Dein erstes Forum » Pekovic had gone from an unknown

EGNA, Italy -- Carolina Kostner is coming full circle.The Italian has returned to her native Alto Adige region to climb back to the elite level of international figure skating after a nearly three-year absence due to a suspension for helping her then-boyfriend evade doping controls.While the hometown fans gave her a heroines welcome during the Italian championships this week, Kostner was nowhere near her top form of 2014, when she won the bronze medal at the Sochi Winter Olympics with a near flawless free skate.But if anyone can raise her back to Olympic levels, it is Alexei Mishin, the Russian coach who trained Alexei Urmanov, Alexei Yagudin, and Yevgeny Plushenko to greatness.Kostner has been training with Mishin full-time in St. Petersburg since Sept. 1.When she came to me, she was destroyed, Mishin said after Kostner claimed her eighth Italian title on Thursday.He said his first mission, after her long absence from competition, was to give her confidence that she is able to complete. And step by step, I think we did. His second task has been to radically shake up her approach to the elements. Mishins skaters dont learn by repetition, a common approach to vanquish errors and create muscle memory. Instead, Mishin assigns them a set of exercises for each jump to create the proper technique.The program, call it creative destruction, is nothing less than grueling, Kostner acknowledged.He has revealed an interesting but not so simple method that has provoked many moments of frustration, some cursing, many falls, and many moments of uncertainty, Kostner said.She said she felt like she has been learning all over again.In some ways, I feel like a 14-year-old who is learning, almost from zero. It is not from zero, it is only a change in perception, which often in life isnt bad.Kostners last competitive season in 2014 was by far her finest. She won the Olympic bronze with a career-best 142.61 points in the free skate after landing eight triples, three in combination, to a fluidly choreographed Bolero. She followed that with a best-ever short program at the world championships in Saitama, Japan, where she finished third.She always planned to take off at least part of the 2015 season to rest, but the suspension turned that into two full years. She called it a period of maturation when addressing reporters after reaching a deal last year to return to competition. She exuded a newfound tranquility, along with a determination to get back into competition, sights set on the 2018 Winter Games.During the break, Kostner kept up exhibition skating, and she started training with a dance company in Rome to enhance her expression. But she was missing critical ice hours working on top-level elements.Fast forward 2 1/2 seasons, and her level of difficulty has clearly diminished.In her final free program before an adoring hometown crowd, the former world champion skipped a simple triple toe loop jump in combination. As she came off the ice, Mishin gave her a quizzical look and pointed to his head, as if to say, What happened?The error was surprising, but Mishin played it down.We did not plan to be perfect right now, he said.He huddled backstage after the nationals with Lori Nichols, Kostners longtime choregrapher, telling her that they needed to add more difficulty to the program to be competitive.Kostners next challenge will be the Europeans in Ostrava, Czech Republic, at the end of January. Depending on the outcome, the Italian federation will make a final decision on whether Kostner will get Italys single worlds berth, which last year went to Roberta Rodeghiero, who finished 16th.Kostner is spending two weeks at home in Alto Adige with her family, at least part of that time she will be working huddled with Nichol to add difficulty to the program according to Mishins prescription.Mishin is confident in Kostners ability, saying Carolina is one of the most precise and serious pupils which I ever had.The multilingual Kostner likened Mishins technique to learning to converse in a new language. The experience has been nothing if not humbling.Slowly, slowly, I am managing to put into practice what he is teaching me. I still have a lot to learn, and that is wonderful because two years ago, I thought I had learned everything in my sport. Instead, every day I am aware there is a whole new world. 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The Oilers come in having lost five in a row (0-4-1) and 16 of their last 20 games, dropping a 2-1 decision to the Vancouver Canucks on Tuesday.MINNEAPOLIS -- Everything about Nikola Pekovic is big. Big muscles. Big scowl. Big tattoos. Now he has a contract to match. In giving the 27-year-old Pekovic a five-year deal that could be worth more than $60 million with incentives, the Timberwolves are bucking a trend that has started to take over the NBA. While so many other teams are starting to play small ball, the Wolves are going big. Theyve decided to jump on Pekovics broad shoulders and see how far the Montenegrin centre can carry them in a league that is getting smaller and smaller by the day. "A lot of people have asked me about centres in this league and whats happened is theyre almost a dinosaur," Timberwolves president of basketball operations Flip Saunders said Friday. "Many teams have gone to stretch-type playing and theyve done that because they dont have the ability to have somebody that they can put down on the block that has the ability to score on the block on a consistent basis. Thats something that Pek can do. With Peks physicality and along with Kevin Love we feel like we have two power players that can really be forces around the basket." The Miami Heat have won two straight titles with undersized Chris Bosh playing the bulk of the minutes at centre. Timberwolves coach Rick Adelman often used 6-foot-6 Chuck Hayes at centre when he coached the Houston Rockets. The Boston Celtics stayed relevant in large part thanks to Kevin Garnetts willingness to move from power forward to centre. In Pekovic, Saunders sees an opportunity to create mismatches against teams that try to go small against them, to punish them in the paint and pound them on the glass with the burly big man and Love, perhaps the leagues best rebounder. "I know the league is getting smaller and many teams in the (centre) position are playing guys from (power forward) ... So Im just happy to be here and be maybe one of the few old-fashioned centres who are going to play in the low post," Pekovic said. "Im just going to keep being that." Saunders called Pekovic one of the top two or three low-post centres in the game, and the numbers would support that. In his third season, he averaged 16.3 points and 8.8 rebounds and shot 52 per cent from the floor while shooting an impressive 74.4 per cent on free throws. Tim Duncan was named All-NBA first team centre during an incredible season for the San Antonio Spurs last year, but his career is entering the twilight phase. That may leave Marc Gasol from Memphis and Houstons Dwight Howard, who isnt as polished in the post butt remains a tremendous force, as the other players who could be above Pekovic in the centre pecking order from an offensive standpoint.dddddddddddd And despite the trend to go small, three of the four teams in the conference finals last season -- Indiana, San Antonio and Memphis -- had a huge presence in the post. In Minnesota he will team with Love and Ricky Rubio to form the core of what many consider to be an up-and-coming franchise. The Wolves havent made the playoffs since 2004. But if they can stay healthy -- Pekovic has missed 39 games in the last two seasons due to injury and Love only played 18 last year -- they believe that dubious skid will come to an end this year. Pekovic said his goal is to play in all 82 games during the regular season and Saunders said the team is looking at some of its training practices to try and reduce the wear and tear on a players body. Saunders believes Pekovic has trained too much at times and spent too much time in the weight room and that a more efficient program could help him. "I think there has to be a meeting of the minds of getting all people together and really getting a good plan and good format that players are doing the right thing and theyre not over-training parts of their body," Saunders said. Negotiations with Pekovics agent Jeff Schwartz dragged on for about a month and a half before Saunders added the fifth year on Tuesday to get the deal done. All of a sudden, Pekovic had gone from an unknown big man who appeared lost at times during his rookie season to a $60 million centerpiece of a franchises quest for redemption. "My agent asked me when we closed the deal, he asked me how do you feel," Pekovic said. "I said I still dont know. I still feel like unbelievable. I came like three years ago and I was basically not even a backup centre, nothing. I was kind of fighting for my position. ... I know that I was really fighting and pushing for this. Im really happy that all this happened." He also made it clear to Schwartz from the day the market opened on July 1 that he wanted to remain in Minnesota. While many other players have left smaller markets for more glamorous locales, Pekovic has warmed to Minnesotas icy climate and feels at home while fishing on one of the states 10,000 lakes. "People asked me, where do you want to live," Pekovic said. "I dont want to go to a bigger city. I just like it here. I like everything. I know its a little cold in the winter but you just get used (to it.). Its my fourth year here. Im basically a Minneapolis guy." ------ ' ' '