Home prices keep climbing, slower rises seen in 2014

Property prices in China ended 2013 still red hot despite repeated government efforts to cool the sector, but the rises are expected to soften this year as more targeted curbs come into place.Of a statistical pool of 70 major Chinese cities, 65 saw a month-on-month rise in new home prices and 64 reported price gains in existing and second-hand homes in December last year, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) announced online on Saturday.More cities saw price growth ease in December, a result the senior NBS statistician Liu Jianwei attributed to a raft of government efforts to stabilize market expectations, including more controls and increasing the affordable housing supply.Monthly price gains retreated 0.1 percentage point in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou and 0.4 percentage point in Shenzhen from those seen a month earlier.On a yearly basis, all the cities except Wenzhou reported gains in new home prices.First-tier cities continued to lead rises last month, with the prices of new homes in Beijing and Shanghai surging over 20 percent from a year ago, but Liu said the trend has been losing momentum."Property controls will extend the stance last year, but with more focus on region-specific approaches," noted Kuang Xianming, head of the economic research center at Hainan's China Institute for Reform and Development.After years of increases more or less everywhere, price movements have become more diversified in recent months, with megacity still facing upward pressures while smaller cities in a more balanced state, prompting local authorities to adopt differentiated measures to steady the market.

Rather than new property curbs, the key central economic work conference last month stressed the need for affordable housing and a plentiful supply of land, a new mindset among the leadership determined to rely more on market forces.The increasingly clear policy direction will steer the property sector onto a healthier track, said a report by the China Index Academy.In the context of stable economic and monetary growth, the academy forecast slower rises in both home sales and prices this year, and a steady increase in new property investment.The average prices of residential housing will rise by 7 percent to 7.6 percent in 2014, the academy predicted.Driven by rapid urbanization and speculation, China's property market has taken off in recent years and become a major headache for the authorities as more people are priced out of the market.The traditional Chinese mindset of viewing home ownership as a precondition for forming a family, along with limited investment channels , meant demands would keep rising.Over the years, in response to public complaints, the central government has tried to rein in prices with purchase controls and experimental property taxes, resulting in short term cooling of the market. After a while, prices have generally rebounded.

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WeChat to manage wealth

Tencent Holdings Ltd pushed into the nation's booming online financial services sector on Thursday as it announced plans to launch a wealth management service on its dominant mobile messaging app WeChat.The service, called Licaitong, was jointly developed by Tencent and four fund companies, including China Asset Management Co and GF Fund Management Co.The service, with a minimum investment of just 0.01 yuan ($0.0017), will enable WeChat users to buy and sell money market funds via mobile devices and get higher interest rates than typical banking deposits.Tencent, China's largest Internet company by revenue, didn't reveal when the service will be officially launched and open to all WeChat users.It did, however, say that its cooperation with the four fund companies isn't exclusive and it seeks to cooperate with more fund companies.Sources said Tencent has been working on the service for months after its archrival, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd, introduced Yu'E Bao, an investment service, in June 2013 through its e-payment affiliate Alipay.The tremendous popularity of Yu'E Bao, which reported more than 250 billion yuan under management and 49 million users as of Wednesday, has prompted many Internet companies and fund managers to follow in its path.Baidu Inc, China's leading search engine, joined forces with China Asset Management Co in October 2013 to launch its first wealth management product, known as Baifa.Suning Commerce Group Co Ltd earlier this month launched its first online investment service, Lingqian Bao, with GF Fund Management Co and China Universal Asset Management Co Ltd.Analysts said Licaitong is the strongest competitor so far for Yu'E Bao, which is the largest money market fund in China.Wang Weidong, an analyst at iResearch Group, a Beijing-based consulting firm, said that given the business model and the huge user base of WeChat, Tencent's offering would be a real challenge to Yu'E Bao.

"The most difficult part in selling wealth management products is to find a large pool of customers. WeChat, which already has more than 400 million registered users and boasts 272 million global monthly active users, is a great gateway to allow fund companies to gain access to potential customers," said Wang.Chai Bin, a manager of e-business at GF Fund Management Co, told China Daily in an earlier interview: "With the increasing number of netizens in China, there is no better vehicle for reaching these potential clients than the Internet."He said that more than 90 percent of fund products are currently sold through banks in China.Despite Tencent's huge user base, analysts said it is still too early to tell whether Licaitong will surpass Yu'E Bao and become the largest online financial service in China."Yu'E Bao has already accumulated a large number of customers because it was the first product of its kind in China, which makes it difficult for others to overtake it," said Wang.But even if Licaitong cannot capture Yu'E Bao's current customers, it still has the potential to become a giant player in the sector, Wang added.Ding Xuemei, a spokeswoman for Tian Hong Asset Management, which jointly launched Yu'E Bao with Alipay, said her company welcomes Tencent's move. "We are happy to see innovation in the sector, and competition is good for the market's development," said Ding.The Beijing-based Tian Hong was a nonentity in China's public fund industry before launching Yu'E Bao with Alipay in June 2013.According to Ding, the company had risen to become the second-largest public fund in China by the end of 2013.

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Intel CEO says company will play a key role in computing revolution

In one of his first major appearances since taking the helm of Intel (INTC), CEO Brian Krzanich asserted to the audience at the annual Consumer Electronics Show on Monday that his company will play a key role in the latest computing revolution.His keynote speech at the show's opening comes as Intel has struggled to find its place in the emerging post-PC era. While the company has long dominated the market for PC processors, sales of PCs are shrinking as consumers are buying tablets and smartphones instead. Unfortunately for Intel, processors based on designs by rival ARM dominate those markets and Intel has largely failed to make inroads.Picking up on some of the expected themes of this year's show, Krzanich demonstrated Intel technologies at work in wearable devices that included smartwatches, 3D cameras and printers and tablet computers. He also showed off some products outside of Intel's comfort zone, such as a pair of earphones that can track users' heart rates and a device that can monitor an infant's temperature and sleep state.Krzanich also showed off a new chip that Intel hopes will give it an entry into new technology markets. Dubbed Edison, the chip is about the size of the memory card for a digital camera and has built-in radios that would allow devices using it to connect to Wi-Fi networks or, via Bluetooth, to other gadgets.Perhaps the most striking demonstration of Edison was the infant monitor. Krzanich and his colleagues showed how a half-dollar sized device placed in a baby's onesie could send a signal to a "smart" coffee cup that would make the cup light different colors, depending on the baby's mood. When the baby was hot or fussy, the cup would turn red. When it was calm, the cup would glow green.

Krzanich showed how the same technology could also automatically trigger a bottle warmer to begin heating up some milk as the baby woke up."With Edison, the opportunities, we believe, are endless," he said.Intel doesn't appear to be developing Edison-based products on its own. Instead, it plans to follow its usual model of partnering with other companies, Krzanich said. The company is hoping to spur the development of other new products through a contest. It's offering $1.3 million in prizes for people who come up with compelling wearable product ideas based on its technology.Krzanich also noted that Intel has designs on the gaming market. He brought onstage Gabe Newell, the co-founder of Valve, which runs the online game distribution service Steam. Newell touted the new Steam Machines, small game devices that will allow users to play PC games on their big-screen TVs. The gadgets, which will be available from a variety of vendors, all run on chips from either Intel or its rival AMD.While Valve has drawn a lot of excitement for the new devices, they could face a tough reception from consumers, due to the steep price. They each cost at least $500 -- the same price as Microsoft's new Xbox One console -- and some cost well more than a thousand.While wearable gadgets, which include smartwatches, fitness and health monitors and "smart" eyewear such as Google (GOOG) Glass, have been among the highlights at this year's CES, the market for such devices is still nascent and it's unclear how much demand they will generate.
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U.S. stocks drop midday amid mixed economic data

U.S. stocks pared early gains to trade in negative territory by midday Monday amid mixed economic data, as investors awaited a string of major events including the Federal Reserve's minutes and jobs data.By midday, the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 40.55 points, or 0.25 percent, to 16,429.44. The S&P 500 dipped 5.02 points, or 0.27 percent, to 1,826.35. The Nasdaq shed 20.20 points, or 0.49 percent, to 4,111.70.The three major stock indices opened higher to start the first full trading week in 2014 but pared morning gains after data showed U.S. non-manufacturing sector expanded at a slower pace.The Non-Manufacturing Index, which measures activity in the U.S. service sector, declined to 53 percent in December from 53.9 percent in November, the Institute for Supply Management said Monday.New orders for U.S. manufactured goods rose in November to the highest level ever recorded, mainly fueled by increasing new orders for durable goods, the U.S. Department of Commerce reported.Investors may use any sign of weakness in incoming economic data as an opportunity to sell and lock in profits after the U.S. equity market posted its best year in over a decade in 2013 and is overdue for a mild correction, according to some analysts.

The Fed will release Wednesday the minutes of its December policy meeting, when the central bank announced the first tapering of its massive asset purchases by 10 billion U.S. dollars starting in January. The minutes will give investors a better understanding of the Fed's decision-making.Moreover, a non-farm payroll report for the final month of 2013 will be published Friday by the Labor Department. Analysts expect non-farm payroll employment to increase 200,000 last December, while jobless rate could remain unchanged at 7 percent.Furthermore, the fourth-quarter earnings season will unofficially kick off this week with results from aluminum giant Alcoa due out on Thursday.FactSet, a financial information provider, estimated earnings growth rate for the S&P 500 as a whole for the fourth quarter to be 6.3 percent, while the estimated revenue growth rate would be 0. 3 percent.Last week, the three major stock indices finished lower, with the S&P 500 starting the new year with a two-day losing streak for the first time since 2005.
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PIA lifts Pakistani stocks to fresh all-time highs

A renewed interest in Pakistan International Airlines (PIA), which is on top of government's privatization list, helped equities at Pakistan's Karachi Stock Exchange (KSE) to commence fresh week at a fresh historic all-time high amid better investors' participation.The benchmark KSE 100-Index gained 0.47 percent or 123.12 points to close at 26,169.83 points on Monday as against 26,046.71 points reported on Friday.The KSE All Share Index surged by 0.91 percent or 174.95 points to end at 19,455.56 points, the KSE 30-Index swelled by 0.18 percent or 35.06 points to conclude at 19,390.46 points, whereas the KMI 30-Index jumped by 0.29 percent or 128.04 points to finish the opening session of fresh week at 44,009.46 points on Monday.During Monday's trading session, the key index hit an all-time intraday highest level of 26,299.69 points as against an intraday low of 26,046.71 points.The market largely gained on the back of news that the Privatization Commission's meeting during the weekend to initiate the privatization process. PIA is amongst the companies which are to be privatized and recorded huge investor interest as it gained 8 percent with volume of 38 million shares.

Market volumes improved by 4.525 million shares to 282.513 million shares, capitalization increased by 56.489 billion rupees (537.992 million U.S. dollars) to 6.312 trillion rupees (60.117 billion dollars), whereas the KSE trading value dipped by 36.984 million rupees (352,238 dollars) to 9.78 billion rupees (93.146 million dollars).Among 410 active scrips Monday, price of 228 issues advanced, 171 declined, whereas value of 11 other companies stayed unchanged.PIA, Pakgen Power, and Faysal Bank were the top traded companies with turnovers of 38.049 million shares, 24.378 million shares, and 11.227 million shares, respectively.Nestle Pakistan was the top price gainer with increment of 423. 75 rupees (4.03 dollars) to close at 8,898.75 rupees (84.75 dollars) while on the other hand Sanofi-Aventis led the major price shedders with decrement of 24.03 rupees (22.88 U.S. cents) to finish at 691 rupees (6.58 dollars).
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AT&T Seeks to Poach T-Mobile Customers With $450 in Credits

AT&T Inc. (T), aiming to get a jump on an anticipated move by T-Mobile (TMUS) US Inc., is offering customers of its smaller rival as much as $450 in credits for devices and services for each line they switch.The amount of the offer, which begins today, depends on the make, model and age of the smartphone, Dallas-based AT&T said in a statement. Bellevue, Washington-based T-Mobile may be planning a similar offer, Wells Fargo & Co. said, as the companies step up efforts to poach each other’s customers.“The timing of this move is very purposeful,” Jennifer Fritzsche, an analyst with Wells Fargo & Co., wrote in a note today. T-Mobile may announce a plan next week offering $350 in credit to customers that switch, Fritzsche wrote, citing market speculation.AT&T’s battle with T-Mobile is intensifying after the former merger partners spent 2013 exchanging volleys through advertising. The competition is growing more cutthroat as the wireless market becomes more saturated, forcing carriers to go after each other’s subscribers for growth.Now that T-Mobile had taken AT&T’s customers, AT&T wants to “bribe them back,” T-Mobile Chief Executive Officer John Legere said in a statement on the company’s website. “This is a desperate move by AT&T on the heels of what must have been a terrible fourth quarter and holiday for them,” Legere said.

The two companies have singled each other out in part because they use a similar network technology that makes it easier for customers to switch between them while retaining their devices. Shares of all four major U.S. wireless carriers dropped in New York trading amid concern AT&T’s move was a sign of a price war.Providing a credit can help consumers offset the cost of termination fees to end a contract with a competing carrier, making it easier to switch. While T-Mobile doesn’t require customers to sign service contracts, it sells phones on installment plans and charges the balance due for a device when a service plan is canceled.While the AT&T offer “may instill fears of pricing wars looming,” it’s “more bark than bite,” Fritzsche said. The company already provides at least $99 for phone trade-ins, and its promotion is only good for users joining plans where they don’t get discounts on new phones, she said. She has the equivalent of a buy rating on AT&T shares and is neutral on T-Mobile.T-Mobile has positioned itself as an “un-carrier” shaking up the industry with no-contract plans, phone financing and lower-cost international roaming rates. AT&T, the second-largest wireless carrier in the U.S., has mimicked some of T-Mobile’s price changes while touting the supremacy and speed of its own network.“Wireless has always been a very competitive industry and a move like this should not be unexpected,” said Mark Siegel, an AT&T spokesman.AT&T trails Verizon Wireless among U.S. customers, while Sprint Corp. holds third place in the market. T-Mobile led all carriers adding 1.47 million monthly subscribers in the second and third quarter of 2013.T-Mobile, controlled by Deutsche Telekom AG, fell 3.3 percent to $32.28 at the close in New York. AT&T slid less than 1 percent to $34.80. Verizon Communications Inc., which holds a majority of Verizon Wireless, dropped 1.2 percent to $48.42, and Sprint slumped 4.4 percent to $9.94.
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Typo's hardware keyboard for iPhone draws BlackBerry lawsuit

BlackBerry, which has persisted in selling smartphones with hardware keyboards, has filed a patent infringement suit against Typo Keyboard, which makes an iPhone case with a built-in keyboard.Typo's $99 case, which is debuting at the CES conference next week, slips around an iPhone 5 or 5S and connects to it wirelessly via Bluetooth. It provides a keyboard that looks an awful lot like BlackBerry's, including beveled keys.BlackBerry, which has steadily lost relevance and revenue with the rise of Android phones and iPhones, decided it was time to sue. Steve Zipperstein, BlackBerry's general counsel, had this statement in a Friday announcement:This is a blatant infringement against BlackBerry's iconic keyboard, and we will vigorously protect our intellectual property against any company that attempts to copy our unique design. From the beginning, BlackBerry has always focused on offering an exceptional typing experience that combines a great design with ergonomic excellence. We are flattered by the desire to graft our keyboard onto other smartphones, but we will not tolerate such activity without fair compensation for using our intellectual property and our technological innovations.

Typo was founded by Chief Executive Laurence Hallier and TV personality Ryan Seacrest. The device itself was invented by Chief Technology Officer and designer Ryan Hyde.Patent infringement suits are costly and can be distracting even for well-established companies. If successful, a plaintiff can halt sales of products through a court's injunction and can extract patent licensing fees. A wave of patent suits has embroiled most players in the mobile market over recent years.The lawsuit, filed in the US District Court for Northern California, accuses Typo of infringing US patents 7,629,964, 8,162,552, and D685,775. It also accuses the company of willfully misappropriating BlackBerry's trade dress -- the distinctive look of the product, and an attribute protected similarly to trademarks.BlackBerry's design patent D685,775, from 2013, covers the look of its keyboard and is titled "Handheld Electronic Device." Patent 7,629,964, awarded 2009, is titled "Hand- Held Electronic Device With A Keyboard Optimized For Use With The Thumbs." Patent 8,162,552, from 2012, is titled "Ramped-Key Keyboard for a Handheld Mobile Communication Device.""BlackBerry's innovations in keyboard design have given rise to broad intellectual property rights, including design patents, utility patents, and trade dress protection," the suit said. "Instead of developing its own keyboard design, Typo chose to copy BlackBerry's iconic keyboard design as embodied in, among others, BlackBerry's Q10 smartphone, seeking to trade on BlackBerry's commercial recognition and goodwill."The suit argues that consumers seeing the products would think they were buying a BlackBerry product: "Typo has misappropriated BlackBerry's patented design in the accused Typo Keyboard. An ordinary observer viewing the Typo Keyboard in the purchasing context would be deceived by its similarity to the D'775 patent design, and would be induced to purchase the Typo Keyboard believing it was the same design as BlackBerry's D'775 patent," the lawsuit said.
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China issues new measures to protect small investors' rights

China yesterday unveiled a new set of guidelines aimed at strengthening the protection of small investors, the latest move to restore faith in the country’s sagging equity market.The country will set up an insurance system to counter the risk of delisting of a listed firm and expand the size and use of an investor protection fund, the State Council, China’s Cabinet, said on its website.The government will also improve the investor eligibility system in which investors will be classified based on their tolerance of risk and knowledge of the capital market in order to keep unqualified investors out of certain areas.“Small and medium investors are the main participants of China’s capital market but they are weak in self-protection with a disadvantaged position of obtaining information,” the State Council said. “Protecting the interests of small investors is a foundation for the development of the capital markets.”Chinese investors have long been disappointed by the country’s sluggish stock market, which has been among the world’s worst performers.The Shanghai Composite Index still hovers around the same level it did in 2000 despite China’s GDP having more than quadrupled in the same period. Retail investors, who contribute around 80 percent of China stock market turnover, are also badly affected by rampant irregularities such as market manipulation, insider trading and falsified disclosures.

“The measures embody fairness and justice and are helpful to strengthen market confidence and stimulate market vitality,” Deng Ge, spokesman for the China Securities Regulatory Commission, said yesterday.The guideline also promises to improve voting rights for small investors, including encouraging the use of online voting and urging listed companies to count the votes of small investors separately on issues that affect their interests.Listed companies should disclose detailed plans of dividend payments and companies failing to deliver on their promise to distribute dividends will be banned from issuing additional shares, according to the guidelines.The government will also encourage listed companies to buy back shares when their price falls below net asset values. Shareholders responsible for irregularities should compensate small investors with their own equities and assets, the guideline says.China’s securities regulator has introduced a number of measures to bolster investor confidence, including tightening supervision on information disclosures and cracking down on fraud and insider trading.Its initial public offering market is set to resume next month after a 13-month halt, the eighth IPO suspension since the stock market was established in a bid to boost listing transparency and support share prices.
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Boise State ends difficult season with loss to Oregon State in Hawaii Bowl

Playing with a coaching staff on the way out the door and their senior quarterback stuck in Boise after being suspended and sent home earlier on the trip, the Broncos came out flat and never recovered in a 38-23 defeat to Oregon State in the Sheraton Hawaii Bowl Tuesday night at Aloha Stadium.The Broncos ended a difficult and forgettable season with an 8-5 record, finishing with five losses for the first time since 1998.“There was a lot of distractions for us, but we have a resilient group of guys,” said junior wide receiver Matt Miller. “I felt we were focused coming into the game. Everybody was looking like we were going to come out and play really well, and it just didn’t happen.”Without Chris Petersen on the sidelines as head coach for the first time since 2005, the Broncos were done in by two backbreaking fumbles in the first half that were both picked up and returned for touchdowns by Rashaan Reynolds of Oregon State.The offense moved the ball quite well — finishing with 538 total yards compared to 454 from Oregon State — but had the two turnovers, converted only 1-of-3 attempts on fourth down and had to settle for three field goals.Earlier in the week quarterback Grant Hedrick called the Southwick suspension a “big distraction” leading into Tuesday’s game. And while nobody will admit his departure or the looming coaching transition had anything to do with the loss, the final result was one that could have been expected based on the past two weeks.“I think the stadium was kind of quiet but no, I didn’t feel any difference tonight than I did all year long,” Boise State interim coach Bob Gregory said. “I thought our guys stayed with it all game long, I didn’t feel that they gave up at any point and they kept battling.cheap mens jackets and coats“I really don’t and I believe there wasn’t a loss of focus. I think we had very good bowl practices and good practices when we were here. Again, we just didn’t make as many plays as we needed to make to make a difference in the game. Oregon State made those plays.”Boise State trailed 10-3 midway through the first quarter when Grant Hedrick was hit and fumbled the ball near the Broncos’ goal line. Oregon State’s Rashaad Reynolds picked up the ball and walked 3 yards into the end zone to put the Beavers up 17-3.

Dan Goodale’s second field goal and a fourth-down stop by the Broncos defense gave them the ball back trailing 17-6,Buy Cheap Coach Grade AAA Handbags, Custom Fit Stripe Shirt and more. but another Boise State fumble turned a promising drive into the turning point of the game.This time it was Broncos wide receiver Troy Ware’s fumble that was again picked up by Reynolds and returned 70 yards for his second touchdown to extend the Oregon State lead 24-6.“It’s very difficult to overcome those against a Pac-12 team,honeycomb balls” Gregory said. “That’s tough when we’re not on the field on defense, but we didn’t make enough plays on defense either. We didn’t come up with enough stops or enough turnovers on our side to make a difference either.”Added Miller: “The offense scored 14 points for their team, really. It’s really hard to come back from that.”Miller was one of the bright spots for the Broncos, finishing with 11 catches for 206 yards and a touchdown. He finished with 88 catches for 1,140 yards and 12 touchdowns on the season, eclipsing Jeremy Childs’ single-season record of 82 catches set in 2007.Hedrick completed for 32-of-44 passes for 382 yards a touchdown but was sacked five times. Running back Jay Ajayi had 23 carries for 97 yards and a touchdown for the Broncos to finish with 1,425 yards and 18 touchdowns.bag suppliers Both rank in the top five in single-season school history.Hawaii native Jeremy Ioane had 10 tackles in his return to the islands to lead the defense and corner Donte Deayon had his sixth interception of the year — which ties for the fifth most in the country.tissue ballBoise State trailed 31-6 at the half, their biggest halftime deficit since they trailed 42-0 to Louisiana Tech in 1998. The deficit grew to 38-6 early in the third quarter before the Broncos scored two consecutive touchdowns — a 1-yard run by Ajayi and a 85-yard pass from Hedrick to Miller — and added a late field goal from Goodale to make the final score a more respectable 15-point margin.“I felt like everyone was focused with what we had to get done,” Deayon said. “We know there were distractions for us, but there were distractions for them as well.”The loss was the first in a bowl game by Boise State since a 17-16 defeat to TCU in the Poinsettia Bowl in 2008. They had won four in a row entering Tuesday.The Broncos will say goodbye to 16 seniors and several members of the coaching staff. Only assistant coaches Andy Avalos and Scott Huff have been announced as returners on new coach Bryan Harsin’s staff.

Wildcats 'good, but we can get a lot better' after perfect start

No. 1 Arizona heads into the Christmas break with a perfect record, but after an undefeated nonconference run last season coach Sean Miller offered an almost spooky premonition.“You worry sometimes about how many points you are scoring, how you are playing individually as opposed to what’s happening as a team,” he said last season just before the Wildcats began Pac-12 play at 12-0. “Sometimes guys can really get caught up in their own world. … The longer a season goes on, the more team dynamics become a factor.“I’m only bringing that up because that’s a real focus for us moving forward.”Two days after Miller offered those words, host Arizona needed a controversial wave-off of a Colorado buzzer shot to escape the Buffaloes in overtime. Then the Wildcats beat lowly Utah by only three points.And the next week, Arizona went to Oregon and allowed the Ducks to shoot 56.7 percent in the first half, leading to UA’s first loss of the season. There were five more losses, costing them a chance to win the Pac-12 regular-season title.All that after UA merrily hopped a Christmas night red-eye flight from Honolulu to Phoenix, having won the Diamond Head Classic, then took a few days off.“When we got back, we lost our defense,” Miller said. “Our defense a year ago was very good. It wasn’t as good as this year’s defense. But we went through a four- to five-week period of time when we got back from Christmas where we didn’t play nearly tough enough defense to be the Pac-12 regular-season champions.”Arizona held opponents to 38.9 percent shooting during the 2012-13 nonconference season but Colorado shot 47.5 percent, even better if Sabatino Chen’s would-be buzzer-beater was not called off. Utah shot 42.9 percent.Our store can offer Dsquared Long T-Shirts cheap price, welcome choose! Oregon hit 7 of 11 three-point attempts.Honeycomb Pom Poms And UCLA, while beating up the Wildcats during a “white-out” game at McKale Center, shot 47.8 percent.Something was wrong. Miller explained what it was after UA beat NAU 77-44 on Monday to complete another undefeated nonconference run.

“One of the things I learned as a coach last year is when you have selfishness, any chemistry breaks from your team,Honeycomb Tissue Balls or one player gets off on a different page, the first thing that goes isn’t offensive — it’s defense,” Miller said. “We dealt with a little bit of that when we came back.’“It wasn’t about being 12-0,wholesale Coach Grade Sunglasses sale from www.alipaytrade.com homepage. it was about us as individuals, and you could see it in effort, concentration, details.”So after the Wildcats allowed NAU to make 4 of 8 three-point shots in the second half Monday and were out-rebounded 18-16 after halftime by their struggling Big Sky opponent, the red flags went up.Even UA junior guard Nick Johnson saw them.“I think we’re good, but we can get a lot better,” Johnson said. “Right now we’re a top 10 defensive team, but that was our goal coming into the year. But as a team we know we can be a lot better than that, be the No. 1 defensive team in the country if everyone focuses in on being that. We’ve gotta get ready for this conference season.”So the goal is to return from their three-day Christmas break a different group than a year ago.Nike Air Max Miller said the 13-0 Wildcats discussed doing so after Monday’s game.“The No. 1 thing that won’t happen this year — because if it happens, it’s going to be addressed right away — is our defense” declining, Miller said. “Our defense has to remain one of the best in college basketball. That is not easy.“For example, the second half of (the NAU) game isn’t good enough, not by the standards we judge ourselves by. It leads to the next game, and individuals who aren’t playing good enough defense, they’re not going to play.“Sometimes the offense is going to score on us because they’re really good, but it can’t be because of us. I think that’s the one commitment we’re making to each other when we return from the holidays.”