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NBA – Zero to hero in three seconds for Lakers’ Artest

May 29, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Grizzled veteran Phil Jackson has seen it all as a player and coach in the NBA but even he was dumbfounded by Ron Artest’s stunning turnaround from zero to hero for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Artest had missed two ill-advised three-pointers in the last minute of Thursday’s Game Five against the Phoenix Suns before he sank the winning basket as time expired to leave the Lakers one victory away from the NBA finals.

“He has an uncanny knack of doing things, and sometimes it just works out,” Lakers coach Jackson told reporters after the NBA champions scraped past the Suns 103-101 to take a 3-2 lead in the best-of-seven Western Conference finals.

“He just has a knack of being around crucial plays.”

Asked if he had ever witnessed such a sudden and dramatic change in fortune for a player, the 64-year-old Jackson replied: “No, I have not. I’m still recovering.

“We had a little session with Ron after the ball game. A lot of hugs, and then a lot of discussion.”

Artest had struggled with his shooting all night at the Staples Center, making only one-of-eight from the field before his buzzer-beating heroics thwarted a gripping Suns fightback.

Phoenix had rallied from an 18-point deficit to trail by just three in the final minute when Artest missed consecutive open shots from beyond the arc, the second of them when the Lakers should have been running down the clock.

Jason Richardson banked in a game-tying three-pointer with 3.5 seconds left for the Suns and Jackson immediately called a 20-second timeout.

KEY PLAY

“I don’t know why I left him in the game,” Jackson said of his decision to allow Artest back on court for the final possession. “I actually questioned it myself when I put him out there on the floor, and there he was. Made the key play.”

Jackson’s final play was set up for Kobe Bryant to go for the winning shot but his attempt from long range came up short. Artest slipped in to beat Richardson to the rebound and he scored with an awkward layup to send the crowd into a frenzy.

“I thought Kobe got fouled on the shot so I just kind of figured it was going to be short,” said Artest, who was mobbed by his jubilant team mates after making what he called the biggest shot of his career.

“I missed a lot of layups during the regular season. I’m just staying with it, just trying to play my part and see what happens.”

Artest, effectively traded to the Lakers from the Houston Rockets last July for three-point specialist Trevor Ariza, has struggled to fit in with the Los Angeles offense this season.

“I’m a better player than my numbers are speaking of right now but there’s a new system for me,” he said. “I’m trying to somehow make it work for the team.”

His buzzer-beating basket certainly worked for the Lakers on Thursday night and they can reach the NBA Finals for a third year in a row if they beat the Suns in Phoenix in Game Six on Saturday.

(Editing by Frank Pingue; To query or comment on this story email sportsfeedback@thomsonreuters.com)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Ball Game, Coach Jackson, dramatic change, Grizzled Veteran, Jason Richardson, kobe bryant, Lakers Artest, Los Angeles lakers, Nba Champions, Nba Finals, Open Shots, Phil Jackson, phoenix suns, Point Deficit, Ron Artest, staples center, Stunning Turnaround, uncanny knack, Western Conference Finals, Winning Shot

Demons wary of wounded Tigers

April 17, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Melbourne coach Dean Bailey is wary a desperate Richmond may lift to overcome its off-field troubles when the two AFL sides meet at the MCG on Sunday.

After accounting for Adelaide last round to chalk up their first win of the season, the Demons go into the match as overwhelming favourites.

Winless Richmond suspended four players – including its most experienced in Ben Cousins – for disciplinary reasons, and has also lost skipper Chris Newman to a hamstring injury.

But Bailey said Melbourne would not be taking the wounded Tigers lightly.

“We’ve got to be careful about what’s happened at Richmond and appreciate the situation they’re in,” Bailey said at training on Friday.

“Their backs are against the wall so we’re expecting a pretty hard game on Sunday.

“If you take an opposition lightly at all, even if it’s one per cent, you’re giving them a chance to play their way and you’re giving them a chance to be confident.

“We will not take them lightly and we will be as well prepared as we can.”

Narrowly losing to Collingwood before their victory over the Crows, Bailey called on his players to maintain consistency.

“We’ve been good in the one per centers in the last two weeks and we can’t afford to drop off against anyone.

“We set a standard the last two weeks so we’ve got to make sure what we do is the best we can.”

The coach confirmed goal-kicking midfielder Colin Sylvia, who broke his jaw in the preseason and was a late withdrawal last round, was a certain starter.

Despite their status as favourites, Bailey said there was no problem keeping his side in check.

“You’re only as good as your next game and people will judge us on how we perform on Sunday regardless of where we are with the betting or who’s picked,” he said.

“We’ve got a game, there’s two teams and it’s a 50-50 ball game at the start.

“Our approach has to be that, we have to come out really firing and our intensity has got to be maintained.”

With possibly three Tigers debuting on Sunday, Bailey said the club’s recruiting manager Barry Prendergast had been brought in to familiarise the Demons with the new faces.

But Bailey said his players would be more concerned about their own game than the opposition.

“Our attention and our focus will be getting hold of the ball and trying to use it as well as we can.

“We need to get off to a good start and get some scoreboard pressure on early.”

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: AFL, Ball Game, Ben Cousins, Chris Newman, Coach Dean, collingwood, consistency, Crows, Dean Bailey, demons, disciplinary reasons, intensity, match, mcg, Melbourne, midfielder, Richmond, skipper, Sylvia, tigers

Consumers prefer nostalgic products when they feel the need to belong

March 23, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

Washington, March 23 (ANI): Ever wondered why you sometimes like to watch an old episode of ‘Friends’ instead of your current favourite TV show? Well, a new research seems to have found the answer.

It has shown that when people acutely feel the need to belong, they reach for a nostalgic treat.

Authors Katherine E. Loveland (Arizona State University), Dirk Smeesters (Erasmus University, The Netherlands), and Naomi Mandel (Arizona State University) examined situations that lead people to prefer nostalgic products (products that remind them of the past) over more contemporary products.

They conducted a series of five experiments in which they found that the key to preferring nostalgic products is the need to belong.

“Whenever a situation arises in which people feel a heightened need to belong to a group, or generally need to feel socially connected, they will show a corresponding higher preference for nostalgic products,” the authors said.

In one experiment, the participants played a ball-tossing game on a computer in which some people were excluded soon after beginning.

“Those people who were excluded after just a couple of ball tosses not only said that feeling like they belong is more important to them than people who were not excluded did, but they also chose more nostalgic than contemporary products in a variety of categories, including movies, TV shows, food brands, cars, and even shower gel,” the authors said.

In a final experiment, the authors discovered that when participants were excluded (from the same ball game as in the previous experiments) they not only felt a higher need to belong, but their need to belong was “cured” by eating a “nostalgic cookie”—a brand that had been popular in the past.

The study has been published in the Journal of Consumer Research. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: arizona state university, authors, Ball Game, cars, consumers, Contemporary Products, dirk, erasmus university, experiments, favourite tv, Food Brands, journal of consumer research, Loveland, Naomi Mandel, Netherlands, Nostalgic Products, participants, people, preference, variety

Gul slams Western teams for crying foul on Asian’s “God gifted” reverse swing skills

June 26, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Peshawar, June 24 (ANI): Pakistan speedster Umar Gul has said that reverse swing is an ‘art’ and critised the foreign teams, who had leveled ball tampering charges on their Asian counterparts.

Gul said western teams lacked skill and ability to reverse swing the cricket ball, and that is why they always accused Asian fast bowlers of foulplay.

“Whenever an Asian bowler performs and uses the reverse swing the western cricketing countries raise the issue of ball tampering against them,” said Gul.

He termed the allegations made by New Zealand captain, Daniel Vettori, as ‘baseless’, and said that he had developed the ‘art’ of reverse swing through immense practice.

“I think the art of reverse swing is also God gifted which can be improved through practice. I watched Wasim Akram and Waqar’s bowling videos and developed this art through repeated practice,” The News quoted Gul, as saying.

Gul, who is the leading wicket taker in the Twenty20 format of the game, said he did not expect the rousing welcome that the team received after they came back home with the ICC World Twenty20 Championship trophy.

Commenting on the upcoming Sri Lanka tour, where Pakistan has to play a three match Test series and a five match one-day international series, Gul said players would need time to switch to the five-day mode of the game, but expressed hope that Pakistan would carry on their form in the series.

“Though Test cricket is totally a different ball game and the team will take some time to adjust itself with Sri Lankan conditions but we will try to adjust with the conditions very soon and will hopefully perform well,” he said. (ANI)

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Recession-hit Denise Richards cuts mansion price

May 18, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 18 (ANI): The ongoing economic crisis seems to have taken its toll on Denise Richards also, for the actress has been forced to reduce the selling price of her California mansion.

The former Bond girl has slashed 400,000 dollars off the asking price of her Hidden Hills home after it was first advertised at 4,250,000 dollars.

According to RadarOnline.com, Richards dropped the asking price to 3,999,999 dollars, and has now cut it by a further 200,000 dollars to 3.8 million in a bid to attract potential buyers, reports Contactmusic.

After receiving harsh criticism for her performance of baseball anthem Take Me Out To The Ball Game at Chicago, Illinois” Wrigley Park, Richards has come out to explain her “awful” singing.

She confessed that she agreed to sing the song only because Cubs officials asked her to perform in return for letting her set up an information booth for the Kidney Cancer Association during riday’s game. (ANI)

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Meet Denise Richards, the love guru

May 7, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

New York, May 07 (ANI): Denise Richards, who is divorced from Charlie Sheen and had a bitter break-up with Richie Sambora, was recently spotted doling out dating tips, according to sources.

The night before her tragic rendition of ‘Take Me Out to the Ball Game’ at Chicago’s Wrigley Field, the former Bond girl treated the crew on her E! reality show, ‘It’s Complicated,’ to dinner at Morton’s Steakhouse.

“Denise was talking to a male crew member about his girl troubles, and she started doling out tips,” the New York Post quoted a source as saying.

Richards received harsh criticism for her performance of baseball anthem ‘Take Me Out To The Ball Game’.

However, the actress has confessed that she agreed to sing the song only because Cubs officials asked her to perform in return for letting her set up an information booth for the Kidney Cancer Association during the game. (ANI)

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Denise Richards’ singing nightmare

May 5, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, May 05 (ANI): After receiving harsh criticism for her performance of baseball anthem Take Me Out To The Ball Game at Chicago, Illinois’ Wrigley Park, former Bond girl Denise Richards has come out to explain her “awful” singing.

Richards performed during the seventh innings on the Chicago Cubs’ home game with the Florida Marlins – but her off-key singing failed to go down well with fans.

“It was awful. We’ve had some bad versions at Wrigley Park – but that was among the worst,” Contactmusic quoted one person at the game.

Now, Richards has confessed that she agreed to sing the song only because Cubs officials asked her to perform in return for letting her set up an information booth for the Kidney Cancer Association during Friday’s game.

“They said, ‘Will you sing?’ So I said, ‘Yes, because it’s for a good cause and we want to raise awareness about kidney cancer,” she told E! Online.com.

“I’m clearly not a singer. I wasn’t doing it to show off my pipes. Thank God I wasn’t singing the national anthem. But I thought it would be fun… I had no idea the backlash I would get.

“It took everything in me to get up there and do that… It’s just unfortunate that doing something good was turned into such a negative,” she added. (ANI)

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