points to help Duke beat Florida State 78-56 on Saturday, givin

MESA, Ariz. -- No matter what the record says, Chicago Cubs president of baseball operations Theo Epstein insists he sees progress as he begins his third season in charge. It hasnt shown at the major league level. "The people that we have in place in this organization -- the coaches, scouts -- I believe are impact, and I believe in the processes that we have in place," Epstein said Thursday. "It takes time to turn our organization around. It takes time to build impact talent and to build requisite depth. But its happening. People in those meetings, the people in this organization, really believe that were on the verge of something special. And we understand that were perceived otherwise, and thats our fault because weve been a last-place club the last couple years. Were not protesting. We need to earn our way into a position where were championship contenders on an annual basis, and we feel like that is certainly moving in the right direction." It hasnt been an easy process, and while success might be on the horizon, it doesnt appear to be at hand. Pitchers and catchers reported on Thursday, and for the Cubs, it doesnt look like much will be different this season. They were relatively quiet in the off-season, although they did hire manager Rick Renteria to replace the fired Dale Sveum and made a run at star Japanese pitcher Masahiro Tanaka, but mostly it looks like they are in for more rough times at the major league level as they wait for their top prospects to develop in the minors. Their most recent winning season was when they went 83-78 under Lou Piniella in 2009. With four straight sub-.500 seasons, theyve matched their longest streak since 1984 to 1988. And another losing season would put them on their longest run since they finished below .500 six years in a row from 1978 to 1983. For now, the Cubs continue to sell hope, a promise that better days are coming. They tout their minor league system, and while renovations to Wrigley Field remain on hold, they can point to new facilities in the Dominican Republic along with a spring training home that just opened. As for the Cubs record, it cant get much worse. Theyve dropped 91 or more games each of the past three years and are coming off a two-year run under Sveum that produced a 127-197 record. Theyre hoping Renteria will provide the right atmosphere for young major league players such as shortstop Starlin Castro and first baseman Anthony Rizzo as well as top prospects Javier Baez, Jorge Soler, Albert Almora and Kris Bryant. They believe they have three solid starters in Travis Wood, Jeff Samardzija and Edwin Jackson, although Jackson struggled last season and Samardzija is a potential trade chip after he was unable to reach a long-term agreement and took a one-year deal. Jake Arrieta, a candidate to start, might not be ready for the beginning of the season because of tightness in his right shoulder. General manager Jed Hoyer revealed Thursday that Arrieta, acquired from Baltimore last July, experienced some tightness this winter and is being brought along slowly. Hoyer announced Arrietas injury after confirming the Cubs agreed to one-year contracts with starting pitchers Jason Hammel and James McDonald. Both could be candidates to be traded before the deadline if they succeed, considering thats exactly what the Cubs did with Paul Maholm and Scott Feldman the past two seasons. "We know we have some numbers now," Hoyer said. They also have hope that better days are coming. "Theres a real dichotomy between how the organization is perceived from the outside and how we look at it internally and the morale that we have internally," Epstein said. NOTES: Renteria tabbed newcomer Jose Veras as the closer. ... Hoyer basically dismissed the idea of moving Castro to another position even though he and the White Soxs Alexei Ramirez led major league shortstops with 22 errors last season and Baez is in the pipeline. "Castros our shortstop," Hoyer said. "We have all the confidence in the world that hell remain our shortstop and hell keep working hard and keep improving. And he knows theres (room) to improve there." ... Hoyer said reliever Kyuji Fujikawa will soon start throwing off the mound. Hes coming off Tommy John surgery to repair a torn ligament in his right elbow. ... Epstein said the Cubs will look to draft pitchers going forward, although not necessarily with their first pick. Curtis Joseph Jersey . Rajon Rondo had 18 of Bostons season-high 38 assists and the Celtics committed just seven turnovers in a 118-111 win over the Detroit Pistons on Sunday night. Dylan Larkin Jersey . For one, he still gets to crank the intensity to the max. "I push pretty angry. I ran pretty angry too though, but I have fun doing it," Lumsden said. http://www.redwingshockeyauthentic.com/brett-hull-jersey/ . At 11:06 of the first period, Neal struck Marchand with his knee when Marchand was down on the ice. Marchand remained in the game. Neal was assessed a kneeing penalty for his hit on Marchand. Brendan Shanahan Jersey . -- Ben Bishop had a milestone game against one of the NHLs greatest goalies. Mike Green Jersey .Cameron sustained his third concussion in three seasons last week on a hit by Oakland safety Brandion Ross, who was fined $22,050 by the NFL for the helmet-to-helmet blow.DURHAM, N.C. -- Duke didnt shoot the ball well nor did it have one of its big runs against Florida State. Rather, the 18th-ranked Blue Devils gave their Hall of Fame coach a milestone win by aggressively crashing the glass, converting on turnovers and cashing in at the free-throw line. Rodney Hood scored 18 points to help Duke beat Florida State 78-56 on Saturday, giving Mike Krzyzewski his 900th victory in his 34th season at the school. Jabari Parker added 14 points for the Blue Devils (16-4, 5-2 Atlantic Coast Conference), who shot 31 per cent but nearly doubled the Seminoles on the glass while scoring 29 points off both turnovers and offensive rebounds. Krzyzewski is the all-time leader in career victories in mens Division I with 973. He joins Syracuses Jim Boeheim as the only coaches with at least 900 wins at one program. "Thats a lot of wins," Krzyzewski said. "I thank Duke for keeping me. Ive been blessed with being at one of the greatest schools in the world. Great schools dont necessarily always have great people in command. This school has. ... We have a good thing going here and Ive been blessed to be here for over three decades and take advantage of that." Duke used an 11-0 spurt late in the first half to build a 20-point lead on the Seminoles (13-6, 4-3), who didnt get the margin below double figures again. But Dukes shooting percentage and its 18 field goals were both season-lows. The Blue Devils had a 47-24 rebounding advantage, including 27-7 on the offensive glass. The 27 offensive rebounds were the most for the program since grabbing 28 against North Carolina A&T in December 2002, according to STATS LLC. Parker, who had a career-high 15 rebounds in Wednesdays win against Miami, finished with 14 rebounds, while Hood had nine. Duke also got a boost from reserve big man Marshall Plumlee, who posted career-highs of seven points and seven rebounds -- with each rebound coming on the offensive glass. "Rebounding is something weve really tried to make a focal point these last few weeks," Plumlee said. "Alongside our defence, I feel like its ssomething thats starting to show in recent games so no matter who we play were hoping to come up with the W on the boards and defensive stops.dddddddddddd" The Blue Devils scored 29 points off 17 FSU turnovers and made 34 of 43 free throws for the game -- including 20 of 27 after halftime to offset a 6-for-27 shooting performance (22 per cent) in the second half. "I just think they had our number today and did a very good job of playing to their potential," Seminoles coach Leonard Hamilton said. "And they did the things I thought would give us the most problems. I dont think we countered it appropriately." Okaro White scored 14 points for Florida State, which shot 50 per cent but saw the rebounding and turnover troubles undermine that. "It will mess with you emotionally," White said. "You got a team shooting so many threes, theres a lot of long rebounds. Youre trying to box out, and your normal tendency is to run to the rim, thinking the ball will fall there. They really killed us on offensive rebounds and turnovers. They were competing." FSU, which won in its last trip here on a last-second three-pointer two years ago, led by one point for about one minute in the first half. But key scorer Aaron Thomas, who was coming off a 20-point effort against Notre Dame, finished with two points on 1-for-7 shooting before fouling out with 5:13 left. Krzyzewski was animated and often unhappy with his team in the early minutes, slamming down a chair during an early timeout and shedding his suit jacket by the 12-minute media timeout. Then, after Duke looked to be in cruise control, the Blue Devils went nearly 7 1/2 minutes without a basket in the second half. FSU got as close as 11 points with 6:51 to play before Quinn Cook ended the drought with a driving basket that made it 71-54 with 3:25 left. Hood was a last-second scratch from the starting lineup. Krzyzewski said Hood was sick, though Hood told reporters he had to change after spilling Gatorade on his uniform. Hood missed his first five shots, but he scored 14 points after halftime. 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