DALLAS - Dallas Mavericks rookie guard Gal Mekel is recovering from right knee surgery. Custom Real Madrid Jersey . The team said Friday that Mekel had arthroscopic surgery to address a torn lateral meniscus in his knee. The team said there was no timetable yet for the return of the 25-year-old guard from Israel, an undrafted rookie from Wichita State. Mekel has played in 30 games. While playing nearly 10 minutes a game, he has scored 2.4 points and 2.1 assists per game. After playing 14 1/2 minutes and matching his season high with seven assists Monday night against Orlando, Mekel didnt play Wednesday night against the Los Angeles Clippers. Angel di Maria Real Madrid Jersey . He knows hes near the end of his career. He knows hes slower than most of his Chicago teammates. Alvaro Arbeloa Jersey . -- As Louisville strives to reach the high level of performance and consistency achieved by last years championship squad, the Cardinals also know that getting there will take time with a bunch of new faces.PHILADELPHIA -- Still stinging from an early post-season exit, Charlie Manuel isnt ready to lower his teams expectations. The Philadelphia Phillies didnt win the World Series title that everyone from management to players to fans expected this season. But their manager doesnt think its time to settle for less. "Absolutely not," Manuel said Wednesday. "Thats the way I like it. You can put expectations on all you want to, its the expectations that they put on themselves and how we look at things. Right now, when we go to spring training, what we will be talking about is getting to the World Series and win. Thats been our goal ever since we won after 2008." The Phillies followed up the best regular season in franchise history -- 102 wins was a franchise record -- with their worst disappointment in the post-season. They blew a 2-1 lead in the best-of-five first-round series against the St. Louis Cardinals, and were eliminated at home in a 1-0 loss. Even having all those aces couldnt help the Phillies. The wild-card Cardinals beat Roy Halladay, Cliff Lee and Roy Oswalt. "Our expectation coming out of spring training, we wanted to go to the World Series and win. That was our ultimate goal. We did not fulfil that goal," Manuel said. "We had a tremendous regular season, we got to the first round of the playoffs and got beat. I look at it that we didnt reach our goal. We got into a 2-2 situation, we lost the third game in a shutout. "Baseball is a game youre asking a whole lot when you say we have to win a World Series. Thats high stakes. With the talent assembled on our team, people and the media put expectations that we had to win the World Series. It didnt happen. Im sorry for that." Manuel made it clear the team needed to improve its hitting, echoing the thoughts of general manager Ruben Amaro, Jr. A woeful offence was the biggest reason Philadelphia didnt advance. The Phillies hit .226 against the Cardinals, and scored just 10 runs in the last four games after an 11-6 victory in the opener. Only three regulars -- Jimmy Rollins, Chase Utley and Shane Victorinoo -- hit above .Blank Real Madrid Jersey. 211 in the series. Manuel and Amaro want players to change their approach at the plate, take more pitches, work the count and be smarter hitters. The current lineup can no longer outslug teams they way they used to when the Phillies won the World Series in 2008. "Its a matter of keep reminding guys," Manuel said. "We definitely will have meetings and things like that in spring training and carry it out during the season. We have to get better hitting. You have to know what kind of hitter you are. Im definitely on board with what Ruben says." In 08, the Phillies had three guys hit more than 30 homers. They had four players hit more than 30 and five hit more than 20 in 2009, when they lost to the New York Yankees in the World Series. In the last two seasons, only Ryan Howard has reached 30. The big slugger hit 31 in 2010 and 33 this season, down from his average of 50 per year from 2006-09. The Phillies have to manufacture runs without relying on home runs. But this lineup doesnt play smallball. Howard led the team with 75 walks. No one else even had 60. Rollins was the only player with more than 20 stolen bases. Many of the hitters are too aggressive and lack plate discipline. "The pitchers make adjustments and the hitters have to make adjustments," Manuel said. "If you dont like to or are afraid to go deep in the count or to hit with two strikes on you, you are going to get anxious, youll be aggressive and chase bad balls. At times, well take a fastball right down the middle, some guy will throw a breaking ball down and well roll over it and swing at it and miss. Thats not good hitting. We talk about that all the time." Six of the eight regulars are under contract. Rollins will be a free agent, but he wants to return. That doesnt leave room for much of an overhaul. So, can a group of veteran hitters alter their approach at this stage of their careers? "I take a lot of pride in hitters," Manuel said. "I know how good a hitting coach I am and I dont care whether you want to believe that or not. "We will get better." NFL Jerseys Cheap China Jerseys Cheap Wholesale NFL Jerseys Cheap Jerseys Jerseys NFL Cheap ' ' '
