Was round 18 the weekend that we officially put a line through another premiership contender?The Western Bulldogs -- who have thrilled crowds all year with their run-and-gun style of play -- were batted, bruised and badly beaten on Saturday night in what could turn out to be the most pivotal night of their season. Larry Allen Womens Jersey . While the 15-point loss to St Kilda was hard enough to swallow, it was the serious injuries which they picked up that has many doubting whether the Dogs can have a serious tilt at the flag.Mitch Wallis fractured his tibia and fibula in a horrific collision with Shane Savage, before key forward Jack Redpath ruptured his ACL. Both players will miss the remainder of the season, while Dale Morris may also spend time on the sidelines after tweaking his hamstring earlier in the contest.With the Dogs on the slide, West Coast, Geelong and North Melbourne managed to keep their top-four hopes alive as Greater Western Sydney came from behind against the Power to snatch second spot.?The jostling for position ahead of September has been fascinating to watch with every game, and margin, proving critical as only a small percentage separates second down to seventh.But its the evergreen Hawks that continue to hold onto top spot of the ladder -- two games clear of the chasing pack.Speaking of the Hawks, a special mention must go to Sam Mitchell who starred in his 300th match with 38 disposals. What a terrific player he has been since entering the competition in 2002.HEROESSam Gibson:?Friday nights clash with Collingwood was must-win for the confidence-sapped Kangaroos and a dominant display by winger Sam Gibson went a long way in securing the four points. The 30-year-old racked up a game-high 33 disposals, took seven marks and kicked a great goal, but it was his gritty first half along with Daniel Wells that set the win up as the Roos stormed out to an early seven goal lead. If North Melbourne are to rediscover their early season form, Gibson will need to play more consistent football as his link up play from half-back to half-forward is first rate.?The Roos have stopped the free fall for now and will take some confidence leading into this weekends AFL/ VFL games record breaking game for Brent Harvey.Patrick Cripps vs. Josh Kennedy: Two of the competitions most elite hard-ball winners fought brilliantly at the SCG. Cripps -- the youngest player in AFL history to reach 250 clearances -- had 32 disposals and laid a career-high 13 tackles in his sides six point loss to Sydney. The 21-year-old has played some memorable games already in his short career, but his effort on Saturday shows why many expect him to be Cartons next captain. Josh Kennedy continued his consistent season with 35 disposals, six tackles and an important goal. It was Kennedy who sparked the Swans into life after a rather lacklustre opening quarter.Tom Rockliff: To say the Brisbane Lions have been under the pump this season is a massive understatement. In times of crisis, you look to your captain, and Tom Rockliff was inspirational in leading his side to a 37-point win over Essendon to finally snap a 12-game losing streak. Although it came against the lowly Bombers, Rockliff was tireless in his pursuit to win the ball in congestion, and his gutsy performance will work wonders on the clubs younger, developing players. Rockliff wasnt the only Lion to star with Daniel Rich, Pearce Hanley, Stefan Martin and Mitch Robinson all having a tremendous influence on the match. Its the sort of win that will provide coach Justin Leppitsch with a slight reprieve, now they just need to build upon it.VILLAINSEssendons goalkicking:?Its hard to be critical of a struggling side thats missing a dozen of their best 22, but Essendons goalkicking in 2016 has been nothing short of atrocious. It seems ridiculous that they dont have a full-time goalkicking coach with their returns being so poor each week. The Bombers -- who currently pose few attacking threats -- hold the worst goalkicking accuracy of the competition by a significant margin. From their 17 matches this season, Essendon sit dead last in converting their chances with only 41.5 percent of shots registering a goal, significantly below the AFL average of 50.6 percent.Melbournes late fade out:?For a side that hasnt had much luck on the road in recent years, Saturday afternoons last-quarter capitulation at Domain Stadium will be rued as the one that got away. While they are a young team on the rise that can take plenty of positives out of their clash against the finals-bound Eagles, the Demons, if they are honest with themselves, need to take a good look in the mirror and wonder how they surrendered the contest. They Demons manufactured 66 inside 50s to the Eagles 37 and led at every change only to fail to kick a goal in the final quarter and fall to their 17th consecutive Perth defeat. For the Demons, they will lament a landmark opportunity that got away.Port Adelaide:?With their finals hopes on the line, Port Adelaide failed to capitalise against the Greater Western Sydney Giants, despite looking in control for the majority of the match. The Power outclassed their opponents for two and a half quarters only to relinquish all control of the game. The Giants kicked four goals in a 10-minute third-quarter burst that buried the Power and their hopes of a top-eight finish. Ken Hinkley will be disappointed that his side was unable to curb the influence of Stephen Coniglio, Dylan Shiel and Devon Smith, who outsmarted them inside forward 50. Chuck Howley Youth Jersey .ca looks back at the stories and moments that made the year memorable. Jay Novacek Cowboys Jersey . He just needed to be his best twisting, turning acrobatic self. "I didnt need to be anybody else, I just needed to be myself and be aggressive," said Burks, who scored a career-high 34 points to spark the Utah Jazz to a 118-103 victory over the Denver Nuggets on Monday night. http://www.cowboysrookieproshop.com/Cowb...ewhouse-Jersey/ . Ibaka equaled a career high with 20 rebounds, adding four blocked shots and 15 points as the Thunder smothered the Milwaukee Bucks offence in a 92-79 victory Saturday night. This is the second installment of a preseason series in which ESPN fantasy experts debate a pair of players who have similar fantasy values and/or average draft positions. The first edition compared LeBron James and Giannis Antetokounmpo. This time, Greg Rosenstein and Tom Carpenter debate DeMarcus Cousins and Anthony Davis -- a pair of big men with top-five upside, great nicknames and tons of risk -- whose current average draft positions are ninth and 10th, respectively.Rosenstein on why Cousins should go ahead of DavisAnthony Davis, without a doubt, is one of the most exciting young players in the NBA today. I mean, how many guys at 6-foot-10 have comparable athleticism, length and ballhandling ability? In many ways hes the exact opposite of Sacramento center DeMarcus Cousins; one boasts a charismatic personality whos so smooth it appears he glides up and down the court. The other has come under consistent criticism for his off-the court antics and has a physical, bruising style around the rim.Sexy versus ugly. And Im taking ugly.Similar to last weeks debate on LeBron vs. the Greek Freak, I prefer knowing what Im going to get rather than hoping that player takes the next step. James is as consistent as they come, and Cousins is fairly similar in that regard.The Sacramento star has averaged 20.2 points, 10.8 rebounds, 2.7 assists and 1.2 blocks per game through his six-season career, but what I like most is hes clearly trending up. As he assumes more of a leadership role in the Kings offense, his overall production has improved. Take last season as an example, as he posted career bests in points (26.9), steals (1.6), field goals made (9.2) and free throws made (7.3) a night. Many of his other statistics remained in elite range.His overall production is, in fact, remarkably similar to Davis. The following categories showed them with nearly identical numbers per 36 minutes on the court: average points, average steals, field goal percentage, free throw percentage and 3-point percentage. But while you may scoff at that final statistic, keep this in mind: Cousins made 70 long-distance shots last season after attempting just 69 in his career prior to that. Its an added aspect to his already versatile offensive arsenal. He also gets to the line more -- 8.2 attempts per 36 minutes compared to 6.3 for Davis -- and has shown a better ability to find teammates for scores. His 3.1 assists per 36 minutes is nearly double that of The Brow.Another major factor is the differences in offense. The Kings went through Cousins so often last season that he ranked No. 2 overall in usage rate (33.2) behind Russell Westbrook. Davis was 23rd. Sacramento also finished as No. 1 overall in pace, which means there should be a greater amount of possessions for Cousins to put up huge stats each night. The Pelicans, in contrast, were 11th. Even without Rajon Rondo at the point, I dont see a major difference in Darren Collison, and have no reason to believe the Kings wont finish at or near the top again.Lastly -- and this is the biggest reason why Id side with Cousins over Davis -- is health. If I owned the Pelicans big man on a fantasy team, I would need to check on his status every night to make sure he wasnt hurt. In four seasons, hes already missed 68 games to a variety of injuries. Even this preseason, he had an ankle sprain. Cousins has had injuries in his career, but nothing close to as frequent as this. Michael Irvin Jersey. In fantasy basketball, you need your stars to be there when it matters most. Not on the bench in a suit.Carpenter on why Davis should go ahead of CousinsBoogie versus The Unibrow! Sounds more like this debate belongs in ESPNs WWE section.Lets face facts here: Aside from maybe Hassan Whiteside, there arent two players in fantasy hoops who have such a high risk/reward ratio. Each surely would land in the top five if he is able to play 82 games, but Davis hasnt topped 68 games during his four-season career and Cousins has topped 71 games just once since his rookie campaign.With that much volatility, its no wonder they have fallen to the bottom of the first round.Still, if I were to pick one, it would be Davis, and Ill point to four reasons:1. MaturityDavis is 23. Cousins is 26. Unfortunately, age doesnt always equate to maturity.Cousins has a short fuse, which led to a one-game suspension last season for racking up too many technicals, but thats not the real issue. When it comes to converting talent into maximum fantasy stats, a player needs to be fully dedicated to his craft, something we have rarely seen from Boogie during his six-season career.Although Davis has not been able to stay healthy, he has generally showed quality focus on the court.2. PercentagesCousins lack of on-court focus has been reflected in a fading field goal percentage (49.6 FG?percentage , 46.7 FG?percentage , 45.1 FG percentage?the past three seasons) and inconsistency at the stripe (72.6 FT?percentage , 78.2 FT?percentage , 71.8 FT percentage?in that same stretch).Thats not something you can simply gloss over, either, considering he took 20.5 field goal attempts and 10.2 free throw attempts per game last season.We saw Davis percentages slip last season (49.3 FG?percentage ; first season under 51.6 FG percentage-- 75.8 FT?percentage ; first season under 79.1 FT percentage?since rookie campaign), but Im willing to blame that on a nagging knee issue which required surgery, from which he has since recovered.3. BlocksWe also saw the Brows block production fade, as his 2.0 BPG marks the first time since his rookie run that he failed to average at least 2.8 BPG. But Boogies career-high mark is 1.7 BPG.Big-time shot-blockers are a scarce commodity - even more so when it comes to those who score and shoot well from the stripe.If Davis worst production in blocks is better than Cousins best, thats a notable edge in a key category.4. StabilityNeither the Pelicans nor Kings have done a good job of putting together a well-rounded roster, but Cousins is on his sixth head coach, the Kings lack player leadership on the court and in the locker room, and from ownership to the front office, its been an absolute circus in recent years.To me, an immature mercurial player like Cousins without leadership and direction is just a mess waiting to happen. Maybe new coach Dave Joerger can find the magic touch, but I remain skeptical.Instead, give me the Brow and his more enticing all-around stats. I prefer crossing my fingers in the hope that he can stay on the court for 70-75 games, because the only thing I see stopping him from a top-five finish is his health -- and thats an issue that also continues to plague Boogie. ' ' '