Alles Andere » meeting with an angry roomful of ticket-sellers

LOS ANGELES -- Doc Rivers couldnt begin the Los Angeles Clippers only day of preparation for Game 7 in the film room or on the practice court. The coach was downtown at the Clippers team offices Friday, meeting with an angry roomful of ticket-sellers and marketers still outraged by owner Donald Sterlings racist comments. "Ill say this much: Our players thought about not working. So did our employees, and they still felt that way," Rivers said. "They needed somebody to ask them to continue to work and support us. Were still trying to put this thing together." For both the Clippers and the Golden State Warriors, basketball has been secondary for much of this extraordinary series. But after the most tumultuous week in Clippers history, the first round is finally down to its grand finale. The Clippers will host a seventh game for the first time in franchise history on Saturday night, hoping to draw energy from their Staples Center crowd for a cathartic victory. The winner gets a second-round date with Oklahoma City or Memphis. "Weve got to protect home court," Clippers centre DeAndre Jordan said Friday. "Our season is tomorrow." The Warriors have been just one obstacle faced by the Clippers, who endured sleepless nights and immense scrutiny while their owner was exposed and subsequently banned for life from the NBA between playoff games. Los Angeles has lost two of three games since the Sterling saga began, playing lifelessly in Game 4 before struggling along with the Warriors in Game 6 on Thursday night. When the Clippers went back to work Friday, Sterling-related memorabilia had been removed from the trophy case in the hallway at their palatial $60 million training complex built by Sterling six years ago. Even the "Sterling Drive" sign outside the Playa Vista facility had been taken down. The Clippers missed their chance to wrap the series in Oakland, but the Pacific Division champions played all year for the chance to finish a series on their home court. "Its going to be tough, and youre going to face adversity, and we clearly have faced adversity in this round," said Blake Griffin, who managed just 17 points on 8-for-24 shooting in Game 6. "I think its just important that we all stayed the course and had positive thoughts about it. It is a Game 7, but its still a playoff game. It doesnt change a whole lot." Neither team plans to spend much time working on tactics or adjustments after six games of seeing everything their opponent has to offer. Both teams arent saying much about various nagging injuries, from Chris Pauls strained left hamstring for the Clippers to Jermaine ONeals sprained right knee for Golden State. Instead, two relatively inexperienced playoff teams are eager to show off everything theyve learned about perseverance and toughness over the past two weeks, culminating in a rare winner-take-all finish to their series. "Im not sure that both teams love each other, but Im pretty positive that both teams have tremendous respect for each other," Warriors coach Mark Jackson said. The Clippers core played a Game 7 two years ago, beating Memphis on the road for just their second playoff series victory since Sterling bought the team in 1981. Jordan and Griffin said there was little to draw from that victory, with Jordan barely remembering it. The Warriors havent played a Game 7 since 1977, no surprise for a franchise with just three playoff berths in the last 20 years. When asked if an injury could keep him out of Game 7, Paul scoffed. "Ill be there," Paul said. "Seven-thirty, that balls throwed up, Ill be there. Cant wait." Even with the Clippers on the front page during this series, Golden State has plenty of its own internal drama. Jackson could be coaching his final game for the Warriors after the club ownerships reluctance to publicly back his return despite the most successful two-year stretch in two decades. "I think weve had more controversy than them throughout this whole season that gets overlooked, kind of thrown under the rug a little bit," Golden States Andre Iguodala said. "Weve had some battles this year weve had to deal with, but its kept us together and made us stronger." Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys . Louis Blues just continue to roll -- especially against the Nashville Predators. China NFL Jerseys . - No matter the lineup or location, the San Antonio Spurs are rolling through the NBA again this spring, just the way they have for most of the last two decades. http://www.chinawholesalenfljerseys.com/ . 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The Mavericks were not going to let San Antonio beat them with 3-pointers, and they did not want Tony Parker using the lane as his personal playground.MELBOURNE, Australia - Goran Ivanisevic won one Wimbledon title in his colorful tennis career, but the big-serving Croatian believes he might have won even more if hed had an ex-player as his coach, like many of the top competitors do today.Bad luck I did not have someone like me to coach me when I was (playing), he said Tuesday at the Australian Open. I should have had this Goran to coach that Goran. Probably I would win at least five, six more Grand Slams.Ivanisevic, 43, is now part of the latest trend in tennis — the exclusive but steadily growing club of former pro players who have turned to coaching in their post-retirement years.The big-name stars like Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer and Andy Murray may have glamorized the ex-player hires in recent years, taking on Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg and Ivan Lendl/Amelie Maursemo, respectively. But the players just behind them in the rankings have also jumped on the bandwagon to try to close the gap and contend for slams.Stan Wawrinka and Marin Cilic both won their first majors last year under the tutelage of former players — Wawrinka is coached by Swede Magnus Norman and Cilic by Ivanisevic. And Kei Nishikori has former French Open champion Michael Chang in his corner, while Milos Raonic is coached by Ivan Ljubicic, once ranked No. 3 in the world.Chang believes the ex-player coaches have caught on among these players, in part, because they can bring valuable perspective from their own careers that could be the final piece needed for a breakthrough at the majors.The fifth-seeded Nishikori hired Chang at the end of 2013 and proceeded to make his first Grand Slam final at the U.S. Open, where he was beaten by Cilic. He plays defending champion Wawrinka on Wednesday for a spot in the semifinals.The mentality and attitude ends up playing a very important role, the 42-year-old Chang said.We all know everybody can come out here and play great tennis, they all hit great forehands, great backhands and great serves, but the mindset is another element that the public and press dont see. Something that I try to help him out and give him goood advice wherever I can.ddddddddddddIvanisevic, who reached three Wimbledon finals before finally winning in 2001, sees how valuable this insight can be when looking back at his own career.I say (to Cilic), Listen, youre going to learn only by learning not to the same mistakes that I did, he said. It would take 10 days to tell you how many mistakes I made.Ivanisevic has known Cilic since 2002 when he invited the then-14-year-old rising junior to practice with him. Cilic, who pulled out of this years Australian Open due to a shoulder injury, hired Ivanisevic to coach him in 2013.Its nice to have somebody in the corner who was through all these things, Ivanisevic said. Unfortunately, I could not do things with myself that I can do with him. But I succeeded with him, also made me proud.Ljubicic, too, was drawn to coaching by the opportunity to help one of the games rising stars take the next step. Raonic also plays for a spot in the semifinals Wednesday against Djokovic.A former French Open semifinalist, Ljubicic, 35, said theres an expectation that an ex-player coach can have an immediate impact on a players results, but this isnt necessarily the case.His coaching relationship with Raonic, which began just a year after Ljubicic retired in 2012, got off to a rocky start.We had difficult first few weeks because (Raonic) was struggling, out of confidence and out of shape, but we decided to try a little bit longer and the results started to come, Ljubicic said.Ljubicic said he wasnt going to return to the grind of the tennis tour for just any player, either. He wanted to coach a contender.(Milos is) one of the most determined and motivated people that I have ever met, and that meets my needs and my type of people that I want to work with, he said.Chang, too, didnt take the decision to return to the tour lightly. He said it wouldnt have been possible without the help of his wife, who travels with him and takes care of their two children.Its fun to be able to work with Kei and to see him excel and improve, Chang said. Spending time with my family is important, too. ' ' '