If you think its hard to shake off a centurys worth of baseball futility, just try to break away from decades of basketball success.The Los Angeles Lakers, NBA royalty, had always been the opposite of the Chicago Cubs. That once-pleasant distinction is now their problem, the challenge of shedding the trappings of that rich history when thats precisely what they need to do to morph into a contending team once again.So even as general manager Mitch Kupchak sat in a room in Lakers headquarters and proclaimed Its all new with this 2016-17 edition of the team, on the wall behind him were framed pictures of Kobe Bryant, James Worthy, Jerry Buss with Magic Johnson, and Jerry West. On the wall across from him where pictures of Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Wilt Chamberlain. The past is ever-present with this team.You come into the practice facility and walk the halls, and you see pictures of all-time greats, said first-year coach Luke Walton, who went to the Lakers past four trips to the NBA Finals as a player.Yet even with Waltons return to Lakerland, this is as separated as the franchise has ever been from its glory days. Kobe Bryant retired and Byron Scott was let go as coach and in one offseason, there went two central figures from the Staples Center and Showtime eras. For added measure, athletic trainer Gary Vitti, one of the bridges between the two dynasties, retired. Jerry West has been gone since 2000, The Voice of the Lakers Chick Hearn died in 2002, Shaquille ONeal was traded in 2004, Jerry Buss passed away in 2013 and Magic Johnsons name was taken off the company masthead this past year after one tweet too many. Kupchak, who transitioned from playing to the front office in the 1980s, is practically the only name from the past left in the building.I mean, you cant hold on to everything forever, Kupchak said.Every member of the coaching staff except for Mark Madsen is new. Two new therapists and a new strength and conditioning coach will report to Vittis replacement, Marco Nunez. There are two new hires for the analytics department. Theres a practice facility under construction a few blocks away from their current site in El Segundo.A lot of its almost like pressing a reset button, Kupchak said.That includes a shift in the philosophy of building the team. No longer will you see the Lakers take the approach that failed them in recent off-seasons: patching together rosters with players whose primary attributes were expiring contracts that would create the salary cap space for the Lakers to pursue a star free agent. After Dwight Howard walked out the door and the likes of Carmelo Anthony and LaMarcus Aldridge?turned them down in recent summers, it was time to scrap that approach. Not only had the rules that once enabled them to sign Shaquille ONeal changed (the Lakers can no longer outbid teams, or offer the same number of years as a players current team), so had the landscape.You have to have assets; cap room alone is overrated, Kupchak said. I think if you talk to teams in the NBA for the last four or five years that have had all kinds of cap room, its a stressful situation. Because youve got to go out there and pay non-max players, youve got to overpay to get somebody, depending on the city. And you might not get somebody. And then you kick the can down the road a year and try to do the same thing next summer.Thats why this year, rather than fish for the biggest names in the free agency pond, the Lakers quickly signed Timofey Mozgov and Luol Deng to contracts worth a combined $136 million over four years. Its explained by Kupchaks one-word expectation for this season: progress. Young teams dont win in the NBA. Adding those two veterans to the all-under-25 group of Julius Randle, DAngelo Russell, Jordan Clarkson, Brandon Ingram, Larry Nance Jr. and Ivica Zubac was designed to make the Lakers incrementally better, faster.Taking small steps isnt the traditional Laker way. Its also a potentially risky strategy for this Laker administration under executive vice president for basketball operations Jim Buss, who had pledged to step down after this season if the Lakers have not returned to contending status. A new name at the top could potentially mean new names throughout the organization, including Kupchaks job.My only goal is to get this franchise on solid footing with young players, free agents and flexibility, Kupchak said. And I think weve done that.I dont know how many games were going to win. But my hope is that as the season goes on, our fans, our partners, the TV audience can watch this team play and see growth and see enthusiasm. Luke is not an experienced coach, but Im hoping as this season goes on everybody can watch a coach become a good coach. And watch young players develop and grow. And I want to see exciting basketball. Thats my focus. To get involved in anything else from where I sit is counterproductive. And thats really all I focus on.These are different days in Lakerland, when the immediate goals arent championships, and the players are guaranteed to hang on the walls one day. How will this play? Well, Denzel Washington is a good indicator to follow. He isnt so much a hardcore Laker fan as he is a fan of the sport at its highest level. He typically only sits in his courtside seats when he expects a good game. He was there on opening night, and after the Lakers high-scoring victory over the Houston Rockets he said, with a touch of surprise in his voice, I like what I see. Nike Air Max 90 Premium Rosa . And follow TSN.ca right through Deadline Day for all the updates. From Pierre LeBrun While Anaheim GM Bob Murray said earlier this season he was not going to trade Jonas Hiller despite the fact hes an unrestricted free agent on July 1, some sources have told TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun that Murray might be willing to move another goalie. Nike Air Vapormax Kpu . It says Pocklingtons lawyer filed the appeal Friday in a California court. CTV Edmonton also says Pocklington gave a $100,000 cash deposit as part of the conditions of his bail, and that he will be out on bail until his appeal is heard. http://www.2018airmax97.it/ . Traditional contenders Brazil, Greece and Turkey drew the other three spots to complete the 24-team field for this summers tournament in Spain, basketball governing body FIBA announced Saturday at its meeting in Barcelona. Air Max 97 Cobblestone . LUCIE, Fla. Nike Air Max 2018 Uscita . But the quarterback hopes to stay involved in football after officially calling it quits Tuesday. "Id love to look at those opportunities as they arise," Pierce said in an interview from his Winnipeg eatery. Canterbury consolidated their spot in the NRL top four with a gutsy 32-22 win over the Wests Tigers.Bulldogs winger Brett Morris continued his extraordinary try-scoring blitz on Saturday night, bagging his second double in as many weeks to take his tally to seven tries in just three matches.The former NSW State of Origin winger could have had four but was twice denied by try-saving tackles from Kevin Naiqama either side of halftime.Morris effort was matched by prop Sam Kasiano, who set up two tries in a dynamic first stint upon introduction in the middle of the first half.In front of a crowd of 16,212 at a wet ANZ Stadium, and without State of Origin duo Josh Jackson and David Klemmer, the Bulldogs were twice forced to come from behind against a gallant Tigers outfit.The visitors led 14-4 when Kasiano turned the game, twice handling possession to put Morris over in the 27th minute before offloading to a runaway Josh Reynolds in the ensuing set.The Tigers, who had key trio Robbie Farah, Aaron Woods and James Tedesco also on Origin duty, regained the lead when debutant Jacob Liddle crossed just after halftime.They could have kicked further ahead when Tim Simona broke into the backfield a minute later, but fill-in fullback Jordan Rankin spilled an easy catch with the tryline begging.Instead Canterbury fought back again,, Morris completing his double in the 60th minute before Sam Perrett extended the Bulldogs winning streak to four with a try on fulltime.dddddddddddd.The loss for the Tigers, who had strong performances from Naiqama, Mitchell Moses and Tim Grant, leaves them in 11th spot, two points out of the top eight.Tigers coach Jason Taylor bemoaned his teams poor ball control in the second half and said they failed to overcome the disappointment of Rankins error.Those things can be hard to overcome, he said.Ill talk with the guys in detail about it but when you know there should be six points more on the scoreboard and theres still 30-odd minutes to go in the game, it can be hard mentally to overcome that and get past it.We backed that up with more errors and that was the game, really.Bulldogs coach Des Hasler praised his side for recovering from a slow start and a penalty count that was heavily against them in the first half.At one stage there, they got about five out of the six penalties that were given, he said.Theyre big numbers, theyre big stats to overcome. So there was a fair bit of adversity we had to overcome but we were patient and when we got our opportunities, we were able to capitalise. ' ' '