OKLAHOMA CITY - Thunder general manager Sam Presti is banking on something rare to keep his team among the NBAs elite. Oklahoma City boasts a core of stars a€” reigning MVP Kevin Durant, electric point guard Russell Westbrook and defensive dynamo Serge Ibaka a€” that has played together for the past five years. The trio has reached the Western Conference Finals three times and the NBA Finals once. As other teams bring in high-priced free agents, piece squads together and hope they build chemistry, Presti hopes the collective experience of his best players finally gets the Thunder to the top. Continuity has become a lost currency, Presti said Thursday. Its very hard to maintain that, given the rules. Youre going to lose players, theres going to be changes. I think how you adapt to that, how youre able to absorb loss, but also add without having to lose players, is important. The Thunder lost to the Spurs in the Western Conference Finals last season, but Presti is excited about the future because his stars are just moving into their prime. Durant will be 26 on Sept. 29, Westbrook turns 26 in November and Ibaka just turned 25 on Sept. 18. I think their best basketball is in front of them, Presti said. But weve been saying that for seven years, and I think well keep saying that for a little while because theres a few attributes that those guys possess that I think are the foundational DNA of an organization. One, work ethic. Two, competitive will. Three, humility and an understanding theres always work to be done. I admire that in any person. Presti said the trio has set the tone for work ethic and professionalism. They understand that getting ready for the playoffs is a season-long process. We are not focused on the post-season, Presti said. Were focused on doing things on a day-to-day basis that help build our habits so that if we do get to the post-season, it transfers and were playing our best basketball at that point in time. I think the way that happens is that you dont focus on the post-season. You focus on the things that are in front of you and making those decisions on a daily basis that help build your standard of play. The Thunder appear to have another on the rise. Backup point guard Reggie Jackson emerged last season while Westbrook sat out with a knee injury, and he joined Westbrook as a starter during the playoffs. Jackson becomes a restricted free agent after the season. Presti would like to re-sign Jackson early, but if it doesnt happen, the Thunder still want him around. We want to invest in Reggie, Presti said. Theres not a lack of clarity in that respect. Another rising star is Steven Adams. The 7-foot centre made a name for himself in the second-round playoff series against the Los Angeles Clippers last season. Presti feels the second-year player needs to overcome adversity and deal with added responsibility before he deserves high praise. Until he has those setbacks and hes able to build a body of work that shows us that hes going to be able to continue to grow through those things, we have to reserve our expectations, Presti said. But we couldnt be happier to have him as a part of the organization. Clearance NFL Jerseys Sale . City, fielding a depleted team having already qualified, was twice pegged back by the plucky Czech champions but substitute Negredo tapped home in the 78th minute and Dzekos header made sure of victory in the 89th. The result kept City three points behind Bayern Munich ahead of their meeting in Germany in two weeks. Wholesale NFL Jerseys . The Oilers will try to get back in the win column on Monday when they continue a four-game road trip with a battle against the Buffalo Sabres. Edmonton won its third straight game last Wednesday against visiting San Jose, beating the Sharks 3-0 as Scrivens stopped 59 shots to set an NHL record for saves in a regular-season shutout. http://www.outletnfljerseys.com/. The biggest collapse in franchise history was a long time ago, and he was too busy trying to make sure it didnt happen again. Cheap China Jerseys . -- At the beginning of training camp, Andrew Bogut set a goal to play all 82 regular-season games and regain his place among the NBAs best centres. Wholesale Jerseys Free Shipping .5 million, four-year contract with the Texas Rangers that could be worth $32.SAN DIEGO -- Arizona avoided becoming the latest and biggest upset victim in an NCAA tournament thats been filled with them. The Wildcats will have to play a little better if they want to keep going in the bracket. Nick Johnson scored 18 points, Aaron Gordon added 16 and top-seeded Arizona overcame a shaky start and a late run by Weber State to beat the Wildcats 68-59 in the West Regional on Friday. The first full day of the tournament was a wild one filled with upsets, and the bracket-busting trend continued early Friday, when Mercer, a No. 14 seed, knocked off mighty Duke. Arizona (31-4) appeared to be next in line, falling into an 8-point hole in the opening 6 minutes. Arizona closed in around Weber State (19-12), shutting down the Wildcats during two big first-half runs, seemingly putting the fairytale to bed. Comfortably ahead, Arizona let off the gas late, allowing Weber State to trim a 21-point lead down to nine before pulling it out. Solid, but not great, particularly since the next game -- against Gonzaga or Oklahoma State on Sunday -- is the spot the Wildcats have been picked to go down. Weber State put up a fight in its first NCAA tournament appearance since 2007, clearly not intimidated by Arizona and its cast of future NBA players. The Wildcats just didnt have the manpower to keep up with the long, athletic Cats during their big runs and nor did they have enough left climb all the way back after clawing back in the second half. Davion Berry scored 24 points and Richaud Gittens added 12 for Weber State. Arizona had been in this spot before, faciing a quick-trigger 3-point shooting team in the opening round.dddddddddddd A year ago, Belmont was a popular bracket buster pick against the Wildcats because of its ability to shoot the 3, but Arizona turned the slight into motivation and ran over the Bruins. Even after an opening day of upsets in the bracket, there were no calls for an upset against Arizona this year. But just as Mercer was busy taking down Duke, Weber State gave the 16-over-a-1-seed miracle a glimpse of life, holding Arizona without a field for nearly 5 minutes during a game-opening 10-2 run. The dream popped with a flurry of blocked shots, steals and runouts the other direction. After falling into the early hole, one of the nations best defences flexed its muscles against the Big Sky-champion Wildcats, jumping into passing lanes, swatting shots, turning nearly every possession into a fight against the shot clock. Weber State missed 12 of 13 shots as Arizona went on two big runs and shot 6 of 24 in the first half with nine turnovers that Arizona turned into 12 points. The desert Wildcats shook off their early offensive funk with an array of dunks and 3-pointers, racing past Weber State with runs of 14-2 and 13-3 to go up 32-20 at halftime. Arizona looked as if it was going to run away with it early in the second half, only to watch Weber State scratch a huge lead to under double digits with 4 1-2 minutes left. Arizona turned back every attempt Weber State made after that to pull out the victory, but will likely face more upset predictions in the next round after this one. ' ' '