Themen über das Spiel! » Youve got [Ronaldo Jacare Souza], hes ev

NEW ORLEANS -- The New Orleans Pelicans were a MASH unit last season, so riddled with injuries that their players missed a combined total of 351 games, forcing coach Alvin Gentry to use 42 starting lineup combinations.Now that the calendar has flipped to the 2016-17 season -- with the home opener Wednesday night against the Denver Nuggets at Smoothie King Center -- Gentry wouldnt be blamed if he enlisted the aid of a French Quarter voodoo priestess as a way of ensuring the good health of his players, especially All-Star forward Anthony Davis.Davis, the first overall pick in the 2012 NBA Draft, never missed a game in his 40-game, NCAA championship, freshman season at Kentucky. But, in four NBA seasons, the Pelicans franchise player has missed 68 games with injuries. A medical flow chart indicates he has injured 13 body parts.Davis porcelain reputation can be explained in part by his pedal-to-the-metal style and his penchant for throwing his body into the expensive seats chasing down loose balls. But after Davis season-ending knee injury last March, which required arthroscopic surgery, forced him to withdraw from the U.S. Olympic team, he spent the summer fully rehabbing and continuing to add muscle to his athletic frame.Then, with the Pelicans playing in China on Oct. 12, Davis stepped on the foot of Houston Nenes foot and suffered a Grade 2 ankle sprain. But Davis returned for the preseason finale on Friday and is scheduled to start Wednesday.It doesnt concern me, Davis, who averaged 24.3 points, 10.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks last year, said about his recent injury history. Its basketball. Injuries are part of basketball.It just seems that the Pelicans have more than most other teams. General manager Dell Demps said Tuesday he does not expect guard Tyreke Evans (knee) to hit the floor until December. Forward Quincy Pondexter (knee), who has not played since April 2015, has had a few setbacks in his recovery and is probably going to take a little bit longer.In addition, starting point guard Jrue Holiday is healthy but is caring for wife Lauren, who last month gave birth and then underwent surgery to remove a brain tumor. The Pelicans have placed no timetable on when Holiday will return to the team.Evans injury and Holidays unavailability contribute to the Pelicans decision to keep guard-forward Lance Stephenson, releasing Alonzo Gee even though Gee had a $1.2 million guaranteed contract.With the injuries to Tyreke and Jrue not being with the team, we felt we needed a little more playmaking, Demps said. (Lance) can go out and create and make plays for others.Anybody would be disappointed, but its just a part of it, Gentry said. You hope that everybody gets better.While much of the NBA seems to be enamored with small ball, the Nuggets appear to be getting bigger. Coach Mike Malone paired big men Jusuf Nurkic (7-0) and Nikola Jokic (6-11) during the preseason and appears ready to give it a try for real.Nurkic has shown the ability to draw fouls as the Nuggets work their offense through him, and he is strong on the offensive glass and finishing near the basket. Jokic has been a cog in the Nuggets high-post offense and has shown the ability to pick and pop. Both are considered capable passers.Theres definitely some Balkan buddy ball going on with those two guys, Malone said. They do look for each other, which is great. Theyre so skilled, and the great thing about Nikola is that he can space the floor, so its not like we have two guys that are stuck on the block, which takes away driving lanes from our perimeter players. The floor is open. Nike Flyknit Sale . -- Ken Appleby made 32 saves for his first shutout of the season to lead the Oshawa Generals to a 2-0 win over the Belleville Bulls on Wednesday in Ontario Hockey League action. Nike Flykit Clearance . -- Patrick Reed got an early start in golf. http://www.cheapnikeflyknit.com/ . 1 position. The Mustangs (6-0), who beat Queens 50-31 last weekend, earned 17 first-place votes and 287 points in voting by the Football Reporters of Canada. Western was last ranked first in the country in October 2011. Nike Flyknit Shoes On Sale . -- Jacksonville wide receiver Cecil Shorts will likely be a game-time decision whether hell play Sunday in the Jaguars home game against the San Diego Chargers. Nike Flyknit Cheap China . The 19-year-old Olsen played 34 games with the Kelowna Rockets of the WHL this season. In that time, hes recorded 17 goals and 17 assists with 36 penalty minutes. Each week, Brett Okamoto provides his take on the hottest topics in the world of mixed martial arts. Hes joined this week by UFC middleweight Derek Brunson. Brunson (18-3) will face Robert Whittaker on Nov. 26 at UFC Fight Night in Melbourne, Australia.1. Interim UFC featherweight champion Jose Aldo has requested a release from the UFC, citing a lack of respect from the promotion. Should the UFC grant his release?Brunson: You know what? Jose Aldo is probably one of my favorite fighters of all time, but I do not side with him on this one. If he was complaining about wanting more money, thats different. But youve got a guy who held the belt and lost it -- Im not really big on instant rematches. I think you should win a couple fights. It always depends on how your division looks but ... I think its worse for guys like Frankie Edgar. Edgar went on a roll and steamed like five or six guys in a row. He had a title shot, but Conor [McGregor] wanted to go up a weight class. Frankie was like, OK, Im not sitting around for a year. He fought Aldo and loses a close decision. That wasnt fair to him. If anybody should be complaining, its Frankie. Guys want to fight Jose. Sometimes you just have to handle your business. It seems like he just wants that belt back, and I think if he were to beat Max Holloway, boom, hed get his title shot.Okamoto: Hard question to answer in a short space, but theres two sides to this, really. I can easily understand why Aldo feels the UFC has disrespected him in the past. When he pulled out of a fight against McGregor last year at UFC 189, the promotion sort of hung him out to dry, basically accusing him of exaggerating the injury. Dana White has criticized him for not finishing more of his one-sided fights. He says the UFC lied to him about a McGregor rematch, which I wouldnt find shocking if proven true. At the same time, as Derek points out, the timing of his demand seems very, very much linked to McGregor. And if Aldo is mad that he doesnt have the same leverage as McGregor, he partially has himself to blame. Im not saying he needs to be something hes not and trash-talk the way McGregor does, but theres a reason McGregor is able to push boundaries Aldo never did.2. UFCs Alex Oliveira scored a controversial win over lightweight Will Brooks last weekend, after coming in 5.5 pounds overweight. What should the penalty be for missing weight that badly?Brunson: I think 20 percent of a guys purse going to his opponent is good for maybe, like, 2 pounds. As you start going up more, it should start raising the percentage. Something like 30 percent for 3 pounds, 50 percent for 4. Five pounds? Thats a lot. You know what weight youre contracted at. If you miss by that much, 5 pounds might be too much to even let them fight. If I had been Will Brooks, I wouldnt have fought. Thats just ridiculous and unprofessional. Thats almost a different weight class. Look at the fight. The guy was pressing him against the cage. That guy was strong and that much stronger with those 5 pounds.Okamoto: I think Derek just laid out a pretty perfect plan. Because as it is, theres really not THAT much of a deterrent to continue to cut if you have a pretty good idea you wont make it. In other words, if I know Im missing weight and the penalty is the same whether its 2 pounds or 5, Im probably leaning 5, right? So creating tiers of how much is forfeited based on how much youre over is a good idea. And anything above 5? Call the fight. As a promotion or commission, take that decision out of the fighters hands who did make weight. Because theyll always elect to fight. Its too hard to turn it down. Take away that pressure and make the decision for them. And pay them too, which the UFC is pretty good about.3. Match-make the UFCs bantamweight division and -- looking even further down the line -- predict who will hold the title at the end of 22017.ddddddddddddBrunson: Thats a crazy division. That belt is going to switch hands a lot. I would make Dominick Cruz vs. Cody Garbrandt. Then Id make John Lineker vs. Bryan Caraway. I think both those guys are deserving of a big matchup. The winner of Caraway-Lineker gets a title shot. Youve got [T.J.] Dillashaw kind of sitting out there, its tough. Like I said, I dont like instant rematches. If you had the belt and lose it, I think you need to win a couple fights. Because youve got other guys working for a title shot, and if the second fight between the top two is good, then youre going to feel like you need to do a third. As far as whos holding it at the end of next year, Ive got to go with Cody Garbrandt.Okamoto: I know the people want Cruz vs. Garbrandt. Thats what the masses are calling for. But to me, you have to give Dillashaw this fight. Im still not convinced Dillashaw lost to Cruz when they met in the beginning of the year. Ive watched that fight multiple times -- and its one of the most even fights Ive ever seen in the Octagon. To deny Dillashaw a rematch after a fight that close -- AND after he went on to take a tough matchup against Raphael Assuncao at UFC 200 -- I just dont see how you do that. Once upon a time, Garbrandt was supposed to fight Lineker. I think that is an absolute money fight. Put that on the same card as Cruz vs. Dillashaw II. And champion at the end of 2017? Wow, thats tough. Cruz.4. Whos had a better career: Michael Bisping or Dan Henderson?Brunson: Bispings been steady for all these years, but Henderson has been around and been able to stay and compete at a high level against younger generations who looked up and idolized him. I guess Id have to go with Henderson. He won belts in Pride and Strikeforce. Now hes going for the UFC belt. Yeah, Id have to go with Dan Henderson.Okamoto: This question sure got a lot harder to answer in 2016. I mean, you still have to give a small edge to Henderson -- but Bisping has more years left and well see what the answer is after those. Hendo is pioneer status. Hes fought the greatest fighters of two generations. The middleweight Pride champion during his prime years. The Strikeforce era in which he beat Fedor Emelianenko. Fight of the Year candidate against Mauricio Shogun Rua in 2011. The man has fought the best of the best for nearly 20 years. I dont think it takes away anything from Bisping, who will go down as a legend in his own right, to say Hendo has him slightly beat at this point in their respective careers.5. Following UFC 204, who is next in line for a shot at the middleweight championship?Brunson: Derek Brunson, of course [laughs]. The middleweight division needs new blood. Youve got [Ronaldo Jacare Souza], hes everyones front-runner for a title shot. Hes fighting Luke Rockhold. Realistically, the next title shot will probably come out of that fight, but Jacare is only on a one-fight win streak. Yoel Romero beat Jacare, but then Romero popped for [performance-enhancing drugs]. So its kind of like Jacare is only on a one-fight win streak and Romero popped for PEDs. Do you reward them for that? Romero is my only loss, and I was winning that fight until the end.Okamoto: I agree with Derek: It has to be the winner of that Nov. 19 showdown between Rockhold and Souza. The perception is Rockhold slipped on a banana peel when he lost to Bisping in June. Souza has certainly done everything one could ask for to get a title shot, and a win over Rockhold would thoroughly cement his status as a No. 1 contender. The winner of a Nov. 12 fight at UFC 205 between Chris Weidman and Romero is in play as well, but I still lean toward the Rockhold/Souza winner. All four will be trying to make a statement that month, thats for sure. ' ' '