Strategiebereich » the second half. From the 15-16 minute mark down, we

RIO DE JANEIRO -- Sue Bird and the U.S. womens basketball team received some good news Wednesday when an MRI revealed that the team captain and point guard just had a knee capsule sprain.Bird had initially feared the injury would be much worse.Obviously I felt a huge relief. Bird said in a statement provided by USA Basketball. The hardest part is waiting and not knowing. So, to finally get the thumbs-up from the doc that everything was okay was incredibly relieving and exciting, and obviously Im very happy.Bird wasnt at practice on Wednesday and is listed as day-to-day. She has little time to recover before the U.S. faces France in the womens basketball semifinals on Thursday night. A win and the U.S. would play in the gold medal game on Saturday.Bird has started every game for the U.S. in the past three Olympics and has 30 assists and just three turnovers in Rio. The Americans were preparing at practice as if she couldnt go against France.You dont replace Sue. We all know that, guard Diana Taurasi said . Been on too many teams with her and I know how valuable she is to a team. Our success is because shes been the quarterback. Shes the director of it all. To say were not going to miss her ... would be silly.Its going to take a little bit of everyone to fill her shoes. Ill probably slide to the one a little bit more. Lindsay (Whalen) will play a little bit more. We have confidence in everyone on this team.The 35-year-old Bird was hurt with 6:33 left in the second quarter of Tuesday nights 110-64 win over Japan in the quarterfinals. She sat out the second half of the game.The four-time Olympian told The Associated Press in a postgame interview that she heard a pop in the knee. She has had issues with her left knee, but this is the first injury to her right knee.We have depth at certain positions, thats probably not one of them, U.S. coach Geno Auriemma said. Were there with Lindsay and Dee. Its more than enough. But now we have to do a great job managing that and making sure, they have to be really smart.With Bird on the bench, the U.S. started Seimone Augustus in the third quarter against Japan on Tuesday night. The Americans outscored Japan 54-18 in the second half without Bird.France has also has had to deal point guard problems. Celine Dumerc, who guided France to the silver medal in the 2012 Olympics, injured her ankle right before the Rio Games.Theyve got their own issues at point guard spot with Celine being out, but managed pretty well, Auriemma said. They run their stuff as well as anyone here. One of the better defensive teams in the world.In Thursdays other semifinal matchup, Serbia plays Spain.---Online:AP Summer Games website: http://summergames.ap.org/---Follow Doug on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/dougfeinberg Wholesale Shoes NZ . The Browns coaching search remains incomplete. Shoes NZ Sale . Cote was eligible to become a free agent Feb. 15. Cote helped running back Jon Cornish run for a league-high 1,813 rushing yards en route to being named the leagues most outstanding player. https://www.shoesnzonline.com/ . Its an influence in football and a big part of the game. Shoes NZ From China .ca! Hi Kerry, Heres an interesting one. I know its common knowledge that all players are responsible for their sticks. We witnessed that when Zack Kassian hit Edmontons Sam Gagner in the face after a missed check. Shoes NZ Outlet . LOUIS -- The New Orleans Saints looked like a team playing out the string. ST. THOMAS, U.S. Virgin Islands -- Abdul-Malik Abu scored 25 points, and North Carolina State pulled away in the second half to beat Montana 85-72 Friday in the opening day of the Paradise Jam tournament.Dennis Smith Jr. added 21 points and Torin Dorn had 16 for the Wolfpack (3-0), who didnt overcome a pesky Grizzlies team until midway through the second half.Montana (0-3) had battled with N.C. State, even leading 40-38 at the half in a game that had 10 ties and 14 lead changes. But the final lead change went the Wolfpacks way, thanks to a 12-2 run that put N.C. State in command.We had to dig down in the second half, N.C. State coach Mark Gottfried said. Defensively, we were a lot better in the second half. From the 15-16 minute mark down, we really defended really well.The Wolfpack went on to lead by as many as 16 points, going up 77-61 with 2:31 remaining on Terry Hendersons 3-pointer.Walter Wright had 22 points, Ahmaad Rorie 15 and Sayeed Pridgett 12 for the GGrizzlies.ddddddddddddWe tried to do a little too much, Montana coach Travis DeCuire said. We were playing well together on both sides of the ball, but they hit a stretch where they started hitting some tough shots. We let some guys get going.BIG PICTUREMontana: The Grizzlies are off to their worst start in coach Travis DeCuires three seasons. Under DeCuire, Montana has gone 20-13 and 21-12.N.C. State: Finally has a win over a team from the Big Sky -- the only one of the 31 Division conferences the Wolfpack did not have a victory against. N.C. State was 0-1 against the conference all time, having lost to Weber State 94-80 in the 1993 Great Alaska Shootout.UP NEXTMontana: Plays the loser of Friday nights Washington State-No. 22 Creighton game on Saturday.N.C. State: Faces the Washington State-Creighton winner in the semifinals on Sunday. ' ' '