Page 15 - Florida Sentinel 1-24-17 Edition

Sports
Serena Williams
Curry, Durant And Four First-Time Starters Highlight Starting Lineups For NBA All-Star 2017
• East Starters: DeMar DeRozan, Kyrie Irving, Le- Bron James, Giannis Ante- tokounmpo, Jimmy Butler
• West Starters: Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry, Anthony Davis, James Harden
Russell Westbrook might be the most dynamic player in the NBA this season, scoring a league-best 30.6 points and aver- aging a triple-double through his first 44 games. But unless an in- jury occurs, Westbrook will not be a starter in the 2017 NBA All- Star Game.
The starting lineups were re- vealed Thursday for the 66th NBA All-Star Game, which will be played Sunday, Feb. 19, in New Orleans at the Smoothie King Center. And apparently Westbrook's first-half perform- ance wasn't impressive enough to crack the Western Conference's top five.
Then again, the West's start- ing guards each have a pretty good case for inclusion. Golden State's reigning two-time MVP Stephen Curry will make his fourth All-Star appearance. Alongside Curry will be Hous- ton's James Harden, who is second in the NBA in points (28.9) and first in assists (11.6) in his role as point guard for the Rockets.
Spurs Coach Gregg Popovich Blasts President Trump
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Gregg Popovich would bench President Trump.
San Antonio's longtime coach, who has been highly crit- ical of Donald Trump in the past, went on a lengthy rant about the newly sworn-in presi- dent on Saturday night, calling him a bully and saying he hopes he can change while in office.
While meeting with reporters before the Spurs played the NBA champion Cavaliers, Popovich didn't hold back in offering his disdain for Trump and mem- bers of his administration.
Popovich was initially asked about his views on the women's marches in Washington and around the world before he un- loaded on Trump.
"Their message is obvious," the five-time champion coach said of the protesters. "Our pres- ident comes in with the lowest (approval) rating of anybody whoever came into the office. And there's a majority of people out there, since Hillary (Clin- ton) won the popular vote, that don't buy his act. And I just wish that he was more -- had the abil- ity to be more -- mature enough to do something that really is in- clusive rather than just talking and saying, `I'm going to in- clude everybody.'
"He could talk to the groups that he disrespected and ma- ligned during the primary and
GREGG POPOVICH
really make somebody believe it. But so far, we've got (to) a point where you really can't believe anything that comes out of his mouth. You really can't."
As he said following Trump's election in November, Popovich wants Trump to succeed but believes he will only do so if he changes.
Popovich pointed out that Trump visited CIA headquar- ters on his first official day in of- fice, but used the occasion to talk about himself.
"Instead of honoring the 117 people behind him where he was speaking, he talked about the size of the crowd," Popovich said. "That's worri- some. I'd just feel better if some- body was in that position that showed the maturity and psy- chological and emotional level of somebody that was his age. It's dangerous and it doesn't do us any good. I hope he does a great job, but there's a differ- ence between respecting the of- fice of the presidency and who occupies it.
Beats Barbora Strycova,
Reaches Last Eight
Over the years, Serena Williams has suffered her share of misfortune. But at this year's Australian Open, karma is an itch -- that Ser- ena keeps scratching.
She had failed on seven previous set points against Barbora Strycova on Mon- day, but on the eighth, Williams hit an off-balance backhand that glanced off the frame of her racket and died in the middle of the court. Strycova couldn't retrieve it, and Williams, despite hav- ing her serve broken three times, walked off with the first set.
And ultimately the second for a 7-5, 6-4 victory to ad- vance to the quarterfinals.
No. 1 seed Angelique Kerber, No. 3 Agnieszka Radwanska and No. 4 Si- mona Halep are all gone, but even at the age of 35, Ser- ena endures.
"It was a really good match for me, and I'm glad I got
SERENA WILLIAMS
through it," Williams said in her on-court interview.
Her usually invincible serve was something less, however. Widely acclaimed as the best server in women's history, she won only 53 per- cent of her service points and was broken four times.
"It's good to know I have a Plan B, or an Option 2," said Williams, the No. 2 seed and a 22-time major winner. "It's always good to have some- thing to improve on, and I know I can do better on my serve."
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