Pirate Galaxy » In the first session of the Test, Mark

ST. PAUL, Minn -- If it were up to Team USA architect Dean Lombardi, the players who make up the American roster that will compete in the upcoming World Cup of Hockey would have more than a short training camp to bond.Theres some jealousy in the general managers voice when he points out the fact that the 1996 World Cup-champion American team had a month to golf, bond and come together before winning it all.Thats not the case this time around. Its two frickin days, he said. Were not going to mess around.To help prepare, Team USAs management and coaching staff spent time in Minnesota before camps finalizing plans to try to repeat the success of 96. At the conclusion of the meetings, Lombardi chatted with ESPN.coms Craig Custance about the upcoming tournament:ESPN.com: What was the focus of the meetings in St. Paul?Lombardi: Obviously, with the five or six coaches, we had a couple of things to do. One, we gave them an overview on what our philosophy was in terms of selecting the team. As we all know, there are almost no wrong answers when you put together a team with this much talent.I thought it was good for [Team USA head coach] John [Tortorellas] assistants to understand what our thinking was. And then the second thing was Johns area -- putting a team of top players together. Its critical that guys accept their roles. Also, when you essentially have an All-Star coaching staff it can be beneficial -- or you can end up with a gong show.Its the same thing as your team. It was important that [Tortorella] designate the [coaching] roles and make their responsibilities clear. Each guy started putting that together.ESPN.com: You mentioned your philosophy in putting together this roster. Theres been criticism of how you built this team ...Lombardi: When isnt there?ESPN.com: Yeah, but you took on more risk than others in some of your player selections. Does that add more pressure on you?Lombardi: Using 96 as a model, its no different than putting together an NHL team. We made it very clear -- all the work I did prior to it, going through it last August in those preliminary meetings -- that this had to be about team and identity.?So much went into this that you cant begin to explain, but that said you have to stay within a certain theme and philosophy. We could have gone another direction philosophically; I just come back to the word identity. I thought [identity] was critical if we were going to win this thing.?This was a lot harder than I thought. Forget the size of the staff we had -- we had a lot of scouts out there. Youre splitting hairs. It really had to be about team because there were so many good players and there wasnt a lot of separation.It was a great experience. I didnt think it was going to be this difficult. We had to micromanage. We got down to the final one, we sat tighter and it was so close. You come back -- who fits right in? Whats the character? Will they fit into the team? That was always your tiebreaker.ESPN.com: How they fit in with the team was the tiebreaker?Lombardi: Yeah. Thats the other thing that was frustrating. The team in 96 was together for 30 days. We tried to do [team-bonding] things and werent allowed to because of the union. We cant afford to waste time. You cant have any maintenance. Its too short a tournament. You have no preparation.ESPN.com: Theres a belief that you built this team specifically to beat Canada. Is that a fair conclusion?Lombardi: Yeah. I mean, theyre the best. Who are we kidding? You want to be politically correct? No, theyre the best. Its like right now, youve got to beat the [Pittsburgh] Penguins. Thats just the way it is. There are really good teams but theyre clearly always the favorite going in. So, yeah.ESPN.com: So how big is the gap right now between Canada and the U.S.?Lombardi: Its kind of funny. You look at the young guys coming -- it goes in cycles ... I think there are some areas, without getting into it, why you had to go back to team and identity [when picking players]. A lot of people, the whole idea, thats coming with the center ice. One of the things we asked ourselves ... who is the top [center]? You know? Now you are seeing a few coming like Jack Eichel.ESPN.com: But now you dont have access to the top young American centers because theyre playing for Team North America.Lombardi: Yeah. Even Canada went through a period where its No. 1 defenseman since Chris Pronger wasnt there, and then boom, Drew Doughty and Alex Pietrangelo come along. Back then, the Americans had the [top] defensemen, if you looked at it closely.It goes in cycles. The fairly obvious biggest thing is the middle doesnt have the top [guys]. That said, a guy like Joe Pavelski?is one of the top players. He finally got his recognition this year. If you were playing against him, you know how good this guy is. Its not totally fair to say this guy is not a No. 1 center.ESPN.com:?He has to be your captain, right?Lombardi: John [Tortorella] is going to take care of that. You can try to pump it out of him.Editors note: Joe Pavelski was named Team USAs captain on Wednesday. Soccer Jerseys Clearance . R.J. Umberger scored twice to lead the Blue Jackets to a franchise-record for consecutive wins with a 5-3 victory Tuesday night over the Los Angeles Kings. Cheap Tottenham Hotspur Jerseys China . The 20-year-old Pelicans big man glanced up and smiled widely at the well-wishers -- a fitting end to a day he wont soon forget. Davis responded to his selection earlier in the day as a Western Conference All-Star with 26 points and 10 rebounds, and the New Orleans Pelicans overcame a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to defeat the Minnesota Timberwolves 98-91 on Friday night. http://www.cheapsoccerchina.com/ . Defenceman Yannick Weber scored the go-ahead goal early in the third period and the Canucks breathed a sigh of relief with a 2-1 win on Saturday night. Cheap Soccer Jerseys For Sale . -- Chicago Bears cornerback Tim Jennings was selected Monday to his second straight Pro Bowl, while guard Kyle Long made it after a solid rookie season. Wholesale Soccer Jerseys Online . Now, with Game 6 set for Fenway Park and an 8:07 p.m. ET first pitch, the Detroit Tigers face the unenviable task of having to beat the Boston Red Sox twice, on the road, to advance to the World Series. Kolkata is a lovely, old city, but driving can be a pain in the central town, particularly for newcomers. Armed with GPS and maps, you can practise your driving in chaotic environments, but what do you do when the same road has two equally popular names: Shakespeare Sarini and Theatre Road for example? You can practise all your driving on one-way streets, but what do you do when one-ways change directions at 1pm? When you hit a one-way street that goes in the opposite direction of where you want to go, there is no looking back. You are forced to enter more one-way streets that take you away from your destination. GPS is helpless because it doesnt know the one-way-streets system of Kolkata. Not well enough anyway.It is a bit like playing spin in India. You have to keep so many things in your mind. Watch the grip, the release of the seam and decide early whether to go back or forward, watch for the variations yet there can still be natural variations off the pitch. You also have to look to score runs. Mike Hesson, New Zealands coach, has stressed the importance of getting starts: in other words, when you hit a wrong one-way street, find a way to get out. When you lose a wicket, dont lose another quickly.The biggest challenge here is to get a start, Hesson told ESPNcricinfo two days before the second Test. If you are able to get a start against spin, then you can apply your game plans. Its easier said than done. We saw that once the guys got underway they were actually able to score and defend and find ways to evolve the game. Starting against them is the hardest bit.New Zealand had periods in the first Test where they seemed like they could negate the India bowlers, but lost wickets in bunches. India did too in their first innings, but New Zealands clusters were bigger. Once you come out to bat, there is a lot happening on the pitch, but after facing 10 balls or so, you feel more confident. There was a strong partnership between Kane Williamson and Tom Latham in the first innings, but they then lost three wickets for 11 runs. Another partnership between Mitchell Santner and Luke Ronchi followed, but another collapse of five wickets for seven runs resulted in a 56-run first-innings deficit.We scored over 250 in both innings in conditions that are challenging where you are batting second and fourth, Hesson said. We certainly found ways to do it. The key is to get more starts. If we get more starts we get more opportunities to create partnerships. From there you turn that 250 into 320. Then you are very much in the game.It is not impossible to arrest a slide, but it is not easy either. Santner and Ronchi tried, but couldnt keep it up for long enough. I was pleased with the way Mitch and Luke batted in the first innings after losing three quick wickets, Hesson said. To still go out and to score and apply their game plan, it is challenging when you lose wickets like that. Because you start to think it is unplayable. Thats the challenge. How do we stick to our game plans?Hesson spoke about the challenges of facing spin when natural variation becomes a factor too. Mark Craig and Ish Sodhi fell lbw off consecutive deliveries by Ravindra Jadeja, which were released identically, in the first innings. One turned a long way, the other went straight on.Many ways it is actually natural variation, Hesson said. A lot of times you are actually not trying to bowl a straighter one. Sometimes it just lands on the leather and slides on. Other times it hits the seam and spins. You are obviously able to change the seam angle to have a little bit of control over there, but sometimes it is very accidental. That is the reality of it over here. And when it spins, it is extreme turn. Like both sides, you are just hoping that you play and miss.In many ways, everyone has a different game plan. You need to be able to protect your stumps. If the ball spins past the outside edge, it is okay.dddddddddddd We can accept that. You dont want to be beaten on the inside. Thats pretty much everybodys game plan. And around that you need to find ways to score.If it slides in, it is often going down. If it turns past the edge then you play and miss. And there are also a lot of balls that turn an abnormal amount. So you are dealing with three things. Thats the challenge of playing in India. Then as the game goes on, uneven bounce comes into play.Different degrees of turn hurt New Zealand in the Kanpur Test, according to Hesson. When rain interrupted the second days play, Williamson and Latham had added 117 for the second wicket. On the next morning, they lost three wickets in five overs. Once the covers were on for that period of time, and an early start, no doubt the first half an hour the ball spun a lot more and it spun sharper and it spun quicker, Hesson said. Both sides found that even on day four and day five, the first half an hour of the day it certainly spun more than the rest. There were certainly periods of time in the game, be it the new ball or the old ball, where the ball spun more. And that can challenge you. Because sometimes it does it quicker as well. There was lot to learn from Indias approach. For example, their batsmens technique to counter the straighter ones. Indian players are obviously more experienced so when they put their pad down they go down the line of leg stump, Hesson said. So if the ball is hitting your pad, often it is sliding down. Sometimes it looks worse - might often be going the same place - but sometimes it looks worse when you plant it across the crease. But the more balls the spinners put in the right area, the more it challenges you to defend. With Ashwin and Jadeja in Indian conditions they are very experienced.The New Zealand spinners, maybe playing for the first time in lead roles, didnt create the same amount of pressure India did. There were times when Kohli had the luxury of a seven-two field for Ashwin and six-three leg-side fields were commonplace. Kane Williamson had to defend both sides of the wicket because his spinners tended to offer more loose balls.Fatigue and heat are always an issue, Hesson said. Bowling long spells is challenging. Also this is the first time they have played a Test in India, the first time we are playing three spinners because conditions demand them, so it is a matter of allowing our guys to learn and evolve as well. You dont expect them to be geniuses in these conditions straightaway. But we do want to see improvement. We have got a smart group of spinners. I am sure they will improve.The humidity of Kanpur all but took reverse swing out of the equation. In the first session of the Test, Mark Craigs shirt was soaking wet with sweat. Of the four innings in the Test, there was reverse swing only in the last. Its very difficult for both the sides to keep the ball dry when you are soaking wet, Hesson said. And that makes it difficult. Hence, when you are able to get the ball changed [like it was when India bowled in the second innings], when the ball is dry to start off with, its easier to get it to reverse quicker. Thats something that sides will look to do.Hesson didnt complain about the ball change. Its a matter of luck. In some innings it goes out of shape; in others it doesnt. He echoed Williamsons sentiment that while the defeat looked big on the scoreboard, there were positives to take. Its a fine line, Hesson said when asked what the team can do mentally to recover in such a short time. For two days, we were in the game. And we fought right till the end. So we just need to get those partnerships for longer, create pressure for longer. We are not far away. ' ' '