Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.
SportsTalk: Albert Pujols signs with the Angels and Prince Fielder joins the Tigers. Which team is better now?
Ryan Callahan scored for the fifth time in four days and defenseman Ryan McDonagh snapped a second-period tie to lift the New York Rangers to a 3-2 victory over the Washington Capitals on Sunday.
PBT: Jeremy Lin wasn't his hot self on Saturday, but he still led the Knicks to victory.
Arc's five up, five down: After No. 11 Michigan State's 58-48 upset of No. 3 Ohio State, you'd be a fool to discount the Spartans' national title chances now.
Miami coach Al Golden says the worst is behind him, but his headaches figure to continue now that former booster Nevin Shapiro, now in jail, says his involvement with the Hurricanes program will result in stiff penalties.
Golf's dream pairing - Woods and Mickelson - is on the course in the final round at Pebble Beach. Jason Sobel has hole-by-hole reports.
The United States completed a 5-0 rout of Switzerland in the Davis Cup on Sunday, with 19-year-old Ryan Harrison and John Isner winning closing singles matches.
Euro Roundup: First-place Manchester City won 1-0 at Aston Villa on Sunday on Joleon Lescott's goal in the 63rd minute, maintaining its two-point lead over Manchester United in the Premier League.
Tessa Worley of France fought off gusting winds to win a second consecutive World Cup giant slalom Sunday in the Andorran Pyrenees. Overall leader Lindsey Vonn was more than a second behind and finished eighth.
Robins: It’s the Year of the Dragon on the Lunar calendar, and this Chinese influence could extend to it also being the year of the Pekingese on the green carpet at the 136th Westminster Dog Show on Tuesday.
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After reaching the conference finals in 2002 and advancing out of the first round the following season, Pierce went four years without winning a playoff series as Ainge tore the team apart in a run at the draft lottery. Meanwhile, Pierce languished as the only star on a young team that was going nowhere.
He clashed with Rivers, who wanted him to move the ball around the offense instead of holding it while the shot clock ran down and trying to outplay his defender one-on-one. Rivers understood that it was difficult for Pierce to trust his young, inconsistent teammates, but he kept pushing and Pierce pushed back.
“Me and Doc definitely bumped heads from the beginning. That’s what makes it so special,” Pierce said. “Right now, I love the guy. But I didn’t think it was going to work between me and him.”
Although Pierce has shown signs of maturity this year — laughing off bad calls that would have set him off in previous seasons — it doesn’t hurt that he has teammates he can rely upon. Things didn’t work out with the ping-pong balls, but the offseason moves that brought in Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen have the Celtics in position to win their 17th NBA title — and first since 1986.
“It was so easy to stay where he was, because he was getting good numbers,” said Rivers, who compared Pierce’s overhaul to Tiger Woods revamping his swing even though he was already the best player in golf. “But he wasn’t really efficient. So many stars wouldn’t do that. I was asking him to change a whole bunch of what he does — on a bad team.”
Pierce eventually came around, and that’s one reason why he’s headed back to Los Angeles with a chance at his first NBA title.
It’s where he spent his childhood.
But he grew up in Boston.
“He was the guy that gave in, and realized he was the better for it,” Rivers said. “He’s matured.”
PBT: Jeremy Lin wasn't his hot self on Saturday, but he still led the Knicks to victory.
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 Lin on on 'Linsanity' Knicks guard Jeremy Lin discusses the hype surrounding his recent rise in New York. |
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Who will be MVP? Interactive: Rank each player on a scale of 0 to 10 (10 = best player, 0 = barely worthy of consideration). NBCSports.com |
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NBA Finals: Celtics vs. Lakers |
Boston wins series 4-2 |
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Wesseling: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for AFC teams.
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Silva: Each NFL team enters the offseason with a series of pressing needs. Sometimes a team can address them all, sometimes they ignore them all. But if a team's smart, they'll listen to us. These are the most crucial aspects for NFC teams.