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BARCELONA, Spain -- Former Barcelona player Luis Enrique promised a new start for the Catalan club after signing a two-year contract to become coach on Wednesday. Luis Enrique signed the deal with club president Josep Bartomeu two days after it was announced by the club. That was two days after coach Gerardo Martino stepped down when Barcelona finished its first season without a major trophy in six years. "We believe that this is the beginning of a new Barcelona, a Barcelona that will excite again," Luis Enrique said. "When I left Barca the club told me that it was a see you later and they have kept their word. I cant wait to hear the hymn of Barcelona in the Camp Nou." The 44-year-old Luis Enrique won two league titles as a Barcelona player from 1996-2004 and coached its B team from 2008-11. He also coached at Roma, and led Celta Vigo to a respectable ninth-place finish this season after installing an attractive passing attack on the Barcelona model. Luis Enriques hiring continues a recent tradition of in-house coaches recently represented in Pep Guardiola and Tito Vilanova. That string was broken when Martino was hastily brought in last year after Vilanova resigned to focus on his battle with throat cancer that he eventually lost last month. Luis Enrique is the clubs eighth former captain to coach the club, joining such greats as Laszlo Kubala, Cesar Rodriguez, Johan Cruyff and Guardiola. Although Luis Enrique was never in the same class as them, he will be only the second former captain to coach the clubs B side and first team. Guardiola is the other. Luis Enrique asked not to be compared with Guardiola, and said his best quality as a coach was being a leader, not as an expert in tactics, despite his insider knowledge of Barcelonas ball-control approach. "I dont rely too heavily on tactical knowhow, instead I focus on managing a group, managing egos," he said. "There is work that goes on during the week, work based on knowing each player. I try to be everything a leader is." Luis Enriques immediate goal is to work with sports director Andoni Zubizarreta and rebuild a squad that has experienced a slow slide over the past two years. "He is a coach that knows our way of playing, our philosophy. We believe that we have put the squad that we are going to build for next season in good hands," said Zubizarreta, who also recalled that Enrique had "put a goal or two" past the former Barcelona goalkeeper when Enrique played for Real Madrid. Under Luis Enrique, Barcelona will be expected to bring in reinforcements to help Lionel Messi, Andres Iniesta and Neymar. And he wont be measured -- at least not immediately -- against Guardiola, who won an unprecedented six titles in his first season and 14 of a possible 19 in four years. Luis Enrique acknowledged his other challenge is helping Messi rediscover the competitive spirit that the clubs all-time leading scorer appeared to lack during some matches after recovering from nagging muscle injuries last season. "I am thrilled to have the best player in the world on my team," Enrique said. "Its obvious that Messis output this season wasnt as incredible as in past years ... I hope that with me he can find his best version, but not only him, also Iniesta and Neymar and the rest." Luis Enrique can draw on links with three generations of players, having played alongside veteran Xavi Hernandez, coached former B team player Sergio Busquets, and taken rising talent Rafina Alcantara from Barcelona to Celta on loan and now back. Luis Enrique is one of the few players to have enjoyed successful stints at both Barcelona and Madrid. He occupies a special place among Barcelonas faithful as the one recent player to have left Madrid for Barcelona, in contrast to a group of former stars who left for the Spanish capital, including Luis Figo, Bernd Schuster and Michael Laudrup. Jahleel Addae Jersey .com) - The Grand Slam season will get underway Monday at the Australian Open in Melbourne, where a new champion will be crowned this year. Antonio Gates Jersey . Now Arizonas new manager is hoping Yasmany Tomas can have the same effect on the Diamondbacks. http://www.officiallosangeleschargersfoo...t-jersey-womens. - Chicago Bears general manager Phil Emery was so busy in free agency he didnt mind having a few extra weeks to prepare for the draft. Drew Kaser Jersey . Vonn "reopened" the idea of competing in the season-opening World Cup event on Oct. 26-27 in Soelden, Austria after returning to the slopes last month in Portillo, Chile. Joey Bosa Jersey . Off-Season Game Plan looks at what the Blue Jackets may do to build upon last seasons success to return to the playoffs again next year.(SportsNetwork.com) - The surging Los Angeles Clippers are back on the road for the next three games and will visit the Indiana Pacers Wednesday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The Clippers are scheduled to visit Washington and Milwaukee on this trek and went 6-1 on a recent journey. They have won eight in a row and closed out a perfect four-game stretch at Staples Center with Mondays thrilling 121-120 overtime victory versus the Phoenix Suns. Clippers forward Blake Griffin sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer in overtime and got a friendly bounce off the iron. He scored a season-high 45 points. I stepped back thinking three, but also to get open, said Griffin, who is fifth in the NBA with 24.0 points per game. I thought it was short and then I saw it bounce and it went in. I then took off running. Griffin, whose 45 points were two shy of a career high, finished 14-of-24 shooting and Chris Paul delivered 20 points, 10 assists and seven rebounds. The Clippers are 35-5 when Paul posts at least 20 points and 10 assists. J.J. Redick had 17 points and DeAndre Jordan grabbed 14 rebounds for Los Angeles. Jordan leads the NBA with 12.3 rebounds per game. Eric Bledsoe had a triple-double of 27 points, a career-high 16 assists and 11 rebounds for the Suns. The Clippers are 10-1 in their last 11 games overall and are first in field goal percentage at 48.4. Thhey are third in scoring (107.dddddddddddd1 ppg) and 7-2 away from home this season. LA is 5-1 against the Eastern Conference (4-0 on the road) and won 11 in a row from Feb. 23 - March 16, 2014. It has won 12 straight when scoring 100 points and is 14-1 when reaching the century mark. Indiana has lost five in a row and suffered a 108-92 loss versus the Atlanta Hawks Monday night. Rodney Stuckey and C.J. Miles scored 15 points apiece and Luis Scola added 12 points. Roy Hibbert and David West only had eight points apiece for the Pacers, who fell to 7-14 on the season and made only 9-of-27 3-pointers. Miles sank four of his seven attempts from downtown and Indiana shot 44 percent on the night. Clearly the Hawks were a more energized team, said Pacers coach Frank Vogel. We seemed a step slow. West needs 21 points to reach 12,000 in his career. The Pacers had 17 turnovers and have been outscored by an average of 10.4 points during the five-game slide. They are 4-6 at home and have posted a winning record on their home court in each of the past 25 seasons. Indiana is 2-7 against Western Conference foes and won both meetings with the Clippers last season. The Pacers were healthy last season and had Paul George running the show, but hes been out with a leg injury suffered this summer. The Pacers have won three straight against the Clippers. 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