Bewerben zum clanbeitritt » t success. Both were part of the mens four

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. -- The Los Angeles Lakers spent the last few summers attempting to sell the NBAs top free agents on the franchises glamorous combination of history and Hollywood.From Dwight Howard to LaMarcus Aldridge, that pitch went terribly -- even more terribly than the Lakers last few seasons.So general manager Mitch Kupchak is trying something new this summer: The Lakers are selling their future, not their past.I do feel like we have a lot more going for us this year than we did last year, Kupchak said. We can focus a little bit more on the basketball side of it, because we do have more to sell. The franchise and the city have always sold themselves. Im not sure well concentrate as much on that as we did last year.After the worst season in franchise history and the retirement of Kobe Bryant, the Lakers have roughly $55 million in salary cap room to use in the free agent signing period -- but the glitz and celebrity that once attracted the likes of Shaquille ONeal arent as impressive in the 21st century.Instead, Kupchak hinted that the Lakers will attempt to attract players who are interested in getting in on the ground floor of the next big thing, not in joining Bryant in an attempt to climb back to the heights repeatedly scaled by this team.Will it work? Even Kupchak isnt sure. At least the Lakers are ready to start their next chapter.It might not be different, Kupchak said, before quickly adding: I think this year is different.The Lakers are looking for leaders and contributors to join an interesting young core, consisting of No. 2 pick Brandon Ingram, DAngelo Russell, Julius Randle, Jordan Clarkson and Larry Nance Jr. The group is unproven, but undeniably intriguing -- and in clear need of a veteran presence beyond guard Lou Williams.We didnt have as much to sell last year and the year before, Kupchak said. And we only had enough money for one (maximum contract for a) player last year, too. So I think this year, we have more to sell. We have Julius, DAngelo, Jordan Clarkson, whos a year further along, and Larry Nance.Running the show is 36-year-old coach Luke Walton, a prized prospect himself after his standout work with the Golden State Warriors.The former Lakers forward began his pitch to potential new players at his introductory news conference, emphasizing his knowledge of the teams tradition as he begins to change the way it plays.The future is bright, Walton said. Were going to play an up-tempo game ... and we have money to spend. I know the Buss family, and I know the Lakers organization. They do what it takes to win. That, to me, is all you really need to know. I dont see why you wouldnt want to come here and play.The Lakers already know they wont land the biggest prize in the market after Kevin Durant declined to meet with them. Yet there are plenty of candidates who could be intrigued by their combination of potential and the lavish compensation for playing on LAs most popular team.Big men Al Horford and Hassan Whiteside both intrigue the Lakers, as does forward Nicolas Batum. DeMar DeRozan, a Compton native, has long been rumored to be a homecoming candidate, although Lakers fans are sharply divided on the wisdom of giving big money to a streaky player.The Lakers have just six players under contract for next season, and that includes shooting guard Nick Young, who might be gone soon. Ingram also will definitely be on the team, but Kupchak is eager to put veterans around his blue-chip prospects.I think history tells you that a bunch of young guys on a team is probably not a good thing, Kupchak said. They look around for leadership and advice from somebody whos been through this a couple of times, and if theres nobody to talk to, then they really dont know how to handle the situation. 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RIO DE JANEIRO -- You may have to wait until halfway through the medal race to see why defending Olympic champions Eric Murray and Hamish Bond have never been beaten in the eight years they have competed in the mens pair.When rowing becomes a journey through pain and lactic acid and other crews start losing pace, the blond New Zealanders tend to keep theirs, pulling away from the field stroke by stroke until the TV cameras struggle to fit the second-place boat in the same shot.Arguably the best rowers ever, Murray, 34, and Bond, 30, head into the mens pair final set for Thursday with 68 consecutive wins since 2009, including two in the qualifying heats in Rio de Janeiro. So what do they do differently from other crews?Were just better looking, Murray joked to The Associated Press after the semifinals Tuesday. Honestly, we dont do a hell of a lot differently. We train hard; they train hard. We just try to refine our technique and our training philosophy that makes us go fast.Known as the Kiwi pair in the rowing world, Murray and Bond are in a category of their own. As physically fit as anyone, they also have the mental strength to win even when theyre not having a good day.In the semifinals, they looked relaxed throughout the 2-kilometer course even as their opponents were clenching their teeth and grimacing in red-faced agony. After the race they leisurely rowed back down the side of the course while the other crews were recovering in the finish area, bent over their boats, gasping for oxygen.An interesting feature of the Murray-Bond phenomenon is they rarely lead a race from start to finish. Sometimes theyre even in last place at the 500-meter mark and you start wondering whether this is it, theyre done, the spell is broken.Then the battle with fatigue kicks in and other boats start seeing their stroke rate go down.Whereas the New Zealand pair just keep the pace from the start, and then go quicker, said Eelco Meenhorst, who coaches Dutch pair Roel Braas and Mitchel Steenman. Nobody can do that.Except Murray and Bond.Meenhorst said one of the secrets behind their supremacy is their power-to-weight ratio. They are as strong as the biggest rowers but lighter, giving them a weight advantage on the water.He noted that Braas, a 6-foot-6 (2-meter) mountain of muscle, weighs 220 pounds (100 kilograms), whilee Bond is just 187 pounds (85 kilograms).dddddddddddd Still, the New Zealander rows with nearly the same power.That makes a difference, Meenhorst said. Physically they are really, really remarkable.In London, French pair Germain Chardin and Dorian Mortelette were half a boat-length ahead of the Kiwis at 500 meters, but the gap closed with each stroke and halfway through the course Murray and Bond were in front. At 1,500 meters, the French were fighting for silver, already trailing the Kiwi pair by 5 seconds.Chardin and Mortelette will give it another go in Rio, though they admit theres nothing that suggests the New Zealand crew has gotten any easier to beat.From what Ive seen for four years, I dont think so, Mortelette said. But there are boats which have got close.Pete Reed and Andy Hodge of Britain were just three-tenths of a second behind Murray and Bond in the 2010 world championships. But they never got any closer than that, and after three years of finishing second Reed and Hodge switched to the mens four in time for the London Olympics -- a move that paid off with a gold medal. Theyre now racing in Britains eight.Though Murray and Bond havent tasted defeat in the mens pair, it was a bitter loss in another event that paved the way for their current success. Both were part of the mens four that was expected to win the gold for New Zealand at the 2008 Olympics but didnt even make the final.That disappointment prompted Murray and Bond to break out into a pair, and it was clear from the first races how well they clicked. They kept improving thanks to a brutal training regime and years of fine-tuning little details to make the boat go quicker, Murray said.We know what works, he said. Weve got that eight years of experience over pretty much everybody else in our field.Though they gel perfectly in the boat, Murray and Bond go their separate ways once its out of the water. They have different lives and dont really hang out outside working hours.Ive got my family. Hamish has got his partner and everything. We dont go and socialize and live in each others pockets, Murray said. We just make sure that were doing the business in one sense and then doing our own thing in the other. ' ' '