MINNEAPOLIS -- The Minnesota Timberwolves have signed veteran big man Jordan Hill to a two-year contract.The Timberwolves announced the signing on Wednesday after first agreeing to terms with him on a deal worth $8 million last week.The 28-year-old Hill averaged 8.8 points and 6.2 rebounds in 73 games for the Indiana Pacers last season. The 6-foot-10 Hill has also played for the Lakers, Rockets and Knicks in his career.Hills addition beefs up the frontcourt depth behind starters Karl-Anthony Towns and Gorgui Dieng. The Timberwolves struggled in that area last season after Kevin Garnett and Nikola Pekovic were sidelined by injuries, requiring Towns and Dieng to play heavy minutes over the last two months.It remains unclear if Garnett will return for a 22nd season. Cory Littleton Youth Jersey . Rinne played two periods in his first game since left hip surgery in early May. Gabriel Bourque scored 3:07 into the second period and Austin Watson tallied 5:15 later for Nashville. Todd Gurley II Youth Jersey . Most important, perhaps, it went off without a hitch. Organizers poked a little fun at the now-infamous opening ceremony gaffe that saw only four out of five snowflakes open up into rings, leaving the Olympics logo one ring short. http://www.ramsrookiestore.com/Rams-Clay-Matthews-Jersey/ . The Celtics closed out their first preseason under Stevens on Wednesday night with a 101-97 victory over the Brooklyn Nets, who rested a lot of their lineup including former Celtics Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. Bobby Evans Womens Jersey . The formidable trio of Canadian receivers -- individually known as Chris Getzlaf, Rob Bagg and Andy Fantuz -- will share the field at Mosaic Stadium one more time on Sunday. Torry Holt Jersey . Varlamov made 33 saves and Ryan OReilly had a goal and scored in the shootout as the Avalanche beat the New Jersey Devils 2-1 on Thursday night. SAN JOSE, Calif. -- American gymnast Aly Raisman was a three-time medal winner at the 2012 London Olympics. She long ago proved her toughness at competitions. At 22, shes also the leader of the U.S. womens gymnastics team, and so much a veteran that Simone Biles, the new star of the team, jokingly calls her Grandma Aly.If Raisman feels any pressure while shes competing at an event, she hides it well while on the floor. But if you sit Raisman down and ask her about the grind of making it through the two-day U.S. Olympic team trials that conclude Sunday, thats an entirely different story. Shes not too proud to confess every doubt and crying jag and throat-clenching fear she has felt about making the five-woman squad that will compete at next months Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.Or how the pressure gets ratcheted up more at the trials.Its the survival of the fittest, Raisman says. And all of us are exhausted.The months-long U.S. Olympic team selection process is choreographed by national team director Martha Karolyi and meticulously designed to be high on difficulty, high on volume training, high on the sort of longitudinal oversight that is meant to produce pressure-ready gymnasts who can conjure up great performances on demand. Karolyi and her selection committee closely watch even off-day workouts.The process is meant to milk the best possible performance out of every contender for the five-woman Olympic team, whose names will be announced by Karolyi and her selection committee after the competition concludes Sunday night.While Karolyi listens to the others, she always has the biggest say.Laughing at herself now, Raisman says, I definitely get a little nervous when Martha comes over. If I even see her in the corner of my eye, I always get a little nervous. If you watch her selection committee, theyre watching every single move you make and she has them placed at each event to make sure were all doing our job. So I always take a look around and know where she is. I think all the girls are like that here. Were always like [whispering]: Shes here, shes here. Shes right here!Raisman says she tried to prepare her younger teammates for what else they would encounter here at the trials, especially in Fridays opening-night competition. I told them the arena is going to be so loud, theyre going to be chanting U.S.A as loud as they can, the noise is going to be incredible. Every parent and kid in the stands will be cheering for us, unlike other places we go in the world. Its just going to be intense.And she was right. The pressure on all 14 finalists was palpable. You could see it as they came tearing down the vault runway with their faces serious, jaws set. You noticed the tight little smiles they could barely muster after landing a dismount off the bars or beam because their minds were already racing ahead to what their score would be. Would it get them to Rio? Would it hurt their chances?Laurie Hernandez got the biggest roar of opening night for her terrific floor routine. But the gasps of the capaciity crowd at SAP Center when returning favorite Gabby Douglas fell off the beam had to only add to Douglas horror.ddddddddddddIts hard to flip the switch, Douglas admitted, and get back on track.Even Biles -- a three-time world champ, but rookie when it comes to the Olympic trials -- walked off the floor staring at her feet after her beam routine because she was unhappy with her performance.I wouldnt say it was nerves tonight, exactly, that affected her, Biles coach, Aimee Boorman, explained Friday. I think she was more excited than nervous. At one point, she turned to me and said, Theres just so much energy in this room. This energy is out of control! She had to find a way to control it.Biles should be more relaxed than anyone. Shes a lock to make the Olympic team. Raisman and 16-year-old newcomer Hernandez seem safe too, barring a catastrophe on closing night. Hernandez, in particular, was terrific Friday, despite a bobble on the uneven bars. The energy and charisma she threw out later during her electric floor exercise left Karolyi smiling and nodding, Wow! after Hernandez stuck her last pose and the music stopped.Douglas wasnt so lucky. The defending Olympic all-around champ was sitting fourth until she fell off the balance beam on her last rotation of the night, dropping her to seventh place with one day to go.?Douglas never complains about still being judged by her 2012 standard, or relentlessly asked questions about Now versus Then. But the storyline has always been a little dishonest toward her. Douglas is now a 20-year-old woman who is three inches taller and light-years different from her 16-year-old self in London. Its also been clear for some time that she isnt the same gymnast she was four years ago and, anyway, even if she was, Biles has come along since then to blaze past Douglas and everyone else in the world. Its disingenuous to suggest Douglas could again win the all-around.Instead, Douglas has spoken repeatedly at these trials about trying to get back to being smiley and bubbly and trusting her training because thats when I compete best. But she looked lost in thought and emotionally subdued in both Thursdays workout and Fridays competition and now needs a strong showing Sunday to cement her place on the Olympic team.I have to find that joy again, Douglas said.Raisman understands.Its all just so hard sometimes that Ive doubted if I have what it takes, Raisman says of her own comeback. There were some days in training where my coach would say, Do something, and Id look at him like, Are you crazy? ... As he always says, You can hate me now, but I promise you, youll thank me later.Raisman laughs now and says she sees the wisdom in making the U.S. Olympic team selection process as arduous as its become.The system works, she says. So they shouldnt change it. Its intense, but we all know if we just do our jobs, we can be the best in the world again. ' ' '
