The Northern Territory news Sat 26 Mar 2016
NT news
The Northern Territory news; NewspaperNT
2016-03-26
This publication contains may contain links to external sites. These external sites may no longer be active.
English
Community newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin.; Australian newspapers -- Northern Territory -- Darwin.
News Corp Australia
Darwin
application/pdf
Copyright. Made available by the publisher under licence.
News Corp Australia
https://www.legislation.gov.au/Details/C2019C00042
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/262085
https://hdl.handle.net/10070/484856
SATURDAY MARCH 26 2016 SPORT 47 V1 - NTNE01Z01MA James comments to The Bleacher Report that he wanted to play with Carmelo Anthony, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Paul on the same team for a year or two. Lue spoke with James after Saturdays 122-101 loss in Miami, during which at halftime James was noticeably chatting it up with his friend, Heat star Dwyane Wade, instead of warming up with the Cavs trailing by 21. Griffin replaced former coach David Blatt with Lue in part to demand more accountability from James which the player covets and their chat was an example. This makes sense. Heading into the season, LeBron had been the best player in the world for nearly a decade, and held extra leverage over the Cavaliers organisation in the form of his contract (a two-year deal with a player option in year two). But the franchise is finally standing up for itself, letting James know he cant behave the way hes behaving (on the court and off it) and still consider himself a leader. Its unprofessional and, frankly, uncharacteristic of how he normally responds to adversity. ROGER Federer wasnt playing tennis when he hurt his knee two months ago. He was playing Dad. Federer said he was preparing a bath for his twin daughters when he turned and heard a click in his left knee, leading to the first surgery of his career on February 3. It was a very simple movement, probably a movement Ive done a million times in my life, Federer said Thursday. I didnt think much of it when it did happen. Soon his knee was swollen and required arthroscopic surgery to repair torn cartilage. Hes scheduled to return from his lay-off on Friday against longtime rival Juan Martin del Potro at the Miami Open. The 34-year-old Swiss star has been a model of durability throughout his career. Hes playing Key Biscayne for the 16th time, although he did skip the tournament last year for scheduling reasons. Dad duty felled Federer Federer made a late deci sion to enter the event this month, surprised and pleased by his speedy recovery. He was on crutches for 12 days and has trained without restrictions for the past nine days. Expectations are really low, which is nice for a change just see where I am, the 17time Grand Slam champion said. Im just really pleased Im back. I didnt expect myself to be back here, to be quite honest, after the surgery. Winners on the womens side included No.1-seeded Serena Williams, who began her bid for a ninth Key Biscayne title by beating fellow American Christina McHale 6-3, 5-7, 6-2. Williams earned her 19th consecutive victory in the tournament and hasnt lost since the 2012 quarterfinals. Facing McHale for the first time, Williams converted only five of 17 break point chances. She let a match point get away in the second set and had to play for an additional 50 minutes, losing five consecutive games before she regrouped. Christina just started playing better, and playing tennis she has never played before, Williams said. I made a few mistakes and then I just had to pull myself back together. Wildcard Heather Watson beat 20th-seeded Sloane Stephens 6-3, 6-0. No.3 Agnieszka Radwanska and No.7 Petra Kvitova also advanced. Federer, who is seeded third, had a first-round bye. His recent lay-off came during an eventful stretch for his sport, with Maria Sharapovas career in jeopardy following a failed a doping test, and renewed debate about equal prize money for men and women. Federer offered his thoughts on each subject and said he was completely surprised by Sharapovas suspension. He said he doesnt believe tennis has a doping problem but would like to see more consistency in testing. Ive been in Dubai now for 10 years there and been tested once, he said. Thats not OK for me. I get tested more in Switzerland because the guy from Switzerland lives in my village. He comes and sees me the day after my surgery, and one week later. As for equal prize money, Federer said hes all for it. Im happy that tennis has produced some of the greatest female athletes in the world, he said. Equal prize money is a good thing. The first marquee match at Key Biscayne will be on the mens side, with Federer facing another Grand Slam champion mounting a comeback. Del Potro returned to the tour in February after an 11month lay-off in which he twice had surgery on his left wrist. His injury was much, much greater, Federer said. Thats why Im really pleased for him that he was able to find a way back on to the tour. Federer is 15-5 against del Potro, including 5-1 in Grand Slam tournaments. STEVEN WINE Roger Federer Cavs take a stand on James NBA star LeBron James has posted a video mocking the media for making a big deal out of every little thing he does. The media has, predictably, made a big deal of this. James is active on social media, almost to a fault. He uses it to send cryptic messages that are left wide open to various interpretations, and even when he doesnt post something specific, the act of following (or unfollowing) various accounts almost always creates quite a stir. The latest video clip of James comes from Cavaliers teammate Richard Jefferson via his Snapchat account, and shows LeBron mocking the media for making a big deal out of every little thing that he does. Why are you eating a banana, LeBron? he says. Does that mean youre going to slip on a banana peel out of Cleveland? A longer clip features some NSFW language. This was a behind-thescenes moment, obviously, and maybe it wasnt something that James planned to be seen by the masses. It has references that probably wouldnt have been approved for public consumption. But at some point, all of this begins to become just a distraction. Head coach Tyronn Lue and general manager David Griffin recently held separate conversations with their franchise star to address a few issues and clear the air after LeBron had been the best player in the world for nearly a decade Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James goes up for a layup against Brooklyn Picture: KATHY WILLENS Kyrgios to meet Cypriot NICK Kyrgios will open his Miami Masters campaign in a career-first clash with veteran Marcos Baghdatis. Seeded 24th, Kyrgios secured a first round bye while world No. 40 Baghdatis blasted his way into the second round match up with a 6-4 6-4 win over Benjamin Becker on Thursday. Cypriot Baghdatis compiled 26 winners, twice the number of his opponent. Kyrgios and first day winner Sam Groth were joined in the second round by fellow Australian John Millman, who crushed world No. 53 ranked Spaniard Pablo Carreno Busta 6-3 6-2 in just over 80 minutes to book a clash with 32nd seed Pablo Cuevas of Argentina. Groth will face Austrian young gun Dominic Thiem in his second round match. In other matches, Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan posted his first win of the year, and it took him nearly three hours to do so as he beat Croat teen Borna Coric 4-6 7-5 7-5. The world number 76 plays world No. 2 Andy Murray in the second round. World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, coming off victory at Indian Wells, and world No. 3 Roger Federer, who has missed almost two months with a knee injury, play on Friday. Federer meets the man who beat him in the 2009 US Open final, Juan Martin del Potro, while top seed Djokovic faces Briton Kyle Edmund. Nick Kyrgios