Dein erstes Forum » aylor hopes to return to the Final Four for the

There is losing, and then there is being completely and totally outplayed. For the last three times that Ireland have played ODIs against Full Members, it has been the latter. They were beaten by 255 runs by Pakistan, and before that, by 136 runs and 76 runs by Sri Lanka, making for grim reading. However, William Porterfield, their captain, managed to find the positives.Weve done a lot of things well for 80 to 85 overs in a lot of those games, Porterfield said. Against Pakistan, we pretty much had an off day, and Sharjeel (Khan) had a very good day. He was the big difference in the game. If we kept him out of it, it would have been a decent enough contest. We probably lost the Sri Lanka game in seven or eight overs on the field. Those things can happen if youre not right on it.Realistically, that is a generous analysis. Sharjeels 152 off 86 balls accounted for almost half of Pakistans total of 337, but even if he had been kept quiet, Ireland only managed 82 in response. Similarly, they were unable to muster strong replies against Sri Lanka after conceding heavily in both the matches they played in June.The real reason for Irelands recent struggles may lie a little deeper, and Porterfield was willing to acknowledge that. The biggest thing for ourselves was that we had quite a few debutants in those games, especially with our bowling attack, and the experience they have taken from that is going to be key.Against Sri Lanka, Barry McCarthy earned his first cap to join a young pace pack that included Andy McBrine, who has played 16 ODIs, and Max Sorensen, who has 13 ODIs to his name. Add that to new faces in the batting line-up such as Stuart Poynter and Sean Terry, and you have a team in a transition of sorts, which makes the dip in consistency understandable.That makes it particularly important for Irelands stalwarts like Porterfield and the OBrien brothers to perform well in the two matches in South Africa, but even more important that Tim Murtagh provides influence and inspiration through his presence. Murtagh joined the squad early on Saturday morning after winning the county championship with Middlesex, and Ireland will see the value of having someone with that success.Whether Murtagh plays the first game remains to be seen, especially as he would only have had little more than 24 hours of recovery time, but simply having him around will boost Irish spirits. He is here today, training, Porterfield said, his tone notably lighter than when he was dissecting Irelands last few performances. He has got 20 years of experience behind him, so he knows what he needs to do and how his body is going to feel, and he will be pretty open and honest himself, how he is feeling.How Ireland are feeling is also transparent. They are both nervous and excited at the possibilities that lie ahead in the next four days, and they are determined to make the most of them, so that they can be asked back to these shores in future. Having the opportunity to come to South Africa and play them in their own backyard, and to play the world champions - Ireland play Australia in a one-off ODI after the South Africa match - in different conditions is what we have been building towards, Porterfield said. Weve got to keep improving and keep putting in performances to merit the games that we get. Were not here to just make up numbers for a couple of games, but we are here to win games of cricket. Cheap Air Max 1 . 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WACO, Texas -- Lauren Cox learned very quickly that Natalie Chou has a voracious appetite, will sing along to anything that comes on the radio and wont put a skateboard down until she has learned how to skate.Before they became roommates at Baylor this summer, Cox and Chou mostly knew each other as highly competitive, decorated rivals in Dallas.It was always us two, me against Lauren in seventh and eighth grades, Chou said. And then in high school, we were in the same district so we would play against each other at least two times. That would always be a big game.Cox and Chou, ranked the No. 1 and No. 8 recruits in the country by ESPN, will play in many more massive games for the next four years as teammates. The prized freshmen, along with No. 40 prospect Calveion Juicy Landrum, take their first road trip on Thursday, and it will surely will be one they wont forget.No. 2 Baylor visits No. 3 UConn with the Huskies looking to extend their 76-game winning streak with a victory in Storrs. The Huskies (1-0) will be Baylors second top-10 opponent this week after the Bears (2-0) beat ninth-ranked UCLA at home, 84-70.Usually, UConn has the star-studded recruiting class. But Baylor head coach Kim Mulkey might have her best crop of freshmen in her 17 seasons at Waco, and thats saying a lot.While Cox and Chou had been teammates once before on the 2014 USA U17 World Championship team -- they helped USA go 7-0 and bonded half a world away in the Czech Republic -- the two never really considered playing together at the collegiate level.At least not until Mulkey had the two in her office for a visit at Baylor.Mulkey made a detailed, eye-opening pitch of seamless pick-and-rolls, perhaps allowing Cox and Chou to fantasize about becoming the Green and Gold version of Stockton and Malone. The coach also talked about the 6-foot-1 Chous perimeter shooting, passing and versatility to play three positions -- and how that would fit nicely with the 6-foot-4 Coxs stellar post game.Apart, the two would be just fine wherever they went. Together, however, Cox and Chou could be a championship-caliber combination in the future.When I recruited them, I talked about together, Mulkey said. The combination of a post player and a perimeter player and what they could mean to each other.Their personalities are similar in that they are very basketball savvy. They grew up in homes where their parents are very involved in their careers, and now they can go to the next level and do it together.Cox stunned Mulkey by committing as she posed for a photo shoot in a Baylor uniform on her official visit, and Chou signed two weeks later.(Mulkeys pitch about teaming up) was eye-opening, Chou said. She put everything into reality. Lauren is like the best post power forward, and I am a really good shooter, so having her would help me a lot, and we know eeach others games so well so it would be great.ddddddddddddThe two McDonalds All-Americans joined Landrum to give Mulkey whats considered the best recruiting class in the country by some and the second-best class?according to ESPN. All three have deep basketball roots, too. Chous mother, Quanli Li, played professional basketball in China. Coxs parents, Dennis and Brenda, played college basketball, and Landrums sister, Porsha Roberts, plays professionally.How much Mulkey will play her freshmen remains to be seen. Cox logged just four minutes and missed all four of her shots against UCLA as Mulkey relied on an impressive frontcourt with the likes of preseason All-American forward Nina Davis and Kalani Brown. Brown had 25 points, 19 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 blocks against the Bruins.Chou and Landrum play behind a veteran backcourt of Alexis Jones, Alexis Prince and Kristy Wallace. Chou logged 12 minutes and went scoreless, while Landrum did not play against UCLA.Of course, the freshmen trio came to Baylor knowing they would try to support a Bears squad that returned four starters from a 36-2 team last season.I am really hard on myself, so I do have high expectations for myself, said Cox, who is Baylors first No. 1 recruit in the country since Brittney Griner in 2009. If I do want to have that playing time and contribute to the team, I will have to work hard because we have really good returning posts on the team.In Baylors first non-exhibition game of the season, the three freshmen saw extended playing time in a 118-43 blowout over Houston Baptist. Chou led the freshmen with 11 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals and 1 block, while Cox had 8 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 3 blocks. Landrum added 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 points, 2 steals and 1 block.Mulkey hopes her freshmen will wreak havoc on opponents in the future. For now, she wants them to find enough harmony on the court to be the pieces that make this Baylor juggernaut a championship team.The three Texas girls havent come up with a nickname for their class, but their goal and the teams motto is clear and catchy: Destination Dallas. Baylor hopes to return to the Final Four for the first time since 2012, when the Bears went 40-0 and won the national championship.Once local rivals, Cox and Chou would love nothing more than to come home and compete for a championship together.From over the years, we would know how each other play, and we knew each others strengths and what we liked to do, Chou said. So having that connection already and history really, I think, helps.We have a lot of Dallas girls on this team. So we feel like we would be playing in front of our family, and our goal is to win the national championship. ' ' '