did come," he said of his 63 on Thursday. "I

FIVE QUICK HOOPS THOUGHTS 1. DAMIAN LILLARD (Blazers): Caught his act in Toronto on Sunday versus the Raptors. Man, this kid can really play. Love his game. Excellent vision, wonderful change of pace/speed, good creativity, explosive first step and smarts. He shoots it well from behind the arc and is a crafty screen and roll guy. Has taken a nice step in year two and the best is yet to come. Point guards who can get in the lane at will and make others better are a must in todays NBA and Portlands got a guy thats a keeper. As Raptors Terence Ross (picked two spots after Lillard) mostly watched from the bench, Lillard was a load for his team to deal with. The luck of the draft - the Blazers got themselves a significant piece to build/turn their team around with. Hes Legit. 2. OMER ASIK (Rockets): Things are getting testy in Houston with Asik demanding a trade and hanging his head about the arrival of Dwight Howard. With this situation deteriorating by the day, it will get harder and harder for GM Daryl Morey to get significant value for him because teams will know that youre stuck and you have to move him and that lowers what you have to give them back in return. Asiks immature reaction to the events have made it more difficult for him to get moved. Get your head up and be a pro and go out on the court and play your tail off and youll get your wish. If not, Rockets are stuck taking back pennies on the dollar and will be boxed in. Not pretty. 3. LANCE STEPHENSON (Pacers): This man is going to get paid this off-season. Hes a free agent at the end of the year and his value is increasing day by day. He plays with great energy and determination and his overall skill set has improved beautifully. Averaging close to 14 points per game, as well as over five rebounds per game and five-plus assists per game. Really impressive and the fact that hes shooting the three Ball so well at 45 per cent is opening lots of eyes. I said this last year about Paul George and Ill say it now about Stephenson; the best thing that ever happened to him and the Pacers has been the injury absences of Danny Granger. Its truly allowed these guys to play through mistakes and have to carry a significant role early in their career and its paid huge dividends. The Pacers scouting staff deserves lots of credit for coming up with this second round gem, as well as for guys like George who was a 10th pick. The most underrated aspect of winning organizations is having great scouts who have the knack for evaluating/projecting and picking players. Another diamond in the rough while other organizations cant even get out of their own way. 4. KLAY THOMPSON (Warriors): Averaging close to 21 ppg and playing lights out right now. Look at his shooting numbers: - 51 field goal percentage and 55 three-point field-goal percentage. This man has wonderful shooting mechanics and has figured out how to get his game off with the dribble and can help you in the transition game as well as in the slower half-court style. When you watch a guy polishing his skills and getting the rough edges off his game its neat to witness and were seeing it here. Becoming one of the better young two guards in the League. A talented guy, yes, but more importantly he plays the game with the proper tempo and there is a method to his approach. Im a fan. 5. ZACH RANDOLPH & MARC GASOL (Grizzlies): Memo to coach Dave Joerger: stop listening to those goofballs who are whispering in your ear about pace of play and shooting more threes. I love these guys who think theyre smarter than everybody because they come up with all these fancy mathematical formulas to explain their clueless theories. Im a huge believer that for every ounce of intelligence you have you better have a pound of common sense to go along with it. Theyll be the same ones to fire you when the win-loss mark doesnt work out. Slow it down and pound the heck out of folks. On Sunday, I watch them punish Sacramento (I know--its the Kings) in the paint for a combined 41 points and 18 rebounds. Your teams strength is power basketball; rebounding, defense and winning ugly. Play to your strengths. This isnt a beauty contest. Sure everyone wants to run up and down and shoot threes and entertain. Beauty to me is finding a way to win games and that means hiding your weaknesses and playing up your advantages. Open your eyes and trust your gut and pure instincts and realize the reality of what youre working with. Dont outsmart yourself. Air Jordan Australia Cheap . -- Antoine Bibeau bought the Val-dOr Foreurs valuable time at the Memorial Cup with his 51-save shutout Friday. Buy Air Jordans Australia .Tatjana Haenni, FIFAs head of womens competitions, told a FIFA Live Your Goals Tour news conference Friday that the artificial turf is being tested to make sure it meets standards. http://www.cheapaustraliaairjordan.com/ . FLIP SAUNDERS (Timberwolves): Im not the least bit surprised that he appointed himself as head coach after his search concluded. Air Jordan Retro Clearance . The team let Keaton Ellerby, James Wright and Matt Halischuk become unrestricted free agents after declining to make them qualifying offers. Ellerby, 25, appeared in 51 games for the Jets last season and had two goals and four assists. Cheap Australia Air Jordan . According to bodog.ca, Cleveland moved up to grab the best odds to win the Larry OBrian trophy at 4-1 on Friday. By comparison, the Miami Heats odds plummeted from 3-1 favourites before LeBron left, to 50-1.SINGAPORE -- Panuphol Pittayarat of Thailand made nine birdies in a blemish-free round of 9-under 63 to take the first-round lead at The Championship at Laguna National on Thursday. Panuphol, ranked just 451st in the world, was a stroke ahead of a group of four golfers in second -- Scott Jamieson, David Lipsky, Kim Byung-jun and local favourite Quincy Quek. The tournament, a co-sanctioned European and Asian tour event formerly called the Ballantines Championship, was moved from South Korea to Singapore just three weeks ago after it lost its title sponsor and the promoter failed to reach an agreement with a suitable golf venue. Defending champion Brett Rumford of Australia was in joint-64th place after a 70, level with Frances Alexander Levy, who won his maiden European Tour title Sunday at the China Open. The 21-year-old Panuphol earned his best European Tour result late last year when he finished tied for 18th at the Hong Kong Open. But hes missed his last three cuts on the Asian Tour. "I didnt see it coming but it did come," he said of his 63 on Thursday. "Im feeling good about my game right now. I wwas just trying to hit straight out there.dddddddddddd I managed to hole a lot of putts and a lot of them were unexpected." Jamieson, who won his first European Tour title last year at the Nelson Mandela Championship in South Africa, also had nine birdies in his round, including a difficult chip shot from the bunker on the par-3 No. 17, his eighth hole. He had one bogey on the par-4 16th. "Ive been hitting the ball well the last couple of weeks, so it was nice to get a round where it all came together," he said. "There was just the one mistake with the three-putt on 16, but it was pretty far away and pace putting is always difficult in Asia with the grain. Its not what someone from Scotland is used to." Panuphols countryman, Arnond Vongvanij, was in a share of the lead at 9 under until taking a double bogey on No. 8, his 17th hole, to fall back to a share of sixth place on 65. Spains Rafa Cabrera-Bello, who has three top-10 finishes this year, was another shot back in a group at 6 under. Laguna National hosted the Singapore Masters from 2002-07 and the Singapore Open from 2009-12. ' ' '