Gästebuch » huge excitement among the player

MINNEAPOLIS -- The excuses came ready made for the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night. Blake Griffin and Jamal Crawford were out with injuries. They were playing their fourth game of a five-game road trip. Chris Paul would have none of that. "I said, Fellas, lets be who we are. We got who we got, lets keep the train moving," Paul told them. "We said, No excuses." And no mercy on a Minnesota Timberwolves team that just wants this massively disappointing season to end. Darren Collison had 28 points and seven assists, and the Clippers didnt miss a beat with Griffin out with a back injury in a 114-104 victory. Paul had 22 points, nine assists and seven rebounds, and Matt Barnes scored 19 points for the Clippers (53-22). Griffin, the teams leading scorer, warmed up before the game but wasnt quite ready after being injured on Saturday night against Houston. Jared Dudley started in his place and scored 16 points, while DeAndre Jordan grabbed a career-high 24 rebounds to help the Clippers pull within two games of Oklahoma City for the second seed in the West. "Everyone keeps track," Dudley said. "We know we have another game against (the Thunder) at home and were just trying to win every game. We want that 2 seed and we know the 1 seed could be tough because San Antonio hasnt lost in a month or so." Kevin Love had 20 points, 13 rebounds and four assists for the Wolves. Crawford was out with a calf injury, but a lacklustre effort by the Wolves starters on the second night of a back-to-back made up for his absence. "Theyve got to bust it," Wolves coach Rick Adelman said. "They owe themselves that. Owe their teammates that; owe the organization, the fans." The Clippers hit 12 of 30 3-pointers and blew the game wide open with a 31-5 run in the third quarter. The Wolves led 59-57 early in the period, but Collison scored 16 points on 7-of-8 shooting in the quarter. The Clippers put their foot on the gas, scoring 13 points in transition during the surge, and punctuating it with a lob pass from Paul to Jordan for an 86-64 lead. Nikola Pekovic left seven minutes into the game when his bothersome right ankle flared up again, and only a spirited effort by Shabazz Muhammad (11 points) and the Timberwolves bench in the fourth quarter kept the game from getting out of hand. The Clippers went 13-2 in March, their second-best month in franchise history, and have won 16 of their last 18 to improve to more than 30 games over .500 for the first time in the teams 44-year history. And Paul has instilled this team with a nastiness that could serve it well in the post-season. With a 14-point lead and just over four minutes to play, the 6-foot Paul went up to swat a dunk attempt by Minnesotas 6-foot-11 rookie Gorgui Dieng. Paul was called for a foul, but he also sent Dieng crashing to the court. Message delivered. "Thats the attitude that we have to have that no matter what the obstacles you just keep playing," coach Doc Rivers said. "We have enough guys, and thats what we talked about today. We didnt mention the injuries. ... You just go out and play and itll work out if you believe that and play well." The Timberwolves were supposed to be in the playoff picture with the Clippers this season, but their 36-37 record to this point makes them one of the biggest disappointments in the league. Ricky Rubio had just three points on 1-for-6 shooting with five turnovers, Love was 8 for 21 and Kevin Martin was a non-factor with 12 points on 4-for-14 shooting. "Its definitely tough right now," Love said. "Weve got to try to finish this thing strong and just try to play well. ... Were a little beat up right now, but we still have to come and play and try to give it our best. But thats a very good team right there." NOTES: The Clippers hosted Iowa coach Fran McCaffery and his 14-year-old son, Patrick, who had a malignant tumour removed from his thyroid last month. Paul has been a vocal supporter of Patricks ever since first hearing about the boys situation. Patrick is a big fan of Paul, and the All-Star guard called him the day before he had surgery. ... Glen Davis had two points in four minutes after getting sent to the locker room against Houston for what Clippers coach Doc Rivers called an attitude problem. ... Love set the franchise record for made free throws in the first quarter, surpassing the 465 made by Tom Gugliotta in 1996-97. Robbie Ray Jersey . 1. CAVALIERS: At 19-20, theyre a mess. Watched the game Tuesday night vs. Phoenix and their defence was poor (107 points and 52 per cent for Suns). Where is the high level play from Kyrie Irving and LeBron James (13 turnovers!)? Kevin Love looks like a man thats wondering what he got himself into. Jake Lamb Jersey . The Cubs made the moves before Thursdays game against Arizona. They promoted left-hander Zac Rosscup and right-hander Neil Ramirez from Triple-A Iowa and optioned righty Blake Parker to their top minor league team. http://www.cheapdiamondbacksjerseys.com/...alta-jersey.com) - Oklahoma quarterback Trevor Knight was carted off the field in the fourth quarter of 16th-ranked Sooners 48-14 loss to No. Clay Buchholz Jersey . Long snapper Patrick Mannelly announced Friday that he is retiring after a 16-year-career with the Bears, a span in which he played in a team record 245 games and snapped the ball 2,282 times. Cheap MLB Jerseys .5 million. University officials released the term sheet signed by Harsin Wednesday, the day the former Broncos walk-on player and Boise native was named the successor to Chris Petersen, who left for Washington last week.On August 6, 2003 an injured Gary Neville was at home watching his Manchester United team-mates playing against Sporting Lisbon in a televised pre-season friendly. The oppositions 18-year-old left winger quickly caught his eye... It was the first time Id seen Cristiano Ronaldo play.He was up against John OShea, who was obviously a good defender; he was strong, he was quick and he knew where to position himself. Sheasy was playing in the position I would normally play - right-back - but I was injured and I was watching the game at home on MUTV.Like Sheasy, Im very aware of how difficult it is to play against certain types of movement. I specifically remember Cristiano making a certain move where he cut inside and ran between OShea and our centre-half. He made this double movement and I remember thinking oh my God. Ronaldo agrees new deal Cristiano Ronaldo agrees new deal with Real Madrid until 2021 Obviously you could see the skill he had on the ball and his natural talent, but these days what you see less and less is players who make runs without the ball in between the full-back and the centre-back. I would say thats possibly the most underrated run of all.Its so difficult for the full-back and centre-back to defend against, as the full-back doesnt know when to pass over the attacker to the centre-back or play offside. The centre-back then could have a decision to make whether to leave him or track the runner. Its a really difficult issue, especially when the ball is in a central area.I remember watching Cristiano make that run between the full-back and centre-back and thinking wow, you dont normally see that from experienced players, never mind a young kid. As Cristiano Ronaldo prepares to face Sporting in the Champions League, we recall the 2003 friendly against Manchester United in the same stadium What a player, I thought. After the match I remember sending a text to my brother, saying we need to sign him and apparently there was a lot of talk about him on the coach after the game.Obviously players should never be involved in signings, but he certainly made everyone sit up and take notice. Id never heard of him and Id never seen him before that night, but there was a huge excitement among the players afterwards.The only other opposition player Ive felt like that about was Louis Saha. I remember playing against him as a centre-back when he was at Fulham and he destroyed me three seasons on the bounce. I was devastated when I had to play against him and I thought weve got to sign him.He was clearly a different type of player to Cristiano, but we spoke about him in the dressing room in the same way. After that game against Sporting Lisbon, there was a great admiration and there was no doubt the players were all talking about Cristiano. Ronaldo scored a 38th hat-trick for Real Madrid as they won 4-1 at Alaves What we didnt realise is that the manager had been dealing with it for a period of time before then.dddddddddddd Sir Alex Ferguson signed him shortly afterwards. Cristiano was very raw when he first came to the club; he had a lot of growing up to do and like all young players he needed time to develop.It took a few years for his body to fill out and he needed time to get his decision-making right but you would expect that from a young player. And over two-and-a-half years he became a devastating player, improving himself both physically and mentally.For me, it felt like he matured and became a man after the 2006 World Cup. After that tournament he became a completely different player. Sir Alex greets Cristiano at Man Utds training ground Suddenly he knew when to pass, where to pass and he knew when and where to run. It all seemed to come together at once. That was the time he was getting criticised the most by fans in this country after his famous wink at Wayne Rooney, but I would never criticise him for that. I always felt all was fair in love and war when it comes to the football pitch. As long as it was legal and you were acting within the rules of the game, then a player should try to gain all competitive advantages possible to try and win. Ronaldo tells the story of the time he dazzled Man Utd and Sir Alex Ferguson while playing for Sporting Lisbon in 2003 Ive always said that Paul Scholes, Ryan Giggs and Roy Keane were the three great players I played with over a long period, but for three years from 2006 to 2009, Ronaldo set a standard you can only dream about. It was a magical time when he was playing with Rooney and Carlos Tevez; Ive never seen anything like it. It was amazing to watch and he was the pinnacle of it.After leaving United, he has gone on to become the best player in the world - and I think thats been proven by the Ballon DOr wins.There has long been an argument over who the best player is - Ronaldo or Lionel Messi - and in my mind weve been blessed to have both. I would always favour Cristiano because I played with him, but its almost unfair to say that because both are sensational players. Ballon dOr explainer With FIFA launching their own award, we explain the latest on the Ballon dOr But Ill never forget that game against Sporting Lisbon and the chat among the players when they got back to Manchester. Poor Sheasy was the butt of a lot of jokes for being given a run-around.But I have to be honest, I felt for him. If Id been playing that night hed have done the same to me.Watch #CR7Live tomorrow at 1pm on SkySports.com, Sky Sports Facebook page and on the Soccer AM You Tube Channel. Also See: What Utd saw in Ronaldo Ronaldo agrees new deal ' ' '