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Each week, The Reporters put their thumbs out to the good and the bad in the world of sports. Petr Cech Jersey . This week they discuss Steve Nash, the Spirits handling of Terry Traffords passing, Ralph Krueger and NHL shootouts. Bruce Arthur, the National Post: My thumb is up to Steve Nash, who was shut down this week with nerve pain, which has been limiting him since a harmless-looking collision early last year. Hes only played 10 games for the Lakers this season and he looked like himself once. If this isnt the end of his 18-year career, then were getting close. So why thumbs up? Because of how hes facing it. Nash is making short films for ESPNs Grantland that are incredibly honest - jarringly so, at times - about what its like to face your athletic mortality and was incredibly honest again when I spoke to him this week. Nash and I are the same age; we both came from B.C.; we both played basketball and thats where the comparison ends. And again, hes showing me what it would be like. Steve Simmons, Sun Media: My thumb is down to the eerie silence that has engulfed the Saginaw Spirit in the tragic wake of the passing of 20-year-old Terry Trafford.There are questions here – but, to date, no answers coming from the prominent junior hockey people, coach Greg Gilbert or general manager Jim Paliafito. We know, from Traffords father, that the Spirit sent Terry home for what Roy Trafford calls “disciplinary reasons.” And we know, from the same conversation, that the time away from the team was supposed to be temporary, a few days. Then something changed. What changed? We dont know. Telephone messages were left informing Trafford that he was no longer welcome to return to the team. What we dont know and may never know - is why. To date, the only people who have those answers arent sharing them. Michael Farber, Sports Illustrated: Forget the Dos Equis guy. My thumb is up to the truly most interesting man in the world, Ralph Krueger. Less than a month after being the big-ice guru for the Canadian mens Olympic hockey team, Krueger has switched continents and sports. He is now chairman of Southampton FC, having jumped to the rarified world of English Premier League soccer without prior experience in the game. Krueger can match resumes with anyone. The Manitoban played pro hockey in Germany, built the Swiss national program, coached the Edmonton Oilers before his premature firing and boosted Team Canada. He also is an active member of the World Economic Forum. Now, soccer. Bartender, Ill drink what Kruegers drinking. Dave Hodge, TSN: Thumbs down to the NHL and its inability to deal with its dislike of the shootout. At the GMs meetings in Florida, the NHL continued to look for ways to decrease the number of shootouts. One way would be to change overtime from four-on-four to three-on-three, but if youre making a list of ideas that are less popular than the shootout, start there. The NHL will consider a change of ends for overtime to put skaters farther from their benches, as they are in the second period, which, statistically, is the highest-scoring of the three periods. Okay. Keep trying. The easy solution would be for the NHL to give up and decide it likes the shootout. Oh, but as with visits from grandpa, it does - there just shouldnt be too many of them. Santi Cazorla Jersey . And thats good news for Canada. Kelly, who plays No. 8 at the back of the scrum, is captain of the Canadian womens team. Sead Kolasinac Jersey . -- Jonathan Diaz is easy to spot in the Blue Jays clubhouse. http://www.arsenalsoccerpro.com/Authentic-Alex-Oxlade-Chamberlain-Arsenal-Jersey/ . This weeks Raptors Report puts a bow on Gays brief, 10-month tenure in Toronto and ponders how his absence will affect the teams offence. Are they a better team without him? In addition to acquiring some valuable cap flexibility, what impact will the four incoming players have this season and beyond? Click here for the Dec.The Cleveland Cavaliers altered the NBA landscape when they re-acquired LeBron James earlier this summer and there were rumours that James would be getting help. Numbers Game breaks down the big trade to bring LeBron a running mate, as the Cavs acquired Kevin Love from the Minnesota Timberwolves. The Cavaliers Will Get: PF Kevin Love. Love, 25, is one of the games premier frontcourt players, coming off a season during which he scored a career-high 26.1 points per game, grabbed 12.5 rebounds per game and had a career-best 4.4 assists per game. The 6-foot-10 power forward has averaged double figure rebounds for five straight seasons, joining Dwight Howard as the only players to reach that threshold in each of the past five seasons. Already a dangerous offensive threat because of his ability to pass and score, Love has raised the bar as he increases his shooting range. He attempted a career-high 6.6 three-pointers per game last season (making 2.5) and his 37.6% from beyond the arc was the second-best of his career, leading to the highest effective field-goal percentage (.524) of his career. He has played in three NBA All-Star games and ranked third in the NBA in Player Efficiency Rating (26.9), behind Kevin Durant and LeBron James, last season. Joining forces with LeBron in Cleveland does seem to set Love up for continued success, though there is going to have to be some accomodation made to get players enough touches. For example, Love has had more than 17 field-goal attempts per game for the past three seasons, topping out at a career-high 18.3 per game last season. LeBron has actually seen his shot attempts go down -- last seasons 17.6 per game in Miami was a career-low -- but thats 36 shots per game coming into the Cleveland rotation. How will those shots be allocated while still placating PG Kyrie Irving (17.4 attempts per game last season) and SG Dion Waiters (14.2 attempts per game last season)? Take out Luol Deng (12.7 attempts per game in Cleveland) and Spencer Hawes (11.0 attempts per game) and it becomes a matter of balancing an extra dozen or so attempts per game among the primary shooters. Expect LeBron and Love to be the leaders, so that likely means Irving and especially Waiters, will have to get used to a lesser role offensively. The price to pay if youre going to be a championship contender instead of a 33-win lottery team, but thats going to be a challenge for first-year coach David Blatt to navigate. While hes a tremendous offensive player who should complement the rest of the Cavaliers talent well because hes a real upgrade as a scoring big man, Love hasnt been much of a defender. He doesnt have the hops to block shots (0.5 per game for his career) and while he holds his own against power forwards, Love isnt as effective defensively when hes forced to play in the middle. (There is some trade-off, however, as Love scored an outrageous 41.7 points per 48 minutes while playing centre last season). Love makes more than $15.7-million this season and has a player option worth in excess of $16.7-million for 2015-2016, which he has reportedly agreed not to exercise in order to sign a five-year, $120-million deal with Cleveland. Thats a long-term commitment to play for the Cavaliers, and presumably that means playing with LeBron for those years, but its at least worth noting that James is under contract for 2014-2015 with a player option for 2015-2016. Having accumulated a supporting cast that makes the Cavaliers the front-runner in the Eastern Conference, presumably LeBron will be inclined to stick around, but there are some contract details to get worked out. In any case, Love is the big piece that the Cavaliers need in order to rise up and contend immediately, making the most of their window with LeBron. The Timberwolves Will Get: F Anthony Bennett, SG/SF Andrew Wiggins and a protected 2015 first-round pick. 19-year-old Andrew Wiggins was the first overall pick in the 2014 NBA Draft following a freshman season at Kansas when he showed flashes of brilliance, but was also criticized for not producing on a more consistent basis. Consider the end of the season, for example. Wiggins dropped a season-high 41 points on West Virginia in his final regular-season game before scoring 52 points in two games in the Big 12 tournament and 19 in his first NCAA Tournament game before falling flat, scoring four points (on 1-of-6 shooting from the field). David Ospina Jersey. Its not the end of the world, by any means, but the contrast over merely a few weeks shows the ups and downs that are part of Wiggins game at this point. Nevertheless, there is still ample reason that he was the number one overall pick in the draft this year. Wiggins has rare athleticism, with tremendous speed when he breaks out in the open floor and spectacular leaping ability when he attacks the rim. Wiggins athleticism should allow him to become a quality defender and, while ball-handling and shooting are areas for improvement, Wiggins has a chance to be great. It should take some time (considering he averaged 15.5 points on 40.5% shooting in NBA Summer League play), but Wiggins has the physical gifts to become a star player in the league and thats an exciting prospect for the Timberwolves, who sacrificed an already-established star in Love. With Wiggins signed for two years, plus two more team option years, on his rookie deal, the Timberwolves have time to watch Wiggins grow. There arent a lot of options in the T-Wolves rotation right now, so Wiggins should start on the wing, alongside veteran shooting guard Kevin Martin. With Love leaving, there will be lots of touches available offensively, and Martin, C Nikola Pekovic and Wiggins figure to be the players getting the most looks. Anthony Bennett, 21, was also the first overall pick, in 2013, but went through a miserable rookie season, finishing with 4.2 points and 3.0 rebounds per game, shooting 35.6% from the field. Those numbers were undeniably terrible, but he doesnt have to be a lost cause altogether. He was out of shape at the start of last season, as he recoverd from shoulder surgery and, following the season, had surgery to help with his sleep apnea. A healthier, leaner Bennett put up 13.3 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, shooting 42.6% from the field in NBA Summer League play. Thats a far cry from being ready to start, or fill a rotation spot in the NBA, but thats still an opportunity that is available to Bennett in Minnesota because, frankly, the Timberwolves dont have much in the frontcourt. Those who will battle for time at power forward in Minnesota include Bennett, Luc Richard Mbah a Moute, Robbie Hummel and perhaps some minutes to bigs Gorgui Deng and Ronny Turiaf, but thats not much competition if Bennett can get back on track. It should also be noted that he did start to come around a little bit, late in his rookie season, averaging 6.7 points and 4.1 rebounds per game from February through the end of the season. With the T-Wolves a long way from contending, they can afford to give Bennett the reps he needs to improve and its kind of important that he does because, after the 2014-2015 season, Minnesota will have to decide what they are going to do about the team options on Bennetts contract. The first-round pick, reportedly Miamis, is protected. If its a pick that ends up in the bottom 10 of the first round, it provides a little value, but is no difference-maker. From the 2003-2012 Drafts, picks 21-30 yielded, give or take a bit in each category, maybe two stars (Rajon Rondo, Kyle Lowry, David Lee?), 18 starters and 31 rotation players. That results in at least a rotation player slightly better than half (51) the time. If Bennett turns out to be a solid NBA player and Wiggins is an above-average starter (with star potential), then the Timberwolves get an adequate return for a player that they were potentially going to lose for nothing following next season. Its never ideal giving up the marquee player in an NBA trade, but rolling the dice on the potential of Wiggins and, to a lesser degree, Bennett, is a fair approach for Minnesota under the circumstances. The hard truth, though, is that its nearly impossible to win an NBA trade that sends a star player away, so doing their best under the circumstances still leaves the T-Wolves in a worse spot. Scott Cullen can be reached at Scott.Cullen@bellmedia.ca and followed on Twitter at http://twitter.com/tsnscottcullen. For more, check out TSN Fantasy on Facebook. Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic Jerseys NFL China Wholesale Jerseys Jerseys Wholesale Cheap NFL Jerseys China Cheap Nike NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale ' ' '