field in their win over Roosevelt Monday, the H | Forum

LAS VEGAS -- Rarely have meaningless games felt so important. Sebastian Lletget USA Jersey . The takeaway from this years Las Vegas NBA Summer League wasnt the winners and losers -- it was the interest. It helped carry the leagues momentum forward from a highly watched NBA Finals and another news-heavy free-agency period.The NBA has dominated the sports landscape for 2 ? months, ever since the final name was called in the NFL draft at the end of April. Other events pop up and fade away -- golf majors, tennis grand slam events, Major League Baseballs All-Star Game -- and the NBA keeps carving out its spot in the news cycle. It helps that the NBAs summer leagues provide the quickest turnaround from draft-to-action of any sport; Orlando summer league participants were in uniform a mere nine days after commissioner Adam Silver called their names. In addition to filling a gap in the sports schedule, these games serve to pre-sell the next season, as Las Vegas league founder Warren LeGarie puts it.The night of the heavily hyped UFC 200 fight card, which packed 18,202 spectators into the new T-Mobile Arena on the Las Vegas Strip, there were 16,000 NBA fans in the Thomas & Mack Center/Cox Pavilion complex to watch top draft picks Ben Simmons and Brandon Ingram square off in the Philadelphia 76ers-Los Angeles Lakers game. Its far from playoff-caliber basketball, but the mixture of rookies eager to show their chops and well-traveled veterans still pursuing their NBA dreams keeps things competitive. I was a sideline reporter for eight games, and three of them were decided on last-second plays, including that 76ers-Lakers matchup.It all points to the overall health and relevancy of a league thats awash in lucrative television-rights money and rich in social-media currency, though that doesnt mean there arent concerns.Its a young league ... and an inexperienced league, said one team executive as he watched the action at Thomas & Mack. For two decades now the top talent has entered the NBA after just one year of college or straight from high school. Casual fans might not notice the impact on the game, but former players and longtime executives worry about the quality of play suffering.Theres also concern about a lack of competitive fire when stars are so quick to team up. Kevin Durants name came up every day in Las Vegas -- especially when the NBAs board of governors met last Tuesday. Small-market teams remain concerned that theyll be left out of future star alignments, so there are rumblings of tightening player movement if the leagues collective bargaining agreement is reopened after the 2016-17 season. Still, there isnt a consensus feeling that a work stoppage is inevitable, as there was ahead of the 2011 collective bargaining negotiations.If the league is reluctant to radically change the Hack-a-Shaq policy because it affects so few players, why should it fundamentally alter the collective bargaining agreement just to control an even smaller number of players? Durant and LeBron James are the only players who can single-handedly tilt the balance of power right now ... and if Durant doesnt roll off a string of trips to the NBA Finals with the Golden State Warriors, then it means were really only talking about James.Players are making too much money and the owners franchise values have risen too high for there to be a protracted fight over dollars. But the other lesson from all this prosperity is that fans will forgive lost games for a work stoppage. There sure doesnt seem to be any leftover hard feelings from the 16 games that were dropped from the schedule in 2011-12.Everythings better once theres ball again. The crowds in Las Vegas, even the decent ones that showed up on weekday afternoons, show theres interest in any basketball that carries the NBA brand. When games came down to the last possession, the crowds stood and cheered as if the Larry OBrien trophy was on the line.Fans got to see for themselves how Ben Simmons combined a power forward physique with a point guards passing skills. They saw Brandon Ingram score over people, even if he had difficulty powering through them. They saw Kris Dunn show that the Minnesota Timberwolves have the makings of another budding star to go with Karl-Anthony Towns and Andrew Wiggins (while Tyus Jones will be either a useful reserve or valuable trade candidate). Bobby Portis looked like a player the Chicago Bulls can pair with Jimmy Butler for a long time, once they decide what direction they want to team to take. And Tyler Ulis looked ready to continue the Phoenix Suns new tradition of small guards.Theres an eye-glazing amount of basketball in Las Vegas -- 67 games over 10 days. Theres an audience thats willing to watch it, though. In the reality TV show era, presence matters just as much as product. The NBA has plenty of both. Sacha Kljestan USA Jersey .C. -- When North Carolina freshman Ryan Switzer reported to training camp in August he was a little miffed to learn he was third on the depth chart at punt returner. Geoff Cameron Jersey . Isner, ranked No. 14, won his eighth career singles title and took the title in New Zealand for the second time after his victory in 2010. The match was similar to Isners quarterfinal victory over fifth-seeded Philipp Kohlschreiber which went to three sets, all tiebreaks and contained no breaks of serve. http://www.usasoccerauthority.com/jesse-gonzalez-usa-jersey/ . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. DEKALB, Ill. -- Laytwan Porter scored a dozen points and Northern Illinois defeated Idaho for the third straight year, beating the Vandals 63-49 on Wednesday night.The Huskies now are 3-0 to start the season, with all three wins coming at home.Levi Bradleys jumper with 20 seconds left got Northern Illinois even, 21-21 going into intermission and Porters trey with 17:18 left in the game gave the Huskies the lead for good, 30-27. Bradley gave the Huskies their largest lead, 56-44, on a layup with 2:59 lefft. Jordan Morris Jersey. After shooting better than 60 percent from the field in their win over Roosevelt Monday, the Huskies managed to shoot just 39.5 percent (17 of 43) against the Vandals.Brayon Blake scored 17 points and grabbed nine rebounds for Idaho (1-1) and Victor Sanders added 14 points. The Vandals were 18 of 57 from the field (31.6 percent) and 4 of 26 from beyond the arc. ' ' '