2016年5月30日星期一

Thunder vs. Warriors Game 7 will define this generation of the NBA

As you know by now, the Oklahoma City Thunder will take on the Golden State Warriors on Monday night in a sudden-death matchup to determine who will represent the Western Conference in the NBA Finals.where to buy cheapest sports jerseys with free shipping
The contest itself carries unprecedented levels of hype for a non-NBA Finals game -- not just because of the intense, biblical nature of this series, but the era-defining narratives at stake for the teams, players and coaches involved.where to buy cheapest sports jerseys with free shipping

For the Thunder
Monday night is an opportunity to prove, once and for all, that they can seal the deal when it matters most.
Since falling to LeBron’s Heat in the 2012 Finals and trading James Harden to Houston that summer, Oklahoma City has always seemed to be “one piece away.” Whether you think the franchise successfully obtained this “piece” between 2012 and today is a separate conversation. However, the fact remains that the Thunder have not returned to the NBA championship series since their 2012 defeat despite the evolution of Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook into perennial superstars.
Ravaged by debilitating season-ending injuries to key players during the past three seasons, the Thunder have recovered and resurrected into a powerhouse -- featuring two of the five best basketball players in the world -- which makes what they did this regular season all the more confusing:
What you’re looking at are 13 games this regular season where the Thunder led after three quarters and ultimately ended up losing. It didn’t matter ifOKC was up by 35. The sentiment around Chesapeake Energy Arena this regular season was that no lead is safe.NBA playoffs
Fast-forward to the playoffs, and the Thunder are a completely different team -- not only coming back from fourth-quarter deficits but consistently expanding late advantages. That was true until Saturday night, when the proverbial monkey latched itself onto OKC’s back once again under the lights of Game 6.NBA playoffs
Want to cleanse yourselves of this narrative and all of the “Choklahoma” and “Oklahoma City Blunder” nicknames the media has assigned you for the rest of the decade? Go win Game 7.amynfljerseys.ru   NBA playoffs   NBA playoffs
Does Durant want to shed the comparisons to Patrick Ewing, Karl Malone, Allen Iverson and Charles Barkley as the best basketball player of his generation to never win a title? Go win Game 7.
Do you want a little re-assurance that Westbrook and Durant are going to re-sign after their contracts expire (this summer for Durant, next summer for Westbrook)? Go win Game 7.

For the Warriors
A chance at basketball immortality is at stake.
After a 2015-16 campaign where it’s easier to find records that Golden Statedidn’t break rather than ones they did, the one test the Warriors never truly faced until this 2016 Western Conference finals was adversity.
You want to say the Warriors got “lucky” last year facing a bunch of injury-riddled teams en route to the championship? Then the answer is no, Steph Curry missing a couple games against the lifeless, underachieving Houston Rockets and “how the hell are they here?” Portland Trail Blazers does not qualify as “adversity.”   NBA jerseys  NBA jerseys  NBA jerseys  NBA jerseys
What does qualify is a 3-1 series deficit against a team that uses its superior physicality and athleticism to dominate every aspect of the game against every opponent it's faced this season. Whether Curry is currently “70 percent” or not does not matter -- something hurts inside of every player at this point in the season -- but the fact that his team has come out on top two games in a row with its all-world point guard performing at a less-than-mediocre level (for his standards) is what this Golden State team will be remembered for.
Not the 2015 title.
Not the 73-win season.
Not the record-shattering shooting numbers.amynfljerseys.ru
But the seven-point deficit the Warriors overcame in Game 6, with less than five minutes left on the clock, in one of the most hostile sports atmospheres you will ever see.
We’ve seen amazing comebacks before, but with Golden State it’s theway they come back, launching shots that shouldn’t even be attempted in NBA Jam. It’s the way they are re-defining how to successfully play basketball.amynfljerseys.ru
Yes, they will not only need to take Game 7 but also win a second straight Finals against a worthy Cleveland Cavaliers foe to cement this hypothesis and everything they’ve accomplished these past two seasons. However, if Golden State does, we will not only be talking about this team setting the bar of originality and perseverance for the remainder of this era in the NBA, but also how the Warriors stamped an unparalleled legacy on the report card of professional sports’ greatest teams.where to buy cheapest sports jerseys with free shipping
Game 7 isn’t just a basketball game; the future of the league is on the line. While it’s near impossible to predict who will come out on top, one thing is for certain: If the Thunder are not the perfect storm they’ve been this entire postseason, the Warriors will be the ones who make it reign.where to buy cheapest sports jerseys with free shipping     amynfljerseys.ru   amynfljerseys.ru

2016年5月29日星期日

Kerr to Knicks? How Warriors’ last Game 7 altered NBA dynamic

The last Game 7 played by the Warriors turned out to have major ramifications for three teams — Golden State, the Knicks and the ABC/ESPN No. 1 broadcasting team.
It was two years ago in Los Angeles in the first round against the Clippers. Mark Jackson was the Warriors’ head coach. Steve Kerr was amid negotiations with the Knicks to become their head coach.where to buy cheapest sports jerseys with free shipping
The domino effect of the Warriors’ 126-121 loss to the Clippers was profound. With Golden State eliminated, Warriors owner Joe Lacob fired Jackson. The Warriors contacted Kerr’s agent, Mike Tannenbaum, who told them the deal with the Knicks was not done.where to buy cheapest sports jerseys with free shipping
Kerr met with the Warriors, fell in love and backed out of a verbal agreement with Knicks president Phil Jackson to become Golden State’s coach — five victories away from a second straight title. Jackson settled for Derek Fisher, who flopped, and now is ready to announce the hiring of Jeff Hornacek.cheap replica jerseys  cheap replica jerseys  cheap replica jerseys
Mark Jackson? He returned to the popular national broadcasting team of ex-Knicks coach Jeff Van Gundy and Mike Breen, and the trio didn’t miss a beat. They will call the NBA Finals. Jackson, who developed the Splash Brothers, declined comment, but Van Gundy said, “I know deciding games bring about changes and emotional decisions by the losing team.” 

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Had the Warriors won Game 7, Kerr almost assuredly would have coached the Knicks as Jackson would have been retained. Stephen Curry lobbied to keep Jackson.
“I’ve been in one [Game 7] so far in my career, and it didn’t turn out the way we wanted to,” Curry said. “We have another opportunity to get the job done Monday.”
Kerr had no reason to bring up 2014’s Game 7 to the players at Sunday’s meeting.where to buy cheapest sports jerseys with free shipping
“None of the staff was here except [development coach] Chris DeMarco,” Kerr said. “We didn’t discuss that.”

2016年5月18日星期三

Undrafted Titans rookie “retires” from the NFL


Last week, cornerback Morgan Burns signed with the Titans after not being drafted. This week, Burns has “retired” from the NFL.amynfljerseys.ru
“Morgan Burns will be retiring from the NFL today to pursue a career in ministry,” agent Brandon Smart told Terry McCormick of TitanInsider.com. “He appreciates the opportunity the Titans gave him.”2016 nfl draft jerseys
Burns is leaving the NFL for a noble calling. However, how can a guy who was clinging to the bottom of a 90-man roster call his decision to exit pro football a week after starting his career a “retirement”? He got a taste of the NFL at rookie minicamp, and he decided it’s not for him. Period.
Burns didn’t retire. He quit. And that’s fine. But neither he nor his agent (or anyone else) should call it anything other than what it is.

2016年5月3日星期二

At the N.F.L. Draft, Ezekiel Elliott Brings Back the Crop Top

Ezekiel Elliott of Ohio State with his mother, Dawn, and father, Stacy, at the N.F.L. draft in Chicago on Thursday. Ezekiel Elliott
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In recent years, the first day of the N.F.L. draft has turned into something of a fashion moment, with players (and their families) posing on the red carpet, often in tailored suiting, and “best and worst of the N.F.L. draft” fashion lists circulating online.2016 nfl draft jerseys
So it was little wonder that, just before everything kicked off in Chicago on Thursday, the designer Philipp Plein, a runway “king of bling” with big plans for the American market, announced that he had signed Braxton Miller, a wide receiver for Ohio State, to be a brand ambassador, and that Mr. Miller would wear Philipp Plein to the draft.
Unfortunately for Mr. Plein, Mr. Miller did not get selected on Day 1, so his Plein outfit was not displayed onstage. Instead, it was Ezekiel Elliott of Ohio State, chosen by the Dallas Cowboys with the fourth pick, who made the most fashion waves.2016 nfl draft jerseys
Mr. Elliott made his entrance in a custom Pantheon Limited powder-blue tux jacket with white lapels, white trousers, white pocket square, white bow tie — and a checked button-down crop top. The better to display some perfectly toned abs.nfl draft pick
Twitter promptly got so overexcited that Mr. Elliott’s look became its own “Twitter moment.”nfl rookies
According to Ian Rapoport of the NFL Network, the shirt was not an nfl rookie jerseys attempt to promote a male version of Gigi Hadid and Kendall Jenner’s favorite look — nor one that Rihanna has been pushing via her Fenty x Puma line — but instead a political statement: a veiled reference to the N.C.A.A.’s decision in 2015 to bar college players from wearing crop-top jerseys (which are actually jerseys that have been rolled up and folded under the pads) during games. It was a look that was popular in the 1970s and again in the 1990s, courtesy of the 1995 Heisman Trophy winner Eddie George (who also played for Ohio State), and one that Mr. Elliott helped revive.where to buy cheapest sports jerseys with free shipping
Apparently, the rolled-up jerseys had the dual advantages of giving opponents less fabric to grab when attempting a tackle, and of providing the player with some extra ventilation. And, you cannot ignore the personal branding possibilities.amynfljerseys.ru
Mr. Elliott certainly did not. He was such a proponent of the style that last year he applied to trademark the phrases “Hero in a half shirt” and “In crop top we trust.” His Twitter profile contains the identification line “The hero in a half shirt,” and his red-carpet tweet on draft day carried the hashtag: #savethehalfshirt.
He is clearly thinking ahead to the creation of Brand Zeke, pursuing a strategy in which fashion increasingly plays a part when it comes to athletes of all sports (see: David Beckham, LeBron James).
In any case, Mr. Elliott was not the only one who was dismayed by the N.C.A.A. decision last year: A petition created at the time on the website Change.org received 11,809 signatures. This suggests that if Mr. Elliott decided to take what he has identified as his signature garment to the next level, there might be a built-in consumer base.
Whether any man other than an athlete with extraordinary abs should wear a crop top, on the red carpet or off, is, of course, another question. One that, if the look continues to trend, we may all have to answer.
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