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2B Daily News– Wednesday, April 4, 2012 Raiders start 1st offseason under Allen slotted in as the starting strongside line- backer. ALAMEDA (AP) — Oakland Raiders coach Dennis Allen and his staff delivered a clear message during their first official meeting with their new players. was no longer good enough. Knowing how to play football the right way is now paramount. The Raiders began their first offsea- son program under Allen on Monday. Allen was brought in by new general manager Reggie McKenzie in January as part of a major culture change in Oakland. After being run one way for decades by late owner Al Davis, things will be different under the new regime. The biggest changes will come on defense where despite keeping a 4-3 base alignment, new linebacker Philip Wheeler said the coaches promised a lot more blitzing and variety than Oak- land had used in the past. Being the biggest and fastest team "I actually heard some of the coach- es saying we're not just big and fast anymore," Wheeler said. "We're going to be big, fast and we're going to be smarter, work harder and have good football players." Wheeler signed a one-year deal last week to join the Raiders, where he is Oz." on." He picked the Raiders over Miami and credited an aggressive campaign by Raiders fans on Twitter with per- suading him to sign in Oakland. "That kind of helped me in my deci- sion because it showed me how big of a football city this is and how much they paid attention to football instead of going somewhere else," he said. Wheeler played 13 games for Indi- anapolis last season, making 80 tackles and recording one sack. He played four seasons overall with the Colts with 182 tackles and two sacks. leaving the structure of the Cover-2 defense in Indianapolis for a more free- wheeling style under defensive coordi- nator Jason Tarver. "Coach Tarver told me there was going to be a lot of blitzing, just a lot of mixing up things, not just standing still in Cover 2 like I did with the Indi- anapolis Colts," Wheeler said. "Noth- ing against that, we had a great offense that kept the lead a lot. We were able to sit back in Cover 2 and rush the passer a lot because teams had to catch up, and we had two great defensive ends that did that. But I also like to rush the passer and everything from the line- backer position and coach Tarver told me that it would be some of that going He said he is looking forward to The Raiders also were not known for blitzing under Davis' leadership. He preferred his teams to play man cover- age and win individual battles with superior size and speed. "They were always bigger, faster and stronger than everybody," Wheeler said. "But the awareness of the game, some of it was down or whatever. I feel like Mr. McKenzie brought in a lot of players in who actually know how to play the game and aren't just faster than everybody. We have actual football players here now." knowledge of one of Oakland's newest adversaries. Having played in Indi- anapolis with new Denver quarterback Peyton Manning, Wheeler now gets to translates what he learned on the prac- tice field to the games when he faces the Broncos twice each season. "He's always unpredictable. That's why he was so good," Wheeler said. "You don't know where he is going with the ball. You know what type of play he runs but you don't know when he's going to run it. I feel like I'm better just from going up against him in prac- tice every day and I'll be prepared to face any quarterback like that. I think I can help the team do that." Wheeler also comes in with detailed Giants did the smart thing with Matt Cain BY MARK PURDY San Jose Mercury News (MCT) SAN FRANCISCO — In one sentence, here is why the signing of pitcher Matt Cain to an absurdly rich long-term deal ultimately was a smart thing for the Giants: Cain is the pitcher the Giants thought they were getting when they signed Barry Zito to an absurdly rich long-term deal. In one sentence, here is why Cain's decision to extend his stay with the Giants ultimately was a smart thing for him: If he's going to live up to an absurdly rich long-term deal, the best place for Cain to accomplish it will be at AT&T Park with a Giants ownership and front office that has shown it will spend money to keep a contending team together. yellow brick road of dough to Cain. The contract assures that he will be a Giant at least through the 2017 season and guarantees him $127.5 million, which averages out to — well, enough to make certain he never needs to stand in line for a lottery ticket, hoping to win. He already did. A quite benevolent wiz- ard, we should add. Sabean was aided in that area by his wizard supervisor Baer, and the grand high exalted mys- tic poobah, Giants majority owner Charles Johnson. They have committed a him available to be signed by any team next winter. The Giants didn't want to go there. Actually, neither did Cain, although he couldn't pinpoint when he made up his mind not to play out his option and try to reach a long-term agreement. "It just was something playing in 2012 without a deal in place for 2013 would bring out a better perfor- mance. Braden receives injection in troublesome shoulder OAKLAND (AP) — Athletics left-hander Dal- las Braden received an injection of platelet-rich plasma in his strained, sur- gically repaired throwing shoulder and will not do any baseball activity for three weeks. that developed over the years," Cain said. "I just said, 'Let's try the hardest to make it happen.' " be motivated that way," Cain said. "Every year, my objective is to stay healthy, make all my starts and pitch more innings than I did the year before." "I feel like I don't need to All of this is why, for all the hand-wringing and fret- ting over Cain's status and whether an extension would be locked up by opening day, the contract negotia- tions were never con- tentious. In fact, Giants general manager Brian Sabean said that while the talks were "grinding" hard work, they never required any major intervention from him or team CEO Larry Baer. Bobby Evans, the vice pres- ident of baseball operations, did all of the bargaining with Cain's representatives. "Bobby really was the front man," Sabean said, "and I was the Wizard of It is quite a haul for a pitcher who has never won a Cy Young Award — or even finished in the top seven of balloting — and has never won more than 14 games in a season. But those who have watched Cain's starts over the years know how valuably reliable he has been to the Giants on and off the field,how he has been nails for them at moments when nails were needed. For example, Cain has The free-agent market, Sabean meant. Cain's previ- ous contract would have run out at the end of this season, which would have made not allowed an earned run in his 21.3 postseason innings. And in terms of attitude, Cain never sulked when his team's batters failed to sup- port him. "We considered the qual- ity of the player and his potential in the market," Sabean said. "We didn't want him to get to the mar- ket." And that, ladies and gen- tlemen, is how you wind up with the most total amount of dollars ever guaranteed to a right-handed pitcher in major league history.The previous record was a $105 million, seven-year deal between the Los Angeles Dodgers and Kevin Brown after the 1998 season. The deal, you might recall, didn't work out so well for the team. Brown barely averaged 10 victories per season over those seven years. He was injured so often that he started more than 22 games in just three of those seven seasons. However, there are many differences between Cain and Brown. For one, Brown was 33 years old when he signed his deal. Cain is 27. Similarly, there are many differences between Cain and Zito, the most painfully obvious cautionary tale against long-term deals . For one, Zito never overpow- ered hitters the way Cain does. With some players, a long-term contract would induce complacency. Cain isn't one of those players. He dismissed any notion that On his side of the equa- tion, Cain believed that the Giants were the proper employer for him to reach those goals. The pitcher- friendly home ballpark helped. So did the familiari- ty with the teammates around him — catcher Buster Posey is under fran- chise control for the next five years. was simply a matter of find- ing the middle. In the end, therefore, it The Giants had a figure in mind as their maximum offer, and Cain's people had the same on their end. Over the past few weeks, the two sides pounded their way toward a number they both accepted. said Tuesday that Braden received the shot during Monday's examination in New York with Dr. David Altchek, and will be limit- ed to strengthening exer- cises and rehab until he is cleared to resume his throwing program. Altchek operated on Braden's shoulder last May 17 Braden had initially hoped to return to the A's revamped rotation by early May before suffering his latest setback last week. The pitcher stayed in Arizona when Oakland opened the regular season with two games in Tokyo against Seattle. He threw a bullpen session then felt some discomfort the next day while playing catch that caused him to stop his session, Melvin said. ''From what we hear and what the doctor told him, he needed a shot and to lay off,'' Melvin said before Tuesday night's exhibition game with the San Francisco Giants. Melvin said he doesn't Manager Bob Melvin expect Braden, who threw a perfect game on May 9, 2010, against Tampa Bay, to start from scratch build- ing his strength back up like he did after the surgery. It's a big number. It's also a smart number, even if it is a preposterous number in many ways. But that's base- ball economics today. "If you want to be involved with the best play- ers," Sabean said, drawing a verbal graph , "the curve is going this way and the dol- lars are going that way." Then he went back to his wizardly duties. He had avoided a potentially thorny situation with Cain, without summoning any flying monkeys. All in all, a good day. Grizzlies top Warriors 98-94 .MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — O.J. Mayo scored 19 points, Mike Conley added 18 and the Memphis Griz- zlies overcame a lackluster performance with a fourth- quarter rally to defeat the Golden State Warriors 98- 94 on Tuesday night. Golden State led by 12 early in the fourth quarter, but Memphis went on a 13- 0 run to erase the advantage and fight to their third straight win. Dante Cun- ningham scored 13 points, hitting all six of his shots for Memphis. off a 94-88 win at Okla- homa City on Monday — a victory that seemed to pro- vide a new momentum. But for the first three quarters, the Warriors appeared to be the ones in line for the play- offs, instead of hoping for good draft position. ugly. The Warriors missed nine of their first 10 shots, and both teams ended the first quarter hitting 9 of 24 from the field. The offense picked up in the second as Lee was effec- Marc Gasol added 12, Rudy Gay finished with 11 points, despite going 3 of 13 from the field, and Gilbert Arenas scored 10 points, going 4 for 4 from the field. David Lee scored 22 points to lead the Warriors, who lost their sixth straight. Nate Robinson scored 18 and Brandon Rush added 13 on 4 of 7 from the field. The Grizzlies won the game by outscoring Golden State 28-15 in the final peri- od, shooting 70.5 percent. The fourth-quarter rally was keyed by Cunningham, who had nine in the period, and Mayo who scored six. Memphis was coming MLB West Division A's Seattle Angels Texas East Division Baltimore New York Boston American League WL Pct GB 11 .500 — 1 1 .500 — 0 0 .000 — 0 0 .000 — WL Pct GB 0 0 .000 — 0 0 .000 — 0 0 .000 — Tampa Bay 0 0 .000 — Toronto Central Division Chicago Cleveland Detroit 0 0 .000 — 0 0 .000 — 0 0 .000 — Kansas City 0 0 .000 — Minnesota No games scheduled Thursday's games Boston at Detroit, 10:05 a.m. Toronto at Cleveland, 12:05 p.m. 0 0 .000 — —————————————————— Today's games 0 0 .000 — WL Pct GB tive for the Warriors, while Memphis was relying on balanced scoring. The game started pretty Golden State, which started three rookies — Klay Thompson, Jeremy Tyler and Charles Jenkins — went to their veterans to take a second-quarter lead. Lee's basket with 2.4 seconds left in the half gave him 14 points and tied the game at 50 at the break. Conley, who hit 5 of 7 MLB West Division Arizona Colorado Dodgers Padres GIANTS East Division Atlanta Miami New York National League WL Pct GB 0 0 .000 — 0 0 .000 — 0 0 .000 — 0 0 .000 — 00 .000 — WL Pct GB 0 0 .000 — 0 0 .000 — 0 0 .000 — Philadelphia 0 0 .000 — Washington 0 0 .000 — Central Division Chicago Cincinnati Houston WL Pct GB 0 0 .000 — 0 0 .000 — 0 0 .000 — Milwaukee 0 0 .000 — Pittsburgh St. Louis 0 0 .000 — 0 0 .000 — —————————————————— Today's game St. Louis (Lohse 0-0) at Miami (Johnson 0-0), 4:05 p.m. Thursday's games Atlanta at N.Y. Mets, 10:10 a.m. Philadelphia at Pittsburgh, 10:35 a.m. Washington at Chicago Cubs, 11:20 a.m. Miami at Cincinnati, 1:10 p.m. L.A. Dodgers at San Diego, 4:05 p.m. shots including 2 of 3 out- side the arc, had 12 for Memphis. Golden State's lead reached 86-74 on a Robinson basket with just over 10 minutes to play before the Grizzlies began their comeback. MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Salt Lake 3 1 0 9 8 4 QUAKES 31 0 9 5 1 Colorado 3 1 0 9 7 5 Vancouver 2 0 2 8 3 0 Seattle 2 1 0 6 5 2 Portland 1 2 1 4 6 6 FC Dallas 1 2 1 4 5 8 Galaxy 1 2 0 3 5 7 Chivas USA 1 3 0 3 1 3 EASTERN CONFERENCE WL T Pts GF GA Kansas City 4 0 0 12 7 1 New York 2 2 0 6 10 7 Columbus 2 1 0 6 3 2 Houston 2 1 0 6 2 2 N. England 2 2 0 6 4 5 D.C. 1 2 1 4 5 5 Chicago 1 1 1 4 2 3 Philadelphia 0 3 1 1 2 6 Montreal 0 3 1 1 3 10 Toronto FC 0 3 0 0 1 NOTE: Three points for victory, one point for tie. —————————————————— Today's game Montreal at Real Salt Lake, 6 p.m. Thursday's game New England at FC Dallas, 5:30 p.m. Saturday's games Vancouver at San Jose, 4 p.m. Toronto FC at Montreal, 9 a.m. New York at Columbus, Noon Los Angeles at Sporting Kansas City, 1 p.m. Seattle FC at D.C. United, 4:30 p.m. Colorado at Real Salt Lake, 6 p.m. Chivas USA at Portland, 7:30 p.m. Braden received a $3.35 million, one-year contract in mid-December. He made three starts last sea- son before being sidelined by a shoulder injury that required the surgery to repair a torn capsule. He was 1-1 with a 3.00 ERA before going on the dis- abled list April 18. Fellow left-hander Brett Anderson, meanwhile, made an encouraging step Tuesday in his recovery from reconstructive elbow surgery last July. Ander- son, on the 60-day disabled list, threw a 40-pitch bullpen session that includ- ed sliders, changeups and curveballs with the catcher standing on the plate. The tentative timeline of August for Anderson's NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division Lakers Clippers Phoenix WL Pct GB 33 20 .623 — 32 21 .604 1 26 26 .500 6.5 WARRIORS 20 32 .385 12.5 KINGS 19 34 .358 14 Southwest Division WL Pct GB San Antonio 37 14 .725 — Memphis Dallas Houston 30 22 .577 7.5 30 24 .556 8.5 29 25 .537 9.5 New Orleans 13 40 .245 25 Northwest Division WL Pct GB x-Okla. City 40 13 .755 — Denver Utah Portland 29 24 .547 11 28 26 .519 12.5 25 29 .463 15.5 Minnesota 25 30 .455 16 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division Boston WL Pct GB 30 22 .577 — Philadelphia 29 24 .547 1.5 New York New Jersey 19 35 .352 12 Toronto 27 27 .500 4 19 35 .352 12 Southeast Division WL Pct GB 38 14 .731 — 32 22 .593 7 31 23 .574 8 x-Miami Orlando Atlanta Washington 12 41 .226 26.5 Charlotte Central Division x-Chicago 42 13 .764 — Indiana Milwaukee 25 28 .472 16 Detroit Cleveland 17 34 .333 23 x-clinched playoff spot —————————————————— Tuesday's results Memphis 98, Golden State 94 Phoenix at Sacramento, late Detroit 102, Orlando 95 Indiana 112, New York 104 Miami 99, Philadelphia 93 San Antonio 125, Cleveland 90 Toronto 92, Charlotte 87 New Jersey at L.A. Lakers, late Today's games Golden State at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Indiana at Washington, 4 p.m. Toronto at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. Charlotte at Atlanta, 4:30 p.m. San Antonio at Boston, 4:30 p.m. Cleveland at Milwaukee, 5 p.m. Denver at New Orleans, 5 p.m. Oklahoma City at Miami, 5 p.m. Memphis at Dallas, 5:30 p.m. Phoenix at Utah, 6 p.m. New Jersey at Portland, 7 p.m. L.A. Lakers at L.A. Clippers, 7:30 p.m. Thursday's games L.A. Clippers at Sacramento, 7 p.m. New York at Orlando, 4 p.m. Washington at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Boston at Chicago, 6:30 p.m. 7 44 .137 30.5 WL Pct GB 32 21 .604 9 20 33 .377 21 return is still the goal. ''I think he looks as good as he could look,'' Melvin said. ''He looks terrific. His pace is a great pace.'' Shortstop Cliff Pen- nington was held out of Tuesday's lineup as a pre- caution after he experi- enced tightness in his left groin a night earlier. Pen- nington said he felt much better and would be play- ing if the game counted. He also said there is no reason he won't be ready for Friday's home opener against the Mariners. ''It's sore, but it's sore from treatment,'' Penning- ton said. Also Tuesday, the A's placed first baseman Daric Barton on the 15-day dis- abled list because of a strained right shoulder that limited him this spring. The expected move for Barton is retroactive to March 24. He appeared in only seven games this spring, batting .176 with a double and no RBIs. He is eligible to come off the DL during Sunday's off day, meaning he could play as soon as Monday when the A's host the Kansas City Royals. ''We'll see where his progress is at that point,'' Melvin said. ''We just felt like he needed, and he felt like he needed, a few days in a row to get his arm strength.'' Oakland, which already played two regular-season games against Seattle last week in Tokyo, has 26 active players on its 40- man roster and must trim one more by Wednesday ahead of Friday's game against the Mariners. The No. 5 job in the rotation was still to be determined between Gra- ham Godfrey and Tyson Ross, the Tuesday night starter in the middle game of the preseason Bay Bridge Series. Melvin was still waiting Tuesday for results from an MRI exam on reliever Joey Devine's surgically repaired right elbow. He had Tommy John surgery in April 2009 and is expe- riencing more problems. Devine is already on the DL with right biceps ten- dinitis and has been shut down for now. NHL WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific Division WL OT Pts GF GA 40 27 13 93 187 170 Kings SHARKS 41 29 10 92 219 203 Phoenix 39 27 13 91 206 202 Dallas 42 33 5 89 209 217 Ducks 33 35 11 77 195 219 Central Division WL OT Pts GF GA y-St. Louis 48 21 10 106 204 156 x-Nashville 46 26 8 100 229 209 x-Detroit 47 27 5 99 242 196 x-Chicago 44 26 10 98 244 234 Columbus 27 45 7 61 190 255 Northwest Division WL OT Pts GF GA y-Vancouver49 21 9 107 239 191 Colorado 41 33 6 88 205 209 Calgary 35 29 16 86 194 222 Minnesota 34 35 11 79 174 221 Edmonton 32 39 9 73 210 233 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic Division WL OT Pts GF GA z-Rangers 51 22 7 109 223 178 x-Pittsburgh 49 25 6 104 273 217 x-Philadelphia46 25 9 101 260 227 x-N. Jersey 46 28 6 98 222 206 N.Y. Islanders33 36 11 77 195 244 Northeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA y-Boston 47 29 4 98 262 198 x-Ottawa 41 29 10 92 246 233 Buffalo 39 31 10 88 214 224 Toronto 34 36 10 78 227 258 Montreal 29 35 15 73 202 221 Southeast Division WL OT Pts GF GA Florida 37 25 18 92 197 222 Washington 40 32 8 88 214 227 Winnipeg 37 34 9 83 218 237 Tampa Bay 37 35 7 81 227 270 Carolina 32 32 16 80 210 238 NOTE: Two points for a win, one point for overtime loss. x-clinched playoff spot y-clinched division z-clinched conference —————————————————— Tuesday's results San Jose 5, Dallas 2 Buffalo 6, Toronto 5, OT Carolina 2, Ottawa 1 Nashville 2, Minnesota 1, SO New Jersey 3, N.Y. Islanders 1 N.Y. Rangers 5, Philadelphia 3 Pittsburgh 5, Boston 3 Winnipeg 5, Florida 4, OT Anaheim at Vancouver, late Columbus at Phoenix, late Today's games Tampa Bay at Montreal, 4:30 p.m. Detroit at St. Louis, 4:30 p.m. Thursday's games San Jose at Los Angeles, 7:30 p.m. Buffalo at Philadelphia, 4 p.m. Florida at Washington, 4 p.m. Montreal at Carolina, 4 p.m. N.Y. Rangers at Pittsburgh, 4 p.m. Tampa Bay at Toronto, 4 p.m. Winnipeg at N.Y. Islanders, 4 p.m. Boston at Ottawa, 4:30 p.m. New Jersey at Detroit, 4:30 p.m. Chicago at Minnesota, 5 p.m. Dallas at Nashville, 5 p.m. Columbus at Colorado, 6 p.m. Vancouver at Calgary, 6 p.m. Anaheim at Edmonton, 6:30 p.m.