FIVE QUICK NBA THOUGHTS. Here are five quick NBA thoughts about some players around the league. 1. JASON KIDD (Knicks): Watched their game at Brooklyn on Tuesday night. As great as Melo was for them - when it came time to make the clutch plays this man made huge shots and as always provided excellent playmaking and defence. What a brilliant pick-up by former Raptors GM/current Knicks GM, Glen Grunwald. He has brought in a bunch of proven and savvy veteran players and its gone a long way towards stabilizing the play of JR Smith and Carmelo Anthony. Kidd is an amazing competitive player and his basketball IQ, toughness and skill give him a winning combination even at this late stage of his career. 2. NOLAN SMITH (Blazers): Saw him Monday night in Portland and like his quickness and the pressure he puts on the defence with the speed and pace he plays at. Not a great shooter but he understands and accepts his role quite well. Tough to guard in open space and is a solid defender himself. 3. MARCO BELINELLI (Bulls): Getting major playing time for his squad. He plays better when he knows he can settle in and get into the flow and be able to make a few mistakes and not get yanked. The former Raptor is a good distance shooter and has solid passing instincts. He can play in the slower pace of this squad due to his excellent fundamentals and ability to use screens to get open. Without Derrick Rose, theyre trying to minimize possessions while maximizing the talents of what they do have in a 5-on-5 half-court setting. He has done a pretty good job of holding up his end of the bargain. 4. ANDERSON VAREJAO (Cavs): Having really nice year. Healthy and playing with awesome energy as always. Love his passion and persistence. He has done a very good job with his second effort on the glass and is a very underrated passer. For a young team, he is an ideal role model for how hard your supposed to play to be a good pro. Id take him on my team any day of the week. Competitor and winner. Offensive game has improved in his years as a pro and a big reason - his work ethic. Self-made man. 5. MATT BARNES (Clippers): Good addition to the Clips. Plays with an edge. Guards you and will be relentless. Smart role player who keeps the ball moving and makes the solid plays. Respectable shooter with a decent first step who fits into what this team is trying to do. Has bounced around but you have to respect that when its game time hes prepared to play and will give you his all. The second unit here is excellent due to the selfless nature of the personalities involved. Barnes deserves a lot of praise for sacrificing his game for the common cause. wholesale jerseys from china . Louis Cardinals beat Arizona 6-1 on Tuesday night, handing the Diamondbacks their fourth loss in a row. Beltran, who had one of the Cardinals five homers in their 9-6 series-opening win on Monday, hit a two-run homer off Ian Kennedy in the first, then cleared the bases with a shot into the swimming pool area in right-centre in the seconds, his 10th career grand slam. cheap jerseys from china . Calvin Johnson was forced to settle for what he could get. http://www.chinanfljerseyswholesal... . Kyle Palmieri added a goal in the second period, followed two minutes later by a power-play goal by Justin Faulk. In other action, Russia beat the Czech Republic 2-0, Slovakia shut out Switzerland 1-0 and Norway humbled Germany 12-4. [url=http://www.chinanfljerseyswholesale.com/]cheap nfl jerseys . Harrison extended his consecutive scoreless streak to 16 1-3 innings, pitching into the eighth before Mike Adams and Joe Nathan closed out the Rangers third shutout victory in their past five games, 1-0 over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Wednesday night. jerseys from china ., won the gold medal Saturday in the womens 100-metre butterfly to open the third and final stop on the Mare Nostrum swimming circuit. ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Rangers outfielder Josh Hamilton is returning to Texas for further examination of a sinus problem that has forced him to miss two straight games. Hamilton tops the majors with 42 home runs. He left Tuesdays series opener in the fourth inning with a recurring sinus problem that makes it tough for him to breathe. "Everybody in my familys been sick," Hamilton said before the AL West leaders took batting practice. "The last five or six days Ive been battling something. Anytime I get sick, it usually turns into a sinus infection. Sometimes it can cause me to be off-kilter, off-balance, but this is the first time its caused me not to be able to focus the way I want to on the field." "The more you run when you cant breathe as good, you get a little dizzy, a little thrown off. It just is what it is. If your heads a little stopped up, you can get a little starry-eyed, dizzy. I had the MRI just to make sure everything was good to go. My eyesight is great. I got that checked out. Its 20-15. It used to be 20-10, but Im getting a little older. Thats good, but all the congestion thats in there is slowing things down a bit as far as depth perception and things like that.dddddddddddd" Hamilton entered Thursday with one more home run than Detroits Miguel Cabrera. Thats the only Triple Crown category Cabrera is trailing in as he attempts to become the first Triple Crown winner since Bostons Carl Yastrzemski in 1967. "Maybe Im sick for a reason. Maybe its his time," Hamilton said. "I dont really care about holding on to the home run lead. Hes a good dude and hes played consistently well for a long time. It would be cool if there was another winner. Theres nobody Id rather see win it than him." Fellow Texas slugger Adrian Beltre was back in the lineup for the AL West leaders on Thursday night against the Angels. Both players missed Wednesdays game with ailments. Beltre sat out one game with abdominal discomfort and wasnt in the Rangers initial lineup Thursday, but talked his way into the cleanup spot as a designated hitter after batting practice. The Rangers road trip concludes with three weekend games in Seattle. ' ' '