sweep of the Tampa

Thu Mar 22 02:26:22 EDT 2018

Is there a bigger myth in professional sports than the notion that coaches
can’t do their jobs effectively if they happen to be in the final year of a
contract? That somehow they’ll be seen as lame ducks by their players, who
will simply tune them out and the team will tumble down the standings? This
idea gets repeated so often it’s like it’s become part of the pro sports
gospel. The problem is, there’s virtually no evidence to support it. Just
consider some of the recent examples in Toronto alone. Start with Toronto
Raptors head coach Dwane Casey, who coached all of last season in the final
year of his contract, as a so-called lame duck. What happened? Well, Casey’s
team outperformed expectations more than any Toronto team in recent history.
The Raptors were supposed to be terrible and a whole lot of people expected
them to tank. And while their turnaround was based on a whole lot of
different factors, Casey’s ability to pull it all together was the key. Did
the players tune out Casey? Was his message having trouble getting through
because the players saw him as dead man walking? It was quite the opposite,
as the Raptors became one of the most stunning turnaround stories in recent
NBA history. About the same time Casey was being rewarded for his efforts
with a new contract last spring, the Leafs decided to tack an extra year
onto the end of Randy Carlyle’s deal, which was set to expire at the end of
the 2014-15 season, even though his team has underperformed during the
latter part of last season. Presumably, the Leafs didnt want him to go into
this season as a lame duck coach who would get tuned out by his players. We
all know what happened. Carlyle, contract extension in place, couldn’t get
through to his players and was fired last week. The example of former coach
Ron Wilson is even more stark. At the start of the 2011-12 season, Wilson
began the season entering the final year of his contract. To the surprise of
many, the Leafs had a great start to the season – despite Wilson being a
so-called lame duck – and he was rewarded with a contract extension on
Christmas Day. Less than three months later, he was fired. Its not to
suggest that getting an extension hurt Wilsons abiltiy to coach, but it sure
didnt help it any, either. Toronto Blue Jays manager John Gibbons has a
contract that tacks an extra year onto his deal every January 1, ensuring he
never has to go through a season as a lame duck manager. The only problem is
the Blue Jays haven’t won anything under Gibbons. The strange thing is that
when it comes to players, we usually anticipate the best out of them during
a year when a contract is expiring, because we expect them to be giving
their all in order to earn their next deal. Maybe it’s time we started to
think of coaches the same way.
[url=http://www.coltsofficialstore.us/authentic-darius-butler-colts-jersey/]Darius
Butler Jersey[/url] . New York secured second place in the Metropolitan
Division when the Philadelphia Flyers lost at Tampa Bay later Thursday. The
Rangers will face either the Flyers or Columbus in the opening round of the
post-season. The Rangers struggled throughout against the lowly Sabres and
goalie Matt Hackett, who played in just his seventh NHL game of the season.
[url=http://www.coltsofficialstore.us/authentic-al-woods-colts-jersey/]Al
Woods Jersey[/url] . Ghoulam has put pen to paper on a four and a half year
deal, tying him to Napoli until 2018. The 22-year-old Algeria international,
who played for France at Under 21 level, has made 87 league appearances in
four seasons at Saint-Etienne.
http://www.coltsofficialstore.us/authentic-johnathan-hankins-colts-jersey/.
Three pitches later, he was hugging Mike Napoli at home plate after his
teammates winning home run. Napoli and Ortiz hit consecutive homers with one
out in the 10th inning and the Boston Red Sox rallied past Minnesota 2-1
Wednesday, sending the Twins to their fifth straight loss.
[url=http://www.coltsofficialstore.us/authentic-peyton-manning-colts-jersey/]Peyton
Manning Jersey[/url] .com) - On the bright side, either the Minnesota Wild
or Buffalo Sabres will end their losing streak on Thursday night.
[url=http://www.coltsofficialstore.us/authentic-tarell-basham-colts-jersey/]Tarell
Basham Jersey[/url] . -- Conor Casey scored, his first of the season, as the
Philadelphia Union beat Chivas USA 3-0 on Saturday night.While Max
Pacioretty was celebrated for having scored the game-winning goal of the
series, the Montreal Canadiens can actually attribute the work of their
third and fourth lines as the key contributors for their first round sweep
of the Tampa Bay Lightning. There is no argument that the line of
Pacioretty, David Desharnais and Thomas Vanek was one of the hottest in the
NHL leading into the post-season, and they did combine for three goals and
seven points, but it was the depth of all four lines that helped propel
Montreal. It started in Game 1, where the fourth line took control, led by
playoff veteran Daniel Briere, and capped off with the overtime winner by
Dale Weise. Along with Michael Bournival, the trio tallied two goals and
five points in the series with a plus-4 rating. Solid numbers for a fourth
line that features a centreman who now has 51 career playoff goals and 111
points in 112 games. Briere showed this series why his off-season signing to
help bring playoff experience can be very beneficial to the Canadiens. The
checking line of Brandon Prust, Tomas Plekanec and Brendan Gallagher added
their share of offence with the energetic Gallagher leading the Habs in
playoff scoring with three goals and five points. His line had five goals
and nine points. Despite the balanced attack, the big story of the series
was the resurgence of Rene Bourque and Lars Eller, two players who found
themselves in chateau bow-wow on more than one occasion this season, and
their lack of production earnedd them some time in the press box as healthy
scratches.dddddddddddd. Yet Bourque found the style of game that Michel
Therrien has wanted from him all season long, and after finding success,
built his confidence as the series wore on. Last season, Eller was the
Canadiens best forward heading into the playoffs with Ottawa, before he was
knocked out of the series. This time around, Eller had started to pick up
his play over his final few games of the regular season, prior to missing a
pair of games with the flu. He and Bourque have both used the post-season as
a chance to hit the reset button on their seasons, and so far so good. That
line which includes captain Brian Gionta, who added a critical shorthanded
goal in the series, led the Habs with six goals, 11 points and a plus-11
rating, showing they were responsible on both sides of the puck. So often,
playoff success is based on a balanced attack and the chance for a different
hero each night. While this series saw big saves from Carey Price, some
excellent plays and big minutes from PK Subban, a solid defensive job on
Steven Stamkos done by the Habs blue line, especially Josh Gorges, the
series win can really be attributed to depth. Now the Canadiens will have a
week or so off before facing either Boston or Detroit in the second round.
Again, Michel Therrien will have a balancing act to work on; the balance
between rest and preparation for your next opponent, while ensuring the
Canadiens stay game sharp and not lose the momentum built from the first
round. [url=http://www.authenticchinajerseyscheap.com/]Cheap NFL Jerseys
Authentic[/url]
[url=http://www.wholesalenfljerseyschinaauthentic.com/]Jerseys NFL
China[/url] [url=http://www.wholesalechinajerseysauthenticnfl.com/]Wholesale
Jerseys[/url] [url=http://www.cheapauthenticjerseysnflchina.com/]Jerseys
Wholesale[/url] [url=http://www.wholesalenflchinacheapjerseys.com/]Cheap NFL
Jerseys China[/url] [url=http://www.cheapjerseysnfl.net/]Cheap Nike NFL
Jerseys[/url] [url=http://www.cheapjerseysnhl.net/]Cheap NFL Jerseys
Wholesale[/url] ' ' '

--
Sent from: http://shibboleth.1660669.n2.nabble.com/Shibboleth-Users-f1660767.html