Off the wire

— BASKETBALL

It’s Richardson’s team

Since the WNBA’s Shock announced in October that they’d be moving from Detroit to Tulsa, Coach and General Manager Nolan Richardson has been flipping the roster to fit his “40 Minutes of Hell” style and deal with the absence of several All-Stars who didn’t make the move. The last-place Shock sent guard Alexis Hornbuckle to the Minnesota Lynx on Monday for forward Rashanda McCants, completing an overhaulof the team’s roster. Hornbuckle, who was averaging 5.8 points and 3.5 rebounds per game, was the last player remaining from the Shock’s days in Detroit, which included three WNBA championships. The Shock still control the rights to four time All-Star Deanna Nolan, who opted to take this season off instead of playing in Tulsa.

Seven-time All-Star Tracy Mc-Grady worked out for the Chicago Bulls on Monday with hopes of landing with the team he turned down a decade earlier. McGrady could be a low-risk addition for a reconfigured team coming off back-to-back first-round playoff exits. The Bulls wouldn’t have to pay him much and could refuse to fully guarantee the deal if they make an offer, but there are big questions surrounding his health. The two-time scoring champion had microfracture surgery on his left knee in February 2009 and appeared in just 30 games last season with New York and Houston, averaging 8.2 points. Besides concerns about his condition, another issue is whether he’ll accept a more limited role. On his Twitter account in the past week, McGrady praised the Bulls and referenced the courtship 10 years ago when he was one of the top prizes in a free agent class that included Grant Hill and Tim Duncan. McGrady wound up leaving Toronto for Orlando, instead.

New Orleans Hornets star guard Chris Paul did not request a trade Monday in his meeting with new Coach Monty Williams and top team officials, General Manager Dell Demps said. Demps, essentially in his first day on the job since his hiring last week, added that he was confident Paul would still be with New Orleans when the coming season opens. Although Paul did not speak with the media, the team released a statement from him that indicated the three-time All-Star and Olympic gold medalist was encouraged by the Hornets’ recent coaching and front-office overhaul. Paul has two years remaining before he can opt out of his current contract with the Hornets.

The Phoenix Suns have waived forward Taylor Griffin, who played sparingly as a rookie last season. Griffin appeared in eight games for the Suns last season and averaged 1.3 points in four minutes per game. He also played for Phoenix’s Iowa affiliate in the NBA Development League. Griffin was a second-round pick, at No. 48 overall, in the 2009 draft out of Oklahoma.

SOFTBALL

U.S. wins World Cup

Caitlin Lowe had a two-run triple as the United States beat Japan 5-1 Monday night in Oklahoma City to win its fourth consecutive World Cup of Softball title. Jessica Mendoza put the United States on top with an RBI single in the first, and Lowe made it 3-0 with her two-run triple down the right-field line in the second. Japan got its only run on Eri Yamada’s two-out RBI single in the top of the third. The United States scored in the bottom of the inning when Kaitlin Cochran walked, advanced on a wild pitch and scored on second baseman Kasumi Mizoe’s error taking a throw at first on Andrea Duran’s bunt. Jennie Finch, 29, closed out her international softball career. The two-time Olympian and 2004 gold medalist wants to spend more time with her 4-yearold son, Ace, and husband Casey Daigle, a pitcher who has split this season between the Houston Astros and Class AAA.

BASEBALL

Hall changes voting

The Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, N.Y., has changed the way that managers, umpires, executives and long-retired players will be considered for election. Candidates will be reviewed in three eras: Pre-Integration (1871-1946), Golden (1947-1972) and Expansion ( starting in 1973). One composite ballot will be considered in each era. The Expansion Era ballot will include 12 candidates, while the Golden and Pre-Integration era ballots each will have 10. The first election in the Expansion category will be held in December during the winter meetings in Orlando, Fla. The Golden election will take place in 2011 and the Pre-Integration vote will be held in 2012. A voting committee of 16 members for each era will be appointed annually by the Hall’s board of directors. Each committee will be composed of Hall of Fame members, major league executives, and historians/veteran media members. Any candidate who receives at least 75 percent of ballots cast will earn election. Those eligible for consideration include: players who played in at least 10 major league seasons who are not on Major League Baseball’s ineligible list and have been retired for 21 or more seasons; and managers and umpires with 10 or more years in baseball and retired for at least five years. Candidates who are 65 or older are eligible six months following retirement, and executives retired for at least five years and active executives 65 or older also are eligible.

Los Angeles Dodgers outfielder Prentice Redman, 30, has been suspended for 100 games following his second positive test for a banned amphetamine under baseball’s minor league drug program. He was suspended for 50 games June 25, and this penalty will start after the first one ends. Five players on Dominican Summer League teams were suspended for 50 games each following positive tests for steroids. Redman is hitting .332 with 10 home runs and 41 RBI in 61 games for Class AAA Albuquerque. A 10th-round pick by the Mets in the 1999 amateur draft, he played 15 games for New York in 2003 but has otherwise bounced around the minors in his career. Three players were suspended from Milwaukee: third baseman Allixon Cequea and outfielder Erickson Salaya (both metabolites of Nandrolone) and pitcher Leonard Lorenzo (a metabolite of Boldenone). Detroit pitcher Jose Valdez (metabolite of Boldenone) and Oakland pitcher Leudis Benzant (metabolites of Stanozolol) also were suspended. There have been 60 suspensions this year under the minor leagueprogram. Cincinnati pitcher Edinson Volquez was suspended under the major league program.

TENNIS

Young, old win

Ernests Gulbis, at 21 the youngest player in the 28-man field, and Rainer Schuettler, at 34 the oldest player in the event, won the opening matches in the Farmers Classic at UCLA. Gulbis was a 7-5, 7-5 winner over 22-year-old Lukas Lacko of Slovakia and Schuettler was leading No. 7 seed Horacio Zeballos 6-3, 3-0, when the Argentine retired with a left shoulder injury. Gulbis, the fifth seeded Latvian, was playing for the first time since injuring a right hamstring muscle at the French Open on May 23. Gulbis won his first ATP Tour title at Delray Beach, Fla., earlier this year.

Third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska beat South Africa’s Chanelle Scheepers, 7-4, 4-6, 6-3 in the first round of the Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, Calif. The 11th-ranked Polish star recorded both of her aces in the third set and won both of her break points. Radwanska, who reached the semifinals at Dubai and Indian Wells, and the fourth round at Wimbledon, has won four of her past five matches after winning four of her previous 10. Scheepers, ranked 91st, had a nice run at the French Open this year, reaching the fourth round as a qualifier and making her debut in the top 100 on June 7.

Sixth-seeded and 42nd-ranked Alexandr Dolgopolov beat Paolo Lorenzi 6-3, 6-7 (6), 7-6 (3) and advanced to the second round of the Croatia Open in UMag. Lorenzi served for the match at 6-5 in the third set and then had a 3-1 lead in the tiebreaker, but didn’t win a point after that.

Defending champion Vera Dushevina beat Petra Martic 2-6, 7-5, 6-3 in the first round of the Istanbul Cup. Dushevina earned her first WTA Tour title in Istanbul last year.

GOLF

Two out of Senior Open

Paul Azinger (foot injury) and Nick Price (toe injury) have pulled out of this week’s U.S. Senior Open at Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, Wash., outside Seattle. Both players withdrew Monday, the first day of practice rounds.

Sports, Pages 14 on 07/27/2010

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