Penguins ink F Jason Williams for 1 year (AP)
PITTSBURGH (AP)—The Penguins on Tuesday signed forward Jason Williams(notes) to a one-year contract, worth $600,000. Williams, 30, is a 10-year NHL veteran who played in 27 games with Dallas last season, scoring five points. He is a 5-foot-11, 192-pound right wing, who has also played for Detroit, Chicago, Columbus, and Atlanta. Williams was a member of the Red Wings’ 2001-02 Stanley Cup championship squad, appearing in nine postseason games that spring. He had his best season in 2005-06 with Detroit, posting career highs in games played (80), goals (21), assists (37), and points (58). Williams is a native of London, Ontario, and has appeared in 447 regular-season NHL games. He has 93 career goals and 225 points. The Penguins also signed defenseman Scott Harrington, their 6-foot, 200-pound second-round pick, to a three-year contract. Harrington, 18, was chosen with the 54th overall selection in June. He attended the Penguins’ annual prospect development camp earlier this month. “Scott will continue his development in junior hockey this season with the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League, and we look forward to watching his progress,” assistant to the general manager Tom Fitzgerald said. “The three-year term will begin when he makes the transition to pro hockey, but we are pleased to get him signed at this point and have him as a part of the Penguins organization, and part of our future.” Harrington is a native of Kingston, Ontario, who has played two seasons already with London, totaling 36 points.
Ana Ivanovic ready for US Open Series
Written by Diana on 25 July 2011. Former World No. 1 Ana Ivanovic of Serbia is preparing well ahead of the US Open Series. The Serbian will kick off her campaign with the Bank of the West Classic tournament, to be played in Stanford. Serbian tennis sensation Ana Ivanovic is in Stanford ahead of the Bank of the West Classic, which commences on Monday. The former World No. 1 will kick-off her US Open Series campaign on Tuesday, with a first round match against Ayumi Morita. This is the second time that Ivanovic is playing in Stanford. The Serbian has clinched two titles in California: Los Angeles in 2007 and Indian Wells in 2008. After playing in Stanford, Ivanovic will head down to San Diego to play in the Mercury Insurance Open. After that Ana will play in the Rogers Cup. She could not play in the Rogers Cup last year, but clinched the title here way back in 2006. She has a good 9-3 win-loss record in Canada. When asked about the forthcoming US Open Series, Ana quoted, “This is a very intense part of the season.” She further added that “The hard courts really take their toll on your body and you require great fitness to play to a high level each week. I’m looking forward to the challenges ahead.”
Thunder’s Ibaka gets Spanish nationality (AP)
MADRID (AP)—Oklahoma City Thunder forward Serge Ibaka(notes) has been granted Spanish nationality on Friday, clearing the way for him to help Spain defend its European championship this summer. “Spain is a country that has given me a lot,” Ibaka said after Spain’s Council of Ministers approved his petition for nationality. “It will be an honor to give Spain back all that it has given me on the court.” The 21-year-old was born in the Republic of Congo but played for Spanish clubs for three years before moving to the NBA in 2009. According to Spanish media reports, he maintains a residence in Barcelona. Ibaka must swear loyalty to the Spanish crown and constitution to complete the nationalization process before he can team with Los Angeles Lakers center Pau Gasol(notes) and brother Marc of the Memphis Grizzlies in a formidable front court for Spain. “Pau is possibly the most talented center with the best fundamentals in the (NBA),” Ibaka said. “It will be a dream to play with him.” The two finalists in the European Championship, which begins on Aug. 31 in Lithuania, automatically qualify for the 2012 London Olympics, while the third- through sixth-place finishers earn a spot in the pre-Olympic qualifying tournament. With Minnesota Timberwolves rookie Ricky Rubio(notes) and new Dallas Maverick Rudy Fernandez(notes) in the backcourt, Spain will make a strong bid to retain its title.
Charles leads Sun to 68-59 win over Liberty (AP)
NEWARK, N.J. (AP)—The Connecticut Sun kept the score close with their best defensive effort of the season and pulled out a big road win. Tina Charles scored 15 points, Asjha Jones had 14 and the Sun rallied for a 68-59 victory over the New York Liberty on Friday night, snapping a two-game skid and getting their second victory in seven road games this season. Renee Montgomery scored 10 of her 12 points in the fourth quarter as Connecticut (7-5) closed with a 10-0 run. “A lot of the games we don’t give ourselves a chance to finish the game,” Montgomery said. “We’re down so much that we exhaust so much energy trying to come back, that when we come even close to coming back we kind of run out of gas. It was close the whole game and we gave ourselves a chance to win it and we did.” Connecticut coach Mike Thibault got his 167th career victory, tying him with Anne Donovan and Michael Cooper for second place in WNBA history. Although the Sun shot just 40 percent (26 for 65) for the second straight game, they held New York to 37.5 percent (24 for 64)—the Liberty’s second-lowest effort of the season. The 59 points allowed were also a season-low for Connecticut. “It’s a road win, a good win,” Thibault said. “That’s the best defense we’ve played for an entire game all year.” Concerned with his team’s effort coming off two straight road losses that left them with four defeats in six games after a 4-1 start, Thibault was pleased with what he saw. “It showed up because we kept tipping balls, the full-court pressure on their guards for most of the game, tried to wear them down,” he said. “We got them to turn it over twice in the last couple of minutes. Keeping them from even getting shots is a good thing.” Kia Vaughn had 15 points and nine rebounds to lead New York (8-6), which snapped a four-game winning streak. Nicole Powell scored 13 points, Cappie Pondexter had 11 and rookie reserve Alex Montgomery added 10. “It’s one of those losses where you’re like ‘why did we have to lose?’ But it happens,” Pondexter said. “You can’t get too high, can’t get too low in this league. The good thing is we play Sunday, so we practice tomorrow and here we go again.” The Liberty were without starting forward Plenette Pierson, who sat out due to a strained left knee injured in Wednesday’s win against Atlanta. “Obviously not having Plenette takes a post player out of us and that adds a little fatigue,” New York coach John Whisenant said. “But Plenette doesn’t play outside and our perimeter people were not sharp, either.” Renee Montgomery had a tying three-point play and Jones hit a jumper with 5:51 left in the fourth quarter to give the Sun a 58-56 lead. After Pondexter made a 3 to put New York back ahead, Connecticut scored the next six points to take a 64-59 lead on Jones’ two free throws with 3:02 remaining. About 1 1/2 minutes later, Powell stole a pass by Renee Montgomery, ran down the court, avoided the defender and then missed a layup. She got the rebound on the left side of the baseline, stepped behind the 3-point line and missed the shot. Renee Montgomery hit a jumper on the other end to stretch the Sun’s lead to seven with 1:13 left, and she added a layup in the final seconds. With the win, the Sun moved into second place in the Eastern Conference, percentage points ahead of the Liberty. Connecticut hosts first-place Indiana on Sunday. “Any win in the conference is always key because it’s going to be close down the stretch,” Montgomery said. “We don’t want it to come down to the end where we’re hoping somebody else loses. … We want to put ourselves in a good position going down the stretch. This is only about halfway through the season, but still as much as you can do early in the season the better.” The Liberty missed 13 of their last 14 field-goal attempts and had four turnovers over the last 7 1/2 minutes. “We didn’t execute,” Pondexter said. “I think we took some bad shots, we rushed a couple of shots, made a couple of key turnovers, myself included. … They capitalized on it. The most important thing is forget about it and move on.” Danielle McCray’s three-point play started an 8-1 run as the Sun took a 44-36 lead on Charles’ jumper with 5:39 to go in the third quarter. Vaughn had seven points, including the go-ahead three-point play, during the Liberty’s ensuing 14-3 run that gave them a three-point lead with 1:21 left in the third. The teams played close in the first half with neither team leading by more than five points. Kara Lawson’s three-point play with about 25 seconds left gave the Sun a 34-33 lead at the break. Charles led Connecticut with 11 points on 5-for-7 shooting over the first 20 minutes. Powell had 10 points, including two 3s, for New York.
