his most impressive stop of the evening
his most impressive stop of the evening
MILWAUKEE -- Kenneth Faried was called out for his timid play, dared to be more aggressive and take over games. That challenge came not from his coaches or teammates, but from members of his family. "My family came up to me and said, Hey, do what you are paid to do and that is play basketball," Faried said. "Stop worrying about everybody else, stop being nervous, stop being timid and play your game." Farieds high-energy play has been the driving force behind his recent hot streak, including a 26-point performance to carry the Denver Nuggets past the Milwaukee Bucks 101-90 Thursday night. Wilson Chandler scored 15 while J.J. Hickson added 14 points and 10 rebounds in a matchup of two teams left short-handed by deals they made before Thursday afternoons trade deadline. But Faried made the difference for the Nuggets, who broke a five-game losing streak. "Its good to feel what its like to get a W again," Nuggets coach Brian Shaw said. "Its been awhile for us." Faried, the No. 22 overall pick in the 2011 draft, has been impressive this February. Coming off a 21-point, 10-rebound performance against Phoenix, the forward also scored a career-high 28 against the Los Angeles Clippers earlier this month. "My mother challenged me," Faried said. "My father even stepped up and said, Play your game and do what you do." From opponents, one word keeps coming up: motor, motor, motor. "He has a 757 motor, man," Bucks guard O.J. Mayo said. "Hes not the tallest, but it comes down to energy and effort. He has one of those motors, man." Added Bucks coach Larry Drew, "If you dont match it, hell gobble you up. And thats what happened tonight." Caron Butler scored 17 for the Bucks, who have not won two straight games all season. Ersan Ilyasova had 14 points and 11 rebounds. "We just seemed like we never got into a rhythm," Drew said. "I thought every time we seemed to try to put together a little bit of a push, we just never seemed to sustain a rhythm." With Denver leading 78-67 going into the fourth quarter, Milwaukee got within five points on John Hensons dunk off an alley-oop from Giannis Antetokounmpo, plus a pair of jumpers by Caron Butler. But the Nuggets responded with a 12-2 run, including a powerful two-handed putback dunk by Faried, and put the game away. "Motor," Bucks forward John Henson said of Faried. "Thats his game, thats how he gets his money. His motor." Earlier in the day, Denver sent disgruntled guard Andre Miller to Washington, getting back forward Jan Vesely from Washington in a three-team deal that also involved Philadelphia. Miller hasnt played since he got into a verbal altercation with Shaw earlier this year. Shaw said before the game that "nobody wanted to have the situation come down to what it came to," and the deal would be better for both sides. The Bucks sent guards Gary Neal and Luke Ridnour to Charlotte, getting guard Ramon Sessions and forward Jeff Adrien in return. Left with remarkably short benches, the Nuggets used eight players in Thursdays game, and the Bucks used nine. Milwaukee played Antetokounmpo at point guard at times. Milwaukee even brought back O.J. Mayo, who had missed 10 games because of a combination of illness and conditioning issues. Mayo scored 11 points on 5-of-8 shooting in 23 minutes, but had an odd moment when he appeared to be caught tying his shoe on defence while the Nuggets had the ball in play. "Sorry about that," Mayo said. "Just trying to stay safe." Overall, Drew was pleased with the play of Mayo -- a player the Bucks will be counting on the rest of the season. "I thought he did a really good job," Drew said. "I saw some really good energy in him." NOTES: Shaw confirmed before the game that JaVale McGee had surgery. McGee sustained a stress fracture of his left tibia in November. . Bucks guard Brandon Knight was a game-time scratch because of a right heel laceration. . Shaw said before the game that he couldnt comment on a potential trade of forward Jordan Hamilton to Houston for guard Aaron Brooks. Discount Authentic Saucony Shoes . Pospisil, whose season-ending goal is to improve his ATP Tour ranking enough to qualify for one of the 32 seedings at Januarys Australian Open, dominated Karlovic in 59 minutes. The world No. 40 never faced a break point and limited the big mans threatening ace count to a mere eight, while striking five key aces of his own. Discount Saucony Shoes Online . Masahiro Tanaka has touched down in the United States and the courting of the Rakuten Golden Eagles stud pitcher has begun in earnest by a bevy of MLB teams interested in the Japanese ace. http://www.cheapsaucony.com/. In mens doubles, Vancouvers Vasek Pospisil and American Jack Sock reached the quarter-finals with a 7-6 (3), 7-6 (3), 6-4 win over Croatian Mate Pavic and Andre Sa of Brazil. Cheap Saucony Shoes On Sale . After losing Brett Cecil to groin tightness on Friday, the Blue Jays watched as R. Saucony Shoes From China . A 19-game winner with the New York Yankees in both 2006 and 2007, Wang spent most of this year at Triple-A for the Yankees and Blue Jays. The 33-year-old right-hander was 1-2 with a 7.SOCHI, Russia – Hours before his team would battle for an opportunity to play for gold here in Sochi, Canadian head coach Mike Babcock had an opportunity to meet with two members of the womens squad – Hayley Wickenheiser and Shannon Szabados – that rallied for gold of their own in historic fashion just a night earlier. "I just think what it does for everybody in life is real simple," said Babcock early on Friday afternoon. "You dont give in. You just keep on keeping on. Is it going to go your way every time? No. But you choose your attitude and how you perform and how hard you dig in." Nearly four years to the day of the 2010 gold medal match in Vancouver, his team dug in with its best effort of these Olympics, snuffing out the high-powered Americans for another opportunity at gold. The line between victory and failure was painfully thin at Bolshoy Ice Dome in a Friday evening clash of the tournaments two deepest teams, but ultimately Carey Price on the prowl, another Jamie Benn marker and a stiff Canadian defensive effort prevailed in a tight 1-0 win. "If we were to think about that result and visualize it at the start of the day, wed say, mission accomplished," Price remarked afterward. Their scoring struggles may have continued in victory – just four goals of offence in the past nine periods of regulation – but what Canada continued to do exceptionally well is defend, holding a potent U.S. team completely off the board. The Americans entered the night as the tournaments most fearsome offensive attack, scoring 20 goals in their first four games including five alone from Phil Kessel. But they were stifled by the Canadians, who have allowed, incredibly, just three goals and only two at even-strength. "Thats been something from Day 1 that weve really believed in and trust that thats a big part of having success here," said Sidney Crosby. "You see the games from every team at this point are pretty tight. Thats a common theme. And theres not much separating each team." Though the pace was absolutely frantic, the Canadians generally managed the feared American speed. Much of that effort came from simply controlling possession, forcing the likes of Kessel and Patrick Kane to defend a lot more than theyd like. "We forced them to play in the defensive zone a lot," said Crosby. "Theyve got a lot of guys who are skilled and create a lot of speed, but I think we did a good job of keeping them in there for at least 20 seconds in shifts. Hopefully that played a part in taking away their energy offensively." Toews and linemates, Jeff Carter and Patrick Marleau, drew the assignment of the slowing the Kessel line – which also featured Joe Pavelski, who had the most goals in the NHL since Jan. 1 and James van Riemsdyk – and did so in part by back-checking with fevered passion, a commitment that was shared by the rest of the Canadian forward contingent. Kessel had a rush or two of consequence early, but was held to four shots and none in the final frame. "It was just work ethic," said Toews. "It was good sticks, I think we had active sticks … we didnt stop moving our feet, and we were committed to doing the job rightt.dddddddddddd Our penalty kill was great tonight, too. Those are the things, whether youre winning a Stanley Cup or an Olympic gold medal, those are the things you need to do." Zach Parise led the U.S. with eight shots and had one of the better opportunities to score in the second, redirecting a Patrick Kane pass attempt on Price, one of 31 shots turned aside by the 26-year-old in his first Olympic shutout. Price was facing the biggest and most scrutinized test of his career and he aced it, outdueling the always impressive Jonathan Quick. A stoic and unwavering personality, Price, a native of Anahim Lake, B.C., was cool in his fourth start of these Games and made the difficult look effortless. Maybe his most impressive stop of the evening saw John Carlson robbed by the glove in a scoreless opening frame. "I thought he was great," said Babcock. "The game was close. Its 1-0, its tight, and all those shots coming he had to make big saves, just like Quick did. Its not like there wasnt chances tonight. There was chances both ways, its just that the goalies are so good in todays world it makes it hard to get pucks by them." "Im just soaking in this moment right now," said Price, who owns a .963 save percentage thus far. Benn proved the only player on either team to score. The 24-year-old scored his second goal (and second game-winner) by redirecting a Jay Bouwmeester point shot past Quick, who was often awesome himself in turning aside 36 shots, including all 16 in a busy first frame. Only four Canadian forwards have scored with a game to go and if there is a concern heading into Sundays final with Sweden, its just that. Like the quarterfinal game against Latvia, there were numerous chances against the Americans on this night with only one resulting in a goal. Patrice Bergeron had an early backhand opportunity eschewed by Quicks blocker. Carter was stopped by the pads moments later. Two good chances for Patrick Sharp, who offered energy on an effective fourth line with Matt Duchene and Rick Nash, also failed to materialize into anything other than a shot or two on goal. "Weve had unbelievable opportunities and still havent finished," Babcock. "Were going to finish. We just hope we dont run out of time." A journey that started six months ago at an orientation camp in Calgary will conclude Sunday against the injury-riddled, overlooked and still dangerous Swedes, who topped Finland in the other semifinal. In line with Babcocks desired mantra at these Olympics, the Canadians have gotten better every day and know that will have to continue if theyre to repeat with gold for the first time in more than 60 years and also join the undeterred womens squad, who rallied from a 2-0 deficit to capture their fourth consecutive gold on Thursday night. "Each and every level of the Stanley Cup playoffs, youve got to keep getting better and its the same here," said Babcock, who will face four of his Red Wing players in the gold medal match. "What I do know about the Swedes and I know lots of them actually, theyre good players and they play with no ego and itll be about the team. Theyve been really good here. Theyre going to be a hard test. We understand that." Cheap Jerseys China NFL Jerseys China NFL Jerseys Wholesale Discount Basketball Jerseys Cheap NHL Jerseys Authentic Cheap Baseball Jerseys Free Shipping Cheapest College Jerseys Sale Cheap Football Jerseys China Nike NFL Jerseys Canada Wholesale NHL Jerseys From China MLB Jerseys Outlet Canada Wholesale NBA Jerseys Canada Store Cheap Soccer Jerseys China Cheap Authentic Jerseys Canada ' ' '