When I was young, they kept feeding me fairy tales. Wholesale Womens Nike Air VaporMax Plus Pink/Orange/Black AO4550-004 . You may have a similar story. But maybe... Just maybe... This is one time when make believe should make you believe. How long does Cinderella stay at the dance? Sometimes, the carriage doesnt turn into a pumpkin. Right now, Whitby, Ontarios DyShawn Pierre, small forward for the No. 11 seed Dayton Flyers of the Atlantic-10 Conference, is living the fairy tale during March Madness. After defeating in-state rival The Ohio State University Buckeyes, then to go on to edge a team who spent much of the regular season as the No. 1 team in the country in the Syracuse Orange, led by Brampton, Ontarios Tyler Ennis, Pierre and his mates kept the dream alive by slaying another dragon in the Stanford Cardinal, a solid team led by two other Canadians, Dwight Powell and Stefan Nastic. DyShawn and his teammates have pushed forward to take the Flyers back to a place they havent been in 30 years, The Elite Eight. Standing in the path to the yellow brick road of the Final Four is an extremely tough, senior-laden, defensive-minded University of Florida Gators squad. With a coach in Archie Miller, who implicitly trusts every player on the Dayton Flyer roster, from the first man to the 12th, DyShawn Pierre is set to lead his team further on their quest for the ultimate brass ring: The NCAA Mens Basketball Championship. I sat down with DyShawn Pierre to find out if the soft-spoken sophomore is really a lion disguised as a lamb. Who is DyShawn Pierre? Oooh! I never really thought about that before, but... in terms of basketball, Id say Im a total team guy. Outside of that, Im just a guy whos truly concerned about others... God, family, friends... those things are important to me. In three words, how would your teammates and friends describe you? Ummm... Passionate. Aggressive. Can I get back to you on the third one? In three words, would your coaches describe you in the same way? I hope they see me as a player who can help make the game better for me and my teammates, who just plays the game hard and competes. But Id say... Ummm... Coachable. Humble. Quiet. How heavy is the Dayton Flyers bandwagon now that you guys slayed a couple huge dragons in The Ohio State University and Syracuse? (Laughs) I dont know about that. We do know we have a lot of people behind us, but what these guys in the locker room... what we do together with the help of the coaches and of course the fans is a blessing. We just want to take it as far as we can. Describe your mindset once you knew your team would be facing OSU. It was very exciting. Playing in March Madness is an honour. Playing with a guy who transferred from Ohio State gave it some other elements, but we just see it as another opportunity to prove ourselves. Was there a lot of personal, in-state rivalry talk and emotion involved? No, it wasnt really personal. I mean, we have Jordan Sibert, who transferred from OSU and guys from Ohio, but all we wanted to do is compete and get the win, no matter who was in front of us. Now that youve beaten Stanford, how do you think you guys match up against Florida? Honestly, I havent been watching too much, really. Floridas very good. They were No. 1 in the country...the No. 1 seed in the entire tournament. Its going to be a tough matchup. But were here for a reason, too. Whats the best thing about this March Madness experience for you? Anything can happen. People dont believe in the Dayton Flyers. We do. We stick together. We believe. With so many Canadians affecting the outcomes of games in a major way in March Madness, what do you think this means for the future of the Canadian National Team? Our national team has a very bright future. Steve Nash, Jay Triano and Rowan Barrett have done a great job in developing the program. The coaching is excellent. I would love to play if I were invited to compete. With so many other great young players in the program, Id love to go back to compete and contribute. Weve seen players have big March Madness performances in the past and turn that into a high NBA draft status. Has this been something youve thought about seriously at all? Not really. I mean, its a dream. But right now, Im very focused on what were trying to achieve here at Dayton. Its a special group of guys and I love how together we are and what I think we can accomplish. Youre climbing up the list of most famous people from Whitby, Ontario. Theres former two-time Stanley Cup champ and Olympic Gold Medalist NHLer Adam Foote, the late WWE wrestler Test (Andrew Martin), the rapper/musician k-os... and you! Do you climb that list with every March Madness win? (Laughs) I guess so. I didnt even know there was a list like that. Whatever happens, my team and I have gotten a lot of support from fans, friends and family. While I cant respond to each and every one personally, I am grateful... very thankful to everyone. This whole experience has been awesome. I wont forget it. If DyShawn Pierre had to walk away from basketball forever after Dayton wins the National Championship, what would he do with the rest of his life? What? NOOO! I really couldnt see my life without basketball. I really love the game. Somehow, someway, I would want to be a part of something basketball-related. More than anything, though, Id just like to enjoy life. Its been a humbling experience so far. I cant wait to see what the future holds. Wholesale Womens Nike Air Vapormax Plus Black/Team Red/Hyper Violet AO4550-001 . They were right in that they responded to coach Randy Carlyles goaltending switch to erase a two-goal deficit. Vapormax Plus Womens Black . Second-seeded Sloane Stephens of the United States made lighter work of her day as she beat 2009 champion and Swiss wild card Timea Bacsinszky 6-3, 6-3. Two seeds fell: No. 4 Kirsten Flipkens of Belgium lost to Katarzyna Piter of Poland 6-4, 6-2, and No. http://www.wholesalevapormaxplus.com/wholesale-men-s-nike-air-vapormax-plus-black-white.html . Watch the game live on TSN and TSN GO at 9pm et/6pm pt. Serge Ibaka returned to the Thunder lineup from a calf injury that was supposed to sideline him for the remainder of the postseason and the results were sparkling. OKLAHOMA CITY -- While accepting the award for himself, Kevin Durant called Russell Westbrook an MVP-calibre player. And on Tuesday, Westbrook delivered a championship-calibre effort that got the Oklahoma City Thunder back to even in the Western Conference finals. He had 40 points, 10 assists and five steals in a 105-92 victory over the San Antonio Spurs 105-92 that tied the series at two games apiece. "Coach told us he needed maximum effort from us tonight, and it starts with me at point guard," Westbrook said. "My job is to play both sides of the ball. If you want to win a championship, those are things you have to do." It matched the second-highest playoff point total of Westbrooks career, falling short of the 43 he scored in the 2012 NBA Finals. "Just his focus on every possession on the defensive end and his poise on the offensive end, I think thats whats fun to watch," Durant said. "People outside of our team dont really look at that type of stuff, but thats something we can definitely build on as a group, is watching him wreak havoc on the defensive end and offensively, playing with such patience." At times, Westbrook has been a maddening player for Thunder fans to watch. His dynamic athletic ability gives him a supreme confidence level that sometimes leads to ill-advised shots and a tendency to hold the ball at the expense of offensive flow. But in this game, Westbrook did just about everything right. He shot 50 per cent from the field and took just five 3-pointers. He made 14 of 14 free throws. "Sometimes hes going to go off," Spurs guard Manu Ginobili said. "Hes capable of doing that. If he makes a lot of jumpers, it gets really tough." In the midst of posting a monster game, Westbrook allowed Durant to still score 31 points. It was Durants highest-scoring game of the series after the NBAs leading scorer was held to a 22.7-point average in the first three games. Serge Ibaka added nine points and eight rebounds for the Thunder, who have turned around the series since he returned from an injury that was expected to keep him out for the rest of the post-season. "We just play well with Serge," Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. "We can do things with Serge in the lineup that we cant do with other guys." Boris Diaw had 14 points and 10 rebounds, and Tony Parker added 14 points for the Spurs, who blew a 2-0 lead against the Thunder in this round two yeears ago and are in danger of doing it again. Wholesale Mens Nike Air Vapormax 2 Flyknit Black/Laser Orange-Total Crimson 942842-005. San Antonio will host Game 5 on Thursday and wont be worried about the past. "I think we shouldnt think like that," Parker said. "Each game is different. Each series. Each year. We worked hard all year to have home court advantage, and now, its our job to protect home court." Oklahoma City dominated for the second consecutive game after getting blown out in the first two. The Thunder committed just seven turnovers and shot 49 per cent from the field. The Spurs scored the first eight points of the game, but things went downhill from there. A steal and dunk by Westbrook gave the Thunder a 42-32 lead with just under five minutes left in the first half. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Durant pushed Oklahoma Citys lead to 50-36. The Thunder led 58-43 at halftime. Durant scored 22 points and Westbrook added 17 points, eight assists and four steals before the break. Parker shot 6 of 9 in the first half, but the rest of the Spurs made just 11 of 32 before the break. A lob from Reggie Jackson to Durant for a two-handed slam bumped Oklahoma Citys lead to 60-43. A steal and jam by Ibaka made it 66-49, and a dunk by Westbrook made it 76-49. The Spurs closed the quarter on an 18-7 run and cut their deficit to 83-67. San Antonios Matt Bonner made a 3-pointer with 3:31 remaining to trim Oklahoma Citys edge to 12, but the Thunder maintained control. "We were just not focused coming out," Spurs forward Kawhi Leonard said. "Were not playing consistently throughout the whole game. Were playing in spurts or increments. Weve just got to play the whole game." The Thunder still need to win on the road to win the series. "Were just trying to look forward," Durant said. "We know how tough it is to go in there and get a W. We have to go on the road an handle our business. We feel better, but were not satisfied." Notes: Jackson started for the second straight game. He sprained his right ankle on a drive to the hoop and left the game with 8:25 left in the first quarter. He returned to start the second quarter. ... Thunder C Kendrick Perkins had 10 rebounds. ... The Thunder improved to 5-1 in the playoffs when Westbrook has at least 10 assists. ... Spurs G Manu Ginobili played just 11 minutes and scored five points. ... Thunder G Thabo Sefolosha did not play for the second consecutive game. He started the first two games of the series. ' ' '