Bewerbungen » rformance, Johnson was a force in the low post,

Houston Rockets management repeatedly pushed for Clint Capela to get more playing time at the expense of Dwight Howard last season, sources told ESPN, adding to the disharmony that played a prominent role in the teams disappointing 2015-16 campaign.Former Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff resisted complying with the wishes of general manager Daryl Morey and owner Leslie Alexander regarding a drastic reduction in Howards playing time. Team sources said Alexander never participated in the meetings with Morey and Bickerstaff but fully supported the general managers plan to prioritize Capelas development.League sources said input from face-of-the-franchise James Harden heavily influenced Houston managements desire to decrease Howards minutes. However, team sources insisted that Harden was not involved in those discussions.While Howards minutes remained steady throughout the season, word of Rockets managements desire to reduce his role filtered back to the big man. That further deteriorated Howards trust of the franchise, one of many factors in the dysfunction that dragged Houston down during a 41-41 campaign that came on the heels of a Western Conference finals run.There were times I was disinterested because of situations that happened behind the scenes that really hurt me, Howard said in a May interview with ESPNs Jackie MacMullan. It left me thinking, This is not what I signed up for.Asked to elaborate, Howard added: I felt like my role was being reduced. I went to Daryl and said, I want to be more involved. Daryl said, No, we dont want you to be. My response was, Why not? Why am I here? It was shocking to me that it came from him instead of our coach.Morey declined to comment, and Howard declined to further discuss issues related to his Rockets tenure. Bickerstaff, now the Memphis Grizzlies associate head coach, was not available for comment due to team rules restricting access to assistants.Sources said Howard learned of managements attempts to cut his minutes in midseason and shared a mutual interest with the Rockets front office to move him before the trade deadline. The Rockets shopped Howard, according to sources, but no deal came close to materializing largely due to Houstons ambitious asking price: an immediate major contributor and either a promising developmental project or future first-round pick.Rockets managements motivation for wanting to increase Capelas workload at the expense of Howard was twofold, according to sources. The Rockets anticipated that Howard would likely leave in free agency, making Capelas development critical to the franchises future, and management felt that Capelas performance merited more minutes.Capela averaged 13.3 points, 12.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per 36 minutes last season. By comparison, Howards per-36 averages last season were 15.4 points, 13.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks.Howard averaged 32.1 minutes per game last season, including 31.9 minutes per game after the All-Star break. It was the second-lowest minutes average of Howards career, behind only the previous season, when injuries limited him to 41 games.Capela, the Rockets 2014 first-round pick who played in only 12 games his rookie season, averaged 19.1 minutes in his second NBA season with his playing time actually dipping slightly after the All-Star break.The Rockets, according to sources, planned for most of the season to part with Howard in the summer. However, Houston management decided at the 11th hour to attempt to persuade Howard into exercising the player option for the final season of his contract, which would have paid him a salary of $23.2 million this season.Howard chose to opt out of his deal and signed a three-year, $70.5 million contract with his hometown Atlanta Hawks. 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Bryant Reeves Jersey . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Crisp passing helped lead to easy baskets for No. 5 Louisville in a rout of Belmont.Asia Durr and Ciera Johnson scored 18 points apiece as the Cardinals beat Belmont 73-50 in the home opener on Sunday.Mariya Moore added 13 points and six assists for Louisville (2-0), which shot 47.7 percent from the field, compared with 32 percent for Belmont (1-1). The Cardinals had 21 assists, surpassing 20 for the second consecutive game.I was pleased with how we passed the basketball, I thought we took care of it well, Louisville coach Jeff Walz said. Everybody is a threat to score on the team and that is what helps us.After scoring a career-high of 24 points on Friday, Durr continued her hot start to her sophomore year with 7 of 12 shooting, including 4 of 8 from 3-point range.Louisville opened the game 7 of 10 from the field and took a 10-point first quarter lead.In the second quarter, Belmont cut Louisvilles lead to nine after a 7-0 run capped by a 3-pointer by Kylee Smith. Walz called a timeout and the Cardinals ended the final 4:16 of the first half on a 15-2 run.When you have players like Asia, Mariya and BJ (Briahanna Jackson) it makes it a lot easier (to score) because it was one-on-one in the post, Johnson said.Despite the 23-point win, Walz was not satisfied with his teams performance on the glass, in particular Louisvilles offense rebounding, or lack thereof.We have to get better at it, Walz said. Getting out-rebounded by 20 isnt too impressive.Smith scored a team-high 13 points for Belmont.BIG PICTUREBelmont: The Bruins return five starters and their top nine scorers from their NCAA Tournament teeam last year, but they had trouble scoring against the Cardinals length and pressure defense.dddddddddddd Belmont wont face many teams with Louisvilles length and size in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Bruins were selected as the OVCs preseason No. 1 team.Louisville: After making seven 3-pointers on Friday, Durr made four on Sunday, scoring 11 points in the first period. Possibly overshadowed by Durrs performance, Johnson was a force in the low post, going 6 of 7 from the field and 6 of 9 from the free-throw line.POLL IMPLICATIONSBelmont: The Bruins received four votes in The Associated Press preseason Top 25, but their four votes werent enough to earn them a ranking. They are unlikely to be ranked after losing to Louisville.Louisville: Ranked fifth in The Associated Press preseason Top 25, Louisville is expected to stay behind Notre Dame, Baylor, UConn and South Carolina in the poll released Monday.RETURN TO LOUISVILLEBefore taking the head coach position at Belmont, Cam Newbauer served as an assistant at Louisville under Walz from 2011-13. Newbauer coached alongside Walz during Louisvilles 2013 run to the national championship.UP NEXTBelmont: Continues its four-game road trip to begin the season, playing Troy on Wednesday.Louisville: Will play its third consecutive game against a team from Tennessee, going on the road against Middle Tennessee State on Wednesday. Louisville and Middle Tennessee last met in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in 2013, where the Cardinals won 74-49. ' ' '