Gäste Forum » strain on his eye, Zimmer declined to be specific.Th

Sydney defender Aliir Aliir beams with pride at the mention of Thon Maker.Not just because he and the Australian NBA draft pick are both Sudanese - but also because they share the same blood.Maker is Aliirs cousin, the son of his mothers sister. Its their common genes, a shared sporting prowess and strength amid adversity that have steered the child refugees to the heights of the AFL and NBA.Aliir was born in Kenyas Kakuma refugee camp, moving to Australia with his family when he was eight.Maker spent the first five years of his life in what is now South Sudan before fleeing with some relatives and joining Aliir in Newcastle, then moving to Perth while Aliirs family settled in Brisbane.Most of what the pair knew then was soccer - a 14-year-old Maker was aptly discovered kicking soccer balls in Perth before developing his basketball game in Sydney, the US and Canada.Last week the 216cm talent was selected by the Milwaukee Bucks with the 10th pick of the NBA draft, leaving Aliir ecstatic. Ive known him pretty much all my life, Aliir told AAP.When he came down to Sydney recently I caught up with him.Just to see him get drafted shows his commitment and dedication.Hes gone over to the states at a young age and left his family behind - hes got no one over there.And hes worked hard to become an NBA player.He achieved that last week so Im so rapt for him.Like Maker, Aliir was basketball-crazy as an early teenager before some mates introduced him to AFL.An Oklahoma City Thunder fan, hes a Kevin Durant man to the core.But since Thon got drafted I might have to go for the Milwaukee Bucks, he admitted.Even now as a Swans star the 21-year-old still shoots hoops occasionally, just as he did this week in Sydney at a charity basketball clinic for disadvantaged children.The focus now is showing kids how far drive can get you, even when you have nothing else.Ever since I got drafted Ive had little kids who look up to me, Aliir said.I sort of had to embrace that challenge of being a role model and try to help as many kids as I can.Theres a lot of Sudanese kids who are talented, but their mind is probably not in the right place.Theres issues stopping them from going to the next level.I suppose my job is to come to the community and just have a chat to them, give them a word of advice and tell them my pathway and how I got to where I am.Hopefully that can inspire them.Cheap Yeezy China . The 29-year-old from Port Colborne, Ont., has nothing but good things to say about former U.S. marine Liz (Girlrilla) Carmouche ahead of their co-main event Wednesday on the UFCs "Fight for the Troops" televised card in Fort Campbell, Ky. Wholesale Yeezy Shop . The injury bothered Bledsoe in the Suns victory over the Clippers on Monday and he sat out the teams home loss to Memphis on Thursday night. https://www.yeezychina.us/ . What general manager Dave Nonis called "short and productive" negotiations ended with Kessel signing a US$64-million, eight-year contract on Tuesday. Discount Yeezy Store . This should be celebrated because it will not always be this way. With the amount of money given to players by their clubs these days, it is a wonder that so many of those teams allow the sport to continue to take away many of their assets so they can play for a different team in the middle of their season. Wholesale Yeezy China .500 on the season. The Jets are now 0-5-1 in the second game of back-to-backs. The game started the same way the Vancouver game started the night before, with the Jets taking the first two penalties of the game and killing off the first, but the Oilers getting on the board first, scoring on the second man-advantage.EDEN PRAIRIE, Minn. -- Minnesota Vikings coach Mike Zimmer has received further clearance to travel with the team this weekend, following surgery to repair a detached retina.Zimmer said Wednesday that hes good to go after his latest follow-up exam. The patch on his right eye during practice Tuesday had been removed, and he remains on track to resume his regular duties for the game Sunday at Jacksonville. Zimmer was forced to stay home and rest last week while the Vikings played Dallas.At his first news conference in eight days, Zimmer dismissed most of the questions about his condition and tried to limit his remarks to the upcoming game. When asked about alternative arrangements such as coaching from the press box to reduce the strain on his eye, Zimmer declined to be specific.The doctors talked to me about something, he said.dddddddddddd Lets talk about Jacksonville.The coach said Tuesday in a radio interview that hell be able to fly on the team charter because doctors injected his eye with a substance that was oil-based rather than an oxygen-based the last time they drained fluid. Zimmer was then asked Wednesday whether he was surprised by the amount of amateur ophthalmologists in the Twin Cities area whove chimed in with opinion and speculation over the last week.Im dealing with some pretty good professionals myself, Zimmer said. Yeah, I get a lot of advice, but I listen to the doctors.---For more NFL coverage: http://www.pro32.ap.org and http://www.twitter.com/AP-NFL ' ' '