But had the NBA management needed an extra push the sight of 10708 mainly young supporters watching the Houston Rockets beat Buckler Bologna 126-112

But, had the NBA management needed an extra push, the sight of 10,708 mainly young supporters watching the Houston Rockets beat Buckler Bologna 126-112 in the final at the London Arena, would certainly have convinced them.The NBA invested $400,000 in increasing the venue’s capacity for the three-day event and was rewarded with sell-outs on Friday and Saturday.Geneva will continue as the headquarters of NBA Europe, but London will be the first of several satellite offices the NBA plans around the continent.Ray Lalonde, NBA Europe’s head of marketing, said: “It’s the next natural step for us. Basketball

DUNCAN HOOPER
America’s National Association has pinpointed London as the next outpost in its colonisation of the world. The NBA plans to open a London office to spearhead its marketing and merchandising drive in Western Europe, where they already sell more than pounds 20m worth of products a year.The decision had already been taken before this weekend’s McDonald’s Championships. Only firm ground may stop Barton Bank and an attempt to relaunch his career in the Charlie Hall Chase at Wetherby on Saturday. David Nicholson, his trainer, reports that the nine-year-old, well beaten at Aintree on his last start, ‘’seems A1 again”.
Another top chaser, Coulton, made a winning return at Wincanton yesterday, beating Amtrak Express, by six lengths.. “It’s not a moralistic thing, I just don’t see the need,” Naughton said.

“She’s always gives me everything anyway.” Perhaps, for once, Ladbrokes have got it wrong If they have, we’ll make them pay.. Young, easy-going and with more than a hint of south London in his accent, he has all the makings of a people’s champion. A final 60 seconds of effort by Hever Golf Rose on Saturday could take him into the big time.Unlike Lake Coniston, Hever Golf Rose will not run with the assistance of either Lasix or Bute, the permitted performance-enhancing drugs. Obviously Peter’s done brilliantly, but I’m getting there, even it if has taken me a little more time.”Chapple-Hyam has already been to Epsom and returned home with a Derby winner, but now it may be Naughton’s turn.

But it’s the end of a long year, and I think she’ll either be very good or simply say she’s had enough.”Naughton has held a licence for just five years, having spent the previous seven working for Barry Hills at a time when Peter Chapple-Hyam was also an assistant trainer.Chapple-Hyam then started at the top as the master of Manton, but Naughton’s progress has not been so smooth. “When I started I only had six horses and a run-down yard and I take a lot of personal satisfaction in what I’ve achieved. This was another side to her preparation, but the effects of her long campaign are harder to quantify.”She’s giving all the right indications, she’s nice and bubbly,” Naughton said. “She really thrives on racing and she travels brilliantly, she settles in to a new environment straight away. “I had about 40 horses at the start of this year, but next season I’ll be up to 60 or 65.”Hever Golf Rose will leave for New York today, but the travelling, at least, is something which Naughton does not need to worry about.On Saturday morning the filly had gentle spin around a bend on Lingfield’s all-weather track, starting about a furlong from the winning post and travelled around the turn out into the back straight.

Big business people in London have got a great training centre right on their doorstep and it’s nice that they are waking up to that.”Certainly, they are waking up to Naughton, thanks principally to Hever Golf Rose, who provided his first Group One succes in the Prix de l’Abbaye earlier this month “She’s defintely been a big help,” Naughton said. But when the team contains horses like Hever Golf Rose, who can resist? Hard at work since April, the winner of eight races in five countries, she has secured the growing reputation of Joe Naughton, her trainer, and offered a reminder that there is more to Epsom than just a racecourse.Lake Coniston, who will join her in the field for the Breeders’ Cup Sprint, is another local resident, at Geoff Lewis’s yard, and as Naughton said: “it will be good if people start to realise that there is life beyond Newmarket and Lambourn. In theory, there is no reason why a racing follower’s allegiance should extend any further than the latest horse to carry their money, but when the Breeders’ Cup comes around, we get just as tribal as football fans.
Never mind that the logic which makes some of them “ours” is of a sort which Jack Charlton might recognise, or that in view of Britain’s past record – three winners, countless disappointments – a dispassionate approach might be easier on both the wallet and the spirit.Everyone knows that beating North American horses on their own turf – not to mention their own dirt – requires a final, exceptional effort from animals which have already spent many months racing against the best Yet still we back them, just in case. Ladbrokes make the second option an odds-on chance, with their offer of 10-11 that the British-based runners will return from Belmont Park empty-handed.

It will be racing’s Olympiad, a true and valuable test to find the world’s best horses. Or it will be an unrepresentative, drug-fuelled circus which does nothing to benefit the sport in Britain. Ideas should be sent to: Creativity, the Independent, 1 Canada Sq, Canary Wharf, London E14 5DL Chambers Dictionary prizes for the most inspired.. Shortly after teatime on Saturday we will be able to pass judgement on the 1995 Breeders’ Cup meeting, and if recent history is any guide, there are but two possible verdicts. John and Fiona Earle have a similar plan, but use the magnet on a fishing-rod to obtain a tow from passing lorries. Mollie Caird sees it all as essential kit to catch the Loch Ness Monster: “After all, nobody’s caught it with anything else.” Geoffrey Langley has a brilliant idea which he won’t tell us.Wilnard Benison has a prize-winning idea, too long for this space Prizes also to Len Clarke, Hannah Kynaston Next week, corkscrews Meanwhile, we seek uses for tortoises. Hereward Eccles adds the historical footnote that during the sinking of the Titanic, dedicated Scrabble players donned goggles and snorkels and used fridge magnets as letters to complete their game.RJ Pickles wears goggles and snorkel in polluted streets, using the magnet to draw lead from petrol fumes.