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Three hundred-and-sixty-five days. That is how long it has been since Canadas mens national team were humiliated 8-1 in their final World Cup qualifying match in Honduras. Since that embarrassing defeat, the mens team has played 11 competitive games. The stats from those 11 games read as follows: zero wins, eight losses, three draws, one goal scored and sixteen goals conceded. It is impossible to put a positive spin on that. The grim reality is that our fortunes at the international level are not going to improve any time soon. Until we have a larger pool of players getting regular minutes at their respective professional clubs, we will never be able to compete at the international level. We just dont have the depth of talent needed to do so. A case in point: Toronto FC midfielder Kyle Bekker has played more games for Canadas mens national team in 2013 than he has for Toronto FC. In no successful soccer nation in the world does this happen. Yet because we have so few professional players from which to select our national team, we are left with no choice. If new head coach Benito Floro didnt know what he was getting himself into when he took the job, he surely does now. Experimental lineups against Mauritania (twice) and Australia yielded no goals, one draw and two losses. In those three games, he utilized virtually every eligible player at his disposal with a few exceptions (like Montreal Impact midfielder, Patrice Bernier, or Real Salt Lake skipper, Will Johnson.) There isnt a pipeline of young players being churned out by the three Canadian MLS clubs. Young players like Bekker cant even get a game at their club team, so how can Floro rely on them to deliver at the unforgiving international level? Its very simple - he cant. So what option does Floro have? Well, he isnt going to turn our mens team into free-flowing masters of tiki-taka football overnight. In fact, hes never going to have that effect on our team. We are what we are and, if Floro were wise, he will look to the past to see a way to bridge to the future. Canadas mens teams have always been extremely disciplined and well-organized. They have always had strong goalkeepers, resilient and reliable defenders, and hard-working midfielders. The current lack of goal-scoring punch is simply the status quo - we have never developed especially prolific goal scorers - and that isnt going to change. But where Floro can really impact the current group is on the defensive side of the game. The goals that were conceded against Australia were very poor by international standards. Moving forward, it is essential for Floro to spend what little time he has with his players working on their defensive understanding. You simply cannot win games when you concede sloppy goals and Canada must get back to being hard to play against. From there, Canada needs to employ a strategy that utilizes quick transitions - both from defending to attacking and vice-versa. The influence of players like Johnson and Atiba Hutchinson cannot be underestimated in this area; both are vital components of the spine of Floros team. Johnson has blossomed into an all-star in Major League Soccer, leading the Portland Timbers to the top of the Western Conference standings. He is an agitator in midfield, but is also capable of getting his fair share of goals - he has eight this season, a career best. Hutchinson is Canadas best player. Currently playing for Besiktas in Turkey, Hutchinson has grown as a player since moving to Europe in 2003. Now, with 10 years of top flight football under his belt, Hutchinson must play a major role in Floros future plans. These two players should be the central midfield fulcrum around which Floros team is built. At 26 (Johnson) and 30 (Hutchinson,) they are in the prime years of their careers and will thrive in roles of responsibility. At the back, David Edgar should be first choice at central defense and finding him a consistent partner must be a priority. While he still has a ways to go, I have always believed that Adam Straith could one day develop into that player. Doneil Henry is still very raw and making the mistakes at the club level that every 20-year-old makes, so rushing him before he is ready would be a mistake. A solid spine is essential in any well-organized team, and these four positions are crucial to Floros chances of turning things in the right direction. It is by no means the finished article and there are a number of holes that Floro will need to address if the team is to find success during his tenure. But with no wins in eleven games and only one goal over that span, Floro needs to start somewhere. Timofey Mozgov Cavaliers Jersey . 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There are surprises among the Vezina candidates, but most of the others are standard top-tier performers, even if the two Hart Trophy runners-ups have never been quite as good as they have been through the first half of the season.NEW YORK, N.Y. - Kevin Durant scored 29 points, Russell Westbrook had a triple-double by the middle of the third quarter, and the Oklahoma City Thunder rolled to a 123-94 victory Wednesday over the New York Knicks, who played without Carmelo Anthony. The Durant-Anthony showdown between the NBAs top two scorers was cancelled because of Anthonys sprained left ankle, so the Thunder had the Christmas spotlight all to themselves while winning for the 10th time in 11 games. Westbrook finished with 14 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists in his first triple-double of the season and seventh of his career. Serge Ibaka added 24 points on 10-of-14 shooting. Amare Stoudemire scored a season-high 22 points, and Tim Hardaway Jr. had 21 for the Knicks, who also were missing starting point guard Raymond Felton. J.R. Smith scored 20 points, but shot 8 for 22 and was booed when he left the court for good. Anthony was forced to sit out for the first time this season. The Knicks were never really in it without him and may not have had a chance with him the way the Thunder played. The Knicks not only had trouble with the Thunder, but also with the special edition sleeved jerseys NBA teams are wearing on Christmas. Beno Udrih hit the side of the backboard on two shot attempts in the first half, tugging on his sleeve after the second as if blaming his struggles on his equipment. Oklahoma City had a much easier time in the uniforms. Coach Scott Brooks said before the game the Thunder hadnt had a formal practice in them, but players had shot around the last few days in the jerseys that featured a giant logo in the middle of the chest and jersey numbers on the left sleeve. "They look great. Hopefully, we play well in them," Brooks said. They played superbly. Coming off a 104-98 loss to Toronto on Sunday that ended a nine-game winning streak and was their first setback at home this season, they shot 54 per cent and got 18 points from Reggie Jackson.dddddddddddd Durant made all five shots in the first quarter, with the Thunder leading 35-29 after shooting 70 per cent. Jackson and Durant made 3-pointers to start the second, making Oklahoma City 16 of 22. Ibaka did most of the work in an 8-2 spurt midway through the period that extended the lead to 52-35, and the Thunder led 60-46 at halftime. They kept up the pressure in the third, Durant and Westbrook taking turns being unguardable on the perimeter, and Oklahoma City went on to its sixth straight road victory. Anthony was hurt Monday night in a victory at Orlando, saying afterward he hoped to play Wednesday. But he looked glum and wasnt walking particularly well by the locker room area after getting treatment and testing the ankle, and the Knicks announced he wouldnt be in uniform about 50 minutes before the start. He sat on the bench wearing a brown sports jacket, getting up slowly during timeouts whenever the Knicks called them in a futile attempt to stop the Thunders onslaught. Anthony averaged 28.7 points last season, ending Durants three-year reign as scoring champion, but Durant has moved right back to the top this season with 28.1 to Anthonys 26.3. The Knicks fell to 0-7 in orange uniforms this season. Notes: Chris Smith, J.R.s brother, made his NBA debut with a scoreless minute at the end. ... 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