encouraged by the play this summer of guard Bojan Bogdanovic, who was Croatias leading scorer as it qualified for the Olympics, then

HOUSTON -- The Big 12 has narrowed the field of candidates for possible expansion to 11 schools, with Memphis and Temple among the latest to be cut from consideration, a person with direct knowledge of the situation tells The Associated Press.The person spoke Friday on condition of anonymity because the Big 12 will not be making public any of its dealings with schools interested in joining the 10-team conference.Big 12 officials are planning to start holding meetings in the Dallas area next week with BYU, Air Force, Central Florida, Cincinnati, Connecticut, Colorado State, Houston, Rice, SMU, South Florida and Tulane. The next meeting of Big 12 presidents and chancellors is in mid-October.ESPN was first to report the field had been cut, with Memphis and Temple out of consideration.Big 12 Commissioner Bob Bowlsby declined comment in a text message to AP.Memphis released a statement from university president M. David Rudd stating he would not comment on the Big 12 process and referred to a portion of the nondisclosure agreement the school had with the conference. Temple officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.BYU is a football independent with most of its other sports competing in the West Coast Conference. Air Force and Colorado State are currently in the Mountain West. Rice, located in Houston, competes in Conference USA. The rest of the schools are in the American Athletic Conference.The Big 12 has not committed to expanding, but Bowlsby and Oklahoma President David Boren said in July that it would consider adding two or four schools. Adding members for football only is also a possibility.Earlier in this week officials from East Carolina, New Mexico, UNLV, Boise State and San Diego State all publicly stated that their schools were no longer being considered as candidates for the Big 12.The one surprise among the early cuts is Memphis. The school located in southwest Tennessee is within driving distance of many Big 12 schools and the conference has an agreement with the Liberty Bowl to send a team to the postseason game each season. Memphis alum and FedEx president Fred Smith had pledged his companys sponsorship for Big 12 events if the school was invited to join the conference.Academics seem to have been an issue for Memphis. All the schools remaining under consideration by the Big 12 are among the top 200 universities and colleges in the United States ranked by U.S. News and World Report. Memphis is not ranked.Clearance Shoes Australia . Anthony Davis had 31 points and 17 rebounds in his seventh straight game with more than 20 points, but that was only enough to keep the Pelicans competitive into the final minutes. Andrew Bogut had 10 points and 15 rebounds for Golden State, which rebounded from a loss a night earlier in Oklahoma City and snapped a two-game skid. Shoes Australia From China . The 15th-ranked Canadian men lost the opening two games of their European tour: 19-15 to No. 17 Georgia and 21-20 to No. https://www.shoesaustraliaonline.com/ .Y. -- Knicks coach Mike Woodson said Wednesday that J. Fake Shoes Australia . Detroit and Boston are deadlocked, 1-1, and Tigers manager Jim Leyland could be forgiven if he was caught rationalizing instead of dissecting how his club could blow a 5-1 lead late in Game 2. Shoes Australia Outlet . Barcelona also left injured defenders Carles Puyol, Javier Mascherano and Jordi Alba out of its squad for the trip to Glasgow. That means that Marc Bartra will probably start again in the centre of the defence alongside Gerard Pique.NEW YORK -- Jeremy Lin will be urged to become a better leader. Brook Lopez will be challenged to rebound and defend better.Kenny Atkinson believes in being direct and honest with his players, but theres one thing the new Brooklyn Nets coach wont discuss with them.After all, the players already know some people dont think very much of them.I think those guys are aware of it, so as a coach I dont think I need to be putting stuff up in the locker room and motivating them that way, Atkinson said Tuesday.Expectations are low for the Nets, who open training camp next Tuesday. While they could be better than last seasons 21-61 record, they also could be the worst team in the Eastern Conference, now that the Philadelphia 76ers will be interested in trying to win.Odds makers, media members and even some of their own fans dont expect much from the Nets, and some players already have made clear they wont be as bad as critics say.I dont think we look at is as bulletin board material, general manager Sean Marks said. I mean, youve read probably a couple of pieces that some of our guys have said that they dont agree with those odds and thats great. Thats exactly what we want ... thats the competitor in them.Marks, a former assistant general manager with San Antonio, begins his first full season after he was hired last February. He hired Atkinson from Atlanta, where he helped the Hawks reach the second round of the playoffs as an assistant to Mike Budenholzer.They made a number of additions over the summer, but not the splashy types the Nets favored during their first few years in Brooklyn, when they were trying to win new fans while also winning games. That led to trades for players such as Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Joe Johnson, and they reached the postseason in their first three seasons after moving from New Jersey.But the mindset has changed now, with the bold predictions of Russian owner Mikhail Prokhorov giving way to tempered talk from Marks, a New Zealand native.dddddddddddd Prokhorov wanted to win fast -- time expired on his goal of winning a championship within five years of buying the team -- but now is backing a plan to build slowly.Well, it depends on what your definition of slow is, Marks said. Our owners know exactly what the expectations are, so theyre 100 percent on board. Theyve been on board all summer long.Lopez is the teams best player and the Nets hope Lin, back in the city where he was briefly a star with the Knicks in 2012, can build on a strong season as the backup to Kemba Walker in Charlotte. Atkinson was an assistant under Mike DAntoni in New York during the Linsanity days and believes Lin is ready to handle the responsibilities of running this team.Its a heck of a challenge for him, but I think hes prepared for it, Atkinson said. I think its the right time in his career.The Nets were encouraged by the play this summer of guard Bojan Bogdanovic, who was Croatias leading scorer as it qualified for the Olympics, then surprisingly reached the quarterfinals. And they have high hopes for youngsters such as Rondae Hollis-Jefferson, Chris McCullough, Sean Kilpatrick and rookie Caris LeVert, even though none of them have played a full NBA season yet.Thats why Marks said success for the Nets wont be measured only in wins and losses, but by how those players improve during the season.This is not going to be something thats going to turn around in two, three months, he said. As weve said before, we want something thats done strategically and systematically that builds a strong foundation and not something thats a fleeting moment.---Follow Brian Mahoney on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/Briancmahoney ' ' '