Mutombo, whose reputation was formed on …

Mutombo, whose reputation was formed on the defensive end, marvels at the skill Embiid possesses and has unleashed at his size. He’s even more impressed by the name his play has invoked. “He’s found a way to get compared to Hakeem Olajuwon, skill-wise. He learned a lot from Dream and he does a lot of things that Dream does, Dream did. He’s very talented. Very gifted. A big man who can put the ball on the floor, do what he does. They don’t make too many of them. They don’t make too many of them. I was not a three-point shooter. I think I finished my career 0-for-1 [actually, 0-2] after 18 years. I made my living blocking shots. I was not someone who could come get the ball, dribble, go left and right, no? Give me the ball, I shoot the hook shot and it would go in. I was not a jump shooter, no. Maybe because I played in a different era.”

Future QB Rankings: Rating all 32 NFL teams’ situations from worst to best

Touchdown Wire ranks the 32 NFL teams in terms of stability and potential at the game’s most important position over the next 3-4 seasons.

 

Backhanded compliment from Broncos’ Chris Harris Jr? CB talks ‘positive’ on Josh Allen

Denver Broncos CB Chris Harris said he’s going to ‘keep it positive’ on Buffalo Bills QB Josh Allen.

When the Bills host the Denver Broncos on Sunday in Week 12, will it be another week of proving doubters wrong for Buffalo’s second-year quarterback in Josh Allen?

If there’s one player on the Broncos that doesn’t sound sold on Allen, it’s cornerback Chris Harris Jr.

On Monday, Harris chatted with local reporters. He previewed his meeting against Allen and the Bills. He started his comments in a status quo style. They ended with smirks.

“I think he’s solid,” Harris said. “He’s a really good quarterback. He uses his legs, he’s playing smart, they’re doing a lot of no-huddle with him, he’s moving around in the pocket and he can make all the deep throws.”

Yawn.

Here’s where it gets interesting.

“If I can give him a little… I don’t want to actually,” Harris curiously said with a grin and chuckle. “I’m going to say all positive about him today.”

An oft-made comparison with Allen is the one made to quarterback Cam Newton. The Panthers quarterback is out this year, but the Broncos beat Newton in the Super Bowl during his MVP season. Harris was part of that team.

But that comparison is rubbish, says Harris. The defensive back admitted he thought Newton was “real” while Allen is not.

“No [he’s not similar to Newton]. (Allen) can run, though,” said Harris. “Other than that, he’s not really like Cam. They might do a quarterback draw-designed run, but Cam was for real.

“(The Panthers) had designed runs like Lamar Jackson for him because he was so elusive with the real run plays that they had for him,” Harris added.

From there, Harris concluded his press conference with one more “I’m going to keep it positive on Josh Allen.”

While Harris had some questionable comments, safety Justin Simmons was more complimentary of Allen and the Bills, by comparison.

“Josh Allen is a really talented quarterback,” Simmons said. “He can make all the throws, he has a strong arm, a really good build. He runs hard and fast.

“They’ve got a good team, they’re 7-3 for a reason,” he added.

While Allen could be motivated by some remarks such as these, it’s not going to be easy to impress this Broncos secondary. Overall, the Broncos sit as the fourth-best defense in the NFL. Buffalo’s defense is third.

Also by comparison, Harris had a much quicker interview, lasting about three minutes on Monday. Those interested in hearing his remarks can do so below. His comments on Allen and the Bills begin at the 2:00 mark:

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Player’s Club: Prescott wins NFC Offensive weekly award for 2nd time

The Dallas quarterback’s 400-yard day earned him honors for the second time in 2019; he’s the fifth Cowboy to win it in the past 17 weeks.

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Things can change in a hurry in the National Football League. Last week, the Cowboys were still reeling from a gut-punch loss to Minnesota. They suffered an added indignity when Vikings running back Dalvin Cook was named the NFC’s Offensive Player of the Week for his performance against them. It was the third time in six weeks that the Dallas defense allowed an opposing player to earn that honor.

But Week 11’s win over Detroit has brought redemption, in more ways than one. The seat under coach Jason Garrett cooled slightly, the team’s playoff chances improved incrementally, and the league’s Player of the Week announcement stung a whole lot less. Ladies and gentlemen of Cowboys Nation, your NFC Offensive Player of the Week is none other than Rayne Dakota Prescott.

Prescott had a big day in the Motor City, tossing three touchdowns and finishing the afternoon with a 116.6 passer rating in the club’s 35-27 win. His 444 air yards led all quarterbacks for the week, and put Prescott in elite company, even within a franchise that has had more than its share of legendary passers.

This is not Prescott’s first time earning Player of the Week accolades. The fourth-year signal caller started the 2019 campaign with 405 passing yards and four touchdowns against the Giants in the season opener. He went 25-of-32 that day, amassing a perfect passer rating of 158.3.

This most recent honor for Prescott caps a notably successful run for the Cowboys, as far as that particular award goes.

Dallas will be hard-pressed to make it consecutive weeks for offensive fireworks. The defense belonging to their Week 12 opponent, the New England Patriots, rank tops in the NFL in average yards per game allowed as well as average points per game scored.

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Colts’ T.Y. Hilton still needs to ‘check all the boxes’

T.Y. Hilton hopes to play Thursday night.

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Injuries have been the main theme for the Indianapolis Colts as they prepare on a short week for the divisional matchup against the Houston Texans on Thursday night. The status of wide receiver T.Y. Hilton has garnered the most attention.

That’s not surprising, though. Given his history in torching the Texans and his MVP-caliber impact on the Colts offense, Hilton’s status will be closely monitored as the short week progresses.

While he has seemingly been making progress, the 30-year-old wide receiver still has boxes to check before he gets on the field.

“If I check all the boxes – from me (and) how I feel, the doctors, the trainers and Frank (Reich) and Chris (Ballard) have the last say so. So if I check all the boxes then I’ll go out there,” Hilton told reporters Tuesday. “It’s a couple more. It’s about two more. The last two will be the say so.”

Those final two boxes will depend on how he feels physically with the injury in addition to the thoughts of the medical staff and head coach Frank Reich and Chris Ballard.

Hilton’s history against the Texans is well-documented. The Ghost has had more success against Houston than he has against any other team in the NFL, and it’s not really close.

He’s played 15 games in his career against the Texans. The gaudy numbers include 82 receptions on 133 targets for 1,519 yards and 10 touchdowns. Those are incredible numbers to have against a single team.

He’s even had success on the road. In eight games, Hilton has 46 catches for 1,018 yards, seven touchdowns and 22.1 yards per reception.

For what it’s worth, Hilton hasn’t practiced this week during the team’s walkthroughs. Though the veteran knows his body and the fact that he doesn’t necessarily need to practice in order to be cleared to play.

“I don’t need practice. It’s just how my body feels. When I feel good and all the boxes are checked then I’ll go,” Hilton said. “If three of the four boxes are checked then I’m not playing. All four have to be checked for me to play.”

The injury designations will come out Wednesday, which will give us a better idea of his status. With all the injuries amounting on the Colts’ sideline, there are high hopes Hilton can play against the team that he’s found the most success against.

FINAL Super 25 Volleyball Rankings: Byron Nelson crowned champion for 2019 season

Check out the FINAL Super 25 Volleyball Rankings for 2019! See where all the teams landed.

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It held the top spot for just two weeks, but sometimes, that’s all it takes.

Byron Nelson (Trophy Club, Texas) has been named the top team in the final 2019 Super 25 Volleyball Rankings.

The team still has some season left, with a Class 6A State Semifinal match against Clemens (Schertz, Texas) Friday, but its 48-2 record vs. tough competition in the state of Texas and elsewhere made the Lady Bobcats No. 1.

The team’s last loss came on October 1. It seized the top spot of the rankings just last week when Padua Franciscan (Parma, Ohio) lost its final match of the year.

FULL RANKINGS: Super 25 Volleyball Rankings, Week 13

The Dallas Morning News reported that Byron Nelson clinched its first state volleyball tournament berth with its recent victory over Denton Guyer. The team will have some work to do if wants to keep making history, but all in all, it’s been a stellar campaign so far.

“We have such great kids and they’ve [worked] so hard, I’m glad I’ve been able to help them attain this goal of ours,” Byron Nelson coach Brianne Barker-Groth told The Dallas Morning News about going to state.

If Byron Nelson defeats Clemens, it goes up against the winner of the Ridge Point and Plano West match. Byron Nelson playing Plano West would be a matchup between two top five teams in the Super 25.

Mater Dei (Santa Ana, California) made its way back into the top five of the rankings this week. Taking down Redondo Union (Redondo Beach, California) en route to a CIF State Regional Open Division Championship appearance will do that.

Mater Dei dispatched Redondo Union in a five-set thriller and will have to play upset to No. 2 Torrey Pines (San Diego) if it wants to end the season with a championship.

Schröder’s 31 not enough to overcome LeBron, Lakers

LeBron James has now recorded a triple-double against every team in the NBA as the Lakers edged the Thunder 112-107 on Tuesday night.

In the same city in the same arena, it was a different opponent, but still the same result.

The Thunder came up short against the Los Angeles Lakers on Tuesday night, falling 112-107, a game in which they could never quite catch up.

Dennis Schröder scored a season-high 31 off the bench, hitting on 12 of his 20 shot attempts. Danilo Gallinari added 25 while Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Nerlens Noel chipped in 16 and 15, respectively.

A night after leading Oklahoma City in scoring, Chris Paul scored only four points but did dish out 10 assists.

The Thunder have now dropped four of the last five and remain winless on the road.

Per ESPN, for the second night in a row, head coach Billy Donovan thought his team did the right things but couldn’t quite close it out at the end.

“There’s a lot of things we did well in there,” Oklahoma City coach Billy Donovan said. “But, you know, we came up short in all these games. I think the one sign you can point to is both teams, the Clippers and the Lakers, are really, really good teams, so we’re competing well at a high level. But we’ve just got to do more in order to be able to finish and close out games.”

Oklahoma City will have the next two days off to rest and return home, something that could be particularly important for Thunder guard Hamidou Diallo, as he missed his third straight game with left knee soreness.

Also of note – LeBron became the first player in NBA history to record a triple-double against every team in the league with Tuesday night’s 25 points, 11 rebound, and 10 assists performance.

The two teams will meet again in just three days in Oklahoma City. Tip-off inside Chesapeake Energy Arena is set for 7 p.m. CT.

Super 25 Volleyball Rankings: Week 13

The final Super 25 Volleyball Rankings of the 2019 season have been released! Byron Nelson has been crowned champion. The Lady Bobcats have maintained a 48-2 record vs. tough competition in the state of Texas and elsewhere. The team still has some season left, but it’s been so far, so good. They are going to the state tournament for the first time ever. Coach Barker-Groth (Dallas Morning News) Mater Dei snuck into the top five of the final list. Redondo Union finished in sixth. Benet Academy moved up from 11 to 8. Assumption came in at No. 19. Want to see what else happened? Go to usatodayhss.com for more.

The final Super 25 Volleyball Rankings of the 2019 season have been released! Byron Nelson has been crowned champion. The Lady Bobcats have maintained a 48-2 record vs. tough competition in the state of Texas and elsewhere. The team still has some season left, but it’s been so far, so good. They are going to the state tournament for the first time ever. Coach Barker-Groth (Dallas Morning News) Mater Dei snuck into the top five of the final list. Redondo Union finished in sixth. Benet Academy moved up from 11 to 8. Assumption came in at No. 19. Want to see what else happened? Go to usatodayhss.com for more.

Super 25 Volleyball Rankings: Week 13

The final Super 25 Volleyball Rankings of the 2019 season have been released! Byron Nelson has been crowned champion. The Lady Bobcats have maintained a 48-2 record vs. tough competition in the state of Texas and elsewhere. The team still has some season left, but it’s been so far, so good. They are going to the state tournament for the first time ever. Coach Barker-Groth (Dallas Morning News) Mater Dei snuck into the top five of the final list. Redondo Union finished in sixth. Benet Academy moved up from 11 to 8. Assumption came in at No. 19. Want to see what else happened? Go to usatodayhss.com for more.

The final Super 25 Volleyball Rankings of the 2019 season have been released! Byron Nelson has been crowned champion. The Lady Bobcats have maintained a 48-2 record vs. tough competition in the state of Texas and elsewhere. The team still has some season left, but it’s been so far, so good. They are going to the state tournament for the first time ever. Coach Barker-Groth (Dallas Morning News) Mater Dei snuck into the top five of the final list. Redondo Union finished in sixth. Benet Academy moved up from 11 to 8. Assumption came in at No. 19. Want to see what else happened? Go to usatodayhss.com for more.