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CHARLOTTE, N. [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] .C. -- Hornets general manager Rich Cho says forward Josh McRoberts has opted out of his contract and will become a free agent. However, Cho said Wednesday at a pre-draft news conference the team is eager to re-sign the seven-year NBA veteran. McRoberts, 27, was set to make nearly $2.8 million next season, but has outperformed that contract. He started a career-high 78 games last season for Charlotte and averaged 8.5 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game. Cho says its important for the Hornets to re-sign McRoberts, saying "He was a big part of our team. ... Hes such a great passer, a connector to the team. And hes a great teammate also." Charlotte went 43-39 last season and made the playoffs for the first time since 2010. [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] .C. -- After turning Tobacco Road into "Raleigh Top," Tennessee is headed to the round of 16. [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] ... as usual. Even with the salary cap being set lower than many general managers expected and hoped for at $69 million and whats considered a shallow pool of top-end players available, this unrestricted-free-agent period figures to follow the familiar script of teams bidding up prices to keep up with each other. [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] .com) - The Grand Slam season will get underway Monday at the Australian Open in Melbourne, where a new champion will be crowned this year.METAIRIE, La. - New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton sounds conflicted when the topic turns to his extraordinary success coaching in the Superdome in recent years.Payton is pleased to remind Saints fans that they can indeed create an advantage for their team by being excruciatingly loud at the right moments. Hes less comfortable playing up the fact that he has coached 20 straight games in the Superdome without losing.Theres a lot of stuff thats gone into that and none of its applicable for this weekends game against San Francisco, Payton said of his personal winning streak in the dome. It really isnt.New Orleans (4-4) plays its next three games at home, starting against the 49ers (4-4) on Sunday, with contests against Cincinnati and Baltimore to follow. Given the Saints success in the Superdome, an opportunity to build on their slim division lead in the shaky NFC South would appear to be there for the taking.Its nice to get in front of the home crowd, Saints quarterback Drew Brees said. I feel like weve got some momentum going. We want to take advantage of this opportunity and this momentum we have.The 49ers won in New Orleans as recently as 2012, but that was when Payton was suspended in connection with the NFLs bounty investigation — and it was the lone season in the previous five in which the Saints missed the playoffs.Last season, San Francisco played the Saints close in the dome, but was hurt by a disputed unnecessary roughness penalty assessed to Ahmad Brooks on his sack and strip of Brees. Without the penalty, the Niners would have recovered the fumble with a 20-17 lead and only 3:12 to play. Instead, the Saints kept the ball and kicked a game-tying field goal, then held the Niners offence before driving for a game-winning kick by Garrett Hartley as time expired.Some Niners players expressed bitterness aboout that game, which could have put a dent in the Superdome mystique. [link widoczny dla zalogowanych]. Instead, it simply went down as part of New Orleans perfect 8-0 home record last season.Including playoffs, the Saints were 9-0 at home in 2011, and most of those games werent close. When Payton returned from suspension, New Orleans home dominance picked up where it left off. The Saints have now won 11 straight in the dome overall since Paytons return and are 3-0 at home this season, most recently routing a Green Bay squad that had come in on a four-game winning streak.Its very difficult to play in the Superdome, 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick said. I mean, the Saints are a great team, so theyre going to be tough anywhere, especially at home.San Francisco coach Jim Harbaugh added, Its very loud. Its a great environment for football.Just not necessarily for an opposing offence.During the week of a home game, Payton routinely uses media conferences to remind fans to loudly get behind their defence when opposing offences come to the line of scrimmage. This season, hes taken it a step farther, having players like pass-rushing outside linebacker Junior Galette record videos reminding fans to get loud! The videos appear on the domes large video boards at moments deemed advantageous to New Orleans defence.Sometimes Galette looks up from the field and watches his amplified exhortation.I pump myself up, Galette said. Im like, Yeah, Ive got to get it.This season, the Saints average margin of victory at home is 12.7 points. Last season, the Saints won their eight home games by an average margin of 18.4 points.Hopefully, we keep that streak going for a while, Brees said, but then cautioned, just because were playing at home, it does not entitle us to anything.___AP NFL website: [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] and [link widoczny dla zalogowanych] ' ' '