Dein erstes Forum » Soccernomics tome from the exceedingly lucid Simon

PHOENIX -- It took contributions from everyone, including a banged-up DeMarcus Cousins, to get the Sacramento Kings their first road win of the season. Cousins overcame a sore shoulder to score 19 points and grab 12 rebounds, leading the Kings past the Phoenix Suns 113-106 on Wednesday night. "To be honest, I didnt ask him once (about the shoulder) during the game," Sacramento coach Michael Malone said. "The way I am, if you ask someone about it, theyre going to start thinking about it. I wanted to play him as much as I could and if he got hurt, fell on it, obviously big picture, wed get him out, protect him and put someone else in." The Kings took control in the third quarter, turning a five-point halftime lead into a 14-point advantage. They finished off a back-to-back sweep after beating Phoenix at home on Tuesday night. The Suns lost their fourth straight game. Defence, especially in the third quarter when Sacramento held Phoenix to 12 points, was what stood out to Malone. "Which was great, because we gave up 44 in that fourth quarter so we bought ourselves a little bit of time," Malone said. Cousins dislocated his left shoulder in Tuesday nights game, though he said afterward it wasnt separated. Malone said the big centre got injured when he was fouled, but he continued to play that night and started Wednesday, playing 27 minutes. Cousins absorbed some contact at the 9-minute mark of the first quarter and grabbed his left shoulder, grimacing in pain. He shot only 4 of 14 but was a force on the glass at both ends of the court. "Its pretty sore," Cousins said. "It usually is the day after (the injury). Found a way to play through it and we came out with a big win." Isaiah Thomas came off the bench to score 23 points and hand out four assists. He was also pesky on defence as the Kings scored 20 points off Phoenix turnovers. The Kings (4-7) held the Suns to 44.7 per cent shooting, outrebounded them 42-37 and forced 17 turnovers to Sacramentos 10. "Its going to take a group effort every night on both ends," Malone said. "Guys are playing for each other on both ends of the floor, which I think is the beginning of us truly changing the culture here in Sacramento." Point guard Goran Dragic got off to a strong start, scoring the first 11 points of the game for the Suns. The first eight all came on drives to the basket; the last three on a 3-pointer with 7:40 left in the first quarter. Dragic made 10 of 20 shots for the game and ended up with 31 points. "They outmuscled us. All the guys were pretty strong and we couldnt find a solution for their toughness," Dragic said. Gerald Green went 6 for 8 on 3-pointers and tied a season high with 23 points for the Suns. He also matched a career high for 3s, but scored 20 of his points in the first half. Green started in place of injured guard Eric Bledsoe, who was a game-time decision and did not play. Bledsoe is dealing with a bruised shin and has missed the past two games. "Its still early. Its not like its March or February," Green said. "We are still trying to figure things out. We can easily lose four games in a row and we can easily win four games in a row." Phoenix (5-6) trailed by as many as 10 points in the first half. The Suns fell behind 81-64 after Kings reserve Travis Outlaw sank a 3-pointer and a long jumper on successive possessions early in the fourth quarter. The Suns cut it to 95-88 with 3:10 to play on a 3-pointer from Marcus Morris, who finished with 13 points off the bench. The Kings took a 62-53 lead with 6:41 left in the third quarter on consecutive baskets by forward Jason Thompson. "We just were talkative," Thomas said of the teams third-quarter defence. "We wanted to protect the paint and I think we did a good job. Im the smallest player on the court, so I have to do something on the defensive end." Cousins scored 10 in the first and the score was tied at 27 going into the second quarter. Sacramento took a 53-43 lead with 2:01 to play in the first half on a basket and free throw from Luc Mbah a Moute. But the Suns closed the half on a 7-2 run, with Green hitting a 3 with 1.7 seconds left. NOTES: The Kings improved to 25-79 in Phoenix. ... Sacramento has won four straight meetings. ... It was the first time this season the Suns didnt hold a lead in the fourth quarter. ... Phoenix made a season-high 15 3-pointers. Zapatillas Jordan Retro Baratas . Bryant, who signed a five-year, $34 million contract as a free agent with Cleveland in March, reported symptoms on Monday morning, a team spokesman said. Air Jordan Baratas España .com) - The Tampa Bay Buccaneers quickly found themselves a new offensive coordinator, and one thats quite familiar with the NFC South. http://www.airjordanbaratas.es/ . The group of Slava Fetisov, Igor Larionov, Vladimir Konstantinov, Sergei Fedorov, & Slava Kozlov were a dominant force for The Wings at one point in the 90s. Jordan Retro Baratas . Bryant, who signed a five-year, $34 million contract as a free agent with Cleveland in March, reported symptoms on Monday morning, a team spokesman said. Air Jordan Baratas Online . Ive said it before, Ive worked with top pros and I could have made my own program.Through the 1980s, fueled primarily by booming property prices, a wealth creation culture permeated through English society and politics. Harry Enfield, that eras Ricky Gervais, was on high parody notice. Enfields response was creating the highly reprehensible character, Loadsamoney. Such was the rip roaring response a hit song of the same name was spawned. The cult classic going on to top the pop charts in 1988. Paradoxically, English soccer was on its knees and in the direst of financial shapes. Half empty stadiums, at best running the gauntlet of heightened hooliganism, had become the order of the day. No financial relief could be found on the continent as an indefinite Euro wide ban had been imposed by the governing body on English clubs. The transfer market was almost non-existent save for the highest calibre players. Such was the lack of funds for stadium renewal an Arsenal friend of mine cleverly quipped following Chris Waddless 1989 multi-million ?￡ move from Spurs to Marseilles, if Spurs would now have enough cash to purchase toilet paper for the mens washrooms at White Hart Lane. Dire indeed. Fast forward 25 years and a London tabloid reported Thursday Tottenham was on the block. Purchase price? Loadsamoney. A rather cool ?￡1billion [$1.75b] to be exact. The game changing Premier League, which began play in the 1992/93 season has been the greatest influencer of this extraordinary turn around in English club fortunes both on and off the pitch. With the brand new domestic and global broadcast deal which will net the BPL a record ?￡5.5billion over its three-year lifetime - it is no coincidence we just witnessed a record transfer window. As Canadians vacationed this summer, the BPL Twenty invested a staggering ?￡850m [$1.5b] combined in upgrading their playing squads. To put this into a clearer context, this total surpasses the combined spending of the next big four European Leagues - La Liga, the Bundesliga, Serie A and Ligue 1. No surprising the market leaders were Manchester United, who broke the UK transfer record in bringing Di Maria in from the Barnebeau cold. Only time will tell if this a€?spending your way out of mid table trouble philosophy will return Englands biggest club to former glories. I have my immense doubts good ship MUFC will sail in more calmer and familiar football waters this season. This has nothing to do with their winless start to date a€“ a spineless scoreless draw against Burnley last time out over Labor Day weekend hardly the stuff of legend. A sprinkle of stardust lustre doesnt maketh a team spine; something the inmates of Old Trafford sorely lacked last season. Ironically the ?￡59.7 invested in last springs Champions League Final MVP who made his debut at Turf Moor is well in excess of the total Burnley have invested in players during its entire 132-year history of ?￡45m [$80m].dddddddddddd Coincidentally that figure represents the price Manchester United has struck with AS Monaco to make Falcaos move from the principality to the bosom of English soccer a permanent one. Not done with smashing to pieces the budget, LVG will throw more money at the market when it reopens on New Years Day. At least comfort can be found for the Glazers in the fact they wont have to concern themselves with whether or not the players in question are cup tied for the knock out stages of the Champions League. Liverpool, who had led the rivals in the spending stakes until Di Marias late August arrival, were this seasons Tottenham, who garnered anything but success with their re-investment of the world record fee they received for Gareth Bale. After wrangling ?￡75m [$130m] out of Barcelona for little Luis, they immediately spent those funds. Which if nothing else is clear indication the Nou Camp move was long planned. Not merely a reaction to Suarez leaving his trade mark personal imprint on Giorgio Chiellinis shoulder blade. Table toppers Chelsea, who entertain a perfect Swansea in south west London tomorrow morning, make out the BPL drunken sailor podium -Roman getting his wallet out early and often. My how I wished I was sharing a pint with Arsene when it was announced serial Emirates terminator and tormentor Didier Drogba had made a triumphant return to the Bridge. As for Arsenal themselves, such was the summertime irrational exuberance they managed to nudge tomorrow mornings breakfast opponents, and current BPL Champions Manchester City into fifth place. Well all aware courtesy of the splendid Soccernomics tome from the exceedingly lucid Simon Kuper and Stefan Szymanski there is no correlation, direct or otherwise between transfer prices and winning titles. Salaries budgets though be a significant indicator. No coincidence silverware success alluded Arsenal for close to a decade and more for their North London cousins. The book then must have formed part of Manchester Uniteds vice chair, Ed Woodwards summer reading list. How on earth else can we account for reports earlier this week the club is about to offer Christiano ?￡300,000 or close to $550,000 a week every week for three years. Oh my! Is jolly olde England about to lay witness to world footballs very first ?￡100 million man? Well past time then to make Alan Greenspan BPL Commissioner. Double Header BPL action live on the TSN Radio Network Saturday - Chelsea v Swansea 10:00am et / 6:00ampt and Liverpool v Aston Villa 12:30pm et / 9:30am pt Noel.Butler@BellMedia.ca @TheSoccerNoel on Twitter ' ' '