PARADISE ISLAND, Bahamas -- It turns out Baylor coach Scott Drew has plenty to work with on his bench. His 20th-ranked Bears wouldnt have won the Battle 4 Atlantis otherwise.Playing on the third straight day and facing a 22-point deficit late in the first half, the Bears made a stunning comeback to beat No. 10 Louisville 66-63 in the championship game behind reserves King McClure, Terry Maston and Jake Lindsey.McClure scored all 15 of his points in the second half. Maston scored 10 of his 12 after halftime. And Lindsey scored all eight of his points on 4-for-4 shooting, including two straight steal-and-layup conversions during the go-ahead 21-5 run.Sure, the Bears attack starts with tournament MVP Johnathan Motley, Al Freeman and Manu Lecomte. But with the reserves providing a spark, Freeman and Lecomte each played just 5 second-half minutes.It takes a team to win, especially on the last day when youve got tired legs, Drew said after Fridays win. Theyre all very good players and we trust them. As a coach theres nothing that makes you happier when guys that have put in the work are able to be rewarded.Baylor (6-0) has beaten three ranked opponents -- then-No. 4 Oregon at home and No. 24 Michigan State in the Atlantis semifinals -- in the span of about 10 days.Here are other things we learned during the three-day Battle 4 Atlantis:PITINOS BENCH: The minutes mounted on Louisvilles backcourt, and coach Rick Pitino knows that will have to change. Quentin Snider averaged 36 minutes per game and Donovan Mitchell averaged 37 through the three tournament games. Pitino pointed to fatigue as a factor in the Cardinals (5-1) blowing their big lead, saying hell have to play more reserves even if theyre not ready for major minutes.Ive got to get some confidence in our bench somehow, Pitino said.PRACTICE WORK: The Spartans (4-3) have played another tough nonconference schedule and crisscrossed the country with losses to Arizona in Hawaii and top-ranked Kentucky in New York followed by the trip to the Bahamas. Next up is a trip to No. 6 Dukes famously hostile Cameron Indoor Stadium in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.Coach Tom Izzo said theres been little time to fix the things that have gone wrong so far, though that could change when the schedule lightens in December.The schedules been brutal as far as travel and who weve played, Izzo said. But the schedules been brutal because we never have a practice day.SHOCKERS PRESS: Trailing by 18 against Michigan State, Wichita State (5-2) went to pressuring the Spartans fullcourt to try to speed the game up. It worked, with the Shockers cutting an 18-point deficit to a single point before falling 77-72 in the third-place game.Coach Gregg Marshall wouldnt rule out using it more often going forward.I dumbed it down in the second half, which I may have to do, Marshall said. Were pretty young, were pretty inexperienced. I think we have a chance to be good, really good. But were going to have to get better.MULLINS WORK: St. Johns had a bumpy 0-3 showing, trailing by double figures at some point in every game. After Fridays 63-55 loss to Old Dominion, coach Chris Mullin said the Red Storm (2-4) probably took a step backwards to end the tournament.As frustrating as it is, thats usually what makes a team, Mullin said. If you can get through it together. No one likes to lose, no one likes to play terrible. But usually when you look back, thats usually what turns the team into a team, dealing with that.---Follow Aaron Beard on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/aaronbeardap---More AP college basketball at http://collegebasketball.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-Top25 Wholesale Custom 49ers Shirts . After the whistle, Thornton skated the length of the ice, pulled Orpik to the ice from behind and punched him in the face several times. 49ers Jerseys China . -- For the first time in two months, an opponent was standing up to Alabama. http://www.custom49ersjersey.com/ .com) - The women will also have a new champion at the Australian Open. Custom Nick Bosa Jersey . Bradwell was scheduled to become a free agent Tuesday. Born and raised in Toronto, Bradwell is entering his sixth CFL season, with all six played for his hometown Argonauts. Authentic Custom 49ers Jersey . -- Timbers coach Caleb Porter didnt stray from his business-like approach to the season even after Portland downed the two-time defending league champion Los Angeles Galaxy to gain crucial playoff position.Day four of the UEFA A licence (part 2) began with a lecture entitled "Preparing the International Team". Steve Robinson, a UEFA Pro licence coach who is currently the manager of Northern Irelands U21 team, delivered the presentation. The presentation centred on the Northern Ireland U17 team, and their progress to the Elite Stage of the European Championships. It was there that they faced the Netherlands, which was the focus of the lecture and practical session that followed. Robinson set his team up to play a 4-2-3-1 formation, to counteract the Netherlands traditional 4-3-3. He walked us through his reasoning for doing so, and one of his primary objectives was to stop the Netherlands playing at source - which means he wanted to disrupt their passing game by pressuring them in their own half. Robinson pushed one of his holding midfielders in his 4-2-3-1 formation onto the deep lying midfielder from the Netherlands, as the Dutch were playing with a traditional triangle shape in midfield (as opposed to the more attacking inverted triangle in midfield). This allowed Northern Ireland to force the Dutch into lower percentage passes into midfield or cross-field, allowing Northern Ireland to recover possession of the ball. The match ended in a 2-2 score, a result that pleased the Northern Irish underdogs. Robinson demonstrated his defensive formation in a practical session, as well as a variety of practical finishing exercises that he utilized with the team. What impressed me about the exercises was that they were match-related, meaning that they were transferable to realistic match situations, rather than static finishing exercises. Professor Mark Williams, from the Centre for Sport Medicine and Human Performance at Brunel University, delivered the afternoon lecture. It was entitled, Talent Identification: Are there early scientific markers of success in football? Williams outlined the various ways that scientific measurement can play a role in talent identification: anthropometry, physiology, psychology and sociology. While all had their benefits, they also had significant drawbacks. Many anthropometric measurements are amenable to training and diet, and are affected by the rate of physical growth and maturation. Physiological measurements are highly influenced by training, and performance is dependent on previous exposure to training. It is also not clear how fitness indicators track through from childhood to adulthood. Psychological factors are also amenable to instruction and training, and mental skills improve with exxperience.dddddddddddd Sociological measurements are unclear, as there is no consensus on what to measure, or on how accurate those measurements are. Additionally, personality characteristics change over time, so what might seem like a measurable trait at the age of 8 might not be relevant by the age of 18. The summary was that the practical utility of a scientific approach to talent identification is unclear. That being said, I found Professor Williams presentation to be extremely interesting. I asked this of the Professor, "Is the competition structure for youth soccer, which places a high premium on winning and a low premium on skill development, a natural impediment to talent identification and development, given that players are selected based on their ability - generally due to advanced physical development - to win at young ages?" The simple answer was yes - selecting players who have the physical traits necessary to win at younger ages does impede the talent identification and development of young players. This only served to confirm the need for competition reform in youth soccer in Canada, shifting the emphasis away from win-at-all-costs to the more holistic approach promoted by LTPD. Watt Nicoll delivered the final session of the day, entitled World Class - Why would you settle for less? I have to admit, Watt is someone that I have known and worked with for the last seven years. He is a close friend - and one of the smartest people I have come across in the game. It is difficult to categorize Watt; he is part motivational speaker, part entertainer, and part life-coach. He really is a jack of all trades, and if you ever have the chance to hear him speak, I highly recommend it. Watts presentation centred on the skills needed for a manager to do three things: get the job, do the job and keep the job. He spoke of the importance of having a personal development plan - of knowing what your goal is and how you are going to achieve it - and gave a very powerful example. Over 15 years ago, he gave a similar talk to a group of aspiring coaches. At the end of his talk, he told the group that if any of them wanted assistance in planning how to achieve their goals, he would be glad to help. Only one man came forward on that day. He outlined his goal to Watt, and together, they set about charting a course for how that goal could be achieved. It took 14 years for that man to get the job he always dreamed about, but he achieved his dream. The job was to be the manager of Manchester United. The man was David Moyes. ' ' '
