Reiseplan » against Gobert in France and being overwhelmed by his talent

Over the past few days, the only player singled out for criticism from Australias coach Darren Lehmann and captain Steven Smith has been Nathan Lyon, the touring sides No. 1 spinner. If this seems harsh thats because it probably is - Lyons nine wickets place him second behind Mitchell Starc among Australian bowlers; his 29 runs means hes made only five fewer than Joe Burns and six fewer than Peter Nevill.But the reason for the criticism stems from the fact that Lyons returns are paltry next to those of Rangana Herath, Dilruwan Perera and Lakshan Sandakan, the Sri Lankan spin trio who have made fools of a highly paid and seemingly well-prepared Australian batting line-up. The struggles of the batsmen have left Lyon and the rest of the bowlers with precious little scoreboard pressure on their side. Lyon, though, did not fall into excuses or the shifting of blame.Weve been outplayed in all areas, Lyon said in Galle. Im not going to stand here and make excuses or blame anyone. Weve been outplayed and youve got to give credit where credits due. Theyve totally outplayed us. Yeah itd be great to bowl with some runs on the board but thats up to Nos. 1 down to 11 to get those runs.Lyon spoke of four issues that have contributed to Australian struggles. First he admitted that he and his slow-bowling partner Jon Holland have failed to challenge Sri Lankas batsmen down the line of the stumps frequently enough. This angle of attack has been responsible for the majority of Australian dismissals, but precious few among the hosts.As spinners, we need to keep hitting the stumps, Lyon said. If you look at their spinners, thats what they do really well, they ask questions off the stumps. If Im being honest enough, I dont think Duck [Holland] and myself probably did that to the best of our ability in the last Test match. Youve got to give credit where credits due. Sri Lanka plays spin really well.They know the conditions really well over here and they played really well and put us under pressure. Weve got to combat that, come the third Test. Its just about Duck and I finding a way how to best go about it in these conditions. Were both open to change I guess. Its different bowling in different conditions over here. Its a learning curve. If we can keep learning over here and improving, thats a big tick for us.Secondly, Lyon acknowledged that the subcontinent method of spin, cutting under the ball on a flatter trajectory, rather than working the fingers up over the top of it in search of over-spin and bounce, was something he and Holland were yet to fully master. Lyon has an outstanding record in Australia where many an Asian spin bowler has struggled, but the reverse is true here.I daresay theres an argument for that, he said. As a spinner, you need to have all different variations. Im comfortable going over the top of the ball and also around it. A lot of their spinners go around it and you get that natural variation with the ball going straight on. Weve put it into play but unfortunately it hasnt come off for us Australian spinners. If we can keep improving, keep learning from our mistakes in the first two Test matches then were going the right way.I have been bowling with a fair few variations where a lot of people arent going to pick up on that. That is a subtle variation in my wrist. So, I think I can probably go a little bit more and experiment a little bit more - I am going down to training today to experiment more of how far my wrist can go underneath it, just to see how the ball reacts. I do believe that we have been doing that but, as I said, they have been playing quite well over here.Thirdly, Lyon spoke about the use of the sweep as a weapon against his off spin. Lyon is himself a prolific user of the sweep shot, something tried by precious few of the touring batsmen. That and the reverse sweep were both glimpsed more often in the second innings in Galle, amid a rash of experimentation that indicated players racking their brains for better solutions.I only sweep because I dont trust my defence, and thats my only scoring shot, Lyon said modestly. But you see the good players of spin, not only here with Sri Lanka, but you look at Younis Khan, Virat Kohli and these guys, they sweep well and they do that to try and out you off your lengths.As a spinner, you need to be patient enough and be willing to be swept - it means you are hitting the right areas, so thats the way I am looking at it. If I can keep putting it there, then hopefully, if I can get a couple of defensive shots out of them, I am in the game with the bat-pads and the slips.Lastly, the issue of economy was confronted, as perhaps the most pressing problem that Lehmann and Smith have laid at Lyons door. A strike rate of a wicket every 44.6 balls is excellent for any spin bowler, but the leaking of 4.14 runs per over has lessened Lyons threat in a low-scoring series to date. Greater pressure needs to be brought to bear, as he acknowledged.Its a challenge for all our bowlers. We dont like going at four an over, one of our goals is to bowl in partnerships and I dont think weve done that well enough, Lyon said. Mitchell Starc was outstanding last game, Josh Hazlewood was brilliant bowling out there as well, but if we can bowl well in partnerships, try to tie down one end, we know theyre going to play some shots.Its that type of cricket, they like to hit the boundaries, so if we can try to cut that down then we bring about more patience and more opportunities around the bat. Basket Adidas Springblade Pas Cher . Three came down to the fourth quarter while quarterbacks continued to shine in all four games; so important to the overall quality of the game. Adidas Nmd Sans Lacet Pas Cher . Nathan MacKinnon, Jamie McGinn and Jan Hejda also scored for the Avalanche, who won despite being outshot 38-23. MacKinnons goal, also on the power play, came with just over a minute remaining. http://www.basketnmdpascher.fr/pas-cher-basket-nmd-noir.html . Irving scored 23 points, Tristan Thompson had 20 points and 10 rebounds and the Cavaliers beat the Denver Nuggets 117-109 on Friday night. Basket Adidas Nmd Homme Pas Cher .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The game started the same way the Vancouver game started the night before, with the Jets taking the first two penalties of the game and killing off the first, but the Oilers getting on the board first, scoring on the second man-advantage. Fausse Yeezy Pas Cher . - Derek Wolfe says hes finally healthy after suffering a seizure in November that doctors now believe was related to the spinal cord injury he suffered in the preseason. HOUSTON -- With the Utah Jazz attempting a late comeback, James Harden casually tossed an alley-oop to Clint Capela from just inside the halfcourt line for a thunderous dunk.Harden had 31 points and 10 assists, and Capela scored a career-high 20 points to lead the Houston Rockets to a 111-102 victory over the Jazz on Saturday.I knew where he was going to be, Harden said of the pass. Thats the kind of chemistry were trying to build, to knowing where guys are going to be at so everything works easy and its fluent.Eric Gordon added 20 points and fellow reserve Nene added a season-high 16 as the Rockets won for the third time in their last four games and improved to 4-1 at home.Rockets coach Mike DAntoni said Capela is growing more comfortable and confident on the floor every game.He had a monster game, and I dont think he did anything that he cant keep repeating, DAntoni said. As long as he runs the floor and screens and rolls, we have guys that will find him.The injury-plagued Jazz dropped their third straight game following a 6-2 start to November. Besides Gordon Hayward, the four other Jazz starters had a combined seven years of NBA experience.Rodney Hood led Utah with 25 points and Trey Lyles had 21. Rudy Gobert added 12 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks.Harden shook defender Dante Exum and buried a 3-pointer with less than a minute remaining to give Houston an 11-point lead and put away the game for good.Jazz coach Quin Snyder said Harden is doing everything, and seems to be a great match with DAntoni.Clearly, he has taken it upon himself to help them execute the way coach DAntoni wants, Snyder said. They are very, very good.The Rockets took advantage of Utahs smaller lineup by outscoring Utah 52-46 in the paint and shying away from the 3-point line a little more than usual. Houston entered the game leading the league with 13.7 3-pointers made and 36.5 3-pointers attempted per game (37.4 percent), but made 12 of 32 against Utah.I think we were flat on both ends in the first half, Gobert said. We did not attack them on the offensive end and had too many mistakes on the defensive end.ddddddddddddouston led 55-44 at the half and maintained the 11-point lead through the third quarter, entering the fourth with an 81-70 lead.TIP-INSJazz: Lyles started in place of veteran Boris Diaw (rest) ahead of the teams trip to Denver on Sunday, Utahs fourth back-to-back of the season. ... Derrick Favors missed his second straight game with a left knee bone contusion, while George Hill (sprained right thumb) missed his seventh straight game.Rockets: Backup PF Montrezl Harrell was out with a left calf contusion. ... Harden passed Robert Reid (8,823 points) for seventh on the franchises career scoring list. ... Patrick Beverley had five points, six assists and three steals.REVENGE REMATCHCapela recalled playing against Gobert in France and being overwhelmed by his talent as a 16-year-old just getting into basketball. Gobert, 24, is two years older than Capela, 22, who got a late start at the sport. The two conversed in French throughout Saturdays game, with Gobert even sending Capela a friendly warning at one point.He told me to never try to dunk on him again, Capela said with a grin. I just told him, `Next time I go to dunk, just get out of the way.MAD MAXAs part of the ongoing celebration of the franchises 50th season, the Rockets honored former shooting guard Vernon Maxwell after the third quarter with a video tribute. Maxwell, who played on both of Houstons championship seasons in 1993-94 and 1994-95, was given a standing ovation following the video.ZERO TURNOVERSHarden became the first Rockets player since Sleepy Floyd in Orlando on April 8, 1990, to have at least 30 points, 10 assists and zero turnovers. Prior to Saturday, the last Rocket to record at least 10 assists without a turnover was Jeremy Lin at Golden State on Feb. 2, 2013.UP NEXTJazz: Travel to Detroit on Monday night.Rockets: Visit Denver on Sunday night. ' ' '