SPORTS SECTION E
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 29, 2016
NFL PICKS
Week 4, Pages 2 & 3
Mourning clinic highlight of Heat training camp By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net
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or many Bahamian fans, the highlight of the Miami Heat’s training camp in the Bahamas will be today’s community outreach effort. Hosted by former Heat star and now front office figure, Alonzo Mourning, the clinic will feature 150 student athletes in the Atlantis Resort’s Grand Ballroom, the site of the team’s training camp. Several Heat players, from veterans to newcomers, expressed their excitement at the prospects of interacting with the young Bahamian fans. “It’s great, it’s always nice to see and interact with kids who are your fans. I remember when I was a kid and the NBA players came to see us, I was hyped. It’s good for the community so we can give something back and I’m looking forward to it,” said starting point guard Goran Dragic. “I just want to explore the Bahamas, because this is the first time here for me. Unfortunately we’re here for business, it’s camp, so I’m not going to have enough time to look around but it’s good for the future and I’m going to come back with my family.” Veteran and team captain Udonis Haslem said: “To go out
MIAMI Heat basketball players warm up yesterday during the team’s training camp at the Atlantis, Paradise Island resort, Bahamas. The team arrived in New Providence on Monday for the week-long training session. (AP) and hang out with the kids, have fun and have a good time, I always look forward to an opportunity like that. Off-season free agent additions to the Heat, Dion Waiters
and Derrick Williams said they hope to use their status to positively impact today’s group. “When I was a little kid, I wished professional athletes would come in and see us and
help us,” Williams said. “And so anytime you give back, especially to kids, I think that’s one of the best things to ever do. To see the smile on the kids’ faces, that’s the best.”
Waiters said: “I can’t wait. I love the kids. What I do back home, everything I do is for the kids. So I can’t wait to meet them and just talk to them.” Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra said the players have been fully engaged in the Bahamian experience from the moment they stepped off the plane to a Junkanoo rush-out in progress. The clinic gives them a brief opportunity to interact. “They’ll love it,” said Spoelstra, referring to the team. “It was great on the drive in on [Monday] we saw a couple courts outside and saw kids playing and everybody got up on the bus to look out. My guys will really enjoy it.” Mourning, well known for his charitable work, established Alonzo Mourning Charities to aid at-risk children and enhance their lives and their families. A kidney transplant recipient, he was a member of the Heat from 1995-2002 and again from 2005-2008. And he was a member of the championship team in 2006 when they defeated the Dallas Mavericks. He also launched the Zo’s Fund for Life to raise funds for research and education to fight focal glomerulosclerosis (FSGS), a nephritic syndrome in children and adolescents as well as a cause of kidney failure in adults - a condition he was also diagnosed with.
Lynx open title defence with 113-93 win
PHOENIX Mercury’s’ Penny Taylor, right, drives round Minnesota Lynx’s Seimone Augustus in the first quarter of last night’s game. (AP Photo/Jim Mone) By BRIAN HALL Associated Press ST PAUL, Minn. (AP) — Maya Moore scored 31 points, including 15 in the second
quarter, as the Minnesota Lynx opened their WNBA title defence with a 113-95 win over the Phoenix Mercury in the first game of the WNBA semi-finals last night.
Lindsay Whalen added 19 points and seven assists for topseed Minnesota, which has beat Phoenix in all four meetings this season. Centre Sylvia Fowles scored 16 points and grabbed 10
rebounds as the Lynx broke the WNBA record for points in a regulation playoff game. Diana Taurasi scored 25 points for the Mercury, who won the matchup between the two teams
in 2014 on the way to their own championship. Brittney Griner added 16 points for Phoenix but was held to just two rebounds. Game 2 of the best-of-five series is Friday night.
Saunders expected to be greater part of Seminoles’ game plan By RENALDO DORSETT Sports Reporter rdorsett@tribunemedia.net AFTER his first reception of the season in his last outing, Florida State Seminoles tight end Mavin Saunders continues to garner increased expectations from staff and teammates. Seminoles head coach Jimbo Fisher said he expects the redshirt sophomore and Bimini native to become an even greater part of the game plan as FSU implements more double tight end sets. “Mavin is getting better and better. He’s really grinding, he’s
getting better and betof his] athleticism, as he ter and doing better. He learns to be a really good has a chance to be a refootball player, Mavin ally good player, he just can do anything that he needs to keep working. wants to.” I hope the light came on Saunders caught a 12for him and a lot of them. yard reception, his first “When you start to of the season, in the have success and realise No.13 ranked Seminoles’ what you can do then you 55-35 win over the South have a lot of plays in the Florida Bulls at Raygame,” Fisher said folmond James Stadium. lowing Tuesday’s prac- SAUNDERS The win improved the tice. Seminoles to 3-1 and got “You don’t see a lot of that, you them back in the win column don’t see a lot of two tight end after a 63-23 upset on the road sets that we run and that’s good against the Louisville Cardinals. for us because we become the After seeing action sparingly different ones. Mavin [because in the first three games of the sea-
son, Saunders saw increased minutes against USF, but remains second on the depth chart behind Ryan Izzo. Izzo noted the marked improvement in Saunders, particularly as a blocker. “He’s done nothing but improve, his technique, his mentality as a player has just gotten better every week,” Izzo said. “Through fall camp and so far this year he really has showed how much he has learned since he got here. Playing more two tight end sets will definitely show a different part of our game.” The Seminoles return home, for the first time in three weeks,
to face the North Carolina Tar Heels on October 1 at 3:30pm, in a game broadcast live on ABC, ESPN and ESPN2. Saunders, the 6’5” 258-pound tight end and Bimini native, has appeared in six games last season before being relegated to the sidelines due to a nagging back injury. In the season opener, he caught a single pass for five yards. His best game of the season was the first start of his collegiate career, when he finished with three receptions for 26 yards – both career highs – in the Seminoles’ 29-24 win over in-state rival, the University of Miami Hurricanes.