WASHINGTON - Wizards coach Randy Wittman signed a contract extension Tuesday after leading the team to the playoffs for the first time since 2008. With its young backcourt of John Wall and Bradley Beal, Washington beat the Chicago Bulls in the first round before losing to the Indiana Pacers in the Eastern Conference semifinals. The Wizards hadnt won a post-season series since 2005. Wittman was promoted to head coach when Flip Saunders was fired in January 2012, the third rebuilding project Wittman has undertaken. He has the worst regular-season record of anyone who has coached at least 400 NBA games — 191-329, a .367 winning percentage — since the league started in 1946. Wittman, in the final year of his contract, operated under a playoff-or-else edict from owner Ted Leonsis this season. "Its really the players who made the big decision, not only in the exit interviews the last couple of years and this off-season, but the way they responded to him on the court," Leonsis said on the teams website. "They respect their coach, they listen and like playing for him, and it shows." This season, Washington went 44-38, a 15-win improvement from a year ago, to finish fifth in a weak Eastern Conference. "This team and this organization have made significant strides over the last 2 1/2 seasons and Im excited to be a part of the next step in that process," Wittman said in a news release issued by the club. Wittman was scheduled to meet with reporters Wednesday. A day after being eliminated by the Pacers last month, Wizards players were full of praise for Wittman, appreciative of his tough-love tactics, his teaching methods and his game-day preparation. "He gets as much credit as the players," veteran forward Al Harrington said then. "I would really be upset if hes not the coach leading this team out of that locker room next year." Custom Kansas City Royals Jerseys . Lineup news, Fantasy tips and more in Scott Cullen’s Statistically Speaking. HEROES Blake Comeau – The Penguins winger had a hat trick in a 4-3 overtime win against Toronto. Fake Royals Jerseys .com) - The Chicago Blackhawks take aim at their longest winning streak of the season on Sunday when they host the Calgary Flames in a battle at the United Center. https://www.cheaproyals.com/. -- Canadian mens rugby coach Kieran Crowley has made four changes to his starting roster for Saturdays Pacific Nations Cup clash against the United States. Cheap Royals Jerseys .B. -- Canadian pairs skaters Meagan Duhamel and Eric Radford went from elated to frustrated in the span of a few minutes. Wholesale Royals Jerseys . Neither striker Demba Ba nor Fernando Torres came close to scoring as Chelsea was left unsuccessfully appealing for penalties in this drab penultimate game of the season. "Our strikers are good strikers, no doubt about that, but players with some specific qualities," Mourinho said.Jaromir Jagr is going to retire as one of hockey’s most accomplished talents. He has won NHL scoring title five times, earned MVP honors once, named to seven first or second all-star teams and two Stanley Cups plus an Olympic gold in 1998. It’s an astonishing collection of hardware – one that’s long made him a first-ballot Hall of Famer. And yet, I’m not sure any of this captures the uniqueness of this generational talent. Maybe the most amazing aspect of Jaromir Jagr, now 42, is that there hasn’t been a quick and fast depreciation in his skill set. It’s a fascinating phenomenon, because there’s plenty of data to suggest that the aging process is a cruel one for players, generally as they hit that 30-and-beyond mark. In Jagr’s case, the 30-year mark was twelve years ago, and there are a ton of miles on his body. Jag has played 1,686 games spanning the Czech League, NHL and KHL (2008-11) since 1988. One could reasonably estimate that such a burden on a player – even one of Jagr’s talent – would be onerous. A close examination of Jagr’s key 5-on-5 numbers since age 34 in the NHL are revealing. His 5-on-5 icetime, by the way, has remained relatively consistent; it was 13:26 per game in 2006-07 and is 13:38 per game this season. Jagrs Relative Dominance Season PTS/60 Corsi On% Corsi Off% 2006-07 2.79 55.1% 47.6% 2007-08 1.86 59.1% 51.5% 2011-12 1.97 53.5% 49.9% 2012-13 2.04 53.1% 50.0% 2013-14 2.00 59.2% 52.3% 2014-15 1.20 60.0% 48.0% Jagr’s scoring rate has experienced a drop this season, but with only 11 games played, it’s probable this is statistical noise. Scoring in and of itself is a volatile thing in hockey, and based on his output in recent seasons, it’s reasonable to believe he’ll jump back near his usual 2-points-per-60 rate. The impressive data comes in the two right columns. Here, we have Corsi% On, which shows the percentage of a team’s 5-on-5 shot attempts with the player on the ice. Corsi% Off shows the opposite – the percentage of a team’s 5-on-5 shot attempts with player the off the ice. The statistical theory is that, if a player is having a positive impact on his team’s performance, the team will benefit with him on the ice, and suffer with him off the ice. For basically every season in which we have the daata, Jagr’s teams have been significantly better with him on the ice.ddddddddddddMost outrageous is the fact that in the early goings of the 2014-2015 season, New Jersey is controlling 60.0% of play 5-on-5 with Jagr on the ice – a number reserved only for the league’s elite. New Jersey is controlling just 48.0% of play at 5-on-5 when Jagr is on the bench. It’s difficult to believe that New Jersey could very well be reliant on the performance of a 42-year-old to push towards the post-season, but based on the early numbers, it appears to be the case. The team is fantastic with him, and not so much without him. Let’s return to Jagr’s multi-year performance – specifically his Corsi% On and Corsi% Off numbers. Jagr has played 375 games in the NHL since 2006-07. Just how great has Jagr been over these years relative to his peers? We looked at the Corsi performances of every forward who has appeared in at least 375 games and here are the top 10 in terms of Corsi Relative. Relative Elite PLAYER GP AGE CorsiRel% Daniel Sedin 593 25-34 +8.3% Henrik Sedin 621 25-34 +7.0% Justin Williams 508 24-33 +6.4% Jaromir Jagr 375 33-42 +6.1% Patrik Elias 570 29-38 +5.6% Chris Kunitz 578 26-35 +5.6% Patrice Bergeron 518 20-29 +5.6% Zach Parise 546 21-30 +5.5% Corey Perry 611 20-29 +5.3% Sidney Crosby 478 18-27 +5.1% There’s a couple of notables here. One, only three forwards posted a better RelativeCorsi% (the difference between a player’s Corsi% On and Corsi% Off) than Jaromir Jagr. Two, there’s a key difference between Jaromir Jagr and everyone else – Jagr’s doing it in the twilight of his career, and except for portions of Elias’ run, the rest of these players posted these definitively elite possession numbers in prime years. Considering how many of Jagr’s peers have long aged out of the league due to performance decline and/or injury issues, it’s doubly astonishing. Jagr’s joked about playing until the age of 50 in interviews with local media, so it’s quite possible we’re going to see a lot more of the Czech beyond the 2014-2015 season. Based on his play so far, that’s a very good thing for the National Hockey League. ' ' '