Willkommen » s of a revving motor now and then.Again, playing amid sub-NB

Texas administration is receiving extreme pressure from prominent boosters to dismiss Charlie Strong and hire Houston coach Tom Herman, sources told ESPN.Earlier this week, Strongs job was considered safe if the Longhorns (5-6, 3-5 Big 12) won out against Kansas?and TCU. However, that all changed with Houstons upset of No. 5 Louisville?on Thursday and Texas 24-21 overtime loss to Kansas on Saturday, sources said.Texas stunning loss likely sealed Strongs fate, although he is still expected to coach the season finale Friday against TCU, according to sources.I do not see how he can survive, a source said. He has been given every chance to succeed. Everyone wanted him to.Sources said they dont expect an official decision on Strong until after the completion of the regular season Friday.?He dropped to 16-20 since arriving at Texas -- including 12-14 in league play -- and not even the $10 million buyout he would be due could be enough to keep him from getting fired.We just had our opportunities there, Strong said after Saturdays loss. Not much needed to be said.Asked what it means for his future, Strong replied: No idea.Texas president Greg Fenves and athletic director Mike Perrin have been consistent and very outspoken about their support of Strong. In October, sources told ESPN that Strong would not be fired in-season and be allowed to complete the season.Perrin declined to speak with reporters after the game, looking away when he approached them. Strongs wife, Victoria, was crying outside the Longhorns locker room.Kansas had won only two of its past 31 games. It was Kansas first Big 12 victory since November 2014 and denied Texas a bowl-qualifying win.?The Longhorns must beat TCU on Friday to get bowl-eligible.The lure of Herman, always considered Texas No. 1 target, had dulled with Houstons losses to Navy and SMU and close wins against Tulsa and UCF. The SMU loss was extremely troubling to Texas boosters because it was to a perceived lesser school in the state, sources said.That all changed with Herman improving to 22-3 at Houston by dominating Louisville. After that win, the bidding war for Herman is expected to start at a minimum of $5.5 million, an industry source said.According to a source close to the situation, Houston athletic director Hunter Yurachek met with Hermans agent for about two hours last week, but that was before Houston beat Louisville and Hermans stock began to soar again.The source said Houston is prepared to add another seven figures to Hermans current contract, but that if Texas were to offer Herman the job, theres no way the program could compete financially.Houston is trying to raise between $35 and $40 million for a football operations building Herman has asked for that he thinks will help the program win a national championship.Herman is considered among the leading candidates at Texas and LSU, if Jimbo Fisher remains at Florida State, as well as Oregon, if the Ducks fire Mark Helfrich, sources said. Herman also would be a top target of Florida State, if Fisher left for LSU, a source said.Another concern of Texas top boosters is the possibility Texas A&M decides to part ways with Kevin Sumlin for the opportunity to grab Herman, sources said.Herman was dead in the water [with Texas] when he lost to SMU [Oct. 22], a source said. And now hes hotter than ever.Herman was Ohio States offensive coordinator before being named Houstons coach. He has won 22 of 25 games, including all five contests as an underdog against Oklahoma and Louisville this season and Louisville, Navy and Florida State in 2015.Information from ESPNs Heather Dinich and The Associated Press was included in this report.MLB Jerseys Outlet . -- Sergey Tolchinksy scored his second goal of the game 3:56 into overtime as the Sault Ste. Cheap MLB Jerseys Online . -- Stanfords Kevin Danser knelt on one knee and hardly moved on the sideline as Michigan State celebrated its Rose Bowl victory and his Cardinal teammates made their way to the locker room. http://www.stitchedmlbjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-pittsburgh-pirates-jerseys .Y. - Detroit goaltender Jonas Gustavsson has earned NHL first star of the week honours after winning in his first three appearances of the season. Discount Baseball Jerseys . Reigning world champion Eve Muirhead of Scotland opened with a 12-2 rout of Winnipegs Jennifer Jones in a battle of teams bound for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Wholesale MLB Jerseys . Howard Ganz, an MLB lawyer, said in a letter to U.S. District Judge Edgardo Ramos that Rodriguezs claims do not come "remotely close" to what is needed to overturn an arbitration decision in federal court.Lets bounce around the NBA in our weekly tradition.10 things I like and dont like1. Mike Conley, gone for a whileWell, this sucks. Conley just keeps getting better. Hes under more pressure than ever this season for a paper-thin team, and hes thriving. Conley has nailed 47 percent (!) from deep, and hes running every possession with the usual change-of-pace guile. He has never looked more confident, and in control. He somehow appears even faster than usual when he decides to zoom.The leagues perennial almost-All-Star was making a legitimate case for a wild-card reserve spot, even as every Western Conference guard goes nuclear around him. And then, this. The Grizzlies are in deep, deep trouble. They have been great with both Conley and Marc Gasol on the floor, and disastrously bad in basically every other scenario, per NBA.com.His backups have been borderline unplayable as lead dogs, notwithstanding Andrew Harrisons random outburst Wednesday against Toronto. David Fizdale may need to get Zach Randolph (when he returns) into games earlier to provide a second fulcrum for the gummy Grizz offense.In the meantime, Memphis will round up the usual trade and free-agency suspects, and perhaps apply for a hardship exception to sign an extra 16th player. Thats a stopgap that lasts only as long as at least four players -- in this case, James Ennis, Chandler Parsons, Brandan Wright?and Conley -- are out.Good thing they banked a bunch of close wins in typical grit-and-grind fashion, including a buzzer-beater over Denver after a botched call gave Memphis one last shot.2. The Brandon Jennings experience!Jennings is straight-up rambunctious this season. He enveloped Ramon Sessions over the weekend in a full-court press so vicious, you wondered if Sessions had done something to his family. He clowned Ricky Rubio in New Yorks exciting road win against Minnesota on Wednesday.He pushes the Knicks into turbo gear and captains wildly unpredictable bench units populated by a motley crew. He appears unfamiliar with the triangle offense, and delightfully uninterested in getting familiar.That said, he knows how to leverage the patterns of the triangle to his advantage.Cagey! The Knicks look like theyre setting up for a rare pure triangle possession, and that script would call for Jennings to hand Unicorn Boy the ball before jogging to the corner. Jennings knows that. He knows the defense knows that, that they expect it, and that he might catch them snoozing through the motions if he veers off script.The results have been uneven, of course. Jennings is shooting poorly from all over the floor, and his defense breaks apart once the offense settles into its half-court actions. But I am entertained.3. The blemish in the Russell Westbrook showI love the Westbrook show. Let me repeat that for the, umm, most loyal Oklahoma City fans: I love the Westbrook show. But even the greatest shows have Poochie-level flaws. Westbrook knows he carries Oklahoma Citys offense almost by himself, and hes not averse to some blatant stat-chasing. One ugly manifestation of all that: Westbrooks foul-baiting on jump shots has reached all-time shamelessness this season.If a defender is chasing behind him, Westbrook might arch his back and jump sideways into him -- even if doing so kills the odds of his shot going in (which is supposed to be the goal of basketball). Only Draymond Green outranks him among the NBAs leg-splayers. Sometimes, hell whip one of his arms sideways upon the release of a jumper, just in case he might smack an opposing player and trick the officials into thinking the victim hit him.This is the Landry/Lance-might-have-murdered-someone subplot of the Westbrook epic. You kind of just have to ignore it.PS: Is the Westbrook triple-double season average watch the NBAs version of a baseball player flirting with .400? Is there any other feasible statistical feat that would inspire fevered day-to-day monitoring at a decimal point level?4. George Hill, craftyIndy fans who couldnt wait to dump Hill might be surprised to learn he has been Utahs MVP so far -- a 20-point scorer approaching 50-40-90 shooting levels, and playing his usual hounding defense against opposing point guards. Utah has destroyed teams with Hill on the floor, and its scoring margin has remained strong when Hill has manned the ship without Gordon Hayward, per NBA.com.Hill has been even better than expected on the ball, and he remains a lethal off-ball option -- key for a team with so many wings who take the controls.That cut looks simple, and a lot guys standing on the weak side of a pick-and-roll slash to the rim when their defenders lurch in on help assignments. But there is an art to it. Go too early, and you might collide with a rolling big man. Go late, and the ball handler is too far toward the baseline to find you.Hill nails it, and hes a crafty finisher from odd angles in the paint.Side note: Utah has outscored opponents by 68 points in the measly 131 minutes Hill and Hayward have shared the floor this season -- equivalent to a ridiculous plus-25 margin over 48 minutes. If this team can ever get healthy, watch out.5. Anthony Davis at full throttleBy some measures, Davis has not become the defender some of us predicted. He doesnt always move with the certainty and balance you would expecct from one of the most well-rounded big-man athletes ever to play.ddddddddddddHe looked like he was defending on skates at times during his first two years, and he never totally excised that slight bit of awkwardness from his defense. He did not play at peak effort enough last season.But when hes dialed in, holy hell is Davis an all-court wrecker. When hes the closest defender to enemy shooters, those guys are hitting about 7 percentage points lower than usual -- a monster number, per player tracking data. Davis has killed this measure over the last two seasons. He bothers shots almost no other defender can reach.And when his antennae are up, Davis can be the most destructive team defender in the league -- a blur with a 7-5 wingspan:Davis doesnt play with this focus all the time, but hes still just 23. (Anthony Davis is 23. My god. What a world.) He has been perhaps the leagues best player this season. The Pelicans would be dead without him. Now that Jrue Holidays back, theyre alive and kicking.6. Dragan Bender, 7-1 pseudo-wingThe Suns are so weird. They have mid-career veterans acquired to push a go-go .500-ish team toward 50 wins; kiddos plucked in the lottery when those teams went bust; graybeards meant to mentor those kids; and one center, Tyson Chandler, signed amid a fit of exuberance when the Suns thought they might also land LaMarcus Aldridge.Its very hard to develop teeny-boppers while letting the vets try to win games. Earl Watson is doing his best to figure it out. Hes starting Marquese Chriss and letting him bomb 3s, and finishing close games with Jared Dudley and/or P.J. Tucker. He has found Bender minutes.Problem: Hes lately using Bender as the leagues tallest small forward, spotting him up around the arc and having him scramble against little guys on defense. Tim Hardaway Jr. blew past him for as baseline dunk Wednesday, and what in the hell is Bender supposed to do about that?In the long run, its not a big deal. But something needs to give on this roster.7. Theatrical head-coaching goodbye wavesThis is my favorite bizarre NBA coaching tradition: the end-of-game cross-court wave between opposing head coaches. There is no time to come over and shake your hand, so Im waving! I am very busy! Look, I am stretching my arm as high as it can go above my head! Do you see me? You probably do, since you are only 30 feet away. Hey, youre waving back! I am now going to shift my hand into a thumbs-up, turn around, and leave. Bye!Its just a great, strange social interaction.8. John Walls left handThe Wizards stink again, so to make my D.C. buddies feel better, heres John Wall fooling two defenders with the same lefty in-and-out dribble in the span of about two seconds:John Wall is a superhuman athlete, but the (justified) obsession over his speed has long masked the sophisticated craft in his game. Hes a gifted passer who reads all five defenders at once, and he has a mean left hand. He likes to dunk lefty, and hes good at it.9. The same old Jahlil OkaforThank the basketball gods for Joel Embiid, and may they keep watch over Ben Simmons foot. Okafor stagnating was predictable, and not some indicator that hes doomed to disappoint; hes only 20, the team around him is still bad, and hes surely depressed scrounging backup minutes behind the next big thing.But its OK to worry a little that his warts look just as unsightly as they did during his haywire rookie season. Okafor is still a black hole in the post. Hes rebounding like a wing player, again. Hes constantly late on rotations, and worse yet, when he realizes hes late, he doesnt exactly respond with urgency.Okafor is never going to be a stopper, but he should be better than this. Hes a smart player with good hands, vision, and enough athleticism to get his ass moving on defense when he has to. He gives glimpses of a revving motor now and then.Again, playing amid sub-NBA backup units is hurting his development, and though Brett Brown will try -- dude will try anything -- its unlikely Okafor and Embiid can play much together. Id be shocked if either Nerlens Noel or Okafor were on the team at the start of the 2018-19 season, provided Embiid stays healthy.Bright side: Sauce Castillo is spicy!10. Omri Casspi, real no-look passerThe Kings blitzed opponents last season with Casspi, Rudy Gay?and DeMarcus Cousins all on the floor in small-ball lineups, so it was curious that Dave Joerger, their new coach, banished Casspi from the rotation for most of the first 15 games. (Lets be clear: Its not, like, super-interesting. Casspi is a lovable, full-throttle player, and that leads to some exaggeration as to how good he really is.)Hes back, and hes as fun to watch as ever, circling all over the floor like a madman and launching 30-foot Lillardian bombs. Seriously, the balls on this dude.The most important Casspi-ism: He is a real no-look passer, not some fake who locks eyes with his target, throws a pass, and only then jerks his head the other way so everyone thinks hes clever. Casspi flies blind, and reserves the no-look stuff for passes on which baffling a defender for even a split second can make the difference between an open and contested look. ' ' '