Gästebuch » they need each other to excel as individual players

PHOENIX -- What was supposed to be the triumphant return of Eric Bledsoe for Phoenix instead was an ugly home loss to the Cleveland Cavaliers. Carter Kieboom Jersey . Kyrie Irving scored 12 of his 23 points in the fourth quarter and the Cavaliers snapped a four-game losing streak with a 110-101 victory on Wednesday night. Spencer Hawes added 19, 17 in the first quarter, and Luol Deng scored 18 for Cleveland. Bledsoe, who underwent knee surgery and missed 33 games, had 15 points on 5 for 16 shooting and a team-high nine assists in 32 minutes. "It spoiled everything," he said of the loss. "It was a team we needed to beat and a game we needed to win, so now its going to make it that much tougher." Goran Dragic scored 20 points, Markieff Morris 18 and Channing Frye 17 in the Suns third straight loss. Irving also had nine rebounds and six assists for the Cavs, who never trailed, building a 14-point first-quarter lead. "They looked like the team that was trying to get into the playoffs," Phoenix coach Jeff Hornacek said. "We looked like the team that just wanted to play a basketball game." Phoenix fell two games behind Memphis and Dallas for the final two playoff spots in the West. The Cavaliers led by as many as 20 at home before falling to Phoenix earlier this season. But they held off a Phoenix rally this time. "A lot of huge contributions from a lot of our guys, especially from the three-point line," Cleveland coach Mike Brown said. Cleveland led by 15 in the opening minutes of the third quarter but the Suns, behind Dragics 11 third-quarter points, cut it to two twice late in the period, the last time on Gerald Greens 11-footer in the lane that made it 77-75 with 35.9 seconds left. But after the teams traded baskets, Dion Waiters made a 3 at the buzzer to put Cleveland up 82-77 entering the fourth. It was part of a 12-2 run that gave the Cavaliers an 89-77 lead on Irvings 18-footer with 10:15 to play. Greens steal and breakaway dunk cut it to 89-81, but Irving scored eight, including two 3s, in a 9-3 spurt and the Cavs led 98-84 with 6:33 left. Green, who had averaged 26 points in his previous five games, scored eight on 4 of 14 shooting, 0 for 6 from 3-point range as the Suns went 10 for 36 from beyond the arc to Clevelands 12 of 24. The Cavs outrebounded Phoenix 51-36. The Suns also struggled from the foul line, going 13 of 22 to Clevelands 22 of 27. Hawes scored 17 in the first quarter, including 3 of 3 3-pointers, as Cleveland took a 37-24 lead. "They were sinking back and just letting me walk into some on the trail so I took advantage of that," he said. It was the highest-scoring first quarter of the season for the Cavaliers. "I dont know what it is with us in these first quarters," Dragic said. "We played better (after that) but you use up so much energy trying to come back." Phoenix never got closer than nine in the second quarter. Markieff Morris scored inside to make it 46-37, but Tristan Thompson made a 6-footer and Deng made a 3 and Cleveland led 51-37 with 4:01 left in the half. The Cavs were up 60-47 at the break, outrebounding the Suns 25-13 and making 8 of 11 3s to Phoenixs 5 of 18 in the first two quarters. Notes: The Cavaliers signed F Shane Edwards to a 10-day contract and released F Arinze Onuaku. ... The game was the only one at home for Phoenix in a stretch of six. ... Hawes was called for a flagrant foul on Miles Plumlee in the third quarter. ... Phoenix has lost seven of 10. ... Cleveland shot 47 per cent, ending a string of seven straight games in which the Phoenix opponent shot better than 50 per cent. ... The Cavs have won five of their past seven against Western Conference teams. ... Cleveland had lost four straight to the Suns. Jonny Venters Jersey . -- D.A. Points was disqualified Friday from the AT&T Pebble Beach National Pro-Am for using a training device while waiting to play the 18th hole at Pebble Beach. Tres Barrera Jersey .com) - Virginia is for loving Latrell Scott. https://www.cheapnationals.com/ . The stress, the waiting, the whispers about whether he doped during his stellar cycling career, all of it ended when - after nearly two years - federal prosecutors closed an investigation of him last week without bringing any charges.I have no idea why Jonathan Martin left the Miami Dolphins but as more time moves on, it seems like Richie Incognito is a special kind of disgusting human being. Some will say that Martin is too sensitive while others will say that it is part of the way football is in the locker room. But to have to absorb what was said to him for any rational and intelligent person is too much. There are absolutely and positively limits to what is tolerated and accepted when it comes to hazing and harassing as a player, and this was way over the line. Should Jonathan Martin have stood up for himself more? Perhaps, but I am sure he feared even more isolation than he has already experienced, so you kind of roll with the punches - to a point. There is not a human being on the planet that does not have a breaking point when it comes to handling pressure because we are biological not mechanical in our physiology. And given the same circumstances, many would exit the environment if they felt there was no respect for themselves as a human being and their life was threatened. If I was to take sides, I would take the side of Martin because he is educated; his family is educated. Stanford and Harvard are places of advanced human evolution. I doubt Richie Incognito is educated after being kick out of both the University of Oregon and Nebraska. Again, moments like this make football players look like idiots of the highest kind and there are quite a few. And there are others of the extreme opposite that represent themselves with class and dignity of the highest level. The truth is that in high level football, sometimes you have to be aggressive and other times analytical, and those moments interact countless times over the course of a season and game. But that is controllable and accepted. I think that what Martin was experiencing he could not rationalize or accept as controllable or acceptable. A football locker room sometimes - and I do want to emphasize sometimes - is a very intimidating place. There is immense money to be earned from people in the majority of cases coming from no money. There is a constant and tangible pressure to compete against another team, another player on anotheer team, other players on your team and in many ways, yourself. Trea Turner Nationals Jersey. There is little gratification in winning because within 12 hours after you win, all discussion is about the next game and how to win that one. College football is not the same. You have more "friends" that you will have at any point of your life because youre all similar in age and experience. In pro football as a rookie who is not starting and contributing, youre lucky if you have two "friends." Playing and being a part of the starters group would accelerate to more than two because of one word: respect. When you start, it is like moving up in football society; a new neighborhood of similar real estate value. That is one of the reasons that this is a bit confusing in that Jonathan Martin did start and played right beside Incognito, and truth is they need each other to excel as individual players. But I wonder if Incognito resented Martins education and class - a Stanford product that was a first round pick and is naturally athletic -and I cant help but wonder how many other players accepted this and enhanced it. Whether it is Justin Blackmon, Aldon Smith, Brandon Meriweather and others of less notoriety, the opportunity and the benefits of the opportunity are being thrown away. Coaches want dependability and performance and of the two, the first is more important than the second because without the first you cant create the second. In retrospect, it is so easy to express what should have been done; Martin should have stood up for himself more, Incognito should grow up and act like an adult and Joe Philbin should be in touch with his team to a much higher degree. The people who make decisions on free agent personal should put a bigger emphasis on character. There is lots of blame to go around. In the end, the truth may be out there but no guarantee of it becoming public knowledge. One career is destroyed - Incognito - while one is in the balance - Martin. And yes, the sport of football takes another shot as to the quality of people involved. There are many; we just dont hear about them as we have with Incognito. What a contradiction of a last name. ' ' '