Dein erstes Forum » It might have had something to do with it there

LAHAINA, Hawaii -- North Carolina won the Maui Invitational in 1999 and went on to reach the Final Four later that season. The Tar Heels won in paradise again in 2004 and 2008, which became springboards to national championships.After their latest Maui title -- and maybe most dominating yet -- Arizona here they come?The fourth-ranked Tar Heels capped a roughshod run through a deep Maui Invitational field by crushing No. 16 Wisconsin 71-56 in the title game Wednesday night, establishing themselves as early season favorites to reach the Final Four in Glendale next April.We have a chip on our shoulder and were going to continue to get better as the year goes on, North Carolina point guard Joel Berry II said. Were playing good right now, but I think we can still play better.The long, athletic Tar Heels (7-0) were so good in the semifinals that Oklahoma State coach Brad Underwood called them the best team in the country.The national runner-up a year ago, North Carolina looked the part again in the title game, dominating Wisconsin (4-2) at both ends of the court.The Tar Heels held the Badgers to 38 percent shooting and harassed their leading scorer, Bronson Koenig, into a 1-for-13 night.Kennedy Meeks had 15 points and a career-high 16 rebounds to anchor North Carolinas dominating inside game. The Tar Heels had a 36-16 advantage in the paint and 12 more rebounds against one of the nations best teams on the glass.Berry was tournament MVP, scoring 22 points while orchestrating the Tar Heels offense with precision.Isaiah Hicks scored 14 points to complement Meeks inside and Justin Jackson helped stretch Wisconsins defense with his shoot/drive ability, finishing with 12 points.Dominating as the Tar Heels were, their coach was not ready to book his trip to the Valley of the Sun just yet.Ive never seen a national championship on the day before Thanksgiving, Tar Heels coach Roy Williams said. Its usually a Monday night in April.North Carolina rolled over Chaminade and Oklahoma State in the first two Maui rounds, winning by a combined 75 points.The Tar Heels looked like they were headed for another runaway victory at the start of the title game, the Badgers like they had been in the sun too long on Kaanapali Beach.Unable to handle North Carolinas length on defense or hit shots when they were open, Wisconsin missed its first 11 from the field and needed nearly 7 1/2 minutes to score.Its tough when you dont hit shots, Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said.The Badgers settled down after their jittery start and cut the lead to four before North Carolina stretched it to 29-20 by halftime.Berry was the catalyst for North Carolina in the first half and continued to be in the second, scoring and pulling the strings on the Tar Heels offense.North Carolina continued to manhandle the Badgers defensively, highlighted by Brandon Robinsons track-him-down blocked shot off the backboard on Koenig midway in the second half.By the time Wisconsin made a late run, the game was well out of reach.Vitto Brown led Wisconsin with 15 points and Ethan Happ had 13.Well definitely have a lot to learn from this when we go back and watch the film, Brown said. Theres no better test this early in the season.BIG PICTURENorth Carolina has been dominant so far this season. Imagine how good the Tar Heels can be when forwards Luke Maye and Theo Pinson return from injuries.Wisconsin is good, just not Carolina good just yet.POLL IMPLICATIONSWith No. 3 Indiana losing to Fort Wayne, expect the Tar Heels to move up at least one spot, maybe more.CAROLINA REBOUNDINGWisconsin was coming off a dominant performance on the offensive glass, scoring 19 points on 20 offensive rebounds against Georgetown in the semifinals.North Carolina made defensive rebounding a priority against the Badgers and they handled it well, holding Wisconsin to four offensive rebounds and one second-chance point.UP NEXTWisconsin hosts Prairie View A&M on Sunday and faces No. 18 Syracuse next Tuesday.North Carolina has a week to prepare for a road showdown with No. 3 Indiana on Nov. 30.---More AP college basketball: www.collegebasketball.ap.org and https://twitter.com/AP-Top25. 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General manager Jarmo Kekalainen told Aaron Portzline of The Columbus Dispatch on Friday that he wants to see Gaboriks contributions go beyond the scoresheet before considering a long-term deal for the soon-to-be unrestricted free agent. OAKLAND, Calif. -- It took about four months, along with injuries to some key starters, for Kendall Graveman to evolve from a pitcher at the back end of the Athletics rotation to the anchor of manager Bob Melvins staff.He certainly looked the part against one of the best-hitting teams in baseball, relying heavily on a nasty sinker and an even more effective cut fastball.Graveman pitched seven strong innings, Billy Butler hit a tiebreaking single in the sixth and Oakland beat Baltimore 3-2 on Monday night despite another home run from Orioles slugger Manny Machado.He was kind of splitting the plate with the sinker and cutter today, Melvin said. When he has both those working, he can use both sides of the plate and it can be effective against any team.Stephen Vogt homered, scored twice and had two RBI for the As. Butler added two hits.Machado, who homered in his first three at-bats Sunday, belted his 26th of the season off As reliever Ryan Dull with two outs in the eighth.It wasnt enough to prevent the Orioles from falling into a first-place tie with Toronto in the AL East. The Blue Jays beat Tampa Bay 7-5 earlier Monday.Vogt homered leading off the fourth against starter Kevin Gausman (3-9), walked and scored the go-ahead run in the sixth and added an RBI single in the seventh.Adam Jones had three hits for the Orioles.We wanted to give Kevin some breathing room, Baltimore manager Buck Showalter said. We saw a lot of groundballs. We knew (Graveman) was on top of his pitching, and he was.Oakland scored three runs total while getting swept in a three-game series against the Chicago Cubs last weekend and didnt get much going against Baltimore, either.Graveman (8-7) and two relievers made three runs hold up.Oaklands best pitcher over the past two months, Graveman allowed one run and six hits with four strikeouts.The second and third time through we started mixing in some of the breaking balls that I haveent thrown in the past four or five weeks, Graveman said.ddddddddddddI thought that really got hitters off and it kind of got us some early strikes.Dull retired three batters and Ryan Madson worked the ninth for his 23rd save.Gausman pitched well but is winless in 12 road starts this season. He struck out six and allowed two runs over six innings.THE GOOD AND BADAs center fielder Coco Crisp made a leaping catch at the wall to rob Mike Trout of extra bases in the second. The following inning, Crisp and right fielder Danny Valencia appeared to have trouble communicating on Hyun-Soon Kims one-out fly ball that landed just in front of both of them for a single that loaded the bases, one batter before Machado drove in a run. Dannys just starting to play some right field, Melvin said. It might have had something to do with it there.TRAINERS ROOMOrioles: Steve Pearce received a cortisone shot in his right forearm that Showalter hopes will prevent the newly acquired outfielder from having to go on the DL. Pearce has been bothered by a flexor mass strain for the past few days.Athletics: An MRI on RHP Sonny Grays right forearm revealed some inflammation and light fluid buildup but he wont require surgery, Melvin said. ... INF Jed Lowrie (bunion) will see a foot specialist later this week. ... LHP Ross Detwiler will be called up from the minors Wednesday to make his As debut. The left-hander was acquired from Cleveland in a July 17 trade.UP NEXTOrioles: LHP Wade Miley (7-9) makes his second start since getting traded by Seattle. Miley left his Baltimore debut after taking a line drive off his left calf in the fifth inning.Athletics: RHP Zach Neal (1-1) will come out of the bullpen to make his second career start. Neal has not allowed a run in three relief appearances since July 21. ' ' '