FIVE QUICK NBA THOUGHTS: 1. RAPTORS STRUGGLING: The bottom line is the true test in sports isnt just how you handle failure, but how you handle success. This team has gotten off track from the formula that it was using beautifully of late. The games against the Boston Celtics, Los Angeles Lakers and Mondays loss to the Charlotte Bobcats all had major stretches where this team looked like they acted as if they had already "arrived" and didnt have to do the dirty work anymore and just wanted to win pretty instead of grinding it out and laying it on the line with great effort and passion. I felt bad for coach Dwane Casey in Charlotte. Its a helpless feeling as a coach when you have a team that thinks that they can beat folks with talent and not have to do the work to win. He was scrambling, trying to mix and match combinations and burn timeouts to give wake up calls, yet in the end, a terrific desperate effort came up short. As you can tell, I havent even mentioned Xs and Os once and dont have to or plan to - thats not the issue here, nor is it talent. To sum it up, winning is really, really, really hard to do, but losing is really easy. Youre a 20-20 club. Do you want to be mediocre or average or do you want to accomplish something? Its gut-check time and theres a very simple solution to the problem: Respect your opponent, have top-notch attention to detail, compete with great passion and stay committed to the team concept. You do that and youll be fine. If you dont, there will be changes. The trade deadline is 30 days away. You dont want to get stuck in no mans land. You gave away three games in the past six days to teams that are banged up with slightly inferior talent levels and you have to wonder about the direction you want to take this. I love what general manager Masai Ujiri has done with this whole thing, being patient with the process. Its all on the players now. Its time to produce and, more importantly, learn from this experience and, if you do have success again, dont let these things happen again. You cant stay like this - either cross the line and be a consistently good team with great habits or make changes. The clock is ticking now. 2. HERE THEY COME: Hearing footsteps yet? Im sure youve all noticed that the Atlanta Hawks have gotten the third seed back in its possession and the Brooklyn Nets are now breathing right down the Raptors backs with Deron Williams back in the line-up, as well as a huge game on Monday between the Raptors and Nets in Brooklyn coming up. And dont sleep on the Washington Wizards and Chicago Bulls, either. Theyre both 20-20 and not going away. The Raptors had a chance to make hay against weak competition and didnt do it. Things get tougher and tougher now. Can they still win the Atlantic? Sure. Can they get the #3 seed? Sure. If, and its a big if, they play the way theyre capable of playing. Excellence is a habit, not an act. This is a nice test coming up and well all find out in the next few weeks what theyre all about. I think they can do it. Its a good group of guys with enough talent that get more than a good share of the coaching and leadership they need to be successful. Theyve now put themselves into a "backs are against the wall" scenario and maybe thats what this team needs and I cant wait to find out. The middle part of the schedule is when the distancing starts to happen. Who will fight and contend and who will fade away and make plans for golf and the beach for mid-April? The Indiana Pacers and Miami Heat already know what their spring plans are, but the rest of the East is in complete flux. It is all starting to take shape now and the competition is on. 3. NICK YOUNG (Lakers): This guy can flat out score. He torched the Raptors on Sunday with some ridiculous shots and then drops 31 against a terrific Bulls defence on Monday. Hes one of those guys that will always have a job because its hard to find guys who can heat up like him and bring you back into a game. His defence and maturity are areas you wonder about sometimes, but he is a talented guy who has some high octane ability. He creates his own shot quite well and shoots it from distance effectively. Hes able to get to the foul line and has good creativity with his ball skills. He seems to wear out his welcome eventually, but while you have him, he gets you the numbers, thats for sure. 4. RICKY RUBIO (Timberwolves): Hes an exceptional defender and a wonderfully entertaining and creative passer and playmaker. With that said, for his game to truly get to the next level, he has to become a guy who is a consistent long range shooting threat in order to open up his impact in the screen and roll game and space the defence out, because youve got to come out and guard him rather than sag off him. Hes a point guard who can make all the plays with amazing vision and reflexes, yet for him to reach that upper tier, he needs to get his shot mechanics in order. He has great work habits, so Im sure hell pay the price. If he gets that together, he can make that next step. 5. JOAKIM NOAH (Bulls): You gotta love this guy. Hes already had three 20 and 15 games this season and had 17 and 21 against the Lakers last night in an OT win. Since the Bulls traded Luol Deng, hes been on a mission and hes playing angry and with amazing energy. Hes a winner in every sense and doesnt get enough credit for this, but hes a really good passer. Hes a smart player who makes the right play next in your offensive sequence. Hes got a bigger piece of the puzzle in the Bulls scheme now with Deng in Cleveland and hes responding. Noah is not a bad guy to bank on. And, by the way, Im happy for former Raptor DJ Augustin. Hes found a home with this Bulls team and playing pretty well. 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Anze Kopitar scored on a power play 2:32 into overtime after setting up Justin Williams tying power play goal with 7:39 left in the third period, and the Kings rallied from behind three times to beat the Sharks 4-3. Eric Weddle Youth Jersey .28 for a combined time of 1:14.70, also an Olympic record. Lee won the gold medal, defending her title from the Vancouver Games. ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Jason Vargas final start at home this season demonstrated why the Los Angeles Angels traded for him during the winter, and gave them even more to look forward to from him in 2014. Vargas earned his second shutout of the year with a four-hitter and Howie Kendrick homered, leading the Angels to a 3-0 victory over the Oakland Athletics on Tuesday night. Vargas (9-7) threw 110 pitches, retiring 15 consecutive batters at one point and striking out five en route to his fifth shutout and 10th complete game in 153 career starts. The As, who clinched their second straight division title Sunday, remain a game behind the Red Sox for the best record in the majors following Bostons 8-3 loss at Colorado. "I think anytime you go up against a team that won the division, you want to pitch well and give it your best," Vargas said. "It was definitely a better game than the last one. I was able to control counts and was able to throw fastballs and curve balls. That made the changeup more effective." The left-hander, who was acquired from Seattle for slugger Kendrys Morales, is 3-3 with a 4.64 ERA in his last nine outings after missing almost two months because of a blood clot near his armpit. "That tells you a lot about how hard he worked to come back, and the professional that he is," pitching coach Mike Butcher said. "Hes pitched great baseball for us. We definitely missed him in the rotation those two months he was gone, because hes going to give you a chance to win every time he takes the ball. He definitely knows how to go out there and compete, and hes picked us up these last nine starts." Vargas becomes a free agent after the season and is hoping to be back with the Angels. "I didnt put any more importance on this one than any other start, regardless of the fact that I was (on the disabled list) or not," he said. "I was throwing good before that. And when you come back from something like that, youve got to make do with what youve got and let the chips fall. I definitely want to go out and pitch well every time out, but thats not going to happen." A.J. Griffin (14-10) gave up three runs and five hits over five innings. The 25-year-old right-hander was 4-0 in his previous five outings, including a no-decision last Wednesday against the Angels when he retired 17 off his final 18 batters and allowed one hit over six innings -- a two-run homer by Mike Trout.dddddddddddd "A.J.s been consistent all year," manager Bob Melvin said. "Like anybody, hes had a rough stretch or two. But if you look at the overall body of work, its been a pretty consistent year for him and something to be proud of. Based on the way he pitched last year, this is about what we expected -- to be consistent and keep his team in games and win his share of them. And hes done all that." Griffin finished his first full big league campaign with a 3.83 ERA, 171 strikeouts in 200 innings, and a major league-worst 36 home runs allowed. The Oakland single-season record in that department is held by Catfish Hunter, who gave up 39 in 1973 and still won 21 games. "I feel pretty good about the season Ive had," Griffin said. "Its just about being competitive, pounding the strike zone and getting ahead of guys. Home runs happen, but its just part of baseball. Im just trying to contribute here. Weve got a great thing going on with this club and I look forward to being a part of it and doing great things here." For the second straight night, Kendrick homered his first time up after not hitting one in his previous 30 games. The Angels increased the margin to 3-0 in the third on Josh Hamiltons two-out, two-run single with the bases loaded. NOTES: The advance sale for Wednesdays home finale will easily put the Angels over the 3 million mark in attendance for the 11th straight season. They are 16,721 shy. ... 1B umpire John Hirshbeck called Yoenis Cespedes safe and then out on a bang-bang play in the seventh as second baseman Kendrick fielded the ground ball up the middle and completed an inning-ending double play. ... Vargas other shutout this season was a three-hitter against Baltimore on May 3 in Anaheim. ... Kendrick homered in back-to-back games for the second time this season, including July 5-6 against Boston. ... Trout, who was presented with the Gene Autry Trophy before the game as the teams MVP for the second straight year, hasnt homered in his last 15 home games and 52 at-bats at Angel Stadium since going deep in back-to-back games against Texas Aug. 6-7. ... Josh Donaldson made his 153rd start at 3B, the most by an As player at that position since Sal Bando in 1976 (155). NFL Jerseys China Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Authentic Wholesale NFL Jerseys China Wholesale Jerseys Deals Wholesale Stitched Jerseys ' ' '