Dein erstes Forum » If the 76ers do get the forward from Australia

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- The Nashville Predators remember well the electricity that flowed through Music City last spring when they made the longest playoff run in franchise history.Now they want to go even deeper with the Stanley Cup Finals the target.Absolutely, captain Mike Fisher said. We feel like were a team thats very, very good, and were going to contend. We have a lot of confidence in who we are as a team and how we want to play and how we want to be successful. Its going to take a lot of work.The Predators beat Anaheim in seven games before pushing San Jose to seven more in the Western Conference semifinals. Then general manager David Poile made a move that stunned the NHL on June 29, sending team captain Shea Weber to Montreal for P.K. Subban in a swap of standout defensemen.Poile also traded defenseman Seth Jones for center Ryan Johansen on Jan. 6, then saw a chance to give coach Peter Laviolette more speed in the lineup with the deal for Subban. Now Laviolette has to make the moves work to stretch the Predators playoff streak to a third straight season.Subban isnt shying away from the big expectations in Nashville as he works to become familiar with his new teammates.Ive never been shy to say I want to win a Stanley Cup and the first thing I said when I got traded is I want to win a Stanley Cup here, Subban said. Montreal was interesting. We had the opportunity to bring back the 25th Stanley Cup. But we have an opportunity to bring back a first here, and thats pretty special, too. Im looking forward to that opportunity.Some things to watch out of the Predators this season starting Oct. 14 when they open at home against Chicago:FIGURE OUT OVERTIMEThe Predators have only themselves to blame for landing in the first wild card and making back-to-back trips to California over the first two rounds of the playoffs. Only Carolina (16) had more than Nashvilles overtime losses last season as the Predators posted a meager 2-14 record. Nashville did go 4-2 in shootouts.REPLACING WEBERYes, the Predators still have a Weber on the roster in defenseman Yannick Weber. But they have to find someone to replace their captain, particularly on the power play where Shea Weber had 14 of his 20 goals. Subban matched Webers 51 points in 78 games last season despite playing 10 fewer games, though Subban had only two goals on the power play. Defenseman Roman Josi is the next best option to step up after having eight power play goals last season for a unit that ranked 10th in the NHL.SUBBANS PARTNERSlotting Subban into Webers spot with Josi may not be that easy. Subban opened the preseason playing with Mattias Ekholm, with Josi wrapping up his duties at the World Cup of Hockey. Josi is a pretty offensive-minded defenseman himself, with 61 points last season. Laviolette may split up Josi and Subban to create more offense through his defensive pairs.GROWING UPThe Predators have a handful of young players they hope develop further this season. Filip Forsberg, who led the Predators with a career-best 33 goals and 64 points, got a new contract in June. So did forward Calle Jarnkrok. Johansen just turned 24 and had 26 points in 34 games after joining Nashville in January.Nashvilles biggest boost could come from Colin Wilson depending on which forward shows up. He had just 24 points in 64 games last season, yet Playoff Colin Wilson had 13 points in 14 games.RINNES REVIVALGoaltender Pekka Rinne was not at his best last season with a 2.48 goals-allowed average and a .908 save percentage over 66 games. In the playoffs he ranked fourth in time on ice yet had a goals-against average of 2.63. The Predators did their best to help Rinne last year, allowing the fewest shots on goal (27.3) per game. Rinne played in the World Cup of Hockey for Finland to work himself into shape for the regular season.---Follow Teresa M. Walker at www.twitter.com/teresamwalker Ray Williams Jersey . Miller finished in two minutes, 6.09 seconds, one day before the first medal race on the Alpine schedule. The 36-year-old American also turned in the top time in Thursdays opening training session. Willis Reed Jersey . It was just business as usual for the Thunder at home. Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win. https://www.cheapknicks.com/811x-marvin-webster-jersey-knicks.html . Brandon Morrow allowed five runs on six hits over three innings. He struck out two, walked one and hit a batter. Edwin Encarnacion had a two-out, bases loaded two-RBI double in the third inning. New York Knicks Store . Louis Rams wide receiver Stedman Bailey last Sunday. The fine is the fourth this season for Goldson. He was fined $30,000 for a hit on the New York Jets Jeff Cumberland in Week 1. Bobby Portis Jersey . The quest begins with what is supposed to be an easy one, although Germany has traditionally been a stubborn opponent to Canadian teams at international tournaments. LAS VEGAS -- Denzel Valentine provided a thrilling finish for the NBA Summer League.Valentine hit the tying 3-pointer in the final second of regulation, then made a jumper at the buzzer in overtime to give the Chicago Bulls an 84-82 victory over the Minnesota Timberwolves on Monday night.Valentine was scoreless on 0-for-6 shooting through three quarters, but he proved that fortunes change quickly in Las Vegas. His 3-pointer with 0.2 seconds left forced the extra period after Tyus Jones had just given Minnesota a 77-74 lead on a 3 with 3.6 seconds to go.It was tied again on Xavier Silas 3 with 11.7 seconds remaining in OT, but Valentine, the college player of the year from Michigan State, worked the clock down before making his spinning jumper in the lane as the Bulls finished 7-0.That ended the NBA portion of summer basketball leagues in Orlando, Salt Lake City and Las Vegas over the past two weeks. Rookies got their first looks, some veterans got their last shots, and it ended with a play that had Twitter buzzing as if it were a game that took place in June instead of July.And just as the NBA stops, USA Basketball starts. Right on the same UNLV campus just hours before the summer league championship game, the U.S. Olympic team held its first training camp practice. The Olympics start on Aug. 5 in Rio de Janeiro, and the Americans hope to be playing for a third straight gold medal on Aug. 21.Then, finally, the offseason will start.A look back at the summer:MVP! MVP!Tyus Jones, the Most Outstanding Player of the 2015 Final Four, added another award to his résumé this summer. The Minnesota Timberwolves point guard won Summer League MVP honors and finished with 27 points in nearly leading the 24th-seeded Wolves to the championship. He won the Final Four MOP after leading Duke to the 2015 NCAA title.Thibodeau Bowl Thats what the Summer League championship game was dubbed, with coach Tom Thibodeaus new team (Minnesota) facing the Bulls team he coached for five seasons before he was fired. Thibodeau, an assistant on Mike Krzyzewskis U.S. Olympic team staff, took in the championship game from a baseline seat near Timberwolves players Karl-Anthony Towns and Zach LaVine.Simmons stockBen Simmons showed off the versatility that made him the No. 1 pick in the draft. TThe freshman from LSU played in four games for the Philadelphia 76ers in Las Vegas, averaging 12.dddddddddddd.3 points, 7.8 rebounds and 5.5 assists. If the 76ers do get the forward from Australia, along with recent high picks Joel Embiid and Dario Saric, on the court with second-year forward Jahlil Okafor, the future could be bright after a dismal recent past.All-Summer League honorsBesides Jones, the rest of the All-Summer League team, as voted by a panel of media members:First team: Jordan McRae (Cleveland), Bobby Portis (Chicago), Simmons (Philadelphia) and Alan Williams (Phoenix).Second team: Jaylen Brown (Boston), Thon Maker (Milwaukee), Kelly Oubre Jr. (Washington), Norman Powell (Toronto) and Tyler Ulis (Phoenix).Bulls backcourtChicago figures to have a starting backcourt of Dwyane Wade and Rajon Rondo after signing both players earlier this month, and theres some good young talent behind them. Valentine showed hes a clutch performer, while Jerian Grant, acquired from the Knicks in the trade for Derrick Rose, was MVP of the championship game with 24 points and 10 rebounds.Packing them inThe summer league broke two attendance records in Las Vegas, including the overall attendance mark with 108,931. The previous mark was 99,437, set last year. Over 11 days, the summer league averaged 9,902 fans per day.The event also broke the single-day mark on July 9, when 16,208 fans visited both the Cox Pavilion and Thomas and Mack Center. The spotlight game that night featured the top two picks in last months draft, Simmons and the Lakers Brandon Ingram. The previous mark was 12,422, set last season, also on the day the top two draft picks met, with Towns and DAngelo Russell facing off.Rising Suns?Phoenix got a look at a promising young core while going 4-2 in Las Vegas. All-Rookie selection Devin Booker averaged 26 points in his two games, top-10 picks Dragan Bender and Marquese Chriss both showed potential and Ulis looked like a second-round keeper. Ulis averaged 14.5 points and 6.3 assists per game. Bender, the No. 4 pick from Croatia, shot just 27.5 percent from the field but managed 8.6 points and 5.6 rebounds in his five games. ' ' '