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The college football seoff 13 weeks from tonightenough away that fans beyear will be different for t

And at 10 schools in pathe optimism comes with

Sporting News Todaycofootball writers Dave CurtMatt Hayes list their picks

most improved teams:

The big threeWith the NBA draft only threeweeks away, a look at the top threepicks in Sean Deveneys latestmock draft:

1.L.A. Clippers,Blake Griffin, PF,Oklahoma

2.Memphis,Ricky Rubio, PG,

Spain

3.Oklahoma City,Hasheem Thabeet, C,Connecticut

NBA DRAFT

GAME 1: ORLANDO AT L.A. LAKERS 9 ET TONIGHT, ABC

NBA FINALS

Complete mock draft, Page 6

Collison Q&A, Page 6

Malkin maturing, Page 12

Teams on the rise, Pa

DETROIT AT PITTSBURGH8 ET tonight, Versus

Jump on thebandwagon

STANLEY CUP FINALS

THURSDAYJUNE 4, 2009

SEE A DIFFERENT GAME

VOLUME 1 ISSUE 317

ScoreboardBaseballAmerican League

Boston 10, Detroit 5

Texas 4, N.Y. Yankees 2

L.A. Angels 8, Toronto 1

Tampa Bay 9, Kansas City 0

Cleveland 10, Minnesota 1

Oakland 5, Chicago White Sox 3

Seattle 3, Baltimore 2

National League

N.Y. Mets at Pittsburgh, ppd., rain

San Francisco at Washington, ppd., rain

Chicago Cubs 3, Atlanta 2, 11 innings

Milwaukee 9, Florida 6

Houston 6, Colorado 4

Cincinnati 9, St. Louis 3

Philadelphia 5, San Diego 1

L.A. Dodgers 1, Arizona 0

SoccerWorld Cup qualifier

Costa Rica 3, United States 1

MLB > 15 NFL > 25 NBA > 7 NHL > 12 NASCAR > 32 COLLEGE FOOTBALL > 29 COLLEGE BASKETBALL > 30 NBA DRAFT > 6QUICK LINKS:

DAVIDZALUBOWSKI/AP

Curtis:1. Washington. For starte

Huskies cant get any wafter an 0-12 catastrop2008. New coach Stevehas a healthy QB Jake Lto transform the offensembarrassing to respe

2. Arkansas

3. Illinois4. Auburn

5. Southern Miss

Hayes:

1. UCLA. A lack of healthyeffective) quarterbackthe Bruins in 2008. Couredshirt freshman Kevierasing those nightmaoffensive gurus Rick Nand Norm Chow.

2 . SMU3. Colorado

4. Oklahoma State

5. N.C. State

Talking Cowboys

What does AmericasTeam need to return todominance? A foot up theirbutts, says one Cowboyslegend. Jerry Jones to notplay G.M., says another. Hallof Famers Tony Dorsettand Rayfield Wright share

more Cowboy concernswith SN Today, Page 25

All wet

Johnsons try at 300washed away, willtry again todayPage 18

School passBY SEAN DEVENEY

[email protected]

College? Who needs college?One thing about this years NBA

Finals: The top players arent heavyon NCAA experience. In fact, one ofthe best players in this series saysThe Finals are evidence that theleague should change the rule pro-hibiting players from jumping to theNBA from high school.

I think its most definitely unfair,Magic forward Rashard Lewis toldSNToday. If a guy has the chance to com-

pete against NBA players, they shouldgo ahead and let him compete.

Lewis has seen that throughoutthe playoffs. Playing against LeBron James in the Eastern Conferencefinals, the guy that averaged 40points on us, Lewis said. ... TheMVP of the entire league didnt go tocollege.

Neither did most of the 10 bestplayers in The Finals. Have a look:

1.Kobe Bryant. Was just 17 whenhe started his NBA career,

which has been rather fruitful inLos Angeles.

2.Dwight Howard. Says Hall ofFame center Nate Thurmond:

Theres no question, hes the nextgreat one at his position.

3.Pau Gasol. Came over to theNBA from Spain and now

figures to be the key to a Lakerschampionship.

4.Rashard Lewis. Hard to believethat he fell to the second round

out of high school when he wasdrafted in 1998.

5.Hedo Turkoglu. Hes 6-10 andpossesses a deft shooting touch

as well as keen passing ability.

6.Lamar Odom. First guy on this listto have been to college.

7.Andrew Bynum. Came out of highschool in 2005 at age 17.

8.Trevor Ariza. He was slammedfor leaving UCLA after one

year, but hes made good.

9.

Mickael Pietrus. A lottery pick out

of France in 2003, he has becomean important defensive stopper.

10.Courtney Lee. Finally, a playerwho stayed four years in

college. Lee was the 22nd pick lastyear. Being a senior hurt me in thedraft, Lee said. Teams dont seem tolike players who stay in college.

CHRIS OMEARA / AP CHRIS CARLSON / AP

Nate Thurmond calls Dwight Howard, above,

the next great center.

Kobe Bryant was passed over by 12 teams in

the 96 draft before Charlotte picked him.

Finals prove players dontneed college on their resume

Deveney picks Lakers in 7, Page 7
mailto:[email protected]:[email protected]

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SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com THURSDAY, JUNE 04, 2009See a Different Game

Tune In Today Bucks wit gets starring role in new HBO sho

GUIDEGOLF

10 a.m.TGCEuropeanPGA Tour, WalesOpen, first round, atNewport, Wales1 p.m.TGCNationwide

Tour, PrinceGeorges CountyOpen, first round, atMitchellville, Md.

3 p.m.TGCPGA Tour,

The MemorialTournament, firstround, at Dublin,Ohio

MAJOR LEAGUE

LACROSSE

9:30 p.m.ESPN2Torontoat Washington(same-day tape)

NBA BASKETBALL9 p.m.

ABCPlayoffs,finals, Game 1,Orlando at L.A.Lakers

NHL HOCKEY

8 p.m.VERSUSPlayoffs,Stanley Cup finals,Game 4, Detroit atPittsburgh

SOCCER7:30 p.m.

ESPN2MLS, NewYork at D.C. United

TENNIS

8 a.m.ESPN2FrenchOpen, womenssemifinals, at Paris

BASKETBALL

Magic at Lakers9 p.m., ABC

Network execs get their Kobe-LeBron matchup in commercial breaks, whenthe pairs Most Valuable Puppet ads run. On the court, the Magic are, again, the

underdog against a team they dominated in the regular season. Dwight Howardand the gang won both games they played against the Lakers in 2008-09 andaveraged 107.5 points in the process. That may not seem like much, but the Magichad similar success against Cleveland and found a way to translate the regularseason to the postseason.

HOCKEY

Red Wings at Penguins8 p.m., Versus

This series is where it should be, Red Wings coach Mike Babcock said after thePenguins 4-2 win in Game 3. Hed knowso far, the finals have followed the sametemplate as last year, when Detroit dropped Game 3 but went on to win the Cup insix games. Tonight is a chance for the Penguins to build their momentum at home,send the series back to Detroit 2-2. Detroit, meanwhile, hopes to have MVP finalistPavel Datsyuk back in the lineup after he missed the first three games.

GOLF

The Memorial Tournament1 p.m., The Golf Channel

Tiger Woods has won Jack Nicklaus tournament at Muirfield Village three times. Thatsnot surprising. The other three-time champ in the field, though, is someone you may notexpectKenny Perry. The 48-year-old, 15-time Tour winner took home f irst place in 1991,2003 and last year. On Wednesday, the battle for a fourth win kicked off earlyWoodsburned Perry on the final hole of the Skins Game with a 12-foot putt.

Compiled by Sean Gentille

BY JOHN OURAND

SportsBusiness Journal

Viewers accustomed to Costas Now on HBOprobably wont recognize its replacement, JoeBuck Live, when it launches June 15.

In fact, viewers also probably will find it diffi-

cult to recognize the shows host, Joe Buck, bestknown as Foxs top play-by-play man on MajorLeague Baseball and the NFL. Thats becauseBuck will step out of character for a show thatwill be equal par ts comedy and interviews.

The hidden secret of Joe Buck, for those of uswho have been around him and seen him per-form at the Sports Emmys every year, is that hehas a very dry and unique wit, HBO Sportspresident Ross Greenburg said. That is some-thing that the American public hasnt seen yet.Theyll be surprised and amused.

The one-hour show, taping four times a year,will be heavy on comedy. HBO has hired twowriters and already shot some skits for its first

effort.Bucks sense of humor first attracted Greenburgto giving him a shot to replace Bob Costas, whogave up his critically acclaimed HBO show for anon-air role at MLB Network. To help draw out thatwit, Greenburg has hired Peter Mehlman, whowas executive producer ofSeinfeld, and Jon Glaser,the creator and star ofDelocated, a live-action com-edy on Cartoon Networks Adult Swim.

Im not always going to lean toward thefunny, Buck said. But I think I can at timesentertain and at times amuse. Im not going toshy away from that. My No. 1 priority is going to be, How good was the interview and what didwe learn from it?

Filming live in front of a studio audience sprin-kled with celebrities, HBO plans to showcaseBuck by having him interact with the audience.Like Costas Now, each of Bucks shows will have atheme. The first looks at the intersection of celeb-rity and sports, which will lead to several come-dic bits.

The first show will include a skit with WillFerrells Funny or Die web site that will runbefore a panel discussion. The skit will go behindthe scenes at HBO sister company TMZ to

present a mock version of how the gossip sitedevelops its sports-related stories.

It will be tongue-in-cheek, with cameosfrom athletes mocking the entire way itunfolds, Greenburg said. Its hard todescribe, but it adds a lot of humor. Thencoming out of that piece, were going to try

and line up some real comedic talent.The first show will conclude with ataped package called I Refuse to Hyper-ventilate that will be Bucks unique take oncertain sports stories.

The show also will be heavy on inter-views, with HBO hoping tomake headlines from someof the answers Buck elicitsfrom guests.

Three weeks beforelaunch, producers werefinalizing the debut showsguest lineup.

Buck said his wish list

includes athletes, such asBrett Favre and Alex Rodri-guez, league executivessuch as Roger Goodell andBud Selig, and actors suchas Alec Baldwin and SethRogen.

Buck said he doesntpattern his interviewingstyle after anyone in par-ticular, but he admiresthe way David Lettermanconducts interviews.

Hes the best becausehe actually listens, Buck

said. Hes not worriedabout one-upping what yousay. He wants you to tell yourstory.

Thats the kind of feel I want toget. I dont want to act like ImMorley Safer. But Im not goinginto it as Carrot Top. Im some-where in the middle there.

John Ourand writes for SportsBusiness Journal.

E-mail him at [email protected] ADRI

Joe Buck Live, premJune 15 on HBO, winclude sports-cencomedy sketches interviews.

A quick look at the bestsports on TV

all times Eastern
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Terrell Owens search for a place to live in theBuffalo area hit an apparent snag.

Late Tuesday night, the Bills receiver posteda message on his Twitter.com site which readthat hes tripping about residents who wontrent a home to him in Orchard Park becausethey (dont) want any drama n their neigh-borhood!! LOL!!! Wow!!.

The place in question is a six-bedroomhome at 1 Deer Run in Orchard Park that listsfor $489,397. Its also available for rent.

Real estate agent Bob Wozniak disputedOwens complaint. Wozniak said Owens hasyet to tour the home and said his clients are

more than happy for the receiver to do so.

SNY employee isolatedA SportsNet New York employees flu-like

symptoms has prompted concerns about theswine flu in a Mets clubhouse that has seentwo players with the stomach virus in thepast several days, the Newark Star-Ledgerreported. The Mets wouldnt identify theSNY employee, but a Star-Ledgersource closeto the situation said it is a member of the

networks technical staff. The employee has been isolated from the team and is beingtested for the H1N1 virus.

Quick hitsCardinals manager Tony LaRussa sued Twit-

ter, claiming he had suffered significantemotional distress (and) damage to reputa-tion because of a fake page established underhis name at the website. He is suing for trade-mark infringement, trademark dilution andmisappropriation of name and likeness.

Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison are joining

NBCs Sunday night NFL studio show. Har-rison retired from the NFL Wednesday.

Converse, collaborating with AC/DC andMetallica, will launch a collection of rockmusic-themed versions of its iconic ChuckTaylor All Star shoes, SportsBusiness Journalreported. The shoes will be available at spe-cialty retailers, department stores and Con-verse.com for retail for $50-80.

SportsBusiness Daily,sportsbusinessdaily.com

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com THURSDAY, JUNE 04, 2009My Profile

Bernard BerrianVikings wide receiver

(What you wont find on Facebook even if you are approved as a fr

Born: Dec. 27, 1980, atSpains Torrejon Air ForceBase (outside of Madrid)

Status: SingleAlma mater: Fresno StateWhats on TV: Martin, The Fresh

Prince of Bel-Air, 24, Heroes,Weeds, Dexter, 1st and 10, Pardonthe Interruption

Whats in my iPod: Pretty muchanythingfrom Bob Marley toMGMT to Tupac

What I drive: A GMC Denali, butIm in the process of purchasingnew Audi R8.

Favorite flicks: The Exorcist,Hal-loween, Friday the 13th, The LastDragon, Memoirs of a Geisha,every Friday movie, HarlemNights, Coming to America, Men-ace II Society,Boyz n the Hood

What Im reading: The BibleMagazine subscriptions: GQ,

EbonyWorst habit: Planning trips at

the last minuteOn my office walls: There is noth-

ing up on my walls but paint! Imin the process of designing myhome office.

Love to trade places for a day with Barack Obama. I would loveto witness first-hand the chal-lenges that come with being thefirst president of color.

First job: Age 24, when I drafted to the Chicago Bears

Talent Id most like to have: I thits a tie. Id love to write mand Ive always wanted to dwell.

Favorite meal: My momokra and gumbo. I LOVE FOand Ill eat just about anythionce put down a 32-oz. stand then ordered dessert ate it all.

Favorite athlete to watch in ansport: Michael JordanFavorite city to visit: Viva

Vegas. I fall in love every tigo.

Favorite teams as a kid: The cago Bulls and the SF 49ers

Favorite values in others: Honhumility, sense of humor, sof humor, sense of humor, fabearing, spiritual, charismat

Dream date: Any woman can make me fall in love at sight

My greatest love: My family

daughter and The Lord saviorMy heroes: Father and MothMy bucket list: Travel to as m

historical locations as possibMy motto: Never look back

Jeff D

OFF THE FIELD

LOL: T.O. says residents dont want him in building

Terrell Owens has his eye on a six-bedroom home in Orchard Park, N.Y., that lists for nearly $500,000.

DAVIDDUPREY/ AP

ANDYKING/AP
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AMERICAN LEAGUE

Seattle 3, Baltimore 2Philadelphia 5, San Diego 1 L.A. Dodgers 1, Arizona 0

Ichiro streak reaches Howard HRs, Romero returns Dodgers up West lead to 9 gamesSEATTLEFranklin Gutierrez

tripled with one out in the bot-tom of the ninth before Adrian

Beltre singled him home, send-ing the Seattle Mariners to a 3-2victory over the Baltimore Ori-oles on Wednesday night.

Gutierrezs drive banged offthe top of the wall in left-centerjust beyond the reach of leapingcenter fielder Adam Jones. JimJohnson (2-3) then intentionallywalked both Ichiro Suzuki,who had earlier extended hishitting streak to 27 games, andRussell Branyan to load thebases for Beltre.

Johnson fell behind 3-1 on 96

mph fastballs before the crowdof 18,650 stood and roared. Ona third 3-2 pitch, Beltre lined asingle into left field out of thereach of drawn-in shortstopCesar Izturis.

Johnson, hes got great stuff,thats 96 m.p.h. and its drop-ping off the table; to have an at-bat like that and give your teama win, its a credit to Adrian,said Seattle manager DonWakamatsu.

Beltre raised both arms incelebrationthen kept running

past first base and into centerfield, with jubilant teammateschasing him into a dog pile.

Closer David Aardsma (2-2)pitched a scoreless ninth forSeattle, which won for the fifthtime in seven games.

The Associated Press

SAN DIEGOAfter Ryan How-ard and J.A. Happ did theirthing, J.C Romero finally made

his season debut for the Phila-delphia Phillies.Howard hit a two-run homer

and Happ threw seven score-less innings to lead Philadel-phia to a 5-1 win over the SanDiego Padres on Wednesdaynight, the Phillies sixth straightwin.

Romero returned from his50-game suspension for testingpositive for a banned substance.The lefthander pitched 1 1-3innings, allowing an unearnedrun on two hits, a walk and a

passed ball by Chris Conte.I was disappointed with myouting, but Im glad its overand done with, Romero said.

Romero, who earned twowins in Philadelphias WorldSeries victory over Tampa Baylast year, retired left-handerBrian Giles opening the ninth,then made way for Ryan Mad-son. Romero pumped his fistand gazed skyward as hewalked to the dugout, where hereceived handshakes from histeammates. Romero came on to

open the eighth with a 5-0 lead.He allowed Ecksteins RBI sin-gle with one out. After walkingAdrian Gonzalez, the majorleague home run leader with22, Romero got Kevin Kouz-manoff to line out to shortstop Jimmy Rollins, who doubledEckstein off second to end theinning.


LOS ANGELESChad Billing-

sley scattered four hits oversix innings, Casey Blake hita sacrifice fly and the LosAngeles Dodgers beat theArizona Diamondbacks 1-0on Wednesday night.

Billingsley (7-3) struckout nine and walked four,rebounding strongly afterback-to-back losses againstthe Angels and Cubs. Therighthander has allowedno more than two earnedruns in eight of his 12 startsthis season.

Ramon Troncosoescaped a jam in the eighthwhen shortstop RafaelFurcal fielded MiguelMonteros sharp grounderwith runners at the cor-ners and stepped on sec-ond base before completingan inning-ending doubleplay. Jonathan Broxtonpitched a perfect ninth for

his 13th save in 15 games,

completing the combinedseven-hitter and securingthe Dodgers second 1-0win this season.

Its just about the per-sonality of this club, Man-ager Joe Torre told the Los Angeles Times. Weveplayed a lot of close games.Weve played a lot of one-run games.

Jon Garland (4-5) yieldedone run and four hits andstruck out six in his DodgerStadium debut.

Garland and Billingsleymatched zeros until thesixth, when James Loneyhit his first triple of theseason past a diving Gara-rdo Parra near the left-fieldline and Blake followedwith his scoring flyball.


GUSRUELAS/AP

James Loney scores the games lone run on a sac fly by Casey Blake.

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Dodgers 1, Diamondbacks 0

Arizona AB R H BI BB SO Avg.F.Lopez2b 4 0 1 0 0 1 .307G.Parra lf 4 0 0 0 0 3 .299J.Uptonrf 3 0 1 0 1 1 .322S.Drewss 4 0 2 0 0 2 .231Reynolds 3b-1b 3 0 1 0 1 1 .259Monteroc 3 0 1 0 1 1 .221C.Youngcf 3 0 0 0 1 0 .172Whitesell 1b 3 0 0 0 0 2 .121Rauchp 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Zavadap 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---c-Byrnesph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .214Garlandp 2 0 1 0 0 0 .048a-R.Roberts ph-b 0 0 0 0 .58Totals 32 0 7 0 4 12

Los Angeles AB R H B I B B S O Avg.Pierre lf 3 0 0 0 1 1 .371Furcal ss 4 0 0 0 0 2 .244Loney1b 3 1 1 0 1 0 .284Blake3b 2 0 0 1 0 0 .295Ethier rf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .262Martinc 3 0 1 0 0 2 .267Kempcf 3 0 1 0 0 0 .310J.Castro2b 2 0 0 0 1 1 .326Billingsleyp 1 0 1 0 0 0 .240

Belisariop 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000b-Hoffmannph 1 0 0 0 0 0 .167Troncoso p 0 0 0 0 0 0 .000Broxtonp 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 25 1 5 1 3 6

Arizona 000 000 000 0 7 0Los Angeles 0 00 001 00x 1 5 0

a-groundedoutfor Garlandin the7th.b-poppedoutfor Belisarioin the7th.c-grounded outforZavadain the9th.LOB:Arizona9, LosAngeles5.3B: Loney (1).RBIs: Blake (35).SB: J.Upton(7).CS: Ethier (1).S: Billingsley.SF: Blake.Runnersleftin scoringposition:Arizona5(G.Parra,Whi-tesell2,C.Young, Montero);LosAngeles3 (Furcal3).DP:Arizona1 (F.Lopez,Reynolds);LosAngeles2(Blake, Loney),(Furcal, Loney).

Arizona IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAGarlandL,4-5 6 4 6 98 5.4Rauch 0 0 0 0 0 5.70Zavada 0 0 0 0 0 0.00

Los Angeles IP H R E R BB SO NP ERABillingsley W, 7- 6 4 0 0 4 9 .59BelisarioH, 7 0 0 0 5 .TroncosoH, 0 0 0 0 .8Broxton S, -5 0 0 0 0 .

Umpires:Home,AngelCampos;First,GerryDavis;Second,BrianGorman; Third,C.B.Bucknor. T:2:46.A:33,804(56,000).

Mariners 3, Orioles 2

Baltimore AB R H B I BB.Roberts2b 4 0 0 0Ad.Jones cf 4 1 1 0

Markakis rf 4 0 1 0A.Huff 1b 4 0 3 0Mora3b 4 0 1 0Scott dh 4 1 2 2Wieters c 3 0 0 0Reimold lf 3 0 1 0C.Izturis ss 3 0 1 0Totals 33 2 10 2

Seattle AB R H BI BI.Suzuki rf 3 1 1 0Branyan1b 2 0 0 0Beltre 3b 5 1 3 3Griffey Jr. dh 4 0 1 0-En.Chavez pr-dh 0 0 0 0Jo.Lopez2b 4 0 0 0Y.Betancourt ss 4 0 1 0Ro.Johnsonc 3 0 1 0Cedeno lf 3 0 0 0F.Gutierrez cf 3 1 2 0Totals 31 3 9 3

Baltimore 010 001 000

Seattle 002 000 001

OneoutwhenwinningrunscoredJr.inthe8th.E:Beltre(8). LOB: Btle11.2B:Scott(7),Beltre(12). 3HR:Scott(12),offVargas;Beltre(RBIs:Scott2(32),Beltre3 (25).I.Suzuki, Cedeno.Runnersleft ition:Baltimore2 (Wieters2); Se2, Beltre3). DP: Baltimore 1 (A.Huff); Seattle3 (Vargas,Y.Betan(Y.Betancourt, Jo.Lopez, BranyaRo.Johnson,Y.Betancourt).

Baltimore IP H R ERBergesen 7 5 Ji.Johnson L, - 13 4 Seattle IP H R ERVargas 5 13 8 Jak ubausk as BS ,- 2 3 0 0M.Lowe 0 0 0AardsmaW, - 0 0

Inherited runners-scored:2-1. IBB: off Ji.Johnson (I.SuzuBergesen (Branyan). HBP: byJohnson).Umpires:Home,TonyChrisGuccione; Second,ToddTichWinters. T:2:28.A:18,650(47,87

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com THURSDAY, JUNE 04, 2009Overnight Report

More MLB results, Page 20 Unit 300 try washed out, Page 18

Phillies 5, Padres 1

P hi la de lp hi a A B R H B I B B S O Av g.Rollins ss 5 1 1 0 0 1 .229Victorinocf 3 1 1 0 0 0 .300

Werthcf 2 1 1 1 0 0 .251Utley2b 4 0 1 0 1 0 .298Howard1b 3 1 1 2 2 1 .266Ibanez lf 5 1 1 1 0 0 .337Dobbs rf 4 0 2 0 0 0 .200Bruntlett rf 1 0 0 0 0 0 .135Feliz 3b 3 0 1 1 0 0 .298Costec 2 0 0 0 2 0 .246Happp 2 0 0 0 0 1 .000a-Stairsph 1 0 1 0 0 0 .303Romerop 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Madsonp 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Totals 35 5 10 5 5 3

San Diego AB R H BI B B SO Avg.Gwynncf 4 0 1 0 0 1 .297Eckstein2b 4 0 1 1 0 1 .242Ad.Gonzalez 1b 2 0 0 0 2 0 .289Kouzmanoff 3b 4 0 1 0 0 0 .224Giles rf 4 0 1 0 0 0 .196Hundley c 4 0 1 0 0 2 .244Venable lf 4 0 0 0 0 1 .000C.Burkess 2 0 0 0 1 0 .197C.Youngp 2 0 0 0 0 0 .273G.Burkep 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---Gregersonp 0 0 0 0 0 0 ---b-E.Gonzalez ph 1 1 1 0 0 0 .215Mujicap 0 0 0 0 0 0 1.000Totals 31 1 6 1 3 5

Phil ad elp hi a 2 00 100 200 5 10 0SanDiego 000 000 010 1 6 1

a-singledforHappinthe8th.b-singledforGreger-soninthe8th.E:Venable(1). LOB: Philadelphia10,San Diego 6. 2B: Victorino(14), Dobbs(2),Giles (9). HR: Howard (16), off C.Young. RBIs:Werth(27),Howard2(45),Ibanez(52),Feliz(28),Eckstein(16). SB:Rollins(10),Dobbs(1). S:Happ.SF:Feliz.Runnersleftin scoringposition:Phil-adelphia6 (Rollins4,Dobbs,Bruntlett);SanDiego4(C.Young 2,C.Burke, Kouzmanoff).DP:Philadel-phia2(Rollins,Utley,Howard),(Rollins,Utley);SanDiego1 (Eckstein,C.Burke,Ad.Gonzalez).

Phil ad elp hi a IP H R E R B B SO NP E RAHappW,4-0 7 4 0 0 4 .48Romero 13 0 5 0.00Madson 23 0 0 0 0 0 5 .9San Diego IP H R ER BB SO NP ERAC.YoungL, 4-4 6 5 95 4.46G.Burke 0 7 .08Gregerson 0 0 0 0 .45Mujica 0 0 0 .9

PB: Coste. Umpires: Home,Paul Emmel; First,GaryDarling;Second,BillHohn;Third,BruceDreck-man.T:2:51.A:15,436(42,691).
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SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com Next Gen

It appears Jake Heaps will be leaving hisin-state and childhood favorite collegeteam behind. The Salt Lake Tribunereported that Heaps will announce his

commitment to Brigham Young today.The quarterback will make anannouncement about his college planstoday at 4 p.m. ET. The Sammamish,Wash., signal-caller flew to UtahWednesday and is attending BYUs juniorday on Friday. Heaps is a member of theChurch of Latter-day Saints, the affiliatedsponsor of BYU.

Heaps is the top-rated quarterback inthe Sporting News Top 100 for the class of2010. The senior-to-be had recentlytrimmed his lengthly list of 26 schools toa top five: BYU, California, LSU, Tennes-see and childhood favorite Washington.

He spoke with Sporting News recentlyabout what he liked about BYU.I really love what Coach (Bronco) Mend-

enhall has done there, Heaps told SN.Theyre one of the winningest programsin the countryonly seven schools havewon more games than them the past fouryears. I just love the environment there,the offense is great, and obviously it is aschool of my faith (Mormon), so that is apositive.

Heaps is 28-0 as a starting quarterback, with two state championships. Hehas thrown for 6,005 yards the past twoseasons, with 69 touchdowns and only 11

interceptions.

His father is a legendary womens ten-nis coach at nearby Pitt, but Fox Chapel(Pittsburgh) OL Miles Dieffenbach is headingin a different directionPenn State.

Dieffenbach, a four-star prospect alsohad scholarship offers from Florida State,South Florida, Boston College, Virginia,Syracuse, Northwestern and Minnesota.

He made the decision after a recent visit

to the Penn State campus.Coach (Joe) Paterno has a good sense of

humor; hes very likeable and knowswhat hes talking about, Dieffenbachtold SN Today. One thing that stands outis how much he just loves to coach football. See, I committed right in front ofhim. I said, Coach, I thought it through

and I want to come here. He jumps rightup and starts clapping, and then hestarted roaring like a Lion. He said, Nowwere going to have to teach you to roarlike a Lion, Miles. Thats how he is.

Scout.com lists Dieffenbach (6-4, 285)as the No. 3 center prospect in the nation,and he is rated a four-star prospect bytwo recruiting services. He also couldplay guard.

He joins two five-star level recruits, QB

Paul Jones and WR Adrian Coxson, and twofour-star players, RB Silas Redd and LBMike Hull, as Penn State commitments for2010. Dieffenbachs father, Dr. George Dief-fenbach, has coached the womens tennisprogram at Pitt for the past 27 seasons.

Northeast Mississippi (Booneville,

Miss.) Community College DT John Brownhas committed to Tennessee, he toldRivals.com. He plans to play one seasonof junior college ball and sign with theVolunteers in December. He could be oncampus as early as next spring.

Brown (6-2, 285) signed with Florida in2007 and was on campus last year, but henever got on track with the Gators andleft this past semester.

Brian McLaughlin

RECRUITING DISH

SN100s top QB headed to BYU

CAROLYNKASTER/ AP

Joe Paterno landed the No. 3 center prospect, stealing Miles Dieffenbach from his hometown sc hool, Pitt.

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First-round mock draft

Sean Deveneys latest mock draft, after talkNBA general managers and other top decisionThe NBA draft is June 25 in New York.

Rank NBA Team Player Pos. Colleg

1. L.A. Clippers Blake Griffin PF Okla

2. Memphis Ricky Rubio PG Spain

3. Oklahoma City Hasheem Thabeet C Conn

4. Sacramento Jordan Hill PF Arizo

5. Washington Tyreke Evans G Mem

6. Mi nn esot a Bra ndon Jen nin gs PG Uni te

7. Golden State Jrue Holiday G UCLA

8. New York James Harden SG Arizo

9. Toronto DeMar DeRozan SG USC

10. Milwaukee Jonny Flynn PG Syrac

11. New Jersey DeJuan Blair PF Pitt

12. Charlotte Stephen Curry G David

13. Indiana Gerald Henderson SG Duke

14. Phoenix Chase Budinger G/F Arizo

15. Detroit Austin Daye F Gonz

16. Chicago James Johnson F Wake

17. Philadelphia Eric Maynor PG VCU

18.Minnesota(from Miami)

Earl Clark SF Louis

19. Atlanta Jeff Teague G Wake

20. Utah B.J. Mullens C Ohio

21. New Orlea ns Wayn e Elli ngto n SG Nor t

22. Dallas Derrick Brown F Xavie

23.Sacramento(from Houston)

Tyler Hansbrough PF North

24. Portland Rodrigue Beaubois PG Franc

25.Oklahoma City(from San Antonio)

Ty Lawson PG North

26.

Chicago(from Denver

through OKC)

Marcus Thornton SG LSU

27.Memphis(from Orlando)

Darren Collison PG UCLA

28.Minnesota(from Boston)

Vladimir Dasic SF Mont

29. L.A. Lakers Sam Young SF Pitt

30. Cleveland. Terrence Williams SG Louis

Darren Collison has been on the draft boards

of NBA teams ever since he put together an

outstanding NCAA Tournament performance

especially on the defensive endin 2006. Every

year, though, he chose to return to UCLA. Now,after his senior season, the NBA will no longer

wait, and Collison is preparing to enter the draft

for good. SN TodaysSean Deveney sat down with

Collison to talk about his past and his future.

Q:Whats your approach nowas the draft gets closer?A:This is it, basically. This is whatyouve been working yourwhole life for, and its a few weeks, soyou have to kind of go for it. Its anopportunity to be in the league withthe best players. I definitely want totake advantage.

Q:You could have come outafter your freshman year.And your sophomore year. Andyour junior year. What were thosedecisions like?

A:It was hard making thosedecisions, and, youre right, itwas a decision I had to make aftereach year. But I feel it is going to payoff for me right away. I think, withfour years at UCLA behind me, I amready to go in and play right away for ateam; they dont have to wait for me todevelop or learn.

Q:Your parents were bothworld-class sprinters, forGuyana. That helps explain yourspeed. But why is that you didntwant to pursue a track career?

A:I never really was interested intrack. When both of yourparents compete at that level, it makesyou want to find your own thing. I didnot want to just be in their shadow.

Q:You have a lot ofex-teammates in the NBA.

Do you stay in contact with them?

A:I talk to Kevin (Love) and Russ(Westbrook) all the time, and Luc(Mbah a Moute), too. They give meadvice, tell me what its like as far as thisprocess. Especially Luc. I talk to Luc alot. But all of those g uys are doing reallywell at the next level. I think a lot ofteams didnt think theyd be as good as

they were. But Russell, hes been great.Kevin Love is going to be one of the topplayers at his position, and Luc, he wasactually starting in Milwaukee.

Q:UCLA has had some playerslately.

A:The talent level that has beenplaying at UCLA over the lastfew years, that shows you how high ithas been. Arron Afflalo, he has been

coming along, and youve got guys likeJordan Farmar and Trevor Ariza goingfor a championship with the Lakers.

Q:You played with JrueHoliday this year and he

could wind up being a lottery pick.How do you see his situation?

A:Jrue is in a win-win situation.He can leave. NBA G.M.s seetalent in him, and he is definitelytalented and has a lot of potential. Hesa good kid. Whatever NBA team takeshim, he is going to do a good job off thecourt and on the court. But if hedecides to go back, he is going to be in agood position, he is going to get betteras a player. Its win-win for him.

Q: What teams saw you first?A:My first workouts were Chi-cago, Dallas and Cleveland.

Q:Playoff teams. Do you thinkyou are a guy who can go inand help a good team in need of abackup right away?

A:Yeah, that is what these teamsare looking for. They look at meand they know I played four years at ahigh level in college. They knew Icould have come into the NBA before.But they are looking for guys who can

come in and contribute now.

Q:Youre probably going to benear the bottom of the firstround, but the good side of that isyou could well go to a team that isnot too bad.

A:Whatever team I go to, chancesare, it is going to be one that has

had some success, a team that iswinning. I like that.

I am ready to go in and play right awayQ&A with PG Darren Collison

DANNYMOLOSHOK/AP

After four seasons at UCLA, Darren Collison is set to join several former Bruins teammates in the NBA.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com THURSDAY, JUNE 04, 2009Next Gen: NBA Draft
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BY SEAN DEVENEY

[email protected]

SEASON SERIES:Magic won 2-0

FrontcourtThis is where this series figures

to be won or lost. Lakers coach Phil Jackson is known as a guy whoprefers not to double-team, whichmeans hes going to have to figureout if C Andrew Bynum is quickand strong enough to handle CDwight Howard. For the Lakers towin, Bynum must play smart. Hemust be able to stay out of foul trou- blethat means knowing when

hes beaten and allowing Howardhis dunk rather than hackinghimwhile also leaning on How-ard and not allowing him to domi-nate inside.

If the Lakers can stay one-on-onewith Howard, they stand a betterchance of dealing with Orlandosperimeter forwards, PF RashardLewis and SF Hedo Turkoglu. Lak-ers SF Trevor Ariza matches upwell with Turkoglu, but the Lakerswill have to figure out how to keepPF Pau Gasol on Lewis at the3-point line, which is not the kind of

defense Gasol is used to playing.Thats an advantage for Orlando,but Gasol can provide an advantageat the other end with his offensiveversatility. Lewis cant handleGasol, but putting Howard on Gasolcould put Howard into foul trouble.The Lakers sometimes seem reluc-tant to give Gasol the ball. Thatmust change.

Edge: Magic.

BackcourtPG Rafer Alston has played fairly

well for the Magic, and SG CourtneyLee has been solid all year and intothe playoffs. PG Derek Fisher hasstruggled for the Lakers. But all ofthis doesnt matter, because the keyhere is SG Kobe Bryant. Orlando didwell in handling Cleveland star SFLeBron James, staying one-on-one

against him, letting him get his points but not letting his teammates getinvolved. In the end, that strategysimply wore out James. Theyll try thesame thing against Bryant. Its essen-tial that he not try to do too much.

Edge: Lakers.

BenchIf PG Jameer Nelson returns and

can give the Magic something off the

pine, it would be a huge lift forOrlando. Even if Nelson doesnt playparticularly well, the emotional boost will be significant. Withouthim, the key to the Magic bench isSG Mickael Pietrus, who is a goodenough defender to handle Bryantone-on-one. He is not going to shutdown Bryant, of course, but he isstrong enough and long enough to atleast make things tough on him. For

the Lakers, though, the bench is allabout PF Lamar Odom. If he isfocused and involved, the Magichave no answer for him among theirreserves. The Laker bench shot just38.4 percent in the conference finals.

Edge: Magic.

Go-to guyHowards new-found ability to

make free throws certainly makes

him more of a dangerous player downthe stretch. Certainly, too, weve seenTurkoglu make clutch shots. But nei-ther guy can come close to matchingthe clutch resume of Bryant.

Edge: Lakers.

X-factorLakers fans can pick out this series

X-factor in a heartbeat. Its Odom.When hes locked in, focused and

doing his job offensively and on the boards, hes the fifth-best (maybesixth-best) player in this series. ButOdom has an aggravating tendencyto disappear for entire gameshescored 30 points in the first fourgames of the conference finals andscored 39 in the final two games. If hecan assert himself for four of thesegames, the Lakers will win those fourand win t he championship.

SNumber.408. That was t he Magics 3-point

shooting percentage in the confer-ence finals against Cleveland. TheCavaliers led the NBA in 3-pointdefense, allowing opponents to shoot just 33.3 percent this season. IfOrlando is making 3s at that rate, theLakers have no chance.

Whos hot? Has anyone done

more for his resume in these play-offs than Howard? Not only did heaverage 25.8 points against Cleve-land in the conference finals, but heshot an incredible 65.1 percent. Andthat free-throw shooting problem?Howard made 70.1 percent of hisfoul shots in the last round.

Whos not? Sasha Vujacic con-verted his key role in the Lakers run

to the NBA Finals last seaslucrative contract. This yearwas just 6-for-21 from tagainst Denver, and is shoo

percent from the field in the

OutlookThe Magic have made mu

strides than many thoughtin this postseason. This is goa great series. Ultimately, thoLakers size advantageathey get the ball to Odom andwill prove too much.

Lakers in 7.

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com THURSDAY, JUNE 04, 2009NBA

GAME 1: ORLANDO AT L.A. LAKERS 9 ET TONIGHT, ABC

NBA FINALS

Finals(Best-of-7) All times, ET

Today: Orlando at L.A. Laker

p.m., ABC

Sunday: Orlando at L.A. Lake

8 p.m., ABC

Tuesday, June 9: L.A. Lakers

Orlando, 9 p.m., ABC

Thursday, June 11: L.A. Lake

Orlando, 9 p.m., ABC

Sunday, June 14: L.A. Lakers

Orlando 8 p.m., if necessary, A

Tuesday, June 16: Orlando a

Lakers, 9 p.m., if necessary, A

Thursday, June 18: Orlando

Lakers, 9 p.m., if necessary, A

Betting lineFAVORITE.................. LINE.... ............ UN

atL.A. Lakers...............6 (206)..........................

Odds to win seriesL.A.Lakers..............-280 Orlando...................

CalendarJune 15 NBA draft ear

entry entrant withdrawal dea

(5 p.m. ET)

June 25 NBA draft

A key for the Lakers is whether C Andrew Bynum can keep Magic C Dwight Howard in check. The Magic are counting on SG Mickael Pietrus to give them a defensive spark off the bench.

PHELANM.EBENHACK/APGUSRUELAS/AP

Finals showdown lowdown
mailto:[email protected]://www.sportingnews.com/mailto:[email protected]://www.sportingnews.com/

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GAME 1: ORLANDO AT L.A. LAKERS 9 ET TONIGHT, ABCNBA FINALS

NBA

Q&A with Magic PF Rashard Lewis

NBA fans have no choice but to watch the Orlando MagiRashard Lewis is a big reason the

Orlando Magic are in the NBA Finals. Bigas in 6-10, 230, and big as in he hit a game-

winning 3-pointer in Game 1 of the Eastern

Conference finals. As part of a Powerade

promotion, Lewis talked with Sporting

News TodaysMatt Crossman about how to

beat the Lakers, Dwight Howard puppets

and meeting Tiger Woods.

Q:You guys beat theLakers twice in the

regular season. Does thatmean anything going into TheFinals?

A:It doesnt mean anything

at all. Being in The Finalsor the playoffs is a whole differentstory. The Lakers have beenthere. Kobe has won champion-ship rings. Theyre more experi-enced than we are at this level.

Q:Whats the key tobeating the Lakers?A:The key to beating them isour defense. We feel like ifwe play good defense andrebound the ball, we can rundown and have cross matchupsand try to get easy baskets, wide

open 3-pointers or get Dwightposted up early inside. If wereplaying halfcourt offense thewhole series, its going to be toughbecause theyre a good halfcourtdefensive team.

Q:Its been a longplayoffsyouve

already played 19 gamesheading into The Finals. How

are you holding up?

A:Im doing good. But itsbeen a long, tough series.

The most important thing is takingcare of your body off the court. Youmost definitely want to stayhydrated. I drink a lot of PoweradeIon4. At the same time, you haveto get the proper rest and propersleep.

Q:What do you do to passthe time? You must get

antsy with the biggest seriesof your life coming up.

A:

It is the biggest series of

my whole career. Mybodys been tired, Ive beenhurting. Rest is definitely impor-tant, so I can have a lot of energygoing on into the game.

Q:Did you see PresidentObama picked theLakers in six?

A:No, I didnt see that. Thisis the first Ive heard of it.

Q:What do you think?

A: Obama is a greatpresident. But sometimes people

are wrong. He might be wrongabout this one.

Q:Did all the talk of theKobe-LeBron matchup

in The Finals annoy you guysand motivate you against theCavs?

A:It did during the time.There was so much hype

about the LeBron and Kobe

matchup, and the commercials

they had on TV with LeBron andKobe. We didnt really talk about ittoo much. But it motivated us. Itput fuel to the fire that maybe wecan stop what everybody wants tosee, and theyre going to have nochoice but to watch the OrlandoMagic.

Q:You mentioned thosecommercials. If Dwight

Howard had a puppet, whatwould it say?

A:Well, hes in The Finals,so they might have to

make a puppet. A little puppetwith a lot of muscles and bigarms, dunking the ball.

Q:Whats it like playingwith him?A:

Hes most definitely a funperson to be around,

especially off the court. He likesto joke around, have a lot of fun.He makes the game fun. Hesmost definitely a basketballplayer once he steps between thelines and the ball is tossed in theair. Hes real competitive. He

wants to win. Thats why were inThe Finals. Dwight Howard tookus there. We rode his back thewhole time.

Q:The Lakers are famousfor having celebrities

sitting courtside. Whos themost famous person youveseen at an Orlando Magicgame?

A:Tiger Woods has been to

games all year round. Weknow where his seats are becausehes a season-ticket holder.

Q:Have you ever talked tohim or met him?A:

I met him when I firstcame to the Orlando

Magic, and I was riding aroundlooking for a place to stay. Thearea we were looking at, he wasoutside in the neighborhoodplaying golf. I guess t he realtorknew him as a friend. We pulledover and talked to him for a

second.

Q:Whatd he saythe bestgrocery store is overthere, great pizza over there ?

A:He was basically saying,its a g reat neighborhood,perfect neighborhood, peopledont bother you too much.Youve got Tiger Woods outsidehitting golf balls, that lets youknow hes comfortable in thatneighborhood. Hes not worriedabout people coming up to him,asking him for autographs,

meeting him all the t ime. He wasreal nice. He was basically sayinghow perfect the place was wherehe was living.

Q:So did you end upmoving in there?

A:Actually, I didnt (laughs).I moved closer to the

arena, closer to the downtownarea.

PHELANM

Rashard Lewis says the hype over a possible Kobe-LeBron Finals definitely motivated the M

SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com THURSDAY, JUNE 04, 2009

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NBA

LOS ANGELESSeven years havepassed since Phil Jackson coachedthe Los Angeles Lakers to their thirdconsecutive NBA championship inhis first three seasons with the team.

Hes definitely counting.They lost to Detroit in the 2004

Finals and again last year to Bos-ton. Starting today against Orlando, Jackson gets a third chance to winhis record 10th title, which wouldbreak a tie with fellow Hall of Famecoach Red Auerbach.

But he insists thats not his main

motivation.Its just about this year, notabout the 10th, he said.

Jackson joked about the value ofpossibly owning 10 championshiprings, saying, One for each fingerand two thumbs.

He played against Auerbachsteams, but never matched wits orXs and Os with the cigar-chompingcoach with whom he said he had areally competitive relationship.

Auerbach, who died in October2006, once downplayed Jacksonsnine titles by saying the former New

York Knicks player picks his spots,implying that his championshipswere the result of coaching stars suchas Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen,Shaquille ONeal and Kobe Bryant.

The chance to surpass Auerbachand make history of his own mightbe a personal goal of Jacksons, butit trails what the team is trying toachieve, assistant coach Kurt Ram-bis said.

Is he obsessed with it? Does helose sleep over it? I seriously doubtit, he said.

Jackson turns 64 in September.He has undergone two hip replace-ment operations since October2006using a cane at varioustimesand walks with a noticeablehitch in his step.

He didnt mention the role of his47-year-old girlfriend, Jeanie Buss, a

team executive and daughter of La k-ers owner Jerry Buss. Theyve beentogether since shortly after Jacksonbegan his first stint as coach of theteam in 2000, and survived his one-season firing in 2004-05.

I came back at the behest of theBuss family to coach this team backinto playoff contention, Jacksonsaid. Every night we give our-selves a chance to win. So thats

been really the blessing of comingback and having this opportunityagain, to see this team come outfrom the ashes and become again adominant team in the league.

Jackson signed a two-year con-tract extension in 2007 for approx-imately $24 million, which takeshim through this season.

Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisherare the Lakers whove played the

longest for Jackson. Bryant says hedoesnt think about a future with-out the gray-haired coach.

I just try to focus on the task athand, which was one of the things thathes taught us all, he said. Im justhonored to be coached by the bestcoach of all time. It would be a tremen-dous honor to be on the team that canget him that 10th championship.


LOS ANGELESHes an All-Star, he feels healthy, and hedominated the Lakers during the regular season.

So it seems pretty simple: Jameer Nelson should play

in the NBA Finals.Its not so easy to the Orlando Magic, who stillwerent ready to make a decision Wednesday beforepracticing for the final time before facing the LosAngeles Lakers tonight in Game 1.

Its a tough decision on Jameer either way you go,because I think he is able to play right now, coach StanVan Gundy said. Now, how much he can do, I dontknow.

Well just decide after (Wednesday) if we thinkplaying him gives us a better chance to win than notplaying him. Its really as simple as that, but the deci-sion wont be easy.

On the one hand, it should be. Nelson averaged 27.5points in two victories over the L akers, expertly utiliz-

ing the Magics pick-and-roll offense to create lanes topenetrate or step back for 3-pointers.On the other, can Nelson play anywhere near that

well after being out of action since tearing the labrumin his right shoulder on Feb. 2 against Dallas?

No one knows. He doesnt even know probably,Lakers forward Luke Walton said. Youve been out aslong as hes been out, obviously if he was playing at thelevel he was before he got hurt, yeah obviously hewould make a difference. But right now, at least untilend of Game 1, theres no way to know that.

There may not be an a nswer then, either. Van Gundy,Nelson, general manager Otis Smith, or team medicalpersonnelNelson said everyone would take part inthe decisionall could decide the point guard simply

isnt healthy enough or have enough stamina to takepart in a game.Or, they could decide its not worth the risk to mess

with the chemistry of a team that just knocked off Bos-ton and Clevelandthough that one seems unlikely.

He cant hurt us, said Rafer Alston, who replacedNelson as the starting point guard after a deal beforethe trade deadline.

Nelson was expected to be off the court until Augustfollowing surgery on Feb. 19. But hes regained fullrange of motion, and began taking part in full-court

drills during the Magics Eastern Conferenvictory over the Cavaliers.He said hell help the Magic somehow in th

even if its just offering encouragement from thHed prefer to do it from the court.

You just want to play. You never know whegoing to get back to the Finals, Nelson said. Yto play, you want to compete with your team, bnot able to, I cant do it. Im not going to do acrazy or anything to jeopardize my future.

The As

Jackson close tomulling futurewith Lakers

Magic wait a little longer before Nelson decis

DAMIANDOVARGANES/ AP

Its been seven years since Phil Jackson won his ninth title. He wants that record 10th.

CH

Jameer Nelson averaged 27.5 points in Orlandos two wins


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NBA

REBOUND REB AST

Player OFF DEF TOT AVG. AST AVG. PF DQ STLBryant 16 79 95 5.3 89 4.9 46 0 31Gasol 58 145 203 11.3 47 2.6 54 1 15Odom 54 117 171 9.5 38 2.1 54 1 11Ariza 13 54 67 3.7 46 2.6 57 0 27Fisher 4 26 30 1.8 40 2.4 45 0 15Bynum 23 42 65 3.6 7 0.4 56 0 6Brown 7 17 24 1.3 13 0.7 26 0 10Farmar 3 19 22 1.5 31 2.1 12 0 7Vujacic 7 23 30 1.7 10 0.6 31 0 10Walton 13 29 42 2.6 40 2.5 32 1 13Powell 5 8 13 1.1 3 0.3 6 0 0Mbenga 0 2 2 0.5 0 0.0 0 0 0

TEAM 203 561 764 42.4 364 20.2 419 3 145OPPONENTS 215 535 750 41.7 363 20.2 422 4 147

Postseason stats

AVG 3-Pnt.Player G MIN FGM-FGA PCT FGM-FGA FTM-FTA PCTHoward 18 38.3 140-225 .622 0-2 110-170 .647Lewis 19 40.7 126-274 .460 36-92 80-103 .777Turkoglu 19 38.3 96-234 .410 25-67 71-84 .845Alston 18 32.9 85-222 .383 33-94 25-34 .735Pietrus 19 25.1 65-134 .485 33-84 36-51 .706Lee 16 28.9 55-122 .451 10-33 20-22 .909Redick 12 21.8 23-63 .365 16-41 12-13 .923Lue 1 3.9 2-2 1.000 1-1 0-0 .000Johnson 19 14.7 32-85 .376 9-30 9-18 .500Gortat 19 11.4 27-37 .730 0-0 8-12 .667

Battie 16 5.8 16-34 .471 0-0 3-5 .600Richardson 1 2.4 0-1 .000 0-0 0-0 .000Foyle 2 1.9 0-1 .000 0-0 0-0 .000

TEAM 19 241.3 667-1434 .465 163-444 374-512 .730O PP ON EN TS 19 24 1.3 66 0- 14 73 .44 8 1 12 -3 46 3 48 -4 57 .76 1

REBOUND REB ASTPlayer OFF DEF TOT AVG. AST AVG. PF DQ STLHoward 81 196 277 15.4 32 1.8 82 4 12Lewis 20 95 115 6.1 50 2.6 35 0 21Turkoglu 8 78 86 4.5 97 5.1 61 0 14Alston 2 43 45 2.5 79 4.4 43 0 29Pietrus 17 35 52 2.7 12 0.6 61 0 15Lee 4 28 32 2.0 26 1.6 29 0 16Redick 1 16 17 1.4 23 1.9 22 1 7Lue 0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 0Johnson 7 19 26 1.4 39 2.1 28 0 11Gortat 16 47 63 3.3 3 0.2 34 0 7Battie 6 10 16 1.0 0 0.0 7 0 0Richardson 0 0 0 0.0 0 0.0 0 0 0Foyle 0 1 1 0.5 0 0.0 1 0 0

TEAM 162 568 730 38.4 361 19.0 403 5 132OPPONENTS 160 575 735 38.7 378 19.9 461 6 125

AVG 3-Pnt.Player G MIN FGM-FGA PCT FGM-FGA FTM-FTA PCTBryant 18 40.0 184-395 .466 28-81 137-153 .895Gasol 18 39.9 124-216 .574 0-0 79-113 .699Odom 18 31.4 82-158 .519 14-27 38-64 .594Ariza 18 29.7 72-129 .558 30-60 31-54 .574Fisher 17 26.8 42-118 .356 12-51 25-30 .833Bynum 18 17.0 46-94 .489 0-0 22-34 .647Brown 18 14.5 36-81 .444 12-25 19-24 .792Farmar 15 13.5 27-68 .397 11-31 12-17 .706Vujacic 18 12.7 24-85 .282 16-48 5-6 .833Walton 16 16.0 24-65 .369 5-15 8-12 .667Powell 12 5.2 9-22 .409 0-0 6-6 1.000Mbenga 4 2.4 1-5 .200 0-0 0-0 .000

TEAM 18 240.0 671-1436 .467 128-338 382-513 .745O PP ON EN TS 18 24 0.0 61 4- 14 31 .42 9 1 14 -3 64 3 91 -5 13 .76 2

L.A. Lakers

Orlando Magic

NOTEBOOK

Howard ready for some funLOS ANGELESLeave all that cold-

blooded seriousness to Kobe Bryant.Orlando Magic star Dwight Howard isgoing to have fun in his first NBAFinals.

Im always going to be that silly per-son, Howard said Wednesday beforepractice at Staples Center. Basketball brings too much joy to me and everybody who watches me. So theres noneed to be out there trying to look meanand tough. Even if I tried to look meanand tough, everybody in here wouldlaugh and say, Thats not him. So itdoesnt work.

Howards dead-on impersonation of

hyped-up Orlando coach Stan VanGundy has been making the rounds thisweek.

Dwight is a funny guy, Van Gundysaid. We hear this stuff all t he time.

As a kid growing up in Atlanta, How-ard inherited his fathers sense of fun,although he got scolded by dad for goof-ing around too much on the court.

I laughed, I joked, Howard recalled.But if I lost the game, I was the first onecrying and telling him what I needed todo to get better for the next game.

Orlando general manager Otis Smithtried to change Howard after the team

selected him with the No. 1 pick in the2004 NBA draft.He tried to stop me from smiling on

the floor, and its not going to work,Howard said.

Bryant said his 23-year-old U.S.Olympic teammate never had to growinto his role as the centerpiece of Orlan-dos franchise.

He did a great job of that right off the bat, Bryant said. Hes a natural. The

thing about Dwight is he continues to

work on his game and you see improve-ment, sometimes monthly. You see himadding new things to his game, whichsays a lot about him.

Switching assignmentsPau Gasol figures to be one busy guy

against the Orlando Magic.The Lakers big man could see time in

the post defending Dwight Howardwhen hes not running out to the perim-eter and chasing Rashard Lewis at the3-point line.

Its going to be a lot of work, Gasolsaid. Its going to take a big focus on my

part to be able to flip the switch everytime I change matchups and I changeplayers, coverages.

A year ago, Gasol was just happy to bein his first NBA Finals, never havingreached that pinnacle in previous play-off runs with Memphis.

The biggest lesson he learned?You cant just go out there and see

what happens, he said. Youve got tobe really aggressive and go get it. Dontexpect anything, just play hard and hus-tle and give your best.

Eager Van Gundy

Thirty minutes into Stan Van Gundysfirst NBA Finals, and t he Orlando coachwas already impatient.

What I basically learned in a halfhour of being here is that its hard to doyour job because I want to go practice,he said. Enough of this stuff.

He told the media that you guys makeit tough for us to do our job. After prac-tice, you meet with the media a little bit,but I want to get out on the court.

Los Angeles coach Phil Jackson admit-ted hes always been a little bit nervousand anxious for that first game to play.

He sure didnt look it, sitting regally ina tall padded chair while appearing

placid.Were all on edge just getting ready

for it, Jackson said in a deadpan voice.You can see how on edge I am.


CHRISOMEARA/AP

Despite his physique, Dwight Howard says hes anything but tough and mean.


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NBA

INSIDE DISH

The Timberwolves have three first-round picks in the NBA draft, but presi-dent of basketball operations David Kahnsaid that hes willing to listen to trade

offers for any of the choices, including thesixth overall selection.You never say never to anything,

Kahn told the St. Paul Pioneer Press. Wewould listen to anything, of course. But bythe same token, Im not out there on thephone shopping them. Its a little early forthat still.

Kahn did say that hes hearing lots ofteams have interest in buying pickstoward the end of the first round. Min-nesotas two other first-round picks areNos. 18 and 28.

Although PF Chris Bosh, one of the big

free-agent names for the summer of 2010,has come up in several trade rumors, Rap-tors general manager Bryan Colangeloreportedly told him the current plan is totry to surround him with better playersinstead of trading him, The Miami Heraldreported. That plan would change thissummer only if Bosh expresses seriousdoubts about re-signing.

Cavaliers star SF LeBron James wasreleased from the Cleveland Clinic onWednesday after a five-hour procedure toremove a benign growth from his jaw aday earlier. James had the condition for

several months, but opted to put off sur-gery until the Cavaliers completed theirseason. The team says James is recoveringwell.

Cavs general manager Danny Ferryknows his teams needs some offseasonwork in order to reach the NBA Finals.As far as what specific tweaks he needs tomake, hes taking a close look at the twoteams left standing, and what Cleveland

needs to do in order to beat the m. Althoughthe Cavs won 66 regular season games,they were 3-8 against the Lakers andMagic (including the playoffs).

Were going to have to look at whothose top teams are and make some deci-sions based off that when we look at ourroster, Ferry told The Plain Dealer ofCleveland. That is part of the evaluationprocess that starts now and continues between now and next February (thetrading deadline).

Dont expect any Twitter posts com-ing from the Lakers during The Finals.Coach Phil Jackson told us to turn our cellphones off for the next two weeks and notto talk to anybody, C Andrew Bynum toldtheLos Angeles Times. Jackson is also try-

ing to limit the teams distractions when ittravels to Orlando. Rather than staying ina downtown hotel, as the Lakers did dur-ing the regular season, theyll stay in ahotel miles away.

Magic SG Mickael Pietrus told theOrlando Sentinel he has been wearing apair of Kobe Bryant-endorsed basketballshoes during games this season, but forThe Finals, Im going to play withMichael Jordan shoes. Pietrus guardedLeBron James during the East finals, butcautioned Magic fans who think hell be aKobe stopper in this series. The only

thing I can do is try to minimize histouches in the fourth quarter, Pietrussaid. Hes a tremendous player and thoseguys you can not stop them. So maybe Ican say, Hey, stop, Kobe! Yo! Stop! Maybethats the only way I can stop him. Stopfor a minute!

Its no secret SF Lamar Odom is a keyfor the Lakers in The Finals. His play hasbeen inconsistent, which has brought out

criticism from plenty of Lakers fOdom said the high expectations motivate him against Orlando. Itpliment at the end of the day, Od

theLos Angeles Times . People likethat I play. They want to see it alevel all the time because its enjthem.

Celtics G Tony Allen had surgeright ankle and leg Wednesday. Tsays hes expected to recover in time ing camp this fall. Allen averaged 7last season, when he missed 34 of thregular season games with the ankl

The Warriors have the No. the draft, and although thats higmost draft boards have SG Ter

liamsand even though the teampoint guard more than a swingmContra Costa Times reported itsaccepted that Golden State is inin him. And going to the Bay Are be just fine with Williams. Rithey call my name, Id be on the neand come here, he said of his should the Warriors draft himwont leave here. Ever.

A lawmaker urged the NWednesday to repeal its requiremplayers be at least 19 years old anout of high school before ente

league, calling the restriction unfRep. Steve Cohen, D-Tenn., sent letters to NBA commissioner Dand union leader Billy Hunter, askthey scrap the requirement in collective bargaining agreement.

Cohen, a member of the Houciary Committee, called the requan unfair restriction on the rthese young men to pursue their career.

T-wolves have the picks to make deal; Raptors want to keep Bos

STEVEYEATER/AP

Toronto would rather surround Chris Bosh, left, with more talent than send him away.


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SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com THURSDAY, JUNE 04, 2009NHL

PITTSBURGHLast year at this time, a manin a suit translated questions and answers

for an Evgeni Malkin playing in his firstStanley Cup final. An already diff icult situ-ation grew worse when Malkins struggleson the ice were cr iticized. Explaining what

was going wrong wasnteasy for the 21-year-oldRussian.

This year, things aremuch different. OnWednesday afternoon,Evgeni Malkin sat onstage between Max Talbotand Sergei Gonchar, andMalkins new-found com-fort level became clear.

Malkin started taking shots at Talbotno translator necessary.Asked to critique the game of his linemate

Talbot, who scored a pair of goals in Tues-days win, Malkins sense of humor emergedin front of the public for the first time in thefinals.

Bad hands. He has lot of scoring chance,not score, Malkin said, smiling. Justempty net. Its OK, he learns over thesummer.

Sitting to Malkins right, Talbot broke uplaughing.

Im speechless right now, Talbotresponded. Thanks, Geno.

Malkins increased comfort level on andoff the ice has changed the dynamic of hisgame and the game of the Penguins.

Unlike last season, Malkin is producingagainst the Red Wings. He has five pointsin the first three games of the finals andleads all NHL players in playoff scoring.

In just one year, Malkin has gone from anout-of-place, worn down center to a playerschooling one of the most experienced play-off teams in recent history.

Its my second final. I feel great now,Malkin said, pausing to choose his words.Last year, I was a little bit sick and now Ifeel great. My teammates help me everytime and coach, too. Im trying to play a lit-tle bit hard and physical more. Of course,Im learning how to play now, and its sec-ond final. Its the same team. I know how toplay Detroit.

That last part is important, because right

now Detroit doesnt know how to play Mal-kin. Henrik Zetterberg and Nicklas Lid-strom have done a great job containingSidney Crosby and Pittsburghs top line, but havent had quite the same successagainst Malkinespecially on the powerplay.

That success has helped ease pressure onCrosby, allowing him to remain patientwhile figuring out a way to crack

Zetterberg.When (Malkins) out there, I think if

anything you just want to follow it up,Crosby said. It motivates you even moreto go out there and follow it up, knowinghes doing his part and you want to doyours.

The series sits at a 2-1 edge for Detroit,but its a completely different feel comparedto last season. The Penguins still are

confident they can beat Detroit alikely wasnt the case last season.

Malkins improvement is the bigson why.Marian Hossa played with Ma

year. This year he has spent a lot ofthe ice trying to stop him.

He has noticed the difference.He was a world class player alre

year. Hes improving every yearsaid. You can tell he was in this because hes playing much strongejust have to make sure were covebetter.

Getting Pavel Datsyuk back wotainly help the Red Wings. Hes returning and matched his fellow R

humor during a turn at the podiumWhen asked how difficult it haswatch the Red Wings play in theCup finals while he recovers frominjury, Datsyuk shared his wit.

Oh, I tell you, just this is not fun toDatsyuk said. I take in lots of beer.

A boring afternoon of off-day prferences became Russian comedy h

Datsyuks dry humor has beenfor years, and his story is similarkins. Datsyuks playoff performanin his career wasnt productive. In42 playoff games, Datsyuk had ongoals.

But when the Red Wings won theCup last year, Datsyuk was a pogame producer and scored a careergoals.

Some guys take a little longer to fortable in the playoffs than otherslike Malkin is there.

I dont think anybodys reaprised, Detroit coach Mike BabcoHes one of the best players in the

[email protected]

Malkins improved performance is no joke to Red Wing

KEITHSRAKOCIC/ AP

A year after struggling through the finals, Penguins C Evgeni Malkin, center, is producing and making teammates like Max Talbot, left, and Sergei Gonchar smile.

Craig CustanceHOCKEY

GAME 4: DETROIT AT PITTSBURGH 8 ET TONIGHT, VersusSTANLEY CUP FINALS

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BY CRAIG CUSTANCE

[email protected]

PITTSBURGHIf the smile on hisface while skating at Wednesdayspractice is any indication, expect tosee Detroit center Pavel Datsyukback in the Red Wings lineup. Dat-syuk hasnt played in the playoffssince Game 2 of the Western

Conference finals because of a footinjury.

Datsyuk said he felt goodWednesday, but coach Mike Bab-cock wouldnt go so far as to sayDatsyuk would be in the lineuptonight.

What well do is go for theoptional skate in the morning andsee how he responded today and

see how he felt, Babcock said.Hes one of the best players in the

world. Obviously, wed like to havehim. But its one of those injuries.Datsyuk said it would be a game-

time decision, but said hes healthyand feels as good as he did beforethe injury.

I feel like again 18 years young,the Russian forward quipped. Ihave lots of fun, exciting wearingskates I want to play so bad. Idont want to watch this gameagain.

Babcock confirmed that veteranforward Kris Draper would returnto the lineup regardless of Dat-

syuks status. Draper has been outwith a groin injury. The return ofDraper and Datsyuk would be aboost to a struggling Detroit pen-alty kill. The Red Wings are killingonly 71.4 percent of opposingpower plays during the playoffs.

But its not the percentage thatbothers Babcock.

Its when you give them up, hesaid. You know, thats huge. Lastnight, we needed a kill. Withoutany question, it was a 2-2 game. Weneeded the kill.

Zetterberg logs

serious minutesPlaying in Pittsburgh makes it

more difficult to match HenrikZetterberg against Sidney Crosby,so Detroits shutdown center endedup double-shifting and finishedGame 3 with an ice time of 24:19.

It was his highest total of the sea-son in a game that didnt go toovertime.

Yesterday, when I saw tI didnt expect it to be that

thought it was my usual utes, Zetterberg said.Babcock wasnt concern

the extra time wearing Zedown, although he admminutes isnt ideal.

I didnt think we ovhim, Babcock said.

If Detroit continues to refocused on getting the righon the ice to stop Crosby, teammates have to take ad

It does leave the onusother guys to play our gamto the offensive zone to ta

pressure off just one guy sBylsma said. Better plaoffensive zone by everybodmake those matchups bettbetter for us.

Same series,different feeling

The Red Wings are up like they were last year at tBut Max Talbot said the colevel of the Penguins ihigher this time a round.

The first two games wecloser, Talbot said, and h

felt the same level of domthe Red Wings displayseason.

But we know how Game 4 is now because wlast year and it was hard back from a 3-1 deficitsaid. From the experiencyear, I think we feel its dand were up to the chalittle bit more.

NOTEBOOK

I dont want to watch this game: Datsyuk could play in Game

PITTSBURGHSergei Gonchars

calming presence helps the Pitts-burgh Penguins on the blue line,in the dressing room, and even atthe interview podium, where thespotlight of the Stanley Cupfinals is often brightest.

Just ask fellow Russian team-mate Evgeni Malkin, who turnedto Gonchar when the Englishword he searched for couldnt befound in his growing vocabulary.A simple whisper from the ever-present defenseman gave Malkinthe missing word space. Theyoung, dynamic forward then

completed his answer.Hes a really quiet guy. Keepsto himself, pretty private per-son, defenseman Brooks Orpiksaid of Gonchar during Wednes-days off day. But when he is inthe lineup, he just seems like hehas a really calming influence oneverybody.

That was missing from thePenguins for a large chunk ofthis season.

Gonchar, a fixture on the pointfor Penguins power plays, scoredthe winning goal during a third-

period advantage and added apower-play assist as Pittsburghgot back into the finals with a 4-2victory over the Detroit RedWings on Tuesday night.

Pittsburgh is 3-of-6 on thepower play in this series, includ-ing 2-of-3 in Game 3.

Weve got to take Goncharaway a little bit more, RedWings goalie Chris Osgood said.

When you give him time to drag

(the puck), hes great at pickingcorners and putting the puckwhere he wants, but also great atdishing it off to the side.

The Penguins are still down2-1, but the pressure is stillsquarely on them. If they faltertoday in Game 4 at the Igloo, theywill face elimination Saturday inDetroit. Pittsburgh fell into ahole with a pair of 3-1 losses inHockeytown.

Gonchars potentially seriousknee injury, courtesy of a ques-tionable hit in Game 4 of the sec-

ond round by WashingtonCapitals star Alex Ovechkin,could have derailed Pittsburghssecond consecutive finalsappearance.

Gonchar was injured in a knee-to-knee collision. He missed thenext two games before making asurprising return in a reducedrole for the Game 7 clincher.

I really didnt know what wasgoing to happen, Gonchar saidWednesday. The injury wasthere, and you never know howyour bodys going to respond to

it. We took the approach whenwe look at it day-to-day, and Iwas fortunate enough that mybody reacted well to the injury.

It isnt clear how healthy Gon-char is now, but he feels goodenough to be in the lineup withthe championship on the line.The Penguins are 6-2 since Gon-char returned.


Gonchar provides calminginfluence on and off ice

FRANKGUNN/THECANADIANPRESSVIAAP

Though Pavel Datsyuk said his injured foot felt good, his coach wasnt tipping his hand.

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The Colorado Avalanche hired ageneral manager and fired a coachWednesday, marking a flurry ofchanges that signaled a sweepingshakeup for a team that finishedlast in the Western Conference thisseason.

Greg Sherman, who has spent thelast seven years as the teams assis-tant general manager, will replaceFrancois Giguere, who was fired asG.M. in April following the teamsworst finish since moving to Den-ver in 1995.

Tony Granato, who was left twisting

in the wind over the last severalweeks as the Avs unsuccessfullycourted Patrick Roy as their newcoach, was fired along with assis-tant coaches Jacques Cloutierand DaveBarr, goaltending coach Jeff Hackett,assistant to the G.M. Michel Gouletand video coordinator P.J. DeLuca.

Greg Sherman deserves theopportunity to prove he can be aneffective general manager in our business, team presidentPierre Lac-roix said in a statement. He hasshown that he possesses the neces-

sary qualities required to be suc-cessful with this new challenge infront of him.

Lecroix, who has put together thepieces for two Stanley Cup winnersin his 11 seasons as president andG.M. of the Avalanche, alsoannounced a new managementstructure that will be headed by the39-year-old Sherman. Craig Billingtonadds assistant G.M. to his duties as

vice-president of hockey operations,David Oliver was named director ofplayer development and Eric Lacroixdirector of hockey operations.

I look forward to the challenge,said Sherman, who has been affili-ated with the club for 13 years. Weall know the task ahead and weneed to get to work. There are a lotof things to be done here ... Our fans

can rest assured that every effortwill be taken to bring an exciting brand of hockey back to PepsiCenter.

Sherman inherits a rosterstrapped by salary cap constraints.The Avs have only about $10-12million with which to fill out a teamthat finished 32-45-5 last season.Fourteen players have contracts

that account for nearly $44 millionnext year, and thats a figure thatdoesnt include captain Joe Sakic,who has yet to decide if hell returnfor a 21st season.

Former Senators G Ray Emery,who played last year in the KHL, isclose to signing with Philadelphia,according to Comcast Sportsnet.

Several general managers regardthe deal as a near-certainty, accord-ing to the report.

Weve had conversations with hisagent ( J.P. Barry)about a lot of things,Flyers G.M. Paul Holmgren said. ButIm not going to comment on ourinternal discussions of players.

After five seasons and several off-ice problems with Ottawa, Emeryposted a 2.12 goals against averageand .920 save percentage with arecord of 22-8 for Atlant Mytischi.

The Toronto Star reportedWednesday that Daniel Sedin andHenrik Sedin, Vancouvers high-scor-ing twins, have not heard from theCanucks, even though theyre lessthan a month away from unre-stricted free agency.

Contract discussions with a for-ward tandem that has a combined114-point average over eight seasonswith the team would seem to loomlarge, especially considering theCanucks would get nothing inreturn if the players leave. But talkof the Swedish brothers wanting to

double their annual $3. 575 salariescould be an issue.Agent J.P. Barry said, I expect to

hear something soon. Right nowwere in a wait-and-see mode.

Barry also said veteran F Mats Sun-din, another client who played lastyear for Vancouver, still is consid-ering his future.

Bruce Garrioch of the Toronto

Sun says there is a rumor ing among NHL executiTampa Bays ownership grtold G.M. Brian Lawton to unF Vincent Lecavaliers big cont

The kicker to this news, his that the Canadiens, long rto be talking trade for Lemight not have the inside trLos Angeles Kings might besuitor, and perhaps a better

The Kings might be wpart with DJack Johnson , whedly has been asking fomoney than the team wantLecavalier would add scorstar power to a Kings robadly needs it and perhapsate the growth of a young t

INSIDE DISH

Avs hire G.M., fire coach in sweeping shakeu

If Tampa Bays Vincent Lecavalier is indeed available, Los Angeleshungry for a star and with coveted assetscould be a destination.

STEVENESIUS/AP

Stanley Cup finals(Best-of-7), All times ET

(Detroit leads series 2-1)

May 30: Detroit 3,Pittsburgh

May 31: Detroit 3, Pittsburgh

June 2: Pittsburgh 4, Detroit

Today: Detroit at Pittsburgh,

p.m., Versus

Saturday: Pittsburgh at Detr

p.m., if necessary, NBC

Tuesday: Detroit at Pittsburg

p.m., if necessary, NBC

Friday, June 12: Pittsburgh a

Detroit, 8 p.m., if necessary, N

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SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com THURSDAY, JUNE 04, 2009Baseball

The Phillies open a four-game series at

Dodger Stadium tonight, and you can bet

Los Angeles will keep a close watch on

Phillies right fielder Jayson Werth when he

reaches base.

When the teams met in mid-May in

Philadelphia, Werth stole second base,

third base and home plateall in the sev-

enth inning of the series opener.

When Werth stole home, the bases

were loaded with two outs. The Phillies

were leading the Dodgers, 4-2, when

Werth, who also stole third base in the

fourth inning of that game, decided to

steal home. It is a play that has become

one of the signature events of the young

major league season.

Werth recently discussed the steal with

Sporting News Todays Bill Eichenberger,

and shared the strategy and the thought

process behind it:

In my specific case, I had a readoff the catcher. I happened tonotice on the first pitch of the at-batPedro Feliz was hitting, andhes a righthanded hitterthatRussell Martin didnt look at meand that he couldnt see me. Notonly did he not even glance downto see where I was, he couldntsee where I was. The bases wereloaded. So I felt if we got to twostrikes, maybe I would try it.

On the second pitch, whichmade the count 1-1, I broke for theplate again, then scurried back tothird. I looked around and noticedagain that nobody really saw medo itnot Martin or anybody inthe Dodger dugout. So I was readyto go on the next pitch if it wasgoing to be a strike. But it was aball, so I didnt go. That made thecount 2-1. I told myself to be ready.

On the next pitch, Pedro took

it for strike two. Everythinglooked the same. I had my stepsdown from the previous pitchesand just went ahead and went forit. Id never stolen home. I didntreally have any fear. I felt like Ihad it. The play was actually a lotcloser than I thought. The pitcherdid a really good job of rushingforward, catching the ball andgetting rid of it to make the play alot closer. I didnt think at all

ahead of time about how I wouldslide. I was more concerned withgetting the jump. I went in feet-first. Martin tried to block theplate before he had the ball. Sothere was really only one way in.

Id never done it before. Itwas more like the stars and themoon just aligned. It was just oneof those things where the situa-tion was there, and everythingcame together.

I didnt really have any fear. I felt like I had it

Jayson Werth had never stolen home before, and said the stars and moon just aligned.

TOMMIHALEK/AP

ATLANTAIn a stunning move, theAtlanta Braves released 305-gamewinner Tom Glavine on Wednes-day, just when it seemed he wasready to return to the big leagues.

The 43-year-old Glavine, who wascoming back from shoulder andelbow surgery, threw six scorelessinnings for Class-A Rome on Tues-day night and proclaimed himselfready to pitch in the majors again.

Instead, the Braves cut him,another move that figures to drawthe ire of Atlanta fans after theteam failed to re-sign John Smoltzduring the offseason.

Glavine described himself asvery surprised in a text messageto The Associated Press.

Glavine, meanwhile, hasntdecided whether he wants to try tohook on with another team.

Not sure about pitching, hesaid in his text.

Atlanta manager Bobby Coxcalled it the hardest thing Ive everbeen through.

General manager Frank Wrensaid the decision had nothing to dowith a $1 million bonus thatGlavine would have received for being placed on the major leagueroster. Instead, the team felt it hada better chance to win with ayounger pitcher in the rotation.

This was not a business deci-sion, Wren said. This was a per-formance decision.

Top prospect Tommy Hanson willbe called up Saturday to start againstMilwaukee.

We gave (Glavine) the option, Ifyou want to retire, you can retire asa Brave, Wren said. He asked usto release him.

The Braves made another majormove Wednesday, acquiring All-Starcenter fielder Nate McLouth from the

Pittsburgh Pirates for three pros-pects. The Braves gave up pitcherCharlie Morton, minor league out-fielder Gorkys Hernandez and minorleague pitcher Jeff Locke.

Another plus: McLouth is undercontract through at least 2011, hav-ing signed a three-year, $15.75 con-tract in spring training. The dealincludes a team option for a fourthyear at $10.65 million, with a buy-out of $1.25 million.

He gives us everything werelooking for, Wren said. He givesus an extra outfield bat. He givesus speed. He gives us defense. Hebrings a lot to the table.

Meanwhile, Wren said Glavinesimpressive performance in theminors had no impact on the teamsassessment of his ability to pitch inthe big leagues.

Weve been evaluating him thelast four weeks and everyone feltwe had a better chance to win atthe major league level with one ofour younger pitchers, Wren said.

The pitching line is irwhen youre pitching in lowThe line is not relevanwhether you can get majohitters out.

Glavine was the winactive pitcher in the majorrecord of 305-203. Whilehis agent, Gregg Clifton, immediately return phonsages, the fact that Glavinto be released clearly indiche still wants to pitch aftermost of last season with major injury of his career.

I think he was taken little bit, Wren conceded.

Shortly before his first scstart this season, Glavinfeeling pain in his shoumade two rehab starts for Gwinnett, but Wren said tbers didnt matter.

The comeback was not wthe G.M. said. Our evaluahe would not be successful.

The As

Braves release Glavine, acquire Bucs McLou

Tom Glavine was taken aback by therelease, Braves G.M. Frank Wren said.

Nate McLouth is hitting .256 withhomers and 34 RBIs this season.

GEALANMOTHNER/AP

How to steal home ... by Jayson Werth

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SPORTING NEWS TODAY www.sportingnews.com THURSDAY, JUNE 04, 2009Baseball

American League StandingsEast W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str HomeBoston 31 22 .585 6-4 W-3 17-6New York 31 22 .585 6-4 L-1 15-10Toronto 30 25 .545 2 2 3-7 L-1 19-8Tampa Bay 27 28 .491 5 5 4-6 W-2 15-11Baltimore 24 30 .444 7 7 6-4 L-2 16-13

Central W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str HomeDetroit 28 23 .549 4-6 L-2 15-9Minnesota 26 28 .481 3 5 5-5 L-1 20-12Chicago 25 27 .481 3 5 6-4 L-2 13-12Kansas City 23 29 .442 5 7 2-8 L-6 15-15Cleveland 23 32 .418 7 9 6-4 W-1 12-14

West W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str HomeTexas 31 21 .596 6-4 W-1 18-9Los Angeles 26 25 .510 4 4 4-6 W-1 14-12Seattle 26 28 .481 6 5 6-4 W-2 14-13Oakland 21 30 .412 9 9 5-5 W-2 11-13

National League StandingsEast W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str HomePhiladelphia 31 20 .608 8-2 W-6 12-14New York 28 23 .549 3 1 6-4 L-2 17-9Atlanta 26 26 .500 5 3 4-6 L-1 12-13Florida 25 29 .463 7 5 6-4 L-1 11-15Washington 14 36 .280 16 14 2-8 W-1 8-16

Central W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str HomeMilwaukee 31 22 .585 5-5 W-1 16-9St. Louis 30 23 .566 1 4-6 L-1 18-11Cincinnati 28 24 .538 2 1 6-4 W-1 13-12Chicago 26 25 .510 4 3 5-5 W-1 16-10Pittsburgh 24 28 .462 6 5 5-5 W-2 14-11Houston 23 28 .451 7 6 5-5 W-4 12-15

West W L Pct GB WCGB L10 Str HomeLosAngeles 37 18 .673 7-3 W-2 20-6San Francisco 25 25 .500 9 3 6-4 L-1 18-9San Diego 25 28 .472 11 5 4-6 L-3 17-9Arizona 23 31 .426 13 7 4-6 L-2 12-19Colorado 20 32 .385 15 9 3-7 L-4 9-14

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Pitching Matchups TodaysGames (Alltimes Eastern)

American League The Line

L.A.Angels(Lackey1-1)atToronto(Tallet3-3),12:37p.m. atTor-110LA

Boston(Wakefield6-3)atDetroit(Willis1-2),1:05p.m. Bos-130atD

Texas(McCarthy5-2)atN.Y.Yankees(Wang0-3),1:05p.m. atNY-150Te

Cleveland(Carmona2-5)atMinnesota(S.Baker2-6),1:10p.m. atMin-160C

Oakland(Bre.Anderson2-5)atChicagoWhiteSox(Buehrle6-1), 2:05p.m. atChi-170Oa

KansasCity(Meche2-5)atTampaBay(J.Shields4-4),4:08p.m. atTB-170KC

National League The Line

N.Y.Mets(Pelfrey4-1)atPittsburgh(Ohlendorf5-5),12:35p.m. NY-125atPi

SanFran(Ra.Johnson4-4)atWashington(Zimmermann2-2),4:35p.m.,1stgameatWas-130S

ChicagoCubs(Zambrano3-2)atAtlanta(Jurrjens5-2),7:10p.m. atAtl-135Ch

Milwaukee(Bush3-1)atFlorida(Jo.Johnson4-1),7:10p.m. atFlo-145M

Colorado(Hammel1-3)atHouston(W.Rodriguez5-4),8:05p.m. atHou-180C

SanFrancisco(Cain 6-1)at Washington(Detwiler0-1),8:05 p.m.,2nd game SF-120atWa

Cincinnati(Harang5-5)atSt.Louis(C.Carpenter3-0),8:15p.m. atSTL-175C

Philadelphia(Hamels3-2)atL.A.Dodgers(Kershaw3-3),10:10p.m. Phi-115atLA

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