Lob & Kritik » a driving layup as he was fouled

Canadas freestyle ski team will have a decidedly different look this season. The likes of Justine Dufour-Lapointe, Dara Howell and Mikael Kingsbury will be there, but there was one glaring absence on the squad unveiled Wednesday. Two-time Olympic moguls gold medallist Alex Bilodeau retired after the last World Cup season, leaving a big hole on the team as it begins the long road to the 2018 Games in South Korea. Bilodeau became the first Canadian to win Olympic gold on home soil with his memorable victory at the 2010 Games in Vancouver, and he repeated the performance in Sochi earlier this year. Kingsbury, who battled Bilodeau for the last few years and finished second in Russia this winter, says he will miss competing against his rival. "The first couple World Cups, Im going to miss somebody to look up to and to learn from. Hes been a great athlete," Kingsbury said on a conference call. "He pushed me. Since I was very young, he was my role model." Kingsbury is a three-time overall World Cup champion, and while he and Bilodeau were friends away from the hill, they were fierce opponents on it. "Im going to miss him in a way, but in another way he was one of the strongest competitors to have," said Kinsbury, a native of Deux Montagnes, Que. "Im going to try to have new motivation, to continue to push and work hard to stay ranked first in the world." Kingsbury, who turns 22 next week, said Bilodeaus retirement doesnt open any doors because hes already had a lot of success in his young career. "He was the star for sure. He won the Olympics in Vancouver -- first (Canadian) gold medallist to win on home soil -- and Sochi," Kingsbury said. "He won the two days that he needed to win, but at the same time I dont think its my turn to shine because I won the Crystal Globe and he was there, I won the world championship and he was there. "At the Olympics he did his run. I tried everything I could to win but he had the run that he needed and he totally deserved it." Like the rest of the freestyle ski team, Kingsburys focus is primed on training for the coming season, with thoughts of the 2018 Olympics in South Korea also lingering. "I just want to continue what Ive been doing, and not do more because Alex is not there," he said. "If he would have continued I would have been super happy and still would have worked hard to win the gold medal in 2018. Thats my next plan. "Its four years -- four years is long. Im going to be ready for 2018 but theres many things to come." Dufour-Lapointe, who won gold in Sochi in womens moguls, said she will take it one year at a time as she starts to build towards the next Games. "Personally I feel like Im still on a high from the Olympics," said the 20-year-old from Montreal. "What keeps me going is I feel like I can still get better and theres room for improvement." Also headlining the Canadian team for the 2014-15 season is Howell, who topped the podium in womens slopestyle in Sochi, Chloe Dufour-Lapointe -- the silver medallist in moguls behind her younger sister at the Games -- and Kim Lamarre, who finished third in slopestyle. The other Sochi medallist on this years team is Mike Riddle, who took silver in halfpipe. The rest of the Canadian freestyle team for the upcoming year includes: aerial skiers Travis Gerrits, Olivier Rochon, Jean-Christophe Andre and Sabrina Guerin; halfpipe skiers Mike Riddle, Justin Dorey, Simon dArtois, Rosalind Groenewoud, Keltie Hansen, Megan Gunning; slopestyle skiers Alex Beaulieu-Marchand, Alex Bellemare, Evan McEachran and Kaya Turski; and moguls skiers Marc-Antoine Gagnon, Philippe Marquis, Maxime Dufour-Lapointe and Audrey Robichaud. Custom Redskins Jerseys .com) - The Miami Heat will try to close out the Charlotte Bobcats Monday night in Game 4 of their Eastern Conference first round series. 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David Horsey of England was also on 5 under through 15 holes to join Warren atop the leaderboard before play was stopped. NEW ORLEANS -- Greivis Vasquez drew a round of applause when he first checked in against the team for which he played the past two seasons. Later, he all but silenced the New Orleans crowd with five straight points that gave his new team the lead for good inside the final two minutes. DeMar DeRozan scored 31 points, Vasquez finished with 14, and the Toronto Raptors snapped a two-game skid with a resilient 107-100 victory over the Pelicans on Wednesday night. "I was blessed enough to be out there at the end of the game," said Vasquez, who was traded by New Orleans after last season in a deal that brought Tyreke Evans to the Pelicans. "I had a really rough first half and then the second half I was just on a mission," Vasquez said. "I like close games, man. Im not afraid. I would never be afraid. Im the type of player that would risk everything. Thats how I got (the starting point guard) job here in New Orleans." Kyle Lowry scored 23, Amir Johnson added 17 and Vasquez finished with 14 to help Toronto overcome a 14-point first-half deficit and snap a two-game skid. Tyler Hansbrough, playing additional minutes with starting centre Jonas Valanciunas sidelined by a sore back, grabbed 13 rebounds, seven on the offensive end. "Thats psycho-T at his finest," DeRozan said of Hansbrough. "He went out there, played extremely hard, got rebounds and came up with some big rebounds late in the game. Thats just him." The game was tied at 94 when Vasquez scored five straight points in a 36-second span on a running floater and a driving layup as he was fouled -- the latter coming after Vasquez rebounded his missed jumper for one of Torontos 22 offensive rebounds. "Its cool to have a teammate like that because you see how much he wanted it," DeRozan said of Vasquez. "Thats why we call him Spicy. You never know what youre going to get until you eat it." Al-Farouq Aminu had 19 points and 10 rebounds for New Orleans, which was without All-Star Anthony Davis because of an illness. The Pelicans could not deny that Davis absence, one game after his career-high 40 points and 21 rebounds in Sundays overtime win over Boston, was a factor..dddddddddddd "Obviously, with a guy that can rebound like Anthony, its hard to make up for that," rookie centre Jeff Withey said. Evans had 18 points for the Pelicans. Eric Gordon added 15, but was shut out in the second half, when his playing time was limited after he was called for his fourth foul in the middle of the third quarter. "Once he got in foul trouble ... I think that probably broke his rhythm," Pelicans coach Monty Williams said. Brian Roberts scored 11 points, while Alexis Ajinca and Austin Rivers each had 10 to keep New Orleans in front for most of the game. New Orleans led 94-90 on Witheys free throw with 4:26 left. But during the next 50 seconds, Johnson slammed home a putback dunk and followed that with a driving layup as the shot clock expired to tie it at 94. Next came Vasquezs five straight points, followed by Lowrys free throw and Johnsons tip shot to cap a 12-1 run from which New Orleans never recovered. "We played decent defence, forced them to miss and they got rebound after rebound," Williams said. "We missed a lot of shots, layups in the paint, but the rebounding tonight was not good at all." Gordon, Aminu (12 points) and Evans (10 points) all reached double figures in the first half, much of which was controlled by New Orleans. The Pelicans seemed to surprise the Atlantic Division-leading Raptors by racing to an early double-digit lead. Rivers driving layup gave New Orleans a 31-18 lead late in the first quarter. In the second quarter, the lead reached 14 points several times, the last on Aminus layup that made it 50-36. At that point, there was 5:20 left in the second quarter, which was about all the time Toronto needed to nearly pull even. The Raptors outscored the Pelicans 20-7 to close the half. DeRozan scored nine during the stint, including a three-point play on a driving layup and a 12-foot fade at the halftime horn that made it 57-56. NOTES: The Pelicans went 3-3 on their six-game home stand. New Orleans next plays at Atlanta on Friday, then hosts Miami on Saturday to open a four-game home stand. ... The Raptors have not lost three straight since making a seven-player trade with Sacramento on Dec. 9. 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