LeBron's 4th Quarter Issues

Tim Legler breaks down tape and explains LeBron James' struggles in the 4th quarter and the Mavericks' success

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At Pocono, Kurt Busch wins second straight pole

LONG POND, Pa. -- Kurt Busch's reward for slapping the wall at practice was a backup No. 22 Dodge that was better than his regular ride.

For that, Busch had plenty of people to thank, starting with his team at Penske Racing.

"Just an honest thank-you to my guys," Busch said.

Some tracks have more tradition. Some tracks have tight finishes seemingly every other race. Some tracks seat 200,000-plus. None of those tracks offers what Pocono Raceway does, writes David Newton. Story

It's been quite a reversal for Busch a month after he launched into a foul-mouthed tirade against his race team at Richmond. He made it two straight poles Saturday, turning a fast lap of 171.579 mph at Pocono Raceway.

Busch damaged his No. 22 Dodge in Friday's practice and was forced to a backup car. He also spun at practice last week -- a sort of bad luck-good luck habit. He wound up first last week at Kansas Speedway, then topped Jeff Gordon in one of the final qualifying runs at Pocono.

The two-time winner at the 2½-mile track, Busch became the first pole winner under the new Sprint Cup qualifying rules.

Qualifying was determined based on practice speeds -- from slowest to fastest -- with those times now coming from the first practice session. The qualifying order also will no longer be separated between teams that are locked into the race and teams that must qualify on speed.

Busch was impressed that Penske could produce a pole-winning backup car.

"That's something you really wouldn't hear about back in the day," he said. "It would be, 'All right, you'll have to struggle during the weekend.' "

Busch, who is sixth in points, finished ninth last week at Kansas for his second straight top-10 finish. After some early struggles caused concern and ill feelings at Penske, the drivers are getting their programs in line. Busch's teammate, Brad Keselowski, won the pole two races ago at Charlotte and took the checkered flag last week at Kansas.

Richmond was certainly the boiling point for Busch -- and looks like the turning point.

[+] Enlarge Chris Trotman/Getty ImagesKurt Busch celebrates winning the pole for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Pocono Raceway. It was Busch's second straight pole.

He blamed Penske Racing's shortcomings on technical director Tom German over a radio frequency available to the public. German has since left the team.

"I took the apple tree and shook it as hard as I could at Richmond," Busch said. "We saw which apples fell and which ones were still there. It was honestly, 'Hey, do we want to make the Chase?' We've got to make some changes. Heading into the direction we were, we were just scraping those top 10s. That's not going to get it done when you want to win the championship."

Busch often doesn't react well when his team fails to make the needed adjustments to get his car caught up with the leaders. He totally lost it at Richmond when he ran into Ryan Newman's spinning race car.

The 2004 champion was in a great mood Saturday -- one of the perks that comes with starting first. Paul Menard joined him on the front row. Gordon, Denny Hamlin and Regan Smith rounded out the top five.

The new qualifying rules meant most of NASCAR's heavy hitters hit the track at the end. Hamlin held the pole, then Gordon, before Busch came along and snagged it for good. Points leader Carl Edwards went last and qualified sixth.

"That is a pole-winning car right there," Edwards said. "It's nice to be disappointed about a sixth-place qualifying position. It should be a really good run for us."

Sam Hornish Jr., a former Penske driver, starts 26th in his first Cup race of the season. Dale Earnhardt Jr. starts 21st a week after a second-place finish at Kansas.

Mike Skinner was the lone driver who failed to qualify.

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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Angels' bats awaken as six-game slide ends

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ANAHEIM, Calif. -- Angels manager Mike Scioscia didn't mince words during his closed-door meeting with his top three run producers: Torii Hunter, Bobby Abreu and Vernon Wells. The offense wasn't getting the job done, and they were being held accountable.

The rest of the Los Angeles hitters must have been listening outside the door of Scioscia's office during the expletive-laced session, because the team responded with a big night at the plate. Erick Aybar opened the scoring with a three-run triple, Abreu came home with the go-ahead run on reliever Aaron Crow's second wild pitch of the seventh inning, and the Angels snapped a season-worst six-game losing streak with a 7-5 victory over the Kansas City Royals on Saturday. Howie Kendrick had three hits, including a pair of RBI singles, and the slumping Wells singled his first three times up. Scioscia called the meeting before batting practice to impress upon his three veteran All-Stars their responsibilities as a trio in the middle of the lineup to wake up a slumbering offense that had averaged two runs over the previous nine games. "Man, he cursed us out. It was pretty bad," Hunter said. "The words he used in there really hurt our feelings, but it actually pumped us up to keep going. He really cursed me out. It wasn't fun. But I appreciate that meeting. Today we had a lot of fight. We got better swings from everybody and played the game the right way. It was a lot of fun. That's what we have to continue doing." Hunter, Abreu and Wells were a combined 4 for 10 with two walks and no RBIs. Hunter prevented the Royals from taking the lead in the seventh when he fielded Jeff Francoeur's single to right field and threw out Melky Cabrera at the plate for his eighth outfield assist this season. "I had a clean scoop on it and I just told myself to make a nice, accurate throw to the plate and give Jeff Mathis something he could handle," Hunter said. "I knew that if they sent him, he was dead. I couldn't believe that they sent him." Royals reliever Tim Collins (3-3) was replaced by Crow after giving up a pair of one-out walks in the bottom half. Abreu scored on the wild pitch to Alberto Callaspo, who was intentionally walked. Wells and Callaspo executed a double steal, and Wells scored on Kendrick's single off Crow's left foot. Scott Downs (4-2) retired all four batters he faced to get the win, and rookie Jordan Walden pitched a scoreless ninth for his 14th save in 17 chances. He struck out Eric Hosmer and Francoeur before retiring Billy Butler on a fly to right with the potential tying runs at second and third. "It feels good to get that six-game losing streak out of the way. It was ugly," Hunter said. "I almost jumped up and down after catching that last flyball. I felt like I won the World Series." Angels right-hander Joel Pineiro came up short again in his sixth attempt to get his 100th major league victory. He was charged with five runs and seven hits over 5 1/3 innings, leaving with a 5-4 lead before Matt Treanor greeted Rich Thompson with a tying RBI single. It was the seventh hit the Australian-born righty allowed in his last four appearances. "The situation that's going on has nothing to do with 100 wins," Pineiro said. "Honestly, I wanted to win for the team. I didn't care if it was 100, 300, whatever. I mean, I just wanted to get back on track and do what I'm supposed to be doing. I'm just hoping that when it turns around, it turns around big. There's no excuse tonight. I got the runs. For some reason, my off-speed stuff was better than my sinker." Mike Moustakas tried to score on a safety squeeze by Chris Getz moments later, and was cut down at the plate by first baseman Kendrick's throw to Mathis. Alcides Escobar walked, loading the bases, but Thompson came back to strike out Alex Gordon. Moustakas, the second overall pick in the 2007 draft and one of nine rookies on the Royals' roster, hit his first major league home run in his sixth plate appearance -- a solo shot that landed in the second row above the 18-foot wall in right-center with two outs in the fourth inning and trimmed the Angels' lead to 5-3. "It was awesome," said teammate Eric Hosmer, who played with Moustakas in Triple-A and came up to the majors a month before he did. "Everyone was really happy for him. And for him to do it here in his hometown with his family watching, it was a special moment for him. He's as big a competitor as anybody in this clubhouse. When he gets hot, there's no turning back. These first couple of games, he's looked really comfortable at the plate, and it's going to be a fun ride for him from here on out." Cabrera narrowed the gap to 5-4 in the fifth with an RBI single. Wells led off the Angels' four-run second against Felipe Paulino with a single before Los Angeles loaded the bases with none out. Aybar then smacked a 1-2 pitch inside first base and down the line to clear the bases, and Maicer Izturis drove him in with a sacrifice fly. Two of the runs were unearned, the result of a fielding error by Getz on a routine grounder to second by Callaspo. The Angels tacked on another unearned run in the third, after Wells singled again and got to second on an errant pickoff throw by Paulino -- the first error by a Royals pitcher since Jeremy Jeffress' wild pickoff throw April 18 against Cleveland. Kendrick drove in Wells from third with an infield hit. Game notes
The Angels came within one game of tying a dubious franchise record for consecutive games scoring three runs or fewer, which was set in September 1981. ... Paulino got a visit from pitching coach Bob McClure after the first five batters reached base in the second, then retired the next three -- two on strikeouts. Pineiro got Hosmer to ground into an inning-ending double play in the fifth, after getting a visit from pitching coach Mike Butcher. Copyright by STATS LLC and The Associated Press

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A-Rod, Yanks Drop Indians

Baseball Tonight on the Yankees' 4-0 win and the Indians suffering their 11th loss in 13 games

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Lincecum Shelled

Baseball Tonight on the Reds' 10-2 win and Tim Lincecum surrendering a season-high seven runs

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Djourou wants Lille's Gervinho at Arsenal

Arsenal defender Johan Djourou has urged manager Arsene Wenger to sign up Lille star Gervinho, on the same day that arch-rivals Tottenham had a bid rejected for the Ivory Coast international.

GettyImagesGervinho: Won French league and cup double

Gervinho, who can play on the wing or as a striker, played a key role as Lille won both the Ligue 1 title and the Coupe de France last season and Les Dogues face a fight to hold on to the highly-rated 25-year-old.

Lille general manager Frederic Paquet claims he has already "received an offer of ?12 million (?10.6m) from Tottenham which was refused" and Djourou believes Gervinho would be an ideal signing to help Arsenal challenge for silverware.

"I have followed a bit of the French league this season and I have to say Gervinho is a great player," Djourou told Goal.com. "I have known him for a long time and he is just a great player - quick, with so much talent and good skills.

"He is a great, great talent and we need that because he can play as a striker, as a No.10 or on the wing. He has all the ingredients to play for Arsenal, that is a definite."

Lille will be desperate to keep Gervinho ahead of next season's Champions League campaign having already sold Yohan Cabaye to Newcastle.

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Kiffin appears at NCAA hearing over Tennessee

INDIANAPOLIS -- Former Tennessee coaches Bruce Pearl and Lane Kiffin finally got to explain themselves in front of the NCAA.

All they can do now is wait to see if it did good.

Kiffin spent more than four hours answering questions in front of the infractions committee Saturday, then was followed by Pearl, who spent nearly five hours in front of the committee. School officials are hoping the daylong closed-door hearing marks the beginning of the end of a 22-month investigation that rocked the Volunteers' football and men's basketball programs and tarnished Tennessee's reputation.

"The hardest part is just being here," Pearl said. "This was not something I was looking forward to."

The committee is expected to make a ruling within eight to 12 weeks. That's when the Volunteers will learn their punishment.

Tennessee faces a dozen major rules violations in the two high-profile sports including accusations that both coaches committed recruiting infractions and failed to promote an atmosphere of compliance within those programs.

Pearl, the former Volunteers men's basketball coach, also was charged with unethical conduct after misleading NCAA investigators during an interview last June when he was asked about hosting high school juniors at a cookout at his house on Sept. 20, 2008, and phoning John Craft, father of recruit Aaron Craft, in an effort to influence Craft's statement to investigators about the cookout.

Craft just completed his freshman season at Ohio State, whose football program is also under NCAA investigation.

On Sept. 10, in a tearful news conference, Pearl acknowledged he had provided false information to the investigators.

That part was not contested Saturday, but there was plenty of discussion on other issues -- and lots of people trying to help Tennessee plead for leniency.

Those attending included, Kiffin, now the Southern California football coach; Pearl, who was fired after last season by Tennessee; Mike Hamilton, the outgoing athletic director; SEC commissioner Mike Slive; Derek Dooley, Tennessee's new football coach; and Cuonzo Martin, the Vols new men's basketball coach. Martin and Dooley are not implicated in the charges.

The school's contingent was so large it forced the NCAA to move its hearing into a bigger conference room, and the hearing was held about five blocks from the home stadium of one of Tennessee's most famous alums -- four-time NFL MVP Peyton Manning.

"We are glad we had the opportunity to present our case," university chancellor Jimmy Cheek said in a statement. "We feel it was a fair hearing and we look forward to the resolution of this matter."

Kiffin was accompanied at the hearing by USC athletic director Pat Haden, who made his second appearance in front of an NCAA committee in Indy this year. He also attended January's appeals hearing for USC, which this week was stripped of its 2004 national title by the Bowl Championship Series for NCAA violations.

Tennessee has already taken some steps in hopes of avoiding a punishment that would be that drastic.

It reduced Pearl's salary by $1.5 million last season and banned him from off-campus recruiting for one year. The SEC also suspended Pearl for eight conference games. In March, Pearl was fired.

The school also lowered the salary for each of Pearl's three assistants, who were accused of not providing "complete" information about the cookout.

Pearl and two of his assistants, Tony Jones and Steve Forbes also are accused of making 96 impermissible phone calls to 12 recruits or relatives between Aug. 1, 2007, and July 29, 2009, and the school has been charged with failure to monitor the coaching staff's contacts.

Kiffin and his assistants were accused of making improper calls to recruits, too, after Tennessee officials warned them against it. He made those calls just days before taking the Southern California job in January 2010.

In addition, Kiffin and recruiting intern Steve Rubio are accused of visiting a Florida high school on Oct. 12, 2009, even though Rubio was not permitted to make on-campus visits.

Kiffin's failure to monitor charge stems from trips taken by members of the school's athletics hostess program to visit recruits.

Both coaches attended the first 40 minutes of the closed-door hearing, which were set aside for opening statements.

Kiffin then remained in the room, while Pearl and his former assistants left en masse. Pearl wandered down to the hotel lobby, waiting there until Kiffin finished more than four hours later. It took so long the lunch break was delayed twice.

Kiffin would not discuss the specifics of what took place inside the room.

Pearl was the first person back when the hearing resumed after a one-hour break. He spent most of the next five hours back inside the room.

When things finally wrapped up, more than 10½ hours after they started, the emotions were mixed.

"It's a very thorough process and I'm glad it's over," Kiffin said before leaving the downtown Indianapolis hotel for a football camp at Southern Cal. "It was a lot shorter than the last one I sat through, three days of USC's, and I'm happy it's over."

The fallout from the scandal may not be, though.

Hamilton announced this week he would resign at the end of the month. Tennessee women's athletics director Joan Cronan, also in Indy, will serve as interim vice chancellor and director of athletics until Hamilton's replacement is picked.

Sometime in August or September, the Volunteers should learn their fate.

"It's not over because we've got to wait 45 or 60 days," Pearl said.

And for Pearl, who wore an orange and white tie and orange suspenders to the hearing, there was no sense of relief.

"Not really because we paid a very heavy price, all of us here have -- my staff and the University of Tennessee," he said. "So there's not much relief."

Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press

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