TORONTO - Sitting in the home of assistant coach Bill Bayno one February evening, Jonas Valanciunas fretted over the slump that had befallen him. Authentic Gordon Hayward Jersey . "Im not scoring," the young centre griped, as he and his most devoted mentor watched film, hoping to get to the bottom of the recent on-court funk that was beginning to wear on his confidence. JV, youre 21-years-old," Bayno responded. "Theres no centres in the league your age that are even playing much less averaging 10 points a game. Youve had great games [but] when you have a two-point game, going up against a really good, tough [centre], you cant get upset about it." His message, the teams message, has never wavered. "Youve got to do the other things to help us win." With that in mind Bayno put pen to paper, drawing up a list of attainable goals for Valanciunas, a cheat sheet consisting of basic fundamentals that can now be found taped to the right side of his locker. Outwork, outrun, sprint[Set] great, legal screensStep to [your] manBlock out And it goes on like that. "He got really down on himself when he went through that tough stretch," Bayno explained. "So we just really sat down and talked and [I] said, look, its no secret, JV, these are the things youve got to do." "Youre going to have some ups and downs," he told the second-year pro, "but Im going to write it in your locker, so every day before the game you see, this is what you have to do on a nightly basis." "Everything thats on that sheet is what we work on." Its a simplistic tool but one that the Raptors first-year assistant feels strongly about, one that has yielded proven results throughout his coaching career. Admired for his innovative player development techniques and his passion for molding young talent, Bayno first adopted this method of teaching on one of his regular trips to Africa, about a decade ago. There he met Michael Scholl. The two would become good friends and Bayno eventually hired Scholl as his assistant at Loyola Marymount University in 2008. Scholl - who spent eight years in Africa running an AIDS prevention campaign and implementing youth basketball leagues - introduced Bayno to an old Harvard study, something he used himself to motivate the children he taught there. The study correlated the success of students with writing down their goals and displaying them in their dorms. Bayno, like Scholl before him, applied that principle to basketball. "Having those goals, having them written out where they see them every day I think is huge and its been proven," said Bayno, who is also planning on employing that strategy with the Raptors other sophomore, Terrence Ross. "The vets dont need it. The vets will laugh at you if you try to do it. They really dont need it anyway. I could say to Chuck (Hayes), remember five games ago, you had that kick out situation, you missed a kick out. Hell say, yep, and hell know exactly the play. But the young kids need it." Bayno has spent more one-on-one time with Valanciunas than anyone on the staff this season. Whether hes sparring with JV in the post - wearing his trademark forearm pads to simulate in-game physicality - throwing out-of-reach passes to him in practice or hosting him at his house for an extra film session, Baynos fingerprints are all over the sophomores continued development. "He works with me a lot actually," Valanciunas said of Bayno. "Hes helped me a lot, especially on the post-up moves. Now I feel much more comfortable going against those guys, like big centres. What were working on every day is helping." Bayno, like head coach Dwane Casey and the rest of the Raptors staff, has worked to manage Valanciunas own expectations and lesson the external pressure that he faces as an emerging star in the league. Theyre not overly concerned with his scoring totals or the number of touches he gets in the post. He shouldnt be either. They know his value, at least this season, cant be measured using a box score. Instead they hope to lay down a foundation for the future. His role is to do the things he can control, to master the basic fundamentals of the game that will ensure his longevity in the league. The "little things" as Bayno calls them. "Were a good team because hes accepted his role and hes done all the little things," said Bayno, formally an assistant in Portland and with the Timberwolves. "I really believe hes going to be a good scorer in this league." "Im not expecting a lot of point production every night out of him," echoed Casey. "If he gives it to us, its great but I dont want to put that kind of pressure on him. Hes growing, hes a second-year guy. Im not going to expect him to get 23 points, 24 points every night. If he does, its gravy. If he runs the floor, rebounds, plays defence, for this team, this year, thats great. I promise you, his offence is going to come. We all want it to hurry up and get here yesterday but Im more concerned about him picking up the speed of the game, the rebounding, defending the low post, defending his position and reacting in the half-court game. His career is going to be long enough. Hes going to be a scorer in this league two or three years from now." A month ago at this time Valanciunas was pressing. The touches were not there every night, his scoring numbers dipped, as did his playing time. More often than not Casey would opt for a smaller, more experienced lineup late in games. Valanciunas was frustrated. Then the card went up in his locker. He sees it nearly each day, before and after every home game. Currently, hes playing some of the best basketball of his young career. Whether his improved play is related or a happy coincidence, he has been carrying out the very tasks Casey and company have been emphasizing. In Sundays win over Atlanta, Valanciunas recorded his team-leading 19th double-double of the season after totaling eight as a rookie a year ago. He played 33 minutes, attempting just four shots while matching a career-high with nine made free throws. His impact on the game was understated, yet significant. His point production has gone up but, as Casey points out, hes not necessarily seeing more touches. Instead hes working for them. Hes running the floor, hes rebounding, hes getting to the line and as a result hes playing more and closing out games. He understands how his bread is buttered, at least for the time being. "Im not a scoring machine," Valanciunas acknowledged. "Im a worker. My job is to get a rebound, to set a screen to make DeMar (DeRozan) open, or Kyle (Lowry) open, or [Ross] open, whoever is playing on the perimeter. My job is to box out [and] go for offensive rebounds. Thats my job." In less than four weeks, Valanciunas will make his first playoff appearance. Although hes peaking at the right time of season, the internal expectations havent changed. Outwork your man, set hard screens, box out, run the floor, do the little things. Hes heard them every day since arriving in training camp five months ago. Hes practiced them. Only now, handwritten in bright, unmistakable lettering, they stare him in the face. Authentic Marcus Morris Jersey . Mohamed Diame put West Ham ahead in the 47th minute before goals by substitutes Carlton Cole and Joe Cole condemned Fulham to a fifth straight defeat, keeping the visitors in the bottom three. Authentic Greg Monroe Jersey . Trailing by a goal after 20 minutes of play, Joe Pavelski responded with three goals and an assist as the Sharks snapped a two-game losing skid with a 5-2 victory over the struggling Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday. http://www.cheapcelticsjerseysauthentic.com/?tag=authentic-red-auerbach-jersey .ca presents its latest weekly power rankings for the 2013-14 Barclays Premier League season.COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Columbus Blue Jackets again showed the resilience they often displayed last year during the best season in franchise history.Cam Atkinson and Ryan Johansen scored in the shootout to lift the Blue Jackets to a 4-3 victory over the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night for their sixth straight win.Columbus recovered after scoring twice in the third period to take the lead and then giving up the tying goal with 11 seconds remaining.That was kind of our M.O. last year, Columbus coach Todd Richards said. The resiliency, finding a way. Through these six games, I think weve found different ways to win hockey games.Sergei Bobrovsky had 33 saves through overtime, then stopped Evgeni Malkin and Brandon Sutter in the tiebreaker to preserve the win.Nick Foligno, Boone Jenner and Jack Johnson scored in regulation for the Blue Jackets. Jenners score came on a penalty shot with 7:55 remaining in the third period. David Savard added two assists for Columbus, which has gone beyond regulation in four of their wins during their streak.This was the teams first meeting since the Penguins beat the Blue Jackets in six games in the first round of the playoffs last season.Thats still in your mind, Jenner said. Doing those handshakes after Game 6. Its always in your mind. It doesnt go away. To play them here the first time this year, the crowd was electric.Kris Letang had two goals — including the tying score with 11 seconds remaining in regulation — and Blake Comeau also scored for the Penguins, and Thomas Greiss finished with 24 saves. Letang also scored in the shootout.Pittsburgh was without star Sidney Crosby for a second straight game because of swelling to the right side of his face that team officials said doesnt appear to be mumps as they await results from additional tests.The Penguins came in 10-1-1 in their last 12 regular season games against the Blue Jackets, including a 5-0 mark last season.Letangs short-handed goal gave the Penguins a 2-1 lead at 7:22 of the third as he scored on a 2-on-1 break with a high flick shot over Bobrovsky.As the game went along, physically we met the challenge and we started to take over the game, Penguins coach Mike Johnston said. Puck possession-wise through the last half of the ggame it was certainly in our favour. Celtics Jerseys China. Columbus countered with two goals in 5:44 to take the lead. After being hauled down on a break by Simon Depres, Jenner beat Greiss with a shot under his blocker on a penalty shot for his sixth goal of the season.Then with the teams skating 4-on-4, Johnson followed with a shot from the left circle into the far corner of the net to make it 3-2 with 3:11 remaining.Pittsburgh kept pushing down the stretch. With Greiss pulled for an extra attacker, Columbus twice was called for icing with under 25.5 seconds left bringing the face off back into the Blue Jackets zone. Letang finally made took advantage with a one-timer from the left circle for his seventh goal.I think we played really well in the third period, Letang said. We were after them and dictating the play. We deserved the point.The Blue Jackets jumped ahead 1-0 on the power play at 3:02 of the first period partly because a series of odd bounces that put Pittsburgh flat-footed. Jenner got a step and fed a centring pass to Foligno, who stopped it with his skate before snapping home his team-best 14th into an open net.Throughout the period there were hard checks all over the ice, culminating with two simultaneous fights with just under 5 minutes to go set off by Columbus Brandon Dubinksy charging Steve Downie hard into the boards near the Pittsburgh bench. Veteran Jordan Leopold and Penguins call-up Bobby Farnham, playing his first NHL game, continued to punch as they fell and rolled along the ice. Downie and Dalton Prout scuffled near the glass.It was a hard fought win and it feels good, Jenner said.Pittsburgh tied the score with 4:54 left in the period when Comeau ripped a high shot from the left circle past Bobrovsky for his 11th.Weve got to be happy with the overall effort, Foligno said. I thought everybody was outstanding. The fights, the emotion and the solid play again from Bob and then the timely goals. Were coming around and playing the right way.NOTES: Both teams are dealing with a slew of injury issues. Columbus is the league leader in man-games lost and has six players out. Pittsburgh has seven players sidelined, headlined by Crosby. ... Todd Richards coached his 200th game for the Blue Jackets. cheap falcons jerseys cheap ravens jerseys cheap bills jerseys cheap bears jerseys cheap bengals jerseys cheap cowboys jerseys cheap lions jerseys cheap texans jerseys cheap colts jerseys cheap jaguars jerseys cheap chiefs jerseys cheap rams jerseys cheap dolphins jerseys cheap vikings jerseys cheap saints jerseys cheap giants jerseys cheap jets jerseys cheap eagles jerseys cheap steelers jerseys cheap 49ers jerseys ' ' '