Eagles

PASAY CITY, PHILIPPINES &ndash; Meralco Bolts&rsquo; guard duo Chris Banchero and Chris Newsome feel confident about their team&rsquo;s chances of going deep and winning it all in the 2024-2025 East Asia Super League (EASL) season.
Both Banchero and Newsome were key figures in Meralco&rsquo;s first win of the tournament against the Macau Black Bears. Newsome was the team&rsquo;s leading scorer with 18 points while Banchero was relentless in attacking the Black Bears&rsquo; paint, scoring 14 points, as the Bolts took the win 97-85.
&ldquo;We&rsquo;re definitely in it [EASL] to win it,&rdquo; Banchero said post-game. Last year we [Meralco] underperformed but we&rsquo;ve got a much better team now &ndash; we got DJ [Kennedy], Ange [Kouame], and AD [Allen Durham]. We&rsquo;ve got a really good team and we&rsquo;ve got a good chance to play some really good basketball.&rdquo;
Meralco just finished with a measly 1-4 record in EASL&rsquo;s last season. Now, the league added a new rule of allowing 2 imports plus a naturalized player, hence the addition of the naturalized Filipino Kouame. The Bolts certainly feel good now with the level of basketball they are playing and they&rsquo;re hoping to take it all the way. However, Newsome says the team is still wary of what&rsquo;s more to come and the expectations that come along with it.
&ldquo;We wanna just take it one game at a time and get as many wins as we can,&rdquo; Newsome said. The goal is to get to the semifinals, and once you get to the semis you can focus on the Finals &ndash; but of course, you gotta rack it up one win at a time.&rdquo;
Meralco is in Group B of the EASL along with the aforementioned Macau, Japan&rsquo;s Ryukyu Golden Kings, Korea&rsquo;s Busan KCC Egis, and Taiwan&rsquo;s New Taipei Kings. Only the top two teams of each group move onto the Final Four round, with a crossover semifinal format set place against Group A&rsquo;s top two finishers.
&ldquo;We tied our win total from last season and we have five more games to try to get wins and try to get into the [top two] of our group, and that&rsquo;s the goal &ndash; just to get to the semifinals. It&rsquo;s gonna take more than one win, it&rsquo;s gonna take more than two wins &ndash; but all we can control is take it one game at a time,&rdquo; Newsome added.
Banchero affirmed Newsome&rsquo;s statements but also added Meralco has to play better than they did as they go up the champions and runner-up of each East Asian country, a staple of international hoops in the region.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m excited. I know we need to play better than we did so it&rsquo;s good to get that first win under our belt and take it onto the next &ndash; to try and get a win in Okinawa [against the Ryukyu Golden Kings,&rdquo; Banchero stated.
Watch the full interview here:
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(<a href="https://twitter.com/EASLofficial?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EASLofficial</a>) Meralco Bolts&rsquo; guard Chris Banchero shares the team&rsquo;s expectations on this brand new EASL season: We&rsquo;re a much better team now &mdash; I&rsquo;m excited. We&rsquo;ve got a real good chance to play some really good basketball. <a href="https://t.co/G7tJKkKZFu">pic.twitter.com/G7tJKkKZFu</a>
&mdash; Mon Anthony Valmoria (@MorvalNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MorvalNBA/status/1842138442119164380?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 4, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Teammate Chris Newsome echoed the same insights: &ldquo;We just wanna take it one game at a time. We have 5 more games and that&rsquo;s the goal &mdash; to try and get to the semis [of the <a href="https://twitter.com/EASLofficial?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@EASLofficial</a>]. // <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@basketbllnews</a> <a href="https://t.co/PqTWZvV56C">pic.twitter.com/PqTWZvV56C</a>
&mdash; Mon Anthony Valmoria (@MorvalNBA) <a href="https://twitter.com/MorvalNBA/status/1842138551666003993?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 4, 2024</a></blockquote>

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Meralco Bolts’ guard duo Chris Banchero and Chris Newsome feel confident about their team’s chances of going deep and winning it all.

EASL: Chris Banchero, Chris Newsome says Meralco’s in EASL to ‘win it all’

On Friday night in Cleveland, Caitlin Clark and Iowa defeated Paige Bueckers 71-69 to advance to the national title game against undefeated South Carolina &ndash; but not without some late-game drama.
With Iowa just leading by one 70-69 with 9 seconds left, UConn had possession for the final shot in the game. Out of the timeout, the Huskies tried to run a split action for Bueckers with Aaliyah Edwards screening and Nika Muhl passing the ball. As the screen was set with Bueckers veering back towards Muhl to receive the pass and get ready to shoot, Hawkeyes guard Gabbie Marshall fought over the screen by Edwards which ended up with the play getting called for an offensive foul for setting an illegal screen with just around 3 seconds left in the game.
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OFFENSIVE FOUL OR NOT? 🤔<a href="https://t.co/rxB7d3Lydk">pic.twitter.com/rxB7d3Lydk</a>
&mdash; BasketballNews.com (@basketbllnews) <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews/status/1776457695568216295?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2024</a></blockquote>
It was a questionable foul call, to say the least &ndash; sparking a debate each with contrasting sides to tell.
It set the internet ablaze and everyone was talking about it. Notable NBA and WNBA stars each chimed in on X with their thoughts on the questionable call, citing how the players should decide the outcome of the game with their plays whether it be good or bad rather than laying it up for the referees to decide.
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NAAAAAHHHHHH!!! I ain&rsquo;t rolling with that call.
&mdash; LeBron James (@KingJames) <a href="https://twitter.com/KingJames/status/1776451983047856248?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2024</a></blockquote>

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To call that on a game deciding play is so wrong WOW
&mdash; Kelsey Plum (@Kelseyplum10) <a href="https://twitter.com/Kelseyplum10/status/1776452745492414682?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2024</a></blockquote>

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SportsCenter host Scott Van Pelt and ESPN Women&rsquo;s Basketball analyst Andraya Carter didn&rsquo;t agree with the call either.
&ldquo;I hated the call. You&rsquo;ve got to give Gabbie Marshall credit for trying to fight over the screen. That&rsquo;s what drew the refs&rsquo; attention in,&rdquo; Carter said on SportsCenter after the game. &ldquo;But to me, now that final play it&rsquo;s not about Iowa&rsquo;s defense. It&rsquo;s about the call the referee made. There was a slight lean, maybe Aaliyah Edwards&rsquo; elbow was slightly out. But to be honest the calls were even for both sides. There were missed calls for Iowa. There were missed contacts for UConn. To make that call at the very end of the game &ndash; to me, it took away the opportunity for players to make plays. &hellip; To be honest, that call sucked.&rdquo;
WNBA legends Diana Taurasi and Sue Bird, who had their ESPN segment &lsquo;The Bird and Taurasi Show&rsquo; grace the Final Four, also shared their thoughts in real-time with UConn legend Breanna Stewart while commentating and watching the game live.
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3 uconn huskies react to the 'offensive foul' <a href="https://t.co/wFWCbVYTMG">pic.twitter.com/wFWCbVYTMG</a>
&mdash; jaiden (@steph_turkey) <a href="https://twitter.com/steph_turkey/status/1776454140962697606?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 6, 2024</a></blockquote>

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&ldquo;Oh my god,&rdquo; expressed a visibly disappointed Taurasi. &ldquo;Wow, what an unfortunate time to call an offensive foul. Just know how to ruin the game &ndash; oh my god that&rsquo;s terrible. It didn&rsquo;t even get her open &ndash; that&rsquo;s a tough play. We always talk about letting the players decide the game, especially in a benign call like that. It&rsquo;s just tough to end the game like that.&rdquo;
Legendary coach Geno Auriemma could not hide his disappointment as well in the post-game conference, saying UConn maybe should just get better at not setting illegal screens. &ldquo;There&rsquo;s probably an illegal screen call you could make on every single possession, and I just know there were three or four called on us &ndash; and I don&rsquo;t think any were called on them.&rdquo;
Clark and Final Four hero Hannah Stuelke &ndash; who played perhaps the best game of her life by scoring 23 points &ndash; thought their teammate Marshall did a good job of fighting over the screen, praising how she has been one of the nation&rsquo;s best defenders.
&ldquo;Gabbie is great in those situations. She always comes up with big plays, a block, or whatever,&rdquo; Stuelke said. &ldquo;You always see it time and time again, [Marshall] does not get enough credit for what she does,&rdquo; Clark added. &ldquo;She guards one of the best players in the country and it challenges her quite a bit. Paige had a great game but I thought Gabbie just played great defense on her. Even when Paige made some tough baskets, Gabbie just responded and kept going up there and guarded her.&rdquo;
Despite the tough loss, Bueckers took the high road and remained a positive attitude after what transpired late in the game.
"Players play and players decide the game. Everybody can make a big deal out of one single play but one single play doesn&rsquo;t win or lose a basketball game," Bueckers admitted. "... You can look at one play and say oh that killed us or that hurt us. We should have done a better job, I should have done a better job making sure didn&rsquo;t leave the game up to that."

Iowa defeated UConn 71-69 to advance to the national title game against undefeated South Carolina, but not without late-game drama.

Women's Final Four: Late phantom call mars Iowa-UConn ending

It&rsquo;s going to be the best player in the country vs. the best team in the country in the national championship game after all.
Caitlin Clark and the Iowa Hawkeyes survived a thrilling game against Paige Bueckers and the UConn Huskies 71-69 in their NCAA Women&rsquo;s March Madness Final Four matchup Friday night at the Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse in Cleveland, Ohio.
The National Player of the Year recipient put up 21 points, 9 rebounds, and 7 assists to lead the Hawkeyes to their second straight national title game appearance and a meeting against the 36-0 South Carolina Gamecocks.
Clark, who scored 17 points in the second half after just 4 at halftime, was clutch in the 4th quarter. She tallied 8 points and dished 3 assists, making big plays after big plays.
But perhaps none bigger than the play with 1.1 seconds to go with Iowa inbounding from the baseline. In a display of high basketball IQ, Clark threw the ball off the back of an unsuspecting Bueckers with her back turned towards her and the baseline to waste time off the clock. With just 0.3 seconds on the timer, Iowa inbounded the ball again to essentially win the game.&nbsp;
&ldquo;I watch a lot of basketball and I understand basketball and she had her back turned to me. So the biggest point was &ndash; you know the biggest thing at that point in the game is like you just want the clock to go down,&rdquo; Clark said when asked about the play. &ldquo;I mean you don&rsquo;t want to give them the ball but she had her back completely turned so I just tried to waste some clock, and you know &ndash; it just came into my brain &ndash; so I just went for it and it worked.&rdquo;
However, Clark and Iowa&rsquo;s brilliance in the 4th quarter and the clutch were overshadowed by a crucial call late in the game. With Iowa just leading by one 70-69 with 9 seconds left and UConn having possession for the final shot, Aaliyah Edwards was called for a questionable moving screen call to give the ball back to the Hawkeyes &ndash; setting up for Clark&rsquo;s end-game brilliance.
Bueckers, who played all 40 minutes of the game, scored 17 points in UConn&rsquo;s losing effort while fellow All-American teammate Edwards and rookie KK Arnold had 17 and 14 respectively in a heartbreaking game for the Huskies.
Helping Clark survive the battle against Bueckers was Hannah Stuelke who played perhaps the best game of her life by contributing 23 points on 9/12 shooting. Kate Martin chipped in 11 points and 8 rebounds for the no.1 seeded Hawkeyes, who will now move on to face the formidable Gamecocks who have yet to lose a game for the season.
South Carolina took care of business earlier in the night against Cinderella team NC State 78-59 to keep their dream perfect season alive entering Sunday&rsquo;s title game.
As for Bueckers, she and UConn will end their season a game short of the title game &ndash; a feat she has accomplished twice now in her career. A symbol of resilience and togetherness all season long, Bueckers and UConn led by legendary coach Geno Auriemma lost 6 players during the season to injuries and came into the final four with just 7 available players.
Nevertheless, Bueckers will have one final shot at a national championship next year with hopefully a fully healthy and complete UConn squad with her best friend and 2021 HS no.1 recruit Azzi Fudd in the fold.

It’s going to be the best player in the country vs. the best team in the country in the national championship game after all.

Clark's Hawkeyes outlast Bueckers' Huskies, advance to national title game

Last week, NBA legend Shawn Marion traveled to Abu Dhabi to support the 2023 NBA Abu Dhabi Games, which featured two preseason games between the Dallas Mavericks and Minnesota Timberwolves as well as youth clinics and fan events.&nbsp;
Marion led a skill-development clinic for youth athletes from Dubai's NBA Basketball School &mdash; a year-round basketball program in the UAE for boys and girls ages 6-to-18. He also judged a dunk contest, met with fans and took part in other NBA events alongside Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Ray Allen, Tim Hardaway Sr., Gary Payton, Sam Perkins, Kenny Smith, Ronny Turiaf and Salah Mejri.
Marion is an NBA champion, four-time NBA All-Star, two-time All-NBA selection and one of just five players in NBA history to record 17,000 points, 9,000 rebounds, 1,500 steals and 1,000 blocks (the other four are LeBron James, Kevin Garnett, Karl Malone and Hakeem Olajuwon). The Phoenix Suns recently announced that they'll retire Marion's jersey this season.
While in Abu Dhabi, Marion joined me on <a href="https://twitter.com/AlexKennedyNBA/status/1710458099448811578" target="_blank" rel="noopener">my new show "Running Up The Score"</a> to discuss his legendary career, the Suns' decision to retire his jersey, Mat Ishbia's impact since buying the franchise, the globalization of the NBA, how the game has evolved, whether he'll get back into podcasting and more.&nbsp;
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You&rsquo;re currently in Abu Dhabi for the Mavericks-Timberwolves preseason games and to host a basketball clinic with kids from the NBA Basketball School in Dubai. How is your trip going?&nbsp;
Shawn Marion:&nbsp;"Man, the trip is going amazing. This is a new culture for me; I've never experienced this, never been here. We're in a different part of the world right now and, I mean, I can tell you this: this is a place I'll definitely be coming back to. This is truly awesome. And, you know what, they're very passionate about [basketball]. I just had this meeting; I just came from an office visit and they had like 250 employees, but everybody spoke different languages! There were 16 languages being spoken! That tells you how diverse it is here, and they really pride themselves on that here. It's pretty amazing."
The globalization of the NBA has been a big priority for the league for some time. From when you were playing to now, do you see a big difference in terms of the NBA&rsquo;s worldwide popularity and international support?
Marion: "Yes. I think as you look at the lay of the land right now, the NBA and basketball is a global sport. But the way that the NBA has been able to grow it, they're taking it to other levels. They're starting NBA Academies and having clinics all around the world, and that just helps it grow even faster. Of course, TV and social-media content help as well, but the level it's growing at right now is unheard of."
The Phoenix Suns recently announced that they are retiring your jersey. Congratulations!
Marion: "Thank you!"
How did you find out that news and what was your reaction?
Marion: "I'm gonna be very honest and candid. Mat [Ishbia] called me as soon as he took ownership of the team and he was like, 'I'm not doing some of the shit that's been done [before]. I'm going to take care of you and reward you by retiring your jersey. I'm a man of my word, and that's what I'm going to do.' That's exactly what he said, and he did! Yep, it was that simple."
Ishbia is quickly winning over fans &mdash; he&rsquo;s spending money, making it easier to watch games, honoring past legends like yourself and so on. What do you think of Ishbia and the fresh start in Phoenix from an ownership perspective?
Marion: "I love it, man. I got a chance to see the practice facility; it's literally not too far from the place that I still have in Phoenix and I ain't been able to see [it before]. I ain't feel like... I feel like a weight was lifted off my shoulders to a certain degree. He's making the transition so easy. And he wants all the players who paved the way and set the foundation for the Suns organization and helped build that team into what the city loves and admires [to be involved]. He just wants everybody to be a part of it, man, and I love it. I think it's awesome. He's doing some amazing things out there."
The Suns have so much talent with Devin Booker, Kevin Durant, Bradley Beal and Jusuf Nurkic. What do you think of this year's team and do you think they can win it all?
Marion: "Man, I think they got a chance just like anybody else, but, of course, their [championship hopes] are probably a little bit more realistic than some other teams. I just hope they stay healthy. When you stay healthy, you give yourself a chance. That's the thing. A lot of teams deal with injuries, and they've been hit with the injury bug a little bit as well. But they've got Frank Vogel as the head coach out there now and he's a defensive-minded guy. They just made another trade and got some other pieces to add to it &mdash; Grayson Allen and Jusuf Nurkic. I think that happened while I was out here; I was at a meeting when I got the alert and I was like, 'Wow! They ain't playing no games right now!' Listen, at the end of the day, he's trying to give himself and the organization the best chance to win. That's what you gotta do."
You obviously helped change the game and were ahead of your time. Overall, what are your thoughts on the modern NBA?
Marion: "Listen, it's run-and-gun, it's feast-or-famine right now. We set the foundation for what [the game] is now. There's so much positionless basketball being played, and it's dynamic. You're seeing the transition and evolution of what we started back in my Phoenix days during the Seven-Seconds-Or-Less era. That's what we started, and that's what it is right now. And I don't see the game going back to two traditional big men ever again."
Throughout the 2000s, not having a specific position was a death sentence for a player; nobody wanted to be labeled a "tweener." Then, seemingly overnight, the NBA became obsessed with "positionless" players and the tweeners were suddenly the most valuable players. That's one of my favorite examples of how the NBA is always evolving.
Marion: "Here's the thing: people can say [they're positionless], but it don't mean they are. You know, to be a two-way player in this league is very rare, but to be a positionless player is even more rare. You could be a guy who can go out there and guard 1 through 5, but to actually do it &mdash; willingly do it &mdash; is a big difference! A lot of guys probably could do it, but they don't do it, you know? Right now, teams are playing positionless basketball because everybody's switching everything. Most guys don't really post up anymore either. It's all face-up game and jumpers. So, it's easy to just jump into that narrative and bandwagon, but if you look at the game as a whole though, it's more of a guard-heavy game now than it was prior to when we made that transition. It's just been a shift. A lot of bigs now don't post up anymore; they're face-up players [too]. That's the evolution of the game."
A few years so, you and I did some of the NBA Watch Parties together on Clubhouse. I also love that <a href="https://twitter.com/MainTeamSports2/status/1506615984173592589" target="_blank" rel="noopener">video where you jumped on Twitter Spaces</a> and educated fans about your career; it was incredibly entertaining. You're obviously passionate about this game. Have you ever thought of doing a podcast?
Marion: "Well, Alex, it's funny you say that. I actually had a podcast with one of my guys in Dallas, so I was one of the first guys to ever do it. I just didn't do any promoting or all of that stuff, but it was something that we did in the Mavs organization kind of early on &mdash; like way before everybody started getting into podcasts. And it was great! But the thing about podcasts is unless you got a set thing, you gotta create content all the time, and I was so busy focusing on trying to be a father first. That was my lane. And then I dibbled and dabbled in TV a little bit and thought about doing some broadcasting work, but, like I said, my priorities shifted because I'm a hands-on father. So, I couldn't keep doing it in Dallas because that was the situation, but I have thought about reopening that window.
"I do have a different side of the game that I like to talk about. I know narratives get created easily by the media, and we consume them and we digest them. It becomes part of our thought process of that player, of that team or whatever it is. But I was talking about this with one of my friends. I was telling him: it's easy for a [former] player to say, 'I can do this or that.' But what kind of player were you though? Because it's hard for a point guard to tell how to guard a big, or for a big to tell how to guard a point guard. But when I say it, I actually guarded all of them! I did it all! And I didn't just do it for a quarter or half a quarter. I did it for full games! So, when I sit there and I tell people that, people are like, 'Man, you know, I never thought about it from that standpoint.' I was like, 'Yo, I actually did this.' You know what I'm saying? Like, it's easy for somebody to say, 'I can guard somebody,' or, 'Oh, I'm a two way player; I can guard this player.' I'm like, 'Can you do it for a full game though?' I'm the only person ever to do it for full games."
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I love to ask players about big &ldquo;what-ifs&rdquo; from NBA history. There was a report a while back that you were nearly traded to the Boston Celtics as part of a three-team deal that would have sent Kevin Garnett to Phoenix and picks to Minnesota. Is that true and, if so, can you tell that story?
Marion: "It is true. But Phoenix wasn't gonna do the deal. They didn't think it was viable because they would have to change their style of play instantly because we're two different type of players. So, they didn't want it. KG was in Minnesota at the time, and I would've went to Boston and he would've came here (to Phoenix). At the time, Boston was losing; I think they had a losing record at that time. I was like, 'Uhh...' But I mean, we have no control over that. Some of the rumors that come out about trades are actually true, but both sides have to agree to it. People throw out deals all the time, [teams talk] all the time, so there's plenty of hypotheticals out there.
"But you wanna hear an untold true story? I never really fully ever became a free agent except my last year playing when I signed with with Cleveland. When I signed with Dallas, it was a sign-and-trade, so I was still under contract basically with Toronto. It was a sign-and-trade deal, so I never really tested the free-agency market like that. So, what happened was I was about to be a free agent or get traded, and this was around that same time as those KG rumors. Kobe [Bryant] called me and said, 'If you're really gonna go out on the market and it's a possibility [that you're changing teams], I want you to come out to L.A.' So, we was texting and he was like, 'Yo!' It ain't happen because they didn't have the money to pay me, but that's a story that a lot of people don't know about."
I love those kind of stories and it's always interesting to think how those potential moves could have changed NBA history.
Marion: "Oh, there were a lot of situations out there like that where [trade talks] were open! It was pretty fun. When you look at the business of the NBA, man, the optimism and [hope] of what could possibily be is what makes it so fun and dynamic &mdash; een with the trade that just went down with Damian Lillard. It's funny, Paul Pierce actually predicted that. He called that in July. He said, 'If I'm Dame, I would try to get to Milwaukee.' It's funny that he said that and I could see it [from Lillard's perspective]. But do I think they're better? Ehh, they lost a lot for that trade, you know? [Jrue Holiday]. Grayson Allen was a great player for Milwaukee. He is a great pickup for Phoenix. He's a hell of a player, a great player, dude. Like, he does a lot of small stuff. He's a very tough guy. I like him. It's something about him that I like. I like the little Duke dudes with that little rough-and-rugged side! But he's one of those guys who can hit shots, he's gonna play defense and he competes. He's actually a lot better than people give him credit for. He ain't got a chance to really showcase his skills, but he can play. And if they use him the right way, he can help them."
For sure. Thanks for your time, I really appreciate it!&nbsp;
Marion: "Anytime, man. You know, we have great conversations and stuff. I might contemplate doing a podcast again. I gotta have the mobile equipment. We'll see; I don't know. I gotta have a great co-host. I like people who shoot [straight]. I told this to a reporter, so I'll give this to you. I told this guy who was recording me yesterday: when you are doing your interviews, do not ask the same questions and stuff that somebody else asks. Do not&nbsp;ask the same stuff."
I'm sure that gets really annoying.
Marion: "It's so annoying. It's okay to piggyback off of answers just to get some kind of content to create something in your own way. But don't ask the exact same questions. You sound you are a true fan. I know you are a true fan of the game. Like, you really love this. And so [you] ask the questions that you wanna know from someone in my position! Forget about the stuff that's already been out there already! Create your own. We all got a story to tell."
For sure.
Marion: "And the thing is, I love my former guys talking about ball and stuff, but some of them talk like they was way bigger and better than they were. Some of these guys were below-average role players, but they talk like they were superstars! I'm like, 'What did you... How good was you? What did you do?!' (laughs) I'm like, 'He was a role player!' He was a solid role player! And look, I became a role player. But you know...
Yeah, but that was because of your longevity. You had four All-Star years before that.
Marion: "Yeah, that's about longevity and understanding that you gotta sacrifice to win. That's the biggest thing, you know? And I could have easily averaged such and such, but I was like, 'You know what? They don't need me to do that. I don't have to do that. If we can win and I'm averaging 16, 17 points, I'm cool with that. We gonna win, so I'm good with that. Let's win.' That was about getting them Ws.
"But that's something to think about though. You asked some great questions. That's the lane to go into. Those are the things to ask &mdash; the hypotheticals or something you [researched]. Like, 'You know what, he was pretty good at this, how did you pick up on that?' or, 'What's something that you did differently than everybody else?' Those are different questions, not the same questions [we always hear]. We get repetitively asked the same questions time and time again. It's boring. It sucks. I'ma be honest: it sucks. I hate it. It&nbsp;sucks!"
I can't imagine how old that gets.
Marion: "One thing that everybody was constantly asking me about was my shot. Everybody seemed to want ask me about my shot. But listen, you know what's really messed up about that though? One media person said it, so it went rampant and every media person wanted me to replicate the answer, right? Whether I like it or not, or whether I enjoy it or not. I did so much on the floor, but you wanna focus on something that nobody talks about? Nobody in the league talks about that. Don't nobody in the league shoot the same! ... I [used to get] pissed off, but now I respond and it's fine. 'It don't matter, don't nobody shoot the same. Next!' But why would you wanna talk about my shot, but then you won't talk about how I just had 25-and-15!"
Or that you shot 39% from three-point range one year!
Marion: "You wanna discredit me and what I did just to talk about my shot? Got it. I totally understand. There's certain lanes and narratives that will be pushed. I totally get it. I'm an owner now, so I see exactly what lane [they're in]; it's all marketing strategies. I know how it works and I know who controls it. Being on this side of the business, I know how things work now. But it's all good though. And it's all love. Thank you."
This interview has been edited for length and clarity. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/live/MwvBnhrrzgs?si=2BRrY0Vaq8WWyAPe&amp;t=1676" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Watch the full conversation here</a>.
Other news from around the web: <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/other/dress-to-impress-why-barbie-and-ken-are-the-hottest-couples-costume-this-halloween/ar-AA1iaTEh" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Barbie and Ken are the hottest couples costume this Halloween</a>

Shawn Marion opens up about the Suns retiring his jersey, nearly getting traded to the Celtics, Mat Ishbia, the modern NBA and more.

Shawn Marion on Suns retiring his jersey, near-trade to Celtics, more

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Aaron Gordon scored 27 points, Nikola Jokic added 23 and the Denver Nuggets moved one win away from their first NBA championship by beating the Miami Heat 108-95 on Friday night to take a 3-1 lead in the title series.
Bruce Brown scored 21 off the bench for the Nuggets, who took both games in Miami to grab complete command. They&rsquo;ll have three chances to win one game for a title, two of those in Denver, the first of them in what&rsquo;s sure to be a raucous atmosphere for Game 5 on Monday night.
Jamal Murray had 15 points and 12 assists &mdash; his fourth consecutive double-digit assist game &mdash; for Denver.
Jimmy Butler scored 25 points for Miami, which has now fallen into 3-1 holes in each of its last three finals appearances &mdash; this one joining 2014 and 2020. Bam Adebayo had 20 points and 11 rebounds for the Heat, while Kyle Lowry had 13 points.
The Heat walked off the floor in silence, fully aware of how much trouble they&rsquo;re in now.
The Nuggets were overwhelming favorites to start the series, for obvious reasons. Denver was the Western Conference&rsquo;s No. 1 seed; Miami was the Eastern Conference&rsquo;s No. 8 seed. The Nuggets had won nine of the last 10 regular-season meetings between the teams, and their run of success over the Heat has continued through four games of the finals.
Denver led by 13 going into the fourth, and Miami came out for the final quarter with appropriate desperation. The Heat scored the first eight points, Jokic committed his fifth foul and had to go to the bench with 9:24 left &mdash; and it was down to 86-81 when Butler converted a three-point play with 8:42 remaining.
But the Nuggets &ndash; who fell apart in the fourth quarter of Game 2 for their lone loss of the series &ndash; didn&rsquo;t fold, even with their two-time MVP still out. Murray made a 3-pointer to stop Miami&rsquo;s 8-0 spurt, and Jeff Green made a huge corner 3 from near the Heat bench for a 94-85 edge with 6:21 left.
Jokic checked out with Denver up 10. He came back with the Nuggets up nine.
Miami didn&rsquo;t take advantage of that chance, and now finds itself on the wrong end of history. Teams that take a 3-1 lead in the NBA Finals have won 35 out of 36 previous times, and the Heat will have to buck that trend to keep Denver from winning its title.
The Nuggets even survived a scare. Jokic tweaked his right ankle when he landed on the back of Max Strus&rsquo; foot midway through the opening quarter. He remained in the game after it happened, briefly retreated to the Denver locker room before the start of the second quarter and played the rest of the way with no evident issues.
TIP-INS
Nuggets: Murray played with tape protecting the bottom of his left hand, thanks to a nasty floor burn he got in Game 3. &hellip; It was Denver&rsquo;s 25th win on the road this season, tying a franchise record set last season. ... Michael Porter Jr. scored 11 for the Nuggets.
Heat: It was retiring 20-year veteran Udonis Haslem&rsquo;s 43rd birthday and rookie Nikola Jovic&rsquo;s 20th birthday. Jovic was 58 days old when Haslem signed his first Heat contract. &hellip; If it was Miami&rsquo;s home finale this season, then the Heat went 613-299 in its home arena during his career. &hellip; Miami started the playoffs 6-0 at home. The Heat are 0-4 on their home floor since.
SLOW START
Miami led 21-20 after one quarter. The 41 combined points were the fewest in the first quarter of the last 24 finals games; the first quarter of Game 4 of the Toronto-Golden State series in 2019 had 40 points.
CELEB WATCH
Kentucky coach John Calipari was in the crowd, as was Academy Award winner Forest Whitaker, two-time WNBA MVP A&rsquo;ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces, Chicago Bears quarterback Justin Fields and twins Haley and Hanna Cavinder &mdash; who helped the Miami Hurricanes make the Elite Eight in this year&rsquo;s NCAA women&rsquo;s tournament.

The Nuggets moved one win away from their first NBA championship by beating the Heat 108-95 on Friday night to take a 3-1 lead.

Nuggets now in full command of NBA Finals, top Heat 108-95 for 3-1 lead

The NBA announced that 242 players have filed as early-entry candidates for the 2023 NBA Draft. Here is the complete list.

NBA announces 242 early-entry candidates for 2023 NBA Draft

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) &mdash; The Minnesota Timberwolves are fired up for the postseason.
Whether they have enough depth and maturity to stay a while is to be determined.
Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert was sent home after throwing a punch at teammate Kyle Anderson during an argument on the bench in the second quarter Sunday against New Orleans, shortly after ace defender Jaden McDaniels put his availability in doubt by hitting a wall out of frustration.
&ldquo;This is probably one of the grittier wins I think anyone will ever be a part of. The things we went through in today&rsquo;s game are not normal. Hit after hit, we just found a way to lean on each other,&rdquo; point guard Mike Conley said. &ldquo;The most important thing is we could have easily splintered. Whether it was Kyle and Rudy or hearing news about Jaden, it was one hit after another, but it just brought more out of us. We dug down deep.&rdquo;
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Kyle Anderson and Rudy Gobert had to be separated after a heated altercation during a timeout. <a href="https://t.co/HVuPNdjrxs">pic.twitter.com/HVuPNdjrxs</a>
&mdash; SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) <a href="https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1645164936199303172?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 9, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Gobert sent a group-text apology to the team, Conley said. Coach Chris Finch declined to speculate about potential punishment for Gobert, who was playing with back spasms after being listed as questionable.
Gobert also apologized in a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/rudygobert27/status/1645220661177008133?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noopener">post on Twitter</a>.
&ldquo;Emotions got the best of me today,&rdquo; he wrote. &ldquo;I should not have reacted the way i did regardless of what was said.&rdquo;
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Emotions got the best of me today. I should not have reacted the way i did regardless of what was said. I wanna apologize to the fans, the organisation and particularly to Kyle, who is someone that i truly love and respect as a teammate.
&mdash; Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) <a href="https://twitter.com/rudygobert27/status/1645220661177008133?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 10, 2023</a></blockquote>

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Anderson, a fiery but respected leader who has given the Wolves a big boost with his versatility and experience in his first season with the team, engaged in a heated discussion with Gobert about one of the many sequences that had gone wrong to that point while the team was in a huddle during a timeout late in the second quarter.
Gobert then ended the argument by&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/SportsCenter/status/1645164936199303172" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">raising his arm</a>&nbsp;to strike Anderson in the upper chest with his hand, before the two were separated and Gobert was taken back to the locker room. Taurean Price also reacted to Gobert&rsquo;s swing by jumping out of his seat to give Gobert a shove.
&ldquo;I think tempers just flared,&rdquo; Anderson said afterward. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s all.&rdquo;
Anderson said he didn&rsquo;t think the two would have trouble getting along moving forward.
&ldquo;We want to win games. It is what it is. It ain&rsquo;t the first time someone has swung on me,&rdquo; he said.
President of Basketball Operations Tim Connelly issued a statement confirming the Timberwolves decided to send Gobert home after the second-quarter flap.
&ldquo;His behavior on the bench was unacceptable, and we will handle the situation internally,&rdquo; said Connelly, whose first big move on the job last summer was to acquire Gobert from Utah in a&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/minnesota-timberwolves-utah-jazz-nba-sports-26b3c07948dc5cd6e28b8f7da887517f">blockbuster trade</a>.
The Wolves&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://apnews.com/article/timberwolves-pelicans-gobert-anderson-playin-fd50dbdafeea6eaaf20fd463e268f7ae" target="_blank" rel="noopener">beat the Pelicans 113-108</a>&nbsp;to finish in eighth place in the Western Conference and draw a play-in tournament matchup with the Los Angeles Lakers by moving ahead of New Orleans in the standings. They were headed to a loss and the lower seed with a lifeless first half.
After Anthony Edwards settled for a step-back 3-pointer that fell short, the Pelicans raced the other way for a dunk by Brandon Ingram for a 48-36 lead that triggered a timeout by Wolves coach Chris Finch with 4:23 remaining before halftime. Then came the fight.
The Wolves announced at halftime that Gobert and McDaniels would not play the rest of the way. McDaniels,&nbsp;<a class="paragraph-link" href="https://twitter.com/ESPNNBA/status/1645174595169710086" target="_blank" rel="noopener">it turned out</a>, had hit a wall in the tunnel that leads to the locker room out of frustration in the first quarter and did not return. ESPN and The Athletic reported that McDaniels broke his hand.
&ldquo;Certainly immaturity has been one of our issues all season,&rdquo; Finch said.
The Wolves have long been adept at making situations harder on themselves. The easier games have actually been the hardest part for the Wolves this season, with a total of 16 losses to the bottom 10 teams in the league. Win just two more of those, and they would&rsquo;ve avoided the play-in tournament. Four more wins, and they would have the No. 4 seed and home-court advantage in the first round.
&ldquo;But those days are gone. We have to focus now on what we&rsquo;ve got and moving forward,&rdquo; Finch said.

Rudy Gobert was sent home after throwing a punch at teammate Kyle Anderson during an argument on the bench on Sunday.

Timberwolves send Rudy Gobert home after fight with Kyle Anderson

Spencer Davies tells the complex story of Eban Hyams, the first Indian-born international professional basketball player.

Setbacks and bouncebacks: On Eban Hyams, India's first pro ballplayer

STANFORD, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Madison Scott hit a pair of free throws with 23 seconds left that gave Mississippi the lead for good, Angel Baker scored 13 points, and the Rebels delivered on their declaration to get defensive, stunning top-seeded Stanford 54-49 on Sunday night to reach the NCAA Tournament&rsquo;s Sweet 16 for the first time in 16 years.
Behind the entire game, Stanford called timeout with 28 seconds left then Hannah Jump turned the ball over and Scott converted. Haley Jones lost the ball out of bounds on the Cardinal&rsquo;s last possession with a chance to tie then again in the waning moments.
Marquesha Davis hit a pair of free throws with 15.4 seconds to play as Ole Miss overcame not making a field goal over the final 5:47, going 0 for 8.
These upstart Rebels (25-8) advance to the Seattle Regional semifinal next weekend, while Tara VanDerveer&rsquo;s Stanford team (29-6) is eliminated far earlier than this group envisioned &mdash; the season ending on the Cardinal&rsquo;s home floor.
GREENVILLE 1 REGION
No. 1 SOUTH CAROLINA 76, No. 8 SOUTH FLORIDA 45
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Zia Cooke scored 21 points and Aliyah Boston had her 81st career double double as South Carolina shook off a slow start to power past South Florida.
The Gamecocks improved to 34-0 with their 40th straight win overall and moved four victories away from a second straight national title. They&rsquo;ll head to Greenville, where they won the Southeastern Conference Tournament two weeks ago, to play for a spot in the Final Four.
Boston, the program career record holder for double doubles, finished with 11 points and 11 rebounds, coming out of her final game at home to a huge ovation.
South Florida (27-7) entered looking for a program-record 28th win this season and its first berth in the Sweet 16, but after a feisty start, couldn&rsquo;t hang with the Gamecocks.
No. 2 MARYLAND 77, No. 7 ARIZONA 64
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) &mdash; Diamond Miller scored 13 of her 24 points in the third quarter to help Maryland to a victory over Arizona.
The Terrapins (27-6) advance to the Sweet 16 for a third straight year and the 11th time under coach Brenda Frese. Maryland trailed by a point after two quarters but ran past the Wildcats (22-10) in the second half.
Shyanne Sellers scored 15 points and Faith Masonius gave the Terps a lift with 12.
Frese was coaching against her alma mater. She played at Arizona and graduated in 1993.
Cate Reese led Arizona with 19 points.
No. 3 NOTRE DAME 53, No. 11 MISSISSIPPI STATE 48
SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Lauren Ebo had 10 points, 18 rebounds and four blocks to help Notre Dame beat Mississippi State.
Maddy Westbeld added nine points and 15 rebounds for the Irish, who blew an eight-point lead in the fourth quarter before making the plays down the stretch for the win.
Mississippi State scored eight straight points to open the fourth quarter and tie the game at 41. Ebo scored the first Irish basket of the final period on an offensive putback with 4:38 remaining.
The Irish regained the lead for good on a pair of KK Bransford free throws with 3:49 left in the game, which gave Notre Dame a 45-43 advantage. The Irish held onto the lead the rest of the way.
GREENVILLE 2 REGION
No. 2 UTAH 63, No. 10 PRINCETON 56
SALT LAKE CITY (AP) &mdash; Alissa Pili had 28 points and 10 rebounds to lead Utah to a win over Princeton.
Jenna Johnson added 15 points for the Utes, who made only one 3-pointer but still advanced to their first Sweet 16 since 2006.
Kaitlyn Chen scored 19 points, Grace Stone had 16 and Ellie Mitchell finished with 18 rebounds, including 10 on the offensive end, for Princeton (24-6).
Down the stretch, the game turned into an old-fashioned rockfight. The teams combined to miss 15 consecutive field goal attempts at one point, but Utah (27-4) got to the free throw line to advance and face No. 3 seed LSU.
No. 3 LSU 66, No. 6 MICHIGAN 42
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) &mdash; Angel Reese dismantled Michigan on both ends of the court with 25 points, 24 rebounds, six blocks and three steals to help LSU beat the Wolverines.
Reese, a 6-foot-3 All-America forward, did most of her damage with gauze wedged under her upper lip after a shot to her mouth drew blood in the opening minutes of the game.
Alexis Morris scored 11 and LaDazhia Williams had 10 points and 10 rebounds for LSU (30-2), which never trailed and held Michigan (23-10) to its lowest point total of the season.
SEATTLE 3 REGION
No. 1 VIRGINIA TECH 72, No. 9 SOUTH DAKOTA STATE 60
BLACKSBURG, Va. (AP) &mdash; Georgia Amoore scored 21 points and Virginia Tech held off South Dakota State.
Elizabeth Kitley added 14 points and 14 rebounds for the Hokies (29-4), who won their 13th consecutive game, to advance to the Sweet 16 for just the second time in program history. They will play the winner of Monday&rsquo;s matchup between No. 12 seed Toledo and No. 4 seed Tennessee.
Virginia Tech also set a school record with its 29th win, breaking the mark of 28 set by the 1998-99 squad &mdash; the only other team in school history to advance to the Sweet 16.
Myah Selland led South Dakota State (29-6) with 17 points and nine rebounds.
SEATTLE 4 REGION
No. 2 IOWA 74, No. 10 GEORGIA 66
IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) &mdash; Caitlin Clark had 22 points and 12 assists while Monika Czinano added 20 points to help Iowa beat Georgia.
The Hawkeyes (28-6) advance to the ninth Sweet Sixteen in program history.
Gabbie Marshall added 15 points and McKenna Warnock had 14 for Iowa, which erased the memory of last season&rsquo;s second-round home loss to No. 10 seed Creighton.
Clark, a first-team Associated Press All-American, was held scoreless for 13 minutes in the first half, but scored 14 second-half points as the Hawkeyes finally shook off the 10th-seeded Lady Bulldogs (22-12). She made just 6 of 17 shots, but either scored or assisted on nearly every point by the Hawkeyes in the second half.
Georgia, a No. 10 seed, got within 68-66 on a 3-pointer from Audrey Warren with 2:17 left in the game, but the Lady Bulldogs would not score again, committing three straight turnovers and missing a layup.
Diamond Battles led Georgia with 21 points. Brittney Smith and Javyn Nicholson each had 12 points.

A recap of Sunday's slate of women's March Madness includes the Rebels upsetting the top-seeded Cardinal.

Ole Miss stuns Stanford, reaches first Sweet 16 in 16 years

Cleveland Cavaliers president Koby Altman is typically one of the NBA's busiest executives when the trade deadline comes around. In fact, since taking over for David Griffin as the Cavs' general manager in July 2017, there hadn&rsquo;t been a single deadline where he stood pat.
On Thursday, that changed, as the Cavaliers decided not to make a trade.
&ldquo;My guys over there, they said, 'Koby I'm proud of you,' for not [making a move],&rdquo; Altman said with a grin at Cleveland Clinic Courts in his first media appearance this season. &ldquo;Because you could make deals. You can. There's things you can land the plane on. Don't just do something to do something. Let's be very, very intentional with what we're doing. It's different when you're in asset collection mode. It's different when you're trying to accumulate picks. That becomes a different motivation. I think where we are now is being very, very intentional [with] how you're going to help this young core grow and set them up for success. And if the move wasn't there to do it, don't do it. I guess we sat this one out.
&ldquo;I think there's value in continuity. I think there's value in giving this group a runway. And sometimes as a GM, you just say to yourself, 'Don't mess this up.' And I think that was a big key for us this deadline. [That's] not easy for me; you guys know I'm volume-heavy. But to take a step back and realize the growth we've seen already, mixed with the results... I didn't see anything that was appreciably gonna make us better and put us over the top. And so, I'm really happy with where we are and where we're going.&rdquo;
We all know the NBA community abides by a what-have-you-done-for-me-lately code, but remember Donovan Mitchell? The 26-year-old first-time All-Star starter who&rsquo;s already stamped his name in the Cavs history books and helped lead Cleveland to a torrid start? One of the best shooting guards in the league who&rsquo;s already won two Player of the Week awards and has brought 39 games worth of playoff experience with him to the team? The dude who <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-breaking-news-donovan-mitchell-scores-nbaseasonhigh-cavs-franchisebest-71-in-win" target="_blank" rel="noopener">dropped 71 freaking points in one night</a>?
Lest we forget that Altman already launched his full-court heave on the first day of September, prior to the frenzy that was this past week.
&ldquo;I'm really glad we did what we did in the summer, to bring in a Donovan Mitchell, because it's so competitive &mdash; hyper-competitive in the trade market, hyper-competitive in the standings. And so, that was our big move to really lift our ceiling,&rdquo; Altman said. &ldquo;I knew that we weren't going to top that move come trade deadline (laughs). I think it's been a seamless fit. I think it's been some really exciting basketball... I think we had a great future without Donovan, and I can't imagine not having him right now.
&ldquo;We don't need to take swings. We don't need to take these &lsquo;find this incredible talent that you have to build around&rsquo; (approaches). I think we've found that, which is the hardest part. And now, does it work within the group and does it make the team better?&rdquo;
Altman&rsquo;s reasoning behind this approach is logical in short-term and long-term lenses. First and foremost, he brought up the delicate nature of a rare, connected locker room. That&rsquo;s why, though he&rsquo;ll leave open the idea of scouring the buyout market with an open roster spot available, everything will be about fit and skill set when it comes to any addition.
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The Cavs are in a position that they haven&rsquo;t been in during his tenure. They boast the fifth-best record in the NBA while employing the second-youngest starting five (average age of 23.2 years old) in the league, and a majority of that core still has yet to experience postseason basketball.
&ldquo;There's no trade I could've accomplished that was going to account for Darius Garland playing in his first playoff series, Evan Mobley playing in his first playoff series, Isaac Okoro playing in his first playoff series. We have to go through that as a team,&rdquo; Altman said. &ldquo;We're gonna have to go down the stretch here and battle for our position. We're gonna have to go in, hopefully, knock on wood, to a playoff series and see what that feels like, and I'm excited about that.&nbsp;
&ldquo;And that's the growth, that's the maturation that I wanna see from this group down the stretch, and really take a step back and let them experience this kinda basketball that's very, very new for us, and give them the runway to achieve, have setbacks and grow from those experiences. But it's a really, really exciting place to be... Give this group what they deserve [with] what they've already accomplished.&rdquo;
Given his expiring contract situation, there were a lot of questions surrounding Caris LeVert, a hot name on the trade front. Multiple teams inquired about his status with the Cavs and what it&rsquo;d take for the franchise to part ways with him. Altman instead revealed that &ldquo;there&rsquo;s a lot of interest to keep him here,&rdquo; and explained his rationale behind sticking with LeVert.
&ldquo;We acquired Caris last year in vastly different circumstances. If you remember, we had Darius Garland and no other ball-handlers; Ricky [Rubio] was out for the year, we had lost Collin [Sexton] for the year. And so, we brought Caris in under vastly different pretenses. I think what he's done this year is try to adapt his game to two ball-dominant, all-world guards," Altman said. "He's gotten better at his spot-up shooting; he's at a career-high this year at 37% in terms of shooting, and that's not even his real piece. He's just a really good basketball player, and I think he's embraced the challenge of being a defensive stopper.
&ldquo;The thing that really speaks to me too is, and I'm a softy for this, but guys that really want to be here. Guys that show up every day to work, that have a great attitude, that whatever their role is &mdash; and he had to take a substantial step back, be a sixth-man type when he could be starting in the NBA on a lot of different teams &mdash; and being like, 'I want to make this work. I want to be here.' That's meaningful to me, that's meaningful to this organization and it's a big reason why he's here. The other thing too is, let's be honest, we're not playing guys 82 games a year anymore. And to be able to spot start Caris at times is an absolute luxury. We learned that last year we can't have enough ball-handlers. We'll see in the playoffs. I know it's been a few years now, [but] to break your man off the dribble when everything else breaks down and your set play is not working, you're gonna need guys to go get some stuff for you and manufacture some runs. He remains a very important part of what we're doing. He's just a really good basketball player. I know he's thrilled to still be here, and we're happy that he's here as well.&rdquo;
As per usual, Kevin Love&rsquo;s name surfaced in rumblings for another year. This time around, it made sense because he&rsquo;s recorded five straight DNP-CDs and missed action in the three previous games due to a bothersome thumb injury. Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff stated Wednesday night that the veteran big man is healthy and available, but wants to see what this new, healthy iteration of the team can do.&nbsp;
Asked about Love, Altman responded by saying that he&rsquo;s never had conversations with him or his representation about a buyout and doesn&rsquo;t anticipate it happening. He did however share that he and the 35-year-old have talked about making a sacrifice and staying ready when his chance to play comes again. Altman feels he&rsquo;ll have that opportunity at some point this season.
After striking a rhythm over the last week, Altman is pleased with what he&rsquo;s seen from this current Cavs rotation that&rsquo;s added some bodies off the injured list. Ricky Rubio &mdash; whom he considers midseason acquisition-like &mdash; came back in the fold less than a month ago and is rounding into form with the bench bunch, and Dean Wade has been getting his legs back under him since returning on Jan. 21, providing meaningful spacing and defensive chops.
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Are the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cavs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cavs</a> finding stability? J.B. Bickerstaff, Evan Mobley, Jarrett Allen and Dean Wade weigh in (with hand signals and all 🎢). <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@basketbllnews</a> <a href="https://t.co/oTD1TBWkyl">pic.twitter.com/oTD1TBWkyl</a>
&mdash; Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpinDavies/status/1623719182910070786?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">February 9, 2023</a></blockquote>

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When the franchise pulled the trigger on the Mitchell blockbuster, it created a significant void left by now-Utah-Jazz-All-Star forward Lauri Markkanen. For much of the season, the wing has been anything but consistent and a point of contention around town. A whopping 18 different starting lineups is an obvious indication of that, which has included starts at small forward from LeVert, Okoro, Wade and Lamar Stevens. (That&rsquo;s due to injury and mixing and matching.)
However, to Altman&rsquo;s point of internal additions, Cleveland has seen a fresh version of Okoro emerge since the turn of the new year. From Jan. 4 and on &mdash; when &ldquo;Ice&rdquo; reentered the starting five &mdash; the burly third-year swingman over 19 games has averaged 9.1 points, 3.3 rebounds, 1.8 rebounds and 1.1 steals per contest on 58.5% from the field, including a scorching 49.0% clip beyond the arc.&nbsp;
Coupling his already-stout defense with the threat of knocking down triples in the corner &mdash; and playmaking for teammates off the catch when closed out on &mdash; has helped Okoro earn the Cavs&rsquo; trust.
&ldquo;I&rsquo;m so happy for Isaac, who puts the most work in that now he deserves that sorta 3-and-D position that we drafted him as, that can guard 1-through-4, that really puts pressure on the defense,&rdquo; Altman said. &ldquo;I think what you're seeing from us and from Isaac specifically is a dude that, right away, you feel that defense as soon as you get across half-court, or you want to take a shooter out and he's making you catch 40 feet out. That sets the tone for your defense, and he does that remarkably well. And now, he's hitting the three-ball and giving space to our guards, which we really need.&rdquo;
It also played a factor in Altman avoiding a potential disruption in Okoro&rsquo;s rhythm.
&ldquo;Obviously, everybody wants more shooting. It's something I looked at. But I also know... where are those minutes gonna go to?&rdquo; Altman argued. &ldquo;And that starting five, which has been really good with Isaac Okoro, who are you taking off the floor there when that group as a starting five is a plus-7.3 net rating with a substantial size now? Who are you taking off the floor there, right?
&ldquo;Between him, Dean, Cedi [Osman], we always wanted to hopefully have that be internal and not use more assets to go outside and hope it works. That's the other part too is, at the deadline, you're making these deals and hoping that it fits. You're ingratiating a new person into this system, everybody has to adapt around this person, you have to change the way you play a little bit to accentuate their positives. Keeping the continuity and letting the internal growth happen, I think, was a big part of (standing pat). And seeing those signs certainly gave us pause to... Isaac's only 22 years old, and he's getting better every single day. Let's let that play out.&rdquo;
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Flexibility is still present in Cleveland&rsquo;s books despite being over the salary cap. Altman noted how Mobley still being on his rookie-scale deal will allow the Cavs to re-sign LeVert and Love and use their mid-level exception if they choose. There are also second-round picks at their disposal, and if Thursday taught us anything, it&rsquo;s that they can be quite valuable.
Mitchell and Garland are meshing well with one another as the games pass, Mobley and Jarrett Allen have not shown signs of slowing down and Okoro is coming into his own. Rubio, LeVert, Wade and Osman have had their moments individually and are looking to put it all together to bolster the bench production. As long as the team can stay away from the injury bug, with a softer schedule in the second half of the season, there&rsquo;s no reason to expect any kind of decline. &nbsp; The overlying theme of the Cavs' strategy at this point? If it ain&rsquo;t broke, don&rsquo;t fix it.

Spencer Davies summarizes Cavaliers president Koby Altman's first press conference of the season after a quiet trade deadline.

Koby Altman counting on Cavaliers' continuity, growth from within

LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Shahada Wells scored 17 points as No. 14 TCU beat No. 2 Kansas 83-60 on Saturday in one of the worst losses in Bill Self&rsquo;s 20-year coaching career with the Jayhawks.
The loss snapped a 16-game winning streak at home for Kansas and was the second-largest home loss under Self. The Jayhawks (15-3, 5-2 Big 12), who lost 83-82 in overtime at Kansas State on Tuesday, had not lost consecutive games in the state since 1989 &mdash; against K-State and Missouri.
Kansas trailed by 10 at halftime and never closed the gap within single digits. TCU extended the lead to as many as 24 points. The Jayhawks shot only 32.1% in the second half.
TCU (15-4, 4-3 Big 12), which shot 54.4% (31 of 57) from the field, got 15 points from Mike Miles Jr. and 11 from Damion Baugh.
NO. 4 ALABAMA 85, MISSOURI 64
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) &mdash; Noah Clowney and Mark Sears each scored 17 points, and Alabama remained undefeated against unranked teams this season.
Freshman Brandon Miller added 15 points and eight rebounds for Alabama (17-2, 7-0 Southeastern Conference), and reserve Jahvon Quinterly scored 13 points. Clowney also had 14 rebounds, and Sears finished with eight rebounds and three steals.
Isiaih Mosley led Missouri (14-5, 3-4) with 19 points. Mohamed Diarra had eight points and 12 rebounds.
NO. 11 ARIZONA 58, NO. 5 UCLA 52
TUSCON, Ariz. (AP) &mdash; Oumar Ballo scored 16 points, Azuolas Tubelis had a double-double and Arizona withstood a late rally to end UCLA&rsquo;s 14-game winning streak.
The Wildcats (17-3, 5-3 Pac-12) took a 56-44 lead on Ballo&rsquo;s alley-oop dunk with 2:07 left. But the Bruins (17-3, 8-1) fought back, creating four straight turnovers to pull within 56-52. UCLA then blocked consecutive shots but couldn&rsquo;t convert on two shots of its own. Arizona&rsquo;s Pelle Larsson hit two free throws with 0.9 seconds to close it out.
Tyger Campbell led the Bruins with 13 points and Jaime Jaquez Jr. added 12 with 11 rebounds.
NO. 6 GONZAGA 99, PACIFIC 90
STOCKTON, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Drew Timme scored 24 of his career-high 38 points in the second half, including 18 straight points during one stretch, and Gonzaga pulled away in the closing minutes.
Timme made 17 of 23 shots and almost all of them within a couple feet of the rim. Anton Watson added 16 points and 13 rebounds for Gonzaga (17-4, 6-1 WCC). Rasir Bolton added 16 points for the Bulldogs, who had won their previous three road games in conference play by a combined eight points, and Julian Strawther had 15.
Jordan Ivy-Curry led five Pacific players in double figures with 17 points. Nick Blake scored 16 before fouling out. Keylan Boone finished with 15, Luke Avdalovic added 13 and Judson Martindale finished with 12. Pacific (10-12, 3-4) made eight 3-pointers in the first half and was tied at 47 at halftime, but the Tigers were just 1 of 8 from deep in the second half.
NO. 7 TEXAS 69, WEST VIRGINIA 61
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) -- Marcus Carr scored 19 of his 23 points in the second half to lead Texas.
Dylan Disu added 13 points before fouling out, and Christian Bishop and Tyrese Hunter scored 11 apiece for the Longhorns (16-3, 5-2 Big 12), who bounced back from a double-digit loss at No. 12 Iowa State on Wednesday.
The Mountaineers (11-8, 1-6) had several players in early foul trouble. Kedrian Johnson had a career-high 22 points, but his teammates fell flat in the second half against the Longhorns.
NO. 8 XAVIER 95, GEORGETOWN 82
CINCINNATI (AP) &mdash; Zach Freemantle tied a career-high with 30 points and Colby Jones had 20 as Xavier handed Georgetown its 29th straight Big East loss.
Adam Kunkel scored 14 points to help the Musketeers (16-4, 8-1 Big East) bounce back from a 73-72 loss at DePaul on Wednesday.
Primo Spears scored a career-high 37 points and Akok Akok had 14 for the Hoyas (5-15, 0-9 Big East), who have lost 10 straight. Spears&rsquo; previous high was 34 against LaSalle on March 5, 2022.
NO. 9 TENNESSEE 77, LSU 56
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) &mdash; Josiah-Jordan James scored a season-high 22 points and Tennessee defeated LSU, which has lost six straight.
James, who missed eight games in November and December due to injury, made his second straight start for the Volunteers (16-3, 6-1 Southeastern Conference). Playing 31 minutes, James was 9-of-16 from the field and matched his career-high with four 3-pointers.
Tennessee point guard Zakai Zeigler had 12 points and 10 assists, which tied his career high. Julian Phillips and Tyreke Key each had 10 points.
KJ Williams led LSU (12-7, 1-6) with 16 points. Trae Hannibal added 10 points. The Tigers committed 19 turnovers which resulted in 33 Volunteers points.
NO. 10 VIRGINIA 76, WAKE FOREST 67
WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Armaan Franklin scored 18 of his 25 points during the first half and Virginia survived blowing nearly all of a 19-point lead to beat Wake Forest.
Kihei Clark added 12 points despite getting into foul trouble for the Cavaliers (15-3, 7-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). But it was a day of wild swings for Virginia, who went from missing its first eight shots to suddenly being unable to miss to go up 34-15 &mdash; only to see the Demon Deacons push back to within a single point with 8 1/2 minutes left.
Damari Monsanto had a career-high 25 points for the Demon Deacons (14-6, 6-3), highlighted by making 7 of 15 3-pointers.
OKLAHOMA STATE 61, NO. 12 IOWA STATE 59
STILLWATER, Okla. (AP) &mdash; Avery Anderson scored 18 points, including the go-ahead free throws, and Oklahoma State defeated Iowa State for its first win over a ranked team this season.
Kalib Boone added 13 points for the Cowboys (11-8, 3-4 Big 12), who won their second straight game.
Osun Osunniyi scored 15 points and Gabe Kalscheur added 14 for Iowa State (14-4, 5-2), which had won seven of its last eight games. Cyclones sharpshooter Caleb Grill spent most of the second half on the bench wearing a back brace and wasn&rsquo;t in the game in the closing minutes.
NO. 13 KANSAS STATE 68, TEXAS TECH 58
MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) &mdash; Markquis Nowell had 23 points, eight rebounds and five assists in Kansas State&rsquo;s win over Texas Tech.
Keyontae Johnson had 15 points and 11 rebounds for the Wildcats (17-2, 6-1 Big 12), who won for the 11th time in 12 games. Ismael Massoud scored 12 points.
Pop Isaacs and De&rsquo;Vion Harmon each scored 13 points for Texas Tech (10-9, 0-7), which shot 32.4% (23 for 71) from the field.
NO. 16 AUBURN 81, SOUTH CAROLINA 66
COLUMBIA, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Johni Broome had a season-high 27 points and 11 rebounds as Auburn took control late in the opening half to run past struggling South Carolina.
Broome&rsquo;s performance helped the Tigers to their fifth straight win and offset a career-best 30 points from Gamecocks&rsquo; freshman Gregory &ldquo;GG&rdquo; Jackson II.
The 6-foot-10 Broome took full advantage of South Carolina&rsquo;s undersized interior for the Tigers (16-3, 6-1 Southeastern Conference). He hit 12 of his 17 shots in 30 minutes for his sixth double-double this season and fifth against an SEC opponent.
Meechie Johnson was the only other player for South Carolina (8-11, 1-5) in double figures with 11 points.
DUKE 68, NO. 17 MIAMI
DURHAM, N.C. (AP) &mdash; Kyle Filipowski had 17 points and 14 rebounds and Jeremy Roach scored 14 points in his first game in more than two weeks to lift Duke over Miami.
Tyrese Proctor had 11 points and Dariq Whitehead added 10 points for the Blue Devils (15-4, 5-3 Atlantic Coast Conference), who played their first game of the season without a national ranking.
Jordan Miller&rsquo;s 19 points and Nijel Pack&rsquo;s 18 were tops for Miami (15-4, 6-3), which has lost three of its last five games.
NO. 18 CHARLESTON 87, NORTHEASTERN 61
BOSTON (AP) &mdash; Ben Burnham scored 15 points, Pat Robinson III added 14 and Ryan Larson had 12 to lead Charleston to its 20th win in a row.
The Cougars (21-1, 9-0 Colonial Athletic Association) scored 13 straight points in the first half to pull away and extend the longest active winning streak in the nation. They have not lost since the second game of the season, to then-No. 1 North Carolina on Nov. 11, climbing to their highest ranking in The Associated Press Top 25 since 1999.
Chris Doherty had 11 points and 13 rebounds and Jared Turner also scored 11 for Northeastern (8-11, 4-4). The Huskies haven&rsquo;t beat a Top 25 team since 2015.
NO. 19 CLEMSON 51, VIRGINIA TECH 50
CLEMSON, S.C. (AP) &mdash; Hunter Tyson&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 12 seconds left lifted Clemson to a dramatic victory over Virginia Tech.
Tyson caught a pass just left of the key, took a look at at the basket and let it fly. The crowd exploded as the ball went through and the Tigers (16-4, 8-1 Atlantic Coast Conference) continued their unexpected run atop the ACC.
PJ Hall led Clemson with 20 points and eight rebounds.
Grant Basile led the Hokies (11-8, 1-7) with 13 points.
NO. 20 MARQUETTE 74, SETON HALL 53
NEWARK, N.J. (AP) &mdash; Kam Jones scored 22 points, Oso Ighodaro had 18 on 7-for-7 shooting and Marquette beat Seton Hall.
Marquette (16-5, 8-2 Big East) shot 54% (29 for 54) from the field in its second straight win since an 80-76 loss to Xavier last weekend.
Kadary Richmond led Seton Hall (12-9, 5-5) with 10 points and five assists. The Pirates committed a season-high 26 turnovers.
NO. 21 BAYLOR 62, OKLAHOMA 60
NORMAN, Okla. (AP) &mdash; Jalen Bridges scored 11 points and hit a trio of game-turning 3-pointers in the final five minutes as Baylor rallied to hold off Oklahoma.
Adam Flagler had 16 points and five assists, and Keyonte George added 11 points as Baylor (14-5, 4-3 Big 12) won its fourth straight game after opening conference play with three straight losses and briefly dropping out of The Associated Press Top 25.
Jalen Hill had 17 points and nine rebounds, while Tanner Groves added 16 points, nine rebounds and three blocked shots for the Sooners (12-7, 2-5).
NO. 22 PROVIDENCE 75, DEPAUL 64
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) &mdash; Noah Locke had a career-high 29 points, including seven 3-pointers, to help Providence fend off DePaul.
Bryce Hopkins added 20 points and 11 rebounds as the Friars (15-5, 7-2 Big East) snapped a two-game losing skid and improved to 11-0 at home. They are 2-2 without point guard Jared Bynum, who missed his fourth consecutive game with a torso injury.
The Blue Demons (9-11, 3-6) came in fresh off a home victory over eighth-ranked Xavier. But they dropped their sixth straight road game and are now 0-4 in conference games away from home. Umjoja Gibson had 16 points and five assists for DePaul and Da&rsquo;Sean Nelson added 13 points.
NO. 24 FLORIDA ATLANTIC 67, UTEP 59
EL PASO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Johnell Davis scored 20 points on 6-for-9 shooting and Florida Atlantic extended its program record for consecutive wins to 18.
Davis hit 2 of 3 attempts from 3-point distance and was perfect on six shots from the line for FAU (19-1, 9-0 Conference USA). Vladislav Goldin finished with 11 points, six rebounds and three blocks for the Owls.
Calvin Solomon finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Tae Hardy also scored 16 points for UTEP (11-9, 4-5). Mario McKinney Jr. added 11 points, seven rebounds and two steals.
NO. 25 ARKANSAS 69, OLE MISS 57
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. (AP) &mdash; Anthony Black scored 17 points, reserve Joseph Pinion had 13 and Arkansas snapped a four-game losing streak by topping Mississippi.
Only nine teams in Division I had made fewer 3-pointers than Arkansas (13-6, 2-5 Southeastern Conference) this season, but the Razorbacks tied a season high by making eight from beyond the arc. They led by as many as 21 points.
Pinion and Devo Davis each made three 3s. Davis had 16 points and Jordan Walsh finished with 13.
Ole Miss (9-10, 1-6) committed 17 turnovers. The Rebels had six giveaways in the first six minutes of the second half, helping Arkansas extend its three-point halftime lead to 11 at the first media timeout after the break.

A roundup of Saturday's top-25 action in men's college basketball includes a TCU rout of the second-ranked Jayhawks on the road.

No. 14 TCU blows out No. 2 Kansas in Allen Fieldhouse

NEWARK, N.J. (AP) &mdash; KC Ndefo grabbed a rebound and made a follow-up layup with 1.6 seconds remaining to give Seton Hall a 67-66 come-from-behind win over No. 15 UConn on Wednesday night.
Ndefo grabbed his eighth rebound of the game and scored the decisive points as he was fouled on the play. He missed the ensuing free throw, but helped Seton Hall rally from a 17-point first-half deficit. He finished with 14 points.
Kadary Richmond had a game-high 18 points and 10 rebounds for Seton Hall (12-8, 5-4 Big East)
Adama Sanogo had 16 points and five rebounds and Jordan Hawkins added 13 points and six rebounds for UConn (15-5, 4-5), which was without coach Dan Hurley and associate head coach Kimani Young due to the coronavirus.
DEPAUL 73, NO. 8 XAVIER 72
CHICAGO (AP) &mdash; Umoja Gibson scored 22 points, Javan Johnson added 16 and DePaul surprised Xavier.
The Musketeers (15-4, 7-1 Big East) came in rolling with 11 straight wins &mdash; their best run since the 2015-16 team got off to a 12-0 start. But they came up short against the Blue Demons (9-10, 3-5).
DePaul led by seven with about eight minutes remaining and made just enough plays to come away with its first win over a top-10 team since beating No. 5 Butler exactly three years earlier at Wintrust Arena.
Zach Freemantle had 18 points and 12 rebounds for Xavier. Jack Nunge finished with 16 points and 13 rebounds. But Big East scoring leader Souley Boum scored a season-low four.
NO. 10 VIRGINIA 78, VIRGINIA TECH 68
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. (AP) &mdash; Kihei Clark had 20 points and became Virginia&rsquo;s career victories leader as a player with No. 111 as the Cavaliers handed Virginia Tech its sixth straight loss.
Armaan Franklin added 15 points and Jayden Gardner 12 for the Cavaliers (14-3, 6-2 Atlantic Coast Conference). Clark was tied with Mamadi Diane (2017-20) on the overall victories list and with 64 career ACC wins.
Darius Maddox led the Hokies (11-7, 1-6) with 13 points and Grant Basile had 12. Virginia Tech&rsquo;s losing streak has come winning 11 of its first 12 games.
WEST VIRGINIA 74, NO. 14 TCU 65
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. (AP) &mdash; Kedrian Johnson scored 20 points and West Virginia built a big early lead and outlasted TCU.
Jimmy Bell Jr. added 15 points and 12 rebounds for West Virginia (11-7, 1-5 Big 12), whose players slapped hands with the student section after breaking a five-game losing streak.
Mike Miles Jr. scored 21 points while Emanuel Miller and Damion Baugh had 13 apiece for TCU (14-4, 3-3), which has lost three of its last four after starting the season 13-1.
NO. 16 AUBURN 67, LSU 49
BATON ROUGE, La. (AP) &mdash; Wendell Green Jr. and Jaylin Williams each scored 14 points to lead Auburn to its fourth straight victory.
KJ Williams and Trae Hannibal scored 16 points apiece for LSU (12-6, 1-5 Southeastern Conference), which dropped its fifth straight conference game.
Auburn (15-3, 5-1) never trailed in the game and was only seriously threatened in the early minutes of the second half.
LSU never trailed by fewer than 12 points over the last 10 minutes of the game. After reducing its deficit to two points at 37-35, LSU made four field goals the rest of the game.
NO. 20 MARQUETTE 83, NO. 22 PROVIDENCE 75
MILWAUKEE (AP) &mdash; Kam Jones had 21 points and Tyler Kolek scored 19 as Marquette defeated Providence for its sixth victory in seven games.
Olivier-Maxence Prosper added 13 points for Marquette (15-5, 7-2 Big East). Kolek also had eight rebounds and six assists.
Bryce Hopkins had 19 points and 10 rebounds for the Friars (14-5, 6-2), who lost their second straight after a nine-game winning streak. Ed Croswell led Providence with 20 points, and Devin Carter had 18.
MISSOURI 79, NO. 25 ARKANSAS 76
COLUMBIA, Mo. (AP) &mdash; Kobe Brown scored 17 points and hit two free throws with 29 seconds to lift Missouri over Arkansas.
DeAndre Gholston added 16 points and Sean East II added 12 for the Tigers (14-4, 3-3 SEC), who avenged a 74-68 loss in Fayetteville on Jan. 4.
Davonte Davis scored 18 points and Ricky Council IV had 13 for Arkansas, which has lost four in a row. Anthony Black added 15 points for the Razorbacks (12-6, 1-5).

A recap of Wednesday night's men's college basketball action includes three top-15 upsets.

Seton Hall rallies from 17 down, beats No. 15 UConn 67-66

Since Nike made the decision to end its relationship with Kyrie Irving and <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-nike-employs-adl-tactics-as-they-officially-drop-kyrie-irving-etan-thomas-torraine-walker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discontinue his signature shoe</a> after he shared the documentary "Hebrews To Negroes," many brands have reportedly reached out to his camp to attempt to lure him into joining them &mdash; Adidas, New Balance and PUMA to name a few.&nbsp;
During a postgame conference while discussing being a shoe company free agent, the lone company Irving has publicly acknowledged as a possibility was SIA Collective. In addition, he explained that he is not in a rush and wants to take his time to find the right place so he doesn&rsquo;t duplicate a similar situation as the one he had with Nike, who he referred to as &ldquo;that other brand.&rdquo;&nbsp;
&ldquo;Number one, I&rsquo;m in no rush to make any business decisions right now&hellip;. I just want to take my time," Irving said on Dec. 28 after the Brooklyn Nets' win over the Atlanta Hawks. "In terms of SIA Collective &mdash; great brand, great brothers, great operation team behind the scenes. But again, I'm looking for a home where we can build a huge marketplace and I can have some ownership, and that takes time to build. So I&rsquo;m willing to stay patient, but work with people that are willing to work with me.
&ldquo;SIA Collective has been a great brand to converse with, but I don&rsquo;t want to settle with one. I think I just want to keep my options open, look for ownership and enjoy the free agency for a little bit. It&rsquo;s been a long time coming, and then, I think there are a lot of details that are going to come out in the future about what was actually going on. And I think once my platform is created, when I can do that, then we'll share that. But shout out to SIA Collective and everybody that's been recruiting me during the process. I&rsquo;m appreciative. But I&rsquo;m definitely not going to go back into a similar contract that I was in &mdash; or any type of situation or circumstance that I was in or similar to what I was at &mdash; with that other brand.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
Kyrie Irving was asked about his sneaker free agency &amp; touched upon what went wrong with Nike "There are a lot of details that are going to come out in the future about what was actually going on. I'm not going to go into a similar contract I was with at the other brand" <a href="https://t.co/K8AUxOEXnh">pic.twitter.com/K8AUxOEXnh</a>
&mdash; Nets Videos (@SNYNets) <a href="https://twitter.com/SNYNets/status/1608333645558816770?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 29, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Since then, many have been asking: Who is SIA Collective, and what are they about?&nbsp;
On <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/podcasts/the-rematch/episodes/basketballnews-com-episode-62-devlin-carter-talks-his-desire-to-partner-with-kyrie-irving,-owning-his-own-brand,-fashion,-more" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the latest episode of the The Rematch</a>, I had the opportunity to sit down with the founder of SIA Collective, Devlin Carter, who founded the company in 2019. SIA Collective, which stands for Somewhere in America, is an independent, Black-owned shoe and apparel company.
Almost immediately after Nike dropped the Nets star, Carter took to social media to make a public plea to Kyrie to sign with SIA Collective instead of Adidas or PUMA or New Balance or any of the other companies that have reached out following the Nike divorce. The main theme of his pitch is that he is open to offering Irving the very ownership that he expressed is his desire. In Carter's words: "When you have that nobody can drop you because they don&rsquo;t agree with something you do or say.&rdquo;&nbsp;
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During our interview, Carter detailed his meeting with Kyrie&rsquo;s entire team, and expressed why he feels SIA Collective would be the perfect fit for Irving.
Etan Thomas: So, you <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/Cly41bVvJvZ/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link" target="_blank" rel="noopener">made the video</a> initially after Nike decided to essentially drop Kyrie Irving making the plea to him to consider joining SIA Collective, and the response from the video was that a lot of people in the community started tagging Kyrie in your video to try to connect you with Kyrie, so walk us through what happened after that point.
Devlin Carter: :Sure. So after I made the video, I got a DM of Kyrie&rsquo;s agent Shetellia Riley Irving saying, 'Hey, send me an e-mail at your earliest convenience.' So I sent the e-mail and they responded asking when I was available for a Zoom call. I responded, 'Whenever you guys are, I&rsquo;m open. Whatever y&rsquo;all want (laughing). We can do it right now if you want.'
"So we had it scheduled for Friday &mdash; not this Friday that just passed, but the prior Friday. So we had that set up, and in between that meeting, I also sent them a shoe that we&rsquo;ve been working on called the EVO Bounce, which is a performance basketball shoe. So I sent them some images of it. I had my photo shop guy mock it up in a Brooklyn Nets design and put a No. 11 on it. And (Shetellia) hit me right back and asked, 'When could you get us this shoe?' So I explained to them that, right now, we were in the sole process. So we&rsquo;re making the sole and adding the technology to it, but I said, 'As soon as we&rsquo;re done, I&rsquo;ll send you as many samples as you need.'"
Etan: So they had a quick response?
Carter: "Yes, and I can tell by how quickly they responded that they liked the design of the shoe. That&rsquo;s one thing that I don&rsquo;t have any issues or concerns about is my ability to design a dope looking basketball shoe for Kyrie. So then, from there, we had the meeting on the Zoom call, and it&rsquo;s me, his agent Shetellia Riley Irving, Kyrie&rsquo;s dad (Drederick) and another gentleman who is Kyrie&rsquo;s brand manager. So we&rsquo;re all on the Zoom and Shetellia is quarterbacking the call. And she tells the gentlemen to tell me about themselves, so basically, they&rsquo;re pitching me. And I&rsquo;m thinking, 'Wow, I think I should be pitching myself to y&rsquo;all.'"
Etan: Right, right, but they&rsquo;re telling you about who they are.
Carter: "Yeah. So Kyrie&rsquo;s dad &mdash; super cool, super down to earth. He&rsquo;s telling me how he worked in finance and is from the Bronx. And the brand manager told me how he started with Kyrie and (how) he used to work with Nike, but left Nike to work solely with Kyrie, and how he helps his sister (Asia) with her branding and whatnot. And Shetellia tells me how she worked at BET and launching Power 105.1 (in New York). And then, they asked me how I started, my whole background in fashion design. Then, they started pitching questions."
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Etan: What were some of their questions?
Carter: "One of their questions was how long have I been doing this. They asked about my company and our sales, and I told them that I started in 2019 and we&rsquo;ve done over $40 million in sales really without any advertisement at all. I feel like spending money on advertisement doesn&rsquo;t really reach your core, and she liked that concept as well.&nbsp;
"They also asked me about technology, if I had any patents on technology. And I said, 'Right now, we actually do have a new foam that we&rsquo;re developing and it&rsquo;s just about done, so we&rsquo;ll be putting a patent on that.' But then, I was just honest with them and said, 'Listen, no matter what technology I design and I patent, (China companies) are going to steal it if they want to steal it; they steal Nike&rsquo;s stuff all the time. That&rsquo;s just the way it works. But I told (Irving's team) one thing you will not have to worry about is technology, and whatever he wants his shoe to feel like and whatever he wants in there, we can do it.&nbsp;
"Here&rsquo;s the thing &mdash; these avenues and all of this stuff have never been open to us. Because an athlete has always been just an endorser. So Nike&rsquo;s not going to take you to their factories and say, &ldquo;Yeah, this is where we get our air cushion and 'This is this and this is that, this is such and such who runs the factory and you can e-mail him at any time with any adjustments you want to make.' They&rsquo;re not going to want to give you that level of say in your signature shoe. They&rsquo;re going to keep that gate closed to you."
Etan: Right, and that was actually a thing because Kyrie reportedly wanted a say in the design of his shoe at Nike.
Carter: "Right, and I told them, 'I can open that gate for you.' My whole pitch with them at the end of the day was... I said, 'Listen, I&rsquo;m not doing this for the money. I&rsquo;m set for life. I own real estate, I&rsquo;m good, my kids are good. I&rsquo;m not doing it for that. I&rsquo;m doing this for the message that it sends. This is transcending if we could make this happen.' And who better to do this than a player like Kyrie? Because at the end of the day, Kobe [Bryant] wanted to do something like this. He wanted to start Mamba Sports; he did not want to be signed with Nike forever because he opened his eyes and saw that there was a better way to do this &mdash; ownership vs. being an employee.&nbsp;
Etan: Interesting. I didn&rsquo;t know that.
Carter: "Yeah, and it&rsquo;s not that only Nike can do this stuff. Look at D-Wade (Dwyane Wade) with Li-Ning; their shoes are outperforming Nike&rsquo;s shoes. Nike does not possess a monopoly on superior technology or anything. Technology is simply monetary, meaning anybody can get the technology if they have the money. The shoe just needs to be a good foam, you need to have a good shank plate and a good lockdown. That&rsquo;s really all a basketball shoe really needs, but we can take it to that next level and add the extra cushion and add the extra foam and add the custom orthotics. We have the capability to do all of that. But again, because we&rsquo;ve never been privy to this information, to us, it seems so foreign."
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Etan: I posted on social media that Adidas and PUMA and New Balance have reached out to Kyrie for potential sponsorship deals, and I posted it alongside an <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/nba-nike-employs-adl-tactics-as-they-officially-drop-kyrie-irving-etan-thomas-torraine-walker" target="_blank" rel="noopener">article I wrote for Basketball News</a> called, "Nike Employs ADL tactics as it officially drops Kyrie Irving." I tagged you in it, and I saw in the comments section that a lot of other people were tagging you in as well. You responded in the comment section:
<blockquote>
If you just want an endorsement deal&hellip;..then sign with whoever will pay you the most, but as soon as you say something they don&rsquo;t agree with, it&rsquo;s goodbye. But if you really wanna make a change and create a movement &hellip;.ownership is the only way.
</blockquote>
Can you expound on that?
Carter: "Basically, that&rsquo;s saying: Once you take that check, you&rsquo;re just an employee. There&rsquo;s no power in taking that check. These are the times where you take a chance. I&rsquo;ll explain that in my own story.
"I was in the military. I had already done 11 years. Most people who serve in the military, once you pass 10 years, you don&rsquo;t get out of the military because you only need two more transfers, then you get your retirement. But in my 11th year in the military, I was doing the custom shoes. I&rsquo;m going to the post office with 10 boxes of shoes that I customized for people, making... say $4,000 off of those custom shoes that I did. I&rsquo;m in the line and I&rsquo;m looking at the mail clerk. I&rsquo;m looking dead at him and he looks miserable, and I asked myself... there&rsquo;s no way that when he was a kid, he told his mom, 'I&rsquo;m going to grow up and I&rsquo;m going to sell stamps for a living.'
"No, that&rsquo;s just what life brings you, curveballs. You do what you gotta do to make ends meet, and much respect to everyone who is in a position where they have to do that. I didn&rsquo;t want to be someone who said to my kids, 'You can chase your dreams, you can be whatever you want, but I didn&rsquo;t do it. I didn&rsquo;t chase those dreams, I stayed at a job that I really don&rsquo;t want to do, but it pays the bills, I&rsquo;m comfortable, so I&rsquo;m going to stay here.' I didn&rsquo;t choose that. I started SIA Collective. I have the freedom I have always wanted, and I have never struggled. In fact, I am making more money than I have ever made in my life.
"Now, relating this to Kyrie &mdash; you&rsquo;re already set for life. What&rsquo;s another $11 million a year &mdash; which is what Nike paid him last year &mdash; going to really do for you when you can easily make that, and much more, as an owner of your own shoe and not be muzzled? Ownership vs. being just a worker. Without ownership, if he goes to Adidas, New Balance, PUMA or whoever, it will just be the same as his Nike experience. If you say or do something they don&rsquo;t like, they&rsquo;ll drop you.
"We should encourage looking outside for answers, that&rsquo;s all Kyrie was doing. The seeking of knowledge should never be punishment, but In order to really be free, ownership is the only way, and Kyrie can have that with SIA Collective."

Etan Thomas interviews SIA Collective founder Devlin Carter about his behind-the-scenes pitch to Kyrie Irving and his team to collab.

SIA Collective's Devlin Carter details meeting with Kyrie Irving’s team

MIAMI (AP) &mdash; Tyrese Haliburton hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds and finished with a career-high 43 points, helping the Indiana Pacers to a 111-108 win over the Miami Heat on Friday night.
Haliburton&rsquo;s winning shot with just over four seconds left was his team-record 10th 3-pointer of the game. He was coming off a 33-point game in a win at Boston on Wednesday.
Against the Heat he shot 14 for 20 from the field and 10 for 16 from long distance. Haliburton also earned a bit of redemption by overcoming his worst offensive outing of the season against Miami on Dec. 12, when he scored one point.
&ldquo;That was in my mind coming into today,&rdquo; Haliburton said. &ldquo;I knew I had to respond the right way if I want to be the player I think I am and others think I am.&rdquo;
The Heat rallied from a 12-point deficit early in the fourth quarter and tied it at 108 on Tyler Herro&rsquo;s 3-pointer with 10 seconds left.
Haliburton took the inbounds pass, then dribbled to his left and took an uncontested shot several feet behind the 3-point line.
&ldquo;Coaches drew up a good play and trusted me to make the shot,&rdquo; Haliburton said. &ldquo;That&rsquo;s my job, to help us win games. It&rsquo;s just exciting to share this moment with my teammates.&rdquo;
Buddy Hield finished with 21 points &mdash; all on 3-pointers &mdash; and Jalen Smith had 14 points and 11 rebounds for the Pacers.
&ldquo;Great players find a way to get that shot off,&rdquo; Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said of Haliburton&rsquo;s winner. &ldquo;He made a move that created a pocket of space and allowed him to get his feet set. I was standing right behind it and it looked good all the way.&rdquo;
Haliburton&rsquo;s week started with Knicks analyst Wally Szczerbiak, working for MSG Network, calling the Pacers guard &ldquo;Mr. Supposed Wannabe Fake All-Star.&rdquo; Szczerbiak later apologized for the comment. Haliburton has been on a tear since. He&rsquo;s averaging 38 points in the two games since Szczerbiak&rsquo;s line, with 16 3-pointers in those contests.
Herro scored 28 points, Kyle Lowry had 21 and Jimmy Butler 20 for Miami. Butler sat out the fourth quarter because of a sprained right ankle. The Heat&rsquo;s leading scorer sustained the injury in the first quarter and it began tightening up at halftime. He will be evaluated on Saturday, the Heat said.
&ldquo;My luck&rsquo;s not the greatest right now,&rdquo; said Butler, who missed Tuesday&rsquo;s home loss against Chicago because of a gastrointestinal illness. &ldquo;You&rsquo;ve got to take it in stride, man. It&rsquo;s part of this game, part of this league. But I&rsquo;ll be back.&rdquo;
The Heat have lost three of four at home.
Indiana led 100-88 after a 16-4 spurt early in the fourth quarter. Haliburton&rsquo;s jumper with 6:03 left capped the run.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t think it has anything to do with us but he&rsquo;s going to come in highly motivated,&rdquo; Heat coach Erik Spoelstra said of Haliburton&rsquo;s performance. &ldquo;And he did.&rdquo;
TIP-INS
Pacers: Haliburton&rsquo;s first five baskets were 3-pointers. His first field goal inside the arc was a 19-foot jumper early in the third quarter. ... Guard Aaron Nesmith (right ankle sprain) didn&rsquo;t play. The ex-Celtic scored 15 points in the Pacers&rsquo; 117-112 win at Boston on Wednesday.
Heat: The loss dropped Miami to 9-8 at home. The Heat had a 29-12 home record last season. &hellip; Bam Adebayo had 18 points and seven rebounds, ending his double-double string at four.
MORE LIKE IT
The Pacers reached 100 points for the 31st time this season. Their loss against Miami on Dec. 12 was the second game the Pacers were held under 100.
&nbsp;

Tyrese Haliburton finished with a career-high 43 points, helping the Indiana Pacers to a 111-108 win over the Miami Heat.

Haliburton hits winning 3, scores 43 as Pacers beat Heat

When Mike Brown was coaching in San Antonio under Gregg Popovich, he recalls a young, free-spirited Manu Ginobili, whose play would range from &ldquo;wow&rdquo; to &ldquo;doing some stuff that helped Pop get white hair quicker.&rdquo;&nbsp;
Now in the head seat with the Sacramento Kings, Brown sees a little bit of that in Malik Monk in the best of ways.
&ldquo;I'm not comparing him to Manu, so don't write this down at all,&rdquo; Brown said with a laugh. &ldquo;That's kind of Malik. He's gonna do more good than bad out there, so you gotta let 'em hoop. You've gotta let him feel his mojo and all that other stuff, and that's what I try to do.&rdquo;
Averaging career-bests of 14.5 points and 4.0 assists per game on a personal-high 60.1% True Shooting and <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/player/4279#tab-offensive_overview" target="_blank" rel="noopener">26.9% assist percentage</a>, Monk is playing with a palpable confidence and energy that has opened up parts of his skill set we haven&rsquo;t necessarily seen on a nightly basis since he came into the league.&nbsp;
He&rsquo;s found a rhythm as a playmaker, has continued to be a microwave scorer and, above all else, has not been pigeonholed.
&ldquo;Mike lets me be me, man. He just lets me go out there and play my game. He don't try to limit me to things,&rdquo; Monk told Basketball News. &ldquo;He'll show me when I miss somebody on the kick-out and things like that, but he doesn't limit me. I've been like this my whole life. I played point guard before I went to Kentucky, so I've been handling the ball for a little bit. So it's just him giving me the opportunity.&rdquo;
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Everybody knows he can put the ball in the bucket. It&rsquo;s how Monk is doing it, and of course, what he&rsquo;s doing to involve his teammates. While he has been more involved in pick-and-roll actions, it&rsquo;s the handoff possessions that jump off the page. With Domantas Sabonis at his disposal, Brown has doubled the average amount of those per game (1.42) from Malik&rsquo;s time in Los Angeles (0.71), per InStat.
Getting him moving on curls toward the ball and similar plays has resulted in the sixth-year guard putting it on the floor and naturally getting to the rim, or dishing it off to the next man for a better look.
&ldquo;First side, the defense is great. Second side, they relax a little bit. Third side, they're relaxing more. So we just try to move it, move the defense as much as possible,&rdquo; Monk explained. &ldquo;But they can't help off me as much 'cause I can shoot. They can't help off of Domas that much because he's a big threat rolling. So whatever they do is gonna be wrong, and I've just been making the right reads this year.&rdquo;
Candidly, Brown made it clear that he will not hesitate to pull Monk aside during those not-so-good moments too, as the 24-year-old is simultaneously turning it over twice a night through 24 games.&nbsp;
&ldquo;When you have a guy that's as talented as he is, he's gonna take some risk,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;He knows if he makes a mistake, I'mma yell at him, I'mma get on him, I'mma coach 'em. I said, 'Come on, you've been around me long enough where sometimes you've gotta let crap go through one ear and out the other. I know I'm the one on you, but that's how you've gotta survive in this business. That's how you thrive in this business. I gotta coach you and I will, but sometimes if you feel like you can make a play, go make a play.'&nbsp;And so, he knows that he's got that support from me, and vice-versa.
"So I think when a player feels that and really believes it, it just gives him more ability to be himself, which is go make plays for himself and others out on the floor.&rdquo;
Kings forward Harrison Barnes agrees with Brown&rsquo;s assessment.
&ldquo;I mean Malik, his energy is vital for us,&rdquo; Barnes said. &ldquo;There's some players who come in this league and... you can't necessarily put them in a role, you can't put them in a box. You kinda just roll the ball out there and pray it goes well.&nbsp;
&ldquo;And he's one of those guys that, for us, we just wanna give him just ultimate freedom, play through his mistakes. He brings so much energy for us, just a different look to our second unit. And I think that has become contagious.&rdquo;
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Monk is at his most dangerous on fast breaks. He likes to push the pace &ldquo;because we know a lot of teams don't like to get back in transition,&rdquo; and averages 1.24 points per possession in those scenarios.&nbsp;
The vast majority of his rapid play comes when he&rsquo;s playing alongside his friend, De'Aaron Fox. Before teaming up on the Kings, Monk and Fox were also backcourt partners on the Kentucky Wildcats in 2016-17. Monk has <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/player/1628370/passes-dash?dir=D&amp;sort=PASS&amp;PerMode=Totals" target="_blank" rel="noopener">passed to him more than any teammate by far</a> (147 times).
And together, they play at the highest pace on the team (108.21) &mdash; a mark that <a href="https://www.nba.com/stats/lineups/advanced?CF=MIN*GE*200&amp;GroupQuantity=2&amp;dir=D&amp;slug=advanced&amp;sort=PACE" target="_blank" rel="noopener">ranks 10th in the NBA</a> among duos with at least 200 minutes combined. As far as Monk is concerned, he and Fox have picked up where they left off in Lexington.
&ldquo;He was a big part [of me coming to Sacramento] 'cause we're so comfortable with each other and we know how to play off each other,&rdquo; Monk said. &ldquo;Yeah man, it's been working out for me.&rdquo;
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Good morning. I&rsquo;m still thinking about this pass from Malik Monk to De&rsquo;Aaron Fox. <a href="https://t.co/UNFLFRwkba">pic.twitter.com/UNFLFRwkba</a>
&mdash; Frankie Cartoscelli (@FCartoscelli3) <a href="https://twitter.com/FCartoscelli3/status/1599805025962053633?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 5, 2022</a></blockquote>

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On the opposite side of the coin, Monk has turned up the defensive pressure while sharing the floor with Sacramento&rsquo;s tenacious stopper, Davion Mitchell. In fact, he and the man they call &ldquo;Off Night&rdquo; own the Kings&rsquo; <a href="https://go.nba.com/uytkg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">best defensive rating on the team</a> (99.5) &mdash; the only duo allowing fewer than 100 points per 100 possessions.
&ldquo;Ah, that's hot,&rdquo; Monk reacted when Basketball News told him. &ldquo;I try to give Davion a lot of confidence, man, because he's the head of the snake, 'cause he's the point guard. He usually guards the best player. So however he guards is how the rest of us is gonna feed off of that. And I try to tell him that every game, every time we're on the court.&nbsp;So he just makes me go up a level. That's why I just try to force that [message] to him and I think that's why it's working for us.&rdquo;
A key cog in the bench bunch alongside him, Chimezie Metu has enjoyed the attitude Monk has brought into the locker room and on the floor.
&ldquo;He's great to be around. High energy. He's going out there being vocal, kinda keeping everybody's spirits up and it's just been great having him around,&rdquo; Metu told Basketball News. &ldquo;Personality-wise, he's kind of the guy that's been gluing everybody together. I feel like he has a great relationship with everybody on the team. Yeah man, he's fun to be around and fun to play with.
&ldquo;It's been fun playing with Malik and Davion and TD (Terence Davis) and also Trey [Lyles] at times. I feel like during practice and stuff, we're usually like the second unit that kinda does everything together, so we're always laughing, joking. But I think at the end of the day, we understand the task at hand because I feel like our job is to either keep the lead going or give us the energy to bring us back into a game. So either way, we have to have high energy at all times. I feel like we've been doing a great job of that.&rdquo;
Brown has his own way of describing Monk&rsquo;s effect on his ball club.
&ldquo;You know, he's a free spirit. Malik is what I call a connector,&rdquo; Brown said. &ldquo;He just brings people together and he uplifts people all the time. He talks to everybody and he jokes with everybody, he touches everybody and everybody on the team has respect for him &mdash; not just for him as a person, but also they know that when he speaks, he knows what he's talking about because he's right a lot of the times.&nbsp;
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&ldquo;Malik is what I call a connector &mdash; he just brings people together. He uplifts people all the time &hellip; and everybody on the team has respect for him.&rdquo; Coach Brown on what <a href="https://twitter.com/AhmadMonk?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AhmadMonk</a> brings to the squad on and off the court 👑 <a href="https://t.co/bwEuauVWBc">pic.twitter.com/bwEuauVWBc</a>
&mdash; Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) <a href="https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings/status/1601365754313596929?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 9, 2022</a></blockquote>

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&ldquo;He's a talented, talented basketball player, and sometimes, especially when they're young like he is &mdash; he's young, but he has an old soul and he understands what's right, what's wrong and the right way to do things and all that.&rdquo;
Altogether, the 24-year-old has found a niche and a comfortability with this Kings team. A lot of that has to do with a consistent role with consistent minutes, which he has found the last couple of seasons between L.A. and Sacramento as opposed to the sporadic nature in the past when he was with the Charlotte Horntes.
&ldquo;It's the biggest relief, man,&rdquo; Monk admitted. &ldquo;I know when I'mma go in, I know when I'mma come out, I know when I'mma go back in again. So it's just a relief, and it just gives me way more confidence to go out there and play my game.&rdquo;
From a young age, Monk has always been passionate about his apparel. He told Basketball News that when he was a kindergartner living with his mom, his older brother Marcus &mdash; a former NFL wide receiver who played for the Chicago Bears &mdash; always rocked BAPE clothing line. Malik latched on to style because of that and has kept up to date with the latest fashion ever since.
On Friday, Monk came into Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse wearing a fuzzy skeleton sweater with black paints, matching shoes and some bling to top it off. Pregame, his teammates tried to figure out what brand he was going with.
&ldquo;Look man, he spends a lot of money on his clothes. They better look good. That's all I'mma say,&rdquo; Metu said with a chuckle.
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<a href="https://t.co/Ol8wlMxDpz">pic.twitter.com/Ol8wlMxDpz</a>
&mdash; Sacramento Kings (@SacramentoKings) <a href="https://twitter.com/SacramentoKings/status/1601371494747369473?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 10, 2022</a></blockquote>

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&ldquo;If my fit not as up to how I want it, man, I feel like I'll go out there and be a little down. But I haven't done that this year. All my fits been pretty decent so far. Yeah man, it's always 'look good, feel good, play good,'&rdquo; Monk said.
Clearly, Malik Monk has been a positive influence in Sacramento. It&rsquo;s a big reason why they&rsquo;re in the thick of it in the Western Conference &mdash; and that doesn&rsquo;t seem to be changing anytime soon.
&ldquo;I just try to bring everybody life, man,&rdquo; Monk said. &ldquo;Losing streaks, it's gonna happen. It's a game of runs, especially in basketball. So I just try to make everybody feel the same every day. 'Cause we know we're gonna be together for the rest of the year, so I just try to make sure we're like this instead of like that.&rdquo;

Spencer Davies dives into Malik Monk's positive effect on the Sacramento Kings — on and off the floor — in an exclusive interview.

The Connector: Malik Monk's infectious energy breathes life into Kings

A reporter who typically despises hot takes actually has one begging to be written: Jarrett Allen is the straw that stirs the Cleveland Cavaliers' drink, and he is their most important player.
Somewhat buried beneath Tuesday's nationally-televised marquee showdown between Donovan Mitchell and a returning LeBron James was Allen&rsquo;s comeback to the Cavs. He&rsquo;d been missing for the last five games with a bothered back. In his first game since Nov. 25, the talented center made his first 10 shots, recording a 24-point, 11-rebound, 3-steal stat line in over 38 minutes of action.
Although Evan Mobley gets valuable reps as a ball-handling, jump-shooting, screen-slipping 5-man during his absences &mdash; and what a whale of a job he&rsquo;s done showing off his toolkit &mdash; Allen has a certain presence about him that makes him just as important on the offensive end of the floor as the defensive end.
Prior to Cleveland&rsquo;s road trip that started in Milwaukee, Basketball News <a href="https://twitter.com/SpinDavies/status/1595651027667124225?s=20&amp;t=O06c1WaqkEdZPiNWTGSLGw" target="_blank" rel="noopener">asked Cavs head coach J.B. Bickerstaff about Allen&rsquo;s smarts and knowing opponents&rsquo; tendencies</a> on both sides of the floor. Revisiting that concept before Jarrett&rsquo;s eventual return to the court, Bickerstaff added to his previous response to illustrate what he does to open things up for his teammates.
&ldquo;He plays with the vertical spacing that changes the game for everybody. Teams have to make decisions on who's going to stop him at the rim,&rdquo; Bickerstaff said before the Cavs' 116-102 win over the Los Angeles Lakers. &ldquo;Typically the only guy who's out there that can do that is the big, so now, that clears a lane for your guards who are penetrating, who are attacking. And if you want to bring in a third guy and try to stop him early, that creates room for shooters on the perimeter. So teams have to make adjustments and they have to make decisions when Jarrett is on the floor, because that's going to create opportunities for the other guys that are around him.&rdquo;
Vertical spacing. You don&rsquo;t hear that term too often. So many people look for big men to spread the floor in the modern NBA, expanding their shooting range and forcing defenders to have to pay attention on the outside to free-up space to attack. That isn&rsquo;t Allen&rsquo;s version. His is quite the opposite, in fact, as he draws defenders in, leaving Cleveland&rsquo;s perimeter players with good looks or blow-bys for better ones.
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s a thing just in terms in lobs if my man steps up, then he can throw the lob to me and finish it,&rdquo; Allen said after the victory over L.A. &ldquo;A lot of guys can jump in the league but being down there, ready for the lob, I don&rsquo;t even know how to explain it honestly, I&rsquo;m trying to make something up (laughs). Just a thing in the league with lobs and being able to be there whenever your man helps off you."
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Keeping this going, I finally got around to asking Jarrett Allen himself about this concept. Of course in typical JA fashion, it ended with a laugh: "I'm trying to make something up." <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cavs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cavs</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@basketbllnews</a> <a href="https://t.co/vbfglkayGm">https://t.co/vbfglkayGm</a> <a href="https://t.co/EW45xj6uSo">pic.twitter.com/EW45xj6uSo</a>
&mdash; Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpinDavies/status/1600354444851322880?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">December 7, 2022</a></blockquote>

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&ldquo;Just try to find the open area," Allen followed up regarding his offensive approach. "D.G. (Darius Garland) has the amazing floater and Donovan has his pull-up game. My man is going to help and try to contest it. I&rsquo;m just trying to get into the open window where they can find me and dish it to me at the last second.&rdquo;
What Allen is known for is his screen-setting abilities, spearheading a pick-and-roll dynamite duo with both Mitchell and Garland. So when opposing teams send doubles at whichever ball-handler is operating the offense, it leaves just Allen and the basket. Again, an opportunity to cram it or spray it to the corners.
&ldquo;I don&rsquo;t really know where to start. I think the biggest thing is he can do it all,&rdquo; Mitchell said after a win over the Portland Trail Blazers on Nov. 23. &ldquo;He can set hard screens. He can slip out of screens. You can hit him on a half-roll and a lob. You can pass to him and he&rsquo;s able to make a post move and finish. There&rsquo;s just so much to his game that adds onto mine&hellip; There&rsquo;s so much we can do &ndash; him and I together.&rdquo;
&ldquo;I mean, he's huge. He's a big guy. I mean, when he makes contact, he's making real contact,&rdquo; Garland stated at a preseason shootaround on Oct. 12. &ldquo;So I have a lot of room coming downhill and can get to any of my spots. And then he's just right on the rim. A lot of bigs don&rsquo;t want to have their man score, so a lot of bigs like going back to JA on the roll, so that leaves a lot of wide-open layups. When they do help, it leaves the easy lob, it&rsquo;s two points for sure.&rdquo;
Considering both of the Cavs guards are in the NBA&rsquo;s top-15 in getting doubled, it&rsquo;s always helpful to have that kind of option in the middle of the floor to make something happen. And sometimes, you&rsquo;ll see Allen and Mobley execute a high-low to bend the floor.
&ldquo;It goes both ways. Sometimes he's passing it to me, and sometimes I'm passing it to him. We just look out for each other,&rdquo; Mobley said after the Portland win. &ldquo;I feel like we're building that chemistry as well and getting better at it in on a game-to-game basis.&rdquo;
&ldquo;It&rsquo;s super cool to see, been saying it for years now,&rdquo; Garland said following a Nov. 18 victory against the Charlotte Hornets. &ldquo;It&rsquo;s super cool that they have that connection on the floor. The lobs from the 5-man to the 4-man is kind of crazy and it&rsquo;s super cool to see. A lot of teams don&rsquo;t really do that. We feel comfortable when they have the ball in their hands. When our backcourt is getting trapped, we know we can hit them and they can make the right play.&rdquo;
Mitchell has the &ldquo;ultimate confidence&rdquo; in those scenarios.
&ldquo;Teams might resort to blitzing us in certain situations and when you have an outlet, not only just have the outlet, but be able to make plays for himself, for others in pass and certain things. It's kind of like pick your poison, you know?&rdquo; Mitchell added recently. &ldquo;You have us two, then you have those two on top of that who are able to get in there and make plays for everybody."
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There just seems to be a more natural feel to Cleveland&rsquo;s half-court offense when Allen is there &mdash; just going by the eye test. Referring to advanced stats, the Cavs&rsquo; effective field goal percentage and free-throw rate <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/player/4337/onoff#tab-team_efficiency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">drops by 3.8% and 2.1% respectively</a>. That ranks in the 89th and 69th percentiles among his peers, per Cleaning the Glass.
Lineup data via PBP Stats helps show his effect on those around him. In the 176 minutes that Garland, Mitchell and Mobley have shared without Allen on the floor, their <a href="https://www.pbpstats.com/wowy-combos/nba?TeamId=1610612739&amp;Season=2022-23&amp;SeasonType=Regular%2BSeason&amp;PlayerIds=1628386,1628378,1629636,1630596" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Offensive Rating as a trio dips by nearly 6 points per 100 possessions</a>. (Ironically, their Net Rating is better &mdash; Mobley is an incredibly versatile defender, and Lamar Stevens has done an admirable job as the team&rsquo;s starting 3).&nbsp;
According to <a href="https://nbacourtoptix.nba.com/en/metrics/ball-screens" target="_blank" rel="noopener">NBA.com&rsquo;s Optix figures</a>, the Cavs are scoring a whopping 1.47 points per possession when Allen sets a screen for Mitchell (9.7 times per game) and 1.13 PPP when he does it for Garland (11.0).&nbsp;
&ldquo;I mean, it, by the numbers, is elite pairings. It's not just as easy as it may look. It's more scientific than we give it credit for,&rdquo; Bickerstaff said Tuesday. &ldquo;Understanding angles, understanding timing, understanding defenses and rotations &mdash; it's calculated. I think from both standpoints, Jarrett has the calculations down, the guards have the calculations down. It's just more so about them playing more together and the more they play together, the more lethal it's gonna be.&rdquo;
&ldquo;With Donovan, I like to flip the screens more,&rdquo; Allen said a couple of weeks ago at a morning practice. &ldquo;He likes getting downhill. I&rsquo;m not going to give away all the secrets, but he likes getting downhill and going a certain way. So instead of setting it how I would for Darius, I might flip the screen for Donovan.&rdquo;
Allen is cerebral, physical and, most impressively, a presence that elevates his Cavs teammates to the incredible performances we&rsquo;ve seen on a nightly basis.
&ldquo;I mean, he's in the right place the majority of the time. It's a simple concept, but he always goes where the defense isn&rsquo;t,&rdquo; Bickerstaff said after the Cavs' win over Portland. &ldquo;And a lot of guys have a hard time figuring that out. But it's one of the things that he does, like for a big guy who's not a three-point threat, how do you create space for your teammates, in small spaces? And I think Jarrett does a great job of just finding those gaps and where to position himself where he creates enough space where big guys have to make tough decisions. Do you stop the ball, or do you give up a dunk? A lot of times you look out there and big guys are just in the way and it ruins the spacing for everybody else. But he does a great job of creating room for those guys to operate.&rdquo;
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At this point, we all know about his abilities as an anchor on defense, and his coach and teammates continue to demand recognition as a DPOY candidate. It's not just about the blocked and altered shots, but more significantly, the freedom it gives his teammates to put more pressure on the ball and roam around.
&ldquo;When he's in there, he usually protects rim and I just help him. So I have a lot of more freelance ability to really move around and help where I see fit, and I feel like I play that role really well,&rdquo; Mobley said last month after the Charlotte game.
Mitchell and Garland have highlighted this time and time again throughout the season.
&ldquo;You know, when you've got guards who are dynamic like Trae [Young], Dejounte [Murray] getting downhill, all you've gotta do as a guard is kinda just stay in space and kinda funnel them down there to both Ev and JA. But you noticed it when JA was out, things weren't too great, and it's tough just to be down there when it's Ev and say, a Lamar. Lamar is not... we know we're not 7 feet,&rdquo; Mitchell said on Nov. 21 after beating the Atlanta Hawks. &ldquo;So being able to have two of those guys down there [is] the foundations of our defense. But definitely with JA back blocking shots, deterring shots and even forcing guys to travel because they don't wanna go up there for a shot &mdash; I think that's something that, you don't notice it on the stat sheet, but you see it when you're watching the game, and they bring it every night.&rdquo;
&ldquo;Everybody says that he's the Defensive-Player-of-the-Year-caliber player and our team thinks the same of him. Just having like an agility 7-footer like that, it helps a lot,&rdquo; Garland said after defeating the Blazers. &ldquo;I mean, JA is super smart. He sees everything early, he just knows everything, like really early. So, he sees it and just reacts really quickly so it's good to see.&rdquo;
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-theme="dark">
It amazes me how Jarrett Allen knows what teams are going to do before they do it on both ends of the floor. I wanted Darius Garland and Donovan Mitchell to provide their perspective. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cavs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cavs</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/basketbllnews?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@basketbllnews</a> <a href="https://t.co/87FN2jSN2e">pic.twitter.com/87FN2jSN2e</a>
&mdash; Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpinDavies/status/1595626743691644928?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Allen keeps defenders from getting second chances too, which is a part of defense that might not be appreciated as much. But the defensive metrics in general match what his teammates say about him.
According to Cleaning the Glass, Cleveland allows 7.8 points more per 100 possessions when he&rsquo;s not on the floor. And when he is on the court, the Cavs&rsquo; Defensive Rating as a team is just 104.4. That puts him in <a href="https://cleaningtheglass.com/stats/player/4337/onoff#tab-team_efficiency" target="_blank" rel="noopener">the 98th percentile in the NBA</a>, and it shows what leading by example truly means.
&ldquo;That's what Jarrett does. We go through our expectations of guys, like, that's his way of leading is a willing to do all the things that most people aren't willing to do. And that forces everybody else around him to do the same,&rdquo; Bickerstaff said following an Oct. 23 win over the Washington Wizards. &ldquo;But it's, I mean, what he's capable of and the impact that he can have on that end of the floor, at that size, the versatility. I mean, like he's a Defensive Player of the Year candidate every single year. And I think it's time that we acknowledge that.&rdquo;
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Go back to last season when Allen broke his finger. Cleveland&rsquo;s defense suffered, which made its offense suffer, which made the team suffer. The Cavs were 35-21 in the games that Allen played in. They went 7-11 after that point, and were 9-17 overall without Jarrett. Even in the previous season when he was traded from the Brooklyn Nets, this kind of impact was obvious to the naked eye.
With the roster turnover since then, it could be interpeted as foolish to compare that to the present day. Not in this writer&rsquo;s eyes, as the Cavs are 2-4 in games without Allen this season, and the trend continues. (Mobley has gotten better and the team has started to learn how to operate on defense with Allen the middle, to be fair. However, it just doesn't seem the same.)
On a nightly basis, we&rsquo;ve marveled over a number of sensational performances. With Mitchell, Garland and Mobley, you&rsquo;re going to see that more often than not.
While that may be the case, Allen is the ingredient that blends the Cavs together and makes that group's individual talent thrive alongside one another in a team setting. He cannot be viewed as an unsung hero any longer.
Jarrett Allen is literally an All-Star in his role &mdash; one that appears to be the most crucial for Cleveland to succeed.
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Two things: 1) I love watching Marcus Smart compete. Dude is built and knows how to use his muscle. 2) At some point, Jarrett Allen needs recognition from everybody as more than an unsung hero for <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Cavs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Cavs</a>. He shows up every night and consistently is one of the best at his job.
&mdash; Spencer Davies (@SpinDavies) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpinDavies/status/1587995991852154881?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 3, 2022</a></blockquote>

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Spencer Davies dives into Jarrett Allen's meaning to the Cavs, and why he is crucial to their success.

Not just an unsung hero: Jarrett Allen, an All-Star in his Cavs role

SOUTH BEND, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Olivia Miles had 21 points and eight rebounds for No. 7 Notre Dame, and UConn star Azzi Fudd was injured in a collision with a teammate as the Fighting Irish handed the third-ranked Huskies their first loss of the season, 74-60 on Sunday.
Fudd, who came in averaging 24.0 points per game, exited in the final minute of the first quarter following a collision with teammate Aaliyah Edwards. She returned midway through the second period to play four minutes, but sat the rest of the day, going scoreless on two shots over 13 minutes.
Maddy Westbeld added a season-high 17 points and nine rebounds for Notre Dame (7-1), which bounced back from a 74-72 loss to No. 20 Maryland three days earlier.
Lou Lopez Senechal led UConn (6-1) with 21 points. Edwards added 14.
No. 2 STANFORD 84, No. 23 GONZAGA 63
STANFORD, Calif. (AP) &mdash; Cameron Brink had 14 points and a season-high 16 rebounds and Brooke Demetre made five 3s and scored 17 points, leading Stanford past Gonzaga.
The Cardinal (10-1) have now won five straight games after falling to top-ranked South Carolina in overtime on Nov. 20.
Hannah Jump hit four 3s and scored 14 points and Haley Jones had 12 points for Stanford.
Short-handed Gonzaga (7-2), limited to seven players because of illness and injuries, had won three in a row.
No. 4 OHIO STATE 82, RUTGERS 70
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) &mdash; Rebeka Mikulasikova scored a career-high 31 points and Taylor Mikesell added 30 to help Ohio State beat Rutgers, a day that the Scarlet Knights honored former coach C. Vivian Stringer.
The school dedicated the court to Stringer, who retired after last season.
Buoyed by the return of their Hall of Fame coach, Rutgers played its best game of the season against a ranked opponent. Ohio State (8-0) jumped out to a 20-6 lead after one quarter, but the Scarlet Knights (4-6) wouldn&rsquo;t go away.
They were down 18 near the end of the half before Kaylene Smikle hit a 3-pointer just before the buzzer to get within 43-28. Rutgers continued that momentum in the second half and made it 53-45 with 3:25 left in the third quarter.
Mikulasikova and Mikesell then scored the next six points for Ohio State to restore the double-digit advantage, and Rutgers couldn&rsquo;t recover.
Smikle led Rutgers with 21 points.
No. 5 INDIANA 65, ILLINOIS 61
BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) &mdash; Mackenzie Holmes scored 23 points, including a go-ahead layup with 37 seconds left, and Indiana got past Illinois in their Big Ten opener.
Indiana (9-0) had not trailed in the second half of any game this season before going back and forth in the closing minutes with Illinois (3-7).
Makira Cook scored 33 points to lead the Illini.
The Hoosiers were coming off an 87-63 win over No. 6 North Carolina.
No. 9 VIRGINIA TECH 59, TENNESSEE 56
KNOXVILLE, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Kayana Traylor scored 18 points and Virginia Tech held off Tennessee in a Jimmy V Women&rsquo;s Classic matchup.
Jordan Horston led Tennesssee (4-5) with 26 points and 11 rebounds, but missed a pair of late shots that would&rsquo;ve tied it.
Trailing 58-56 with 3 seconds left, Horston was off on a jumper. Down three with 1.1 seconds remaining, her 3-point try from the top of the key bounced off.
Cayla King scored 11 points and Georgia Amoore and D&rsquo;asia Gregg each had 10 for the Hokies (8-0).
Tennessee played without leading scorer and rebounder Rickea Jackson, who was absent because of a coach&rsquo;s decision.
No. 10 IOWA 102, WISCONSIN 71
MADISON, Wis. (AP) &mdash; Caitlin Clark had 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists for her seventh career triple-double to break the Big Ten record in Iowa&rsquo;s win over Wisconsin.
Clark surpassed the record of six career triple-doubles set by former Iowa player Samantha Logic, who achieved the feat from 2012-2015.
Iowa (6-3) stopped a two-game skid and beat the Badgers (3-7) for the 26th straight time.
No. 11 LSU 85, TULANE 72
NEW ORLEANS (AP) &mdash; Angel Reese scored 21 points and had 10 rebounds and Jasmine Carson scored 21 and LSU beat Tulane.
The Tigers (9-0) are off to their best since winning their first nine in the 2009-10 season.
LSU led 27-20 in a first quarter in which it made 11 of 16 shots and Tulane 9 for 17. The Tigers extended their lead to 40-27 at halftime before the Green Wave unloaded with a 30-point third in which it shot 12 for 16 including 6 for 7 from 3-point range. Dynah Jones scored 16 of her team-high 25 points for Tulane in the quarter and the Green Wave closed to 61-58.
Reese made 1 of 2 foul shots for the Tigers and Kahia Warmsley responded with a layup for Tulane to get it within two, but LaDazhia Williams made a layup and Carson a 3 and LSU kept Tulane at bay from there. Reese made two foul shots with 5:01 left to extend the lead to 73-62.
Marta Galic scored 21 points for Tulane.
ST. JOHN&rsquo;S 66, No. 13 CREIGHTON 62
NEW YORK (AP) &mdash; Jayla Everett scored 20 points and St. John&rsquo;s remained unbeaten by handing Creighton its first loss.
The Red Storm had a 47-32 lead in the middle of the third quarter before the Bluejays got it down to a one-possession deficit in the final 90 seconds.
After Emma Ronsiek&rsquo;s basket pulled Creighton within 61-59 with 1:27 to play, the Bluejays had a possession to tie or take the lead but couldn&rsquo;t score.
Kadaj Bailey and Unique Drake had 13 points apiece for St. John&rsquo;s (8-0, 2-0 Big East Conference).
Lauren Jensen scored 21 points for the Bluejays (7-1, 2-1) but couldn&rsquo;t get the tying jumper to fall with 13 seconds to go.
No. 14 ARIZONA 77, NEW MEXICO 60
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) &mdash; Jade Loville made 10 of 13 shots, including a career-best six 3-pointers, and scored 27 points to lead Arizona to a win over New Mexico.
Shaina Pellington added 19 points for the Wildcats (7-0), who had their lowest output of the year and won by less than 20 for only the second time this season.
Paula Reus scored 14 points for the Lobos (4-4).
No. 17 MICHIGAN 77, NORTHWESTERN 66
ANN ARBOR, Mich. (AP) &mdash; Emily Kiser and Laila Phelia scored 18 points each and Michigan shut down Northwestern with an 8-0 run in the fourth quarter.
Leigha Brown added 10 points and 11 assists for Michigan (9-0), which won its Big Ten opener.
Jillian Brown had 17 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals for Northwestern (4-4, 0-1 Big Ten). Caileigh Walsh had 12 points and four blocks, and Sydney Wood scored 10 points.
MIDDLE TENNESSEE 67, No. 18 LOUISVILLE 49
MURFREESBORO, Tenn. (AP) &mdash; Savannah Wheeler had 23 points, six rebounds and five assists, Courtney Whitson added 16 points and 10 rebounds and Middle Tennessee beat cold-shooting Louisville.
Middle Tennessee (5-2) won its first home game against a ranked opponent since the Lady Raiders beat No. 6 Kentucky 70-58 on December 28, 2011.
Kseniya Malashka added 15 points for Middle Tennessee (5-2).
Olivia Cochran scored a season-high 14 points for Louisville (5-4).
NEBRASKA 90, No. 20 MARYLAND 67
COLLEGE PARK, Md. (AP) &mdash; Jaz Shelley scored 29 points, Nebraska dominated the second half and the Cornhuskers surprised Maryland in the Big Ten Conference opener for both teams.
Allison Weidner had 13 points and 15 rebounds for Nebraska (6-3). Isabelle Bourne had 18 points and Alexis Markowski added 14. Shelley had six 3-pointers, five assists and three steals.
Two free throws from Diamond Miller drew Maryland (7-3) to within 77-67 points with 4:03 remaining, but the Terrapins would not score again while Nebraska scored 13.
No. 21 BAYLOR 79, HOUSTON CHRISTIAN 35
WACO, Texas (AP) &mdash; Freshman guard Bella Fontleroy came off the bench to score 17 points and grab 11 rebounds and Baylor romped to a victory over Houston Christian.
Fontleroy sank 6 of 10 shots with three 3-pointers for the Lady Bears (6-2) and notched her first double-double. Jaden Owens added 14 points and six assists. Kendra Gillispie scored 10 on 5-of-6 shooting.
Marilyn Nzoiwu was the lone bright spot for the Huskies (3-4). She finished with 13 points and five rebounds, sinking 6 of 9 shots from the floor. Her teammates made 8 of 40 shots, including 2 of 15 from beyond the arc.
The Lady Bears played a fifth straight game without injured leading scorer Aijha Blackwell.
No. 22 TEXAS 92, SOUTHERN 43
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) &mdash; Shaylee Gonzales scored 22 points, Sonya Morris added 20 points, and Texas routed Southern.
Aaliyah Moore scored 11 points and DeYona Gaston had 10 for the Longhorns (4-4). Rori Harmon had nine points and 10 rebounds.
Freshman guard Sirviva Legions led the Jaguars (2-5) with 13 points off the bench.
The Longhorns rolled to a 29-10 lead through the first quarter after making 10 of 14 shots. They scored 11 points off seven Southern turnovers. Texas went on to lead 46-16 at halftime.
SETON HALL 82, No. 24 MARQUETTE 78
SOUTH ORANGE, N.J. (AP) &mdash; Lauren Park-Lane scored 17 of her 31 points in the fourth quarter, Sidney Cooks added 23 and Seton Hall knocked off Marquette.
Kae Satterfield added 12 points for Seton Hall (6-4, 2-0 Big East Conference), which has won four straight. The Pirates last beat a ranked team, No. 24 DePaul, in January 2019.
Chloe Marotta scored 30 points and had 12 rebounds for the Golden Eagles (7-2, 1-1). Jordan King added 14 points and Liz Karlen had 12 points and nine rebounds.
No. 25 VILLANOVA 79, PROVIDENCE 54
PROVIDENCE, R.I. (AP) &mdash; Maddy Seigrist scored 20 of her 29 points in the first half and grabbed nine rebounds to lead Villanova past Providence.
Seigrist was 12-of-18 shooting, including 4 of 6 from 3-point range. The Wildcats (7-2, 1-1 Big East Conference) made 12 of 28 behind the arc and shot 52% overall (33 of 63). Lucy Olsen added 14 points and Bella Runyan 10.
Janai Crooms led the Friars (6-4, 0-2) with 16 points and 10 rebounds.

A recap of Sunday's women's college basketball slate features a top-10 battle.

Notre Dame tops UConn as Azzi Fudd gets hurt

Over the past few seasons, the talk around the DMV in regards to the Maryland Terrapins has been an abundance of criticism, frustration and disappointment. It seemed as though Maryland basketball as a whole had lost its luster. Even the Xfinity Center wasn't the same &mdash; it was no longer an electric atmosphere.&nbsp;
Many will attempt to attribute the decrease in fan attendance and overall participation to COVID, but those in the know will tell you that that&rsquo;s not 100% accurate. The fact of the matter is: while the Xfinity Center was once one of the BIG 10's most difficult arenas for opposing teams to play in, it had lost its sizzle.&nbsp;
However, Friday night was a return to the good ol' days, as a sold-out Xfinity Center was buzzing with an atmosphere usually seen during March Madness. No. 22 Maryland beat No. 16 Illinois 71-66, bringing their record to 8-0. This was the first big home game of the Kevin Willard era and possibly the biggest home game since the pandemic. The student section was rocking, the band was playing, and there was a sea of fans dressed in gold for the annual &ldquo;gold rush&rdquo; game. This atmosphere was exactly what many Maryland fans had been longing for.
I caught up with Lonny Baxter and Byron Mouton &mdash; two members of the 2001-02 Maryland championship team &mdash; to get their thoughts on their alma mater&rsquo;s red-hot start, which has the entire DMV buzzing.&nbsp;
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Etan Thomas: Your team is looking good. They've started off 8-0 and got a really nice win last night against a good Illinois team. How does it feel, seeing how Maryland is playing right now?&nbsp;
Lonny Baxter: "Oh man, I&rsquo;m super proud. We&rsquo;ve had some up-and-down years over the past few years. And to see this team &mdash; which is technically a 'rebuild team' &mdash; doing as well as they are, I think we are surprising a lot of people who weren&rsquo;t expecting much from us this season. But we are opening a lot of people&rsquo;s eyes. Coach Willard has come in and done a tremendous job right from the jump. We&rsquo;re really looking good right now."
Thomas: You mentioned Coach Willard, and there was initially some skepticism when he was hired &mdash; talk of him not technically being from within the Maryland program, etc. But immediately upon arrival, he made it clear that he was going to have an emphasis on local DMV players, which has been a criticism of Maryland for quite some time now, as you know. He had three high recruits right from the DMV: Jamie Kaiser, DeShawn Harris-Smith and Jahnathan Lamothe. And the point guard from the transfer portal, Jahmir Young, is from the DMV as well. How much has he shifted the narrative locally with this start?&nbsp;
Baxter: "Not only that, he also hired two great assistants from the DMV who are both good friends of mine: David Cox and Tony Skinn. They know the area, they have relationships locally whether it&rsquo;s high schools or AAU programs, and they are doing a great job of changing that very narrative you were talking about. David Cox had me come up to the school and showed me around, introduced me to all the guys, told them the history of this program (which I am blessed to be a part of) and really made an effort to connect everything to the community, and that&rsquo;s what we need."
Thomas: I hear a lot of announcers refer to the culture that Coach Willard has created here from the beginning. You mentioned that there were a couple of down years, but even aside from the 8-0 start, it seems like there is a certain electricity that had been missing for a while.
Baxter: "Coach Willard did a great job at Seton Hall. Then, he comes here and brings that same energy. He reminds me of a Gary Williams Jr. so to speak &mdash; a lot of grit and a lot of fight in him. And you see that energy transfer to the court."
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Thomas: I love that they brought you back to talk to the team. You were on a special team, the championship team of 2001-02. How was your conversation with the guys?&nbsp;
Baxter: "He brought me and a lot of former [Maryland] guys into the locker room and just introduced us to the guys. He wanted them to know who we were and what we were a part of. And like I said, this is a rebuild year for them technically, but they are laser focused. They know the expectations of them, they know the history and legacy of the program that they are now a part of, and they are getting the job done. Hats off to them. They just beat a good Illinois team last night. We are really playing well. Love what I&rsquo;m seeing."
Thomas: You mentioned the Illinois game and I referenced the electricity &mdash; you saw it in the crowd and the announcers kept bringing it up. They said that a year ago, the stands were empty. But last night, it was a sold-out crowd. You saw the energy in the student section. Talk about how special that is, because y&rsquo;all had that when you guys were playing but, like you said, it&rsquo;s been up-and-down for the past few years. That electricity, that crowd support, was definitely present last night.&nbsp;
Baxter: "I wasn&rsquo;t able to go last night, but a lot of people were texting me during the game like, 'Are you here?!' It hasn&rsquo;t been this way in a long time. It&rsquo;s amazing! [People were] sending me videos and screen shots, and I regret not being there. I had already made my plans and cleared my schedule to be at the UCLA game, but I am mad that I missed it last night. But that&rsquo;s what we need. There&rsquo;s been so many up-and-down years, so many disappointments. We&rsquo;ve had some good teams, don&rsquo;t get me wrong, but the support and the energy really dipped for a few years. But [now], everyone is all on social media excited. Like, Maryland basketball is back! It&rsquo;s great for Maryland, great for the DMV. The guys are playing really well and I&rsquo;m looking forward to the rest of the season."&nbsp;
Thomas: Now, let&rsquo;s reminisce for a quick minute about the good ol' days, because y&rsquo;all had such a special team. Yourself, Steve Blake, Juan Dixon, Byron Mouton, Chris Wilcox... y&rsquo;all had a crew. Talk about how special that championship team was.
Baxter: "Our team was definitely special because we weren&rsquo;t a lot of McDonald's All-Americans. We were just a bunch of guys who were hungry, gritty and we loved to play together. Great chemistry. We&rsquo;re even friends to this day, we have a group chat that we all talk on just about every week. We&rsquo;re texting each other, congratulating each other on accomplishments, birthdays, talking about the games, etc. It just shows how close of a unit we were. Even when I spent some time with the Wizards when you were there, me, Juan and Steve Blake, it was like we were inseparable. But like I said, we were just hungry and determined and focused, and we played together as a team. Everyone bought into their roles and played to the best of their ability. That might sound cliche, but that&rsquo;s really what happened! (laughing)"
Thomas: (Laughing) Yeah, it does, but I know what you mean. What advice would you give the team now? It sounds like when they brought you in, it was more to just introduce you to them. But if you could give them all some advice &mdash; coming from a member of the 2001-02 championship team, which is the ultimate goal &mdash; what advice would you give this young, rebuilding team?&nbsp;
Baxter: "Just stay humble and stay hungry. Keep doing what you&rsquo;re doing, and never be satisfied. The hard work, the long hours in the gym, it&rsquo;s all paying off. They&rsquo;re jelling on the court and playing some complete games &mdash; both offensively and defensively. But keep that underdog mentality, keep that chip on your shoulder and stay hungry."
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Thomas: The team is really looking good. What are your thoughts on how everything is going so far?&nbsp;
Byron Mouton: "You know, the first time I met Coach Willard, I had a good feeling about him and this upcoming season. He was direct and to the point, and he doesn&rsquo;t hide his feelings. And I know a lot of the players. Jahmir, I&rsquo;ve known since he was in the fifth grade. He has a high basketball IQ, understands the game and is a team player, and has always been that way. And he plays winning basketball, so I was definitely excited for Maryland to get him."
Thomas: Can you explain a little more about why you had that good feeling about Coach Willard?&nbsp;
Mouton: "Well, from the start, he set the tone. [He] brought a lot of us alumni back and had a meeting with us, and told all of us that he valued us, respected us, appreciated us and wanted us involved with the team moving forward, and that was big. He made the point clear that his goal was to bring us back to a consistent top-10 program, which is what it should be."
Thomas: So, he valued the legacy of Maryland.&nbsp;
Mouton: "Exactly. And he made the point clear also that in order to be amongst the best, we had to compete against the best. He said he didn&rsquo;t believe in hiding from anyone and that was music to my ears. When I played for Gary Williams, we always played the best teams in the non-conference, early schedule. We would go to Maui, preseason NIT... wherever the top competition was, that&rsquo;s where we went. Mark Turgeon didn&rsquo;t want to do that; he wanted to play in these little cupcake tournaments where we&rsquo;re heavy favorites and expected to win, but that&rsquo;s not how you get better. That&rsquo;s not how you prepare for regular-season Big 10 games."
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Thomas: I see. And talk about Coach Willard's passion and energy. He showed a lot of energy on the sidelines last season with Seton Hall, and it seems like he brought that same energy here to Maryland.
Mouton: "I don&rsquo;t want to compare him to Gary Williams, but there are a lot of similarities. Passionate, honest, doesn&rsquo;t hold back his emotions or his feelings. I love coaches like that. I can&rsquo;t play for a guy who just wants to sit on the bench and call out plays, but shows no passion. I wanna know that you&rsquo;re in this battle with me."
Thomas: I hear you. Like, he shares your passion.&nbsp;
Mouton: "Yes. And he holds everyone accountable, the practices are intense, and he has that fire. And he teaches. So, he has all the keys to being successful at this level, and that&rsquo;s exactly the kind of coach I would want to play for."
Thomas: It seems like he&rsquo;s earned the players' trust very early. Sometimes, as you know, it&rsquo;s difficult for a new coach to do that.
Mouton: "Yes, it definitely can be. But at the same time, as you know, in order for any head coach to be really successful, it&rsquo;s crucial to hire great assistants, and he did that with Coach Cox and Coach Tony Skinns. I&rsquo;ve played with them and against them; I know them know them. And they have great ties to the DMV community, so I gotta include them as far as being vital for the overall success of the team."&nbsp;
Thomas: Let&rsquo;s talk about Jahmir Young. He really shined last night and you&rsquo;ve known him for a long time &mdash; you said since he was in the fifth grade?&nbsp;
Mouton: "Yeah, definitely. And like Coach said last night, he came here to do exactly what he did last night. A lot of teams are building their rosters through the transfer portal &mdash; that&rsquo;s just where college basketball is right now. It&rsquo;s not like in the old days when we played; coaches have to win now so they try to get players who are ready immediately. And Jahmir knows the game of basketball. Team player, leader, and was ready day one. He leads by example and also holds himself accountable. That&rsquo;s how a leader should be. And he&rsquo;s always under control, that&rsquo;s one of the things that&rsquo;s most impressive about him. He doesn&rsquo;t let anything that the opponent is doing speed him up or make him panic. He plays at his pace and runs the team. He&rsquo;s special."
Thomas: I asked Lonny Baxter this and I&rsquo;mma ask you the same thing: Y&rsquo;all had a special championship team. What was it that made y&rsquo;all work so well?&nbsp;
Mouton: "Well, in my opinion, it was about how competitive we were every single day. Everyone held everyone else accountable. Nobody allowed anyone else to coast in practice, or not give it their all, or not play at the highest level every single day. People held me accountable, I held them accountable &mdash; about everything. Not running the sprints hard enough in practice, not being where you&rsquo;re supposed to be on the defensive rotation, not giving the effort, whatever it was. And our practices were intense, and that carried over into the game."
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Thomas: What advice would you give to this current team?&nbsp;
Mouton: "Well, as you know, as the entire DMV is buzzing about them now, they have to stay together when that tide changes. They&rsquo;re not going to be buzzing like this all year (laughing) &mdash; that&rsquo;s just not the way it works. I&rsquo;ll give you an example. The year before we won the national championship, we were playing Duke. We were up 10 points with 1:04 left, and we lost. Craziest game I have ever been a part of in my entire college career. All the fans were booing us, the papers were killing us. People on campus were looking at us sideways when we walked by (laughing). Everyone was down on us. And after that, we lost three-straight games. I&rsquo;ll never forget when we lost to Florida State and their little point guard jumped on the scorer&rsquo;s table and was talking noise to our fans, waving bye-bye to them, and our fans started letting us have it. We could&rsquo;ve crumbled as an entire team after that, but we didn&rsquo;t. We pulled together and developed an us-against-the-world mentality. I say that because, there will come a time during this season when all the cheering stops, and maybe even some boos start. And now they have social media, so everyone can tell you that you suck (laughing). I would tell them when that happens, to pull together. Take on the us-against-the-world mentality. Don&rsquo;t splinter and start pointing fingers and playing the blame game because that happens, but stick together, pull together in tough times, and keep that passion and excitement and love for the game they have now, and they will do just fine."

Etan Thomas chats with former Maryland Terrapin greats Lonny Baxter and Byron Mouton about their alma mater’s red-hot start.

Lonny Baxter, Byron Mouton have high praise for Maryland Terps

Kyrie Irving&rsquo;s first press conference after returning from his suspension was met by a barrage of reporters seemingly throwing a series of questions at him that could have potentially resulted in him being suspended again.
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The media smh <a href="https://t.co/6ZsGU5llll">pic.twitter.com/6ZsGU5llll</a>
&mdash; Etan Thomas (@etanthomas36) <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1594830463675375620?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 21, 2022</a></blockquote>

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One interpretation is that the reporters were just doing their job in asking Kyrie the questions that inquiring minds would like answered. However, another interpretation is that Kyrie asked (very politely) if the reporters could simply stick to questions about the actual game, and they seemingly ignored his request and continued to ask questions that could potentially get him in hot water once again &mdash; an intentional attempt to set him up.
I wanted to delve deeper into this topic, so I reached out to journalist Chuck Modiano, who is a senior writer for Deadspin and has also written for the New York Daily News.
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Etan Thomas: Does it seem like the media is now picking on Kyrie?
Chuck Modiano: Let me first say that you have been doing a great job on social media covering this.
Thomas: Oh, I appreciate that.
Modiano: No problem. Well, there are definitely a couple of members who keep harping on it, but the problem is, they don&rsquo;t do that to other athletes. I don&rsquo;t think Jerry Jones is going to be peppered the same way. I know initially they asked him, but I doubt the questions will continue. I could be wrong, but we&rsquo;ll see. But the double standard always exists with Black athletes and it always has, and part of that double standard is the makeup of the press &mdash; and what the press finds noteworthy and not noteworthy to pursue. So yeah, it&rsquo;s definitely there and will continue to be there and we have to keep calling it out.
Thomas: I agree, but I don&rsquo;t see enough people calling it out and that&rsquo;s the part that frustrates me. It seems like it&rsquo;s just accepted. And let&rsquo;s take the actual content of everything that happened with Kyrie out of the discussion for a moment, and just compare this to how, say, Brett Farve was dealt with in the media. I mean, he didn&rsquo;t have to do anything &mdash; he didn&rsquo;t have to apologize or nothing?
Modiano: I think Brett Favre is a great recurring example. With Kyrie, it goes so far beyond the initial discussion of anti-semitism. It goes to something greater in media. The Black athlete is profitable and the Black athlete&rsquo;s perceived misbehavior is profitable. And we know this when a discussion should shift and it does not. So I&rsquo;ll give you an example. So there was a period of time where the discussion moved from Kyrie Irving to Jeff Bezos &mdash; let&rsquo;s hold Amazon accountable. He&rsquo;s making all this money off "Hebrews To Negroes." And let&rsquo;s form a petition, etc. And there were some famous actors joining in the charge. Rolling Stone actually had pictures of those actors, but most publications, even if the article was focused on Jeff Bezos and Amazon, still had the cover picture of Kyrie. So I said, "Well, that&rsquo;s not about perceived anti-semitism, that&rsquo;s about anti-Blackness." Because, again, the whole article was about Jeff Bezos and Amazon, so why is Kyrie on the cover picture? That was an editorial choice and that&rsquo;s when you have to examine the fact that anti-Blackness will get you more clicks and there is more profit in anti-Blackness.
Thomas: That&rsquo;s interesting. Now that you say that, I definitely noticed that as well. And to your point, there are a lot of Black media that participate in that as well. Right now, there are a lot of people trying to give Jerry Jones a pass. I just saw Stephen A. Smith and Jason Whitlock both defending him today. I actually tweeted about it.
Modiano: It&rsquo;s completely ridiculous. And listen, I am someone who has marched with former Nazis who are now against Nazis and are now on the anti-racism side and it&rsquo;s their life mission to flip other Nazis. So I am someone who believes to the greatest extent that reform is possible. But let&rsquo;s take Jerry Jones here, and put aside the fact that probably 95% of white people in Arkansas in 1957 more than likely shared a certain belief about Black people, I think we can safely say that. But not everyone joined a mob to terrorize Black students, so there is a difference between racist thoughts and racist actions. And it&rsquo;s important to remember that in 1954, the Brown vs. Board of Education was put into law, and the one of the ways white people would fight against that law was through mob action, and Jerry Jones was a part of that. So if you&rsquo;re going to tell me he&rsquo;s changed, I need to see it. I see his comments about [Colin] Kaepernick. I see the fact that he has never had a Black head coach. I see him donating half a million to Governor [Greg] Abbott&rsquo;s campaign. This doesn&rsquo;t sound like he has changed too much since 1957.
Thomas: And the same with Brett Favre. I haven&rsquo;t seen anything where he's tried to make amends after this $77 million Mississippi state-welfare-fund scandal or any evidence that he has changed. They say it&rsquo;s always something with Kyrie; well, it&rsquo;s always something with Brett Favre, right?
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<a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/JerryJones?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#JerryJones</a> <a href="https://t.co/kpy9G3XaFU">pic.twitter.com/kpy9G3XaFU</a>
&mdash; Etan Thomas (@etanthomas36) <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1596296501747228674?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 26, 2022</a></blockquote>

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<div>Modiano: Oh, don&rsquo;t get me started on Brett. He has a long, ugly history and I&rsquo;m not just talking about outwardly supporting Donald Trump at the height of his racism and Charlottesville and Jan. 6th, or the inappropriate messages and nude pictures he sent to New York Jets game day host Ms. Sterger, but yes there is definitely enough history for there to be much more upheaval of outrage from the media. So we have to ask, why is the Brett Favre scandal not given the same attention and scrutiny as Kyrie? The answer could be simply that Brett Favre is not going to produce the amount of clicks that Kyrie will. But then you have to ask: why is Kyrie going to produce more clicks? Because Brett is retired and Kyrie is an active player? I don&rsquo;t think that&rsquo;s it. I think it&rsquo;s because of anti-Blackness. We have a white customer service base that likes to see Black athletes being denigrated and will use Black media talking heads, like the ones you named before, to do the actual denigrating. That&rsquo;s the bottom line. So some will say, "No, it&rsquo;s the anti-semitism that is a much bigger issue." Well, if that were the case, all forms of perceived anti-semitism would garner the same reaction that Kyrie did, and it doesn&rsquo;t.</div>
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<div>Thomas: And to your point, let me read this <a href="https://twitter.com/shaunking/status/1596184440513777665" target="_blank" rel="noopener">tweet from Shaun King</a> that read: &ldquo;So we now know that Donald Trump just had dinner with one of the most explicit bigots and Holocaust-deniers in the world right now, Nick Fuentes. I need to see if Trump and the people who support him get the Kyrie Irving treatment now. I seriously doubt it." Now they can&rsquo;t say that Kyrie has more power and influence than Trump, so will there be a big outrage about Trump?&nbsp;</div>
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<div>Modiano: We already know the answer to that. Of course there won&rsquo;t and Nick Fuentes is a proud white supremacist and racist. He is an actual Holocaust denier and has spewed actual anti-semetic rhetoric out of his mouth. And Trump has himself said a lot of perceived, I&rsquo;ll say, antisemitic statements. So in comparing the reaction of that to Kyrie, you&rsquo;re right; it&rsquo;s not the same outrage.&nbsp;A few years ago, I wrote an article with the New York Daily News asking, "Why are we not critiquing white athletes?" Whether it&rsquo;s Tom Brady with the Trump hat in his locker or Brett Favre posing in a picture with him on the golf course, where were those same reporters who pressed Kyrie then? Where were the pointed questions that we are seeing repeatedly with Kyrie? So if we are going to have a media that is critiquing athletes the way they are with Kyrie, ok that&rsquo;s fine, but let&rsquo;s do it with the white athletes too.&nbsp;</div>
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<div>Thomas: So, how can Kyrie navigate through this? Because it seems like the media is going to continue to press him on topics where they&rsquo;re almost trying to play GOTCHA with him. He has to meet with the media, or he&rsquo;ll get fined. So should he just keep repeating the phrase, "Can you please only ask me basketball questions?" Or do the Marshawn Lynch ("I&rsquo;m just here so I won&rsquo;t get fined")?</div>
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<div>Modiano: I&rsquo;ll tell you what, I thought he turned the Thanksgiving question on its head pretty nicely. I thought it was brilliant how he navigated that. He ended positively, he wished everyone a happy holiday, and he did it with a smile, but he also made the point clear: I&rsquo;m not personally celebrating Thanksgiving. And I think that&rsquo;s great because it now brings the much larger discussion that is not going on about the actual history of Thanksgiving and the treatment of indigenous people of this country, so I thought he navigated that question brilliantly.&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Thomas: But do you think the media was again trying to pick at him? I tweeted about this and it got a very strong response. Anyone who has been even remotely following the NBA knows about Kyrie Irving&rsquo;s connection to his Native American heritage. When I saw that, I was like, "Are they just trolling Kyrie now?" They could&rsquo;ve asked any other player on the team that, but they ask him in particular? I just don&rsquo;t think they would&rsquo;ve asked Deni Avdija (the Washington Wizards forward who is Jewish) if he would like to wish everyone out there a Merry Christmas; I just personally don&rsquo;t think they would.&nbsp;</div>
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They know Kyrie Irving doesn&rsquo;t celebrate Thanksgiving and they know exactly why because he has explained his connection to his Native American heritage and the celebrated slaughter of his people. The media is being very intentional right now with Kyrie <a href="https://t.co/RCKWhaJn0I">https://t.co/RCKWhaJn0I</a>
&mdash; Etan Thomas (@etanthomas36) <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1595784312359624707?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 24, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<div>Modiano: So, I&rsquo;m leaning toward what you&rsquo;re saying. I don&rsquo;t know who the particular reporter was, I don&rsquo;t know the history, and we have to look at media collectively, not just this one person.&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Thomas: Oh yeah, it wasn&rsquo;t particular to Meghan Triplett, the Nets new sideline reporter; I wasn&rsquo;t saying that. I was just using this one instance as yet another example, not her in particular. &nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Modiano: Right, but I think collectively, it&rsquo;s no question the media has a double standard with Kyrie. It&rsquo;s abundantly clear. So I&rsquo;ll say it like this: I can&rsquo;t say definitively that it&rsquo;s a racial double standard, but I will say that it&rsquo;s worthy of an investigation of a possibly racial double standard. And it&rsquo;s not just Kyrie, there has been a racial double standard historically with Black athletes for decades.&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Thomas: So let me ask you this: People like Shaq and Charles Barkley were very direct with their critique of Kyrie. I actually tweeted about this as well.&nbsp;</div>
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Immediately they got <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/CharlesBarkley?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#CharlesBarkley</a> to go live and condemn <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/KyrieIrving?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#KyrieIrving</a> and I know he hadn&rsquo;t actually watched <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/HebrewsToNegroes?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#HebrewsToNegroes</a> to even know what he was talking about. But Barkley is one of the go to Black Media used to condemn Black People and it&rsquo;s sad<a href="https://t.co/58aGoedJo8">https://t.co/58aGoedJo8</a> <a href="https://t.co/XC1kdKqKXi">pic.twitter.com/XC1kdKqKXi</a>
&mdash; Etan Thomas (@etanthomas36) <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1595022874901090311?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">November 22, 2022</a></blockquote>
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<div>Modiano: I&rsquo;m telling you, you&rsquo;ve been on it on social media. And your interviews have been great too. Different perspectives. You even got a Rabbi! I haven&rsquo;t seen anyone go to the length to actually sit down with a Rabbi and discuss this.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Thomas: (Laughing) Well, there&rsquo;s been a lot to cover, but it seems like people like Charles Barkley and those of his ilk are just not willing to move past it. He brought it up again last night, saying he was disappointed that more NBA players didn&rsquo;t come out and speak against him. I&rsquo;m just like... he has apologized, served his suspension, went through the entire ridiculous six-step criteria they laid out for him, met with Adam Silver, met with Joe Tsai, and they all gave him the stamp of approval that he is not anti-semitic (although he never said anything out of his mouth that was anti-semitic). He went through all of those steps, so how long will it be before the media as a collective whole stops trolling him?&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Modiano: My response to the many problematic things that come out of Charles Barkley&rsquo;s mouth is: Why is he being uplifted as this voice of Black America or something? I remember a few years ago, CNN did this series called Race In America, led by Charles Barkley. What qualified him to lead that series?&nbsp;</div>
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<div>Thomas: They could&rsquo;ve gotten Craig Hodges, Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf, Colin Kaepernick, John Carlos, Tommie Smith or if they wanted contemporary athletes, they could&rsquo;ve gotten LeBron James, Eric Reid, Jaylen Brown, the Olympian Gwen Berry, Swin Cash... There are so many combinations of athlete activists they could&rsquo;ve gotten. And I interviewed most of them in my book <a href="https://www.amazon.com/We-Matter-Athletes-Activism-Sports/dp/1617755915/ref=nodl_?dplnkId=66c9a448-2d15-42b5-ad8b-555bf1229604" target="_blank" rel="noopener">"We Matter: Athletes And Activism.&rdquo;&nbsp;</a></div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Modiano: Right, but they didn&rsquo;t want any of them, they wanted Charles Barkley. Why? The same reason he was on CNN being the spokesperson of Black America, which I believe you tweeted about too.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Thomas: Yes, <a href="https://twitter.com/etanthomas36/status/1594710024969912322?s=46&amp;t=DudNOqBBO4hPI-A58FFLUg" target="_blank" rel="noopener">I did actually.</a>&nbsp;</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Modiano: I told you, you&rsquo;ve been on it! (laughing) But why Charles Barkley? Because they know what his position will be on the topic, so it doesn&rsquo;t matter that he doesn&rsquo;t have a rich history of social justice like all the athletes you mentioned before and interviewed in your book. They like the positions he takes so that will trump his actual qualifications. Same with Herschel Walker. But just think about it, they don&rsquo;t do that with white athletes; they don&rsquo;t turn them into the spokespersons for white America on race relations. Anybody know where Larry Bird stands on anything? Kevin McHale? Dirk? Jerry West? Chris Mullin? We have to question these networks who continue to put the mic in Charles Barkley&rsquo;s face but at the same time, we know the answer. It&rsquo;s because he is saying what they want to hear a Black person say. Anti-Black is anti Black whether it&rsquo;s on Fox News, Sean Hannity, Tucker Carlson, Laura Ingraham, Jason Whitlock or Charles Barkley.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Thomas: So basically, a lot of people in the media are pawns like Kyrie said&hellip; You don&rsquo;t have to answer that. Like you said, we already know the answer.</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Check out these related episodes of "The Rematch."</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
<div>Craig Hodges and Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf:</div>
<div>&nbsp;</div>
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<div>Rabbi Harry Rozenberg:</div>
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<div>Dave Zirin:</div>
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Has the media treated Kyrie Irving fairly? Etan Thomas sits down with journalist Chuck Modiano to discuss the coverage of Irving.

How long will the media continue to troll Kyrie Irving?

The Syracuse men&rsquo;s basketball team kicks off the 2022-23 season Tuesday with an exhibition game against Indiana (PA) at the Carrier Dome. (I know it&rsquo;s technically now called the JMA Wireless Dome, but I&rsquo;m not ready to call it that yet, and not sure if I ever will be.)
Orange center Jesse Edwards made the tough decision against going pro and making the early jump to the NBA to return for his senior season. Before his junior year abruptly came to an end due to a wrist injury on Feb. 8 vs. Boston College, Edwards was averaging an impressive 12.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, and ranked second in the ACC in blocks with 3.07 rejections per contest. He also was 12th in the nation in field goal percentage (69.5%).
I asked an NBA scout for his thoughts on Jesse Edwards:
"He&rsquo;s long, athletic, (a) shot-blocker, can run the floor, (has) great mobility for a 7-footer, (has the) ability to roll quickly out of the high pick and roll and finish or make the right play to avoid getting the charge," the scout said. "(He) has great touch around the basket and really good footwork. (He) needs to get stronger and improve (his) rebounding. His draft comparison would be a more offensively-skilled Rudy Gobert. (He) could definitely be a pro with longevity in the league."
The 6-11, 230-pounder from the Netherlands is poised for a dominant senior season for the Orange and has the potential to be one of the most offensively skilled centers in not only the ACC, but the entire NCAA.&nbsp;
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I caught up with Edwards to discuss his perseverance through his difficult early years under head coach Jim Boeheim, his progression, the upcoming season, the talented freshman class and much more.&nbsp;
Etan Thomas: How was your experience playing for the Dutch National Team?
Jesse Edwards: "It was a great learning experience because I got the opportunity to play with and against pros. I saw how they approached the game. It&rsquo;s different than teenagers in college; they approach it as their livelihood. It&rsquo;s all businesses. It was really a great experience."
Etan: This season, we have some young guns, we also have returning vets. Joe Girard, Symir Torrence, yourself, of course. What can 'Cuse fans expect this season?&nbsp;
Edwards: "Our practices have really been a lot of fun. We have six freshmen and a transfer. That&rsquo;s seven new people. And everyone is hungry. We really go at it in practice. Not to say we didn&rsquo;t do that before, but now, it&rsquo;s just different. It&rsquo;s a feeling that things are not as set in stone as they were last year. This season, it feels like playing time is really up for grabs, so the tenacity in practice is just really competitive. It&rsquo;s great."
Etan: A lot of fans are discussing how the team is going to look very different as far as style of play compared to last year. Do you think that as well?&nbsp;
Edwards: "For sure. Last year, we had fantastic scorers, top-tier three-point shooters. This season, we still have Joe, but we added a lot of athleticism to our roster. And Benny [Williams] will be playing a lot more, and he&rsquo;s as athletic as they come. So yeah, it will be a much faster pace this year. (It) will be fun to watch."
Etan: Now, you&rsquo;re coming into this season as one of the top big-men prospects in the country. People are really high on you now. People are complimenting your scoring ability, and Coach Boeheim even said something to that effect. How does that feel coming into the season for your confidence? It seems like people are finally recognizing what you can do on the basketball court.
Edwards: "It definitely feels good to get that recognition, for people to see what you&rsquo;ve been working on for the last few years. But for myself, I try to not put too much into what people say. I know how quickly what they say can change. I&rsquo;m just trying to continue working hard, getting better and doing the things that can help this team win. It&rsquo;s great to hear, don&rsquo;t get me wrong, but none of that is going to my head, trust me."
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Etan: That&rsquo;s a great mentality to have. So, I wanna go back now because it wasn&rsquo;t always like this &mdash; how you&rsquo;re regarded and people recognizing and acknowledging what you can do. You know, myself and Roosevelt Bouie, we&rsquo;ve been the founders of the Free Jesse Fan Club and the Feed Jesse Club, lobbying for you to get the ball more.
But explain the mental toughness and perseverance that it took for you to weather the storm during those tough years where you weren&rsquo;t getting to play, or you would get put in for a few minutes, then get taken right out. Or you would play really well one game, then wouldn&rsquo;t play for two games after. What did it take to mentally get through those tough periods?
Edwards: "Well, first of all, I know I&rsquo;ve said this to you and Rosie privately, but I want to say it publicly &mdash; I really want to say thank you for keeping my head up during those tough times you mentioned. The texts, the DM&rsquo;s, coming up to me after the game; that really helped me a lot, especially coming from you. And you always used yourself as an example saying, 'Yeah it was tough for me at first too, but it got better. Just hang in there.'
"I can&rsquo;t tell you how much that helped. That kept me on the right track, motivated, and you didn&rsquo;t let me get down. It was like you knew the perfect time where I needed some encouragement. I remember one time in particular, you listed all of the positive things I did one game, and it was a game I felt like I did nothing right."
Etan: Well, it's because I&rsquo;ve been there. And like I told you before, Roosevelt came to me while I was going through my tough times and did that same thing for me. He saw the potential in me just like I saw it in you. But I know what it feels like to not feel like you can do anything right in Coach Boeheim&rsquo;s eyes.
To have the entire halftime speech or postgame speech be focused on what you did wrong, and you&rsquo;re looking around like, "I only played 5 minutes, I couldn&rsquo;t have done all that in 5 minutes." I remember all that, and I know what it can do to a player&rsquo;s confidence, and I didn&rsquo;t want that to happen to you. So how was you able to weather that storm? Because it&rsquo;s not easy.
Edwards: "No, it&rsquo;s definitely not easy. I don&rsquo;t know. I just tried to occupy my mind by working hard. Going to the gym by myself or just getting someone to rebound for me and just workout and take my frustrations to the court. When you&rsquo;re in that situation, it&rsquo;s hard not to start doubting if it will ever change. But I didn&rsquo;t want to give up, or have my love for the game to be taken away, and that&rsquo;s one of the things you kept saying: 'Don&rsquo;t give him a reason to point to because if you start sulking, or not cheering on the bench, or not working hard in practice, or not coming in early and staying late, or not interacting with your teammates, they are going to use that as reasons to justify not playing you.' So I made sure I didn&rsquo;t do any of that. But to be honest, there were times I thought, 'Did I make the right decision coming here?'"
Etan: I&rsquo;m sure there were. I remember after my freshman year, I was this close to transferring. I doubled back to some of the colleges that recruited me.
Edwards: "Yeah, and that was back when it wasn&rsquo;t easy to transfer. Y'all had to sit out right?"
Etan: Yeah, you had to sit out a year. Let me tell you how frustrated I was, though. The rules were if you transferred in conference, you had to sit out two years. And I was still considering it! (Laughing)&nbsp;
Edwards: (Laughing) "Dang! That&rsquo;s crazy."
Etan: Man, listen, so when I would tell you I feel you, I meant it. But you battled through it, and every year, you added something to your game and it was great to see the development. And to hear the announcers start speaking highly of you and giving you the praise you deserved, it was great to see that. Specifically, your sophomore year, because there was a stretch where the media kept asking Coach Boeheim why you weren&rsquo;t playing more. Do you remember that?&nbsp;
Edwards: "Well, I remember you writing about it and tweeting it and then, more of the Syracuse media almost quoting you to Coach."
Etan: Okay, semantics (laughing), but Coach Boeheim would keep telling them, "He&rsquo;s not strong enough. He&rsquo;s too thin. He doesn&rsquo;t rebound well enough. I play the guys who play the best at practice," and his most consistent response: &ldquo;He&rsquo;s not ready.&rdquo; And yes, I wrote about when you was put in a few crucial games &mdash; after not playing for a few games and really getting inconsistent minutes even before that &mdash; and you shined against Georgia Tech. Then, you came back the next game against North Carolina and shined again. And I <a href="https://www.basketballnews.com/stories/syracuse-center-jesse-edwards-answers-critics-with-his-play" target="_blank" rel="noopener">wrote about it</a>.
But people don&rsquo;t understand how difficult it is to just &ldquo;stay ready." People use that phrase as a cliche, but they don&rsquo;t really understand how it feels if you haven&rsquo;t played in a few games, then you&rsquo;re thrown into an important game. Then, you know that if you don&rsquo;t play well, Coach Boeheim is going to say, &ldquo;See, that&rsquo;s why I can&rsquo;t play him because he&rsquo;s not ready.&rdquo; So all that is in the back of your mind, but you came in both times and played great. How were you able to do that?
Edwards: "Yes, exactly the way you described. It&rsquo;s so crazy. You check in, you&rsquo;re thinking, 'Okay, don&rsquo;t mess up, don&rsquo;t mess up' because you know (you make) one mistake and you are going to get snatched out the game. And people don&rsquo;t understand that feeling unless they have experienced it. There&rsquo;s no way they could understand.
"But I always come back to what you and Rosie kept telling me. Whether it&rsquo;s three minutes or 23 minutes, when you go out there, make something happen and get yourself going. Don&rsquo;t have the deer-in-headlights look. Understand what coach wants. Don&rsquo;t freeze up at any yelling from the bench. Like, shake it off immediately and keep playing. All that stuff helped. I don&rsquo;t want to keep thanking you throughout this entire interview, but I wouldn&rsquo;t have been able to do it without that advice. I was prepared, mentally prepared, which is really a large percentage of what you need."
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Etan: Definitely, and you really did a great job with that. So let&rsquo;s talk about last season. You&rsquo;re playing great. Everything was going well. Things were really turning the corner for you and the entire team. And then, you hurt your wrist and was out for the season. Talk about how devastating it was for that to happen right at that time when you were rolling.
Edwards: "Aw man, it was so devastating. The team was rolling like you said. We were all finally clicking. So to have it happen then, it really sucked. That&rsquo;s all I could say. But to watch the team almost pull off a crazy upset against Duke and how Buddy [Boeheim] was playing, I was really happy for him. But yeah, it was tough. I can&rsquo;t lie. But like you told me, injuries are part of the game. You get knocked down, you pick yourself back up and you work harder, and that&rsquo;s what I did this summer."
Etan: So coming into this season, all that&rsquo;s behind you. You&rsquo;ve weathered all the Syracuse storms, and now you&rsquo;re a senior, you&rsquo;re established. People recognize what you mean to this team. Your inside presence, scoring ability. You can even step out and hit the jumper. You can really score in a variety of ways. I love the drag screen in transition and how you attack the rim; you gotta stay outta foul trouble though because we need you on the floor, so don&rsquo;t go over any one&rsquo;s back fighting for rebounds and getting cheap fouls &mdash; but also, keep fighting for rebounds (laughing). I ain&rsquo;t telling you not to rebound now
Edwards: (Laughing) "Yeah, I hear you."
Etan: But you&rsquo;re one of the leaders on the team, and really, the sky&rsquo;s the limit for yourself and this super talented team.
Edwards: "I can&rsquo;t wait. This is really going to be an exciting team to watch. We have high-flyers, scorers. The defense is going to be better, we still have three-point specialists; (we have) young players who are all hungry and excited to play. We&rsquo;re really going to be fun to watch. I can&rsquo;t wait."
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Etan Thomas chats with Syracuse senior Jesse Edwards to discuss past criticisms, how he's grown mentally and this coming season.

Seth