CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Steve Clifford said he isnt one to back down from challenges. That might make him a good fit for Charlotte. The Bobcats are a long way from being a legitimate NBA playoff contender. The team introduced Clifford as their new head coach at a press conference Wednesday. Clifford becomes the Bobcats sixth different coach since the 2006-07 season and inherits a team that went a combined 28-120 over the past two seasons, by far the worst record in the NBA. "Steve has worked quite a few years in this league and we feel very positive with that with our young competitive core that he is the right fit for us," said Rod Higgins, Bobcats president of basketball operations. Clifford said after meeting with Higgins and general manager Rich Cho last week he feels confident they share the same vision for the Bobcats. "When I met with them I left here thinking that the three of us could work very effectively together," Clifford said. His core players includes no big-time NBA stars, but rather young and developing players like four-year NBA veteran Gerald Henderson, second-year veterans Kemba Walker and Bismack Biyombo and last years rookie Michael Kidd-Gilchrist. That may have scared some coaches away, but not Clifford. He called that foursome "above average competitors," and said thats exactly what he wants from his players. "I think every coach in basketball has his own priorities in terms of judging players, but for me it starts with competitiveness and then skill level, in particular shooting," Clifford said. "Coach (Bill) Parcells once said he wanted guys who are competitive on their own without the aid of coaches and in this league when youre playing four and five nights a week there arent many times you can address the group and have some magic word to get them to play hard. "You either have the right kind of guys or you dont. When you have young guys who are naturally competitive you have the opportunity to build the kind of culture that you want." Clifford said there will be an emphasis on improving the teams defence, pointing out that the top six teams in overall defence this season all reached the quarterfinals of the NBA playoffs. "Any good coach has a clear and definitive vision of how they want their team to play and practice -- and I have that," Clifford said. "I have seen what the right amount of work and the right amount of communication can do for a team.... Yes, I am inexperienced (as a head coach), but Im confident and I know how I want to do it." Clifford comes to Charlotte after spending last season as an assistant coach with the Los Angeles Lakers. Prior to that he spent five seasons (2007-12) working as an assistant under Stan Van Gundy in Orlando. He was also as an assistant coach under Jeff Van Gundy with the Houston Rockets for four years and was an assistant with the New York Knicks for three seasons. This is his first NBA head coaching job. Jeff Van Gundy, who now works as a NBA television analyst, believes Clifford is up to the task of building the Bobcats into a competitive team. The Bobcats have only been the playoffs once and have never won a post-season game. "Steve is the type of guy who can coach young teams that are rebuilding, teams on the verge of the playoffs and experienced teams, I really believe that," Jeff Van Gundy said. "I think he has great people skills and hes a quality basketball coach." The Bobcats made the move to hire Clifford one day before he was slated for a second interview with the Milwaukee Bucks for their coaching vacancy. Clifford replaces Mike Dunlap, who was fired after just one season. "Anytime you make the tough decision to change you want, if at all possible, to address some of the things that you didnt get from your prior" coach, Higgins said. "We felt very good with making the change with Steve to adhere to some of the issues we might have had here, whether its on the court, in the locker room or trying to compete every night. ... I think were getting close to becoming a very good team." Brock Holt Jersey . Miller reached right to deflect Mikhail Grabovskis attempt with just over 2 minutes remaining in regulation, and then made two more saves in the shootout Sunday to give the Sabres a 2-1 win over the Washington Capitals. Babe Ruth Jersey . Houston won 3-0 to advance to face New York in the Eastern Conference semifinals. Last in the game, Di Vaio and Romero got into a shoving match with several Houston players. 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BARNSLEY, England -- A British newspaper investigation led to a second soccer coach getting fired in England on Thursday.Two days after Sam Allardyce lost his job as England manager following an undercover operation by the Daily Telegraph, second-tier club Barnsley fired assistant coach Tommy Wright.Wright was filmed apparently accepting an envelope which the Telegraph said contained 5,000 pounds ($6,500) from a fake Asian firm to help place players at the northern club. Video footage was released by the newspaper late Wednesday and Wright was immediately suspended by Barnsley.After considering Mr. Wrights response to allegations in todays Daily Telegraph about breaching (Football Association) rules over player transfers, Mr. Wright was dismissed, the club said after a meeting with the coach on Thursday.Barnsley said it was unaware of such matters or involved in any wrongdoing.The English Football Association decided to terminate Allardyces contract on Tuesday after video showed him appearing to offer advice to fictitious businessmen on how to sidestep an outlawed player transfer practice, and also negotiating a 400,000 pound ($519,000) public-speaking contract to top up an annual England salary of 3 million pounds ($4 million).English soccer is reeling after four days of accusations by the Telegraph following its months-long investigation into alleged wrongdoing in the game.In Fridays edition, the newspaper published an article with video of Southamptons assistant manager, Eric Black, allegedly telling undercover reporters that he knew a colleague at a second-tier club who could be persuaded to pass on information for a couple of grand (thousand pounds) about players to a fictitious company that wanted to represent footballers.The Telegraph said Black denied wrongdoing.Before the article was published, Southampton saaid it was aware Black would feature in the latest allegation, and had requested to be sent details.dddddddddddd The club said the Telegraph declined to share any further information, and it contacted the FA and the Premier League.Southampton chairman Ralph Krueger, who has been in Toronto coaching Team Europe at the World Cup of Hockey finals, said he didnt have enough information to make a judgment.We will participate completely in the process to make sure that this is an opportunity for English football, Krueger said Thursday night after a 2-1 setback to Canada, which won the best-of-three series 2-0. In regards to the situation with Eric, its a personal issue for him. It has nothing directly to do with us as a club, but we will take proper procedure in the process.Second-tier Queens Park Rangers is investigating footage that appeared to show its coach, Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink, seeking a fee of 55,000 pounds ($71,600) to work for a fake Far Eastern firm that suggested selling players to the second-tier London club.Hasselbaink denied any wrongdoing, saying he was offered a fee to make only a speech in Singapore and did not ask QPR to sign players said to have been represented by the fake firm. QPR said it had every confidence in Hasselbaink, and its chief executive and director of football spoke to Hasselbaink on Thursday to get his version of events.QPR said it wanted to view an unedited version of the video footage and a full transcript.Hasselbaink, a former Chelsea and Leeds striker, will prepare the QPR team for the league match against Fulham on Saturday.The Daily Telegraph also filmed an agent accusing 10 managers, which it did not name, of taking bribes linked to player transfers. Cheap NFL Jerseys Wholesale Jerseys Wholesale NFL Jerseys Jerseys From China Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys ' ' '