Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the WBO, WBA and IBF world light heavyweight champion Sergey Krusher Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs) will put his titles on the line vs. former super middleweight champio

MINNEAPOLIS -- In basketball parlance, the term isnt original. A Google search turns up multiple DVDs and articles with the same phrase Minnesota Lynx associate head coach Jim Petersen used to describe one aspect of the teams workouts during the WNBAs Olympic break.Its a phrase that conjures white gloves, proper posture and old-fashioned roles for women that, thankfully, no longer apply.But its perfect for what Petersen is trying to accomplish: finishing school.For Lynx players, it means laying the ball in the basket time after time while Petersen, a 6-foot-10 former NBA post player with a shaved head, slides at them yelling Hey! or something equally distracting.Its being able to finish when youre driving to the basket over a big thats stepping up, instead of panicking and looking for somebody to pass to and turning it over, Petersen said. How many times have you seen us do that in the pick-and-roll game, driving into the paint and turning it over?Often enough that Lynx coach Cheryl Reeve told Petersen and assistant coach Shelley Patterson to emphasize it while she was away in Rio assisting Geno Auriemma as the U.S. womens basketball team won its sixth consecutive gold medal.The WNBA shut down for four weeks during the Olympics. That break, commonly known as the hiatus, is often the only time players can find time to work on their games.Because the league pays so little compared to the NBA (top salaries run about $104,000), women must play overseas in the winter to make serious money. The 11-month grind of games leaves little time for hoisting 500 jumpers a day or any other improvement drill.The break gives us the opportunity to do something we dont get to do much in our league -- skill development, Reeve said prior to leaving for the Rio Games.By league rules, players get at least seven days off between their last WNBA game and the start of workouts. And those workouts cant be as frequent or demanding as training camp.So the Lynx -- who have the WNBAs second-best record at 21-4, just a half game behind league-leader Los Angeles -- trained Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. With Maya Moore, Seimone Augustus, Lindsay Whalen and Sylvia Fowles competing in Rio, Petersen and Patterson supervised starting power forward Rebekkah Brunson and five reserves.Basically, what Cheryl wants us to focus on is execution, and improve on things players are deficient at, Petersen said.With the guards, were working a ton on in-between game, finishing moves, floater game, adding things to their game they dont have. The other thing thats really important, we never have time to make them work on perfect shooting. Its a lot of reps, making perfect shots, shots in a row. Theyre working on perfect shots on one end, and finishing on the other.Lynx backup forward Keisha Hampton, a 26-year-old rookie from DePaul, relished the time. A knee injury as a senior kept Hampton out for more than a year, and she struggled adjusting from college power forward to pro small forward.She never played a minute for Seattle, which drafted her in 2012, or for Connecticut, which signed her in 2014 and cut her in training camp.Hamptons strong 2015-16 season in Israel, averaging a team-leading 17.8 points per game for Bnot Hertzeliya, attracted Reeves attention. In camp, Hampton had one goal: make the team. She hardly played at first. Now her role off the bench is growing.Im still developing my ball skills, becoming a real wing, not like a 4-3, more like a 3-4 now, Hampton said. Im working with [video coordinator Wes Bohn], Jim P. and Shelley on ball handling, finishing, decision-making, trying to expand my guard game.The break also allowed the coaches and players to dive deeper into Reeves playbook, learning nuances to better understand their foundation and exploit certain options.Its small things, Brunson said. Going through the offense, making sure we understand exactly what you want to get. When you put the offense in, you get the grasp of it, but you might miss a couple of details. Everything happens so fast, especially getting new players in. Its going through the offense and making sure we all understand what were trying to accomplish.Four years ago, Petersen said Moore, Augustus and Whalen returned from the London Olympics exhausted, and the Lynx lacked the bench depth to rest them. (Fowles was still playing with Chicago.) The Lynx won nine straight out of the break anyway and reached the WNBA Finals, losing to Indiana.This year, with veteran guards Jia Perkins and Renee Montgomery, impressive young forward Natasha Howard, plus Hampton and Janel McCarville in reserve, the Lynx expect to give the Olympians time to ease back into things. Even before the hiatus, Reeve leaned on her bench much more than previous seasons.This group right here could legitimately win basketball games, Petersen said after a recent practice at the Mayo Clinic Square. Renee, Jia and J-Mac [McCarville] have been starters. Brunson is a starter. Hampton is coming on. Natasha Howard ? [has] been simply amazing.The thing about being a second-team player, youve got to be ready to run anything, because you could be in there with a combination of starters running starter play sets. So theyve got to know the entire playbook.Another benefit for Brunson: getting to know her newer teammates better. The Lynx often schedule fun non-basketball activities on days between workouts. Early on the group met for whirlyball, a mash-up of hockey, basketball and lacrosse played in bumper cars.It was very entertaining, Brunson said, laughing. It was fun. 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Thousands of fans at Mosaic Stadium will be cozying up to each other in an effort to stay warm in chilly temperatures and block the Prairie wind that locals say can knock your socks off.On Saturday night, live on HBO pay-per-view from the T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas, Nevada, the WBO, WBA and IBF world light heavyweight champion Sergey Krusher Kovalev (30-0-1, 26 KOs) will put his titles on the line vs. former super middleweight champion Andre Son of God Ward (30-0, 15 KOs).This fight is the biggest of 2016, as it matches two of the best undefeated and pound-for-pound fighters in the world (ESPN currently ranks Kovalev as third and Ward fifth in its pound-for-pound rankings), and will be only the seventh time two undefeated fighters with 30 or more wins have faced each other for a world title.Lets look at where thhe money is going, along with opinions from boxing experts and trainers plus my pick for the fight.dddddddddddd.Jeff Sherman, assistant sportsbook manager at the Westgate Las Vegas SuperBook, opened the fight with Ward -155 and Kovalev +135 with a total on the rounds of 10.5 rounds (over -200 and under +175). Initial sharp money came in on Kovalev, dropping the price down to Ward -130 and Kovalev +110 but public money has been coming in on Ward, moving the current price to -145/+125, Sherman told ESPN. ' ' '