[arry J]

KANSAS CITY, Mo. Dame Adidas Originals NMD R1 Sollys Sko Sollys/Kjerne Svart/Hvit . - Every time that Stanford coach Johnny Dawkins heads north of the border and the subject of Canadian basketball players is broached, one name always comes up: Vince Carter.He was the star with amazing leaping ability for the expansion Toronto Raptors in the 1990s, doing things that many kids growing up in a hockey-mad country had never thought possible. Carter was a scoring machine, sure, but he did it with a certain flair that endeared him to youngsters.Now, those kids are starting to come of age.Led by Anthony Bennett and Andrew Wiggins, the past two No. 1 overall picks in the NBA draft, the Canadian pipeline has begun to gush with talent. Eight players from the nation have been picked in the first round of the draft in the past four years, a number made even more remarkable by the fact that very few players had even played in the NBA before the 1990s.You know what people up there tell me changed everything? They attribute it to Vince, Dawkins said. It inspired kids in Canada who used to play hockey to play basketball. More kids means more growth for the game, and youre seeing that spill into higher levels of the NCAA.Bennett was among those kids who grew up watching Carter with awe-struck admiration.The young Timberwolves forward learned the game around the Jane and Finch Boys and Girls Club in Toronto, and every once in a while the club would take field trips to Raptors games.Thats when we seen him doing all these types of dunks, Bennett said. We just had a love for his game.Bennett eventually moved to the U.S. and played high school basketball at Nevadas Findlay Prep. After one season at UNLV, he was chosen first in the 2013 draft by the Cavaliers.His path has become a familiar one for young prospects from Canada.While prep schools there are becoming better and better, and the summer AAU circuit gives them plenty of exposure, the best players still tend to head south for school. That includes Wiggins, the son of former NBA player Mitch Wiggins, who also grew up watching Carter in Toronto but wound up at West Virginias Huntington Prep for high school.Wiggins was so dynamic that he actually reclassified to graduate a year earlier, and was still the No. 1 prospect in the country. He ultimately went to Kansas for a year, setting several records at the tradition-rich school.Now, after he and Bennett were traded from Cleveland, they are together in Minnesota.Its been getting bigger and bigger every year, Wiggins said of basketball in Canada. Players started to get a chance to go to the States and go to prep schools down here.That has made it even easier for them to get on college coaches radars, and helps to explain why so many Canadian prospects have turned into first-round draft picks.Its certainly not like it was in the 1950s, when Ernie Vandeweghe arrived out of Montreal and played several seasons for the Knicks. Its not even like it was in the 1980s, 90s and early 2000s, when Bill Wennington was winning titles on Michael Jordans Bulls, and Rick Fox was winning championships alongside Kobe Bryant and Shaquille ONeal.Youre always fighting against hockey, said Sidney Lowe, who coached the Grizzlies when they were an expansion team in Vancouver. But the thing about the Toronto area is they withstood the tough times. Their support is unbelievable and the result is you see more kids from Canada playing basketball and making it to this level.Guys like Tristan Thompson and Cory Joseph, first-round picks in 2011, and Andrew Nicholson, a first-round pick the following year. Bennett was joined by Kelly Olynyk in going in the first round in 2013, and Wiggins was joined by Tyler Ennis and Nik Stauskas this past spring.At the grassroots level, theyre extremely organized, Arizona coach Sean Miller said. You watch some of their teams on our travel circuit that we have here in the United States, their teams are participating in that. You can tell theyre very well coached.Arizona is among numerous high-profile schools pursuing the top-ranked prep player in the class of 2016, 7-foot centre Thon Maker. Duke, Kansas and Kentucky are also in the mix.His teammate at Ontarios Athlete Institute, five-star guard Jamal Murray, is considering Michigan State, Ohio State and Missouri. On the other side of the country in British Colombia, 6-foot-6 guard Jermaine Haley is looking at Louisville, Memphis and Gonzaga.Canada is producing good players and they seem to be more abundant than maybe in the past, said Arizona State coach Herb Sendek, who lured 7-foot-2 Jordan Bachynski out of Calgary a few years ago. Bachynski graduated last year and now plays professionally in Turkey.Theres very few guys that fall through the cracks anymore that are unknown, Sendek said. Those kids come down and play club basketball and schools have a way of finding out about kids. The good players in Canada, like Jordan and others, theyre heavily recruited.And the pipeline doesnt look like its going to run dry anytime soon. Adidas Superstar Hvit . -- Detroit Lions defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh says he isnt going to change what he does on the field. Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Norge Adidas Sko Herre/Dame Svart/Oransje BY1605 . He also had some help Monday night.Hibbert scored a season-high 29 points to help Indiana beat the Utah Jazz 97-86 Monday night, ending the Pacers six-game losing streak. 403 Forbidden . The Rangers centre left early in Game 1 with an upper body injury after being checked by Canadiens defenceman Mike Weaver and has not played since. Brassard told reporters after practice that he was good to go. That brought a smile to the face of Rangers coach Alain Vigneault.PITTSBURGH -- Solid starting pitching. A couple of defensive gems. Just enough hitting to make a difference. For a night, the struggling Pittsburgh Pirates managed to recapture a little bit of their 2013 magic. Do it a few more times and maybe their miserable start to 2014 will become a memory. Edinson Volquez allowed one run in six sharp innings, Andrew McCutchen and Josh Harrison made a splash both at the plate and in the field, and the Pirates edged the Washington Nationals 3-1 Thursday night. Volquez (2-4) ended a three-game losing streak by limiting the Nationals to three hits, walking two and striking out four. Mark Melancon worked the ninth for his eighth save. McCutchen drove in two runs for the Pirates and made a sliding grab with two on in the ninth to end the game. Josh Harrison added two hits for Pittsburgh and added a run-saving catch of his own for the Pirates. "Thats what were known for, just playing routine baseball, not doing anything too out of the ordinary," McCutchen said. "(Just) getting in scoring position, getting some runs home and having pitching shut it down for us." Ian Desmond hit his eighth homer of the season for the Nationals, but Washington left 10 runners on base. Rookie Blake Treinen (0-2) struggled with his command in his second career start, giving up two runs on four hits in 5 2-3 innings, striking out four and walking five. The Nationals have lost three of four. "Our approach was fine," Washington manager Matt Williams said. "They made some really nice plays. That happens. Its big league baseball. They get paid to do that." Volquez had been a pleasant surprise during the seasons first month, but scuffled through his previous four starts, going 0-3 with a 10.19 ERA as part of a slide that had the Pirates well off the pace in the NL Central a year after making the franchises first post-season appearance in more than two decades. Pittsburgh manager Clint Hurdle wondered if Volquez -- who led the National League in walks per nine innings last season -- was suddenly throwing too many strikes. The former All-Star did a better job mixing location and speed against Washingtons patchwork lineup. His only real miscue came on a 2-0 fastball in the fourth that Desmond sent iinto the seats in centre field that briefly tied the game at 1. Herre/Dame Adidas Yeezy Boost 350 V2 Cream White Sko Kremhvit Bb6373. It was the 10th home run Volquez has surrendered this season, but he responded by retiring nine of the last 10 batters he faced. "Just keeping the ball in the strike zone, keeping the ball in the ballpark," Volquez said. "I did it for a couple innings and Desmond hit a homer. A solo shot cant beat you, its only one run. You stay in the game and keep pitching." Treinen, who faced Cy Young winner Clayton Kershaw in his previous major league start, wasnt quite as crisp. He retired the first eight batters he faced thanks in part to a sinker that topped out at 97 mph before getting loose in the third. He loaded the bases with two outs on a pair of walks and a single by Harrison before hitting McCutchen with an 80 mph changeup to force in a run. Trouble surfaced again in the fifth thanks in part to Harrison, who has provided a spark in right field even as the Pirates mark time until the likely arrival of highly touted prospect Gregory Polanco next month. Harrison walked to lead off the inning and moved to second on a fly to centre before streaking home on a sharp single up the middle by McCutchen. Harrison is 13 for 37 (.351) since being moved into the leadoff spot earlier this month. Washington loaded the bases in the eighth off Tony Watson, but the left-hander retired Scott Hairston on a fly to shallow left field to get out of it and Melancon survived despite putting two runners on with McCutchens sliding grab on a sinking liner by Anthony Rendon sealing it. NOTES: The Pirates claimed right-handed reliever Josh Wall off waivers from the Los Angeles Angels on Thursday and assigned him to Triple-A Indianapolis. Wall is 1-1 with a 15.15 ERA in 15 career major league games. To make room for Wall on the 40-man roster, the Pirates designated RHP Phil Irwin for assignment. ... Nationals 1B Adam LaRoche went 0 for 2 in a rehab start for Class A Potomac on Thursday night. LaRoche has been on the disabled list since May 10 with a strained right quadriceps. LaRoche is eligible to come off the DL on Sunday. ... The series continues Friday night when Washingtons Jordan Zimmerman (3-1, 3.70 ERA) faces Pittsburghs Charlie Morton (0-6, 3.45). Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '