Dein erstes Forum » ITPowell on guarding Anthony: I

YAS MARINA, Abu Dhabi -- Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton are fighting for the world championship this weekend. ESPN will be keeping track of both mens interactions with the press, social media and track performances to build up to Sundays grand prix showdown. (Local times displayed)-----Sunday15:40 - Nate Saunders? The traditional end-of-season photograph has been taken on the start-finish straight. Jenson Button and Felipe Massa sat front and centre, flanked by the title contenders. Both men looking calm and collected.?Some interesting gamesmanship follows -- as they all walk to the drivers parade truck, Rosberg rolls in as if it was a wrestling ring and sits himself on the railings at the front of the truck. Thats Hamiltons usual spot, and his teammate awkwardly lingers for a moment as Rosberg waves to the crowd. Eventually Rosberg smirks and walks away from that position to the rear of the truck, allowing Hamilton to take his usual position, where he likes to sit so he can wave to the fans in the grandstand and not be distracted by other drivers.Speaking on the parade, Rosberg says: I try to keep things business as usual... Im feeling very, very good, Im liking the car. Still doing his best to keep his mind focused on anything but the championship showdown we are edging closer and closer towards. ?Earlier, we saw both Mercedes drivers posing for photos in front of the Mercedes garage, leading to this brilliant picture of Rosberg pensively looking over at the man standing between him and a maiden world title.?15:20 - Laurence Edmondson The atmosphere is building in the Yas Marina paddock ahead of todays season finale. Neither Lewis Hamilton nor Nico Rosberg can take a walk in the paddock without 20 camera lenses being pointed in their direction. Sunglasses, hat and headphones is Hamiltons usual race day attire and hell have the volume turned up to 11 today as he tries to block out the rest of the world out and stay in the zone. Meanhwile, Rosberg has already picked up one trophy this year for the most fastest laps of the season -- as long as he adds a second piece of silverware on the podium after the race he will be crowned world champion.Saturday20:00 - Nate Saunders?A vital pole position for Hamilton, but Rosberg is still the man in the pound seats going into tomorrow -- third or above is good enough for a maiden world championship. Hamilton looked very happy with himself after qualifying, he is arguably driving better at the moment than at any point during the season. But his work is still cut out for him tomorrow.Both men took to Twitter after qualifying, and Rosberg still seems to be a picture of calm going into the biggest grand prix of his career.?15:30 - Laurence Edmondson The view from Turn 19: FP3 wasnt the most revealing of sessions, but watching trackside in the final sector it was clear that Mercedes still has an edge over the opposition. Hamilton and Rosberg opted not to go for a second run on a set of fresh ultra-soft tyres at the very end of the session -- hence their deficit to Vettel, Verstappen and Raikkonen who did -- but they did set a time on the compound earlier in the session. I picked Turn 19 to watch in the hope that the off-camber corner (and looming steel barrier on the exit) might reveal a weakness in one of the two, but both cars looked painted to the tarmac throughout.By the time the drivers reach this section of track, the rear tyres have the potential to be on the absolute limit. The stop start nature of the final sector can cause drivers to overheat the compound, reducing grip just when the driver needs it most to launch the car towards the final two corners. Even though Vettel and Raikkonen were faster than the Mercedes drivers overall, they both lost time to Hamilton and Rosberg in this sector and its largely down to a struggle with traction on the exit of the corners. Only Verstappen was quicker, but he did so with the rear of the car stepping out as he pinned the throttle just past the apex. There were no such dramas for Rosberg or Hamilton, who both kept their cars perfectly in control as they used every last centimetre of track on offer. Dont be fooled by the headline times, qualifying is still Mercedes to lose.?14:50 - Laurence Edmondson Team boss Toto Wolff plays down suggestions that there could have been an ulterior motive to Mercedes decision to swap mechanics from both sides of the garage earlier this year. Hamilton had suggested there may have been more to the decision than met the eye during a press conference on Thursday (see below(.11:15 - Laurence Edmondson The view from inside the Mercedes garage on Saturday morning. FP3 starts at 14:00 with pole position decided from 17:00 onwards ...Friday21:30 - Laurence Edmondson A close shave! It turns out Felipe Nasr nearly collided with Hamilton during FP2 when he came across the Mercedes exiting the pits while he was on a fast lap. One of our Brazilian colleagues, Luis Fernando Ramos, was kind enough to translate what Nasr had to say about it after the session: Unfortunately I didnt get a clean run on the ultra-softs. I had to stop my first try and the second mainly because Hamilton was exiting the pits and I nearly crashed into his car. It was really close! So I lost all the maximum of my tyre for a fast lap. I wouldnt say he wasnt paying attention, it was the nature of that corner because its in the middle of Turn 3 and there was also another car on the inside. So there were three cars in the corner and I only just passed between them and it was really close. Both Hamilton and Mercedes will be glad that one didnt end differently. ?19:30 - Laurence Edmondson Hamilton will run a tribute to his friend, mentor and former doctor Aki Hintsa, who died last week at the age of 58 following a battle with cancer. The Mercedes driver gave a heart-felt answer to a question about Hintsa on Thursday - here is a part of what he said: To have finished his life so early was definitely tough to see but coming here this weekend, whilst I have that fighting spirit in my heart from the last races Ive done, I come here with almost double the power in the sense that I feel that I want to win this race more so for him. We were texting every single race through his battle and particularly the last race [in Brazil] on Sunday. Yeah, so coming here this weekend, whilst its an emotional time, Im here to try and do him proud, do well for him as he had helped prepare and the belief he had in me.19:15 - Laurence Edmondson Toto Wolff is facing questions about Hamiltons comments regarding Mercedes decision this year to mix up its mechanics from the two sides of the garage (see below). He makes it very clear that he made the decision based on what was right for the F1 teams 1,500 employees and not what was right for Hamilton alone. Mercedes has always maintained that the switch was carried out to stop the garage splitting into two cliques behind each driver. It seems as though this is a touchy issue between Mercedes and Hamilton and we may not have heard the end of it just yet ...19:00 - Laurence Edmondson The F1 track action for the day is done and dusted. The gap between Hamilton and Rosberg in the crucial second session (the only one held in the same conditions as qualifying and the race) was just 0.079s in Hamiltons favour, suggesting were in for a close battle. Red Bull was over half a second off the pace of the Mercedes on one-lap pace, but looked very competitive over long runs. A bad start for either Rosberg or Hamilton could see them struggle in the race if they fall behind on the run down to Turn 1.14:30 - Laurence Edmondson Advantage Hamilton after FP1 ... although it must be said its a fairly irrelevant advantage at this stage. First practice in Abu Dhabi is one of the least useful practice sessions of the year. The conditions are way hotter (due to the sun being up) than qualifying or the race, which are held as the sun is setting. Hamilton set his best time on the softs, Rosberg on the ultra-softs, but again that discrepancy is not unusual for an FP1 session. FP2 should give a much better indication, but Hamilton can take some encouragement from the two Red Bulls being roughly a tenth off Rosbergs best effort. If Max Verstappen and Daniel Ricciardo can finish between him and Rosberg on Sunday, that is Hamiltons? most obvious route to a fourth title.13:30 - Nate Saunders Hamilton becomes the first of the Mercedes drivers to spin this weekend -- swapping ends on the exit of Turn 5 after a long run on the ultra-soft tyre. An easy thing to do on Pirellis softest compound after that many laps, especially on a track still lacking grip at this stage of the weekend.?13:00 - Nate Saunders Rosberg leaves the garage ahead of the first practice session of the biggest F1 weekend of his career.?Thursday22:00 - Nate Saunders Nico Rosberg is feeling the love from local fans this weekend. The championship leader had quite a contingent of fans in the paddock today...20:00 - Nate Saunders? Lots of chatter in the paddock about the press conference, and notably a lot of difference in opinion towards Hamiltons demeanor and attitude throughout. Some thought he was in a bad mood -- especially early on -- while others claimed he was on good form, smiling and joking throughout the session. The pair did talk highly of the respect in their relationship, with Hamilton even going as far as saying he is proud of what his old karting friend has achieved in recent seasons. There were also a few moments of light-hearted humour between them, which hasnt always been the case in 2016.?18:15 - Laurence Edmondson On a Thursday the FOM camera men get a bit of practice in watching the safety car and medical car put their sighter laps in. For reasons Ive never really understood, the action of the two Mercedes road cars is beamed into the media centre for us to watch. However, this weeks edition of Thursdays track action happened to pan away to the Mercedes team garage where we saw Toto Wolff addressing a packed garage of Mercedes mechanics and engineers in what looked like a motivational speech ahead of the first practice day tomorrow. Anyway, the screens are now showing safety car driver Bernd Maylander hold an impressive slide coming out of the Turn 7 hairpin. ?17:30 - Laurence EdmondsonEveryone loves an Abu Dhabi sunset ...17:00 - Laurence Edmondson Although the pair spend a lot of time in the same engineering room, its rare that Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg attend the same press conference. In many ways their answers mirrored their approaches this season. While Rosberg stuck to the same well-worn mantra of taking it one race at a time and not thinking about the title (even when just one race remains on which the title rests), Hamilton was laid back and willing to further from the script in his responses.The most obvious example followed a long but quite pointed question about Mercedes decision to swap five mechanics between the two sides of the garage at the start of the year. While Rosberg talked about team spirit and everybody pulling in the same direction, Hamilton clearly still feels there was more to the decision than reached the media as he told the press to wait for a future autobiography to learn the truth behind the decision. When it hits the shelves at the end of his career it will be an interesting read!Undoubtedly the pressure is on Rosberg, but he seems to be handling it well. A couple of Hamiltons answers resulted in raised eyebrows or a sideways glance, but other than that he is dealing with the magnitude of the event well.16:00 -Nate Saunders? Facing the media for the first time ahead of the weekend and on their own, Rosberg and Hamilton make their way in together and immediately sit on the front row. The press conference host asks if they will stand and shake hands for the photographers in attendance. Neither man proffers their hand to the other, while Rosberg verbally says he does not want to.The two men lightened up as the press conference continued...WednesdayTo be updated throughout the weekend. Michael Strahan Youth Jersey . They reached the 100-point plateau for the fourth time in five games, bested the visiting Trail Blazers by 34 in the paint and scored 19 of the final 25 points in regulation. Oshane Ximines Youth Jersey . Kozun faked to the forehand and beat Monsters starter, Calvin Pickard, pad side in the second round for the winner. Spencer Abbott also scored in the shootout for the Marlies (25-13-4). http://www.giantsonlineteamshop.com/odell-beckham-jr-jersey-cheap.html . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. Davis responded to his selection earlier in the day as a Western Conference All-Star with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 on Friday night. Daniel Jones Jersey .S. -- Nikolaj Ehlers registered a hat trick for the third straight game and Jonathan Drouin had a goal and five assists as the Halifax Mooseheads hammered the host Cape Breton Screaming Eagles 10-1 on Tuesday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League action. Ny Giants Jerseys . The Lightning are 2-0 so far on a four-game road trip, giving the club five straight wins as the guest and improving Tampas away record this season to 11-8-2. TORONTO -- After watching DeMar DeRozan drop more than 30 points on an opponent for the eighth time in nine games this season, Toronto coach Dwane Casey suggested that the game keeps slowing down for the NBAs leading scorer.DeRozan, who is averaging 34.0 points after scoring 33 in the Raptors 118-107 victory over the New York Knicks on Saturday night, agreed.Yeah, I always find ways I can be better mentally, physically, skill-wise, he said following Torontos fourth straight win over New York. I always try to find something in the offseason and during the season as well.The outburst put DeRozan in an exclusive club. In the last 50 years, only Michael Jordan, World B. Free and Tiny Archibald have started a season registering 30-plus points in eight of the first nine games.In a see-saw game that saw 27 lead changes, DeRozan provided a reassuring presence for a team that started one rookie in Pascal Siakum and a second-year player in Norman Powell, who had 19 points.Point guard Kyle Lowry, who scored what turned out to be the winning points with 1:41 to play on a driving layup, pointed to DeRozans fourth-quarter, 4-point play.He was serenaded with chants of MVP! MVP! from the crowd as he put the game out of reach with 26.8 seconds to go.Were just going to keep riding that coattail, Lowry said. Were going to keep letting him do him. Were going to rally around him and keep helping him be great.Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points, while Kristaps Porzingis and Derrick Rose added 21 apiece. Rose, who seemed to be favoring his shoulder at points in the game, said it was just a stinger.Losing, it hurts, period, Rose said after the Knicks fell to 3-6. Ive never been a loser in my life and just got to figure ways out. Were closer, a lot closer and the effort that we had, we need to find that effort for the entire game.TIP-INSKnicks: New York is 0-2 in the back end of back-to-back games. It has 15 such games this season. . The Knicks havent won a season series against thhe Raptors since the 2010-11 season, and are 4-9 against them in their last 13 games.ddddddddddddRaptors: F DeMarre Carroll was dropped from the starting lineup for the first time this season to give him some rest. Powell took his place. . Former Raptor Muggsy Bogues was in attendance, throwing signed basketballs into the crowd. . Saturdays game marked the first of 16 Atlantic Division games for Toronto. The Raptors have not lost a season series with their division rivals since 2012-13.OLD IS NEW AGAINThe Raptors wore blue throwback jerseys in tribute to the Toronto Huskies of the old Basketball Association of America, which eventually became the NBA. The Huskies hosted the New York Knickerbockers on Nov. 1, 1946, at Torontos Maple Leaf Gardens in what the NBA regards as the first game in its history, won 68-66 by the Knicks. The Raptors will wear the Huskies blue uniforms and play on a specially designed Huskies court on six occasions this season, and now have a 5-3 record when wearing the throwback uniforms.THEY SAID ITPowell on guarding Anthony: Im a student of the game. I watch a lot of film, especially guys I look up to. Ive watched so much Carmelo Anthony in my day, played with him so much in (video game NBA) 2K. The Knicks were my favorite team.STRO SHOWToronto Blue Jays pitcher Marcus Stroman watched the game from courtside, and threw a few signed mini basketballs into the crowd, launching a couple of the souvenirs all the way to the back of the lower bowl.UP NEXTKnicks: Host Dallas on Monday looking to snap a five-game losing streak against the Mavericks, who have won three straight at Madison Square Garden.Raptors: Visit Cleveland on Tuesday for the first time since last seasons Eastern Conference finals. The Cavaliers beat the Raptors in Toronto last month in the first of four meetings between the teams this season. ' ' '