LaberFred » The trouble is, Firus has had more bumps

NEW YORK -- They lost often, 67 times in all for the Milwaukee Bucks. Sometimes they lost always, such as 26 straight times for the Philadelphia 76ers. Now the NBAs biggest losers have a chance for a huge win. Watch all the drama of the NBA Draft Lottery unfold on TSN and TSN GO live NOW. The draft lottery is tonight, a night some teams appeared to be aiming toward for months during a season that featured plenty of talking about tanking. The winner gets the No. 1 pick in next months draft, when an Andrew Wiggins or Jabari Parker might make this seasons misery worth it. Its a potential make-or-break night for some teams, which is why a program about the results of a random drawing ends up as the prime-time lead-in for Game 2 of the Eastern Conference finals. "To me its part of the mystery and part of the enjoyment in seeing whos right, whos wrong," Commissioner Adam Silver said recently. "Will these perceived great players coming into the draft really be in a position to turn around teams? So its part of the fun." The Bucks and 76ers sure are enjoying it, and trying to get their fans in on the good times. Theres a viewing party in Milwaukee where all fans get a pingpong ball. The 76ers were giving away a trip to New York, where they were to be represented on stage by Hall of Famer Julius "Dr. J." Erving. Silver is aware of the tanking speculation and uneasy that fans might think NBA teams were willing to take their money without caring if they win the games. But he understands that teams sometimes need to rebuild, and that may mean going straight to the bottom if they think thats the quickest route to the top. "The jury is out on the strategy and I think that makes for good copy as well. Im intrigued," Silver said. "I read both sides of it in terms of, is that the right way to build a team, what impact does it have on culture, can you rebuild a team in two years, can you rebuild in three years, whats the track record of teams trying to do that," Silver added, "and I am mindful that in a league of 30 teams that were also selling competition on a nightly basis and I dont want to create a sense that we want to subject fans to subpar performances because dont worry, its going to be great three years from now." The Bucks have a 25 per cent chance to win and give incoming new ownership a great welcoming gift. Philadelphia (19.9 per cent), Orlando (15.6) and Utah (10.4) have the next-best chances, with longtime powerhouses Boston and the Lakers behind them after rare poor seasons. But this was a season where for some teams, a job well done meant doing their jobs poorly. After a forgettable draft in 2013, this one is considered much more promising, good enough that some teams which knew they werent going to win decided they would be better off if they lost. Philadelphia owner Joshua Harris even called his teams season a "huge success" after its 19-63 record included a 26-game skid that matched the longest in NBA history. The Sixers may have topped the list, but they were hardly alone among suspected tankers this season. "I thought it was pretty crazy that teams were doing that. But theyre saying this is going to be one of the toughest draft classes since 2003," Indiana University star Noah Vonleh said. That class produced LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and Carmelo Anthony, so if this draft really is that good, its hard to blame any teams for trying to get to the top of it. The fact that so many did has sparked new calls to change the lottery process so as to not invite tanking. Silver said it will be looked at over the summer, but as the lottery turns 30, there isnt a perfect idea for how to run it. "I think for us, weve got to make sure we understand whether theres an aberration here because of the perception of a particular draft class, whether indeed there is a better way of do it," Silver said, "because of course at the same time you want to properly align incentives, but the very purpose of the draft is to help the worst teams restock." Mikkel Boedker Jersey . PETERSBURG, Fla. Custom Ottawa Senators Jerseys . Bjoerndalen broke the record he shared with cross-country skiing great Bjoern Daehlie, also matching his fellow Norwegians record of eight gold medals. Bjoerndalen earlier won gold in Sochi in the mens sprint biathlon. http://www.authenticsenatorspro.com/Dani...enators-jersey/. Terms of the contract were not disclosed by the club. Clemons spent his first five NFL seasons with the Miami Dolphins, who selected him in the fifth round of the 2009 draft out of Clemson. Mark Stone Jersey . He wants to seize that opportunity. The trouble is, Firus has had more bumps on the road to Sochi than most. Last year, Firus had the skate of a lifetime in the short program at the Canadian championships when he landed his first triple Axel in competition and finished third in a stacked field. Tom Pyatt Jersey . -- The Minnesota Twins have granted relief pitcher Matt Guerrier his unconditional release, making the 35-year-old right-hander a free agent.MILWAUKEE -- Freddie Freeman finally solved Miller Park. The best way to hit there is to hit it out. Freeman, hitting .111 in 10 previous games at the Brewers ballpark, hit a pair of solo home runs, and Jason Heyward added a two-run shot, powering the Atlanta Braves to a 5-2 victory over Milwaukee on Tuesday night. "I dont know what it is. Ive always struggled here," said Freeman, who had four singles in 36 previous at-bats at Miller Park. "Its nice. I was obviously due." Freeman opened the sixth with his first homer off Kyle Lohse (0-1) to put Atlanta up 3-1 and added a two-out home run in the eighth off Zach Duke to extend the lead to 4-1. "Ive always seemed to hit Lohse pretty good and he left a couple out for me," Freeman said. Heywards first homer of the season, after a one-out walk to No. 8 hitter Andrelton Simmons, put the Braves on top 2-1 in the fifth and snapped a string of 22 scoreless innings against the Brewers. Yovani Gallardo helped shut out the Braves on opening day. "For me, the key was walking Simmons in that inning because you have the inning set up to where you dont have to get to the top of the lineup if I do my job there," said Lohse, who allowed three runs on five hits in seven innings, striking out eight and walking two. Alex Wood (1-0) settled down for Atlanta after allowing a home run to Carlos Gomez on his first pitch. The left-hander allowed one run on five hits in seven innings. Craig Kimbrel struck out the side in the ninth for the save. "First pitch of the game, first hitter, you dont have much choice than to put it behind you from the get-go," said Wood. "It took me a few innings to settle in but after that, II got into a groove, got my fastball command back and just took off from there.dddddddddddd" The Brewers were 8-2 in their last 10 games against Atlanta, with six shutouts, including the final meeting last season on a two-hitter by Lohse. "The last three or four years, we havent really done well against the Brewers or here at Miller Park," Freeman said. "Its nice to get the first one out of the way. As an offence, we knew we werent going to get shut out of the whole 162 . we let them sweat it out for the first 15 innings." Gomez hustled the Brewers within 4-2 in the eighth after drawing a leadoff walk. With one out, he stole second as Ryan Braun struck out, and continued to third on a throwing error by catcher Evan Gattis. Aramis Ramirez singled in Gomez. Atlanta answered with a run in the ninth on a double by Dan Uggla, a single by Gattis and sacrifice fly by Simmons. The Braves missed a chance to tie it in the fourth when Freeman singled to open, but was cut down at the plate by Gomez on Ugglas two-out double to left-centre. "That was huge," Lohse said. "Theyve been working hard on that all spring and did a great job picking me up right there. I wish I would have picked them up a little better after that." NOTES: Gomezs lead-off home run was the third of his career. The other two were with Minnesota in 2008. ... The starting pitchers for the final game of the three-game series Wednesday are Matt Garza for the Brewers against Aaron Harang, each making his first start for his new team ... Braun, who received a standing ovation during Tuesdays home opener, was greeted with a round of applause and a smattering of boos during his first at-bat Wednesday. Cheap Celtics Jerseys Wholesale Nets Jerseys Cheap Knicks Jerseys Cheap Stitched 76ers Jerseys Raptors Jerseys China Cheap Bulls Jerseys Wholesale Cavaliers Jerseys Pistons Jerseys China Pacers Jerseys China Cheap Bucks Jerseys Online Wholesale Hawks Jerseys Cheap Hornets Jerseys Wholesale Heat Jerseys Cheap Magic Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Wizards Jerseys Nuggets Jerseys China Timberwolves Jerseys China Cheap Thunder Jerseys Authentic Wholesale Blazers Jerseys Wholesale Jazz Jerseys Cheap Warriors Jerseys For Sale Cheap Clippers Jerseys Lakers Jerseys China Wholesale Suns Jerseys Cheap Kings Jerseys Authentic Cheap Mavericks Jerseys Rockets Jerseys China Cheap Grizzlies Jerseys Wholesale Pelicans Jerseys Spurs Jerseys China ' ' '