Black- and Whitelist » the whistle (or intent to blow the whistle)

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - DeMarcus Cousins likes the way the Kings are clicking on offence. Its the defence, though, that really has Sacramentos big man smiling — even if there have been a few breakdowns along the way.Cousins had 30 points and 11 rebounds, Rudy Gay scored 29 and the Kings beat the Denver Nuggets 131-109 Wednesday night to extend their best start in more than a decade.Us playing defence the way we are, communicating and playing together, is helping on the offensive end, Cousins said. Playing defence, I believe, helps build chemistry. We trust in one another and its going over to the other side of the floor.Darren Collison added 10 points and eight assists, and Carl Landry had 18 points off the bench to help Sacramento to its second win over Denver in three days and fourth straight overall following a season-opening loss to Golden State.The Kings improved to 4-1 for the first time since 2001-02, when they won the Pacific Division and grabbed the No. 1 seed in the Western Conference playoffs. They havent been back to the post-season since 2007.Sacramento did it despite giving up 35 points in the second quarter and 37 in the fourth.Tonight was a Jekyll and Hyde night, coach Mike Malone said. I dont want us creating poor habits, and to allow a team to score 37 points in the fourth quarter the way they did is really unacceptable.Ty Lawson had 13 points and nine assists for Denver (1-3).Sacramento scored 40 points in the first quarter, led by as many as 36 and had six players in double figures.Cousins led the surge with his third double-double in five games before fouling out early in the fourth quarter.With Denver centre JaVale McGee getting limited minutes while still recovering from last seasons broken leg, Cousins dominated in the low post early against backup Timofey Mozgov and met little resistance from the Nuggets soft interior defence.Cousins scored 26 in the first half and made 10 of 14 shots overall.At one point in the second half, Cousins — generally among the NBA leaders in technical fouls — was hacked by two Denver defenders while trying to score under the basket. Mozgov was called for the foul, argued and picked up a technical while Cousins clapped his hands and walked away smiling.Denver couldnt keep up.The Nuggets fell behind early, then trimmed a 21-point deficit to 60-52 on Nate Robinsons layup with 1:37 left before Sacramento closed the half on an 8-2 run.Gay blocked a layup by McGee late in the third quarter and Reggie Evans scored on a fast break to make it 105-70.Basically in a nutshell, we were too soft on defence, said Denvers Wilson Chandler, who had 13 points. We cant point fingers. It was everybody all the way across the board.___JUST CUZCousins carried on a running conversation with Nuggets coach Brian Shaw the entire game, and at one point walked over to Denvers bench and needled the players for the way they were defending him. Are you guys kidding me? Cousins said as he walked by. Shaw was disappointed his players didnt respond. Nobody else took it personally, Shaw said. The way I feel about that is if nobody wants to stand up to it, then we should get out butts kicked and we did. He should talk to us that way if we dont have any professional pride as a group.___TIP-INSNuggets: Shaw continues to take a cautious approach with McGee. The 7-footer missed almost all of 2013-14 with a left tibia stress fracture and has been coming off the bench this season. McGee got off to a sloppy start against Sacramento and picked up two fouls in his first 3 minutes, bobbled away an easy pass into the post and was called for travelling. He finished with nine points and two rebounds. JaVale is still trying to build up his stamina, Shaw said. Hes been getting tired really quickly. ... Lawson moved past Nick Van Exel into fifth place on Denvers career list with 2,056 assists. ... Kenneth Faried was held to a season-low four points.Kings: The 40 points in the first quarter were a season high. ... Ben McLemore is playing with a large bandage over his right eye, remnants of a preseason injury when he butted heads with Wayne Ellington of the Lakers. ... Sacramento went 39 of 50 from the free throw line. The Kings took 47 free throws against the Nuggets on Monday.___UP NEXTNuggets: Play at Cleveland on Friday.Kings: Visit Phoenix on Friday to begin a four-game road trip. Glenn Hubbard Jersey . Bobrovsky posted a 2-0-1 record with a 1.58 goals-against average and .950 save percentage to help the Blue Jackets (35-26-6) gain five of a possible six points last week. He capped the week by making 32 saves and stopping 2-of-4 shootout attempts in a 2-1 win over the Minnesota Wild on Saturday. Braves Jerseys 2020 .J. -- Pitcher Carl Pavano is retiring after 14 major league seasons. https://www.cheapbraves.com/153o-glenn-h...y-braves.html.B. -- Canadas Rachel Homan opened the Ford Womens World Curling Championship with a 7-5 win over Russia on Saturday. Francisco Cervelli Braves Jersey .com) - The NBA will be on display overseas Thursday with the New York Knicks taking on the Milwaukee Bucks at O2 Arena in London. Braves Jerseys 2019 . "Hes over there," the first baseman said. "You dont need to talk to anybody else." Indeed, Peralta did it all as the majors top team won again.Got a question on rule clarification, comments on rule enforcements or some memorable NHL stories? Kerry wants to answer your emails at cmonref@tsn.ca. Hi Kerry, I am sure you will get a ton of emails on this one. Last night, the Kings went up 2-1 on the Sharks around eight minutes remaining. My question with this goal - Is Justin Williams allowed to hit the goalie with his stick? Cant this be considered goalie interference? I am a Ducks fan waiting to see my next opponent. I really think the Sharks were cheated here. The NHL says this type of play is non-reviewable. This excuse just seems like an easy way out from a judgment call. Thanks,Jake Kevari Jake: The L.A. Kings greasy second goal should have been disallowed by referee Chris Lee as per rule 69.6 when Justin Williams used his stick to push Alex Stalock, set in a statuesque pose, that resulted in both the puck and the toe of Stalocks left skate to cross the goal line into the net. It appeared that the referee was purely focused on the puck that became partially visible under the left skate of Alex Stalock after the goalie made the initial save. If referee Lee taken had taken into account the action of Justin Williams pushing Stalock from the front of the goal crease with his hockey stick or subsequently had the opportunity to utilize video review I would hope that a different decision on the play would have been rendered. Many fans who follow me on twitter @kfraserthecall (Kings Fans perhaps?) could not comprehend that the action of Justin Williams pushing Alex Stalock with his stick became a goalie interference violation. Language contained in Rule 69 defines contact, whether incidental or otherwise, to mean any contact that is made between or among a goalkeeper and attacking player(s), whether by means of a stick or any part of the body. Some had even more difficulty accepting that Rule 69.6 applied on this play since Stalock was not knocked completely into the back of the net. Rule 69.6 reads; "In the event that a goalkeeper has been pushed into the net together with the puck by an attacking player after making a stop, the goal will be disallowed." To simplify this play, Alex Stalock made an initial save on his knees wheen Robin Regehr shot the puck from the top left side faceoff circle.dddddddddddd Stalocks lower body remained stationary inside the top right side of his goal crease after the puck was gobbled up in his pads. Referee Chris Lee attacked the net straddling the goal line with the whistle in a ready position near his mouth demonstrating some intent to blow the whistle and kill the play; that is until he saw the puck peek out from under Stalocks left skate blade and pad. The refs body posture and head position indicates that he was intently focused on the puck from this moment forward. Freeze frame that visual picture in your mind for a second! If in this moment, Justin Williams dove or crashed into Alex Stalock resulting in the puck entering the net, I would think most everyone would agree that "goalie interference" had been committed and the referee should disallow the goal. The exact same illegal outcome was achieved when Justin Williams used his hockey stick to push Stalock within his goal crease and off his set-stationary position which caused both the puck and the goalies left skate to cross the goal line and enter the net as demonstrated by the overhead net-cam shot. To disallow the goal under Rule 69.6 would be purely academic at this point had the referee been focused more on the action taking place at the front of the net as opposed to the puck. Ideally, the whistle (or intent to blow the whistle) should have been exercised once Justin Williams began pushing Alex Stalock with his stick, if not before! Jake, video review can only be utilized in eight specific situations as listed in Rule 38.4. At the present time interference on the goalkeeper is not one of them. I have continually stated that referees must have the ability to review their initial decision whenever contact with the goalkeeper is in question. This should be initiated by the officials on the ice, the video goal judge or through a coachs challenge. However the review is initiated, I strongly recommend that a referee(s) makes the final call after personally reviewing the play in question on a monitor in the timekeepers box. Look for expanded use of video review in some form next season. We can only hope they get it right. ' ' '