ekansekans's blog: "df"

NEWARK, N.J. -- Best in the country and No. 1 and 2 in the NBA draft. The celebration goes on for Kentuckys kids. The Wildcats became the first school to have the top two picks and tied a record with six players taken overall Thursday night. After the New Orleans Hornets made the long-expected selection of forward Anthony Davis with the first pick, Charlotte followed by taking fellow freshman Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. "Its crazy," Davis said. "Michael is a great player. We have two down and four more to go. Hopefully, all of them will go in the first round." They didnt, the only disappointment for the Wildcats. They settled for four in the first round and a tie with North Carolina, which won the race to four picks -- all in the top 17 selections. Harrison Barnes (No. 7, Golden State), Kendall Marshall (No. 13, Phoenix), John Henson (No. 14, Milwaukee) and Tyler Zeller (No. 17, Dallas) all went between Kidd-Gilchrist and the next Kentucky player, Terrence Jones at No. 18 to Houston. Zellers rights were later traded to Cleveland for a package that included No. 24 pick Jared Cunningham of Oregon State. Otherwise, it was the Wildcats night, starting with a hug between Davis and Kidd-Gilchrist after the first selection. "My arm was shaking and my hands were sweaty. Got up and hugged Michael, my best friend, wanted to hug him for a minute," Davis said. "When my name got called, wanted to make sure he stayed close." He did -- following Davis as the next player to climb onto the stage and shake Commissioner David Sterns hand. Kentucky got its fourth first-round pick at No. 29 with Marquis Teague, another freshman, who is headed to Chicago as a possible replacement for the injured Derrick Rose. Doron Lamb went 42nd to Milwaukee and Darius Miller was 46th to New Orleans. Only UNLV in 1977 had six players drafted -- but none in the first round. John Calipari has been criticized for recruiting "one-and-done" players, they stay the required one year and leave, but he looked thrilled hugging his two stars at the start of the night. Its been a long time since a school made such an impact at the top of the draft. UCLA had the Nos. 1 and 3 picks in 1969, when Milwaukee took Kareem Abdul-Jabbar -- then Lew Alcindor -- and Lucius Allen went third to the Seattle SuperSonics. Davis will begin his pro career in the same city where he ended it with a national title. College basketballs player of the year as a freshman was the Most Outstanding Player of the Final Four despite shooting just 1 for 10 from the field in the championship game, grabbing 16 rebounds and blocking six shots in the victory over Kansas. Davis slipped on a blue and purple Hornets hat above a conservative grey suit that took no attention away from basketballs most famous eyebrow. Davis even attempted to capitalize on the attention his unibrow gets, trademarking "Fear The Brow" and "Raise The Brow" earlier this month. On the floor, Davis has the agility of a guard -- and he was one only a few years ago. The 6-foot-10 Davis averaged 14.2 points, 10.4 rebounds and 4.7 blocks, becoming a dominant defender after growing 7 inches from the start of his junior year of high school. A season after the Hornets traded longtime star Chris Paul, Davis is ready to be their centerpiece, since playing for the Wildcats means hes already accustomed to plenty of attention. "Like I said, at Kentucky we had it all the time, especially the six who played, we had the spotlight all the time," Davis said. "I think it really prepared me." Charlotte, coming off a 7-59 season and the worst winning percentage in NBA history, had been open to moving the No. 2 pick if it found the right deal. Instead, Michael Jordans team went with Kidd-Gilchrist, whose selection by the Bobcats was loudly cheered, a sharp contrast from the boos Stern received when coming out to announce the picks. The new Charlotte swingman played in high school at nearby St. Patricks in Elizabeth, N.J., and fans chanted "MKG! MKG!" as he walked off the stage. Though he and Davis talked before the draft, they didnt discuss the history the Wildcats were about to make. "No. I was shocked at first," Kidd-Gilchrist said. "I was shocked. But no, we didnt. We didnt at all." Floridas Bradley Beal went third to Washington, making it three SEC freshman in the first three picks. Cleveland followed with the surprisingly early pick of Syracuse sixth man Dion Waiters at No. 4. Thomas Robinson of Kansas, who hoped to go second, fell to Sacramento at No. 5. Portland took Weber States Damian Lillard at No. 6 with its first of two lottery picks, and Barnes was taken seventh by Golden State. After Washingtons Terrence Ross went to Toronto and Connecticuts Andre Drummond to Detroit, the Hornets rounded out the top 10 by taking Duke guard Austin Rivers with a pick they acquired in the Paul trade. Rivers hugged his father, Boston coach Doc Rivers, who came to be with his family instead of with the Celtics, who owned two later first-round picks. Davis was the only clear-cut pick entering the draft, and there were some early surprises. Players such as Waiters and Ross went higher than expected, while Robinson dropped to the Kings. "I really didnt know where I was going to end up at, but it is a bit of a surprise," he said, tearing up when talking about his difficult journey that included the deaths of multiple family members in college. "I didnt work out for Sacramento at all, I probably talked to them about once. But Im here, so Im meant to be here." Houston took Jeremy Lamb of Connecticut at No. 12 with its first of three top-20 picks. But the Rockets, who also had the Nos. 16 and 18 picks, were hoping not to use all of them, instead packaging them for an established player after their pursuit of the Lakers Pau Gasol fell through last year. The Rockets tabbed Iowa States Royce White at No. 16 and Terrence Jones two picks later. Jared Sullinger, once considered a top-10 pick, ended up in a draft free-fall over concerns with his back but was finally taken at No. 21 by Boston. The Celtics followed with Fab Melo of Syracuse, giving them two potential replacements if Kevin Garnett doesnt return. The NBA champion Miami Heat took forward Arnett Moultrie of Mississippi State at No. 27 with their first-round pick, but traded his rights to Philadelphia for the rights to LSU centre Justin Hamilton and a future first-round pick. Andrew Nicholson, a six-foot-10 St. Bonaventure University power forward from Mississauga, Ont., was selected by the Orlando Magic 19th. Montreals Kris Joseph, a Syracuse swingman, was selected 51st by Boston. Wholesale NFL Jerseys China . Hudon scored three times in less than five minute in the third period Wednesday to lift Chicoutimi over the Victoriaville Tigres 4-3 in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Wholesale Nike NFL Jerseys From China . The former Red Sox catcher and Kansas City Royals manager was interviewed on Monday, an off day in the AL championship series between the Yankees and the Detroit Tigers. http://hipstervancouver.com/ .S. Open champion Sam Stosur was beaten by Jelena Jankovic of Serbia. Caroline Wozniacki ousted Ana Ivanovic of Serbia 6-3, 7-5 in a meeting of former No.DONETSK, Ukraine -- France won a match at a major tournament for the first time since Zinedine Zidanes head-butt, beating Ukraine 2-0 Friday in a storm-delayed match at the European Championship. Jeremy Menez and Yohan Cabaye scored early in the second half for the French, who last won a major match in the semifinals of the 2006 World Cup. In the final of that tournament, Zidane was given a red card for his head-butt in the last match of his career. "We scored twice and could have had more," France coach Laurent Blanc said. "We have a lot of potential." Fridays match at the Donbass Arena was suspended for nearly an hour because thunder, lightning and torrential rain forced the players off the field after five minutes. It resumed almost an hour later. After a 1-1 draw with England in its opening match, France has four points in Group D, one more than Ukraine. The French also extended their unbeaten run to 23 games. "I congratulated my players and the Ukrainian players," Blanc said. "It was a good match with both teams trying to attack." Both France goals were the product of the one-touch passing and movement that was once the teams hallmark. For the first, Franck Ribery gathered the ball on the left, sprinted forward and then set up Karim Benzema near the penalty area. The Real Madrid forward stroked the ball to Menez, who then cut inside and drilled a low shot inside the near post with his left foot. The goal justified Blancs decision to replace veteran midfielder Florent Malouda with Menez, although the Paris Saint-Germain winger had two earlier chances denied by the legs of Ukraine goalkeeper Andriy Pyatov. Frances second goal was another example of exquisite teamwork, with Ribery and Samir Nasri combining to find Benzema. He cushioned the ball and then split the Ukraine cenntre halves with a superbly weighted pass that allowed Cabaye to run on and finish with an angled shot.dddddddddddd. With Frances confidence peaking in Donetsk, Cabaye almost added a third midway through the second half with a half-volley that hit the middle of the right post. The exasperated whistles from the frustrated home fans at the Donbass Arena grew in intensity, and by the time Nasri forced a late save from Pyatov with a curling free kick, the home fans were already leaving. "It wasnt easy because they had a whole stadium behind them," Blanc said. But for the French fans, it was finally something to sing about after going out of the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2008 at the group stage. Moments before kick off, the rain intensified as about 49,000 soaked Ukrainians gave a searing rendition of their national anthem after a clap of thunder had interrupted Frances "La Marseillaise." When crackles of lightning lit up the sky, referee Bjoern Kuipers made a quick decision in the fifth minute that the players safety and the drenched field made it impossible to continue. When the players returned, Menez should have given France the lead in the 28th. Ribery intercepted a dreadful back pass from midfielder Anatoliy Tymoschuk and hit a quick cross that ball rolled behind Benzema and fell to Menez -- but Pyatov kicked his effort away. Ukraines only clear chance of the match fell to Andriy Shevchenko in the 35th. He found space behind right back Mathieu Debuchy and hit a firm strike from about 10 metres (yards) that was blocked by goalkeeper Hugo Lloris. Pyatov saved Ukraine again on either side of halftime, tipping away Philippe Mexes header and denying Menez again with his legs. After Shevchenko drew a hopeful roar from the crowd with a powerful rising shot, Ukraines efforts fizzled out. ' ' '