Peru U-20 keeper makes tremendous goal-line double save

We're alone a anniversary and a bisected into 2013, but Peru U-20 goalkeeper Angelo Campos fabricated what will be two of the best saves of the year aural abnormal of anniversary added to advice deliver a aftereffect adjoin Uruguay in the South America U-20 Championship. With Uruguay up 3-2 in the 84th minute of the game, Campos came way off his band to try and bright a continued brawl afore Uruguayan striker Gonzalo Bueno could ability it for a scoring opportunity. Campos was exhausted to the brawl though, and as his apostle battled with the Uruguayan for the ball, he had to dart aback to his goal.

Bueno got a anemic attempt off from alfresco the box in an accomplishment to yield advantage of the abandoned net, but Campos sprinted faster than the brawl could cycle and fabricated the diving save just afore it accomplished the line. Keeping his experience about him, Campos again managed to ascend out of the net and accomplish a sliding bottom save as the Uruguayan was about to yield a additional adventitious from absolute range. The brawl again went out to assuredly accord Campos a blow and such an amazing accomplishment to accomplish up for initially accepting beat.
Campos' saves accepted important too, as Peru went on to account an blaster in the final account for a 3-3 draw.

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'Dallas' star Larry Hagman dead at 81

 
(Reuters) - Larry Hagman, who created one of American television's a lot of absolute villains in the conniving, amoral oilman J.R. Ewing of "Dallas," died on Friday, the Dallas Morning News reported. He was 81.
Hagman died at a Dallas hospital of complications from his action with throat cancer, the bi-weekly said, commendation a account from his family. He had suffered from alarmist blight and cirrhosis of the alarmist in the 1990s afterwards decades of drinking.
Hagman's mother was date and cine brilliant Mary Martin and he became a brilliant himself in 1965 on "I Dream of Jeannie," a accepted television ball in which he played Major Anthony Nelson, an astronaut who discovers a admirable bogie in a bottle.
"Dallas," which fabricated its premiere on the CBS arrangement in 1978, fabricated Hagman a superstar. The appearance bound became one of the network's top-rated programs, congenital an all-embracing afterward and aggressive a spin-off, imitators and a awakening in 2012.
"Dallas" was the night-time soap-opera adventure of a Texas family, fabulously affluent from oil and cattle, and its artifice brimmed with back-stabbing, double-dealing, ancestors feuds, violence, activity and added bad behavior.
In the average of it all stood Hagman's adverse J.R. Ewing - animated clumsily in a ample cowboy hat and boots, acute how to bluff his business competitors and bluff on his wife. He was the villain TV admirers admired to abhor during the show's 356-episode run from 1978 to 1991.
"I absolutely can't bethink bisected of the humans I've slept with, stabbed in the aback or apprenticed to suicide," Hagman said of his appearance in Time magazine.
In his autobiography, "Hello Darlin': Tall (and Absolutely True) Tales About My Life," Hagman wrote that J.R. originally was not to be the focus of "Dallas" but that afflicted if he began ad-libbing on the set to accomplish his appearance added abandoned and compelling.
'WHO SHOT J.R.?'
To achieve its additional season, the "Dallas" producers put calm one of U.S. television's a lot of memorable episodes in which Ewing was attempt by an concealed assailant. That gave admirers months to affront over whether J.R. would survive and who had pulled the trigger. In the show's aperture the afterward season, it was appear that J.R.'s sister-in-law, Kristin, with whom he had been accepting an affair, was abaft the gun.

Hagman said an all-embracing administrator offered him $250,000 to acknowledge who had attempt J.R. and he advised giving the amiss advice and demography the money, but in the end, "I absitively not to be so like J.R. in absolute life."
The acceptance of "Dallas" fabricated Hagman one of the best-paid actors in television and becoming him a affluence that even a Ewing would accept coveted. He absent some of it, however, in bad oil investments afore axis to absolute estate.
"I accept an accommodation in New York, a agronomical in Santa Fe, a alcazar in Ojai alfresco of L.A., a bank abode in Malibu and cerebration of affairs a abode in Santa Monica," Hagman said in a Chicago Tribune interview.
An adapted "Dallas" alternation began in June 2012 on the TNT arrangement with Hagman reprising his J.R. role with aboriginal casting associates Linda Gray, who played J.R.'s ability wife, Sue Ellen, and Patrick Duffy, who was his brother Bobby. The appearance was to focus on the sons of J.R. and Bobby.
Hagman had a advanced aberrant streak. If he aboriginal met extra Lauren Bacall, he baffled her arm because he had been told she did not like to be affected and he was accepted for arch parades on the Malibu bank and assuming up at a grocery abundance in a apache suit. Above his Malibu home flew a banderole with the assumption "Vita Celebratio Est (Life Is a Celebration)" and he lived harder for abounding years.
In 1967, bedrock artist David Crosby angry him on to LSD, which Hagman said took abroad his abhorrence of death, and Jack Nicholson alien him to marijuana because Nicholson anticipation he was bubbler too much.
Hagman had started bubbler as a jailbait and said he did not stop until the moment in 1992 if his doctor told him he had cirrhosis of the alarmist and could die aural six months. Hagman wrote that for the accomplished 15 years he had been bubbler about four bottles of albino a day, including while on the "Dallas" set.
LIVER TRANSPLANT
In July 1995, he was diagnosed with alarmist cancer, which led him to abdicate smoking, and a ages afterwards he underwent a alarmist transplant.
After giving up his vices, Hagman said he did not lose his bite for life.
"It's the aforementioned old Larry Hagman," he told a reporter. "He's just a littler sober-er."
Hagman was built-in on September 21, 1931, in Weatherford, Texas, and his ancestor was a apostle who dealt with the Texas oil barons Hagman would afterwards appear to portray. He was still a boy if his parents afar and he went to Los Angeles with Martin, who would become a Broadway and Hollywood agreeable star.
Hagman eventually landed in New York to accompany acting, authoritative his date admission there in "The Taming of the Shrew." In New York, he affiliated Maj Axelsson in 1954 while they were in a assembly of "South Pacific. The alliance produced two children, Heidi and Preston.
Hagman served in the Air Force, spending 5 years in Europe as the administrator of USO shows, and on his acknowledgment to New York he took a starring role in the daytime soap "The Edge of Night." His advance came in 1965 if he landed the "I Dream of Jeannie" role adverse Barbara Eden.
In his afterwards years, Hagman became an apostle for agency transplants and an anti-smoking campaigner. He aswell was adherent to solar energy, cogent the New York Times he had a $750,000 solar console arrangement at his Ojai estate, and fabricated a bartering in which he portrayed a J.R. Ewing who had forsaken oil for solar power. He was a longtime affiliate of the Peace and Freedom Party, a accessory advocate alignment in California.
Hagman told the Times that afterwards afterlife he capital his charcoal to be "spread over a acreage and accept marijuana and aureate buried and autumn it in a brace of years and again accept a big marijuana cake, abundant for 200 to 300 people. Humans would eat a little of Larry."

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LeBron James leaves eager fan hanging after Heat hold off Nuggets (VIDEO)

The box account lists three blocked shots for LeBron James during the Miami Heat's bounce-back 98-93 alley win over the Denver Nuggets on Thursday night, but his coldest bounce of the night came afterwards the final buzzer. Behold:

"Close that hand. Close it up." Sound advice, as always, from "Inside the NBA" analyst Kenny Smith. Another option: Turn into the drift and just go through the abounding swing-clasp-one-arm-bro-hug motion yourself. If James Harden can high-five airy friends, I see no acumen why you can't do it; I mean, you've already got abundant aliment for a courtside seat, right? Big up yourself and dap up yourself. You've becoming it (probably).
Playing after banged-up active associate Dwyane Wade, James was afresh amazing on Thursday night, arch all scorers with 27 credibility on 11-for-23 shooting, dishing a game-high 12 assists adjoin four turnovers, and avaricious a Heat-best seven rebounds as Miami captivated off a fourth-quarter Nuggets rally. James now ranks third in the alliance in scoring at 24.8 credibility per game, abaft alone Kobe Bryant and James Harden; he's aswell 17th in the alliance in rebounds per bold and 15th in the alliance in assists per game, and he's axis it over beneath than 10 percent of the time, a career low.
Exemplary work, LeBron. I'd agitate your hand, but something tells me you wouldn't be down for that.

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James Harden high fives some imaginary teammates after a made free throw (VIDEO)

 
Muscle anamnesis is a funny thing. Square up to bung a crumpled-up section of cardboard into a debris can or bedraggled anhydrate into a hamper, and you're acceptable to use the aforementioned cutting motion you activated during your time as a basketball player. No matter, abnormally in my case, how bearded that motion ability be.
Humor is a funny thing. If you accept a faculty of amusement and you attack to do funny things, these funny things will about-face out funny. It's science, people.
James Harden is abounding of both acceptable cutting beef anamnesis and a marvy faculty of humor. Which is why, in an NBA attitude dating aback years, he gave some abstract teammates some dap on Monday afterwards nailing a abstruse chargeless throw:
(To those who ability be agreeable in after a abysmal ability of NBA basketball — a abstruse chargeless bandy is performed after teammates or opponents surrounding the key, as it is technically in a asleep brawl bearings and there is no abeyant for a rebound.)
Of course, Harden has his influences. NBA luminaries that shaped his reflexes in means that go above beef memory.
There's Gary Neal, searching for adulation in all the amiss places:

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Lakers resist Phil Jackson's power grab

 

Phil Jackson hasn't coached since leaving the Lakers after the 2010-11 season. (Getty Images)

Between the hours of Mike Brown's firing and a meeting on Saturday morning with history's most accomplished coach, Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak privately told people there was one candidate: Phil Jackson. Jackson wanted to humiliate Lakers vice president Jim Buss far more than he wanted to coach the team. He wanted significant allowances on travel, coaching duties and an ability to veto player personnel moves that didn't fit his vision. With an unprecedented 11 coaching championships, Jackson had every right to make unprecedented demands. He doesn't have the right to be surprised when the Lakers rejected them and hired a pliable, cheaper coach in Mike D'Antoni.
"Phil wanted Jim Buss to walk away with his tail between his legs," one source with knowledge of the discussions told Yahoo! Sports. "He thought he had time to still negotiate with them, and see how much they would give him."
Now, the Lakers are going out of their way to spare Jackson the embarrassment of his overreaching, but this is pointless spin. They're working with him to sell the public that he hadn't asked for too much, that somehow the franchise chose D'Antoni over Jackson on sheer merit. It's noble, but laughable. Jackson heard those chants in the Staples Center and never believed the Lakers had the guts to call his bluff before circling back to him on Monday.
"Phil's assistants convinced him that they had his back on the concerns [Jackson] had about his load as head coach, and he was ready to get a deal done on Monday," a source with knowledge of the talks said. "But this was about Jim Buss giving him a royal you-know-what in the end."
If Jackson was ever to return to coaching to chase a championship in a preferred locale, this job offered him the opportunity. His instincts were wrong on how to play these negotiations and it blew up on him. The Lakers could live with making Jackson the highest-paid coach in the NBA again, but Jackson had to come back in full, and the Lakers were wise to have uncertainties.
Jackson listened to Kobe Bryant gush and gush about him on Friday night, and believed the strongest voice in the locker room would accept only his return the bench. It was a mistake. Bryant preferred Jackson, but he has a history with D'Antoni back to his childhood growing up in Italy and across several years of USA Basketball. Bryant and D'Antoni have a relationship, a trust, and that's somewhere to start once they're thrust together.


Once Jackson couldn't come to terms on Saturday, Bryant had prepared himself for the fact that D'Antoni would ultimately become the coach. For the Lakers' good, D'Antoni needs to have used his three-plus seasons in New York to have grown as a coach, as a leader, or this will go terribly for him in Los Angeles.

Lakers owner Jerry Buss opted to sign Mike D'Antoni rather than meet Jackson's demands. (AP)When everything had become too hard with the New York Knicks, D'Antoni walked into the office one morning and surrendered. Carmelo Anthony had stopped listening to him, stopped running his plays, and ownership never supported the coach. When Anthony grumbled to Bryant about D'Antoni's defensive acumen on a trip to Los Angeles before the coach's resignation in New York, one witness says Bryant shot back to Anthony – only half-kidding – that, seriously, when the hell have you ever played defense?

D'Antoni has been run out of the Knicks job and should be past the obsession he had over needing to win with his system, his way. These won't be the seven-seconds-or-less Lakers. They'll play plenty of pick-and-roll, but the biggest issue for D'Antoni's defense has never been where it was ranked in the league, but how the Suns players – including Steve Nash – never believed they were prepared for the big possessions, the big moments, in series with San Antonio. There was a discipline missing, a mindset, an understanding, in those moments of truths.


D'Antoni is notoriously sensitive to criticism, but he needs to be honest with himself to get the most out of these Lakers now, out of himself here. They never spent practice time on defense, because D'Antoni's offensive system was his genius, what got him into the NBA, got him millions, and his personal mandate was forever validating it. Now, he's older. These are the Lakers and D'Antoni has to understand: This isn't about his vision, but winning.
Within the organization, Kupchak and the coaching staff understood this: Dwight Howard can make D'Antoni a far, far better defensive coach. For now, the staff believes Howard is still a shell of himself, that mobility in his back still isn't close to returning for another month, maybe two.
Stan Van Gundy has already reached out to D'Antoni and encouraged him to keep assistant coach Steve Clifford on his staff. Clifford had a strong history of working with Stan in Orlando and Jeff Van Gundy in Houston and had gone to the Lakers to join Mike Brown's staff. As much as anyone, he understands how to incorporate an individual's flaws into the greatness of Howard's ability to dominate on the defensive end.
Over the summer, Jackson continued to tell people he was retired as a coach. He didn't want the job anymore. Once Los Angeles made the deal for Howard, his prism on returning to the Lakers changed again. Along with Bryant, Howard was the reason that a 12th title was possible for Jackson. Howard was the investment that made it easier for the Busses to buy out Brown's contract and make Jackson the highest-paid coach in the NBA again.
Jackson had his chance, and the strangest thing happened: The greatest coach in history overreached, misread the circumstances and had someone tell him "no" on Sunday night. The Lakers never picked Mike D'Antoni over Jackson. They picked him over desperation for Jackson. Maybe the Busses will regret the choice, but if Jackson truly wanted to coach again, no one will ever regret this more than him. These are still the Lakers, and nowhere else in basketball does this opportunity at this moment in time come along – even for Phil Jackson.

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Coach Norv Turner uncharacteristically snaps after Chargers self destruct late again

TAMPA, Fla. – After one of the most Norv-like losses in Norv history, San Diego Chargers head coach Norv Turner gazed into a pack of reporters and mumbled in his usual Norv-like way.
And then he snapped.
He didn't lose his composure after a question about quarterback Philip Rivers' game-killing interception, which was one of the worst passes you'll ever see in pro football. Rivers threw so directly at Tampa Bay Buccaneers defender Leonard Johnson that the cornerback later said "It caught me by surprise." Johnson grabbed the erroneous throw and then bolted straight past Rivers into the end zone for the game-clinching score. Asked after the Buccaneers' 34-24 victory what he thought Rivers might have been thinking, Johnson paused and said, "I have no clue. I have no clue."
Bucs CB Leonard Johnson celebrates after returning a Philip Rivers INT for a TD. (AP)Nor was the question that set Turner off about the mood in the Chargers' locker room after the team blew a good opportunity in the fourth quarter to fall to a season-on-the-brink record of 4-5. You'd think a question about the team's mood might get to Turner, as all the Chargers had to walk past the glassy-eyed stare of general manager A.J. Smith as they came off the field at game's end. Smith stood there by the locker room door, shifting back and forth, gazing at each player and coach. Nobody looked back. Smith declined a request for an interview, walked into the locker room behind his team, and then left by himself only a couple of minutes later, suitcase in hand and not a single word on his lips.
No, what hit a Norv nerve was a follow-up to his statement about the toughness of the players on his team. Turner was asked if the toughness the Chargers have showed matters every week if the team keeps losing. The beleaguered coach, who hadn't really been making eye-contact, locked in on his interlocutor.
"What do you think?!" he blared. "I mean, what do you think the answer to that question is? Answer it for me. Is it acceptable? No, it's not acceptable. You know the answer to that. What's the answer to that? No. Is it acceptable to have a blocked punt and an interception returned for a touchdown? No, it's not acceptable. That's not what we're trying to accomplish out there. We're trying to go out and win a game. Those things are keeping us from winning. No, it's not acceptable."


A longtime Chargers reporter said the head coach is "never, never, never" as visibly upset as he was after Sunday's loss. Maybe it's a positive turning point for the team and the franchise, but more likely it's another sign that Turner's frustrating time in San Diego may soon be coming to an end. His team came apart at the end of this game, much as it did in a home loss to the Denver Broncos last month. Those are two enormous losses that could have been wins, if it wasn't for inexplicable late-game errors. Members of the Chargers think the team has enough talent to make the playoffs, so clearly the problem is mental. "We stop playing our game," said running back Ryan Mathews, "and we start playing the game they do."
In other words: coaching is a problem.
"We made some bad plays in the fourth quarter," said defensive back Eric Weddle, "and that's what's been killing us all season."
Asked why the mistakes keep happening, Weddle sighed.
"I don't know," he said. "The mistakes are just magnified. All our games, we haven't been able to put it together. We're still trying to figure it out."


It's getting far too late to figure it out. The Chargers aren't the Bucs, a young team bound to make errors coming off a 6-10 season. That's what happened to Johnson, who missed a tackle on Chargers wideout Danario Alexander early in the game and watched him complete an 80-yard catch-and-run for a score on the game's opening possession. But Johnson recovered and made the play of the game when it mattered. He left the stadium with the ball in his red duffel bag and a smile on his face.
Rivers, on the other hand, had the opposite happen: He was terrific in the first half with three touchdowns and no interceptions. But then, when it counted most, he threw a bewildering pick-six that might end up being the signature highlight of the decline of the Turner era. Drew Brees has a Super Bowl ring, Michael Turner is on a one-loss, playoff-bound team, and Rivers and Antonio Gates are getting older one crushing loss at a time. See Video here

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DeMarcus Cousins got a confusing suspension for confronting Spurs commentator Sean Elliott

DeMarcus Cousins disrespects Tim Duncan by trying to score (Rocky Widner/ Getty).

On Sunday afternoon, the NBA suspended extremely promising and divisive Sacramento Kings big man DeMarcus Cousins two games for confronting San Antonio Spurs TV commentator Sean Elliott following the Kings' 97-86 loss on Friday night. Here's the official press release, which in this case is a necessary part of the story for its language:

The Sacramento Kings' DeMarcus Cousins has been suspended two games without pay for confronting Spurs announcer Sean Elliot in a hostile manner [italics added] following San Antonio's 97-86 over Sacramento November 9 at Sleep Train Arena, it was announced today by Stu Jackson, NBA Executive Vice President Basketball Operations.
Cousins will serve his suspension tonight [Sunday] when the Kings play the Los Angeles Lakers at Staples Center and Tuesday against Portland at Sleep Train Arena.

Yet, in this case, a simple description of Cousins's actions and punishment barely scratch the surface of what happened (and what might have happened) between him and Elliott.
Let's start at the beginning: the fourth quarter of the Kings/Spurs game, when Cousins talked trash to San Antonio legend Tim Duncan. Mike Monroe of the San Antonio Express-News has details:

After overpowering Duncan for two baskets and drawing a shooting foul on the Spurs star with about five minutes left, Cousins bellowed to his teammates on the Kings' bench after drawing a shooting foul on the future Hall of Famer.
Elliott paraphrased Cousins as saying, "I'm going to bust his (expletive)."
Elliott responded after Duncan blocked a Cousins shot at the rim and scored three baskets.
"That's why some humility is in order," Elliott said on the air. "You think you're dominating Tim Duncan, you get it stuffed right back in your face. Timmy doesn't like to talk trash. But if guys start talking mess to him, he's going to respond. All that trash talking was premature. I'm not about to let these guys off the hook. Young ballclub should learn from this. Don't start talking and flapping your gums against one of the greatest players ever. He's going to make you pay. Tell me who got the best of this exchange."

However, the battle between Cousins and Elliott didn't really get interesting until after the game. According to Monroe, Cousins, who had apparently heard Elliott's comments while on the court or from a trusted source, returned to the floor to confront the Spurs commentator:

"I was wondering why Cousins was out there in his uniform waiting for them to finish his postgame show," said Bill Schoening, who does the play-by-play call on radio broadcasts of Spurs games. "Then I saw them in an animated conversation out on the court.
"I observed Sean walk away from Cousins and Cousins continue to talk to Sean as he left the scene, but I couldn't hear what was being said."

Cousins also spoke about the incident to reporters in the locker room (as captured by Kings blog Cowbell Kingdom), calling Elliott "immature" and describing his incident with Duncan as a perfectly normal big man battle grounded in his respect for one of the best players in the history of basketball. Those comments brought more attention to the verbal tussle. The NBA noticed, investigated the incident, and decided to suspend Cousins two games for confronting Elliott in the aforementioned "hostile manner."
Before getting into the specifics of the NBA's decision, it's important to provide some context on how Elliott and Cousins typically conduct themselves. Those familiar with Elliott's work as a commentator will not be especially shocked that he chose to turn an excellent sequence by Duncan into a commentary on deserved karmic retribution. In a league full of announcers who double as cheerleaders, only the Celtics' Tommy Heinsohn doubles Elliott's penchant for homerism. He's a distinctly immature presence on broadcasts himself, chiding referees for any call that goes against San Antonio and taking an antagonistic tone towards anyone who may doubt the home team. On top of that, Elliott has a poor sense of the proper actions for a particular context. There's not much to say about a man who turned a beloved teammate's jersey retirement ceremony into an open mic comedy night complete with an outdated Austin Powers reference (via @DewNo on Twitter).

Sean Elliott tells two girls to stop the immaturity and do their own reading (Andrew D. Bernstein/ Getty).

Cousins, for his part, gets very animated on the court, so it's not especially surprising that he would talk to his defender after a nice run, no matter if that player were Tim Duncan or the second-string center on a seventh-grade 'B' team. Those actions are what make Cousins a unique challenge for both opposing defenders and his own coaches, and criticizing him for talking smack to anyone is tantamount to rejecting the player as a whole. (Plus, it's not as if Duncan is a picture of stoic professionalism at all times, particularly when he gets called for fouls.)
Nevertheless, Cousins' demeanor has earned him the reputation of being immature. On the surface, he certainly appears to be just that — it's very difficult for him to go a full game without acting out in histrionics after a bad call or great play, and he often appears to be in a bad mood. Of course, those reactions aren't unique to him among professional basketball players, and Cousins seems to have a positive working relationship with head coach Keith Smart. In fact, Cousins' reputation is largely dependent on three things: first, questionable recruitment by high school coaches and an incident with a bus driver as a high school sophomore; second, his lone season at Kentucky, when observers first got to see his attitude at length (as well as immense success on the court and a good rapport with John Calipari); third, a prolonged war with his first coach in Sacramento, Paul Westphal, who made a sport of fostering bad relationships with players during a little more than two seasons in charge. Apart from his trouble with Westphal, who deserves a fair share of the blame, those are not unique experiences for NBA players.
It's possible that the NBA decided to suspend Cousins here to set an example for other players' who may venture onto the court at improper times. And. while we don't know exactly what Cousins said in his "animated conversation" with Elliott, any threats, violent or otherwise, could compel a suspension without much controversy. But something about this situation seems specific to Cousins's reputation. In effect, the NBA has decided that these actions were as offensive as the legitimately dangerous elbow to the head thrown by Kings power forward Thomas Robinson on Wednesday, which earned a two-game suspension the next day. Until we learn more specifics, it seems like all Cousins did was find a TV analyst (and former player) who criticized him, voice his displeasure, and make some comments to the media. It was stupid, but not necessarily overly hostile. Does that deserve the same punishment as a vicious elbow?
Based purely on the actions themselves, most people would say no. (The Kings, who said Robinson should be suspended shortly after the end of the game, appear not to agree with the decision to suspend Cousins.) But Cousins, for whatever reason, invites criticism and admonishment in a way that most players do not. For instance, this summer, when Cousins took part in practices with Team USA as part of its Select Team, he was criticized by USA Basketball chairman Jerry Colangelo for his immaturity, which turned out to include regular fouling, complaining about calls in favor of the Olympians, and talking trash. Of course, from another point of view, that just means that Cousins fought back against the best players in the world and tried to exert his influence on a practice that he saw as an opportunity to prove himself. Put that way, his actions were worthy of some praise. But, because of who he is — and because he took exception to Colangelo's rather vague comments — he was hit with the "immature" tag and effectively told to know his place in the American basketball hierarchy. Never mind the merits of his argument — Cousins just wasn't acting like a pro.
Cousins is never going to be the establishment's ideal basketball player, but that doesn't mean he can't be a great athlete deserving of positive attention. To be sure, he won't get to that level if he doesn't mature, which really only involves tempering his emotions even a little and becoming a steadier force on the court and in the locker room. Yet it's not as if Cousins is an impossible presence — he's ultimately a 22-year-old kid with some emotional issues who could very well become the player many want him to be if he's given some space to grow. (It's also worth noting that Cousins has at least acknowledged his need to change.) Overreacting to every minor incident simply reinforces the prevailing narrative of his career and dooms Cousins to being called immature until well after he retires.
Cousins isn't beyond criticism — he needs to mature to fulfill his immense potential — but he also isn't a constant problem child. He may only start acting like more of an adult when we begin to treat him like one.

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Phil Jackson reunion with Lakers could lack perfect Hollywood ending

Phil Jackson won five of his 11 NBA titles as a coach with the Lakers. (Getty Images)

Everyone remembers the glorious Phil Jackson, the championships, the genius, and they forget the way they had watched him so tired, so beaten in his final season with the Los Angeles Lakers. They forget the way the work ethic had eroded within the franchise, the way that he lost discipline within the roster.
Lakers owner Jerry Buss wants to bring Jackson back to coach again, and perhaps he's holding onto something that left long ago: the coach's drive and determination to withstand the grind of the job. He'll come back, cash those checks and leave everyone unsure whether he's still hell-bent on molding championship teams. His old assistants – Jim Cleamons and Kurt Rambis – are out of coaching jobs and anxious to come back to the bench with history's greatest coach.
Everyone's going to get paid again, but you wonder: Do they have the stomach to chase championships again?
The old band could get back together, and it is fair to suspect that one of those staggering $10 million-a-season salaries could be the most compelling reason for Jackson to return to the bench in Los Angeles. Jackson has the Lakers right where he wants them: desperate, needy and perhaps willing to pay a steep price to bring him back a third time.
Mike Brown had arrived at the Lakers' practice facility for the morning shootaround believing he needed a victory over the Golden State Warriors on Friday night to spare his job. Ownership and management had been meeting about him his future throughout Thursday, and general manager Mitch Kupchak advocated to give the beleaguered Brown longer than five games before firing him, sources said.


Jim Buss, the Lakers' executive vice president, had gone along with the plan on Thursday, but something changed overnight into Friday. Jerry Buss wanted Brown out, and wanted him out now. As Brown gathered his assistants to plan for Friday night's game, a request came for him to step outside the room. The forever chipper, eager Brown returned to his coaching staff 10 minutes later with a decidedly different disposition.
"They fired me," Brown simply said.
All around the franchise, the belief was that the decision had come from Jerry Buss, who had lost patience with his $100 million roster investment losing four out of five games to start the season. He was tired of the Princeton offense, tired of the season-ticket holders' complaining, tired of the coach who he let his son, Jim, hire two years ago. For the $100 million of payroll – and the $30 million more of luxury tax – the old man wanted to bring Showtime back to the Staples Center. This was Jerry Buss playing the part of patriarch again.
Jackson hasn't coached since leaving the Lakers after the 2010-11 season. (Getty Images)Eventually, Kupchak would turn to his old NBA coach with the Washington Bullets, Bernie Bickerstaff, to get the team through Friday night's game against Golden State. Dump the Princeton offense, Bickerstaff was told. Showtime doesn't do Ivy League, and few in ownership – nor management – had to be convinced that the brief exploration had been a failure.
Only, the Lakers were sixth in offensive efficiency. In this short sampling, the bigger issues were defense and the bench. "Kobe likes the offense, and has from the start," one league source briefed on the conversations told Yahoo! Sports. "But they told Bernie: 'This is about the offense. It has to go.' "
Everyone is so sure that Jackson is the savior here, but they forget how uninspired he had seemed in that final season. They forget that too much of the Lakers' staff had become lethargic, that the arrival of Brown had been uncomfortable for so many so used to leaving early every day. Yet this is a results business, and no one cares how many hours that Brown invested into the job, or how late he made his assistants stay.


This is about public relations now, about feeding that Staples Center and Hollywood monster, and Buss needs a coach with a pedigree. The greatest coach of all, Phil Jackson, could be waiting to come cash Buss' checks again, and motivated and inspired, his hiring would be a bargain at any price. He still needs to decide that he wants to coach again, that he wants the Lakers, but he's forever a sucker for the drama, for riding back to save the franchise. Two years ago, he couldn't wait to get out of the Lakers, get out of the NBA, and you wonder what's changed except for boredom and that lust for the next big score, that next big Hollywood ending.
"We want Phil," the Lakers fans chanted on Friday night in the Staples Center. "We want Phil."
Jerry Buss' plan is to give the people what they want: the great Phil Jackson. They remember the five titles with the Lakers, but everyone wants to forget the end, the way that Jackson dragged himself, dragged a team, to the finish line. This job is a grind, and those cheers fade fast. There are no Hollywood endings in the NBA – just old guys staying too long, coming back for all the wrong reasons.
Phil Jackson needs to think long and hard, because this job demands something out of a man that maybe's no longer inside of him. Remember the way it ended two year ago, remember the way that Jackson, that the organization, that too many of the players no longer drove themselves. Remember, Phil Jackson knew it was time to go.

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