MIAMI - Hassan Whiteside isnt sure what the low point of his overseas life as a ballplayer was. [url=http://www.thecardinalsshop

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MIAMI - Hassan Whiteside isnt sure what the low point of his overseas life as a ballplayer was. Chad Williams Youth Jersey .Maybe it was when he played in China and got chewed by mosquitoes every night because the windows were always open. Maybe it was the time his team gathered for dinner and was served a whole goat, head and all. Maybe it was the time in Lebanon when he missed a ride — a fortuitous twist, since the area where he would have been was the site of a bombing.Those days are over.An unknown to many just a few weeks ago, Whiteside is now the starting centre for the Miami Heat. Hes also one of the few bright spots in whats been a trying first half of the season for the franchise that has been to the NBA Finals five times in the past nine seasons and now finds itself struggling just to keep a playoff spot.It feels like Im living a dream, Whiteside said. A couple months ago, I couldnt even get anybody to look at me. Its crazy. Its just a dream I never want to wake up from and every day I come to the arena I just feel blessed. Even when I started my first game, I was like Wow. You just look up and have to soak it all in.Hes fast become a fan favourite in Miami, and some of his teammates rave about him as well. Whiteside — currently out with a sprained ankle, though not expected to miss significant time — is averaging 12.1 points and 8 rebounds per game in January, not exactly superstar numbers but far better than any other stretch of his limited time in the league.Hes big and he plays big, Heat guard Dwyane Wade said of the 7-footer who got plenty of attention after a 23-point, 16-rebound game against the Los Angeles Clippers earlier this month in a Miami victory. He protects the basket for us, he catches it and he finishes it. If he keeps doing that he will have a long, successful career.Whiteside plays with some anger, stemming from how every team in the NBA — some of them multiple times — had passed on the chance to have him.Theres a certain irony that on draft night in 2010, the Heat were the last team that opted not to call his name.Whiteside was the 33rd pick in that draft, going to Sacramento one spot after Miami selected another big man in Dexter Pittman. Whiteside spent parts of the next two seasons with the Kings, appearing in 19 games and never scoring more than five points in any of them.Soon, his well-travelled odyssey began: He bounced around the NBA Development League, played for a couple of teams in China, a couple more in Lebanon, all the while constantly hoping for someone at home to even offer a workout. He often wondered if any team was keeping tabs on him.The Heat were.Sometimes it takes the right team, the right opportunity, the right frame of mind, all of it working together, Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said. Wed gotten to know him over the last four years. Wed brought him in enough. I met with him extensively, for an hour, after the workout this year and there was something about how he responded, how he looked me in the eye, that I believed him.Whitesides work ethic, a source of concern in the past, has not been an issue in Miami.His daily routine essentially consists of waking up, going to the arena, studying film, practicing, working out, then going home. Hes worked out with Hakeem Olajuwon in the past, and tries to emulate the game of former Heat star Alonzo Mourning now.He doesnt have to worry about eating goat or fast food for dinner anymore, either: In Miami, he raves about the Boars Head barbecue chicken subs from Publix, a regional supermarket chain.He calls this chapter a fresh start.It just doesnt work out with some organizations, said Whiteside, who lists his goals as averaging a double-double and becoming one of the NBAs three best shot-blockers. Coach Spo, he really gave me a chance, just with the minutes. When they give players a chance, theyre really all-in. Theyre invested.So far, its paying off. Dorian Johnson Jersey . -- When Steve Blake checked in at the scorers table with 5:25 remaining in the third quarter, Stephen Curry shook his head and shouted across the court, asking Golden State Warriors coach Mark Jackson not to take him out. Budda Baker Jersey .Mihajlovic was sent off minutes from the end of Thursdays 2-0 win over Brescia and has been punished for using a disrespectful expression toward the fourth official and throwing the contents of a bottle of water at him, thus assuming an intimidating attitude. http://www.thecardinalsshoponline.com/budda-baker-cardinals-jersey-49/ . Yahoo! Sports columnist Marc Spears says that the Boogie Smooth album may have been an elaborate April Fools prank.ST. LOUIS -- Bill Self gathered his team around the bench late in Fridays game against Eastern Kentucky, one that had grown a bit too close for comfort for the second-seeded Jayhawks. His team had gone back to chucking up jumpers, the scrappy Ohio Valley Conference champions had regained the lead, and thoughts of Mercers upset of Duke earlier in the day were on everyones mind. "I thought we responded as a group," Self said. The Jayhawks resumed pounding away inside out of the timeout, slowly took control down the stretch and pulled away for an 80-69 victory in the second round of the NCAA tournament. Andrew Wiggins of Vaughan, Ont., had 19 points for the Jayhawks (25-9), who will play No. 10 seed Stanford on Sunday in the South Regional. Jamari Traylor added 17 points and 14 rebounds, Perry Ellis had 14 points and 13 boards and Tarik Black finished with 12 points as Kansas dominated in the paint. "Our main focus on the game was to get in there and pound them," Traylor said. Even without 7-footer Joel Embiid, who is out for the weekend with a back injury. Glenn Cosey hit five 3-pointers and had 17 points for the 15th-seeded Colonels (24-10), who have lost all eight of their NCAA tournament games. Tarius Johnson and Eric Stutz finished with 15 points apiece, but second-leading scorer Corey Walden was held to four points before fouling out. "Corey is a very important part of our team," Colonels coach Jeff Neubauer said. "With that being said, thats not an excuse. Kansas really played great." In the second half, perhaps. Certainly not in the first. Like a swarm of gnats, the smaller guards of Eastern Kentucky made life miserable for the turnover-prone Jayhawks in the first 20 minutes. Kansas had more turnovers (10) by the midway point than field goal attempts (9), and at one juncture turned it over on six of eight possessions. Most of those miscues turned into easy points at the other end. The Colonels, buoyed by their trademark 3-point shooting, raced out to a 23-14 lead, silencing a heavily pro-Jayhawks crowd and even making some fans out of New Mexico and Stanford folks. "Our defence is focused on turning people over and being aggressive," Stutz said. "In that first half, thats what got us our leead. Dorian Johnson Youth Jersey. " It wasnt until the first of two rim-rattling dunks by Wiggins off alley-oop passes that Kansas showed some life. The second came during an 8-0 flurry that gave the Big 12 champions a 28-27 lead with just over a minute to play, their first since the opening minute of the game. The Jayhawks have grown accustomed to tussles with lower seeds, of course. Just last year, they trailed No. 16 seed Western Kentucky at halftime before pulling away down the stretch. It looked like Kansas would pull away again Friday, scoring on its first seven trips down court and building a 45-38 lead. The turnovers suddenly came to a stop -- after 13 in the first half, the Jayhawks had just one in the second -- and Eastern Kentucky was suddenly on the ropes. But rather than continue to pound away inside, where the Jayhawks were having so much success, they reverted to missing jump shots. The Colonels took advantage with a 10-0 run, and Self called a red-faced timeout rather than risk pulling out his hair. "We knew that anything could happen," the Jayhawks Conner Frankamp said. "We were down, we tried to stay poised and not get too rattled, and just tried to make the easy play, because we felt like we could score pretty good down low." Once they were reminded of that fact. Kansas went back inside out of the timeout, dumping the ball to a big man or driving to the basket. The Jayhawks regained the lead at 59-56 on Wayne Seldens free throw and Traylors putback dunk, and then kept turning back every 3-pointer that Eastern Kentucky managed to rattle home. "Just our mentality (changed)," Wiggins said. "We were tougher on the ball. We knew against the defence of this team, we had to make good decisions, great plays and throw it inside." When the final seconds ticked away, and the Jayhawks were assured of advancing, Self slowly walked to the scorers table to shake hands with his Eastern Kentucky counterpart. He exhaled deeply as he stuck out his hand, and the first words he said were, "Great game." "They played great. They played loose and gave us everything we wanted," he said later. "It was a hard-fought game, one we had to work our tail off 40 minutes to come out with a win." Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '