ubiak, a former NFL quarterback who calls the tea

Sacramento, CA (SportsNetwork.com) - DeMarcus Cousins scored nine of his season-high 39 points in overtime, and the Sacramento Kings handed the New York Knicks a seventh consecutive loss in Saturdays 135-129 victory. Cousins, who missed Fridays loss to the Suns with a stomach virus, did not look 100-percent physically but stepped up in crunch time. He went 14-of-27 from the floor and added 11 rebounds and four assists. Rudy Gay added 29 points and Darren Collison donated 27 with 10 assists for the Kings, who had dropped seven of eight coming in. We were really concentrating on how we needed to play to win this game, Kings coach Tyrone Corbin said. Carmelo Anthony paced the Knicks with 36 points, 11 rebounds and six assists, but it was not enough as New York fell to 2-14 on the road. Cole Aldrich scored a career-high 18 points before fouling out in overtime, while Tim Hardaway Jr. netted 19 for New York, which never led in regulation but scored nine of the final 11 points to force OT. Playing hard is really what I try to do, Aldrich said. If youre going to play hard, most nights are going to be better than others. The Knicks trailed by 14 early in the fourth before rattling off eight straight to pull within 99-93. Two Hardaway free throws with 4:31 to go had the Knicks within 105-102, but Collison followed with a 3-pointer and Cousins scored on three straight possessions to make it a 115-108 game with under two minutes left. Despite the odds, the Knicks rallied to play an extra five minutes. Aldrich scored five points during the aforementioned 9-2 run, including a three-point play with 38.2 seconds left that cut the deficit to 117-115. After Cousins tried finding a cutting Collison and had the ball knocked away, Hardaway went in and converted a fastbreak layup with 20.2 seconds remaining. Anthony stripped Gay going up for a baseline jumper in the closing seconds, and the former returned the favor by getting a piece of Anthonys attempt from the top of the key at the buzzer. Shane Larkins steal and layup gave New York its first and only lead, 124-122, but after trading buckets, the Kings scored 11 straight to pull away. Cousins found an open Collison with a cross-court pass for a 3-pointer, then split a pair of defenders for a thunderous dunk. Collison added a layup off a Ben McLemore steal, and Ray McCallums putback all but sealed the win. Gay and Cousins both scored 15 points in a high-scoring first quarter. The Knicks trailed by as many as 15 but pulled within six late in the half. Collison drained a long 3-pointer at the buzzer to give the Kings a 67-58 lead at the break. Both teams shot over 52 percent in the first half but slowed down to a sub-37 percent clip in the third quarter. McCallums fadeaway jumper in the closing seconds provided the hosts with an 89-80 cushion. Game Notes Knicks guard J.R. Smith (foot) sat out an eighth straight game ... The Kings shot 55.1 percent from the floor ... Larkin netted 14 points in 35 minutes off the bench ... Anthony shot 13-of-29 from the floor. Brad Brach Jersey .com) - The Calgary Flames were again involved in a game in which a team was held scoreless, only this time they came out on the winning side. Yu Darvish Jersey . The Indians scored twice in the top of the ninth, getting the go-ahead run on a wild pitch by closer Matt Lindstrom. Axford (0-1) came in seeking his fifth save in as many chances. http://www.cubsauthentic.com/cubs-javier-baez-jersey/.com) - Rick Nash scored twice and Derek Stepan chipped in a goal with one assist as the New York Rangers claimed a 5-2 decision over Calgary at the Saddledome. Ernie Banks Jersey .com) - Australian Open champion Li Na, former Wimbledon winner Petra Kvitova and former world No. Yu Darvish Cubs Jersey . Particularly when speaking in the stadium of Tuesdays opponent: Manchester City. "Maybe they dont fear us as before," Pique said on Monday, "because in the last two years we didnt win the Champions League.HOUSTON -- Gary Kubiak pulled the Texans out of the NFL basement and remains the only coach to take them to the playoffs. That wasnt enough to save his job, not with the Texans mired in an 11-game skid that has dropped them back to the bottom of the league. Houston fired Kubiak on Friday, one day after the Texans lost 27-20 at Jacksonville and continued their stunning fall for a team that expected to make a Super Bowl run. Houston (2-11) was flagged 14 times for a franchise-record 177 yards. The 52-year-old Kubiak was hired in 2006 and led the team to AFC South titles in 2011-2012, the highlights of his eight-year tenure as coach of his hometown NFL team. The Texans said they couldnt wait any longer to start turning things around, not with the losses and undisciplined play piling up. "Whats taken place with this organization is unacceptable," general manager Rick Smith said. "Weve got three weeks of an evaluation process left and weve got to right the ship." Kubiak thanked the team for giving him his first head coaching job in the NFL. "Though we came up short this season, the work, effort and sacrifice they gave me and this organization over the last eight seasons is not to be taken for granted," he said in a statement provided by the Texans. "We had a great run here and we will never forget our back-to-back AFC South championships. Coming back home was a dream come true for all of us. This will always be our home." Kubiaks overall record is 61-64, with a 2-2 mark in the playoffs. Owner Bob McNair said the decision to let him go was a hard one. "It was difficult for me because I think so much of Gary," McNair said. "Weve been evaluating it every game and asking the question, Whats in the best interest of the organization? Were at the point now where we need to go ahead and make some changes because losing like this is unacceptable." He added: "Were here to have a winning culture and this year has not contributed to that." The Texans said defensive co-ordinator Wade Phillips would serve as interim coach for the rest of what has been a miserable season. McNair said NFL and head coaching experience were important factors in filling the job, and that the 66-year-old Phillips will be considered. Kubiak suffered a mini-stroke Nov. 3 in a frightening scene, collapsing at halftime during a game against the Colts and being rushed to a Houston hospital. He suffered a transient ischemic attack, which occurs when blood flow to the brain is briefly interrupted, typically by a blood clot or narrowed blood vessels. Experts say they are often a warning sign for a future stroke, particularly within three months of a TIA. Kubiak returned to coach, but the Texans have been unable to rebound from injuries to top players including quarterback Matt Schaub, running back Arian Foster and linebacker Brian Cushing, who was lost for the second straight season. McNair pointed to messy play and the handling of second-year quarterback Case Keenum as reasons for the move before the endd of the season.dddddddddddd "I think the last straw was losing," McNair said. "Weve got a lot better talent than Jacksonville and to lose to them twice, to their credit they played harder, played smarter and to have them beat us on that is not acceptable. If a teams going to beat us because theyre better than we are, or have better ability thats fine, but we expect to go out and play hard and play smart, and we didnt play smart." Kubiak, a former NFL quarterback who calls the teams plays, has long been known as a top offensive coach, mentoring quarterbacks in Denver under Mike Shanahan and then Schaub and Keenum in Houston. He was hired in 2006, along with Smith, after the Texans finished a franchise-worst 2-14. Smith spent 10 years with Kubiak while the coach was offensive co-ordinator of the Broncos. Smith was Denvers defensive assistant for four seasons before moving into the front office for his last six years with the Broncos. The pair helped transform the Texans, which began play in 2002, from league laughingstock to contender. The team went 6-10 in their first year and 8-8 in each of the next two seasons. Expectations were high in 2010 after Houston finished at 9-7 for its first winning record in 2009. The Texans instead fell to 6-10, which led to many fans calling for Kubiaks firing. His original contract was due to expire after the 2010 season, but McNair defended him several times amid the bumps. Last year, the Texans announced contract extensions for both Smith and Kubiak, rewarding them for taking the team to the playoffs last year for the first time. Kubiaks three-year agreement has him under contract through 2014. McNair said at the time he offered Kubiak a four-year deal, but the coach preferred to make it for three. Kubiak made his mark as Denvers offensive co-ordinator under Shanahan, winning two Super Bowls. An eighth-round pick out of Texas A&M, he spent nine years as John Elways backup. He finished his career 4-1 as a starter, all in emergency relief of Elway. "You always hate to see guys fired," Broncos coach John Fox said. "It happens, its tough. But you never like to see that. Hes a good friend and a heck of a coach, a guy I have a lot of respect for and its unfortunate." The Texans also fired special teams co-ordinator Joe Marciano and replaced him with assistant Bob Ligashesky, who is in his 10th NFL season and first full year with Houston. Other recent departures from the Texans include assistant head coach Alex Gibbs (for Seattle) and offensive co-ordinator Kyle Shanahan went to join his father in Washington. Keenum, Phillips and the rest of the Texans will get three weeks to show what they have to McNair and company. With Kubiak out, it is clear that the evaluation process could have stiff consequences as the team tries to rebuild. "We have a young quarterback in Case Keenum and we need to find out if hes capable of being a starter or capable of being the backup," McNair said. "The way you find out about that is by playing him." ' ' '