Irving has first practice with Mavericks, preps for debut

By TIM REYNOLDS AP Basketball Writer

KYRIE Irving had his first practice with Dallas yesterday, and was asked if he envisioned any problems playing alongside Mavericks star Luka Doncic.

Irving’s answer: “No.”

The Mavs clearly see it the same way.

Irving’s Dallas chapter has started, with a practice in Los Angeles preceding what’s expected to be his debut game there when the Mavericks visit the Clippers tonight.

The Mavericks struck a deal Sunday to acquire the eight-time All-Star from the Brooklyn Nets.

“I’ve played with some of the best of all time, greatest of all time,” Irving said. “I’ve been on some of the greatest teams, the Olympics and the world championships. This is going to be my first time seeing one of those bad Europeans come over and really dominate up close — and have the opportunity to do it at a pace that I don’t think has ever been seen before other than like Larry Bird.”

For his part, Mavericks coach Jason Kidd said he expects Irving and Doncic to figure things out quickly. “This isn’t two 23-yearolds trying to see who’s the alpha,” Kidd said. “We understand, this is Luka’s team. It will be Luka’s team.”

Irving was all smiles yesterday, for good reason. He’s excited to be with the Mavericks, just as they were excited to get him.

“The combination of Kyrie and Luka will be fun to watch,” Mavs owner Mark Cuban said. Brooklyn had a similar thought in 2019 when the Nets landed Irving and Kevin Durant, thinking they would be the pieces that brought a championship. They wound up playing only 74 regularseason games together. Irving’s time with the Nets because their standard was not up to par when he first arrived, but their schedule and plan he implemented turned things around in the right direction.

“We still have some time left, so hopefully when it’s time to leave, we will be in tip-top shape for the tournament,” Taylor said.

From a mental perspective, Taylor said as long as they can do it together as a team, they can achieve their goal.

“The most difficult thing is each one actually making time from their schedule to attend all of the sessions,” he pointed out.

Based on what he’s seen, Taylor feels as if the BCC has assembled one of its most versatile teams in a long time. “Previously teams were definitely not as strong as this one,” he noted.

“In batting, we can go from number one straight to number eleven. We also have a lot of bowling on the team and we have a lot of seniors who played on the previous team, so it’s a good variety of players on this team.”

As for the expectations, Taylor said it’s simply to qualify.

“We have to beat a certain amount of teams, so we expect to qualify,” he stated.

“We have high expectations for this tournament.”

The team is scheduled to open play against the Cayman Islands on February 25.

Moles said with the team assembled, he’s confident that the Bahamas will advance to the next round.

Gary Ballance’s historic innings rallies Zimbabwe against West Indies

By ENOCK MUCHINJO Associated Press

BULAWAYO, Zimbabwe (AP) — Gary Ballance became only the second men’s cricketer to hit a test hundred for two countries as his unbeaten 137 helped Zimbabwe avoid the follow on against the West Indies yesterday.

Ballance, playing his first test for Zimbabwe after his last for England in 2017, anchored his new side to 379-9 declared, conceding 68 runs on the first innings late on the fourth day.

The Zimbabweans gave themselves 13 overs to attack the West Indies but openers Kraigg

Brathwaite and Tagenarine Chanderpaul were as resolute in reaching stumps at 21 without loss as they were in their stand of 336 in the first innings. Ballance went in at 114-3 and watched four teammates dismissed in the days first 12 overs.

At 192-7 and the tail exposed, Zimbabwe was in jeopardy of having to follow on. It needed 56 more runs.

Ballance and allrounder Brandon Mavuta combined for 135 to turn around Zimbabwe’s mindset from survival into attack. It declared to match West Indies’ declaration to try and force a