nsive rebounds. But what he gives you, he gives you a winning spirit, and he does that throughout the game on both ends. The Wizards will need plenty from Porter against the Cavaliers regar

MINNEAPOLIS -- Seimone Augustus has that southern storytellers way about her. She can mimic voices and act out the parts in whatever tale she is sharing.When she starts with the stories, I listen, Lynx teammate Maya Moore said. Because theyre so funny. She impersonates people and adds her own little touches to it. Shes quite a character.However, the stories from Augustus beloved hometown of Baton Rouge, Louisiana, havent been amusing this year. The massive rain and subsequent flooding that hit the area in August wrought horrific damage that will take a long time to clean up and rebuild. Many people were also left devastated emotionally.Ill show you a picture of my grandmothers house, Augustus said while getting out her phone to display a gigantic pile of debris. Thats how the entire street looked. So many people lost all their belongings.Augustus parents had damage but not total destruction. They also had flood insurance, which was a big help. The animals Augustus keeps back home all made it through the flooding safely; that was among her worries while she was at the Rio de Janeiro Olympics.Augustus was moved to tears while talking about her hometown after the United States won the gold medal, and she has been back to visit a couple times since. When the WNBA Finals are over, shell have more time there because she doesnt plan to play overseas this winter.Her heart is always between these two places: Minneapolis, where she has played professionally since she was drafted No. 1 in 2006, and Baton Rouge, where she was born, grew up and played collegiately at LSU. Through her play and her life off the court, she looks to honor both places.Now in her 11th WNBA season, Augustus is trying to win a fourth league title. But she has already cemented her legacy as a champion. What do you want your legacy to be? was the question Cheryl Reeve asked Augustus when she took over as Minnesotas coach in 2010.When she kind of challenged me, I had never really thought about it, Augustus said. Then I realized, in order for us to be successful, Ive got to be a complete player. I have to play defense.It cant be like, Well, Mone is guarding this player today, so well have to give extra help. Because that puts pressure on everyone else to not only do their job but to help me do my job too.Augustus averaged 21.3 points over her first three seasons before a knee injury limited her to six games in 2009. From 2010 to 14, Augustus averaged 16.5 points, with her offensive production as consistent as a metronome.As the Lynx improved in other ways offensively the past two seasons, her scoring average dropped: 13.8 points per game in 2015 and 11.2 this year. Yet guarding her remains a difficult task.Shes incredibly crafty with the ball, Sparks forward Nneka Ogwumike said. Shes a spectacular ball handler. But she can also score in many different situations. She can post up, pull up, take you off the dribble.Sparks coach Brian Agler added, Seimone knows the game so much more than she did when she was younger. And thats not to discredit her younger days. Its just to say that shes worked at her craft and thinks the game now at a different level, which all the great ones do.Ultimately, as Augustus said, her commitment to defense helped turn the Lynx into champions.In 2011, when Minnesota began its current run of success, the Lynx had another young scoring sensation: then-rookie Moore.Cheryl didnt want to throw me into the fire defensively then, as I was adjusting from being a 4 to a 3, Moore said of her move from power forward at UConn to small forward in the WNBA. She had Seimone guard the more dominant scorers every night, and she stepped up and did it. That was a big reason why we were able to win in 2011.I have appreciated how she doesnt necessarily get a lot of praise for it outside of our team. But its so important to why we win. Shes just dependable. And we know if theres a game where she struggles, shes going to bounce back.Augustus didnt have her best showing Sunday in Game 1 of the WNBA Finals, shooting 2-of-5 from the field for six points with four turnovers. But Moore is right that Augustus has always been resilient, and her personality has been the perfect counter for Reeves seriousness.She is incredibly humble and hilarious to be around, Reeve said. I always say shes great for me because she brings levity to a lot of situations. Seimone is a big reason why this team has fun in what they do.At this point, shes saying, Im going to play as long as I can and as hard as I can. Shes a great veteran and a great teacher, and I think shes grown into those things.Augustus is outspoken without being strident. She has never shied away from talking about social issues and things that matter beyond basketball. She was out and an advocate of marriage equality before a lot of other athletes were willing to talk about it. Earlier this year, she took a stand?with her Lynx teammates in regard to the Black Lives Matter movement. The shooting deaths of Alton Sterling in Baton Rouge and Philando Castile in St. Paul, Minnesota, in July hit especially close to home for Augustus because those two communities are home for her.There are always those boundaries that you can and cant always cross in your professional career, Augustus said. Some people speak up, no matter what. And some people tend to take the back seat and wait it out.The great thing about Coach Reeve is she said, Theres no better time to do it than now. Its happening now. We got some backlash from it, but for the most part, we got a lot of positive feedback. We were talking about the maturity and growth of this team, to be able to do that and play basketball. That says a lot about the women we have on the team.Maturity is a key word and one that means so much to Augustus development. She was a prolific scorer in high school, college and the early part of her WNBA career. She could have been offended by Reeves suggestion that she needed to be better at everything else. She could have been resentful when asked to do more of the so-called dirty work.She just said, OK, and did it, Reeve said. I think its leadership and being a great teammate. Shes like the pied piper. Everyone loves being around Mone. But we needed her to not just be that fun person but also a leader on the floor, to sometimes have to say something difficult to a teammate.Now you look at her years later. What is her legacy? Thats something she took very personally and applied it. Cheap Ravens Jerseys Authentic . 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But he said he did nothing improper when he sold those shares over the next two days. Cheap Jordan Lasley Jersey . The 28-year-old from Calgary matched his career best after missing just one shot in his two rounds of shooting in the mens 10-kilometre sprint competition. Smith finished in 23 minutes 15. WASHINGTON -- The Cleveland Cavaliers were in the nations capital Thursday for a White House meeting with President Barack Obama.They did not head home right away.Instead, they stuck around for Fridays game with the Washington Wizards.LeBron James and his teammates need a return to their title-winning form or a second straight loss could occur especially if John Wall keeps his emotions in check.The Cavaliers (6-1) suffered their first loss of their season Tuesday as the Atlanta Hawks hung tough for a 110-106 win. Cleveland twice rallied from double-digit deficits in the second half, but could not finish the job despite James scoring 21 of his 23 points in the second half. Shooting only 37.4 percent from the field including 11 of 42 on 3-pointers didnt help.Its our game. Its what we do, James said of the numerous shots from long range. We had some pretty good looks. Were a team that when the ball is moving and youre the recipient of it, you have to let it go. You never want to second-guess yourself.Cleveland leads the league in 35.7 3-point attempts per game. The Cavaliers are in the top-10 in 3-point shooting percentage at 36.4 percent and have four players who make at least 35 percent from behind the arc.Wall wishes he had another chance concerning his late game decision in Washingtons 118-93 romp over the Boston Celtics.The three-time All-Star guard was whistled for a Flagrant 2 foul against Marcus Smart in the final minutes of the blowout with the Wizards up 20 points in their best start-to-finish performance of the season.It was just me getting frustrated, said Wall, who was also ejected late in Mondays losss to the Houston Rockets for making contact with an official.dddddddddddd I had my fingers bleeding, they got stepped-on on purpose. I drove to the basket a couple times and didnt get calls. The play before that, I was dribbling and got smacked right across the face to my ear. I just let my frustration get the best of me.Even with Wall getting frustrated, it was a satisfying night for the Wizards, especially Otto Porter.Porter got the best of the Celtics with a career-high 34 points, 14 rebounds, three steals and three blocks. Washingtons starting small forward made his first three 3-pointers and outscored Boston 13-8 in the first quarter. The Wizards led 34-8 entering the second period and were never truly threatened.Otto has been great, Washington coach Scott Brooks said. He gives you a lot of winning basketball plays. You can look at his field goal percentage, you can look at all the things that he does; his mid-range game, his three-point shot has developed, his offensive rebounds. But what he gives you, he gives you a winning spirit, and he does that throughout the game on both ends. The Wizards will need plenty from Porter against the Cavaliers regardless, but especially if Bradley Beal doesnt play. Beal left in the third quarter with right hamstring tightness.Beal had an MRI Thursday and was listed as questionable for Friday. Last year he missed 27 games with leg injuries.Cleveland and Washington split four games last season and the road team has won 12 of the last 22 meetings. Wholesale Jerseys 2020 Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Wholesale NFL Camo Jerseys Wholesale NFL T-shirts Cheap NFL Jerseys Throwback Youth NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys From China ' ' '