the first draft pick in 2015. Fans of each of those 14 teams will hang on every second of the draft lottery. Itll be similar to, but better than, the draw that sent Sidney Crosby to Pittsburgh. It was packed with suspense, but it had odds attached that happened to favour the Penguins, so there wasnt the wide-open nature of competition and interest that pure luck creates. However, the biggest reason for eliminating draft lottery odds is to wipe out any incentive to gain a draft advantage on the ice, and to eliminnate all the talk that goes with it. Jim Lee Hunt Jersey. As the imaginary leader of the NHL, Im furious whenever I hear a team advised to think about winning a draft by losing a game. The NHL includes just one guarantee when it sells a ticket - it guarantees a contest that will see two teams trying their best to win. If there is any doubt that the customer is receiving that guarantee, the doubt must be removed. A "luck of the draw" draft order will do that. And before you, or the NHL complains that the worst teams should be the ones that land McDavid and Eichel, realize two things - the NHL could make it happen that way by eliminating the lottery, and chooses not to do so, and the NHLs current system allows for the possibility that its best non-playoff team will make the first draft selection. Its just unwilling to make that a stronger possibility. Im not. --------- Now its time to open the rule book and apply some common sense to it. The Tampa Bay Lightning will be complaining all the way to next season about a Ryan Callahan goal against Montreal that didnt count because…..well, because the referee thought it shouldnt count. I cant explain it better than that. When Alex Killorn was trying to put the puck past Carey Price and ended up in the net himself, all sorts of confusion ensued. The refs arms waved, play continued as Killorn extricated himself and tried to avoid Price and P.K. Subban, even as they didnt seem to be trying to avoid him, and Callahan eventually scored…..sorry…put the puck in the net. Then the refs arms waved again, and the goal was disallowed. My new rule wouldnt have allowed the Lightning to be tied with Montreal on the scoreboard, but it would have prevented all the controversy. The best new rules are simple ones. In this case, when Killorn plunged into the net, regardless of whether he did that on his own, was pushed, or did so because of contact with Price, the whistle should have blown to halt the play. Nothing good ever follows a net crash like the one involving Killorn. If he stays there, no goal can be scored. If he tries to get out, he can get mugged, or at least interfered with, and theres every chance hell be bothering the goalie enough to affect things and make any refs ruling subject to criticism. Just as the whistle blows if the puck enters the net, so should it blow if a player does. Thats all the time I have to run the NHL today. If Ive made any sense, pass it on. And if I havent, Ill try again next time. (English indie band - Im declaring this the official anthem of "Pass It On") ' ' '