Greetings, Brew Crew Ball community. Welcome to March, as Opening Day is now less than two weeks away!
Feel free to use this thread to chat about (almost) anything you want: video games, food, movies, non-baseball sports, the Brewers, you name it. As long as it’s appropriate and is allowed by our moderators, it’s fair game here.
You know the drill.
This is now an open thread:
Free of charge for the discerning reader.Not much happened, but what did happen was important. Happy birthday to former Cubs Mark Leiter Jr. and Keegan Thompson*.
Today in baseball history:
Cubs Birthdays:Mal Eason, George Gaw, Eddie Butler, Mark Leiter Jr., Keegan Thompson*. Also notable: Home Run Baker HOF.
Today in history:
This time next week… you will not be watching the Phillies play regular season baseball. This time the week after next… you will also not be watching the Phillies play regular season baseball. But one day before this time next week… then you’ll be watching Phillies regular season baseball.
Unless opening day gets rained out again, in which case you will be watching the Phillies play regular season baseball this time the week after next.
Anyway, onto the links.
Phillies news
Mark your calendars: on August 7th, Chase Utley joins the Phillies Wall of Fame.
Aaron Nola changed his offseason training approach, and the early results look good. ($)
Zack Wheeler will be taking the next step in his recovery with a live batting practice this Saturday.
MLB news
MLB.com’s Mike Petriello evaluates every MLB ballpark by how hard it is to play outfield there. Phillies outfielders have it tough.
Dan Szymborski of FanGraphs takes a look at the scenarios that could spell doom for top teams, including the Phillies. ($)
Start checking those old binders and boxes: a one of a kind Aaron Judge card just sold for $5.2 million. (I checked my old collection, but all I found was a 1st edition shadowless Charizard. Darn.)
Wild celebrations during game despite threat of fines
Winger scores 213th try of his career against Roosters
Thousands of fans have stormed onto the field at Allianz Stadium to celebrate South Sydney veteran Alex Johnston breaking the NRL’s try-scoring record.
The winger entered the history books when a break down the left edge put him over for his 213th career try, and his second in Friday’s clash with bitter rivals Sydney Roosters.
Continue reading...Verstappen describes Red Bull as ‘undriveable’ on radio
Bahrain and Saudi GP decision due after China race
George Russell laid down a further marker as the man to beat in the new Formula One season with a dominant run in qualifying to claim pole for the sprint race at the Chinese Grand Prix. He sealed another front row lockout alongside Mercedes teammate Kimi Antonelli with Russell finishing more than half a second clear of their nearest rival.
The first sprint weekend under the new regulations is a journey into the unknown for teams and drivers and they had only the single hour of practice to understand how best to optimise their cars for energy deployment before qualifying.
Continue reading...
The 2025-26 NBA season was supposed to be a big year for Tari Eason. At least, he was banking on it from a contractual standpoint.
Eason was essentially the only player Houston drafted and developed that didn’t land a contract extension. Thus far, at least.
Jalen Green secured a long-term deal before getting traded for Kevin Durant, and both Alperen Sengun and Jabari Smith Jr. secured rookie-scale extensions alike. Amen Thompson will certainly be getting one.
Houston’s brass offered Eason a $100 million dear, with an injury guarantee. In other words, a non-fully guaranteed deal, which Eason understandably rebuffed.
At the start of the season, it seemed like a wise gamble. The fourth-year forward was shooting 50.9 percent from long-range through the first 11 games of the season, while also averaging 11.5 points off the bench.
Then he got injured (for the first time), causing him to miss 14 games. Eason returned with a bang, averaging 12.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 41.9 percent from deep over the next 10 games after his return.
Eason got re-injured in Houston’s back-to-back stretch against the Portland Trail Blazers and missed five games before returning, playing 10 games before the All-Star break. During those games, he averaged 12.7 points, 6.4 rebounds and 44.4 percent from deep.
In the 12 games since the All-Star break, however, he hasn’t been nearly as effective. During the Rockets’ current stretch, he’s averaging 7.3 points, 6.6 rebounds and 15.6 percent from three.
Ouch.
Eason has now gone four consecutive games without making a single three-pointer. He’s gone 1-of-19 from long-range in Houston’s last six contests.
And defensively, he’s definitely cratered. He’s generally a high impact defender, but lately, it’s become rather commonplace for him to get beat on that end. And that doesn’t even account for the amount of utterly foolish fouls we’ve seen him commit of late.
So what’s happened to Tari Eason? There’s speculation that he’s still playing injured.
There would seem to be merit to that theory, as he definitely came back rather quickly from his ankle injury suffered earlier in the season.
And if that is, in fact, the case, Ime Udoka would be wise to let him get fully healed before the playoffs start. Houston is going to need the version of Eason from earlier in the season.
Let Josh Okogie get more run while Eason rests up and gets fully healed. (Remember when we thought Okogie was the perfect role player?)
Whatever the case, the Rockets will certainly have to get better play from Eason. Expeditiously. He needs it too.
This season was essentially supposed to be a job interview for the entire league. It seems as though he misjudged his value a bit last summer.
It’s about that time in spring where the real games start to get close, we’ve seen everyone take the field for a few weeks, and some surprise names have had hot starts while others are working off the rust. The Yankees are making their roster decisions on a near-daily basis, whittling down their invitee list starting with the obvious prospects that were always here just to get a look-see and some time with their hopefully-future teammates and coaches. Everyone else around the league is doing the same, and as those rosters begin to take shape we can start to consider where our relative preseason rankings fall.
The Yankees are expected to be contenders, both within the locker room and by the media at large. It’s expected, but it shouldn’t be taken for granted that their aim is playing in October because as we’ve seen in recent years… there’s plenty of teams that aren’t. Still, sometimes the team that’s finally looking to make some strides towards contention manages to skip a step or two and finds themselves playing deeper in the fall then they’ve done in a long time, or a team that’s been in the dance a bunch of times just to get kicked right out finally puts it all together to go on a magical run. You can’t predict baseball, as a famous radio broadcaster once said, and every year there’s one or two teams that really turn heads just based on how far they got in the end. Who could it be this year?
The Mariners and Blue Jays both fit the bill last year, meeting in the ALCS after years of playoff frustration with the latter making their first World Series since the early 90s. This year teams will be ready for them, but will they be ready for a team like the Rangers, who had a stellar rotation bogged down by one of the weakest lineups in baseball? Perhaps it all turns around for them, and they find themselves back in it like their 2023 run. Or maybe the AL Central finally gets some respect, with the Guardians once again getting little fanfare despite winning the division three out of the last four years. The Tigers have the flashiest piece with their ace Tarik Skubal and they added Framber Valdez to form a monster 1-2 combo, but don’t count Kansas City out with Bobby Witt Jr. leading the charge. Their rotation is formidable as well, and their supplementary hitters could be enough to get them back into a Wild Card Series.
Over in the National League, the Mets and Phillies have leapfrogged Atlanta after the Braves spent more than a half-decade ruling it. Atlanta missed the postseason altogether, and they face an uphill battle to get back into it, but perhaps Ronald Acuna Jr. and company can surprise some folks and get back on top this year. The NL Central could be the most ripe field for dark horses, as Milwaukee stunned with an MLB-best 97 wins last year but faces competition to hold onto their new crown. The Cubs remain a threat, and while the Cardinals have faded into the foreground of a division they once dominated the Reds could take a leap and prove that ownership should have invested in them more with another ticket to October. The Pirates would be a truly absurd team to rise out of the ashes due to their overall ineptitude, but they do have Paul Skenes — and wouldn’t it be fun to see him in meaningful games come September? About the only division that doesn’t seem interesting on this front is the NL West, as the Dodgers have remained kings for over a decade barring one strange 2021 run from the Giants and the Padres are known contenders who’ve had to settle for the Wild Card.
If you forced me to pick one team from each side to watch out for, I’d go with Kansas City and Atlanta. I don’t expect the Royals to go very deep, but I think they could give their contemporaries in the Central a run for their money and perhaps upset one of them in the standings. As for Atlanta, despite all their years ruling the East it was the year that they looked their least appealing in that span that they won it all. The Mets and Phillies are flashier, but there’s plenty of room for one of them to combust this season, and I’ll believe Atlanta’s down for the count when I see it. Who would your picks be, and how far do you think they’ll go?
Today on the site, Josh leads off with some thoughts on the ABS Challenge influence on this season and how teams will be poised to utilize it. Matt takes us back to the Deadball Era to wish Home Run Baker a happy birthday, Jeff walks us through how the Yankees’ archrivals will look heading into 2026 with a Red Sox preview, and after the exhibition I’ll be around to answer your latest mailbag questions.
New York Yankees vs. Atlanta Braves
Time: 1:05 p.m. EST
Video: Gotham Sports App, Gray TV, MLB Network (out-of-network, only)
Venue: CoolToday Park, North Port, FL
The deliberations among the Men's NCAA Tournament selection committee remain mostly private each year, with only a few interviews done by its chair each year on Selection Sunday serving as the only official rationale for who's in, who's out and where every team is seeded for March Madness.
The 2026 NCAA Tournament is shaping up to be a fascinating bracket, as season-long favorites appear headed for a No. 1 seed and a particularly soft bubble filled with iffy resumes comes into focus ahead of Selection Sunday. Like last season, the selection committee will have seven metrics based on computer models and formulas listed on its team sheets and how each is weighed can be a point of contention that has lasting impact given the importance NCAA tournament performance has on the overall perception of a program.
Each ranking or rating is separated into two distinct categories — predictive metrics and results-based metrics. The NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET), KenPom, ESPN's BPI and the Torvik rankings are considered predictive rankings that measure how good a team is based on its offensive and defensive efficiency, adjusted for opponent strength and location. The KPI, ESPN's Strength of Record (SOR) and Wins Above Bubble (WAB) are results-based rankings that judge how hard it was for a team to attain its résumé.
For many teams, the two types of ratings largely converge by the end of the regular season. For others, however, there can be a wide swath of outcomes based on how a game was played and whether it was won or lost. These are the schools from major and mid-major conferences that often inspire the most robust conversation and debate among committee members, either over their selection into the NCAA tournament field as an at-large bid and/or their potential seeding.
Here are 10 teams with the most at stake heading into Selection Sunday based on their polarizing rankings among the metrics used by the NCAA Tournament selection committee:
Records reflect games played on March 12.NET and WAB rankings reflect games played on March 11.
The RedHawks’ undefeated run through the regular season is one of the most compelling stories heading into this year’s March Madness, in part because of the uncertainty about what the NCAA Tournament selection committee might do if Miami (Ohio) didn’t win the Mid-American Conference tournament and the league’s automatic bid. Well, that discussion is now reality after Miami’s stunning loss to UMass in the MAC tournament quarterfinals on Thursday.
While the RedHawks’ predictive metrics are that of a team from a one-bid league, their results-based numbers suggest they’re deserving of an at-large bid into the bracket despite not playing a quadrant one game this season. The selection committee’s decision here is likely to shape the larger narrative surrounding the mid-major selection process on Selection Sunday and mid-major scheduling moving forward.
Perhaps no team could potentially benefit from this year’s soft bubble like the Tigers, who took another step toward securing an at-large bid by beating Mississippi State to open the SEC Tournament. Auburn’s late-season swoon put it in jeopardy of missing the NCAA Tournament and then former coach Bruce Pearl brought a national spotlight when he recently argued the Tigers were more deserving of a March Madness at-large bid than Miami (Ohio). Steven Pearl’s hiring as coach will get even more uncomfortable should Auburn complete this collapse and not hear its name called on Selection Sunday.
The Tar Heels are going dancing for the second year in a row under coach Hubert Davis, but their seeding on Selection Sunday bears watching. The results-based metrics suggest North Carolina could potentially warrant a top-four seed, especially if it were to reel off a couple more quality wins at the ACC tournament. But predictive metrics like KenPom and ESPN’s BPI currently have UNC hovering around the top 30, which would be more in line with earning a No. 7 or No. 8 seed. How the NCAA tournament selection committee views that gap could affect the Tar Heels’ odds of advancing and Davis felt pressure after last season’s first-round exit from the NCAA Tournament.
The Cardinals could be a quandary to seed, with a wider range of metrics than most top 25 teams. Louisville doesn’t have a bad loss on its resumé but it also had just four wins over teams currently projected to make the NCAA Tournament field during the regular season. Its best win is over Kentucky (NET: 27) at home more than four months ago. However, three of the four predictive metrics used by the selection committee – including the NET – have Louisville projected as a top-15 team. This seed line will be hard to project on Selection Sunday.
The Hawkeyes are lucky a lot of bubble teams lost this week or else their quick exit from the Big Ten tournament against Ohio State on Thursday might make the next couple days more nerve-wracking. Iowa will enter the 2026 NCAA Tournament having lost four of its past five games and seven of its previous 10 games, including road setbacks to conference doormats Maryland and Penn State. Its seeding profile was already going to be a challenge for the selection committee and the Hawkeyes’ recent issues could leave them with a lower seed than expected despite predictive metrics mostly inside the top 25.
The Knights seemed safely in the field for most of February (and probably still get into the field after a dramatic comeback win in overtime against Cincinnati on Wednesday at the Big 12 tournament). But UCF’s seed line could test the NCAA Tournament selection committee because its predictive metrics have lagged behind its results-based rankings all season long. UCF’s 10-9 record in quad one and two games this season compares favorably with other teams competing for the last at large bids, but the Knights remain outside the top 50 in the KenPom and Torvik rankings after a three-game losing skid to Baylor, Oklahoma State and West Virginia to close the regular season.
There could be a fascinating debate in the selection committee room revolving around the Longhorns, Missouri and Oklahoma of the SEC. Texas has the best NET, KenPom and BPI rating among the three thanks to its top-20 offense, but enters Selection Sunday with losses in five of its past six games after a first-round setback to Ole Miss on Wednesday at the SEC tournament. Oklahoma’s five-game winning streak entering Thursday included wins over Missouri and Texas. Missouri, meanwhile, leads in every results-based metric, which is why the Tigers’ spot in the field feels more secure than Texas or Oklahoma. The Longhorns have notable wins over Alabama and Vanderbilt in January, a 2-1 record this season against Missouri and Oklahoma, and several blowouts early to boost their predictive metrics. But they’ve also got a quad three loss on their resume, something neither Missouri nor Oklahoma have on theirs.
Coach Wes Miller entered his fifth season leading the Bearcats mentioned on hot seat lists and his departure seemed a foregone conclusion once Cincinnati began this season poorly. A surge in recent weeks, including wins over BYU and Kansas, boosted the Bearcats’ predictive metrics to that of a bubble team. Their results-based metrics still lag, however, with a quad four loss to Eastern Michigan in November looming particularly large now that they lost Wednesday’s Big 12 tournament game to UCF. This year’s soft bubble offers a glimmer of hope ahead of Selection Sunday, which could well determine Miller’s future.
The Cardinal’s metrics aren’t going to help them in the bubble conversation ahead of Selection Sunday, especially after their loss to Pittsburgh in the opening round of the ACC tournament. Stanford is outside the top 60 in predictive metrics and outside the 50 in results-based rankings, but a closer look at their resume explains why they will be considered by the selection committee. The Cardinal have a 9-8 record in quad one and quad two games. Most of their competition for the final at large spots have better metrics but don’t have an above .500 mark against the best teams on the schedule like Stanford.
If the Rams can’t secure the Atlantic-10 Conference’s automatic NCAA Tournament berth, their at-large candidacy could become a talking point on Selection Sunday. They certainly don’t want to risk losing Friday’s A-10 Conference tournament quarterfinal matchup. VCU’s predictive metrics lag behind its results-based metrics because its only loss in the past two months occurred on the road against league leader Saint Louis. But the Rams’ best wins in non conference play were over Virginia Tech and South Florida. VCU’s latest trip to March Madness could be decided by how tough the selection committee perceives the rest of the A-10 to be this season.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: NCAA bracketology 2026: Most polarizing teams by March Madness metrics
Miami (Ohio) dropped its MAC quarterfinal to UMass to fall to 31-1 but the RedHawks don’t fall out of the USA TODAY Sports bracketology field prediction after an unbeaten regular season.
Thanks to results elsewhere during conference championship week – including one crucial result in the SEC – the RedHawks dip down the No. 11 line into one of the NCAA tournament play-in games. This wouldn’t be a terrible result for Miami, which is located just an hour from Dayton, Ohio, which hosts the play-in round.
Miami stays ahead of fellow bubble teams such as Auburn and Missouri, which lost in the second round of the SEC tournament, and Indiana, a loser to Northwestern in the Big Ten tournament.
Auburn had a chance to punch its NCAA ticket by beating Tennessee but couldn’t stop freshman Nate Ament, who returned from injury after missing about two weeks and poured in 27 points in the Volunteers’ 72-62 win. Missouri lost 78-72 to Kentucky and is now on the wrong side of the bubble.
Indiana was in position to make the field before its second loss of the season to Northwestern.
The bubble remains messy but is starting to get a little clearer as contenders advance in or fall out of tournament play.
One contender making a late move is Oklahoma, which dropped nine midseason games in a row but has rebounded to go 8-2 in its last 10. The Sooners have recently added wins against Auburn, Texas before strong efforts against South Carolina and Texas A&M at the SEC tournament.
Two contenders to watch are Mountain West rivals San Diego State and New Mexico, which will meet in the conference semifinals. While the Aztecs or Lobos could make it easy by going ahead and winning the MWC title, the winner of the semifinal is in good shape for an at-large spot.
Santa Clara, Virginia Commonwealth, SMU, Miami (Ohio).
New Mexico, Oklahoma, Auburn, Indiana,.
Multi-bid leagues: SEC (10), Big Ten (9), ACC (8), Big 12 (8), Big East (3), West Coast (3), Atlantic 10 (2), MAC (2).
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: March Madness bracket predictions: NCAA Tournament bubble picture changes
Based on recent NCAA tournament trends, only a few teams are likely true national championship contenders once March Madness officially gets underway.
Seven of the last eight national champions were No. 1 seeds, with Connecticut the lone exception as a No. 4 seed in 2023. The Huskies were also a bit more talented than their seed displayed, especially as they repeated as national champions the following season.
Moreover, 18 of the last 25 national champions since 2000 have been No. 1 seeds. The last team higher than a No. 4 seed to win the national championship was also UConn in 2014, meaning the Huskies hold both spots as the highest-seeded teams to win a title since 2000.
Three No. 3 seeds have won national titles since 2000, and one No. 2 seed has won during that time.
Suffice to say, if a team dominates the regular season, it's a good predictor of national championship odds. Here's a look at the nine teams that can win a national championship in 2026 based on seeding trends:
Duke, the No. 1 overall seed in USA TODAY Sports' bracket projections, has been a wagon this season. Led by true freshman Cameron Boozer, one of the top national player of the year candidates, the Blue Devils finished 29-2 in the regular season with a long list of impressive wins over fellow projected 1-seeds in Michigan and Florida; 2-seed Michigan State; 4-seeds Kansas and Virginia; and 6-seed North Carolina (twice).
Duke ranks No. 1 in adjusted defensive efficiency and No. 5 in adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom, and is likely the national championship front runner right now.
Arizona is a lock for a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament alongside Duke, Michigan and Florida. All the Wildcats did this season was dominate one of the best conferences in college basketball.
Arizona finished the season with a 29-2 record, including a 16-2 mark in Big 12 play. The Wildcats lost back-to-back games to Kansas and Texas Tech in February, but won every other game otherwise, including wins over Iowa State, Kansas, Houston, Alabama, UConn and Florida.
Arizona ranks No. 3 in adjusted defensive efficiency and No. 7 in adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom. It also ranks No. 15 in strength of schedule.
Another lock for a No. 1 seed, Michigan also dominated the regular season. The Wolverines suffered one loss in Big Ten play, which came to Wisconsin early in the season before they ran the table in the conference, only losing again to Duke in a neutral site game in February.
Michigan has the tools to win a national title and forms a big three alongside Duke and Arizona as the top contenders for the national title, with Florida likely right behind.
Defending national champion Florida was 9-5 at one point this season after dropping its SEC opener to Missouri. That followed nonconference losses to UConn, Duke, Arizona and TCU. But then something clicked for the Gators, and they went on to win 16 of their last 17 games to end the regular season, looking like one of the top national title contenders once again.
Led by a trio of returners from last season's national championship team in Thomas Haugh, Alex Condon and Rueben Chinyelu, Florida boasts one of the strongest frontcourts in college basketball. The Gators are the current front runners to earn the last No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament, which puts them easily in national title contention, especially with their run to end the regular season.
Florida ranks fourth in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom, which coincidentally is only behind the three teams ahead of it on this list.
UConn has proven capable in the past of winning a national championship from a variety of different seeding spots in the NCAA tournament. The Huskies are shaping up to be a No. 2 seed in 2026, though, putting them near the very top of national title contenders.
UConn's upset loss to Marquette to end the regular season might have cost its chance at a No. 1 seed, but coach Dan Hurley's squad has the potential to win the school's third title in four seasons. The Huskies lack a go-to scorer, but have a trio of veterans in Solo Ball, Tarris Reed Jr. and Alex Karaban, along with projected NBA lottery pick Braylon Mullins and Georgia transfer Silas Demary Jr. that makes one of the best starting lineups in college basketball.
UConn was a No. 8 seed last season and still nearly took down eventual national champion Florida in the second round of March Madness.
Michigan State coach Tom Izzo has one of his better squads in recent years, led by standout guard Jeremy Fears Jr., who leads the Big Ten in assists per game (9.1) this season.
The Spartans last won a national title in 2000, although they were runners-up in 2009. They've also reached three Final Fours since 2010. Michigan State is projected as a No. 2 seed in USA TODAY Sports' projections.
Houston returned three starters from its runners-up squad a season ago, and replaced the players it lost with a pair of five-star true freshman, including Kingston Flemings, a projected top-five pick in the upcoming NBA draft.
Flemings raised the Cougars' offensive ceiling this season, pacing the team with 16.5 points and 6.4 assists per game. They also have their typical strong defense, which ranks No. 6 nationally, per KenPom.
Coach Kelvin Sampson is one of the best coaches to never win a national title, and he has led Houston agonizingly close in recent years. Maybe the Cougars get over the hump in 2026 as a projected No. 2 seed, per USA TODAY Sports.
Three No. 3 seeds have won the national championship since 2003, and Gonzaga is projected to be on the No. 3 line in 2026, per USA TODAY Sports. The Bulldogs have one of the best frontcourts in college basketball with Graham Ike and Braden Huff, and will be a tough out if they can get strong play from their backcourt or get hot from 3-point range.
Gonzaga has one of the best coaches in the sport in Mark Few and have been runners-up for the national championship in both 2017 and 2021. It also has the defense to make a run, which ranks ninth, per KenPom.
Never count out the Jayhawks and coach Bill Self in March Madness, especially with one of the best scorers in college basketball on their roster.
True freshman Darryn Peterson has been healthy as of late, playing 29 or more minutes in all five of Kansas' final games of the regular season. His availability raises Kansas' ceiling tremendously in the NCAA tournament.
Kansas also has a strong defense, led by Big 12 Defensive Player of the Year Flory Bidunga. Kansas, also led by veteran guards Tre White and Melvin Council Jr., has a team capable of winning a national championship when Peterson is at his best.
Kansas is projected to be a No. 4 seed by USA TODAY Sports, and one No. 4 seed has won a national title since 2000 (UConn in 2023).
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: March Madness predictions: One of these teams will win NCAA Tournament
Italy have finally beaten England at rugby union. Their rugby league team did it at the first attempt
In a bar at the Valle d’Aosta ski resort last Saturday evening, there were only two people celebrating when Tommaso Menoncello raced away to seal Italy’s first win against England in rugby union, at the 33rd attempt. One of them was on the field the day Italy beat England at rugby league. Not that Gioele Celerino told the England fans who surrounded him and his pal, offering congratulations on Italy’s historic triumph. “I was too humble!” he jokes. “In the pub, everyone came over to me and the other guy and said ‘congratulations’ like we had just finished playing!”
Celerino was part of the team that beat England in a warm-up match before the World Cup in October 2013. Steve McNamara’s star-studded England side – Kevin Sinfield, Rob Burrow, Sam Tomkins et all – were stunned by an Italy team drawn from Australia, France, Argentina and England, coached by Carlo Napolitano, the son of Salford restaurateurs.
Continue reading...
The Islanders are back home for a back-to-back, starting with what will hopefully be a vengeance match against the Los Angeles Kings. Coach Patrick Roy has made some line adjustments, putting newcomer Brayden Schenn with Mathew Barzal instead of with Calum Ritchie, the center who his arrival bumped to the wing.
Personally, it’s the Palat-Schenn combo I’d be breaking up as neither exactly brings the speed that they brought a decade ago. But we’ll see how this goes; Schenn has lots of experience with high-end talents and he can be the defensive conscience that allows a guy like Barzal to push forward.
First Islanders Goal picks go here.
Lots of games last night, including a win for the Capitals and losses for the Penguins and Red Wings and an OTL loss for the Blue Jackets.
The Pittsburgh Penguins lost 6-2 to the Vegas Golden Knights on Thursday night. Defensive breakdowns from the Penguins and opportunistic scoring from Vegas helped the home team pull away in the third period. Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin can’t return soon enough. [Recap]
The Sports and Exhibition Authority of Pittsburgh and Allegheny County approved the $1.7 billion sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins to the Hoffmann Family of Companies on Thursday, but not before criticizing Fenway Sports Group for “profiteering” on the sale, noting the group could stand to make about $800 million (an 89% return) after only four years of ownership. Board members also said FSG failed to fulfill promised investments in Pittsburgh’s Lower Hill neighborhood. [Trib Live]
One of the many reasons the Penguins have found success this season lies in the quality and contributions of the team’s depth players. Players and coaches say the team’s depth and chemistry have allowed different lines and players to step up on any given night. [Trib Live]
The Penguins shuffled around their defense corps on Thursday, recalling defenseman Alexander Alexeyev from the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins while reassigning fellow blueliner Ryan Graves. [Trib Live]
Toronto Maple Leafs captain Auston Matthews was injured on Thursday night after taking a knee-on-knee hit from Anaheim Ducks captain Radko Gudas. Gudas received a five-minute major and game misconduct for the hit and is likely to face discipline from the league. [TSN]
Carolina Hurricanes majority owner Tom Dundon has sold a portion of his team to three new minority owners, including former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Bobby Farnham. [TSN]
The NHL will not require the Ottawa Senators to forfeit a first-round draft pick for their involvement in a 2021 trade that was later voided. Instead, the team will receive the 32nd overall pick in this year’s draft. The team will also pay a $1 million fine to NHL Foundation Canada, with the league citing the franchise’s change in ownership when determining the revised punishment. [Sportsnet]
Unable to ramp up through the first month of spring training because of lingering shoulder soreness, Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell took a step toward readiness Thursday, throwing his first bullpen session.
Two hours before Thursday night's Cactus League game, Snell threw off the mound in front of a group of reporters and fans at Camelback Ranch. Snell threw 15 pitches — all fastballs — sitting between 87 to 89 mph.
“I feel good,” Snell said after his bullpen. “I was very excited to throw off the mound again and pitch. I’ve been looking forward to this for a while. This being like the first one where I actually could have the catcher down. I was still limited to what I could throw. I was throwing 87 to 89 [mph]. It felt effortless, easy, could command the ball, so [I’m] happy with that. [I’m] just happy to continue to grow and get better.”
Read more:Dodgers prospect James Tibbs III attempts to show staying power after multiple trades
The two-time Cy Young Award winner says he’s targeting an April return, and that he’s hoping to get back faster than initially expected.
“I want to pitch in April,” Snell said. “That’s my goal. So, I’ve kind of been the one pushing it, and they’re being more cautious. I think we’re just talking a little back and forth, but I think them seeing me throw a pen today, hopefully that just gives them more confidence to keep it going. I think we won’t really know until I throw a live [batting practice], I think that’s when we’ll really know. How do I recover from that? How do I feel? And then that will be like, ‘OK, let’s get him into games.’ That’s what I would envision. I’m not the front office or Dave, but that’s what I would think.”
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts, however, isn’t ready to give a timetable for Snell’s return.
“I think honestly, to think about when he’s going to come back, we’re just a ways away from even really having that conversation,” Roberts said, noting that six weeks is "the floor" when you also account for a potential rehab assignment.
Thanks to the depth of their pitching staff, the Dodgers can afford to be patient with building up Snell. Right-handers Emmet Sheehan and River Ryan, along with left-hander Justin Wrobleski, are all possibilities for starting assignments early in the season.
"We still need him to pitch, and I know he understands that," Roberts said of Snell. "But we do have the luxury of trying to err on the side of caution. ... We are certainly better when he's pitching for us, when he's active."
Snell, for his part, is thankful to be throwing again without shoulder pain.
“The whole offseason, I mean, every throw kind of hurt,” Snell said. “It was just every throw, I could feel my shoulder. It was just cranky and I couldn’t get it going. And I thought I was doing everything I needed to, and I believe I was, and ultimately, I’m feeling better.”
Dodgers ace Yoshinobu Yamamoto is gearing up to make his biggest start since last year’s Fall Classic, as he will take the rubber for Team Japan in its battle with Team Venezuela in Saturday night’s World Baseball Classic quarterfinal.
Roberts revealed Thursday that it will be Yamamoto’s final appearance in the WBC, and sometime after Saturday’s game, he will return to Phoenix for the remainder of Dodgers camp.
“The thought is and the conversations we’ve had is that he’ll make this start and then come back and join us,” Roberts said.
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This story originally appeared in Los Angeles Times.
Now that’s more like. The Wizards fell behind the Orlando Magic by as much as 19 points in the second, roared back with a +15 fourth quarter to send the game to overtime, briefly took a one-point lead in the extra period, and still brought home the loss they needed. Now that’s a quality tank loss.
For my money, the best part of this game was 21-year-old Bilal Coulibaly taking over Washington’s offense late. In just 6:41 of playing time in the fourth, he shot 5-9 from the floor (including a banked-in three from the wing) to score 13 points. He finished the game with 29 — a new career high.
Now, the offensive takeover was creaky at times. That banked in three was lucky, and Orlando defenders made him convert some very difficult shots.
And yet, the takeover was something I’ve wanted to see since they traded up a spot to draft him. In a close game the players wanted to win, Coulibaly tried to dominate and mostly succeeded. Orlando couldn’t keep him out of the paint when he committed to driving.
Maybe the creaky, clunky experience last night will lead to a smooth and confident takeover in the future.
Maybe.
At least we got a taste of hope last night.
Back to reality, it’s still in Washington’s best interest to keep on losing. They’ve lost 10 in a row to move into third worst behind the Indiana Pacers and Sacramento Kings. The Pacers are currently on an 11-game skid. The Kings — a franchise as committed to getting things wrong as the Wizards — have won four of their last six. The race to the bottom is real.
Below are the four factors that decide wins and losses in basketball — shooting (efg), rebounding (offensive rebounds), ball handling (turnovers), fouling (free throws made).
The four factors are measured by:
| FOUR FACTORS | WIZARDS | MAGIC | LGAVG |
|---|---|---|---|
| eFG% | 52.4% | 54.5% | 54.3% |
| OREB% | 25.5% | 23.9% | 26.0% |
| TOV% | 13.1% | 11.3% | 12.7% |
| FTM/FGA | 0.200 | 0.270 | 0.208 |
| PACE | 104 | 99.3 | |
| ORTG | 114 | 118 | 115.4 |
PPA is my overall production metric, which credits players for things they do that help a team win (scoring, rebounding, playmaking, defending) and dings them for things that hurt (missed shots, turnovers, bad defense, fouls).
PPA is a per possession metric designed for larger data sets. In small sample sizes, the numbers can get weird. In PPA, 100 is average, higher is better and replacement level is 45. For a single game, replacement level isn’t much use, and I reiterate the caution about small samples sometimes producing weird results.
POSS is the number of possessions each player was on the floor in this game.
ORTG = offensive rating, which is points produced per individual possessions x 100. League average so far this season is listed in the Four Factors table above. Points produced is not the same as points scored. It includes the value of assists and offensive rebounds, as well as sharing credit when receiving an assist.
USG = offensive usage rate. Average is 20%. Median so far this season is 17.7%.
ORTG and USG are versions of stats created by former Wizards assistant coach Dean Oliver and modified by me. ORTG is an efficiency measure that accounts for the value of shooting, offensive rebounds, assists and turnovers. USG includes shooting from the floor and free throw line, offensive rebounds, assists and turnovers.
+PTS = “Plus Points” is a measure of the points gained or lost by each player based on their efficiency in this game compared to league average efficiency on the same number of possessions. A player with an offensive rating (points produced per possession x 100) of 100 who uses 20 possessions would produce 20 points. If the league average efficiency is 115, the league — on average — would produced 23.0 points in the same 20 possessions. So, the player in this hypothetical would have a +PTS score of -3.0.
Players are sorted by total production in the game.
| WIZARDS | MIN | POSS | ORTG | USG | +PTS | PPA | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bilal Coulibaly | 37 | 80 | 124 | 28.6% | 1.9 | 132 | -11 |
| Justin Champagnie | 17 | 37 | 155 | 21.3% | 3.1 | 270 | 3 |
| Bub Carrington | 28 | 60 | 158 | 14.3% | 3.6 | 166 | 11 |
| Leaky Black | 28 | 60 | 184 | 10.5% | 4.3 | 160 | 14 |
| Trae Young | 21 | 46 | 134 | 26.0% | 2.3 | 188 | -13 |
| Alex Sarr | 23 | 50 | 115 | 23.7% | 0.0 | 157 | -14 |
| Tristan Vukcevic | 21 | 45 | 88 | 25.6% | -3.1 | 81 | -4 |
| Jamir Watkins | 16 | 35 | 110 | 18.7% | -0.3 | 58 | -1 |
| Anthony Gill | 16 | 35 | 118 | 13.5% | 0.1 | 34 | 5 |
| Sharife Cooper | 3 | 6 | 146 | 31.7% | 0.6 | -48 | 3 |
| Will Riley | 33 | 72 | 74 | 13.2% | -4.0 | -13 | -6 |
| Tre Johnson | 23 | 49 | 26 | 23.2% | -10.2 | -171 | -12 |
| MAGIC | MIN | POSS | ORTG | USG | +PTS | PPA | +/- |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tristan da Silva | 41 | 89 | 119 | 20.0% | 0.6 | 186 | 3 |
| Jalen Suggs | 34 | 74 | 129 | 28.8% | 2.8 | 223 | 6 |
| Jett Howard | 20 | 43 | 191 | 21.0% | 6.8 | 375 | -1 |
| Desmond Bane | 42 | 91 | 132 | 17.4% | 2.6 | 130 | 14 |
| Wendell Carter Jr. | 34 | 73 | 119 | 19.2% | 0.6 | 157 | 13 |
| Jevon Carter | 21 | 47 | 109 | 10.9% | -0.3 | 55 | -7 |
| Paolo Banchero | 42 | 92 | 90 | 22.4% | -5.2 | 24 | 11 |
| Noah Penda | 14 | 30 | 77 | 5.1% | -0.6 | 48 | -12 |
| Moritz Wagner | 11 | 24 | 88 | 29.1% | -1.9 | 45 | 4 |
| Jonathan Isaac | 1 | 3 | 58 | 33.0% | -0.6 | 0 | -2 |
| Goga Bitadze | 4 | 9 | 33 | 20.0% | -1.5 | -114 | -4 |