PROFILES » ion and following online the girls participation, Dube says.Cha

For the sixth season in a row, ESPN.com is ranking the top players in the NBA. Who will be the best player this season?To get the final ranking, we asked our expert panel to vote on pairs of players.LeBron James vs. Stephen Curry. Russell Westbrook vs. Kevin Durant. Damian Lillard vs. Chris Paul.We asked, Which player will be better in 2016-17? To decide, voters had to consider both the quality and the quantity of each players contributions to his teams ability to win games.Well roll out the rest of our top 200 players over the next week. If you want to get involved in the discussion or just follow along, #NBArank is the Twitter hashtag to use. You also can follow along @ESPNNBA and on Facebook.On to the list ...38. Kemba WalkerHornets | PG | @KembaWalkerLast years rank: 792016-17 projected RPM: 2.76Insider profile: Coming off his best season, Walker is one of the bargains of the NBA. Charlotte has Walker on the hook for three more seasons (including 2016-17) at $12 million annually. This for a player who just finished 13th in the NBA in WARP and nearly carried the Hornets to a first-round win over Miami. That is, before Walker had a Game 7 clunker, scoring just nine points on 3-of-16 shooting. Still, Walker is just hitting his prime, has climbed into the upper tiers of his position, and he sports RPMs that are positive on both ends of the floor. To have him under that bargain contract in this salary-cap environment -- its kind of like finding a Van Gogh sitting in a rack under a flashing blue light.?Read more ?#NBArank 31-4031: Carmelo Anthony32: Hassan Whiteside33: Kristaps Porzingis34: Gordon Hayward35: Marc Gasol36: Steven Adams37: Rudy Gobert38: Kemba Walker39: Derrick Favors40: Dwyane Wade Will Butcher Devils Jersey . -- Matt Kuchar and Harris English ran away with the Franklin Templeton Shootout, shooting a 14-under 58 on Sunday in the final-round scramble to break the tournament course record. Nico Hischier Devils Jersey . Murray beat Sam Querrey 7-6 (5), 6-7 (3), 6-1, 6-3 to clinch Britains opening-round victory against the United States on Sunday at Petco Park. "Im proud of the way Im playing just now, because I had to do a lot of work to get back to where I want to be," Murray said after celebrating with his teammates on the red clay court in a temporary stadium in left field of the downtown home of baseballs San Diego Padres. http://www.devilssale.com/ . Supported by three-run homers from Jayson Werth and Wilson Ramos, the young right-hander went seven strong innings in the Washington Nationals 8-4 victory over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Friday night. Scott Stevens Devils Jersey . Sgt. Eric ONeal says most of the arrests at Monday nights game were for public drunkenness, though one person was taken into custody on suspicion of trying to steal a seat from the stadium. Damon Severson Devils Jersey .Y. -- The Buffalo Sabres have placed centre Cody Hodgson on injured reserve and recalled two players from their AHL affiliate in Rochester. The Zimbabwe womens national team rocketed from near-disqualification to a first-ever Olympic soccer spot in the sort of radical turnabout that tests whether ultra-rapid, earth-to-airspace human ascent could give one the bends. The sorting hat then chose for the world No. 93 a deadly draw of two-time world champions Germany (No. 2), Australia (No. 5) and Canada (No. 10) in the group stage -- all quarterfinalists or better at the 2015 Womens World Cup.However, Zimbabwes Mighty Warriors are playing with house money in a situation where they usually get no credit and, like just recently, get completely stiffed.The girls have earned their stripes by qualifying, says head coach Shadreck Mlauzi, who struck a grounded but optimistic tone as the Olympic debutante squad prepared for the first match against Germany on August 3. While we may go with the underdog tag on our necks, we are working hard to go and compete to the best of our abilities. If we compete well, anything is possible on the field of play.Before the mood turned all sun-kissed and samba-soundtracked, however, the outlook appeared bleak.On July 19, 2015, after a clutch of well-fought matches, the Mighty Warriors had to forfeit the away leg of their Olympic qualifying semifinal in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. The Zimbabwean soccer federation sheepishly turned its pockets inside out to reveal no airline tickets. (In a related vein, former federation officials currently face charges stemming from a March 2015 qualifying match in Ghana for allegedly forging player signatures, falsely raising funds and pocketing airfare dollars.)Officials awarded Ivory Coast three goals and three points; Zimbabwe faced sanctions and possible disqualification. Then it got weird. On the second leg, the Ivory Coast no-showed in Harare -- its own federation crying poverty -- then one-upped Zimbabwe altogether by withdrawing from the tournament, despite a mooted third time and venue.For an Olympic slot then, Zimbabwe faced the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon, who competed in the London 2012 Olympics and progressed to the second round of the 2015 Womens World Cup. Cameroon won 2-1 in Yaoundé, though Zimbabwe striker Rudo Neshamba scored a vital away goal. She then scored in Harare to put Zimbabwe up 1-0, a scoreline the team then protected for a 2-2 aggregate -- through to Rio on the away goals rule.The Mighty Warriors made history as the countrys first team of either gender to earn a global soccer tournament berth. Nigeria, Cameroon and other African womens soccer giants stay home this summer, but Zimbabwe travels west.What makes this incredibly unlikely, and momentous, is that Zimbabwe has no professional womens league, and its national teams depend on an unreliable trickle down of FIFA funds and outside sponsorship -- the inconsistency of both directly impacting players and coaches, who not infrequently go unpaid. Unlike the affluent nations Zimbabwe faces in the group stage, the Zimbabwean government does not help fund youth, womens or mens programs.There are so many factors negating against Zimbabweans, in that the local game is in shambles, says Lovemore Dube, senior sports editor at the Zimbabwe daily, The Chronicle. It does not augur well for the game to have qualified when there is no national league of note. The other countries play professional football, Zimbabwe boasts part-timers.However, the Zimbabwean team didnt just qualify for the Olympics this year. The team also qualified for the 2016 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON), for which the players each reportedly received $50, while the men, who also qualified for AFCON, are said to have received $1,000 apiece. The womens players work in the army, the police, the security sector and other jobs -- the regular world. An absence of a professional league, coupled with a situation in which womens national team players earn a pittance for winning historic international qualifying matches means soccer alone cant pay the bills.In terms of the womens team, we need to make sure that they be remunerated better, says Petros Chatiza, program coordinator at Young Achievement Sports for Development in Zimbabwe. All the games the world over...the Olympics, in terms of sport, this is the highest level. We havent been able to get a team to participate at such a high level.Cash problems affect all levels of Zimbabwean soccer. Just this month, in July 2016, the boys U-17 team abandoned AFCON due to budgetary constraints. This, after already having served three years on the sidelines for missing an away fixture in the Congo in 2012, the same year the mens U-20 team failed to travel to a qualifier in Angola and received an identical sentence. FIFA dropped the senior mens team from 2018 World Cup qualifying for failure to cough up back pay to a Brazilian former coach. In that instance, a sponsor did step forward in time to donate the funds to get the team reinstated for 2022 consideration, so financial forces can mobilize under exigent circumstances -- and preferential treatment for the mens team clearly exists.For context, when Mugabe celebrated his 92nd birthday in February 2016, replete with lavish parades, concerts and 92kg of cake -- 2.2 lbs for every year -- the total cost reportedly came to between $800,000 and $1 million. Frosting for the president trumped other funding needs.In a moment of brazen hypocrisy, in 2013 Mugabe spoke after a domestic mens soccer tournament ?-- the Bob 89 Super Cup (name-checking his first name and number-checking his 89th birthday) -- about funding for the national side. Government is doing little for soccer, he said, adding, It is one sport that requires great support. Without any discernible hint of irony, he stated, Let us examine where we lack support for it. I do not think we are doing much.Despite the years that have elapsed sincce those comments, his government continues a steady policy of zero support.ddddddddddddThe mismanagement of money, of course, goes much deeper than sports. Chris Aston, a farmer who expatriated to Zambia after his land was seized in Zimbabwe, says, The government is struggling to survive having firstly destroyed the productive capacity of the country, then systematically looted whatever they could lay their hands on.There is no money to pay the civil servants, there is no money to pay the police force. Finding money for women to play soccer?Mugabe was once hailed the teams Chief Patron in a rare 2011 state banquet for the Mighty Warriors when not-yet-disgraced former FIFA president Sepp Blatter visited the country to pledge $1 million dollars to the countrys football schemes, and the pair attended a Zimbabwe-hosted tournament of southern African nations that the home nation won. Despite the fact the team receives no government funding, Mugabe promptly showed for the photo op. (See sidebar for such awkward moments, like when President Mugabe had an urge to keep the World Cup trophy in 2009.)Patrick Daka, former member of the Zimbabwe mens U-23 and senior national sides in the late 90s and 2000s, puts the problem down to the need for good governance in the soccer federation. Planning ahead, or finding the sponsorship ahead rather than the day before the flight or the day before you buy the ticket -- that to me is the biggest issue facing Zimbabwe.During Dakas playing career, fixture absenteeism happened, but mainly when buses broke down and cost-benefit analyses convinced officials to abort mission. Daka now coaches professionally in Charlotte, Virginia, and says the positive arc of Zimbabwean womens soccer has astounded him. Womens soccer was absolutely nonexistent when I played in Zimbabwe.On return to his old Black Aces professional club in Zimbabwe recently, Daka visited the Aces Youth Soccer Academy, which contributes players to the womens national team. I watched the women train and was amazed by the quality they had: the balance, the stamina, their astuteness in terms of soccer awareness, their IQ. I was blown away. I cant wait to watch them play in the Olympics.The Olympics will be the first time many have seen these players perform. We as a country do not attract scouts from outside, Daka says. I remember the last World Cup, watching Cameroon, the womens team, and even Nigeria, thinking, Man, they can play. There were a couple players on those teams that I thought, Surely, they should get contracts. Im hoping Zimbabwe does that! Regardless of how the tournament pans out, those three games will be very important in the next chapter of the Zimbabwean womens team.Landing a nightmare group of heavyweights at the Olympics has its drawbacks, but high-profile visibility also presents a massive upside. Matches against three of the worlds top 10 will attract guaranteed eyeballs, among them scouts and owners of professional womens clubs. Its a chance for our top players to market themselves, Daka says.It may not be all gloom for the girls, adds Dube, who roughly echoed Dakas words. Professional playing opportunities, just like scholarships, lie in wait for the outstanding individual players.Rudo Neshamba, the striker and journalism student who scored both Zimbabwes goals against Cameroon, as well as a crucial goal against neighbor and eternal rival Zambia earlier in qualifying, leads the attack. Neshamba, I think shes going to light it up this tournament, Daka says. Shes ready to move onto something bigger. Shed be a success wherever she goes.Neshamba will also have striker and captain Felistas Muzongondi, who also scored against Zambia, as well as defender Sheila Makoto, who can move up the park and play an attacking midfield role if need be. Plus, veteran Nobuhle Majika marshals the defense with experience and presence.We have come a long way and sacrificed a lot for a sport without any sponsorship and gate takings, says Trust Kwembeya, founder of Inline Academy, which inaugurated its first girls team in 2002 and where Neshamba and Majika learned their trade.After the many years of keeping the sport going from shoestring budgets, Kwembeya says, there should not be any turning back from this. The profile of the sport has been enhanced and we hope the government, corporate sponsors and individual Zimbabweans of means can help grow the brand by ploughing money to incentivize the girls not in Brazil only, but also in the provincial, regional and national competitions.TV turnout domestically promises to be high for the Mighty Warriors games. There is no doubt Zimbabweans will be watching on television and following online the girls participation, Dube says.Chatiza said the mens national team usually draws 20 to 30 people to a bar to watch a match. The Mighty Warriors will draw many of the same numbers, but I think more, because this team has made history, so people will want to see their exploits.What Im hoping out of Rio is that people start recognizing Zimbabwe as a soccer nation, Daka says. Success at the tournament for the Zimbabwean team may have that impact and put a spotlight on the country.If they go through, Zimbabwe might just go wild.Since the country doesnt get this opportunity every day, theres no harm in dreaming about more than simply putting in a passable performance. Perhaps the team may win or draw a match -- progress to the knockouts, even. Zimbabwe got through to the Olympics through skill, determination and luck. The team will likely need to navigate the gauntlet of the group stage with another perfect cocktail of the same. But this time, scouts and millions of others will be watching. ' ' '