|
|
Everyone had their own theories for why Al Horford left the Atlanta Hawks for the Boston Celtics. Two of them -- that Hawks fans werent good enough and he didnt want to play with Dwight Howard -- can be taken off the list.?After Horford agreed to a four-year, $113 million contract with Boston on July 2, his father spoke about Atlanta.There wasnt as much motivation for him when he saw all the empty seats when they were winning, he told the Boston Globe. He said to me, Dad, when we were playing Boston, they were down 15 points and they were cheering their team like they were winning the game. Theyre so into the game. This is special for us, especially for him.In an interview with the Atlanta Journal-Constitution that was posted Monday, Al Horford said he didnt have any problems with Atlantas fans and that he was disappointed in his fathers comments.That made me really upset, he said. I was angry when I heard about that because I never felt that way. Ive been here a long time. Ive actually gotten to know a lot of our fans, a lot of our season-ticket holders with the Hawks. Theyve always been great to me. Ive always been very content and happy with the way theyve treated me and my family.Parents are sometimes a little more passionate about their sons and daughters. I can relate because I have a son now. So my dad, with him, sometimes he would come to the games and get frustration. His frustrations dont reflect on me with the fan base.The other big idea circulating was that Horford jumped ship after the Hawks agreed to a deal with Howard, whose reputation has taken a hit after failed stints with the Houston Rockets and Los Angeles Lakers. CBS Sports cited a person familiar with the situation as saying that Horford didnt want to play with Dwight.No, no, no. Not at all. I dont have a problem with Dwight at all, Horford told the Journal-Constitution. I think that he is a great player and he has a lot of ability and a lot of potential. It has nothing to do with not wanting to play with Dwight. I dont know if you remember but there was a time when I wanted to play power forward. With a guy like him, that would have been easier. It had nothing to do with Dwight. Hes a good guy.Horford said that as free agency loomed, his first option was always to stay in Atlanta, the only NBA team the 29-year-old has played for.I started to see that when the team stepped up and did what they had to do, I didnt think we were on the same page, he told the newspaper. Thats when I was forced to start looking at other options.And it wasnt fans or Howard that forced that, it was from a financial standpoint, Horford said.When that door opened, Boston stepped in.When I took the meetings with the other teams, I met with Boston and other teams as well, when I sat with them I just saw the roster and their vision, Horford said. There was a lot of impact on me with [general manager] Danny Ainge and coach [Brad] Stevens. It was a very positive meeting. Two of their owners were in the meeting and three or four of their players were there too. They seemed like a very close group and were focused on what their goal was and they got my attention.I wasnt sure in what direction I was going to go. But I knew in order to leave Atlanta it was going to take a very special situation. Cheap Alex McGough Jersey . The 26-year-old Ireland striker, who has four goals this season, has signed a three-and-a-half year contract with his new club. Wholesale Seahawks Jerseys . Vancouver Whitecaps and Toronto FC failed to make the postseason while Montreal Impact fell at the first hurdle losing heavily to Houston Dynamo in the Eastern Conference Knockout Round. http://www.cheapseahawksjerseyselite.com/?tag=cheap-jamarco-jones-jersey . -- Arizona raced out to a big lead and did not back off, hitting the accelerator instead. Cheap Rashaad Penny Jersey . The defence is doing its part, too. Drew Brees threw a pair of touchdown passes in the first half and the guys on the other side made sure that was enough, sending the Saints to a 17-13 victory over the Atlanta Falcons on Thursday night. Cheap Seahawks Jerseys . 10 Texas Rangers jersey for one last time. Young formally announced his retirement Friday after returning to Rangers Ballpark, his baseball home for all but the last of his 13 major league seasons. MILAN -- Who needs Gonzalo Higuain, the record goalscorer in Serie A, when you have Dries Mertens?Mertens emergence has eased the pain caused by Higuains departure in the off-season. Not content with bagging a hat trick last weekend, the diminutive forward netted four on Sunday to help Napoli to a 5-3 win over Torino.Mertens completed a hat trick in nine first-half minutes and then saved the best until last -- a sublime chip into the far corner in the 80th minute.Mertens is an extraordinary player, but the team makes it easier for him with the type of football they are playing, Napoli coach Maurizio Sarri said. But we have to grow mentally. It should have been a match that was definitively over once we went 3-0 up and it wasnt.We conceded goals with three stupid mistakes, carelessness that we absolutely cant commit, but it was a very high level performance.Napoli leapfrogged above AC Milan into third, a point behind second-place Roma. It can be joined on 34 points by Lazio if the capital team beats Fiorentina later.Higuain transferred to Juventus for an Italian-record 90 million euros ($100 million) after breaking a 66-year-old Serie A record with 36 goals for Napoli last season.Arkadiusz Milik was signed to replace him and scored seven goals in eight matches, but tore the anterior cruciate ligament in his left knee while playing for Poland in October.As a result, Sarri has been relying on a three-man forward line with Lorenzo Insigne and Jose Callejon flanking Mertens -- and the trio is starting to gel.Napoli opened the scoring in the 13th minute. It had taken short corners many times this season but to little dividend. However, this time it worked as it was played for Callejon, who crossed for Mertens to fire in on the bounce.Mertens doubled his tally five minutes later, winning and converting a penalty after being pushed over by Antonio Barreca.The 29-year-old forward completed his second successive hat trick in the 22nd minute.Torino goalkeeper Joe Hart did brilliantly to keep out a powerful shot by Callejon, only for Mertens to fire in the loose ball at the second attempt after his initial effort was cleared off the line by Luca Rossettini.Andrea Belotti got Torino back into the game shortly before the hour. It was the Italy forwards 12th league goal of the season and moved him level with Inter Milan forward Mauro Icardi and Romas Edin Dzeko at the top of the scoring charts.Napoli restored its three-goal advantage in the 70th when Callejon rolled a low cross across face of goal and Vlad Chiriches tapped it in at the far post.Torino again reduced the deficit when Pepe Reina spilled Adem Ljajics free kick and Rossettini was on hand to prod it in. But Mertens scored his fourth four minutes later.Iago Falque converted a penalty in the 84th for Toorino.dddddddddddd---LAZIO 2, FIORENTINA 1Lazio continued its good run of form as it moved level on points with Napoli in third place, while Fiorentina fell to its second successive defeat.Lazio took the lead in the 23rd minute with a well-worked move. Sergej Milinkovic-Savic collected Felipe Andersons through-ball before passing it on for Keita Balde Diao to sweep into the far corner of the net.Lucas Biglia doubled Lazios lead with a penalty in first-half stoppage time after Nenad Tomovic bundled over Milinkovic-Savic.Fiorentina should have got back into the match immediately after halftime but Lazio goalkeeper Federico Marchetti saved Josip Ilicics penalty after Biglia had fouled Sebastian Cristoforo.It did pull one back in the 64th minute through substitute Mauro Zarate, who had only been on the pitch a few minutes.Fiorentina thought it had leveled seven minutes from time but the goal was ruled out for handball and any thoughts it had of snatching a point evaporated when Stefan Radu sealed the result.Fiorentina slipped to eighth and faces Napoli on Thursday in its final match before the winter break. Lazio visits Inter Milan on Wednesday.---GENOA 3, PALERMO 4Palermo remarkably fought back from two goals down in the second half to end a run of eight successive defeats.Robin Quaisons brilliant solo goal for Palermo canceled out Giovanni Simeones opener to leave it all even at the break.Simeone, the son of Atletico Madrid coach Diego Simeone, headed in a second and also set up Genoas third for Nikola Ninkovic in the 65th.But Edoardo Goldaniga pulled one back for Palermo four minutes later and Andrea Rispoli leveled two minutes from time. Genoa players were furious as Rispoli appeared to be offside.Genoa pushed forward for the winner but it was Palermo that snatched all three points as Aleksandar Trajkovski finished off a counter attack.Genoa goalkeeper Mattia Perin was sent off for pushing Ilija Nestorovski over when the forward tried to delay a free kick in stoppage time, completing a miserable night for the hosts.---OTHER MATCHESInter Milan is finding its feet under new coach Stefano Pioli and won 1-0 at Sassuolo for its fourth win in five matches -- between Serie A and Europa League.Antonio Candreva scored the only goal of the match two minutes into the second half. Inter midfielder Felipe Melo was sent off in stoppage time for a second bookable offence.Bologna ended its goalscoring drought by winning 3-0 at 10-man Pescara, which played with 10 men for an hour after Valerio Verre was sent off for a dangerous tackle.Elsewhere, Chievo Verona beat Sampdoria 2-1 and Cyril Thereau scored twice as Udinese beat Crotone 2-0. Wholesale Black NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys 2018 Cheap Stitched Jerseys Wholesale Black NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys From China Cheap Jerseys Wholesale China NFL Jerseys White ' ' '
|
Forum Statistiken
Das Forum hat 8415
Themen
und
8422
Beiträge.
|
Einfach ein eigenes Xobor Forum erstellen |