Dein erstes Forum » try my best and Im more aggressive now

TORONTO - As Amir Johnson took a seat, having just picked up his sixth foul towards the end of Thursdays first overtime period, Patrick Patterson fouling out minutes earlier, Dwane Casey and his coaching staff mulled over their next move. Huddling up, Casey consulted with his assistants for over 30 seconds before looking to the far side of his bench and reluctantly calling for Jonas Valanciunas. The Raptors starting centre had been a spectator since late in the third quarter, amounting to roughly an hour of real time spent on the bench since he was last on the floor. As his coach feared, Valanciunas was more than a little rusty, playing 25 seconds in the first OT frame and the bulk of the second until Casey opted to go with Tyler Hansbrough to close the game in the third and final period of extra time. "It really wasnt fair to Jonas," Casey said in hindsight, following his teams marathon 134-129 loss to Washington. "It wasnt his fault." Upon reentering, Toronto immediately ran a pick-and-roll for Valanciunas, however the pass from Greivis Vasquez - who was trapped on the right elbow - was mistimed and ultimately deflected before it reached Valanciunas in the middle of the key, the turnover charged to Vasquez. A few minutes later, Valanciunas received the ball on the left block and with the clock winding down he flipped up a quick shot that was swatted by Marcin Gortat, his first of two field goal attempts in the period, both blocked by Gortat. With just over one minute remaining in double OT, the game tied at 116, Valanciunas negated a Vasquez runner, needlessly tipping in the shot that was already on its way down, above the cylinder. The look of frustration on the sophomores face said it all. This was not his night. The Raptors were outscored by 14 points in the 29 minutes that Valanciunas was on the floor. "I feel really sad," Valanciunas lamented, with his head down after the game. "I feel really bad right now. I could do a much better job than what I did." Valanciunas lost more than his rhythm, sitting as long as he did in the second half of Thursdays ball game. His confidence appeared to be at an all-time low. The second-year centre has had a rough couple of weeks, averaging 7.1 points and 7.6 rebounds, shooting 45 per cent in 24 minutes per in his last eight games. Over the previous eight contests, he put up averages of 15.4 points, 10.8 rebounds, shot 58 per cent from the field and logged just over 29 minutes a night. Perhaps fatigue has played a factor - he eclipsed his minute total from his rookie season last week - but the most noticeable variation in his approach hinders on an immeasurable concept that he has downplayed in the past. Swagger. Valanciunas is a different animal when he plays with that edge, anger and fire, when he gets outside of his head, stops over-thinking the game and just plays basketball. Too often you can almost see his thought process on the court, his movements are robotic as he aims to avoid disaster, fearful of making a mistake that will draw the ire of his head coach. However, hes at his best when he plays freely and Casey knows it. "The key is patience, not getting down on yourself, have fun," Casey said after morning shoot-around on Thursday. "I mean youre playing basketball. Theres no pressure on JV to produce. The pressure is on DeMar (DeRozan) and Kyle (Lowry) and Amir, the older guys." Given the unreasonably high preseason expectations its easy to overlook the fact that Valanciunas is still only 21-year-old, playing in his first full season after missing a sizeable chunk of his rookie campaign due to injury. Hes had an eventful year, participating in Summer League for the Raptors and competing with Lithuania in the FIBA qualifying tournament during the offseason. Hes still learning the NBA game, getting fully accustomed to his surroundings and most importantly finding his way as a player. None of that is lost of Casey, who refuses to put the cart before the horse when it comes to the development of his young centre. "I told him to stay with it," Casey said after Valanciunas logged just 17 minutes in Tuesdays win over Cleveland. "Right now hes pressing so much. [I] just told him to relax [and] play basketball." On account of their unexpected success this season the Raptors ultimate objective has been altered slightly. Although theyre now looking ahead to the playoffs and hoping to make some noise come April, their primary goal has not changed. Casey is still focused on developing his young players, namely Valanciunas and fellow sophomore Terrence Ross. "The hardest thing to do is to develop and win at the same time," Casey said. "Luckily weve got some wins and these guys are developing at the same time. Its the hardest thing to do because a lot of times theyre in there when they really dont deserve to, not as much lately but in the first part of the year." However, Casey wont coddle either sophomore with unconditional playing time. Valanciunas, like Ross, has had the opportunity to play and learn through his mistakes but the criteria for remaining on the floor long enough to do so has been made clear since the get go. "Offensively right now, hes not making his post moves, but thats going to come," Casey said. "Get some sweat shots, get some tip-ins, go to the offensive boards, screen. Do some of the sweat jobs and that will help him get his rhythm in the post." The process is gradual and, as Casey reminds us, its not going to happen overnight. Valanciunas possesses the ability, the desire and the work ethic to be a top tier NBA centre but its not going to happen in the middle of his second season. It takes time and no one in the Raptors organization will rush him. For now, Valanciunas is a matchup play. His minutes will continue to be sporadic as Casey leans on quicker, more experienced and versatile defenders in Johnson and Patterson some nights, depending on the opponent and whichever version of Valanciunas comes to play. Through it all, he cant lose focus and most importantly he cant lose his confidence. Hes got to keep his head up - on and off the floor - continue to work and learn whether hes in the game or on the bench. The Raptors are exercising patience with their young big man but he needs to be patient with himself. Yeezy For Sale . Less than 24 hours after the Wolves lost at home to the Mavericks, 100-98, NBA president of basketball operations Rod Thorn announced Tuesday that Kevin Love was fouled on his right arm by Shawn Marion in the closing seconds and should have been awarded two free throws. Replica Yeezy . So true. It is one thing to create a winning football team, and another to keep it winning. Each and every week it changes. The NFL creates a unique interest of not who is "the best", but much more who is "the best this week". https://www.wholesaleyeezyauthentic.com/ .Y. -- It was as if Matt Moulson never left the New York Islanders. Yeezy 700 Outlet . A groundswell for raising the number of playoff qualifiers to seven in each conference figures to get plenty of support from the 32 owners. Most notably, Arizonas Bill Bidwill, who saw his Cardinals go 10-6 and not get in, while Green Bay (8-7-1) qualified by winning the NFC North. Cheap Yeezy . According to a report from ESPN, the Green Bay Packers have re-signed the cornerback to a four-year, $39 million deal with a $12.NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- Simona Halep doesnt speak perfect English, but she knew what words to use when describing her game at the New Haven Open. "I played very beautiful tennis today," Halep said. "I was enjoying every moment." The 21-year-old Romanian dominated defending champion Petra Kvitova 6-2, 6-2 Saturday to win the final WTA tuneup for next weeks U.S. Open. Halep earned her fourth career win, but her first in a premiere tournament. All have come since June. The 23rd-ranked player improved to 29-5 in her last 34 matches (31-5 counting qualifying matches). "Im just enjoying every match," she said. "I try my best and Im more aggressive now. I hit the ball stronger than before. I just take pleasure and Im relaxed on court." She broke the 2011 Wimbledon champion in four consecutive service games. The first break gave her a 3-2 lead in the first set. The fourth put her up 3-0 in the second as she took control of the match. Kvitova had a chance to take charge early in match, up 2-1 and 15-40 on Haleps serve. But Halep won the next three points to save that game. She was down 40-30 in the next game before getting her first service break when Kvitova sent a cross-court forehand just wide. "She played just really good shots in that moment," Kvitova said. "That was turning the match around, I think." The Czech star never recovered. Halep didnt give her a chance, committing just four unforced errors in the first set and one in the second set. She put in 74 per cent of her first serves and won 78 per cent of them. She converted four of her five break points. The ninth-ranked Kvitova was 0-for-4 on her break chances. She had 25 unforced errors and wonn just 32 of the matchs 90 points.dddddddddddd Halep closed the match by holding Kvitova without a point in the final game, serving an ace, dropping her racket and throwing her arms into the air. "Everything is perfect here," she said. The victory will move her to No. 19 when the rankings are released on Monday. Her run through New Haven also included victories over Daniela Hantuchova, Carla Suarez Navarro, Ekaterina Makarova and four-time New Haven champion Caroline Wozniacki. Halep has played in the U.S. Open three times, making it to the second round twice. She hopes to do better this time. "I think I will play good there also," she said. "I just want to be relaxed because its good feeling now, good moment for me. I want just to live this great moment." She took home $117,000 along with the trophy. Kvitova, who earned $62,300, was trying to win the same tournament in consecutive years for the first time in her career. "It was first time for me to defend a title and be in the final," she said. "Thats a good sign actually for me. I will try to take the positive things from this tournament because it was great matches for me." The tournament, which began as a mens event in 1990, faces an uncertain future. Its five biggest sponsors are in the final year of their three-year deals. Attendance has been steadily declining. Just 45,796 fans attended this week, down from 76,480 in 2010, the last year the ATP players were also here, and 53,004 a year ago. But Anne Worcester, the tournaments director, said ticket revenue actually increased over last year, and she is optimistic sponsorship deals will be finalized to keep the event in New Haven. ' ' '