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Brown turns up for workouts
GREENBURGH, N.Y. (AP)
= Larry Brown showed up at the
New York Knicks' training center to
work out four prospective draft picks,
an otherwise routine coaching duty
made remarkable by one thing: that
he was there at all.
In his first day on the job since
reports surfaced last weekend that
owner James Dolan may buy out
his contract, Brown worked closely
with team president Isiah Thomas
to put the possible draftees through
their paces.
But with the media prohibited from
witnessing the workouts or talking to
Brown, it was left to these players to
relay the interactions between the
coach and Thomas - who reportedly
could replace Brown if he's booted
after just one season.
New Orieans to host Al-Stars
NEW YORK (AP) - New Orleans
will host the 2008 NBA All-Star
Game, the league announced, pro
viding a boost to a beleaguered city
still recovering from the aftermath of
Hurricane Katrina.
Wittman rejoins Timberwolves
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Randy
Wittman rejoined the Minnesota
Timberwolves as an assistant coach
after spending the past season on
the coaching staff of the Orlando
Magic.
Summit gets new contract
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) - Pat
Summitt is the newest millionaire
coach - and the first in women’s
basketball.
Tennessee raised Summitt's sal
ary to $1.125 million for next season
and extended her contract six years,
through the 2011-12 season.
Geno Auriemma of Connecticut,
the Lady Vols' biggest rival, will be
the next coach to make over $1
million a year. He signed a five-year
contract in 2005 worth a total of
$4.85 million.
The 53-year-old Summitt leads
all Division | basketball coaches
- men's and women's - with 913
career wins. Tennessee has won
six national championships under
Summitt, and the team's court is
named in her honor.
Kings hire Crawford
EL SEGUNDO, Calif. (AP) - The
Los Angeles Kings hired Marc
Crawford as their new coach.
Crawford replaces John Torchetti,
who coached the final 12 games
after Andy Murray was fired.
Crawford signed a multiyear deal.
Terms weren't disclosed.
He has a regular-season record
of 411-285-127 in 12 seasons in the
NHL, and a 43-40 playoff mark.
The 46-year-old Crawford guided
Colorado to the 1996 Stanley Cup
championship, when Peter Forsberg,
Joe Sakic and Patrick Roy played
for him. Crawford becomes the first
coach in Kings' history to have a
Stanley Cup on his resume.
Richard signed for 5 more
TAMPA, Fla. (AP) - The Tampa
Bay Lightning ensured their future
includes Brad Richards.
The 2004 Stanley Cup playoffs
MVP signed a new five-year, $39
million contract instead of opting to
become a restricted free agent on
July 1. The $7.8 million average
annual salary is more than twice the
$3.4 million he made while leading
the Lightning in scoring this season.
The 26-year-old center is the
Lightning's career assists leader
with 261, the third highest total in
the NHL over the past five seasons
behind Joe Thornton and Jagomir
Jagr. He had 23 goals and 91 points
in helping the defending Stanley
Cup champions reach the playoffs
again this year.
Hewitt loses in return
POERTSCHACH, Austria (AP)
- Australian Lleyton Hewitt lost his
first match since returning from a
calf injury, falling 3-6, 6-3, 7-6 (3) to
unheralded Brazilian Marcos Daniel
in the opening round of the Hypo
Group International.
Croatia beats U.S.
DUESSELDORF, Germany (AP)
- Croatia beat the United States 2-1
at the World Team Cup, while the
Czech Republic defeated Argentina
by the same score.
Ivan Ljubicic of Croatia beat
James Blake 5-7, 6-3, 7-6 (4) in
the first singles match, but Robby
Ginepri made it 1-1 by defeating
big-serving Ivo Karlovic 6-4, 7-6
(1). Croatia won when Ljubicic and
Karlovic beat Bob and Mike Bryan
6-3, 7-6 (4).
Young reieased on bond
BIRMINGHAM, Mich. (AP) -
Detroit Tigers designated hitter Dmitri
Young was released on a personal
bond last week after being arraigned
on a domestic violence charge
involving a 21-year-old woman. The
32-year-old Young is accused of
choking the Toledo, Ohio, woman
April 14 at the Townsend Hotel. The
woman, a college student, was iden
tified as Young's ex-girlfriend.
Twins’ Stewart placed on DL
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) - Minnesota
Twins left fielder Shannon Stewart
was placed on the 15-day disabled
list with a left foot injury.
Leßron's gone, but good haskethall is hack
By BRIAN MAHONEY
AP Basketball Writer
Leßron is gone, and so are the
defending champion Spurs. The
Clippers are on their annual summer
vacation albeit a month later than
usual.
That’s OK. They all hung around
long enough to help make this the
best NBA postseason in years.
“It’s certainly the best second
round in a long time,” NBA com
missioner David Stern said Sunday.
“The intensity of play has been phe
nomenal.”
Has it ever. Three Game 7s in the
second round alone. A record-setting
nine overtime games. A record-tying
14 games decided by two points or
fewer.
“It’s great for the NBA,” said
Phoenix guard Raja Bell, whose tying
3-pointer helped the Suns beat the
Clippers in a double-overtime thriller
that was one of the most entertain
ing games in this postseason.
“They’ve been some entertaining
games.”
There’s a reason for it.
Rules changes and a new wave of
players with a wider array of skills
From page 1B Sl
people, especially children.
Walker said the Warner
Rebins American Little
League park is a great exam-
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Mike Long, former Georgia Southern baseball player,
speaks at the dedication ceremony about his role models,
including his father and little league coach Joe Long.
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division lead at 7-2 (along
with the Tigers and Red
Sox.
Not only that, but they
shut them out 4-0 (giving
up four hits total, accord
ing to their scorecard; no
stats were provided for the
Eagles).
The Tigers also fell victim
to an unlikely foe. They were
edged out by the now 2-6-1
- record-wise Astros 5-4
Thursday.
But, back to the Eagles,
who also beat the aforemen
tioned Astros 10-6 (perhaps
the Astros are getting better,
too, based on those scores)
Saturday and then edged the
e
Duluth is currently third
after shooting a first
round 76. Christy Cheek
of Eastman, Kristen Bragg
of Evans and Ye Jin Na of
Lawrenceville are tied for
fourth at 77.
The tournament’s defend
ing champion, Laura Coble
of Augusta, is seventh at
78 and Donna Gonsalves of
Eatonton is eight at 79.
Those scores are for
DAVID OVERTON JEWELERS
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COMMENTARY
have brought the game back to what
it’s supposed to look like at its best.
Better still, the boring style of play
that plagued the league after the
breakup of Michael Jordan’s Bulls
in 1998 - the stuff that turned fans
away in droves - is all but gone.
And the fans have come back.
Television ratings are up, and the
NBA will go over 23 million fans in
combined attendance for the first
time during Game 1 of the Eastern
Conference finals on Tuesday night
in Detroit.
Having Leßron James in his first
postseason certainly helped. His
last game of the season, Cleveland’s
Game 7 loss at Detroit on Sunday,
received an overnight rating that was
nearly 30 percent higher than the
comparable game last year.
Many series were a couple of plays
away from possibly having a different
winner. The Cavs needed two game
winners from James to escape Gilbert
Arenas and Washington in the first
round. Without a lucky bounce of
ple of a public-private part
nership, and through little
league baseball children
learn about character. This
helps lead to a better com
munity, he said.
Through the commitment
it took to build this facility,
Walker said the local youth
Cardinals (currently with
a 3-6 record) 12-11 Sunday
(they were probably tired by
then). What’s been at the
source of their turnaround?
A little bit of recruiting.
They’ve been “getting more
players the last few games,”
explained Chris Dunn who
basically manages the league
- he is also a player on the
Red Sox. “The coach told me
they wanted to just ‘play for
fun’ but (he’s) realized that
losing was not fun.
“Now they are taking
things more serious and win
ning.”
One other score from May
16 was: Cardinals 16, White
Sox 6.
On May 17, the Red Sox
edged those same stub
born Astros 13-10 and then
Thursday, the Tigers beat
the lead “overall.” In the
Championship Flight, which
is where she is operating
Riley is eighth.
The field of 71 players is
divided into six flights based
on handicap index.
The championship through
second flights are playing
from the same tees (5,875
yards, par 72) and are eli
gible for the overall champi
onship. The third through
fifth flights are playing from
5,220 yards and a par of 72.
Entries were open to
female amateur golfers who
are members of a GSGA
*Jewelry Repair & Cleaning
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*Engraving " Hours:
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*Estate Jewelry m‘v';'e‘:l’“‘
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SPORTS
might grow up to be some
thing better than a mayor or
a governor. It's a sentiment
echoed by Perdue.
Mike Long, another one of
the 13 note signers honored
on this day, introduced the
governor. A former college
baseball player at Georgia
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Attendees, including Gov. Sonny Perdue, listen to the speaker.
the Angels 6-2.
The Eagles-Nationals
game was the only one on
Friday, and then Saturday
was the aforementioned
Eagles-Astros matchup.
There were three games
Sunday - all were played
at the Bibb County Sports
Complex (the league has
a wooden bat tournament
coming up in Warner Robins
June 4), only two of which
were reported.
The first was the Eagles-
Cardinals game already men
tioned and in the other, the
Nationals, perhaps embar
rassed, took it out on the
White Sox. They beat them
28-4.
More games were sched
uled for Tuesday and today
but those results have yet to
be posted.
Member Club and Georgia
residents. This is the sec
ond time that this event
has taken place at Atlanta
National Golf Club.
4
vdy
[s your home within the limits of the C ity of Warner Robins? . l
Please contact the City of Warner Robins,
Department of Community Development to see¢
if you qualify for a U.S. Department of HUD
Sfunded low (0% to 3%) interest rate loan
(Certain income restrictions apply-Maximum income ranges from
$32,950 for a single person to $62,150 for a family of 8)
Apply at Warner Robins City Hall,
700 Watson Blvd. upstairs in the Department of Community Development
or call 929-1140 for more details.
Brent Barry’s 3-pointer late in Game
2, San Antonio may not even have
gotten past its opening-round series
with eighth-seeded Sacramento.
The Spurs then lost a thrilling
seven-game series against Dallas,
and afterward Tim Duncan said
it was the best he ever played in.
Throw in the Detroit-Cleveland and
Phoenix-Los Angeles matchups, and
there were three series that went the
distance in the same round for the
first time since 1994.
Recent rules changes designed to
increase scoring have worked. Hand
checking and illegal defense are gone,
the 8-second clock to get the ball
across halfcourt is in, and scoring is
way up. Seven teams were averaging
100 points in the postseason.
The NBA realized long ago that the
old rules that favored defense and
the teams that played it the way New
York and Miami did in the late 1990 s
- prevented it from showcasing its
product properly.
“There’s no question about that,”
Stern said. “The illegal defensive
guidelines led to a complete isola
tion mentality. One-on-one, with four
guys in the parking lot.”
Southern, Long played in
the little league alongside
Perdue for his father Joe
Long. Long said Lewis asked
him to lead the effort to
build the current baseball
fields.
“Life is a team sport,
whether it’s a small one like a
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But don’t give all the credit to the
league office.
Some has to be saved for the team
executives who began looking over
seas to find talent when it became
obvious their games were more well
rounded than many American play
ers. It's the reason Phoenix, with
most-improved player Boris Diaw
and Brazilian Leandro Barbosa, is
still in the mix.
Many of the top teams have at least
one foreign-born player. Dallas rode
Dirk Nowitzki past San Antonio’s
duo of Tony Parker and Manu
Ginobili. Andres Nocioni, Ginobili’s
teammate on Argentina’s gold
medal winning team, was. Chicago’s
best player in its first-round series
against Miami.
The good play should continue.
Detroit and Miami went to seven
games last year, and it’s certainly
possible they’ll do it again this time.
Dallas and Phoenix have enough
good athletes to make their series a
toss-up. .
If it keeps up, this could be the best
postseason ever. In the meantime,
it’s already much better than it used
to be.
family or a large one like the
nine million people who live
in Georgia,” said Perdue.
All of the note signers
received a special Louisville
Slugger baseball bat from
members of this year’s
Warner Robins American
Little League program.
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