Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Indiana Pacers head coach Rick Carlisle loves to find a way to give his team an advantage during games. It isn’t uncommon to see one or more strategic changes, unique lineups, and player role swaps during the course of Pacers games this season, and Carlisle’s fingerprints are all over those adjustments. One of Carlisle’s biggest strengths is his ability to make slight changes to his rotation on a game-to-game basis in order to give Indiana the best opportunity to win. And this season, he has found a new unit, and more specifically, a fresh pairing, that has changed the makeup of multiple Pacers games. And the duo is one that contains two players who play the same position. It’s Goga Bitadze and Domantas Sabonis. Two centers who have played just 146 minutes together across two seasons prior to the 2021-22 campaign. The pair already has logged 70 simultaneous minutes in just 22 games under Rick Carlisle. They’re on pace for …
Orlando Magic Finding They’re Losing The Aaron Gordon Trade, Badly
Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin If there was one negative that stuck out among folks around the NBA last March when the Orlando Magic decided to blowtorch the lineup and send three of its top players—Nikola Vucevic, Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier—out of town for whatever young assets were attainable, it was the return the team got for Gordon . While Gordon was never able to establish himself as a No. 1 scoring option with the Magic, he did have the makings of an ideal all-around glue guy for a contending team, a knockoff of Draymond Green, except a notch better offensively and a few notches below Green’s elite defense. Gordon has been exactly that for the Nuggets, even as the team has trudged it way through an injury-ridden early season. Offensively, Denver has scored 114.0 points per 100 possessions with Gordon on the floor , and just 96.5 with him off. Defensively, the Nuggets allow 107.5 when he is playing and 111.3 when he is off. It makes for an …
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Boston Celtics Free-Agent Curse? Bad Things Still Follow Team’s Acquisitions
Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin For the better part of this century—heck, for much of the past three decades—the lament around the Celtics was the team’s inability to bring in big-time free agents. Top NBA players, it seemed, just did not want to play in Boston , whether because of some deep psychological scarring going back to the city’s history of racial problems or, more mundanely, the franchise doldrums that followed the Larry Bird-Kevin McHale-Robert Parish era. Whatever it was, the free-agent problem in Boston was the cause of much hand-wringing and tooth-gnashing among Celtics media, as well as many a question at All-Star Game media availabilities. Then there was a breakthrough in 2016, when the Hawks’ Al Horford signed on to join a team fresh off a 48-win season. The following year, it was Gordon Hayward coming in from the Jazz and Kyrie Irving agreeing to be traded from Cleveland to Boston. Just like that, the Celtics had a bevy of stars …
WWE Raw Results: Winners, News And Notes On November 29, 2021
Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin WWE Raw from the UBS Arena in Long Island, N.Y. featured the return of The Miz, who faced off with Edge in a promo segment. During the promo, Edge referenced the MJF vs. CM Punk promo this past Wednesday night on AEW Dynamite where Punk called MJF a less-famous Miz. Vince McMahon continued to give Austin Theory the rub as he spent all of Raw teasing a surprise, only for that surprise to be a swift slap in the face to Theory. Raw also featured Kevin Owens defeating Big E in the main event, and as a result, Owens was added to the WWE Championship match between Big E and Seth Rollins at WWE Day 1 in 2022. WWE Raw advertised the return of Edge, Big E vs. Kevin Owens, RK-Bro vs. the Dirty Dawgz, Damian Priest vs. Apollo Crews. Last week’s broadcast of WWE Raw, with an appearance from Vince McMahon to find out who stole Cleopatra’s Egg , garnered 1.700 million viewers. WWE Raw Ratings, Last Five Weeks November 22, …
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European Super League Aims To Swipe Champions League’s $2.4 Billion In TV Money — And Bury UEFA
A power struggle is threatening to reshape European soccer, and the UEFA Champions League, the biggest club competition in the world, is poised to take a massive hit. On Sunday, 12 of Europe’s top soccer clubs announced they were splitting away from the Champions League establishment to form a “Super League.” The new organization represents an existential threat to football associations across the continent and a direct attack on UEFA, which derived 51% of its revenue—$2.37 billion—from Champions League media rights in 2018-19. The rebel collective is being funded at the start by JPMorgan, which has reportedly made a commitment to the Super League of at least $4 billion. Broadcast fees for the upstart could be enormous. UEFA pulls in nearly $4 billion annually from media rights across all of its competitions, triple the amount it collected in 2011-12 , according to the association’s latest financial report. The Super League’s broadcast package itself could amount to …
Gareth Bale Has Delivered For Real Madrid, Where He Remains An Enigma
Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Since uttering the words “Hala Madrid” over a microphone at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, supremely talented full-back turned explosive winger Gareth Bale has won it all. Yet, apart from delivering trophies and goals, he has never really got the place where he has enjoyed so much success. Despite the glory, Madrid has never really got him either. Real is all about titles which, in one respect, renders this piece academic. How a player so impressive in numbers can become such an outcast is quite extraordinary, though. Both outcomes shouldn’t coexist. After the accolades came the comedown. Silverware can only sustain you for so long. In Bale’s case, the bubble eventually burst. The 32-year-old, a world record signing when he joined Los Blancos for €100 million ($130 million) in 2013, has the highlight reels but not the adoration of the fans. When he did, they were fleeting moments, as they watched him carry the club to …
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Silence Defines New York Yankees When It Comes To Their Shortstop Vacancy
Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin The New York Yankees need a shortstop and have made it clear they are considering all possibilities. They are comfortable with moving Gleyber Torres to second base and using DJ LeMahieu in a utility role. However, the market for free agent shortstops is dramatically changing as both Marcus Semien and Corey Seager will be playing for the Texas Rangers. They have agreed to contracts that total 17 years in length and $500 million in value according to Ken Rosenthal. Semien’s seven-year, $175 million contract was the first important domino to fall as his versatility at playing both shortstop and second base made it possible for Seager to join him in Arlington with a 10-year, $325 million contract. The anxiety surrounding the expiration of the current collective bargaining agreement and a potential lockout has ball clubs proceeding at an accelerated pace . Surprisingly, the Yankees have been quiet even as their crosstown rivals …
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Is Ralf Rangnick The Right Man To Reshape Manchester United For The Future?
Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin In the post-Sir Alex Ferguson age, Manchester United have swung wildly from one end of the managerial spectrum to the other. David Moyes, the continuity candidate, was followed by Louis van Gaal, the legendary tactician hired to rebuild the team at Old Trafford. Then came Jose Mourinho, the hard-to-please winner, succeeded by Ole Gunnar Solskjaer, the crowd pleasing feel-good figure. It was therefore, in many ways, predictable that United would look to someone like Ralf Rangnick as their new manager following the departure of Solskjaer earlier this month. While the Norwegian did some good work during his three-year tenure, he lacked the tactical nous to build a side that would genuinely challenge for major honours. Rangnick, in contrast, is a renowned tactician. There are questions over how the 63-year-old will fit in at Old Trafford. Rangnick is revered as one of the godfathers of ‘Gegenpressing’ and it’s not clear if some …
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Major Trade Decision Ahead For The Golden State Warriors
Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Former NBA All-Star Klay Thompson is nearing his return to the Golden State Warriors after missing two full seasons due to ACL and Achilles tears, possibly adding more fuel to an already scorching fire of a team that currently sports a record of 18-2, the best in the NBA. While some may argue Thompson’s return, and Golden State’s current dominance, is enough to catapult them into Finals contention - and it might be - it’s also fair to ponder if the Warriors should want to push in some of their trade chips to make a Finals appearance even more of a lock. Golden State’s young core The Warriors have added a significant group of young players in recent years, including Jordan Poole (22), James Wiseman (20), Jonathan Kuminga (19) and Moses Moody (19). Poole is hands down the most accomplished of them all, averaging 18.1 points and 3.4 assists in his third NBA season, while playing an impressively large role for the …
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Patience In Development Process Will Be Key For Thunder Rookie Tre Mann
Share to Twitter Share to Linkedin Thunder rookie Tre Mann’s development is a top priority for Oklahoma City, but his journey might look different than other first-round picks in his class. “We’re intentionally trying to give him some run. He’s certainly a priority,” said Thunder coach Mark Daigneault this week. Mann was selected No. 18 overall in the 2021 NBA Draft, and was the second first rounder taken by the Thunder on that night after Josh Giddey. Known for being a dynamic scorer, Mann joined a crowded backcourt in Oklahoma City, with several other young guards to compete for time with. Before making the leap to the NBA, Mann grew two inches and gained 15 pounds between his freshman and sophomore season, which was paramount in his rise to college stardom and ultimately getting drafted. Now standing at 6-foot-5, he’s got he size to be a quality player at the NBA level for many years to come. Mann also has the versatility to play both on or off …
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