LOS ANGELES -- Led by talented freshmen Lonzo Ball and T.J. Leaf, No. 2 UCLA is back in college basketballs upper echelon for the first time under coach Steve Alford.The Bruins (9-0) are off to their best start since 2006-07 after upsetting then-No. 1 Kentucky at Rupp Arena last week , boosting them to their highest ranking since November 2007.Ball has made an instant impact in what is expected to be his lone season in Westwood. Hes averaging 14.6 points, 5.0 rebounds and his 9.3 assists leads the nation. Hes also shooting 55 percent from the floor and 43 percent from 3-point range.The confident newcomer even put his finger to his lips in a shushing motion to Kentuckys fans.I really dont like the attention like that, he said Thursday. It was a good win, but we still have a long journey to go.While Ball has grabbed most of the attention, Leaf asserted himself against the Wildcats with 17 points and 13 rebounds. Hes averaging 17.2 points and 9.4 rebounds while shooting 67 percent from the floor.Leaf and Ball have just been exceptional, said Michigan coach John Beilein, who scouted Leaf three times while recruiting him in high school.Ball and Leaf are among six UCLA players who average double figures in scoring, led by Isaac Hamilton with 18.1 points. The Bruins high-octane offense averages 97.0 points, second in the country.No one really cares what their numbers are like, Leaf said. We just want to win.Thanks to the arrival of Ball and Leaf, which invigorated veterans Bryce Alford, Hamilton and Thomas Welsh, things have changed quickly for the Bruins.In March, fans were irate after a 15-17 finish and no postseason invite. The programs fourth losing season since John Wooden was hired in 1948 prompted Alford to return a one-year contract extension he signed after his first season. He also wrote an apology letter to the fans.From about Christmas on, I mishandled the team and we did a lot of changing around and we should have just stayed focused on getting better, Alford said. Weve done a lot better job of that this year and the talent is back up this year.Not a popular hire among the schools older fan base in 2013, Alford guided the team to consecutive Sweet Sixteen appearances in his first two seasons. Now, the players and fans are thinking much bigger at a school that owns a record 11 national championships.Weve been talking about trying to get to Phoenix, the younger Alford said, mentioning the site of the Final Four. Weve really been confident in ourselves and really starting to trust each other.The Kentucky win injected UCLA into the national conversation and is already having an effect on campus. Saturdays home game against Michigan is nearly sold out, something that has been rare at Pauley Pavilion in recent years. The Bruins are averaging 7,481 through five games in the 13,800-seat arena.People have been congratulating us as we walked to class, the younger Alford said.In Michigan (7-2), the Bruins will find a team that plays at a glacial pace compared to how UCLA likes to run and gun. The Wolverines are allowing 58.2 points a game and holding opponents to 42 percent field-goal shooting. Their top scorer Zak Irvin averages 13.6 points.We have a bigger target on our back than ever. Were ready for it, Leaf said. Were going to try to establish our pace and get out and run.The Bruins are wrapping up finals on Friday and havent played since beating Kentucky last weekend. They had plenty of time to savor the victory, including on the charter flight home. Instead of sleeping, the players hit up Twitter and watched replays of their favorite moments.But once they got back to practice, the younger Alford was quick to invoke his senior leadership.Its finding that balance of enjoying what youve done so far but realizing at end of day it doesnt mean much, he said. If you dont continue to progress and move forward, it all goes to waste.The younger Alford has benefited the most from Balls arrival. The freshman has taken over ball-handling duties, allowing Alford to revert to his more natural position of coming off screens while playing slightly fewer minutes. Alford is in his final season playing for his father, who won the 1987 national championship at Indiana under coach Bob Knight.This team has a high, high ceiling, Steve Alford said. They know they havent come anywhere near what their peak is. Adidas NMD R2 γυναικεια .C. -- After a listless first half, the Washington Wizards used a big third quarter run to beat the Charlotte Bobcats Bradley Beal scored 21 points and the Wizards used a 17-0 run in the third quarter to take control of what had been a close game and beat the Bobcats 97-83 on Tuesday night. Adidas NMD R2 φθηνα . World champions Tatiana Volosozhar and Maxim Trankov of Russia won the gold medal with 237.71 points, Moore-Towers and Moscovitch followed at 208.45 and Ksenia Stolbova and Fedor Klimov of Russia were third at 187. http://www.nmdgreece.com/adidas-falcon-greece.html . After Mondays hard-fought loss, the wait seemed longer than usual. Getting set to go their separate ways for a short Christmas break, the Raptors coach credited his team for their effort on a seemingly impossible three-game road trip, urging them to build on that success when they get back to work at the end of the week. παπουτσια Adidas Superstar . MORITZ, Switzerland -- Fog prevented downhill racers from getting their Olympic dress rehearsal. Adidas NMD R2 γυναικεια . But by the time the game started, the Toronto Raptors forward felt even worse. And, for three quarters, it showed as Gay shot a woeful three-for-13 from the field. Skateboarding icon Tony Hawk thinks his sport will give the Olympics a big lift if its added to the 2020 Tokyo Games.There are more participants in skateboarding than most sports so I feel like they (the Olympics) need our credibility and they need our excitement level in their Summer Games, Hawk said.On Aug. 3, the International Olympic Committee intends to vote on whether skateboarding -- as part of a five-sport package -- will be on the program in Tokyo. The other sports are karate, sports climbing, surfing and baseball/softball. The plan for now is to approve all of them or none of them.Obviously skateboarding has a really strong connection with the youth and a great youth appeal and a passionate following so this is hugely exciting and we think a great proposal for us to take to the IOC session, IOC sports director Kit McConnell said.With skateboarding already thriving outside the Olympics, Hawk said the sport could catch on with worldwide viewers as snowboarding did in the Winter Olympics when Shaun White started to compete in the halfpipe event.In the beginning, snowboarding was felt more chastised than embraced and eventually it became the highlight of the Winter Games, Hawk said. I feel like skateboarding is on that trajectory, but probably is going to be more embraced its very first time out.Street and park are the two proposed disciplines for skateboarding in Tokyo. Street is skateboarding on any flat terrain like streets and sidewalks mixed with stairs and hand rails. Park is a combination of street, pool, and a little bit of vertical skateboarding.If skateboarding is approved, 80 athletes -- 40 men and 40 women -- will compete.The question of how to qualify the skateboarders is still being discussed, but McConnell said the world qualification process would probably start in mid-2018 and run through mid-2020 before the Olympics.Athlletes will be drug-tested at both the qualification events and in Tokyo.ddddddddddddThats another benefit the Olympics inclusion gives us, McConnell said. This is an opportunity for everybody that is involved in skateboarding to continue to develop the education program and to continue to develop the testing programs. Its not just a matter of institutions alone talking to athletes, its about athletes understanding the importance and the values and speaking to each other about it.Various skateboarding groups would like to govern the sport at the 2020 Olympics, but the IOC said the International Roller Sports Federation would be the recognized body.McConnell acknowledged that the international federation hasnt run skateboarding events at a high level. The roller sports federation worked with the International Skateboarding Federation to establish a committee to help set up the way the sport would be run during the Olympics.The World Skateboarding Federation is also involved in a wider sense, according to McConnell.The IOC has been involved in the process since the beginning and trying to bring the key stakeholders together, WSF President Tim McFerran said. They identified the three groups are the key stakeholders in skateboarding that they felt should be the ones responsible for organizing skateboarding for the 2020 Olympics.McConnell said there already are plans for Tokyo venues that would allow skateboarding to be brought to the heart of the city and create a real connection with the youth.Hawk thinks youthful exuberance is important for the Summer Games.They dont have that element ... and if they are going to get any younger viewership, they need that, he said. So I think that (skateboarding) could very well happen. ' ' '