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TSNs Jack Armstrong offers his thoughts on the Spurs being back in the mix, the bench strength of the Raptors, the Pacers and Heat not being ready for prime time, the compete level of Kemba Walker and the Warriors coaching situation. 1. SAN ANTONIO SPURS: Have won 15 straight games and suddenly here they are again in the mix regarding the discussion of what teams can be in the Finals in June. Dont beat you ever with flash but man, oh man lots of substance when you talk about this team. Wednesday night against Denver, they had five players in double figures and had 30 assists on 43 field goals. Thats quite impressive. The commitment to the team and playing the game together is a principle that has served them well over the years and will make them a tough out in the playoffs. The sum is more important than the parts. 2. RAPTORS BENCH: Its pretty evident that in spite of the Raps being 6-5 in the absence of Patrick Patterson, they miss his presence big-time in a variety of ways. Hes a wonderful perimeter defender on screen and roll sequences, gets after it on the glass, defends in the post and can give you both scoring inside/out as well as intelligent team play on offence. He and Greivis Vasquez are the two major contributors off the bench and when you look at the Boston game Wednesday night with less than 10 points coming off the bench, its an area of concern to say the least as you prepare for the playoffs. Pattersons absence has clearly affected the defence as well with teams putting the Raptors in screen and roll scenarios and the nightly battles on the boards without one of your sturdier post guys. John Salmons has struggled of late and is a solid veteran player. When hes going good, this team has another gear. Getting Patterson back and healthy and an on-track Salmons will go a long way towards getting this team ready for the playoffs. Digging themselves early holes that they have to battle back from are an issue that has to be corrected along with tightening the screws again with the defence. They do that and Im confident that they can compete quite well in a first round series. 3. PACERS VS. HEAT: Watched the game Wednesday night and I must say I was underwhelmed with the quality of play. Yes, it had great playoff intensity but it appeared to me that both of these teams have needed a game like this for a while to get that next gear back in their playing style. Both looked like they need to work out some kinks in the final weeks with offensive flow/execution to be ready to roll in mid/late April. A long season combined with injuries, etc. have a way of messing up your chemistry and neither looked as fluid as when theyre at their best. The Raptors see both of them next week with the Houston Rockets sandwiched in between (what a week!) which will be a good test of their playoff readiness as the Heat have been able to knock off the Raptors this season three times while the Pacers are 2-1 and the Rockets won their game in Houston vs the Raps. The good teams start to take that next step here in the final 10 games to get everything humming and in sync. Always fun to watch as teams gear up for the second season. 4. KEMBA WALKER (Bobcats): Al Jefferson (35 and 15) was awesome in the overtime win vs. the Nets Wednesday night. Coach Steve Clifford has done a terrific job with that team. Its about time the folks in Charlotte get behind their team and support them for a change; this is a team you can root for. Love Kemba - what a gamer, scoring 20 points and five rebounds along with 12 assists. There are certain guys that you just throw out the stats some night because they just play so hard and have amazing pride and competitive spirit and do whatever it takes to win. From his days at UConn to now, he personifies what it means to give it his all. Hes been in a tough situation there with a poor roster, shaky coaching and questionable management decisions and Im happy for him that some of the proper decisions have been made around him and things are coming together. This team has become fun to watch and Walker is the heart and soul of that. 5. BRIAN SCALABRINE (Warriors): Assistant coach gets demoted to the D-League by head coach Mark Jackson. This is right out of the book of Jason Kidd/Lawrence Frank differences that took place early in the season. Jackson was adamantly supportive of Kidds move in the fall with Frank and now he does the same thing. Ive been both an sssistant coach and a head coach and I always felt that loyalty to the boss was #1 and if you disagree, you do it behind closed doors and it never gets picked up by the players, media, etc. At the same time, its vital that the assistant coaches cant be Yes Men that have to supress their opinion as opposed to express their opinion. Healthy dialogue is important yet at the end of the day, the head coach makes the call and we all march together in unison. (Hes also got to be open to suggestions and not have all the answers.) Jason Kidd got past this controversy and has done a good job with the Nets and it will be significant for Jackson to get past this as well by the performance of the team. Expectations are high in the Bay Area and results will be needed. Never an easy situation for any coach to be in and I can relate to the feeling of both. Jackson has a healthy ego and high opinion of his coaching acumen which is good to a degree, yet its time to get this team to the next level and the playoffs will be a major stage for him and his team to show that they can do it. Hes got major potential to be an outstanding coach in this league for a long time and this is another of the many tests young coaches go through in their development. Youre paid to make the tough calls and many times you have to be ruthless in this results-oriented business because at the end of the day, it all falls back on you and your record. Jackson is nobodys fool and is as competitive as they come. Its his show - plain and simple. Never easy or fair. In one word, you have to produce. Ken Griffey Jersey .com) - The Toronto Maple Leafs will try to play spoiler as the Los Angeles Kings will try to match their longest winning streak in over four years in Thursdays battle at Staples Center. Homer Bailey Jersey .Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg have been neck and neck all season, with 17 points separating the rivals and double points on offer for the race.Tensions between them have spilled over during the campaign and the pairs fragile relationship was evident during Thursdays pre-race news conference, when Rosberg goaded Hamilton by advising him to race cleanly. http://www.redsgearshop.com/Reds-George-Foster-Kids-Jersey/ .Sinclair, from Burnaby, B.C., led the Canadian team with three goals at the four-nation competition. She also earned tournament most valuable player honours.The Canadian captain scored on a penalty kick in the 63rd minute and added the winning goal a minute later. Eugenio Suarez Jersey . Sixteen teams have moved on. Sixteen teams have gone home. Cliff Pennington Jersey . Villarreals victory in Valencia kept it in fourth place and in control of Spains last Champions League spot. Uche broke free in the area in the 10th minute and was brought down by goalkeeper Keylor Navas, who was shown a direct red card. ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- John Fox swears he hasnt lost confidence in Ronnie Hillman even though the second-year running back has had back-to-back games with fumbles returned for touchdowns. Still, it was rookie Montee Ball who got most of the work Monday with Denvers starters for the first time all summer. "Its just practice," Fox said. "I wouldnt read too much into anything. Were evaluating everybody regardless of who gets what reps at what numbers. Hes a guy that we want to get touches and well go from there." Hillman, a second-year speedster from San Diego State who played sparingly last year, bulked up over the winter and was given first crack at winning the starting job. He fumbled at the goal line in Seattle a week ago, and it was returned 106 yards for the score. A week later, Rams rookie linebacker Alec Ogletree pried the football from his arms after a short catch and returned it 13 yards for a touchdown. After that, Hillman didnt touch the ball and the snaps were shared by Ball, who set an NCAA record with 83 touchdowns at Wisconsin, and former first-round pick Knowshon Moreno. Asked if his promotion Monday was due more to what he was doing right or what Hillman had done wrong, Ball said. "For me, Im looking at it as what Ive done. Ive been consistent. Yeah, Ive made mistakes, but Ive done a great job to not repeat them. Thats wwhat I plan to continue to do.dddddddddddd" Both Ball and Hillman want to be the featured back in Denvers offence, but with the way Fox has always divvied up carries in his backfield, it might not matter whos the first running back out of the tunnel on Sept. 5 anyway. "Whoever we keep were going to lean on and well play and I think our track record says that," Fox said. Ball hasnt been free of blunders either. He was penalized for covering up the tight end in a formation against St. Louis and also dropped a pass from Peyton Manning because he said he "smelled the end zone." A week earlier, he whiffed on blitzing Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner, who drove Manning into the ground just as he released a 31-yard pass to Julius Thomas. "Its the worst feeling as a rookie, seeing a future Hall of Famer get hit like that pretty hard," Ball said. "Thats not a good thing at all and I most definitely got chewed out about it (by running backs coach Eric Studesville) and I knew I couldnt say a word." Despite all his rookie mistakes, Ball said hes ready to start in Week 1. "Yeah, thats been my goal ever since I was drafted," he said. "Thats (everyones) goal in the running back room, to become the starter. For me, every opportunity thrown at me, Im going to make sure I take advantage of it." ' ' '