Its the day before the NBAs trade deadline and TSNs Jack Armstrong offers his thoughts on Amir Johnsons return, Randy Wittmans influence on the Washington Wizards and what may be in store for Kyle Lowry and Rajon Rondo. cheap jerseys . 1. AMIR JOHNSON: Nice to see him back in the lineup Tuesday night in Washington DC. Played with great energy and purpose. Its amazing when a guy gets those few precious days to recover what it does to the bounce in their step and overall game/confidence. They need him big time in the final 29 games and the fact that he missed the two games prior to the All Star break due to injury could end up being a blessing for their team. When he and Terrence Ross are going good, this team can compete at a high level with anyone. 2. RANDY WITTMAN: I said it Tuesday night on the telecast and Ill say it again. A coach has to get run from a game to light a fire under his team - thats a joke. The ultimate motivation and leadership has to come from the players. More leadership is needed in that locker room. The Wizards have more than enough talent to not only be a playoff team, but a winning playoff team. Felt bad for Wittman. Coaches get the blame all the time. I get that - been there and done that - yet at some point to take that next step it truly has to be a conscious decision on the part of your core players that youre going to be a good team and not allow yourself to be outplayed at home. 3. RAJON RONDO: Love the hard bargain and market that GM Danny Ainge is trying to create for him. As he gets healthier, his play will improve significantly. On the other side, its pretty evident that Rondo will be playing for another team in the next few days - or at the very latest a year from now. He wants to play on a winner and it will take a little longer in Boston for that to happen. 4. KYLE LOWRY: Watch him in the third quarter last night? He was brilliant. How does a guy establish his value in a contract year? Play big when your team needs you the most. Believe me, GMs and scouts are watching and realize hes doing it on a winning team thats one of the pleasant surprises in the league and hes a big reason why. Whether its with the Raptors or somewhere else, it will all work out if he continues to play at this high level. The obvious concern is after he gets a significant contract will his level of play stay the same and/or improve to justify it or will it dip? Thats the toughest thing to gauge for decision-makers. These final regular season games and potential playoff games will help set the bar for him. So far, hes setting himself up very nicely. 5. JARRETT JACK: His name is involved in trade rumours and hed be a good pickup for a contender. His former team - the Warriors - really misses his clutch play and great leadership skills. Unfortunately, he hasnt been able to impact the climate in Cleveland as well as he did in Golden State. Hes more of a complimentary player and when hes in that position hes quite effective. Can play both guard spots and makes the good high percentage play. Will be interesting to see if he sticks around, considering the Cavs have won five in a row and are right back in the playoff race in the East. cheap jerseys from china . Seattle had a six-run outburst in an inning that included three Texas errors and an overturned call that led to the ejection of Rangers manager Ron Washington during the Mariners 7-1 victory Monday night. wholesale jerseys . "We dont have any right, yet, to overlook anyone," Casey said after the Raptors defeated the lowly Milwaukee Bucks 116-94 at Air Canada Centre on Monday night. "This is a tough league and were still building, were still getting there, so I cant allow our guys to have that in their thought process.ACAPULCO, Mexico -- Top-seeded David Ferrer defeated fellow-Spaniard Feliciano Lopez 7-6 (1), 6-2 on Wednesday to advance to his fifth-straight Mexican Open quarter-finals. Ferrer, trying to win his fourth title on Mexican soil, will next play South Africas Kevin Anderson, who eliminated American Sam Querrey,7-6 (2), 6-4. Also Wednesday, Gilles Simon (6) of France beat Donald Young of the United States 6-4, 6-3, Ukraines Alexandr Dolgopolov downed Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 6-3, 6-4 and Croatias Ivo Karlovic defeated Dudi Sela of Israel 7-6 (4), 6-2. On the womens side of the combined ATP-WTA tournament, top-seeded Dominika Cibulkova reached the quarterfinals with a 7-5, 6-2 win over Yanina Wickmayer of Belgium. wholesale nfl jerseys. "I..m still struggling with my serve, but I got another win so I..m happy", Cibulkova said. Cibulkova has won her first matches on tour since her run to the Australian Open final and is due to play Marina Erakovic of New Zealand, who defeated Serbias Bojana Jovanovski 6-1, 6-4. In other matches, No. 8 seeded Shuai Zhang of China beat Canadas Aleksandra Wozniak 6-1, 6-4; Americas Christina McHale knocked out Kimiko Date-Krumm of Japan 7-5, 6-1; Croatias Ajla Tomljanovic eliminated Victoria Duval of the United States 6-3, 6-0; and Frenchwoman Caroline Garcia downed Sharon Fichman of Canada 6-2, 7-5. ' ' '
