Dein erstes Forum » nny Bill Williams, he came into the Sevens env

INDIANAPOLIS -- The Indiana Pacers will welcome a familiar face to Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Monday night, as former head coach Frank Vogel and the Orlando Magic will be in town. Vogel coached the Pacers for the previous six seasons. He holds the most wins in franchise history and compiled the second-best winning percentage for any Pacers head coach (.580).Larry Bird made a somewhat surprising move in the offseason, replacing Vogel with Nate McMillan. Both teams are off to slow starts this season, as they each enter Monday night with a 4-6 record. But Vogels Magic just took down the Thunder on Sunday and are hoping to build off that victory.For the most part, Vogel was well-liked in Indianapolis, and the fans should respond accordingly.I think Frank will get a great reaction, said McMillan. The fans will be able to show their appreciation for all that he contributed here.Itll be great, Paul George told the Indianapolis Star. Im sure itll be an emotional moment for himself and for our crowd.Vogel agrees. I have a lot of strong ties still there, he told the Orlando Sentinel. Some of my best basketball moments of my life were coaching the Pacers.The Pacers had aspirations of being a top team in the Eastern Conference this season, but have struggled to find their identity in the early going. Theyre coming off an uninspiring week in which they played two overtime games with Philadelphia, including one loss, and their first home loss of the season on Saturday night against Boston.Indiana is hoping to have George back in action. He missed Saturdays game with a sprained ankle.Scoring has not been the issue for the Pacers, as theyve averaged 108.4 points per game so far, good enough for fifth in the NBA.The opposite has been true for Orlando. Coming into Sunday night, the Magic were last in the NBA at 92.3 points per game. They exploded for 119 points in the win over Oklahoma City. They were led by Serge Ibaka, who scored 31 points and hit the game-winning shot against his former team.Im not going to lie to you, it felt good, Ibaka said after the game.The Magic were able to withstand Russell Westbrooks monster night (41 points, 16 assists, 12 rebounds) in the win.Both of these teams are among the NBAs worst in team defensive rating. They both are giving up over 108 points per 100 possessions, which is rare for one of Vogels teams. It will be an intriguing matchup for two teams that are both searching for their own identity.The Magic will be without Jodie Meeks (fractured fifth metatarsal) and the Pacers will be without Rodney Stuckey (right hamstring strain.)Indiana went 2-1 against the Magic last season and have won 11 of the last 13 meetings overall. 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LOUIS -- Alexander Steen scored a power-play goal with 59. Boston Celtics Jerseys . How great will be revealed in the next couple of days at the board of governors meeting in Pebble Beach, Calif.Former England captain Ollie Phillips has predicted that rugby Sevens will provide a cracking spectacle at the Rio Olympics. The Great Britain squads for mens and womens competitions are set to be announced in London on Tuesday.And Phillips, who skippered England during a glittering Sevens career that also saw him named 2009 world Sevens player of the year, is relishing a six-day tournament which starts at Deodoro on August 6.Its brilliant that rugby is part of the greatest sporting spectacle on the planet, and that both our men and women get a chance to be a part of that, he told Press Association Sport. To win a gold medal, for most sportspeople, is the biggest accolade you can have.I think the Olympics will get a cracking spectacle. There is nothing, really, that exists within the Olympics whereby the action comes very thick and fast, and there is always something going on. Sevens is short, sharp, with loads of points and a carnival atmosphere.GBs men and women have built for Rio by taking part in a series of preparation tournaments -- the men triumphed on successive weekends in Exeter and Gdynia, Poland earlier this month -- with final 12-player groups now ready for unveiling.The men have been drawn alongside New Zealand, Kenya and Japan in Rio, with the women facing Canada, Brazil and Japan during pool stages that will see the top two teams from each of three groups -- plus two best third-placed sides - securing quarterfinal places.Phillips ex-England Sevens colleague Simon Amor is head coach of the mens squad, and while injuries have ruled out two initial training squad members -- Wasps scrum-half Joe Simpson and Welshman Luke Morgan -- it is expected that Amor will be able to parade a powerful final contingent.What I like about Simons [training squad] selection is that most of the players have been playing Sevens all year for England, Scotland or Wales, so their fitnesss levels will be right up there, Phillips added.dddddddddddd. In Sevens, there is an expectation for players to be supremely fit.A lot of it in Sevens is just about the core skills that lots of people take for granted -- your handling, passing, tackling and how accurate you are at the breakdown.Sevens puts a huge magnifying glass over the core components of anyones game. There is no hiding. If you miss a tackle in 15-a-side, sometimes that can be recovered. In Sevens, more often than not, it cant be.Fifteen-a-side world stars like Bryan Habana and Quade Cooper failed in their attempts to secure respective Rio selection for South Africa and Australia, and while New Zealands Sonny Bill Williams made the final cut, Phillips has underlined how big the switch to rugbys abbreviated version can be.If you look at someone like Sonny Bill Williams, he came into the Sevens environment and it took him a good three tournaments to get used to the game in terms of what he was doing, how to play and what decisions to make, Phillips said. Players have almost become specialist Sevens players. There is a lot more focus on some players doing nothing but being out and out Sevens now, and that has seen the game grow.It is a challenge going from 15s into Sevens. You cover a lot more yardage, there is a lot more running. It is more about agility and speed. Also, the recognition of space. In 15s, there is less space and it is crowded with players, and on a Sevens field, it is all about appreciation of space, knowing when to take the gap between you and the defence or when to hold on and push out wide.The HSBC World Sevens Series has grown from six tournaments to 10, and the actual game of Sevens is really exploding. I think the Olympics will contribute massively to that. ' ' '