TORONTO - Sitting in the home of assistant coach Bill Bayno one February evening, Jonas Valanciunas fretted over the slump that had befallen him. [url=http://www.theredskinsshoponline.com/Youth-Junior-Galette-Redskins- Jersey/]Junior Galette Jersey[/url] . "Im not scoring," the young centre

TORONTO - Sitting in the home of assistant coach Bill Bayno one February evening, Jonas Valanciunas fretted over the slump that had befallen him. Junior Galette Jersey . "Im not scoring," the young centre griped, as he and his most devoted mentor watched film, hoping to get to the bottom of the recent on-court funk that was beginning to wear on his confidence. JV, youre 21-years-old," Bayno responded. "Theres no centres in the league your age that are even playing much less averaging 10 points a game. Youve had great games [but] when you have a two-point game, going up against a really good, tough [centre], you cant get upset about it." His message, the teams message, has never wavered. "Youve got to do the other things to help us win." With that in mind Bayno put pen to paper, drawing up a list of attainable goals for Valanciunas, a cheat sheet consisting of basic fundamentals that can now be found taped to the right side of his locker. Outwork, outrun, sprint[Set] great, legal screensStep to [your] manBlock out And it goes on like that. "He got really down on himself when he went through that tough stretch," Bayno explained. "So we just really sat down and talked and [I] said, look, its no secret, JV, these are the things youve got to do." "Youre going to have some ups and downs," he told the second-year pro, "but Im going to write it in your locker, so every day before the game you see, this is what you have to do on a nightly basis." "Everything thats on that sheet is what we work on." Its a simplistic tool but one that the Raptors first-year assistant feels strongly about, one that has yielded proven results throughout his coaching career. Admired for his innovative player development techniques and his passion for molding young talent, Bayno first adopted this method of teaching on one of his regular trips to Africa, about a decade ago. There he met Michael Scholl. The two would become good friends and Bayno eventually hired Scholl as his assistant at Loyola Marymount University in 2008. Scholl - who spent eight years in Africa running an AIDS prevention campaign and implementing youth basketball leagues - introduced Bayno to an old Harvard study, something he used himself to motivate the children he taught there. The study correlated the success of students with writing down their goals and displaying them in their dorms. Bayno, like Scholl before him, applied that principle to basketball. "Having those goals, having them written out where they see them every day I think is huge and its been proven," said Bayno, who is also planning on employing that strategy with the Raptors other sophomore, Terrence Ross. "The vets dont need it. The vets will laugh at you if you try to do it. They really dont need it anyway. I could say to Chuck (Hayes), remember five games ago, you had that kick out situation, you missed a kick out. Hell say, yep, and hell know exactly the play. But the young kids need it." Bayno has spent more one-on-one time with Valanciunas than anyone on the staff this season. Whether hes sparring with JV in the post - wearing his trademark forearm pads to simulate in-game physicality - throwing out-of-reach passes to him in practice or hosting him at his house for an extra film session, Baynos fingerprints are all over the sophomores continued development. "He works with me a lot actually," Valanciunas said of Bayno. "Hes helped me a lot, especially on the post-up moves. Now I feel much more comfortable going against those guys, like big centres. What were working on every day is helping." Bayno, like head coach Dwane Casey and the rest of the Raptors staff, has worked to manage Valanciunas own expectations and lesson the external pressure that he faces as an emerging star in the league. Theyre not overly concerned with his scoring totals or the number of touches he gets in the post. He shouldnt be either. They know his value, at least this season, cant be measured using a box score. Instead they hope to lay down a foundation for the future. His role is to do the things he can control, to master the basic fundamentals of the game that will ensure his longevity in the league. The "little things" as Bayno calls them. "Were a good team because hes accepted his role and hes done all the little things," said Bayno, formally an assistant in Portland and with the Timberwolves. "I really believe hes going to be a good scorer in this league." "Im not expecting a lot of point production every night out of him," echoed Casey. "If he gives it to us, its great but I dont want to put that kind of pressure on him. Hes growing, hes a second-year guy. Im not going to expect him to get 23 points, 24 points every night. If he does, its gravy. If he runs the floor, rebounds, plays defence, for this team, this year, thats great. I promise you, his offence is going to come. We all want it to hurry up and get here yesterday but Im more concerned about him picking up the speed of the game, the rebounding, defending the low post, defending his position and reacting in the half-court game. His career is going to be long enough. Hes going to be a scorer in this league two or three years from now." A month ago at this time Valanciunas was pressing. The touches were not there every night, his scoring numbers dipped, as did his playing time. More often than not Casey would opt for a smaller, more experienced lineup late in games. Valanciunas was frustrated. Then the card went up in his locker. He sees it nearly each day, before and after every home game. Currently, hes playing some of the best basketball of his young career. Whether his improved play is related or a happy coincidence, he has been carrying out the very tasks Casey and company have been emphasizing. In Sundays win over Atlanta, Valanciunas recorded his team-leading 19th double-double of the season after totaling eight as a rookie a year ago. He played 33 minutes, attempting just four shots while matching a career-high with nine made free throws. His impact on the game was understated, yet significant. His point production has gone up but, as Casey points out, hes not necessarily seeing more touches. Instead hes working for them. Hes running the floor, hes rebounding, hes getting to the line and as a result hes playing more and closing out games. He understands how his bread is buttered, at least for the time being. "Im not a scoring machine," Valanciunas acknowledged. "Im a worker. My job is to get a rebound, to set a screen to make DeMar (DeRozan) open, or Kyle (Lowry) open, or [Ross] open, whoever is playing on the perimeter. My job is to box out [and] go for offensive rebounds. Thats my job." In less than four weeks, Valanciunas will make his first playoff appearance. Although hes peaking at the right time of season, the internal expectations havent changed. Outwork your man, set hard screens, box out, run the floor, do the little things. Hes heard them every day since arriving in training camp five months ago. Hes practiced them. Only now, handwritten in bright, unmistakable lettering, they stare him in the face. DeAngelo Hall Jersey . Western and the second-ranked Laval Rouge et Or (7-0) once again received 20 and 10 first-place votes from the Football Reporters of Canada panel, respectively. Rounding out the Top 10 are the Calgary Dinos (7-0), Queens Gaels (7-1), Guelph Gryphons (7-1), Montreal Carabins (5-2), Bishops Gaiters (5-2), McMaster Marauders (5-3), Manitoba Bisons (4-3) and the Saskatchewan Huskies (4-3) Western crushed York 50-10 last Saturday in its league finale to secure first place in the OUA standings and a bye in the first round of the conference playoffs. Terrelle Pryor Jersey . Campbell, playing on loan with Greek club Olympiacos, found the net with a left-footed shot in the 44th minute off a pass from second-half substitute Jorge Rojas to open the scoring at Estadio Nacional de Costa Rica. http://www.theredskinsshoponline.com/Youth-Will-Compton-Redskins-Jersey/ . Rosbergs time of 1 minute, 33.185 seconds at the Bahrain International Circuit was a quarter of a second faster than Hamilton, who had to abandon his final flying lap after running wide at the first corner.MINNEAPOLIS -- A few key made things a lot easier for Kevin Correia and the Minnesota Twins. Joe Mauer and Brian Dozier both homered, Correia earned his first win of the season and the Twins ended their four-game losing streak by beating the Baltimore Orioles 6-1 Saturday. Mauer entered the game batting .136 with runners in scoring position, but had three hits and four RBIs. His three-run shot in the seventh off reliever Brad Brach to break open the game. Mauers RBI single with Dozier on second in the fifth inning broke a 1-for-30 team slump with men in scoring position. "You can go back and make us look as bad as you want to and then I can throw more numbers at you and make us look better," manager Ron Gardenhire said. "But yes, lately we have been struggling, but were facing pretty good pitching. We went through a little bit of a dry spell, but Ill take my chances." A day after failing to score a run in starter Ricky Nolascos nine-inning performance, Minnesotas batters took a more-aggressive approach against Orioles starter Wei-Yin Chen (3-2). Chen threw a season-high 108 pitches in five innings, watching Twins hitters foul off several pitches to keep him on the mound for some long at-bats. "Were still being aggressive, we lost that in the past couple of days," Dozier said. "We let a lot of fastballs go by, especially with men in scoring position and were not that type of team and thats not what were taught." Doziers eighth homer, a solo shot off Chen in the third, gave the Twins the lead for good. "I was able to get ahead in the count a lot of times," Chen said through a translator. "I tried to make a good pitch to get hitters out and I couldnt do it like in my previous outing. So I was kind of having trouble." Correia (1-3), meanwhile, worked efficiently through Baltimores lineup, allowing five hits in seven innings. He won for the first time since last Sept. 1, a span of nine starts. Correia walked none, struck out three and retired 13 of his final 14 batters. Casey Fien and Jared Burton combined for two innings of sscoreless relief. Charles Mann Jersey. "Like Ive always said, thats what Im here to do," Correia said. "I felt like Ive thrown some games where Ive had a good chance to win a game and to go a month without getting one is hard, it just puts more pressure on you every time you go out there so its nice to get that first one." Adam Jones scored Baltimores only run in the second after reaching base despite striking out. He fanned, but the wild pitch got past catcher Kurt Suzuki, allowing Jones to make it to first. J.J. Hardys single tied it at 1. But Minnesota regained the lead when Dozier led off the third by hitting a full-count pitch from Chen into the left-field seats. "Especially with the performance last night by Nolasco and Correia today, you want to get runs in for your guy and you know I was happy was able to do that today," Mauer said. "Yeah, its been a little frustrating trying to get runners in, but today we got enough for our guy, which was good." NOTES: Mauer has two homers and 11 RBIs this season -- all at home. ... Orioles manager Buck Showalter plans to get a look at LHP Johan Santana next week in extended spring training before the team begins a series with Tampa Bay. Santana was supposed to make his spring training debut in Sarasota, Florida, on Saturday, but the game was rained out. The two-time Cy Young winner recovering from shoulder surgery is expected to throw Monday instead. "Its still a little early, but hes had no setbacks and his velocitys inching up," Showalter said. ... Twins slugger Josh Willingham is still experiencing soreness in his recovery from a broken left wrist, and is backing off from taking infield swings, Gardenhire said. Gardenhire also said OF Aaron Hicks is still feeling the effects from a concussion suffered Thursday night. "I dont know how long its going to be," Gardenhire said. ... The two teams finish their three-game series Sunday when RHP Miguel Gonzalez (1-2) makes his sixth start of the season for Baltimore. Minnesotas Phil Hughes (2-1) will try for his third straight win. China Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Free Shipping Cheap Jerseys China Jerseys Cheap Jerseys China ' ' '