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PARIS – Milos Raonic almost seemed offended by the question. On Wednesday, Raonic was asked about the challenges that will come facing Frenchman Gilles Simon at the French Open on Friday with a partisan Parisian crowd likely looking to influence the outcome of the third-round match. "The lines are the same, courts are the same, go out there and play tennis," Raonic said describing his approach. So, a hostile crowd doesnt bother the eighth seed at all? "I hope not," Raonic quipped. The Thornhill, Ont. native is used to playing in enemy territory. Last year he beat Frenchman Michael Llodra, ranked 55th at the time, in four sets in the second round at Roland Garros. He beat James Blake in straight sets in the third round of the US Open in 2012 although the American did enter the match ranked 114th. Raonic has fallen victim to the hometown hero at a slam, though, losing to former world No. 1 Lleyton Hewitt in four sets at the Australian Open two years ago. But Raonic insists the Australian fans had no impact on him. "I think the only thing it really brought out was the best in Lleyton. I dont think it really got down on me. I have been in situations since then, I have played James in New York, so I have been in similar situations and I cant really predict, assume, or worry too much about whats going to be happening and whats going to be said. Ive got to focus really on just playing." Most recently, Raonic posted an impressive five-set marathon win over Janko Tipsarevic during Davis Cup play in Belgrade last year. He lost to Novak Djokovic in straight sets a couple days later although the opening set went to a tiebreak. "Its never easy playing Novak with a Serbian crowd. There are many situations I have already been in. I have learned from them and I just keep it within myself. I just focus on myself," the 23-year-old said. Simon and Raonic played just once before with Raonic triumphing in a tight three-set battle in Portugal (Estoril) three years ago. "I played him on clay there," Raonic said. "I think Im a much better player than I was back then, but at the same time I believe he plays much better here than he does throughout the rest of the clay events." Simon, the 29th seed, has cruised through his first two matches of this years French Open dropping just 11 games. In contrast, Raonic has lost 23. "Its going to be a difficult match," Raonic said. "But I think I will have my opportunities to take control and dictate and thats going to be the most important thing." Raonic has run into some rough patches early in his two matches in the French capital. He was forced into a tiebreaker in the opening set against Jiri Vesely on Wednesday ultimately besting the 81st-ranked Czech 7-6(4), 6-4, 6-1. "I felt like in the beginning I was just missing a little bit of intensity and I was letting him dictate a little bit too much. Then in the important moments I played the right way," Raonic explained. "At the beginning of the second, I sort of fell into the same slump a little bit with intensity, but then I feel like I did the right thing for the rest of the match and I gave myself plenty of opportunities." Raonic was asked why, at times, intensity is an issue early in these matches. "Sometimes you go in maybe sort of calculating, because it is three out of five, which youre a little bit unused to because [most tournaments are best of three]. I think thats really the only thing. And, also, at the beginning of matches you sort of try to find your way into it. You cant go out trying to hit close to the line, because thats never going to really work. Maybe once in a while it will, but you sort of have to find your way in. I just wasnt gradually picking it up the way I needed to during the first." In general, though, Raonic is happy with how his tournament is progressing. He beat Australian wildcard Nick Kyrgios 6-3, 7-6, 6-3 in the first round on Sunday. "I feel like Im playing better and I think I dealt a little bit better with it when I got things figured out as far as intensity. I held it on a little bit better where I struggled a little bit with my match three days ago." Bobby Okereke Colts Jersey . The third baseman whipped the ball across the diamond to second baseman Aaron Hill. He quickly tossed it to shortstop Chris Owings, who flipped over his shoulder to left fielder Cody Ross. Bobby Okereke Womens Jersey . Hes recovered from a scary injury and cleared to play. Mingo, who was hospitalized with a bruised lung he sustained in an Aug. http://www.officialindianapoliscoltspro.com/Customized/. Greece was on the wrong end of a 3-0 rout to Colombia in its first game of the tournament. They surrendered a goal in just the sixth minute of the contest, and despite some promising attacking play, failed to crawl back into the match. Japan, on the other hand, struck first in its match with Ivory Coast, with Keisuke Honda putting his side into the lead in the 16th minute. Marvin Harrison Jersey .com) - Carmelo Anthony scored 31 points with eight rebounds to lead the New York Knicks to a 92-80 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. Peyton Manning Colts Jersey . -- ETwaun Moore had 14 points in 30 minutes, and the Orlando Magic defeated the Detroit Pistons 87-86 on Sunday night.NEW ORLEANS - In what has become a highlight of the NBA calendar, All-Star Saturday festivities will commence from Smoothie King Center. The night starts off with the Shooting Stars competition, followed by the Skills Challenge, the 3-Point Shootout and the main event, a showcase of athleticism known as the Slam-Dunk Contest. You can catch all of the action live starting at 8pm et/5pm pt on TSN2. Or, one could call All-Star Saturday, "Damian Lillard Day." The Portland All-Star, who competed in the Rising Stars game on Friday, is scheduled to participate in the Skills Challenge, 3-Point Shootout and Slam- Dunk Contest on Saturday. "Im happy that Im really a part of the weekend. I get to compete in all these events, and just to be in these guys company with all these stars," said Lillard. "It lets you know that the hard work is paying off." This year, much like last, Saturdays competitions are broken down into East vs. West. Paul George of the Indiana Pacers is the East captain, while Steph Curry guides the West. Both are starters in Sundays All-Star game. Saturdays happenings start at 8 p.m. ET. Up first will be the Shooting Stars, a simple enough competition where current NBAers join a legend and a WNBA star in a shooting contest from all over the floor. The first round will feature teams from the same conference against each other. The winning teams advance to the final round for the title. Each competitor will be stationed at one of the first three places, and the shot must be made before the next can be attempted. All three will chuck it up from near half-court and the team with the best time wins. Its a family affair for two of the teams as Curry will join his father Dell Curry and Becky Harmon of the San Antonio Silver Stars. On the East team, Tim Hardaway, Jr. of the New York Knicks will partner with his dad Tim and Elena Delle Donne of the Chicago Sky. Kevin Durant of the Oklahoma City Thunder will pair with Karl Malone and Skylar Diggins of the Tulsa Shock. The other East team is the defending champion trio of Miamis Chris Bosh, Dominique Wilkins and Swin Cash of the Sky. The Skills Challenge underwent some changes this year. Now, there will be two two-man teams from each conference competing against each other to reach the East vs. West final. It will now be a relay format. The Eastern teams will be rookie Giannis Antetokounmpo of the Milwaukee Bucks and All-Star DeMar DeRozan of the Toronto Raptors as well as rookies Michael Carter-Williams of the 76ers and Orlandos Victor Oladipo.dddddddddddd The West will be represented by Lillard and Utah Jazz first-year player Trey Burke and the tandem of Goran Dragic of the Phoenix Suns and Reggie Jackson of the Oklahoma City Thunder. The 3-Point Shootout remained largely untouched, although the East v. West format remains intact. The player from the Eastern Conference with the most points will meet the player from the Western Conference with the most points. However, there is one new wrinkle this year. Each player can make one of the five locations to a full rack of five money balls, each worth two points. Defending champion Kyrie Irving of the Cleveland Cavaliers anchors the East team of Orlandos Arron Afflalo, Washingtons Bradley Beal and Joe Johnson of the Brooklyn Nets. Curry and Lillard are on the West team alongside All-Star starter Kevin Love, who won the title in 2012, and San Antonio Spur Marco Belinelli. And now, its time for the main event. This years edition of the Slam-Dunk contest will see many changes, first of which is a Freestyle Round. Lets let the NBA explain: "In a significant first in the events history, the competition will tip off with a Freestyle Round where the dunkers for each conference will have 90 seconds to showcase as many dunks as they want. At the conclusion of the Freestyle Round, the panel of judges will then choose a winner by voting East or West. The winning conference will earn the advantage of deciding whether its dunkers will dunk first or second in the head-to-head battles that take place in the Battle Round." The Battle Round? "The Battle Round will feature head-to-head matchups pitting East dunkers vs. West dunkers, with the judges choosing a winner for each battle. Upon losing a head-to-head battle, that dunker is then eliminated from the competition. The first team to win three battles will win the competition and be crowned 2014 Sprite Slam Dunk champions." No individual champion? "At the conclusion of the team competition, fans will then have the opportunity to vote for the player of their choice as the Sprite Slam Dunker of the Night through SMS, Twitter, NBA.com and the NBA GameTime app." For the first time since 1988, there will be three All-Stars in the Slam-Dunk Contest. George and John Wall of the Washington Wizards team with defending champion Terrence Ross of the Toronto Raptors, and out West, Lillard, Golden States Harrison Barnes and Sacramentos Ben McLemore round out the team. ' ' '