01-09-2020, 02:58 AM
MILWAUKEE -- Its been a busy summer for Milwaukee Bucks general manager John Hammond. After hiring a new coach, Hammond set his sights on the NBA draft, then got to work rebuilding the roster, eventually bringing 11 new players to Milwaukee. Last week, however, Hammond made sure one of those players still around after last season stays in Milwaukee for a while. He signed centre Larry Sanders to a four-year extension worth approximately $44 million. "Weve talked about moving forward as an organization and building around young players on our roster," Hammond said. "Hes one, if not the, key, core piece for us moving forward. This is a great step for us for who we want to become." The extension comes after a breakout year for 24-year-old Sanders, who led Milwaukee in rebounds (9.5 per game) and averaged 9.8 points, both career highs. His 2.83 blocks per game were second in the NBA to Oklahoma Citys Serge Ibaka. "Hes one of the top defenders in the NBA," Hammond said. "Hes one of the top shot-blockers in our business and hes only going to get better defensively, get better on offence and were really excited to have him be a part of our organization long-term." Offensively, Sanders is still a work-in-progress, but has shown marked improvement over his first three seasons and shot a career-best 50.6 per cent from the field. Free throw shooting is something of a concern -- hes 58 per cent from the line in his career but -- but he connected at a 61.8 per cent clip a year ago while averaging 8.5 attempts. Milwaukee selected Sanders with the 15th overall pick in the 2010 draft. He was set to enter the final year of his four-year rookie-scale contract, which will pay him $3 million this season. Getting better on offence is a key goal for Sanders and new coach Larry Drew. "Not just going to the basket but trying to facilitate more, open the court and understand the offence more," Sanders said. "Theres a lot on the offensive end Im working on." Sanders emotional play has made him a crowd-favourite at the Bradley Center, but has also made him a target for officials, who ejected him a league-leading five times last season, including three in a span of 10 days. He finished fifth in the league with 3.3 fouls per game and was third with 14 technicals. "My focus needs to be on winning the game," Sanders said. "I know coach hates when we talk to the officials ... so Ill just watch him." Not long after taking the job, Drew sat down with Sanders and made it clear that things had to change. "We went to dinner and talked," Drew said. "It was a very frank and candid conversation; he realized he had to get better and its something Im going to expect of him." Nick Kwiatkoski Jersey . The Braves optioned outfielder Jose Constanza to Triple-A Gwinnett. As expected, the Braves also called up right-hander Julio Teheran from Gwinnett to start Sundays game and optioned backup catcher J. Richie Petitbon Jersey . Charlottetown scored four times in the third period en route to a 5-2 win over the defending champion Halifax Mooseheads on Friday. http://www.custombearsjersey.com/custom-...3226t.html .com) - Sergio Agueros 63rd-minute goal was enough to lift Manchester City to a 1-0 win over 10-man Manchester United on Sunday at the Etihad Stadium. Ken Kavanaugh Jersey . Raonic, the No. 8 seed from Thornhill, Ont., had 18 aces in the match. He needed one hour 39 minutes to complete the victory. Eric Saubert Jersey .Y. -- Defenceman Ryan Murphy had a goal and an assist and Drew MacIntyre made 24 saves to help the Carolina Hurricanes beat the New York Islanders 4-2 in an exhibition game Wednesday night.Its that time of the week when we test how much attention you paid to the latest round of Premier League fixtures with our Top of the Stats quiz. After a weekend which saw Tottenham keep pace with Leicester at the top of the Premier League and Newcastle draw with Sunderland in a key match-up at the other end off the table, we pick out some of the more obscure stats to see how closely you were watching.dddddddddddd#160;Play the quiz below and see how you do... Also See: Rashford the derby hero Leicesters remarkable stats ' ' '