Die Macht » embracing the fact the guy is too

A clear top four is beginning to emerge in ESPNs AFL Power Rankings as September action draws nearer, with Hawthorn maintaining its top spot (just) ahead of the Cats.Sydney looks to be the unlucky team to miss out on a top-four berth thanks to their travel-heavy next few weeks, while Hawthorn, Geelong, Adelaide and GWS look certain to romp home with a number of strong, percentage-boosting wins.Interestingly, the four top-ranked teams seem to be hitting their peak form at the right time of the year - its the first time this season that four teams have scored 50+ rankings points in the same week.Crucially, North Melbourne seems to have sewn up eighth spot after they took care of business against St Kilda last week. The Saints are now three matches behind the Roos and will need a miracle to catch up before the end of the year.Elsewhere, Gold Coasts plucky performance at the MCG was enough to put them above Richmond. The Tigers are now ranked in the bottom four of the Rankings for the first time - a far cry from the top-four hopes of many fans at the start of the year.LegendForm: The higher the number, the better a teams recent form.Draw: The higher the number, the easier a teams upcoming draw.Fitness: Determined by the number and quality of fit players available. A list in good shape is ranked around a 7; a list missing three or four best-22 players might be considered a 3 or 4.X-Factor: The number and quality of genuine match-winning players.Attack: Potency of the teams offence.Defence: Ability of the team to prevent the opposition from scoring. Fake Shoes Free Shipping . But now that hes in the NHL, the Calgary Flames centre showed big improvement in that department by scoring the winner in the eighth round of a 5-4 shootout victory over the Winnipeg Jets on Monday. Fake Sneakers .com) - The Calgary Flames aim to bounce back from their first regulation home loss of the campaign on Friday night when they host a Detroit Red Wings club that they swept in three meetings a season ago. https://www.fakeshoes.net/ . 31, the CFL club announced Monday. The team also has yet to decide on the future of Doug Berry, who began the season as a consultant to the head coach but took over the offensive co-ordinators duties in July. Fake Yeezy . Its 1987 and a Brazilian playmaker, known as Mirandinha, is being paraded around St James Park to the passionate Newcastle fans. Wholesake Fake Air Jordan 1 . As the crowd erupted, Davis knocked the ball off the glass and back into his hands. With 1:14 to go in overtime, Davis sixth block also became his 17th rebound. That, along with his 32 points -- which tied a career high -- proved too much for Denver to overcome, and the Pelicans held on for their third straight victory, 111-107 on Sunday night. NEW YORK -- Gael Monfils knew he probably couldnt match Novak Djokovics game, so he tried to get into his brain.The result was a bizarre semifinal Grand Slam match that had most pundits and commentators up in arms and fuming, while Monfils argued that his only crime was daring to depart from convention and doing everything in his power to reverse his dismal 0-12 record against Djokovic.Even Monfils borderline outrageous tactics were insufficient to bamboozle Djokovic, who survived some anxious moments to win in 2? hours, 6-3, 6-2, 3-6, 6-2.The match began predictably, and depressingly, enough for Monfils. Djokovic leaped to a 5-love lead. Then Monfils adopted a rope-a-dope suite of tactics. He stood flat-footed and seemingly disinterested to receive serve, then looped back short moon balls, daring Djokovic to attack. Sometimes he took reckless swipes at serves or foolishly charged the net at inexplicable times.Commentators, spectators, pundits all were baffled, unsure if Monfils was tanking or pursuing some silly strategy. ESPNs John McEnroe called it the Dont Try strategy. Others used words like bizarre and absurd.The odd thing? It worked. Djokovic was clearly rattled and his game ran off the rails for a while. From 0-5, Monfils bunted and slashed and rope-a-doped his way back to 3-5, 15-40, with Djokovic serving. Monfils bought himself some much-needed breathing room. The process wasnt pretty, but it was effective.The iconoclastic Frenchman later said his strategy was valuable but that critics dont want to see it because theyre too hung up on convention.Everyone is like, Play tennis like this. Do this, he said. But when the guy is too good, you change. I am not academic; I try to be better.Many witnesses to the match had trouble understanding -- or perhaps it was sympathizing -- with the way Monfils chose to play. Clubbing 52 unforced errors, as Monfils did in this match, is not a very good way to win friends and influence people. Its also undeniable that Monfils dramatic shift of tactics turned a potentiallly ghastly blowout into a strange, sharp-edged and fairly competitive match.ddddddddddddMonfils was similarly slapdash in the second set, by the end of which the crowd was getting restless and demanding better tennis. Spectators periodically booed Monfils. When he fell behind 0-30 in the first game of the third set, someone cried out, Play tennis! When he lost the next score to make it 15-40, Monfils was roundly booed.Given that a large number of spectators were listening to McEnroe and his fellow commentators on earpieces, theres a good chance they were egged on by the dismay of the experts.If at the end I had the mic, I would say to the audience, Stop saying that Im unprofessional, Monfils said. The guy is killing me, you know. Im just embracing the fact the guy is too good for me and trying to switch strategy.Monfils did begin playing a more familiar brand of tennis soon after that early break and a Djokovic hold. Monfils won four games in a row with the kind of electric shot-making that makes him such a popular figure. He won the set, but his own analysis was confirmed. Djokovic was just too good for him if the both played straight up, conventional tennis.I could have expected it in a way, Djokovic said of the odd match, without a trace of anger. I was caught off guard. But thats Gael. He loves defense, impossible shots, long rallies.Shortly after the match, McEnroe summed up his disappointment in Monfils performance. He predicted that the players in the locker room would have nothing but contempt for it. He called it the ultimate backdoor effort.Monfils offered a responseIm very sad to learn that such a legend criticize me, Monfils said, because at the end, what I can say to John is, You know, John, I want to be the best. Its tough, you know. And I try my best.Monfils might have added that when the front door is always locked, theres no choice but to try going around the back. ' ' '