Clanregeln » tradition. Brian Beglane, the USTA official who runs U.S.

LOS ANGELES -- Defense will probably dictate when the Detroit Pistons tangle with the Los Angeles Clippers on Monday night at Staples Center.Both clubs rank among the NBAs best in defending. The Clippers lead the league in scoring defense, limiting opponents to 90.7 points per game, while producing 102.7 per outing.The Pistons are second to Los Angeles in scoring defense at 93 points per game, while averaging 100.5 points per game.Clippers point guard Chris Paul tops the NBA in steals at 3.5 per game.As a team, Los Angeles is the leader in steals with an average of 10 per game.Detroit has one of the games top defenders in the middle with center Andre Drummond, who is averaging 14.7 boards. And, the Pistons are the fifth-best rebounding club in the NBA at 47.3 per game. The Clippers are rank 11th at 45.2. Both teams are averaging 10.2 boards on the offensive end.But it isnt all about defense with the Pistons (4-2), who earned a 103-86 win over the Denver Nuggets on Saturday in a game Drummond had 19 points and 20 rebounds. Tobias Harris has been a sparkplug offensively, leading the Pistons at 18.8 points per game.Hes a very mature guy and hes very professional in his approach, Pistons coach Stan Van Gundy said, according to Pistons.com. Hes a guy whos always looking to get better. He looks at his game realistically. He figures out where he needs to improve and he works on it. Hes not an excuse guy. Its not outside forces and everything else.Van Gundy also praised Pistons forward Marcus Morris, who is scoring at a 17.5 points per game clip.Marcus is the same way (as Harris), Van Gundy said. Its one of the reasons those guys play well. Theyre willing to look at their performances realistically and make improvements rather than blaming everything and everyone else.The Clippers (5-1) return home after a successful two-game stretch on the road, where they have compiled a 3-0 mark this season. They are tied with Oklahoma City atop of the Western Conference, their lone loss being to the Thunder last week.Los Angeles recorded wins over the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday and rolled past the San Antonio Spurs on Saturday behind the performance of Blake Griffin, who scored 26 of his 28 points in the first half en route to a 116-92 romp.Its nice to have those easy looks go down, said Griffin, who shot 13-for-19 from the floor, according to the Los Angeles Times. It just kind of builds your confidence.Griffin, though, couldnt resist crediting the Clippers defensive performance for being the difference against the Spurs. After all, defense is the top priority of Clippers coach Doc Rivers, who preaches it practically every time he opens his mouth.It starts with defense, Griffin said, according to Clippers.com. I know we always say that, but it really does.Said Rivers, Thats two nights in a row that weve had great pace, and our defense has been as good as Ive seen it. Our hands are everywhere right now, and thats a good sign. Cheap Rockies Jerseys . Thats not a comment on the suspension that banished the Portland Winterhawks general manager and coach from his Western Hockey League teams bench for most of the 2012-13 season. Stitched Rockies Jerseys . The Brazilian goalkeeper signed a loan deal with the Major League Soccer club on Friday as he looks to get playing time ahead of this summers World Cup in his home country. https://www.cheaprockiesjerseys.us/ . "Trying to breathe," he said with a grin. Bernier stopped 42 of 43 shots on Monday night, including all 22 in a hectic middle frame, his heroic performance propelling the Leafs toward an undue point in their final game before the Christmas break. Colorado Rockies Pro Shop . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position. Custom Colorado Rockies Jerseys .Y. - Nelson Mandela will be honoured by the New York Yankees with a plaque in Monument Park. NEW YORK -- From his tiny booth near the top of Arthur Ashe Stadium, David Law paints pictures for the ear.Thwacks of the balls, squeaks of the shoes, roars of the crowd, grunts and sometimes curses, from the players, are just the backdrop. Law, a BBC play-by-play announcer, layers in a flourish of rapid-fire descriptions of U.S. Open action that are aimed solely for the theater of the mind.Forehand cross-court from Djokovic, hes pushing Nadal back, back. ... Hes pummeling, but he just cant put Nadal away. Nadal slices a backhand once again, he gets to every one of these balls, its just extraordinary retrieving from the Spaniard, Law says in one of his most famous calls , of a 54-stroke rally from the 2013 final.Massive forehand by Nadal and again Djokovic reaches the ball. ... Can the Serbian player finally find a chink of light in this armor of Nadal? ... Midcourt forehand from Nadal, and still Djokovic reaches it and into the net goes Nadaaal!!Such play-by-play for an audio-only audience is among the rarest of niches in sports media. Nearly 400 media organizations from around the world are covering this years U.S. Open, but only two -- the BBC and the U.S. Tennis Associations U.S. Open Radio -- call matches exclusively for the ear.Television long ago overtook radio as sports fans preferred medium. Theres also the lightning-fast pace of tennis that makes it tough to call on the radio.But to the hardy few who embrace tennis play by play, its an art form that conveys the drama and tension of the sport in a way television -- with its commentary mostly between points -- cant.On the telly, youre just in the way. They dont need you. They can see it for themselves on the screen, says Law, who is covering his 14th straight U.S. Open for the BBC. On the radio, people are much more appreciative of what you are doing because youre doing them a favor. They cant see it.For Law, a veteran tennis journalist and podcaster , the goal is to engage a mass audience and not be too tennisy. We want people to experience it like they are there, but also have fun.BBC, which has called all of Andy Murrays appearances and other top matches for the two weeks at Flushing Meadows, has a rich tradition of covering tennis, broadcasting live from Wimbledon since 1937 and at the U.S. Open for decades. Among its most famous calls was when Max Robertson hailed the 1977 Wimbledon victory by Britains own Virgina Wade with the words, Virginia will take tea with the Queen!Literal, shot-by-shot descriptions have been replaced over the years by a more conversational style. Tweeted comments from listeners are often read between points. Color commentator, former top 50 player Jeff Tarango, offers light banter. And Law punctuates long rallies with lightning-fast asides to reflect the broader flow. Wozniackis eyes are lasering in on the ball ... Sevastova will have to worry abbout her own nerves here as much as anything else.dddddddddddd Can she cope with it? ... Sevastova has a nice bit of variety to her game. She wont worry too much about keeping pace with Wozniacki.Theres a similar patter in the booth next door, where U.S. Open Radio announcers Brian Clark and Marc Ernay go wire-to-wire for the two-week run of the tournament, describing the action from Ashe and remotely from other courts. The other Grand Slam tournaments have their own such services, and they all take on the flavor of their home countries.U.S. Open Radio, which is also fed live to SiriusXM satellite radio, offers a straightforward call. Clark and Ernay bounce their descriptions in polished sportscaster voices back and forth off a rotating cast of expert analysts, including former tour players Jimmy Arias, Jill Craybas, Elise Burgin, Kathy Rinaldi and the aforementioned Wade.Petra Kvitova serving first from the near baseline at Ashe into the looping forehand of Angelique Kerber, then cross-court forehand for both left-handed players and Kvitova flies hers long for the first point of this match, Clark intones in a typical call. And then Burgin chimes in, Any rally over four or five shots absolutely favors Kerber. And so it goes in broadcast sessions that can go on for up to six hours.U.S. Open Radio has only been on for the full tournament since 2004, and American tennis for the ear, in general, lacks any real tradition. Brian Beglane, the USTA official who runs U.S. Radio, says that unlike in Britains publicly funded radio system, there is no substantial commercial support in the U.S. for play-by-play audio tennis beyond a tournament-only smartphone app.Most of sports radio is built around a team, but tennis is a bunch of individual stars, Beglane says. You cant build a radio franchise around it as well as you can for the Mets or the Yankees, a team.BBC gets about 5.8 million listeners a week on the main channel on which it broadcasts tennis, BBC 5 Live, but how that translates to a particular match is unclear. The USTA says U.S. Open Radio got 200,000 plays through the first week of the tournament.Law is convinced, however, that the true BBC ratings are in the millions during a Murray match that airs in prime time in Britain. That was the case this week when Kei Nishikori defeated Murray, who in recent months had won Wimbledon and the Olympic gold medal.But more meaningful to Law than calling the big matches are the comments from listeners, particularly those who cant enjoy tennis any other way. Read one recent tweet: As a blind listener, your commentary really gives me an understanding of the tennis these guys are playing.Says Law: Its a privilege to be their eyes and their senses. It means the world to me. ' ' '