After an admittedly “horrible” season for the Dallas Mavericks, the team’s two big stars Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving are keen to make a statement during this new NBA campaign and prove they can be the deadly combo everyone expects them to be.
The Mavericks made a move for Irving mid last season, in February, and his arrival at American Airlines Centre from Brooklyn was meant to help a team that heavily relied on Doncic.
Striking up a successful partnership on the fly proved difficult and Dallas went 5-11 in the 16 games the duo played together before missing out on the play-offs, and the play-in tournament altogether.
“Last year was horrible, we didn’t make the play-offs. So there is for sure something that we need to prove and we are all motivated by that,” Doncic said on Wednesday in Abu Dhabi, ahead of the Mavericks’ upcoming two pre-season games against the Minnesota Timberwolves at Etihad Arena.
The world is excited to see how two powerhouses like Doncic and Irving can combine on the floor and the latter concedes it is a challenge, but one he is capable of tackling.
With the added benefit of having a full training camp and pre-season together, Irving feels “at peace” entering the new season, and has been enjoying his time in Abu Dhabi so far, going camel-riding and dining in the desert with his teammates.
“I’ll tell you it’s so much more peaceful when you start from day one and you could honestly set your expectations of where you want them to be,” said Irving.
“Just use training camp to grow with the teammates, grow with the coaches. When you’re in international waters you kind of have no choice but to connect and get to know each other in a deeper way. I’m just grateful for that opportunity. Dallas showed me nothing but love when I got traded. They’ve been giving me a warm embrace and just telling me to be myself. I’m at peace, so I’m grateful.”
Doncic has been coy when asked about what he’s learnt about Irving during this training camp but with the team as a whole getting to spend more time together, the chemistry is bound to grow.
Besides making plans to dominate on the court against Minnesota, the Slovenian star has his sights set on a visit to Yas Island’s Ferrari World, and Irving is happy to join him on the world’s fastest roller coaster.
Figuring out a winning formula on the court could be a bit more complicated though.
“We’re going to have to answer our own questions before we answer everyone else’s,” said Irving, an NBA champion with the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2016.
“I think me and Luka have our own expectations of what we want to accomplish together, but most importantly as a team. As leaders of this team, we have an experience, me being able to be in the Finals stage a few times, and fall short the last few years, I’ve been able to learn from failure, learn from mistakes, and be able to bring that pedigree here and teach the guys some things that I myself am still growing through.
“That’s what I’m looking forward to. Not necessarily answering questions about me and Luka, but answering the question on how successful we are as a team.”
Mavs coach Jason Kidd is confident his star duo will click and is keen to see Doncic claim MVP honours this season.
The Hall-of-Famer admits his side have something to prove after posting a 38-44 record last season but believes the new-look Mavericks, bolstered by the arrival of rookies Dereck Lively II and Olivier-Maxence Prosper, can turn things around.
“This is a different team than last year. We have a lot of new faces, we feel that we’ve gotten better. So if we can stay healthy, we believe our two stars in Kai and Luka are going to play at a high level and that hopefully puts us in a position to win a lot of games,” said Kidd.
Slovenia may have finished seventh in the Fiba World Cup but on an individual level, Doncic had a huge campaign, averaging 27 points per game, 7.1 rebounds and 6.1 assists.
He’s looking to take that form into the new NBA season and is not shying away from his MVP ambitions.
“It’s important. It’s MVP of the best league in the world. It’s not bad. But we’ve got to get some wins first, that’s what it's all about this year, winning games,” said the 24-year-old.
The two fixtures in Abu Dhabi are the opening pre-season games for both team and their coaches plan on putting all their players in rotation.
The Timberwolves know they will have their hands full with Doncic and Irving, their 35-year-old point guard Mike Conley describing the challenge as “having your head on a swivel”.
“You’re talking about two of the best players in the league, obviously two of the best scorers and playmakers in the league,” said Conley.
“So normally, when you have to face one or the other, you kind of key in on one guy at a time. But when they’re both on the floor together you kind of have to have your head on the swivel because you can’t isolate one guy or another.
“It’s definitely going to be a test defensively and just trying to match their intensity in the way they play, the way they move the ball, the way they can see the floor, the way they score, so it’ll be fun.”
The Dallas Mavericks will face the Minnesota Timberwolves on Thursday, October 5, and Saturday, October 7, at Etihad Arena, both games begin at 8pm. Tickets can be found on etihadarena.ae and ticketmaster.ae *
The Birkin bag is made by Hermès.
It is named after actress and singer Jane Birkin
Noone from Hermès will go on record to say how much a new Birkin costs, how long one would have to wait to get one, and how many bags are actually made each year.
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UAE%20SQUAD
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Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
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Prop idols
Girls full-contact rugby may be in its infancy in the Middle East, but there are already a number of role models for players to look up to.
Sophie Shams (Dubai Exiles mini, England sevens international)
An Emirati student who is blazing a trail in rugby. She first learnt the game at Dubai Exiles and captained her JESS Primary school team. After going to study geophysics at university in the UK, she scored a sensational try in a cup final at Twickenham. She has played for England sevens, and is now contracted to top Premiership club Saracens.
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Seren Gough-Walters (Sharjah Wanderers mini, Wales rugby league international)
Few players anywhere will have taken a more circuitous route to playing rugby on Sky Sports. Gough-Walters was born in Al Wasl Hospital in Dubai, raised in Sharjah, did not take up rugby seriously till she was 15, has a master’s in global governance and ethics, and once worked as an immigration officer at the British Embassy in Abu Dhabi. In the summer of 2021 she played for Wales against England in rugby league, in a match that was broadcast live on TV.
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Erin King (Dubai Hurricanes mini, Ireland sevens international)
Aged five, Australia-born King went to Dubai Hurricanes training at The Sevens with her brothers. She immediately struck up a deep affection for rugby. She returned to the city at the end of last year to play at the Dubai Rugby Sevens in the colours of Ireland in the Women’s World Series tournament on Pitch 1.
Results
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'Avengers: Infinity War'
Dir: The Russo Brothers
Starring: Chris Evans, Chris Pratt, Tom Holland, Robert Downey Junior, Scarlett Johansson, Elizabeth Olsen
Four stars
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Terror attacks in Paris, November 13, 2015
- At 9.16pm, three suicide attackers killed one person outside the Atade de France during a foootball match between France and Germany
- At 9.25pm, three attackers opened fire on restaurants and cafes over 20 minutes, killing 39 people
- Shortly after 9.40pm, three other attackers launched a three-hour raid on the Bataclan, in which 1,500 people had gathered to watch a rock concert. In total, 90 people were killed
- Salah Abdeslam, the only survivor of the terrorists, did not directly participate in the attacks, thought to be due to a technical glitch in his suicide vest
- He fled to Belgium and was involved in attacks on Brussels in March 2016. He is serving a life sentence in France
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The Details
Kabir Singh
Produced by: Cinestaan Studios, T-Series
Directed by: Sandeep Reddy Vanga
Starring: Shahid Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Suresh Oberoi, Soham Majumdar, Arjun Pahwa
Rating: 2.5/5
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The specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4cyl turbo
Power: 261hp at 5,500rpm
Torque: 405Nm at 1,750-3,500rpm
Transmission: 9-speed auto
Fuel consumption: 6.9L/100km
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh117,059
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
What it means to be a conservationist
Who is Enric Sala?
Enric Sala is an expert on marine conservation and is currently the National Geographic Society's Explorer-in-Residence. His love of the sea started with his childhood in Spain, inspired by the example of the legendary diver Jacques Cousteau. He has been a university professor of Oceanography in the US, as well as working at the Spanish National Council for Scientific Research and is a member of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Biodiversity and the Bio-Economy. He has dedicated his life to protecting life in the oceans. Enric describes himself as a flexitarian who only eats meat occasionally.
What is biodiversity?
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, all life on earth – including in its forests and oceans – forms a “rich tapestry of interconnecting and interdependent forces”. Biodiversity on earth today is the product of four billion years of evolution and consists of many millions of distinct biological species. The term ‘biodiversity’ is relatively new, popularised since the 1980s and coinciding with an understanding of the growing threats to the natural world including habitat loss, pollution and climate change. The loss of biodiversity itself is dangerous because it contributes to clean, consistent water flows, food security, protection from floods and storms and a stable climate. The natural world can be an ally in combating global climate change but to do so it must be protected. Nations are working to achieve this, including setting targets to be reached by 2020 for the protection of the natural state of 17 per cent of the land and 10 per cent of the oceans. However, these are well short of what is needed, according to experts, with half the land needed to be in a natural state to help avert disaster.
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A State of Passion
Directors: Carol Mansour and Muna Khalidi
Stars: Dr Ghassan Abu-Sittah
Rating: 4/5
