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Wednesday March 21, 2018

BERND SCHUSTER has been appointed head coach of Dalian Yifang, replacing Ma Lin at the helm of last season’s second division champion, the Chi-nese Super League (CSL) club announced Monday.

The 58-year-old German, who has not coached since leaving his role at the helm of Malaga at the end of the 2014 season, takes charge of a team that is now at the bottom of the standings.

Three defeats from three games has cost Ma his job. A 3-0 thrashing at the hands of Beijing Guoan was the last straw for the Dalian Wanda group, which owns the club.

Dalian kicked off the season with an 8-0 thrashing at the hands of Shanghai SIPG and has since also lost to Guangzhou R&F and Beijing Guoan.

Ma, who was head coach of Liaoning Whowin last season when the club was relegated from the Chinese Super League, had been appointed in Decem-ber last year as a replacement for Juan Ramon Lopez Caro.

Dalian made headlines just before the start of the season with the signing of Yannick Carrasco and Nicolas Gaitan from Atletico Madrid as well as Jose Fonte from West Ham United.

Schuster led Real Madrid to the 2008 La Liga title and his first game in charge of his new CSL side will come March 31 when Dalian takes on Henan Jianye.

Earlier reports said the likes of Laurent Blanc, Felipe Scolari and Jose Camacho were also considered for the job.

(SD-Agencies)

LEBRON JAMES scored 40 points as part of his third triple-double in four games and the Cleveland Cavaliers beat the Milwaukee Bucks 124-117 Monday night as coach Tyronn Lue began his leave of absence to address health issues.

Lue said Monday in a state-ment he been dealing with chest pains and loss of sleep, and that tests have offered no conclusion about what the issue is. Associate head coach Larry Drew will run the team in Lue’s absence.

Lue’s departure came sev-eral hours before Kevin Love returned after missing six weeks because of a broken left hand. The All-Star forward scored 18 points in 25 minutes.

Losing their coach while get-ting back a star player seems to fi t the narrative of this turbulent season. The Cavaliers (41-29) are third in the Eastern Confer-ence and have endured roster shake-ups, injuries and other distractions as they try to reach the NBA Finals for the fourth straight time.

“If it’s not one thing, it’s another,” James said.

James scored 17 points in the third quarter and fi nished with 12 rebounds and 10 assists for his 16th triple-double this season and 71st of his career.

The four-time MVP took over in the third beginning with back-to-back 3-pointers. After not getting a foul called on a third attempt, he fi nished Cleveland’s next possession with a massive dunk. He was fouled attempting

LeBron leads Cavs past Bucks

another dunk and made both free throws the following time down.

James expressed his dis-pleasure, as did the crowd at Quicken Loans Arena, after the offi cials didn’t call a foul when he attempted his third 3-pointer. He quickly took out his frustration on the next two possessions.

James is trying to use humor in dealing with the lack of calls.

“I got hit in the head three times today, got elbowed in the nose,” he said. “It is what it is at this point. I want to keep pushing and try not to get caught up in the battle with

the calls that should be called.”Milwaukee cut a 17-point lead

to 117-109, but James drove the length of the fl oor for a dunk with just over a minute left.

Giannis Antetokounmpo had 37 points and went 11 for 11 at the foul line for Milwaukee, which fell to eighth in the Eastern Conference after Miami defeated Denver.

James’ performance led to Antetokounmpo having an unusual postgame conversa-tion.

“I was talking to myself taking a shower, asking what I did wrong because he was the

fi rst player to score 40 on me,” he said. “He’s the best player in the world.”

Khris Middleton had 30 points, making 11 of 16 from the fi eld.

Lue, 40, led Cleveland to the 2016 NBA championship after taking over for David Blatt midway through that season.

No timetable has been given for when Lue will return. He missed the second half Satur-day, the second time this season he left a game because he wasn’t feeling well. Lue also sat out a game against Chicago at home in December. (SD-Agencies)

Schuster takes over at Dalian Yifang

Bernd Schuster

REAL Madrid and Portugal star Cristiano Ronaldo again hit back at his critics after winning yet another individual award.

Ronaldo was named the best Portuguese player of 2017 Monday, beating Sporting CP goalkeeper Rui Patricio and Manchester City star Bernardo Silva.

The 33-year-old claimed a record-equaling fi fth Ballon d’Or last year, having helped Madrid win La Liga and the Champions League.

Ronaldo is fi nding form again late this campaign and the superstar forward dismissed his critics.

“I am grateful for this award to all those who are here,” he said. “It is also an award for all my col-leagues — 2017 was an excellent year, unforgettable both collec-tively and individually.”

“I also won my fi fth Ballon d’Or and my second The Best award. I also dedicate it to my four children. That’s another record — three children in three months.

“We have to defend what is ours because there is always a Portuguese in the fi ght.

“I always believe and say that I am the best, whatever they say, and then I show it in the fi eld. We are in the fi ght year after year.”

Ronaldo scored 42 goals in 46 games in all competitions in 2016-17, while he has 37 in 35 so far this season.

Manchester United boss Jose Mourinho was given the Vasco de Gama award for “his work and his role as Portugal’s ambassador for excellence.”

Monaco boss Leonardo Jardim was given the award for best coach in men’s soccer.

Ronaldo, who has won the Ballon d’Or a record fi ve times along with Lionel Messi, is cur-rently a 6/1 outsider to retain that coveted trophy.

Messi is the favorite, ahead of Paris Saint-Germain start

Neymar. However, the odds on Ronaldo have drastically shortened in recent weeks, with the Los Blancos star fi nding top form.

He’s scored 17 goals in his last eight games, including four against Girona over the week-end. “We had a diffi cult qualify-ing phase, we lost the fi rst game, but we were able to get back,” he said.

“An unforgettable year at Real Madrid, a historic year with fi ve trophies, full of emotions, with my fi fth Ballon d’Or and second FIFA The Best trophy, thanks to my family and my four children.”

(SD-Agencies)

DRAYMOND GREEN joined the lengthy list of injured Warriors stars Monday night.

Green exited Golden State’s game against the Spurs in the fi rst half and the team announced that he would not return. ESPN’s Doris Burke said it was a “mid-section contusion.”

The Warriors are already with-out their three best players—Ste-phen Curry, Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson. Curry has a sprained ankle, Durant has a sore rib and Thompson broke

his thumb. The fi fth member of the starting lineup, Zaza Pachulia, is playing through a right shoulder contu-sion.

The injuries don’t stop there, either. Omri Casspi is out with a sprained ankle and four more players are play-ing through injuries, including Patrick McCaw, who has a frac-tured wrist.

LaMarcus Aldridge had 33

points and 12 rebounds, and the San Antonio Spurs blew a 16-point lead to the injury-ravaged Golden State Warriors before pulling away for an 89-75 victory Monday night.

The Spurs beat Golden State for the fi rst time in four tries this season and

won their fourth in a row overall to move into fi fth place in the Western Conference, one-half game ahead of idle Utah and New Orleans.

Just as they were adding Green to their injury list, the Warriors fi nally added some depth to their backcourt.

Second-year guard Patrick Caw saw his fi rst actions since missing 13 games with a frac-tured left wrist.

He received clearance after completing what coach Steve Kerr called “an extensive work-out” Sunday and morning shoot-around drills Monday without any setbacks.

(SD-Agencies)

Green the latest Warriors star to go down with injury

Draymond Green

Ronaldo: I always say I’m the best — and I prove it!

Cristiano Ronaldo

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Antetokounmpo (L) works against Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James during the second half at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland on Monday. SD-Agencies