Houston Rockets management repeatedly pushed for Clint Capela to get more playing time at the expense of Dwight Howard last season, sources told ESPN, adding to the disharmony that played a prominent role in the teams disappointing 2015-16 campaign.Former Rockets interim coach J.B. Bickerstaff resisted complying with the wishes of general manager Daryl Morey and owner Leslie Alexander regarding a drastic reduction in Howards playing time. Team sources said Alexander never participated in the meetings with Morey and Bickerstaff but fully supported the general managers plan to prioritize Capelas development.League sources said input from face-of-the-franchise James Harden heavily influenced Houston managements desire to decrease Howards minutes. However, team sources insisted that Harden was not involved in those discussions.While Howards minutes remained steady throughout the season, word of Rockets managements desire to reduce his role filtered back to the big man. That further deteriorated Howards trust of the franchise, one of many factors in the dysfunction that dragged Houston down during a 41-41 campaign that came on the heels of a Western Conference finals run.There were times I was disinterested because of situations that happened behind the scenes that really hurt me, Howard said in a May interview with ESPNs Jackie MacMullan. It left me thinking, This is not what I signed up for.Asked to elaborate, Howard added: I felt like my role was being reduced. I went to Daryl and said, I want to be more involved. Daryl said, No, we dont want you to be. My response was, Why not? Why am I here? It was shocking to me that it came from him instead of our coach.Morey declined to comment, and Howard declined to further discuss issues related to his Rockets tenure. Bickerstaff, now the Memphis Grizzlies associate head coach, was not available for comment due to team rules restricting access to assistants.Sources said Howard learned of managements attempts to cut his minutes in midseason and shared a mutual interest with the Rockets front office to move him before the trade deadline. The Rockets shopped Howard, according to sources, but no deal came close to materializing largely due to Houstons ambitious asking price: an immediate major contributor and either a promising developmental project or future first-round pick.Rockets managements motivation for wanting to increase Capelas workload at the expense of Howard was twofold, according to sources. The Rockets anticipated that Howard would likely leave in free agency, making Capelas development critical to the franchises future, and management felt that Capelas performance merited more minutes.Capela averaged 13.3 points, 12.1 rebounds and 2.3 blocks per 36 minutes last season. By comparison, Howards per-36 averages last season were 15.4 points, 13.2 rebounds and 1.8 blocks.Howard averaged 32.1 minutes per game last season, including 31.9 minutes per game after the All-Star break. It was the second-lowest minutes average of Howards career, behind only the previous season, when injuries limited him to 41 games.Capela, the Rockets 2014 first-round pick who played in only 12 games his rookie season, averaged 19.1 minutes in his second NBA season with his playing time actually dipping slightly after the All-Star break.The Rockets, according to sources, planned for most of the season to part with Howard in the summer. However, Houston management decided at the 11th hour to attempt to persuade Howard into exercising the player option for the final season of his contract, which would have paid him a salary of $23.2 million this season.Howard chose to opt out of his deal and signed a three-year, $70.5 million contract with his hometown Atlanta Hawks. Fake Lakers Jerseys . "Jeff is a hard worker who was an important special-teams contributor for us last season," said Stamps GM John Hufnagel. Stitched Lakers Jerseys . -- Matt Kuchar and Harris English ran away with the Franklin Templeton Shootout, shooting a 14-under 58 on Sunday in the final-round scramble to break the tournament course record. https://www.lakersjerseycheap.com/ .J. -- Seven games into a disappointing season, New York Giants defensive catalyst Jason Pierre-Paul is getting the feeling hes back. Cheap Lakers Jerseys . The 15th-ranked Canadian men lost the opening two games of their European tour: 19-15 to No. 17 Georgia and 21-20 to No. Wholesale Lakers Jerseys . Thats about all he can do right now, so hes trying not to think about when he might be able to play again for the Los Angeles Lakers. The MCC World Cricket Committee has recommended the introduction of further limitations to the size of cricket bats within the laws of the game.The committee, concerned that the balance between bat and ball has tilted too far in the batsmans favour, has proposed that the thickness and depth of bats be limited and added that further discussion is required over the weight of bats.The committee, which has no powers but is respected as an independent voice in world cricket, makes recommendations to the MCC and has included David Richardson, the ICC chief executive, among its number. The committee also welcomed the ICCs suggestions for greater context in Test cricket, called for cricket to be included in the Olympics and called for a change in Law 42.15, sometimes referred to as the Mankad Law, to ensure clarity over the issue of running out the non-striking batsman who leaves the crease before the point of release. As far as the committee is concerned, such a batsman is either taking an advantage or acting carelessly and runs the risk of being legitimately run-out.But it was perhaps the call for an amended law over the size of bats that might have the greatest ramifications for the game. While at pains to make clear that the committee was not trying to reduce the number of boundaries hit in the modern game, Mike Brearley, chairman of the committee, did express concern that mis-hits were carrying for six and that, if current trends went unchecked, the dominance of bat over ball would only become more pronounced.The time has come to restrict the size of bat edges and the overall width [depth] of bats, Mike Brearley, chairman of the committee, said. It was pointed out to us that, in 1905, the width of bats was 16mm and that, by 1980, it had increased to 18mm. It is now an average, in professional cricket, of 35-40mm and sometimes up to 60mm. That shows how fast the change has been.The one thing we dont want to see is batsmen unable to hit fours and sixes, Rod Marsh agreed. Thats so far from what will happen. We just dont want to see the bat sizes get bigger. But when you see a guy try to hit the ball through midwicket and it flies for six over cover, you know something is wrong.While the committees view was not unanimous - Ramiz Raja was one who had reservations about a proposed restriction - it proposed that further consultations will be held with bat manufacturers and scientists to finalise the exact measurements and to investigate the viability and need for a weight limit. If progress is smooth, it is possible that an amended law could be ratified by the MCCs main committee as part of a new Code of Laws scheduled to be introduced on October 1, 2017.The overwhelming (but not unanimous) view of the committee was that it has become too easy for batsmen to clear the boundary in all forms of cricket, even with mis-timed shots, a statement read. Furthermore, it was felt that there is a clear safety concern for close fielders, bowlers and umpires, whilst the recreationnal game is also suffering, as balls are flying into nearby residential properties with increasing frequency, thus threatening the existence of some smaller cricket clubs.ddddddddddddhe committee agrees with ICCs cricket committee that, beyond the limits that have long been in place regarding the width and length of a cricket bat, further limitations to the edge, depth and possibly to the weight should now be introduced. One proposal would be for the maximum thickness of the edge to be between 35mm and 40mm, and the overall depth of the bat to be between 60mm and 65mm (some bats in current use have edges of 55mm and can be up to 80mm deep).Other recommendations from the committee included:An insistence that cricket must embrace the concept of playing T20 in the Olympic Games by applying to become a participating sport for 2024. Suggesting that such a development would represent the single most effective move ICC could make to realise their ambition of making cricket the worlds favourite sport, the committee reasoned that it was an opportunity to inspire and reinvigorate the sport at the grassroots level and encourage its growth in new markets.A call for promotion and relegation in Test cricket, as well as a pinnacle event between the top two teams - effectively a final - to be contested every two years. While the committee welcomed the ICCs attempt to add context to all formats of the international game, it expressed concern over the future of Test cricket. It accepted that staging a final presented significant practical challenges, but suggested it may present the best way of captivating an audience.An offer to take one or two of the most promising young cricketers from Pakistan into the MCC Young Cricketers programme in future years in recognition at the extraordinary challenges faced by Pakistan cricket, not least having to play home matches in a neutral country where costs are high and the lack of bilateral series against India.A call to change Law 42.15. The World Cricket Committees unanimous view was that there should be a change in the Law to mirror the current ICC playing condition, the statement reads, that requires the non-striker to remain inside the crease before the point of release of the ball. A non-striker who is out of his crease before the point of release is either taking an advantage or is acting carelessly, and runs the risk of being legitimately run out.The committee also expressed delight at the apparent change of character at the ICC since Shashank Manohar was elected chairman.The committee believes that governance changes brought about by ICC in February 2014 were bad for the game, their statement says, and is delighted that, under the leadership of Shashank Manohar and David Richardson, the games global governing body has come to the view that many of the decisions taken at that time need to be reversed. ' ' '