SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Sacramento Kings general manager Pete DAlessandro stepped to the microphone and talked about how a franchise that was in disarray a little more than 18 months ago when owner Vivek Ranadive bought the team has been stabilized with new leadership, a change in culture and the start of a new arena.DAlessandro then explained why the coach who was a part of that whole process had been fired.The Kings fired Michael Malone just 24 games into his second season with the team over philosophical differences over the teams style of play.It wasnt about wins and losses, DAlessandro said Monday. I dont really care what our record was. Its really about who we want to be, what we want our identity to be as a team.DAlessandro called Malone a great defensive coach and said this was the right time to make a change to bring in a coach who can take the team to the next level.He said he wants the Kings to play a more free-wheeling offence, which was so successful for the franchise in the early 2000s.Philosophically we needed to make a decision, DAlessandro said. What are we going to do, how are we going to play.Malone went 39-67 after being hired in June 2013 by Ranadive. Malone was hired before DAlessandro in what was considered an unusual order of events. DAlessandro said his decision to come to Sacramento was an endorsement of Malone but now he will get the opportunity to hire his own coach.The Kings went 28-54 in Malones first season and missed the playoffs for an eighth straight year. This season got off to a better start with the team winning nine of its first 14 games.But the Kings have fallen into a tailspin after star centre DeMarcus Cousins was sidelined with viral meningitis. Sacramento has lost seven of nine games without Cousins and is tied for 10th in the Western Conference with an 11-13 record.I would be lying if I said I didnt feel that it was partially my fault, Cousins said. In reality it isnt, but me personally I feel like it is. Me being out, us losing some games. I feel like I played a part in it.Cousins practiced Monday and is still day to day. The team will play its first game under interim coach Tyrone Corbin on Tuesday night at home against Oklahoma City.One of Malones biggest successes was the way he got the most out of Cousins, an ultra-talented big man whose emotions often got the best of him before Malones arrival last year.Cousins said he was surprised when he found out the news late Sunday night on Twitter.Who wasnt? I think this surprised everybody, he said. Usually with situations like this, you kind of know its about to happen. This just happened.DAlessandro will not commit to Corbin lasting the rest of the season, saying only that he will have the full support of the organization. Corbin went 112-146 in three-plus seasons as coach of the Utah Jazz and was not offered a contract after last season.Corbin began to implement change at his first practice Monday.Its difficult for players to change mid-stride, Corbin said. You have to not confuse them and get them thinking. Where we have ideas about changes and things, we have to gradually get those changes so theyre not thinking too much out there on the floor.The firing is the first major setback in Ranadives tenure. He was welcomed as a saviour when he bought the team from the Maloof family in 2013 and prevented the team from moving to Seattle.The Kings have already broken ground on a $477 million arena that is expected to open downtown for the 2016-17 season. But he has been unable so far to reverse the losing trend that followed a stretch of eight straight playoff berths.The message is were not done, DAlessandro said. Were going to keep doing everything there is. Were going to keep making tough decisions. Thats what were here for.DAlessandro said assistant coach Chris Jent mutually agreed with the team to also step down. Joe Thomas Womens Jersey . With the Pirates in the thick of the race in the NL Central, the timing couldnt be better. Liriano struck out a season-high 11 in seven innings to win consecutive starts for the first time this season and Pittsburgh beat the San Francisco Giants 3-1 on Tuesday night. Sheldrick Redwine Womens Jersey .Y. - Lou Williams scored 21 points and the Toronto Raptors beat New York 81-76 on Monday night in the Knicks preseason home opener. http://www.footballbrownsnflprostore.com...t-Elite-Jersey/. PETERSBURG, Fla. Baker Mayfield Youth Jersey . - Washington Redskins tight end Fred Davis said Wednesday hes "nodded off" during meetings, but he said its something every player does. Greedy Williams Browns Jersey .com) - The Utah Jazz look to put an end to their five-game losing streak when the Denver Nuggets visit Salt Lake City Monday night.Remember when Alonzo Mourning refused to play in Canada? How about Raptor power forward Antonio Davis? After blossoming into an All Star in Toronto, he opted out of his contract because he felt uncomfortable that his kids were singing O Canada. And learning the metric system. These were actual reasons he gave. I do not predict Amir Johnson feeling similarly. Something is happening — has happened — and it is a genie for whom the bottle will forever be too cramped. Turns out, after two decades of tumult and failure, subtly and steadily, Toronto has turned into a basketball mecca. In a fitting end to the roundball dominance of Chicago, Los Angeles and New York, each respectively has been or is being upset by Wizards, common decency and your Toronto Raptors. This isnt emphatic hype from a success-starved fan. This is real. This is how the future of Toronto basketball is going to play out. (Results guaranteed or your money back.) First, Toronto is going to beat the Brooklyn Nets. They are going to do this because they are faster, stronger, better coached and more talented. My words to Garnetts ears, I think theyre tougher too. Id confidently go to battle against KG, Pierce and Deron Williams with Lowry, Amir and Jonas. (Toronto can also selectively deploy Tyler Hansbrough, forcing Brooklyn to be mindful of his ever-present Metta World Peace potential. Observe when Hansbrough is deployed in a game. Always during a "Charles Oakley moment" when a teammate is being manhandled or has taken a series of tough fouls, and it is time for a guy made of elbows to contribute. Last game he played for 8 minutes, committed 3 fouls, and even touched the ball a few times.) The only reason the series goes seven is Torontos lack of experience. Heading into Game 5, the Raptors are now nearing the point of enough collective savvy and bend-but-dont-break guile to beat these paper tigers. The New Jersey Nets of Brooklyn are going down. (Sidenote on Donald Sterling: I would be neglectful not to mention the shadow hanging over an otherwise terrific first round of NBA playoffs. This is a teachable moment to talk about prejudice, especially when a Toronto club has experienced something similar. Remember when Harold Ballard warned us of the Soviet threat in 1979, proclaiming no Russian would ever play for the Maple Leafs, that they were "parasites and barnacles who steal our money?" I think Nikki Borschevsky told me that story. It was just the kind of boldly regressive, anti-humanistic rhetoric which helped spurn a generation of iconic movie villains from Ivan Drago to Boris the Blade. We may never see the same yield of film icons, but after commissioner Adam Silvers welcome and decisive announcement, I guarantee this whole affair ends in the plus column. Before you can explain to your mother that "Instagram is like Twitter with more pets," Magic Johnson will own an NBA team and Donald Sterling will not. Let him waste away in his underground lair, using his billions for, oh, I dont know, drumming up support to bomb North Korea? Backing anti-climate change lobbyists? Pouring millions into Monsantos nuclear corn division? Im not really sure what super-villains are into these days.) Speaking of villains, up next will be Miami, a team Toronto will not get past. This second round series is whats known in the business as "valuable experience". Any team on its way up bonds, grows and learns how to win by getting beat bby the best.dddddddddddd Do not be surprised when T.O. finds a way to win a game, maybe two (possibly three). This years Heat have a touch of the Nets in them (see: slow, creaky). They also have Lebron so they will be winning. 2014/15. Critical mass. The season NBA fans will remember as the Canadian Invasion. The one lasting achievement of the Vince Carter-era is inspiring a generation of local athletes to basketball greatness. The talent emerging is staggering, and some of it a credit to Carter as the deified player who sparked their imagination as kids. He, and two-time MVP Steve Nash, have long been the main influences for young Canadian ballers. In 1996, Nash was drafted 15th overall, the highest pick in NBA history for a Canuck. But years would pass. Bill Wennington would retire. Carter would move on to half-ass it in other cities. The Northern Uprising would start afresh in 2011, when Cleveland drafted Toronto-native Tristan Thompson 4th overall, a new record. Emerging San Antonio Spurs point guard Cory Joseph, a native of nearby Pickering, was drafted 29th. By 2012, a record five Canadians would be drafted, led by Orlando forward Andrew Nicholson (taken 19th). 2013 would be uncharted territory for Canadian ball. It was the first time two Canadians were selected in the lottery, including 13th selection, Toronto-native Kelly Olynyk and, shockingly, another Toronto-native, Anthony Bennett, going first overall. FIRST OVERALL. And he wasnt supposed to be the guy to accomplish that. That honour was being reserved for 2014s expected draft class hero, Raptor fan, and Toronto-native Andrew Wiggins (note the geographic trend). He may still wind up chosen first overall. Highly-touted Toronto-born Tyler Ennis is also declaring for this years draft and expected to go in the first round. 7-foot-5-inch Sim Bhullar (of Toronto) has a chance to be drafted as the first NBA player of Indian descent. Mississauga-native Nik Stauskas is considered a potential lottery pick. The list is long. Peruse the 2014 mock draft board. I did the math. Toronto is the best represented city in the world. Though the seminal players in Torontos basketball history may not be the most beloved, Marcus Camby, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady and Chris Bosh represent a considerable quantity of upper echelon talent which will someday appear as the bedrock on to which greater success was built. They are testament that superstars can be developed in Toronto, in Canada, where Vince Carter led fan voting for the All Star game four times, and Terrence Ross has been turning on young fans with dunk championship flare. More winning will build more local talent. Perceptions will change. A noteworthy cogitation to pull all this accounting together. It is entirely plausible there could come a day — there will come a day — when great players around the league are nagging their agents, opting out of contracts early, even colluding with their talented buddies...to come to Toronto. With so much homegrown talent pouring into the league, the standard could well be broken soon, where the prominent talents want to come to Toronto rather than dismiss it. To some extent, it is going to happen. To what extent, will be exciting to witness. >> Gallays Poll #8 << Who would you most like to see receive a hard foul from Tyler Hansbrough?(A) Kevin Garnett (most likely)(B) Jason Kidd (less likely)(C) Jay-Z (unlikely)(D) All of the above (almost certainly) ' ' '