MONDAY, DECEMBER 23, 2013
S P ORT S Photo of the day
Young Mexican team takes hoop dreams to South California
Kyle Strait competes during the finals of Red Bull Rampage in Virgin, UT, USA on October 13, 2013. — www.redbullcontentpool.com
LOS ANGELES: Their Southern California itinerary is a 10year-old boy’s dream: Disneyland, a Lakers game and a visit to the Santa Monica beach. But most of the players from a basketball academy in the mountains of southern Mexico haven’t heard of Mickey Mouse. They grew up in isolated villages, and for them, basketball is a ticket to a better life. At home in Oaxaca, the youngsters are so poor that they play without shoes. But they were all wearing sneakers on Friday as they got to slap hands with Lakers players. And after winning an international tournament in Argentina, they’ve been dubbed the “barefoot giants of the mountains.” “Despite having everything against them, these children have shown their strength on the basketball court and won,” said Gerardo Vasquez, president of a federation of Oaxacan immigrant groups in Southern California. “They’ve shown the world that despite their circumstances, they are a light of hope for Oaxacans and Mexicans.” While many Mexicans are soccer fans, in the rugged hills of Oaxaca there are more ball courts than soccer fields. Some say that the modern game echoes the traditional ceremonial game of “ulama,” which was played to the death in stone courts that now stand in ruins. At home in southern Mexico, the 7- to 11-year-old team members live at a boarding school, study Spanish and their native language of Triqui and attend daily three-hour practices. The 17 players come from some of the poorest
areas, where “it looks like they’re stuck in the 18th century,” said Sergio Zuniga, chief coach and founder of the Mexican Academy of Indigenous Basketball in the city of Oaxaca. “To see children who only have one meal a day, sharing a plate of beans and one tortilla between three people, isn’t rare,” Zuniga said. Zuniga said his program uses basketball to teach discipline and pride, to help the children graduate high school and perhaps even attend a university. On their first US tour, the youngsters are playing teams from Los Angeles-area Catholic schools, recreation leagues and even an ad-hoc team of reporters from Spanish-language news media. They arrived Tuesday and will leave after Christmas. The children are usually shorter than their opponents. Zuniga and his team of coaches, teachers and social workers can’t do anything about their genes, and even the 11-year-olds look years away from a teenage growth spurt. On Wednesday night, while Zuniga shouted from the sidelines in Spanish and Triqui, the boys played a scrappy game and kept the score tight against their taller rivals in the Woodland Hills area of Los Angeles. They won. Tobias de Jesus Bautista, 11, said he was undaunted by his opponents’ size. “We have to give double, triple the effort,” Bautista said. “But I think we can compensate for our height by concentrating on our free throws, by being in better physical condition and by being more sure of what we’re doing. We can reach our dreams.” — AP
Warriors start slow, rout depleted Lakers 102-83 OAKLAND: David Lee had 19 points and 10 rebounds, Andrew Bogut grabbed 20 rebounds and the Golden State Warriors shook off a slow start to rout the depleted Los Angeles Lakers 10283 Saturday night. Stephen Curry scored 18 points and Klay Thompson added 17 points to help the Warriors pull away with a 26-8 spurt to start the third quarter. Golden State went ahead 83-70 early in the fourth to put the game out of reach. Pau Gasol sat out with an upper respiratory infection for the Lakers, who already were missing Kobe Bryant (fractured left knee), Steve Nash (nerve root irritation in back), Steve Blake (torn ligament in right elbow) and Jordan Farmar (torn left hamstring). Nick Young scored 20 points, and Chris Kaman had 17 rebounds and 10 points for the Lakers in a sloppy game by both teams. The Lakers committed 24 turnovers, while the Warriors had 18. Golden State shot 38.8 percent and Los Angeles shot 32.5 percent. Even though the Lakers were undermanned, the Warriors had failed to consistently take advantage of opportunities against short-handed teams lately. Golden State had lost three of its last four games, including Thursday night at home against a San Antonio team playing without Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili. The lone win during that stretch was against New Orleans, which played without injured starters Anthony Davis and Tyreke Evans. The Lakers have been decimated even more by injuries. Los Angeles used its 12th different starting lineup this season: Xavier Henry, Jodie Meeks, Wesley Johnson, Jordan Hill and Kaman. Gasol was the only player to start the first 26 games. Lakers coach Mike D’Antoni was hoping Gasol would be healthy enough to play Monday at Phoenix. At this point, the Lakers need anybody they can get. Los Angeles beat Minnesota on Friday night in its first game since Bryant fractured his left knee, but the Warriors - who struggled for long stretches again - were too much to overcome on consecutive nights. Neither team led by more than six points in a forgettable first half, and both sides hovered just above 30 percent shooting for most of the game. The only drama left had little impact on the final score. Officials called a flagrant-2 foul and ejected Marreese Speights for hitting Young around the neck from behind to prevent the Lakers’ reserve from a breakaway dunk. Los Angeles never got closer than 16 points in the final quarter. Thunder 113, Spurs 100 Guard Russell Westbrook had 31 points and
eight assists to lead the Oklahoma City Thunder to an emphatic road victory over the San Antonio Spurs. Westbrook was 13-of-22 from the field as the Thunder won their eighth in a row. Guard Reggie Jackson added 21, and forward Kevin Durant chipped in with 17 as the Thunder (22-4) captured their second win over San Antonio this season. Tony Parker, who missed the last two games with a right shin contusion, led the Spurs (21-6) with 23 points. Wizards 106, Celtics 99 The Washington Wizards erased an 18-point first-half deficit and rallied again in the fourth quarter to defeat the Boston Celtics. Guard John Wall and forward Trevor Ariza powered a 16-2 run down the stretch that gave the Wizards their third straight victory, all on the road, and ended their seven-game overall and four-game road losing streaks against Boston. Grizzlies 95, Knicks 87 The Memphis Grizzlies halted a five-game losing streak when they beat the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. Power forward Zach Randolph topped Memphis (11-15) with 25 points and 15 rebounds as New York’s home woes continued. The Knicks are 4-9 at Madison Square Garden after going 31-10 at home last season. Kings 105, Magic 100 Recently acquired guard Rudy Gay scored 23 points, including nine in the fourth quarter, to lead the Sacramento Kings to victory over the Orlando Magic. The Kings (8-18) won the final game of a four-game road trip that included losses to Charlotte, Atlanta and Miami. Rockets 114, Pistons 97 Center Dwight Howard scored a season-high 35 points and grabbed 19 rebounds as the shorthanded Houston Rockets bounced back from their worst loss of the season with a thumping of the Detroit Pistons. The Rockets were coming off a 33-point loss to Indiana. Bulls 100, Cavaliers 84 The Chicago Bulls scored 100 points for the first time in nine games and cruised to a home victory over the Cleveland Cavaliers. Forward Carlos Boozer led six players in double figures with 19 points as the Bulls (10-16) shot 53.6 percent and knocked down 10-of-15 attempts from three-point range. Jazz 88, Bobcats 85 Guard Trey Burke scored 20 points and hit two free throws with 10.2 seconds left as the Utah
OAKLAND: Los Angeles Lakers’ Nick Young drives to score over Golden State Warriors’ Kent Bazemore and Draymond Green (23) during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Saturday, in Oakland, California. — AP
Jazz beat the Charlotte Bobcats on the road. The Jazz, who entered the game with the worst record in the NBA, won for just the eighth time this season. Charlotte guards Kemba Walker and Gerald Henderson missed three-point attempts in the final 10 seconds. Bucks 116, 76ers 106 Forward Khris Middleton scored 27 points as the Milwaukee Bucks snapped a five-game losing streak with a victory over the Philadelphia 76ers. Middleton did much of his damage in the second half when he scored 20 of his points on 8 of 10 shooting. Suns 123, Mavericks 108 Guard Eric Bledsoe scored a game-high 25 points and guard Gerald Green had 22 points as the Phoenix Suns rang up their seventh win in their last eight games with a home victory over the Dallas Mavericks.Phoenix set a season high for points and margin of victory and followed Friday night’s rally from a 21-point deficit in Denver. Trail Blazers 110, Pelicans 107 Guard Damian Lillard scored 29 points as Portland eked out a home victory over the New Orleans Pelicans. The Trail Blazers were down by as many as 13 points in the first half but recovered as the Pelicans dropped their fourth straight game. Clippers 112, Nuggets 91 Guard Jamal Crawford scored 27 points and forward Blake Griffin had 24 points and 16 rebounds as the Los Angeles Clippers routed the Denver Nuggets at home. Crawford hit 10 of his 20 shots from the floor, including 6-of-12 from behind the arc, as the Clippers (19-9) captured their fourth consecutive win and dropped Denver (14-12) to its third straight defeat. — Agencies
NBA results/standings Memphis 95, NY Knicks 87; Washington 106, Boston 99; Sacramento 105, Orlando 100; Houston 114, Detroit 97; Utah 88, Charlotte 85; Chicago 100, Cleveland 84; Milwaukee 116, Philadelphia 106; Oklahoma City 113, San Antonio 100; Phoenix 123, Dallas 108; Portland 110, New Orleans 107; Golden State 102, LA Lakers 83; LA Clippers 112, Denver 91. Eastern Conference Atlantic Division W L PCT Boston 12 16 .429 Toronto 10 14 .417 Brooklyn 9 17 .346 NY Knicks 8 18 .308 Philadelphia 8 20 .286 Central Division Indiana 21 5 .808 Detroit 13 16 .448 Chicago 10 16 .385 Cleveland 10 16 .385 Milwaukee 6 21 .222 Southeast Division Miami 20 6 .769 Atlanta 15 12 .556 Washington 12 13 .480 Charlotte 13 15 .464 Orlando 8 19 .296 Western Conference Northwest Division Oklahoma City 22 4 .846 Portland 23 5 .821 Denver 14 12 .538 Minnesota 13 14 .481 Utah 8 22 .267 Pacific Division LA Clippers 19 9 .679 Phoenix 16 10 .615 Golden State 15 13 .536 LA Lakers 13 14 .481 Sacramento 8 18 .308 Southwest Division San Antonio 21 6 .778 Houston 18 10 .643 Dallas 15 12 .556 New Orleans 11 14 .440 Memphis 11 15 .423
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BELGRADE: Brazil’s players pose with the trophy after beating Serbia in their 2013 Women’s Handball World Championship final match in Kombank Arena in Belgrade yesterday. Brazil won 25-23. — AFP
Kelly Clark wins to make fourth US Olympic team COPPER MOUNTAIN: Kelly Clark made it from the couch to the Olympics, all in the span of a few hours. Hurting with a stomach bug that left her couch-bound most of the day, the snowboarder secured a spot on her four th Olympics team Saturday night with a near-perfect run on the halfpipe at the US Grand Prix. “To be honest, it’s hard for me to compute right now,” said the 2002 Olympic champion and 2010 bronze medalist. “You plan, you dream, you train and it happens and you’re kind of in awe.” Clark had the contest wrapped up when nobody in the second round could beat the score of 95 she had posted on her first trip down the pipe. Instead of coasting down to collect the winner’s check, she increased the degree of difficulty on the second run, mixing a frontside 1080 spin into the routine - considered one of the toughest tricks the women try. She got rewarded: A 98.0 - two points short of perfect. “That was the first 10 I did all day,” said Clark, who didn’t get off the couch until about two hours before the contest. “Usually, I’d be out in practice working on it. It was more of a conserving-energy mission tonight.” Clark topped Arielle Gold by 6.75 points for the victory. Gretchen Bleiler, the 2006 Olympic silver medalist, finished third to complete an American sweep. Bleiler is less than two years removed from a training accident in which she fractured her eye socket while practicing a trick on a trampoline. “That put me back a long, long way,” she said. “I’ve had to rebuild, start from
scratch, it feels like. It feels real good to have come out here and done this.” Gold’s brother, Taylor, won the men’s event. The lowest-ranked qualifier, Gold went first in the men’s contest and scored a 90.25; the mark held up over the next 31 runs, as none of the other 15 finalists could beat it in two tries. “I wasn’t really expecting anything coming into the year,” Gold said. “I was just stoked to have enough tricks to be able to compete. This is unbelievable for me.” The victory puts him in good position for an Olympic spot, as did the secondplace finish for Greg Bretz, who pairs that with his win over Shaun White last week at the Dew Tour. White, the two -time defending Olympic champion, didn’t compete, choosing to focus on Sunday’s slopestyle contest while he brings his hurting left ankle back to 100 percent. Earlier in the day, Nick Goepper became the first American to wrap up a spot on the U.S. Olympic slopestyle skiing team. Goepper finished second behind Andreas Haatveit of Norway, who is also going to Sochi. “It’s all downhill from here,” Goepper said. “And then it gets real uphill in February.” On the women’s side, Canada’s Dara Howell got her career victory. Her score of 87.6 put her ahead of a trio of Americans: 16-year-old Darian Stevens, six-time X Games medalist Grete Eliassen and 15-year- old Maggie Voisin, who added the fourth-place to a third -place finish last week. — AP
9.5 11 11 15.5 5.5 7.5 8 12.5
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COPPER MOUNTAIN: (L-R) Gretchen Bleiler in third place, Kelly Clark in first place and Arielle Gold in second place take the podium in the women’s FIS Snowboard Halfpipe World Cup at the US Snowboarding and Freeskiing Grand Prix on Saturday in Copper Mountain, Colorado. — AFP
