Five Quick Thoughts for a Monday: 1. NORRIS COLE (Heat): Its funny, you watch a guy play and now really produce and it just jumps off the page at you - why? You put a young player with potential in a winning environment where there is veteran leadership, outstanding coaching and management and a way that things are done and its a wonderful environment for growth, improvement in a climate of constant accountability and expectation of achievement/production. When he was drafted out of Cleveland State this was a young man who could go either way as a pro but the professionalism of the team that drafted him has been a wonderful place for him to be nurtured and educated on how to be a good pro. Hes really impressed me with his play off the bench and has made a significant difference against Indiana in key moments. Proper environment truly does effect outcomes. 2. INDY DEFENCE: Im sorry but the Pacers have NO chance of winning this series if they continue to allow the Heat to shoot 50 per cent plus as theyve done in all of the first three games. The Pacers have been an outstanding defensive team the past few years and thats their "calling card" - it sure aint their offence! To think that youre going to run up and down with the Heat and match buckets - good luck with that. The small/skilled lineups that the Heat throw out there are making Roy Hibbert and David West ineffective to say the least. Its easy to say but hard to do, but the Pacers have to start mucking it up and make this a much more physical and hotly contested defensive style of play. Miami is a flow team and if you allow them to get in rhythm and swing the ball with minimal resistance you might as well set up tee times for next week. The D had better be drastically better on Monday night or this series will wind down quickly. 3. SERGE IBAKA and REGGIE JACKSON (Thunder): A combined 30 points from two starters vs. minimal production from Nick Collison and Thabo Sefolosha - what a difference! Add another playmaker in Jackson (five assists) to the mix and suddenly the ball moves with a purpose and they look like a "team" instead of an "iso show" and then Ibaka was brilliant coming back from the injury with seven boards and four blocks - talk about impact performance. Suddenly the rim/paint was being protected and the Thunder played with some force and swagger defensively and on the boards. Good players used properly and healthy enough to play changes how things go drastically. Winning is really hard and you need your top guys there or you are overwhelmed at times. Now that looked like the OKC Thunder on Sunday night. If they can continue to play that way weve got a series that will go seven games. 4. NBA DRAFT: You watch the Playoffs so far and the thing that continues to jump out at me is how the NBA has changed over the years. How that reflects on this years Draft is that if youre the Cavs and the Bucks with the first two picks youve really got to think long and hard about how Joel Embiids game fits in the league today versus the upside over a 10-12 year period of guys like Andrew Wiggins and Jabari Parker. This has become a perimeter-based league with skilled guys who can do it all versus the traditional brand of power basketball which still has its place in the game...yet at what price? Always a terrific philosophical discussion for GMs, executives and coaches to hash out. 5. POTENTIAL VS. PRODUCTION (Terrence Ross and Jonas Valanciunas, Raptors): You can talk about the No. 20, 37 and 59 picks in this years Draft that the Raptors have and the free agent decisions and possible moves that GM Masai Ujiri can make this off-season. But for the Raptors to continue to improve and take nice gradual building steps over the next few years the significant improvement in every respect from these two youngsters is paramount. Players are made in the off-season and teams are developed in-season. Will these two young men pay the price between now and early October and come back stronger, more skilled, more knowledgeable and ready to be consistent winning pieces that take an organization from respectable to another gear? Only time will tell. "To whom much is given (major minutes and starting opportunities as sophomores), much is expected." Cant wait to see what both young men come back like in the Fall. Their improvement/development will define the next step for the Raptors. Lots of attention will be focused on the role of head coach Dwane Casey and his staff along with the support staff in the further growth of both guys but in my opinion its a whole lot more now on these two guys personally of how bad do they want to be next level players? When you reach your third year as a pro its time for you to be able to "figure it out" on your own and the coaches are there to guide you on the proper path - yet its on YOU. Its time to be consistent producers in every respect. How these young men (I really like both of them) take personal ownership of their professional careers will set the stage for the long-term direction of the Raptors and the moves Ujiri needs to make accordingly to fill in the blanks. The proper environment exists for both to improve significantly - now its on them to seize the opportunity given to them. 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Two seeds fell: No. 4 Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium lost to Katarzyna Piter of Poland 6-4, 6-2, and No. BRISBANE, Australia -- Roger Federer showed shreds of Stefan Edbergs influence as he got his 2014 season underway, advancing to the Brisbane International quarterfinals with a 6-4, 6-2 win over Jarkko Nieminen on Wednesday. Federer worked briefly with Edberg in the off-season and will again use the six-time major winner as a coach in Melbourne as he tries to end his Grand Slam drought at the Australian Open this month. The 32-year-old Swiss star is not suddenly turning to a serve-volley mindset, but he did venture to the net with good effect in his second-round match against Nieminen as he honed certain parts of his game. "Ive been serving OK, my forehand is going well, my movement is OK, Im seeing the ball OK," said Federer, who won the last of his 17 Grand Slam titles at Wimbledon in 2012. "I expect to play a bit better in the next match, even though today was already very good for a first match in so many weeks." After a day of injury withdrawals in the womens draw, No. 2-ranked Victoria Azarenka finished off the night session with a 6-3, 6-1 win over Casey Dellacqua. The reigning two-time Australian Open champion followed Federers match on centre court. Federer, in the decisive game of the first set, rallied from 40-0 down and won the next five points to break for a 3-2 lead. He started with a pinpoint lob that caught the baseline and followed it up with a sharp, angled volley that turned the momentum. He broke serve twice in the first three games of the second set and cruised to a comfortable win. Awaiting top-seeded Federer in the quarterfinals is Australias Marinko Matosevic, who beat American Sam Querrey 5-7, 7-6 (3), 6-4. Second-seeded Kei Nishikori of Japan had a 6-2, 6-2 win over Matthew Ebden to set up a quarterfinal against Marin Cilic of Croatia. Cilic, in his second tournament following a four-month doping ban, had a 7-5, 7-5 win over fifth-seeded Grigor Dimitrov, a Brisbane finalist last year. Cilic, who reached a career-high No. 9 in 2010 but finished last season at No. 37, said playing again "feels like a new beginning for me." "Im thinking about everything around myself in a different perspective," he said.dddddddddddd "Im excited to be in the season and to play, to be back on the tour after all that misery last year." Azarenkas match was the only womens second-rounder to go the distance Wednesday. Shell next play Stefanie Voegele of Switzerland, who advanced when Wimbledon finalist Sabine Lisicki forfeited due to a stomach illness. Maria Sharapova got a walkover into the quarterfinals when Australian teenager Ashleigh Barty withdrew and fifth-seeded Angelique Kerber progressed when Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova of Russia retired in the second set with a left leg injury. Kerber was leading 6-2, 4-3 against last years runner-up. Caroline Wozniacki, who withdrew ahead of the Brisbane tournament after injuring her shoulder in practice, confirmed her engagement to golf star Rory McIlroy earlier Wednesday, posting photos of the couple and the ring on Twitter. It was no surprise to Azarenka, who said shed predicted the engagement last year at the Brisbane International. "Im really happy for her. If she will remember, I called it last year when I saw her in the locker room," Azarenka said. "I said, Youll be engaged by the end of the year. Technically, I was right. I even remember the spot in the locker room where I said that. Im a psychic!" In the Hopman Cup at Perth, France beat the United States 2-1 to stay unbeaten in its group. Sloane Stephens beat Alize Cornet 7-5, 6-0, but Jo-Wilfried Tsonga downed John Isner 7-6 (1), 6-3 and the French won the doubles tiebreaker 6-1, 5-7 (10-5). At Auckland, New Zealand, former world No. 1s Venus Williams and Ana Ivanovic moved closer to a semifinal meeting when they won second-round matches at the WTAs ASB Classic. Williams beat Yvonne Meusburger of Austria 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 and second-seeded Ivanovic defeated Johanna Larsen of Sweden 6-1, 6-1. After beating top-seeded Roberta Vinci on Tuesday, 16-year-old Croatias Ana Konjuh was beaten 2-6, 6-2, 6-2 by American Lauren Davis, who will play fifth-seeded compatriot Jamie Hampton in the quarterfinals. China Jerseys Wholesale Stitched Jerseys Jerseys NFL Cheap Wholesale Stitched Jerseys Cheap Jerseys From China Stitched NFL Jerseys NFL Jerseys China ' ' '