miaowang123: in a dominant position."

in a dominant position."

23 Mar 2020 at 01:56

SAN ANTONIO -- About an hour after the season ended, Chris Bosh was standing near the bus ramp from where the Miami Heat would soon depart for the airport and the off-season. Harrison Butker Super Bowl Jersey . Miamis two-year reign was over. And Bosh almost sounded relieved. The Heat got rolled in the NBA Finals by San Antonio, losing in five games, the last three of them lopsided, and for the first time since 2011 there would be no championship parade in Miami. The same team that the Heat wore down in the 2013 finals had all the answers, ushering in a summer for Miami that will be filled with questions about the futures of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Bosh. "I dont think anybody really enjoyed this season like in years past," Bosh told The Associated Press. "There was no, like, genuine joy all the time. It seemed like work. It was a job the whole year. Winning was just a relief. Losing was a cloud over us sometimes and then wed break out of it -- and then go right back. But we got here. We had a chance. They were just better." That being said, and while hardly committing to a fifth season of the "Big 3" era in Miami, Bosh made it clear: The group wants to remain intact. Whether or not personal choices and financial realities of a salary-capped, luxury-taxed world will allow that to happen remain unclear. "We want to stay together, man," Bosh said. "Ill say that. Its a great organization, great team and great city. And to have a chance, thats all you can ask for." James insisted he hasnt thought about what decisions he has to make this summer. Wade has often expressed interest in remaining with the Heat. Bosh has said repeatedly that he wants to stay. But all can become free agents in the next couple weeks, and the Heat might be rooting for that to happen. By opting out, they could get new deals with the Heat and create financial flexibility for team president Pat Riley to lure new pieces into a locker room that will need new faces. "The whole league continues to get better every single year," James said. "Obviously we would need to get better from every facet, every position. Its just how the league works." For as well as he played in Game 5 -- 31 points and 10 rebounds in what would be the final game of Miamis run as champion -- James best display of defence came afterward, when pressed repeatedly about his future. "I will deal with my summer when I get to that point," James said. "Me and my team will sit down and deal with it. I love Miami. My family loves it. But obviously right now thats not even what Im thinking about. You guys are trying to find answers. Im not going to give you one." The Heat arent expected to hold exit interviews until later this week. James and Wade shared the postgame podium Sunday, possibly for the last time. Wade seemed to be labouring in the last two games of the finals, shooting just 28 per cent from the floor and 50 per cent from the foul line. "It wasnt just Dwyane," Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said when asked about Wades struggles. "It was pretty much everybody except for LeBron." Wades knees and health have been a concern all year, never more than in the finals. "Im all right," Wade said. "Cant win them all. You try to, but you cant win them all." The Heat have known for four years that this summer of decisions and possible changes was looming, and have planned accordingly. Besides the "Big 3," the locker room is filled with free-agents-in-waiting. Chris Andersen, who excelled for little money the last two seasons, will be getting a raise from someone. Mario Chalmers can leave, Ray Allen isnt sure if hell play in Miami or anywhere else, Shane Battier is retiring and Udonis Haslem -- who has been with the Heat for 11 seasons, just like Wade -- also has an uncertain future. "It wasnt a distraction," Haslem said. " We got here. And if someone had told me when I signed on the dotted line that Id go to four straight finals, Id take it." The Spurs dont see the Heat going anywhere. "Theyre a class act and theyll be back next year for sure," Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said. "I dont think anybody would really doubt that." Bosh can only hope hes right. "I see why people were saying three-peating is hard. I get it now," Bosh said. "I get it. Theres just so many other things you have to fight. The human psyche, the human condition. Were all human. And it was a long, tough season." Kendall Fuller Super Bowl Jersey .Mallais and his team out of Saint John defeated James Grattan 5-4 in Fredericton.The 2015 Tim Hortons Brier from Feb. Custom Chiefs Super Bowl Jerseys . 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. GLASGOW -- Kirsten Sweetland pumped her arms, grit her teeth and ran hard through the finish line -- and in that moment put six years of pain and frustration behind her. The 25-year-old from Victoria captured Canadas first medal of the Commonwealth Games on Thursday, a silver in the womens triathlon. "Totally pain free. It feels so good," Sweetland said with a tired smile. "It feels unbelievable to get a medal." Sweetland raced Englands Jodie Stimpson neck-and-neck through the 10-kilometre run before Stimpson pulled away down the stretch to win gold in one hour 58 minutes 56 seconds. Sweetland took the silver in 1:59.01, while Englands Vicky Holland crossed in 1:59.11 for bronze. Calgarys Ellen Pennock crashed on her bike and has a broken collarbone. Sarah-Anne Brault of Winnipeg was instructed to drop out during the run to focus on Saturdays relay race. Andrew Yorke of Caledon, Ont., finished fourth in the mens race. Sweetlands race to the podium closed the book -- finally -- on a dizzying bad-luck story that began when she missed out on qualifying for the 2008 Beijing Olympics and included suffering seven stress fractures and a torn plantar fascia. "Were talking about a redeveloping Kirsten here, so awesome. Awesome for Kirsten," said Canadian coach Jaime Turner. "She ran really tough today, I thought she was quite clinical and ruthless out there. "Let the players play and she followed and came up with an awesome result." Sweetland was a rising star in the triathlon world when she became the youngest Canadian to win a World Cup race at the age of 18. She was on pace for a spot on the Beijing Olympic team, standing third in a qualifying race in which she needed only to finish top-eight. But she fainted 400 metres from the finish line. From that point on, its been years of one stress fracture after another, first in her tibia and then her pelvis -- shed later discover the trouble stemmed from one of her legs being longer than the other. The most severe injury was the torn plantar fascia -- the connective tissue that runs along the bottom of the foot. "I would get the whole winter of training done, nobody knew that I was working hard, and then right about race season Id be out again. And again. And again," she said. Last season was the first in years that she managed to put some races together, only to suffer a stomach ailment last summer that was diagnosed as a severe allergy to eggs and milk. "So this is the first year that Im making it through a whole season," she said. Still, her confidence had seeped away with the long months and years of being out and wasnt restored until 10 days before Glasgow, when she raced to bronze in a World Triathlon Series event in Hamburg, Germany. "Thats huge," she said of the mental component of racing. "Until that race I wouldnt have believed I could get a medal today. "I still put these girls on a pedestal. You start to lose a bit of confidence in your running because running is something you need to consistently do. Doesnt matter how talented you are and how much speed you have, to have to consistently train in order to be up with the best. And it had been so long since I had that so I started to lose that (confidence)." She wasnt lacking for any Thursday. The five-foot-four Canadian was 11th in the 1,500-metre swim but laid down the fastest time in the 40-kilometre bike to put her second going into the 10-kilometre run. And then it was a foot race between the top six athletes, with Sweetland and Stimpson barely giving an inch to the other until the home stretch. "I just tried to stick on Jodies shoulder for the run and hang on for as long as I could," she said. Larry Johnson Super Bowl Jersey. Sweetland was asked if she feels sympathy for Canadian teammate Paula Findlay, who finished last at the 2012 London Olympics amid a series of soul-crushing injuries and ailments of her own. Findlay wasnt on the team for Glasgow. Sweetland nodded yes, she understands. The two, in fact, have been each others cheerleader in their attempts to return to top health. "Its really just your approach to it and how your roll with it," Sweetland said. "Its about putting in the work and not expecting the results. "When athletes are younger and dont have injuries to deal with, they think of the work as a means to an end. But if you enjoy the work and put it in without expectations, it just sort of comes up. It feels like I didnt even work for this, its been so fun." The 25-year-old Yorke was 17th out of the water, then 13th after the bike, but made up ground in the run portion. English brothers Alistair and Jonathan Brownlee already had more than a minutes lead on the field by that point, Alistair going on to win gold and Jonathan taking silver. Richard Murray of South Africa won the bronze. Yorke outsprinted Australias Ryan Bailie to nab fourth by three seconds. "I thought that if everything went absolutely perfectly, and some people kind of tanked, I could have come third, but its always a dream," Yorke said. "But to find myself running in fourth, I told myself this morning I had nothing to lose, and that was my motto the whole day. I was out there thinking Youre hurting, but just kick. Whats the worth thing thats going to happen?" The Canadian crossed the finish line then wobbled on his feet for a few steps before dropping to the ground. An official leaned over him to dump water on his face. "I think that was just more indicative of my effort with the kick (than the heat)," he said. A huge crowd turned out for the first medal event of the Games, packing the grandstand at the finish line. They stood a dozen deep at some spots along the picturesque course at Strathclyde Country Park on the southeastern edge of Glasgow, enjoying the cloudless sky and temperatures that soared to 26 C. Sweetlands medal and Yorkes fourth-place finish were the bright spots on an up and down day for Canada. Pennock and Sweetland had come out of the water virtually even before Pennock crashed twice in the bike portion. The first came when she appeared to clip the back wheel of South Africas Kate Roberts, sending the two crashing to the road. The second incident saw her go down when she clipped her wheel on a barrier. She was taken from the course by ambulance to the Games medical centre. "Oh no, Ellens my good friend and my little buddy," Sweetland said, when informed of the crash. "Thats terrible to hear." Turner made the decision then to pull Brault from the race early on in her run. "We need Sarah-Anne in two days time with fresh legs," Turner said. "Theres no point Sarah marching on in the individual race without being in a dominant position." Brault, 24, struggled on the swimming portion, coming out of the water in 16th place. "Today wasnt there," Brault said. "Its really disappointing because I thought I was ready to have a good one, and I think it would have been a lot fun to race up at the front with the girls but when you come out of the swim that far back (its difficult to make up much ground)." Kyle Jones of Oakville, Ont., was 11th in the mens race, while Matthew Sharpe of Campbell River, B.C., was 21st. ' ' '



Share

Add comment

Guests are not allowed to Add blog comments. Please sign in.

Rate

Your rate: 0
Total: 0 (0 votes)

Tags

No Tags