Laberecke » the reigning champion Otago Highlanders in Johannesburg later

SALT LAKE CITY - Just four days after becoming one of the most disputed all-star omissions, Kyle Lowry received his consolation prize from the NBA. The Raptors point guard has been named the Eastern Conference Player of the Week for games played Monday, Jan. 27, through Sunday, Feb. 2, the league announced ahead of Torontos meeting with the Jazz on Monday. Lowry led off the week topping 30 points in back-to-back games for the first time in his career - including a season-high 33 points in Wednesdays win over the Magic - carrying his team to a pair of victories without injured leading scorer DeMar DeRozan. Overall, the eighth-year guard averaged 25.0 points and 8.0 assists as Toronto finished the week with a 3-1 record. For Lowry, the recognition is long overdue. "He is one of the best point guards in the league right now," Dwane Casey said in Denver Thursday evening, hours after the all-star reserves were announced and Lowry, despite his body of work this season, was left off the list. DeRozan, a first-time all-star, was voted in by the coaches and will deservedly represent the Raptors in New Orleans later this month but Lowrys case should have been just as, if not more, compelling. Since the early-December trade of Rudy Gay, Lowry has come out of his shell, emerging as the teams leader. Hes been the Raptors most reliable contributor and a big part of the post-trade resurgence. Toronto has won 19 of 29 games since moving Gay, recording 20 or more assists in 23 of those contests. "Me personally, I thought he should have made [the All-Star team]," DeRozan said Thursday. "Especially [with] what he means to this team. There are not too many players that are doing the things he is doing." Lowry, sincerely happy for his teammate, shrugged off the coaches oversight, concerning himself with team success over individual accolades. Similarly, he downplayed a couple nominations for earlier Player of the Week awards and will likely do the same after winning one, but after putting the team on his shoulders this past week, the honour comes well deserved. With DeRozan sidelined for the first time this season, nursing an ankle injury, Lowry engineered a thrilling victory over the surging Nets in Brooklyn to begin the week. In that game, Lowry become the first player this season to record at least 30 points, five rebounds, five assists and five steals, something only LeBron James, Kevin Durant and Kobe Bryant accomplished last year. The 27-year-old is also having a career year from beyond the arch, connecting on 16 of his 36 attempts from three-point range last week. Lowry goes into Mondays game in Utah needing nine more threes to match his career-high for treys in a season (129). Hell also chase down Morris Petersons franchise record for most three-pointers made in a single campaign (177). Lowry became the fifth Raptor to win Player of the Week, joining Chris Bosh, Vince Carter, Mike James and Jalen Rose. Also left off the All-Star squad, Suns guard Goran Dragic - Lowrys former teammate in Houston - captured the award in the West. Dave Parker Jersey .Then came December.Three straight losses, including a crushing 27-24 defeat to Washington (4-11) on Saturday, has the Eagles (9-6) on the brink of playoff elimination. Kent Tekulve Jersey .Y. - Alex Smith and the Kansas City Chiefs didnt flinch in the face of adversity. http://www.pittsburghpiratesprostore.us/Customized/ . As Valanciunas was whistled for a rare technical toward the end of the third quarter - a result of waving his hand at an official after being called for a foul - Lowry pulled the Raptors sophomore aside, corralling him by his jersey and patting him on the back. Willie Stargell Jersey . None of them was better than playing with LeBron James again. Bill Mazeroski Jersey . Inter moved five points behind fourth-place Fiorentina and eight points behind third-place Napoli, which visits relegation-threatened Sassuolo on Sunday.Hurricanes captain Dane Coles will be given until the last possible moment to decide if he is fit to start the Super Rugby semi-final against the Chiefs on Saturday, live on Sky Sports 1 HD from 8.15am. The All Blacks hooker injured his ribs in the 41-0 quarter-final victory over the Sharks last week but coach Chris Boyd is in no hurry to make a final ruling on whether Coles will play in the all-New Zealand clash, a sign of his importance to the team.Colesy is doing everything he can to get himself fit in time but at the end of the day we just wont know until a little closer to kick off, Boyd said. We are hopeful hell make it to the start line. Coles on the attack against the Sharks Coles has been the beating heart of a mobile and aggressive Hurricanes pack which has dominated the collisions and proved equally strong in set phase this year.The strength of the forwards has allowed the half-back duo of scrum-half TJ Perenara and fly-half Beauden Barrett, arguably playing the finest rugby of their careers, to get the best out of their inexperienced backline.The Chiefs beat the Hurricanes 28-27 in Wellington on April 23 but the home sides performance was such that Chiefs co-captain Sam Cane admitted afterwards he had no idea how they had managed to sneak the victory. Beauden Barrett has been getting the most out of an inexperienced backline Since that loss to the Chiefs and another to the Sharks two weeks later, the Hurricanes have been the model of consistency, combining bruising defence with potent attack to top the regular season standings and reach a second successive semi-final.They have won their last six games and scored more than twice as many points as their opponents (197-88), indicating they are peakingg at the right end of the season.dddddddddddd.The twice-champion Chiefs were the early form team of New Zealands tough conference this year, winning seven successive games before a loss to the Highlanders in early May.A 45-25 thrashing by the New South Wales Waratahs before the June international break, however, showed they were vulnerable against a side willing to take them on up front and test them out wide.Their squad has also been sorely tested by a raft of injuries to key players.Dave Rennie will undoubtedly field his strongest available side on Saturday with Cane, who was substituted following a head knock in their 60-21 win over the Stormers last week, and injured centre Seta Tamanivalu (knee) both starting. Sam Canes Chiefs side go into the semi-final having won their last six games The other finalists will be decided when South Africas Lions host the reigning champion Otago Highlanders in Johannesburg later on Saturday.Hurricanes: 15 James Marshall, 14 Cory Jane, 13 Matt Proctor, 12 Willis Halaholo, 11 Jason Woodward, 10 Beauden Barrett, 9 TJ Perenara (vc); 1 Loni Uhila, 2 Dane Coles (c)/Ricky Riccitelli, 3 Ben May, 4 Vaea Fifita, 5 Michael Fatialofa, 6 Brad Shields, 7 Ardie Savea, 8 Victor Vito.Replacements: 16 Ricky Riccitelli/Leni Apisai, 17 Chris Eves, 18 Mike Kainga, 19 Mark Abbott, 20 Callum Gibbins, 21 Jamison Gibson-Park, 22 Vince Aso, 23 Julian Savea. Chiefs: 15 Damian McKenzie, 14 Sam McNicol, 13 Seta Tamanivalu, 12 Anton Lienert-Brown, 11 James Lowe, 10 Aaron Cruden (co-captain), 9 Tawera Kerr-Barlow; 1 Kane Hames, 2 Nathan Harris, 3 Atu Moli, 4 Dominic Bird, 5 Brodie Retallick, 6 Taleni Seu, 7 Sam Cane (co-captain), 8 Tom Sanders.Replacements: 16 Hika Elliot, 17 Siegfried Fisiihoi, 18 Mitchell Graham, 19 Lachlan Boshier, 20 Michael Leitch, 21 Brad Weber, 22 Toni Pulu, 23 Shaun Stevenson.Watch Hurricanes v Chiefs live on Sky Sports 1 HD on Saturday from 8.15am. Catch the match for £6.99 on NOW TV. No contract. ' ' '