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Following the Supreme Courts warning to the BCCI to fall in line and follow the directive to implement the Lodha Committees recommendations, the boards defiance seems to have given way to a mixture of anxiety and uncertainty a day before its crucial special general meeting on Friday in Mumbai.The agenda for the SGM, the BCCI had pointed out last week, would be to consider directions of Justice (Retd) Lodha Committee in connection with the formal adoption of the new Memorandum of Association and Rules for the BCCI.The court asked the BCCI to respond within a week to the status report submitted by the Lodha Committee on Wednesday. If the BCCI fails to adopt the new Memorandum of Association and Rules at Fridays meeting, the board risks facing further flak from the court. The BCCI could wait for the court to issue a directive based on the boards response to the status order, but either way there were not many options left for the BCCI, keeping in mind the two sets of timelines drawn by the Lodha Committee, the first of which will expire on Friday, September 30.A number of board members ESPNcricinfo spoke to admitted to being clueless about the BCCIs next course of action, and said it would be chalked out by president Anurag Thakur and secretary Ajay Shirke at the SGM. An experienced administrator termed it a crisis, but said it was not the end of the road for the BCCI. He felt if the court did not budge, it was time for a new wave of administrators to take charge.A BCCI office-bearer said the board was looking to drag things for as long as it could. You should understand one thing: whatever needs to be done, well do it, he said. The affidavit [filed by the BCCI] is just to prolong things as far as possible.Some members were, however, wary of the aggressive stance taken by the Lodha Committee and the Supreme Court. The president of a south zone association said the BCCIs response had to be measured, and people needed to be careful about what they said.Another office-bearer of the board, meanwhile, faulted the confrontational approach adopted by the BCCI so far, and said the members of the board were not apprised of relevant developments. Nobody is kept in the loop. Only president and secretary know whats happening, he said. The BCCI has always been [president and secretary-centric]; thats the problem we have. All the members could have actually interacted individually with the Lodha Committee, but that was denied. From the beginning itself it has been derailed and we have never got an opportunity to put it on track. From there on, things are messed up.Ever since the court approved the Lodha recommendations on July 18, the BCCI has resolutely opposed them. The main recommendations the BCCI does not agree with are the cooling-off period after a three-year term, imposing an age cap of 70 for administrators, and having an official of the Comptroller and Auditor General on the proposed Apex Council. The proposed Apex Council is itself contentious as it would replace the existing, and powerful, working committee and the one-state-one-vote proposal, which would bring Mumbai, Maharashtra, Vidarbha. Gujarat, Saurashtra and Baroda under one cluster and limit their voting power to just one vote by rotation.Most state associations, too, have continued to wait for the BCCIs direction on amending their constitutions. So far, only the Vidarbha Cricket Association has decided to put to vote whether the Lodha recommendations can be adopted by the September 30 deadline set by the committee in its first set of timelines.From being unresponsive at the beginning to openly critical of the Lodha Committee, the BCCI has pursued a combative strategy. Last week, it asked three former India captains, Ravi Shastri, Sunil Gavaskar and Kapil Dev - all hired by the board as television commentators - to back its stance and ask the Lodha Committee to modify some of the recommendations through a dialogue.However, RM Lodha, the chairman of the Lodha Committee, made it clear that there cant be any dialogue.Our recommendations have merged with the July 18 judgment after the Supreme Court accepted them and ordered their implementation, Lodha told the Times of India. The recommendations are part of the judgment. 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Durant scored 32 points and the Thunder beat the Bulls 107-95 on Thursday night for their eighth straight win.SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Five spots. Five plane tickets to Rio. Thats whats up for the taking at the U.S. Olympic gymnastics trials in San Jose this weekend. From afar, thats the story, the tension.But up close, the reality is far less dramatic.Entering this weekends competition, which began Friday night at the SAP Center in San Jose, California, and continues Sunday evening, four of those five spots were considered to be all but locked up by three-time world champion Simone Biles, 2012 Olympic floor champ Aly Raisman, reigning Olympic all-around champion Gabby Douglas and 16-year-old newcomer Laurie Hernandez.That leaves one spot for an athlete who can contribute a high-scoring bar routine -- the weakest event for the collective four women named above -- during the team competition in Rio. And because the team selection is based on the discretion of national team coordinator Martha Karolyi and a selection committee, a gymnast doesnt need to place in the top five at trials in order to make the team. Instead, the final decision is based on more intangible criteria that includes past results, consistency in practice, and how the athlete fits into the team dynamic.That fifth and final spot will likely go to one of two women: Madison Kocian of Plano, Texas, the 2015 co-world champion on bars, and Ashton Locklear, the bars champion at the 2016 Pacific Rim Championships and 2016 U.S. national champion in that event.At the start of Fridays competition, the potential for either gymnast to make the team seemed almost identical. Both women own recent titles on the apparatus at international competitions and consistently put up the highest scores on bars of any current American gymnasts. Either would give a strong U.S. team an even greater advantage to win gold in Rio.In San Jose, Locklear was the first of the two women to compete on bars, in the second rotation, and she made a strong statement to the selection committee that her name should be called Sunday night. Her score of 15.750, the best of the night until that point, was higher than her winning score at nationals in June, higher than her score at Pac Rims, and higher than Kocians winning score at the World Championships.Im really confident, Locklear said. Ive done so well at past competitions and won so many times, and I feel like Im building a good record for myself.If shes named to the team, Locklear would be the first Native American gymnast to compete for the U.S. at the Olympics. A member of the Lumbee Tribe, the largest in North Carolina, Locklear wears a Lumbee pin on the strap of her competition bag and carries a dream catcher with her that was given to her by a member of the tribe.ddddddddddddts a great feeling knowing theyre cheering for me back home, Locklear said. Its very unique and it means the world to me that I have their support.Locklears score set the bar in San Jose. But Kocian says she didnt notice.I didnt see [Locklears] score before I competed, Kocian said. I try to focus on myself. Thats all you can control. What she does doesnt affect what I can do. If I let my mind wander to anyone else, you dont have 100 percent focus on yourself, and thats when you start making mistakes.In the next rotation, as Locklear prepared to mount the balance beam, the only other event in which she competes, Kocian completed her bar routine and was also awarded 15.750. It was a tie. At least in the literal sense.The scores dont really matter to the selection committee right now, Kocian said. Its what you have been doing in practice throughout the week and your consistency. After tonight, my confidence has increased.Soon after the crowd celebrated Kocians score, Locklear fell from the beam.I dont think I fell once this week in training, so its frustrating coming into a competition like this and falling, Locklear said. I have to turn the page. Beam is not my specialty, and that is not what they are looking at me for. I showed them that I have a good bars routine, and Ive had good bars in the past. They know I have a good record.But so too, does Kocian, who backed up her impressive bar routine with solid performances in each of the other three rotations and finished sixth in the all-around. Kocian also competes a bar routine with a higher difficulty score than Locklears, which leaves more room for mistakes -- and for improvement.They tied on bars, but [Kocian] had some other routines that could be useful in a team situation, Karolyi said. Right now, she is placing well in my eyes.Still, Locklear believes if the selection committee focuses not on her fall on beam -- where she is unlikely to be asked to contribute in Rio -- but only on her strength and consistency on bars, she has a legitimate shot at the final spot.Its the little things, she says. There were a couple handstands I missed, and my dismount might have been a little low. I could have done better.As the Lumbee Tribe watches from North Carolina, shell have one final opportunity to do so on Sunday. ' ' '