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2B Daily News – Tuesday, November 13, 2012 NBA MLB Trout, Harper voted rooks of year MCT file photo Mike D'Antoni, who resigned as coach of the Knicks last season, signed a multi-year deal with the Lakers. Lakers go with D'Antoni Mike D'Antoni late Sunday night, signing the former coach of the Suns and Knicks to replace Mike Brown. The Lakers and D'Antoni's agent, Warren LeGarie, con- LOS ANGELES (AP) — The Los Angeles Lakers hired firmed the deal two days after the Lakers fired Brown five games into the season. D'Antoni agreed to a three-year deal worth $12 million, with a team option for a fourth season. D'Antoni got the high-profile job running the 16-time NBA champions only after the club's top brass extensively discussed the job with former Lakers coach Phil Jackson. The 11-time NBA champion coach met with Lakers owners Jerry and Jim Buss and general manager Mitch Kupchak on Saturday to weigh a return for a third stint on Los Angeles' bench. The Lakers instead went with D'Antoni, a respected D'Antoni then coached New York to just one playoff appearance and no postseason victories. He also coached the Denver Nuggets during the lockout-shortened 1998-99 sea- son. signature up-tempo offense for the final four seasons of the coach's five-year tenure with the Suns. Nash and D'Antoni won at least 54 games each season and reached two Western Conference finals — and they eliminated Bryant's Lakers from the first round of the play- offs in 2006 and 2007, still the only first-round exits of Kobe's 17-year career. offensive strategist who coached Lakers point guard Steve Nash in Phoenix during the best years of their respective careers. D'Antoni was less successful during four seasons in New York, but at least restored the once-moribund Knicks to competence before resigning last March. ''Dr. (Jerry) Buss, Jim Buss and Mitch Kupchak unani- mously agreed that Mike was the best coach for this roster at this time,'' Lakers spokesman John Black said. The 61-year-old D'Antoni underwent knee replacement surgery earlier this month, and could be physically limited early in his tenure. Black said the Lakers aren't certain when D'Antoni will travel to Los Angeles to begin work. Interim coach Bernie Bickerstaff will continue running the Lakers until D'Antoni arrives. Los Angeles beat Sacra- mento 103-90 on Sunday night, improving to 2-0 under Bickerstaff after a 1-4 start under Brown. The Lakers' next game is Tuesday night against San Antonio at Staples Center. After Brown's dismissal, Nash and Kobe Bryant both expressed enthusiasm about the prospect of playing for D'Antoni, although Bryant also campaigned eagerly for Jackson. Bryant idolized D'Antoni while growing up in Italy, where D'Antoni was a star player for Olimpia Milano in the Italian pro league. D'Antoni also has been an assistant coach on various U.S. national teams featuring Bryant, including the gold medal-winning squad at the London Olympics. Nash won two MVP awards while running D'Antoni's 49ERS Alex Smith threw TD pass with blurred vision before exiting SANTA CLARA, Calif. (AP) — San Francisco 49ers quarterback Alex Smith threw a 14-yard touchdown pass in the sec- ond quarter of Sunday's 24- 24 tie against the Rams while playing with blurred vision before coming out with a concussion. Coach Jim Harbaugh said Monday that Smith connected with Michael Crabtree six plays after he began experiencing blurred vision on a 1-yard keeper early in the second quarter. Six plays earlier, he had taken a vicious hit from St. Louis linebacker Jo-Lonn Dunbar. for the next offensive series after a hurried warm up. Because No. 3 quarterback Scott Tolzien was inactive, wide receiver and special teams player Kyle Williams would have stepped in at quarterback in an emer- gency. Smith scrambled to his left and started to slide before turning when Dunbar got him in the back of the neck with 1:10 left in the first quarter. He briefly grabbed his face mask and grimaced but stayed in the game. ''He said he had the blurred vision after the quar- terback sneak,'' Harbaugh said. ''There's no telling. Did that earlier hit con- tribute? I don't know. I don't know Alex knows for sure, either.'' Second-year backup Colin Kaepernick entered Harbaugh expressed con- cern at the thought the 28- year-old Smith played through some concussion symptoms. ''Yeah, that's something, you don't want him out there with blurred vision,'' Harbaugh said. ''We talked about it. What he expressed was he came up from the sneak and he had blurred vision and he felt that it would go away. He came over to the sideline and sat down and felt it would go away and it didn't. He told me he had blurred vision and that's when we made the move.'' improved overnight and would see a neurologist later Monday. His status is unclear for next Monday night's game against the Bears is uncertain. ''Rather than speculate, Harbaugh said the QB we'll let it play out,'' Har- baugh said. ''There's a pro- gression and evaluations that have to be gone through before we'll really know anyway. ... He's doing much better, had a good night sleep last night, symptoms were positive today. He'll be visiting with the neurologist later this afternoon that will be the next step.'' Harbaugh, himself a 15- year NFL quarterback in his day, figures he had multiple concussions during his play- ing career. He appreciates the increased awareness and serious NFL stand on the issue. ''I think it's a major point of emphasis,'' Harbaugh said. ''I don't have a medical degree. I'm confident in the way the doctors, especially our doctors, their under- standing of it and their pro- fessional opinion.'' Tolzien could be called upon to do more in practice this week as the NFC West- leading Niners (6-2-1) pre- NASCAR Sprint Cup Points Leaders 1. Brad Keselowski 2,371 2. Jimmie Johnson 2,351 3. Kasey Kahne 4. Clint Bowyer 5. Denny Hamlin 6. Matt Kenseth 7. Greg Biffle 8. Kevin Harvick 9. Tony Stewart 10. Jeff Gordon 11. Martin Truex Jr. 2,260 12. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2,211 2,321 2,319 2,309 2,297 2,293 2,285 2,284 2,281 pare for Chicago's visit to Candlestick Park in prime time. ''There's a possibility he could get more reps,'' Har- baugh said, unwilling to guess on Smith's status. ''Well, certainly, Dr. Har- baugh won't be qualifying, quantifying that.'' MLS WESTERN CONFERENCE Semifinals San Jose vs. Los Angeles Sunday, Nov. 4: San Jose 1, Los Angeles 0 Wednesday, Nov. 7: Los Angeles 3, San Jose 1, Los Angeles advances on 3-2 aggregate Seattle vs. Real Salt Lake Friday, Nov. 2: Real Salt Lake 0, Seattle 0 Thursday, Nov. 8: Seattle 1, Real Salt Lake 0, Seattle advances on 1-0 aggre- gate Championship Sunday's result: Los Angeles 3, Seattle 0 Sunday, Nov. 18: Seattle vs. Los Angeles, 6 p.m. EASTERN CONFERENCE Semifinals D.C. United vs. New York Saturday, Nov. 3: D.C. United 1, New York 1 Wednesday, Nov. 7: D.C. United at New York, ppd., snow Thursday, Nov. 8: New York 0, D.C. Unit- ed 1, D.C. United advances on 2-1 aggregate Kansas City vs. Houston Sunday, Nov. 4: Houston 2, Kansas City 0 Wednesday, Nov. 7: Kansas City 1, Houston 0, Houston advances on 2-1 aggregate Championship Sunday's result: Houston 3, D.C. United 1 Sunday, Nov. 18: D.C. United vs. Hous- ton, 1 p.m. Miami Charlotte Atlanta Orlando But his NBA accomplishments can't measure up to Jack- son, who won five titles and reached seven NBA finals dur- ing two stints totaling 11 seasons with Los Angeles. Jackson walked away from the club 18 months ago after a second-round playoff sweep by Dallas, and Brown led Los Angeles to a 41-25 mark followed by another second-round playoff defeat last summer. The Lakers then traded for Nash and Dwight Howard, setting up a season of enormous expectations for Brown — but the Lakers struggled to learn his new, Princeton-influ- enced offense while playing mediocre defense. After the Lakers stumbled out of the gate while Howard and Bryant missed preseason games to preserve their health, Nash incurred a small fracture in his leg during the Lakers' second regular-season game, keeping him out of the lineup for their past five games and for at least another week. The Lakers have improved to 3-4 under Bickerstaff after following up their winless preseason with four losses in their first five regular-season games, the club's worst start since 1993. NBA teams typically have played fairly solid defense, statis- tically speaking — and they never had the imposing Howard or defensive stopper Metta World Peace in their lineups. Nash had his best NBA seasons as the versatile quarter- back of the Suns' offense under D'Antoni, and point guard Jeremy Lin became a star on the Knicks last season while filling much the same role. Despite his reputation for offensive acumen, D'Antoni's D'Antoni resigned late last season following a six-game losing streak, surprising many observers, and former assis- tant coach Mike Woodson led the Knicks to the playoffs. Phoenix visits Staples Center on Friday. Detroit second base- man Lou Whitaker had been the youngest AL winner in 1978, but he was 2 months, 26 days older than Trout when he took home the award. In addition to Trout and Longoria, the only other unanimous AL win- ners were Nomar Garcia- parra, Derek Jeter, Tim Salmon, Sandy Alomar Jr., Mark McGwire and Carlton Fisk. Trout, a son of former Minnesota minor league infielder Jeff Trout, spent some time in the majors last year but still retained his rookie status. He began this season in the minors and made his first big league appearance this year on April 28 — the day of Harper's major league debut. Trout's sea- son put him in contention for the AL MVP award Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels became the youngest AL Rookie of the Year on Monday and Bryce Harper of the Washington Nationals was voted the second- youngest winner of the NL honor. Trout, who turned 21 on Aug. 7, received all 28 first-place votes from the Baseball Writers' Associ- ation of America's AL panel. The center fielder was the eighth unanimous AL pick and the first since Tampa Bay's Evan Longoria in 2008. Trout, who hit .326 with 30 homers and 83 RBIs, received the maxi- mum 140 points. Oakland outfielder Yoenis Ces- pedes was second with 63, followed by Texas pitcher Yu Darvish (46), who joined Trout as the only players listed on every ballot. NEW YORK (AP) — NBA WESTERN CONFERENCE Pacific WL Pct GB L.A. Clippers 5 2 .714 — Phoenix L.A. Lakers 3 4 .429 2 WARRIORS 34 .429 2 KINGS 25 .286 3 Southwest WL Pct GB San Antonio 6 1 .857 — Memphis New Orleans 3 2 .600 2 Dallas Houston Northwest WL Pct GB Oklahoma City 6 2 .750 — Minnesota Denver Utah Portland 5 2 .714 .5 4 4 .500 2 4 4 .500 2 2 4 .333 3 EASTERN CONFERENCE Atlantic New York Brooklyn WL Pct GB 4 0 1.000 — 3 2 .600 1.5 Philadelphia 4 3 .571 1.5 Boston Toronto Central Milwaukee 4 2 .667 — Chicago Indiana Cleveland Detroit Southeast WL Pct GB 6 2 .750 — 2 3 .400 2.5 2 3 .400 2.5 2 4 .333 3 Washington 0 5 .000 4.5 —————————————————— Monday's results Milwaukee 105, Philadelphia 96 Utah 140, Toronto 133,3OT Oklahoma City 92, Detroit 90 Boston 101, Chicago 95 Miami 113, Houston 110 Minnesota 90, Dallas 82 Phoenix 110, Denver 100 Atlanta at Portland, late Today's games Washington at Charlotte, 4 p.m. Toronto at Indiana, 4 p.m. New York at Orlando, 4 p.m. Cleveland at Brooklyn, 4:30 p.m. Portland at Sacramento, 7 p.m. San Antonio at L.A. Lakers, 7:30 p.m. 4 3 .571 1.5 1 6 .143 4.5 WL Pct GB 4 3 .571 .5 3 4 .429 1.5 2 5 .286 2.5 0 8 .000 5 1 .833 .5 4 4 .500 2.5 3 4 .429 3 4 4 .500 1.5 West WL T Pct PF PA 49ERS 62 1 .722213 127 Seattle 6 4 0 .600 198 161 Arizona 4 5 0 .444 144 173 St. Louis 3 5 1 .389 161 210 East N.Y. Giants 6 4 0 .600 267 216 Dallas WL T Pct PF PA 4 5 0 .444 188 204 Philadelphia 3 6 0 .333 156 221 Washington 3 6 0 .333 226 248 South WL T Pct PF PA Atlanta 8 1 0 .889 247 174 Tampa Bay 5 4 0 .556 260 209 New Orleans4 5 0 .444 249 256 Carolina 2 7 0 .222 163 216 North WL T Pct PF PA Chicago 7 2 0 .778 242 133 Green Bay 6 3 0 .667 239 187 Minnesota 6 4 0 .600 238 221 Detroit 4 5 0 .444 216 222 —————————————————— Week 10 Results Thursday's result Indianapolis 27, Jacksonville 10 Sunday's results New Orleans 31, Atlanta 27 Minnesota 34, Detroit 24 Denver 36, Carolina 14 Tampa Bay 34, San Diego 24 Tennessee 37, Miami 3 New England 37, Buffalo 31 Baltimore 55, Oakland 20 Cincinnati 31, N.Y. Giants 13 Seattle 28, N.Y. Jets 7 St. Louis 24, San Francisco 24, OT Dallas 38, Philadelphia 23 Houston 13, Chicago 6 Open: Arizona, Cleveland, Green Bay, Washington Monday's result Pittsburgh 16, Kansas City 13, OT Week 11 Schedule Thursday's game Miami at Buffalo, 5:20 p.m. Sunday's games Cleveland at Dallas, 10 a.m. N.Y. Jets at St. Louis, 10 a.m. Jacksonville at Houston, 10 a.m. Cincinnati at Kansas City, 10 a.m. Philadelphia at Washington, 10 a.m. Green Bay at Detroit, 10 a.m. Arizona at Atlanta, 10 a.m. Tampa Bay at Carolina, 10 a.m. New Orleans at Oakland, 1:05 p.m. San Diego at Denver, 1:25 p.m. Indianapolis at New England, 1:25 p.m. Baltimore at Pittsburgh, 5:20 p.m. Open: Minnesota, N.Y. Giants, Seattle, Tennessee Monday's game Chicago at San Francisco, 5:30 along with Triple Crown winner Miguel Cabrera of Detroit. That voting is announced Thursday. For winning the award, Trout earned a $10,000 bonus on top of his $482,500 salary. Harper turned 20 on Oct. 16. The outfielder got 16 of 32 first-place votes and 112 points from the NL panel. Arizona pitcher Wade Miley was second with 12 first-place votes and 105 points, fol- lowed by Cincinnati slug- ger Todd Frazier with three firsts and 45 points. Harper was the top pick of the 2010 amateur draft and batted .270 with 22 home runs and 59 RBIs as Washington brought postseason play to the nation's capital for the first time since 1933. Only Tony Conigliaro (24) hit more home runs as a teenager. Harper became the youngest position player in All-Star history. At 20 years, 27 days on Mon- day, he was 24 days older than New York Mets pitcher Dwight Gooden when he won the NL award in 1984. Trout and Harper were teammates on the Scotts- dale Scorpions in the Ari- zona Fall League. The pair were among a record five rookie All-Stars. NFL AFC West WL T Pct PF PA Denver 6 3 0 .667 271 189 San Diego 4 5 0 .444 209 191 RAIDERS 36 0 .333191 284 Kansas City 1 8 0 .111 146 256 East N. England 6 3 0 .667 299 201 Miami WL T Pct PF PA 4 5 0 .444 173 186 N.Y. Jets 3 6 0 .333 175 228 Buffalo 3 6 0 .333 211 285 South WL T Pct PF PA Houston 8 1 0 .889 250 143 Indianapolis 6 3 0 .667 186 201 Tennessee 4 6 0 .400 219 311 Jacksonville 1 8 0 .111 127 246 North WL T Pct PF PA Baltimore 7 2 0 .778 254 196 Pittsburgh 6 3 0 .667 207 177 Cincinnati 4 5 0 .444 220 231 Cleveland 2 7 0 .222 169 211 NFC At this time last year,