Top Shot
Yi named Eastern Conference Rookie of the Month
NEW YORK: Milwaukee forward Yi Jianlian of China and US teen star Kevin Durant, the top contenders for National Basketball Association Rookie of the Year honors, were named on Wednesday as December's top NBA rookies.
Yi, a 7-footer (2.12m) taken sixth in last June's NBA draft by the Bucks, averaged 12.1 points and 6.6 rebounds last month. For the NBA season, Yi is averaging 11 points a game, second only to Seattle's Durant among newcomers.
Yi won the honor for the Eastern Conference, where the Bucks are 11-19 with the third-worst record. Milwaukee went 4-12 in December, ending 2007 with four losses in a row.
Durant, selected second in the NBA Draft to Portland's injured big man Greg Oden, won the Western Conference rookie award for the second month in a row. He is averaging 19.7 points a game.
Durant, 19, fired in 35 points on December 7, his best scoring night in the NBA, is a 104-98 victory over Milwaukee.
Detroit's Babcock, Ottawa's Paddock to guide NHL All-Stars
NEW YORK: Detroit Red Wings coach Mike Babcock and Ottawa Senators coach John Paddock were named on Wednesday to be coaches for the National Hockey League All-Star Game on January 27 in Atlanta, Georgia.
Babcock has sealed the Western Conference coaching spot and Paddock his place guiding the East because their teams will be leading their respective conferences after Friday's games when the NHL reaches the season's midpoint.
The Red Wings began the season 29-8 with 3 drawn after regulation to pace the West with 61 points while the Senators, losers in last year's Stanley Cup Finals, are 25-10 with four drawn after regulation for 54 points.
Springboks captain Smit suffers serious knee injury
CLERMONT, France: South Africa captain John Smit will be sidelined for several weeks after spraining his right knee in training, his French club Clermont-Auvergne said on Wednesday.
"The injury looks serious and John is out for several weeks but we don't know yet if the ligaments have been damaged. Medical tests will tell," a club spokesman said.
The 29-year-old hooker joined Clermont after captaining South Africa to their second World Cup triumph last October.
Valencia's Abelda takes legal action to terminate contract
MADRID: Valencia's international midfielder David Albelda, one of three veteran players dropped by Dutch coach Ronald Koeman last month, is taking legal action to terminate his contract with the Spanish side.
Albelda, 30 who has capped 50 times by Spain, is under contract with Valencia until 2011 and his contract reportedly has a 60-million-euro release clause.
Last month Koeman told Albelda, striker Miguel Angel Angulo, 30, and goalkeeper Santiago Canizares, 37, that they no longer featured in his plans.
Both Albelda and Angulo came through the club's youth system while Canizares has been with Valencia since 1998.
The 44-year-old took over at Valencia in October after Quique Flores was sacked.
Parcells brings in Ireland as Dolphins general manager
MIAMI: New Miami Dolphins head of football operations Bill Parcells, a former Super Bowl-winning coach, has wasted no time in bringing change to the NFL's worst-performing team by recruiting Jeff Ireland as general manager.
After taking on his new role last week, Parcells moved quickly to fire general manager Randy Mueller and on Wednesday turned to Ireland - who was with Parcell's old franchise the Dallas Cowboys for the last seven years - to lead the team's rebuilding.
Ireland was in charge of college and pro scouting for the Cowboys and brings plenty of experience to the draft process as the Dolphins look to strengthen after a season in which they lost 15 of their 16 games.
"I am excited about joining the Dolphins as their general manager," Ireland said. "I know the great tradition of the team, and in my mind they are one of the flagship franchises in the NFL."
(China Daily 01/04/2008 page22)
