Freischaltung » Malik Monk at 16.3 and DeAaron Fox at 1

FOXBOROUGH, Mass. -- For all the difficulties the Los Angeles Rams have had over the past two months , punting the ball hasnt been one of them.And thats exactly one of the things that concerns Patriots coach Bill Belichick as they prepare to host the struggling NFC West team on Sunday.Los Angeles (4-7) will arrive in New England having lost six of its last seven games, including a 49-21 drubbing at New Orleans last week. But two of its four wins have come in low scoring punt fests: a 9-3 win over Seattle back in September, and a 9-6 victory on the road against the Jets earlier this month.The common denominator in both wins was the tremendous weapon Belichick says they have in punter Johnny Hekker.In his fifth season out of Oregon State, Hekker has been one of the NFLs most accurate punters since signing with the Rams in 2012. The 26-year-old has not only has arguably the leagues best leg when it comes to yardage, but also marksman-like precision on directional punts, plus an accurate arm when throwing the ball on fakes.Yeah, hes dangerous, Belichick said. I mean, hes like a quarterback. He can throw, he can run. Youve got to defend him like youd defend one of those guys.This season, Hekker has put a NFL-best 35 punts inside the 20-yard line, with just one touchback. In addition, Hekker has limited teams to a 4.5 yards average per return, while ranking second in the league with a 44.9 net yards per punt average.In Los Angeles win over Seattle, Hekkers six punts limited the Seahawks to an average starting position on their own 17.Then in the win over the Jets, he became the first NFL punter since 1984 to record a punt of 75 of yards or more in back-to-back weeks since 1984 when he had a career-best 78-yard boot. His 51.7 yards per punt average in that game limited New York to an average starting position on its own 18.This guy is as good a player as Ive ever seen at that position, said Belichick, who placed Hekker among his list of great NFL punters, which includes Ray Guy, Thomas Morstead, Dave Jennings and Sean Landeta.Patriots punter Ryan Allen beat Hekker out for the starting job in 2008 at Oregon State. Allen eventually transferred to Louisiana State and went on to win the Ray Guy Award, given to the best collegiate punter, in 2011 and 2012.At the end of the day, hes an athlete, Allen said of Hekker. You kind of have to respect multiple aspects of his athleticism.If the Rams have any chance to stun the Patriots, it will likely come via Hekkers ability to flip the field. The Patriots have been held to single-digits only once this season, in their 16-0 loss to Buffalo . In that game, the Bills held New England to an average starting position of their own 23.Still, if Allen is on the field a lot on Sunday, it will mean the Patriots are doing something right.Weve just got to make sure we get the ball, thats all, Belichick said with a chuckle. I hope (Hekker) gets a good workout; yeah.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL.---Follow Kyle Hightower on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/khightower Carolina Hurricanes Shirts . With Parker having a quiet game for once, Nicolas Batum and Boris Diaw provided the scoring as France won its first major basketball title by beating Lithuania 80-66 on Sunday. It was a victory that ended a decade of frustration for Parker and a talented French generation, which lost the final against Spain two years ago and took bronze in 2005. Fake Hurricanes Jerseys . 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LEXINGTON, Ky. -- After playing in the bright lights and hype of the Champions Classic at New Yorks Madison Square Garden, a big question will be how No. 2 Kentucky responds to more subdued environment.The Wildcats return home fresh off their impressive 69-48 rout of No. 13 Michigan State and they will get their answers Sunday night against Duquesne.Great question, Kentucky associate head coach Kenny Payne said Friday. But we dont have to worry about that. The way that we coach, the way that we prepare those kids know that after that game is over, we celebrate. Its over. On to the next.The issue is outside of this environment. The friends. The parents. Their families. Now, they might talk to them about, Man, you all are the real deal. But when they walk in this gym and they walk in our offices, they know its on to the next. So they have no time to relax and feel good about anything. Were trying to get better.Payne explained it is part of the regular process in playing at Kentucky where everyone else is always trying to fast-forward to an NCAA championship.Its in everything we do every single day, Payne said. Were trying to get better every day. Are we happy we beat Michigan State thats a really good team? Yes, we are. Did we play our best? Not even close. Not even close.The top concern for coaches is rebounding. Kentucky was out rebounded 44-40 by Michigan State and 36-28 by Stephen F. Austin. UK did top Canisius 39-36.I think one of the things that has been a little disappointing with our athleticism, energy and length is that we havent dominated teams on the glass thus far, Payne said. Dont see that as a long-term problem, but its something that we have to focus on and get better at.In Duquesne, the 3-0 Wildcats will face a team that is 2-2 on the young season.dddddddddddd The Dukes defeated Loyola Maryland 65-60 and Saint Francis 89-75 but lost to Penn State 82-74 and Canisius 78-77 on Friday.We just need maturity and more time together, Duquesne coach Jim Ferry said. The biggest issue we have is the schedule. Were basically playing every other day. So weve not had the practice time we really needed. Our practices have been our games (leading to) making decisions on the fly.Duquesne is trying to restart after losing its top three scorers to graduation. Sophomore guard Tarin Smith leads the way at 15.5 points per game followed by freshman forward Isiaha Mike at 12.0. Darius Lewis, a 6-11 senior post player from Lexington, Ky., is the top rebounder at 6.5.Kentucky is averaging 83 points per game and has three players scoring in double figures, all guards. Sophomore Isaiah Briscoe is tops at 19.7 points per game followed by freshman Malik Monk at 16.3 and DeAaron Fox at 15.0.Freshman Bam Adebayo and sophomore Isaac Humphries share the rebounding lead at 5.7 per game.Monk is coming off his best game with a team-best 23 points against Michigan State during which he made 7-of-11 from 3-point range. In fact, it was the best overall game by Kentucky to date. To fend off any letdown, coaches make sure players are competing against themselves.They dont really know, and theyre learning, Payne said. For every one of these kids in this program, other than Isaiah Briscoe, everybody is still learning who they are as a player. There have been times when they havent been in dog fights before. So, theyre getting a chance to see. ' ' '