With his teams season already in a dangerous downhill spiral, coach Dave Joerger is ready to make changes designed to get the Sacramento Kings steadily flying again.Hell see if they have any effect Sunday when Sacramento welcomes the Toronto Raptors, one of the few teams theyve beaten this season.A new starting lineup is expected on the floor for the Kings at Golden 1 Center. Joerger pointed to the switch Friday after the Kings (4-9) lost their fourth straight contest, a 121-115 decision to the Los Angeles Clippers that wasnt all that close. Sacramento trailed by as many as 26 points in the first half and 20 early in the fourth quarter.Ive seen enough. Joerger said after it was over. Were going to small.The Kings small lineup, featuring Ty Lawson and Darren Collision on the court at the same time as dual two point guards, nearly stole a win against the Clippers. They spurred a 29-11 blitz in the final quarter that put Sacramento only two down with two minutes to left.Forwards DeMarcus Cousins, Rudy Gay and Matt Barnes and guard Aaron Afflalo also were out on the floor as part of the small lineups the Kings used to make their run.DeMarcus is going to play center, Joerger said. I dont know who else will play with him. It just gives us more zip, more life, more experience. Thats not a detriment to anyone else of what theyve done.It does appear to be a reaction to the slow starts that have plagued the Kings during their longest losing streak since a five-game skid in March. The Kings allowed 40 points in the opening 12 minutes against Los Angeles, their worst defensive quarter of the season, and were down 16-6 almost immediately in a 110-105 loss Wednesday against San Antonio.I dont think were coming out with urgency, Cousins said after the loss to the Clippers. Once again, were waiting until the last minute to play with energy, a sense of urgency. ... If we dont play with urgency and energy at the beginning of the game, it wont matter what lineup we put out there.The Kings have used Cousins, Gay, Lawson, Afflalo and Kosta Koufos in the starting lineup in 11 of their 13 games, including in all four victories. But the presence of Cousins and Koufos in the middle has crowded the key and kept Lawson and Collison from having a lot of success driving the ball and kicking out.Koufos didnt play in the second half against the Clippers, and Lawson and Collison played with a faster pace.Toronto (7-5) also would prefer to get moving quickly and give its guards a chance to score. DeMar DeRozan, the NBAs leading scorer at 33 points per game, and Kyle Lowry (18.8 points, 7.3 assists) usually get Torontos offense started with drives to the key, and the Raptors are 5-2 when they combine for at least 50 points.DeRozan tallied 30 in Torontos 113-111 overtime victory in Denver on Friday, the 10th time in 12 contests he scored at least that many.Ive had a lot of help, DeRozan told reporters after the win. People have looked for me within the offense. Tonight it was JV (center Jonas Valanciunas) setting screens for me. When the defense packed it in on him, he got me the ball for shots.The Kings havent won since beating the Raptors 96-91 in Toronto on Nov. 6, and have defeated them three straight times. Gay had 23 against his former team in the first meeting. DeRozan scored only 23 in that one. Discount Asics NZ . -- Linebacker Myles Jack ran for four touchdowns, defensive end Cassius Marsh caught a scoring pass, and No. Asics NZ Sale . Aduriz headed home Markel Susaetas cross in the sixth minute to open the scoring at San Mames Stadium. He bettered that with a long-range blast that went in off the goal frame in the 18th, and converted a penalty in the 72nd after Diego Mainz was sent off for fouling Aduriz with only the goalkeeper to beat. http://www.clearanceasicsnz.com/ . Down by seven with 90 seconds left in regulation, thats where they looked comfortable. Clearance Asics NZ Online .C. -- Calgarys Kevin Koe did it the hard way again. Cheap Asics NZ . "Four now," Carl Gunnarsson told the Leaf Report proudly following a 5-2 victory over New York on Tuesday night, the clubs fifth straight at home. Ramkumar Ramanathan, who opened Indias Davis Cup challenge against Spains Feliciano Lopez in New Delhi on Friday, has stressed on the need for Indian tennis players to mirror the culture and work ethic adopted by the Spanish contingent.Speaking exclusively to ESPN, Ramanathan said that just observing the work put in by Spains athletes shows what makes them such a formidable unit.They work really hard. Thats the key. They do all the things right. Theyre very professional, they have dinner together, they sit down and talk before the matches. I think all that has a big role said Ramanathan.Take their practice sessions. Yesterday Nadal came and practiced for 2 hours, someone like him doesnt need to do that, but he still does. So it shows how much all this means to him and the team.In comparison, Ramanathan did state that a similar work culture and discipline does exist within the Indian team, but it must be scaled up to better prepare Indian players for quality international opposition.Its not like the Indian players havent been doing it but its just that as we grow higher and higher in the rankings, we need to do more. So thhat when you go into big matches like this it doesnt come as a surprise, youve already done it all before.ddddddddddddRanked 203 in the world, the 21 year old from Chennai put in a spirited display against Lopez, ranked 177 places higher than him, even managing to force the Spaniard to drop a set in the first rubber, that lasted just over 2 hours.?Ramanathan, who looked set to pose a comeback after taking the third set 6-3, went down 6-1 in the fourth, and admitted that Lopezs experience and mental strength taught him a lesson to remember.Its more of a mental game, than a physical one. Even when Feli (Feliciano Lopez) was not feeling great, he found a way to start well in the fourth set and he broke me. Thats where the experience comes in. He showed me how I should have held those games and he showed me what I did wrong.Ramanathan will next play David Ferrer in the reverse singles rubber on Sunday. Ferrer had beaten Saketh Myneni in straight sets to give Spain a 2-0 edge at the end of Day one. ' ' '
