Tag: Duke

Finding 3 Warriors backup options for Draymond Green in the NBA Draft

Who could the Warriors find in the NBA draft to fill their depth chart behind Draymond Green?

The end of May has usually signaled the start of another NBA Finals run for the Golden State Warriors. Yet in 2020, the three-time champs are on a different path. Prior to the NBA season getting put on pause due to the coronavirus, the Warriors were the first and only team in the league to be officially eliminated from the playoff picture.

For the first time in years, Golden State’s 15-50 record has set the team up to land a top prospect in the 2020 edition of the NBA draft.

With their championship core still in place, Steve Kerr and Bob Myers can go in a bevy of different directions with their top pick. Instead of drafting the best player available, Golden State could look for a player to complement Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green.

Behind their veteran All-Star trio, the Warriors depth chart is rather thin. With three selections in the 2020 draft, Golden State could address multiple areas — including a backup for the former Defensive Player of the Year.

After an impressive rookie campaign, Eric Paschall could slide in behind Green on paper. Though, the Warriors could view him as something more than just a backup off the bench. The Villanova product has shown versatility and could be in line for a featured role in year two.

Even if Paschall sticks as the lead option behind Green, the Warriors could still address the frontcourt in the draft. With Green’s ability to contribute in a bevy of ways, Golden State could tap multiple players at different positions to fill his role when the three-time All-Star is off the floor.

Warriors Wire looked at three different draft prospects the Warriors could bring into back up Green in 2020.

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Drew Lock practicing with Broncos teammates at Denver park

Drew Lock is getting together with teammates at a Denver area park for offseason passing sessions.

Before many parks were shut down across the country due to COVID-19, Denver Broncos quarterback Drew Lock planned to get together with teammates for some offseason passing sessions.

Lock postponed the unofficial practices once COVID-19 restrictions were put in place. Earlier this month, Lock said he would get together with teammates when it was “socially acceptable” to do so. Lock and his teammates have since decided that it’s now socially acceptable to practice together.

A Broncos fan stumbled upon Lock and some teammates working out at a Denver area park on Wednesday. He shared two photos of the unofficial practices on his Twitter page, @HustlerCar.

“Drew Lock was throwing on target and accurate BOMBS!” he wrote. “Phillip Lindsey ran like a thoroughbred racehorse! Was cutting corners & stopping on a dime! Great shape!”

Judging from the photos @HustlerCar shared on Twitter, it appears that at least 10 of Lock’s teammates joined him (possibly more).

These workout sessions will help the team get prepared for a potential June minicamp and training camp in July. It’s great to see Lock showing leadership and getting teammates together months before camp.

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Report: Broncos QB Drew Lock has thrown to ‘a few’ wide receivers

Broncos quarterback Drew Lock recently had a chance to get in some on-field work with his teammates.

Denver Broncos quarterback Drew Lock was planning to get teammates together for some passing sessions earlier this offseason but he postponed those workouts due to COVID-19.

Two weeks ago, Lock said he hoped to get together with his wide receivers when it is “socially acceptable” to do so. That time has apparently arrived.

Lock is back in Denver (he had been with his family in Lee’s Summit, Missouri) and he recently threw with “a few receivers,” according to a tweet from KMGH-TV’s Troy Renck. It’s unknown which receivers Lock has been able to work with so far this offseason.

Renck reported that Lock practiced “social guidelines” and hopes to “amp it up” when permitted to do so. The Broncos have been conducting a virtual offseason program online and the team probably won’t have a chance to do any official on-field work until training camp.

Denver is hoping to begin training camp on time in late July.

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Drew Lock plans to throw with Broncos WRs ‘when it is socially acceptable’

Broncos quarterback Drew Lock plans to get teammates together for offseason throwing sessions “when it is socially acceptable.”

Broncos quarterback Drew Lock was planning to get together with teammates this offseason for some throwing sessions before those plans were postponed due to COVID-19.

Lock could work out with wide receivers and tight ends while maintaining social distancing but the QB didn’t want his teammates to all travel to a central location while many state authorities have discouraged travel.

When — if — things get back to normal, Lock hopes to get some passing sessions in with his teammates before the start of training camp.

“When it is socially acceptable to do that and have the best interest of everybody as far as health goes — I’m going to keep that in mind first — but once that is ready, we’re going to have all of those guys out there,” Lock said during a Zoom conference call on May 5. “I’ve got all of them on a text.

“Whenever we pull the string, whenever the professionals say it’s OK, whether that’s the NFL or whether that’s actual CDC, whichever one, we’re going to have them ready. We’re going to get out there. We’re going to start throwing and get this chemistry down and get things rolling.”

Lock is following the lead of former Broncos QB Peyton Manning, who used to take teammates to Duke each offseason for throwing sessions. Manning has been serving as a mentor for Lock, who went 4-1 last season.

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Austin Rivers backs new G League model, says NCAA is ‘exposed’

Though Rivers was a one-and-done success story at Duke, he’s buying in on the NBA G League’s program as an alternative for top prospects.

Houston Rockets guard Austin Rivers was once a shining example for top high school prospects of how the “one-and-done” model of college basketball could work. After all, Rivers was a star player for a year at Duke before becoming a lottery pick in the 2012 NBA Draft.

But he’s no longer convinced that it’s always the best route. Earlier this month, five-star prospect Jalen Green bypassed college basketball to enter the G League’s new professional pathway program, and Rivers said he could see more top prospects going that route in the future.

In a Facebook Q&A with Houston broadcaster Craig Ackerman, Rivers was asked if Green’s move could be part of a new trend for elite high school athletes. This is how the 27-year-old responded:

It’s definitely going to be a new trend, depending on how well it goes for Jalen Green. If these guys go into the G League and are able to be solid, play decently well, be accepted, and then go high in the draft as a top two or three pick… players are going to be like, ‘Why wouldn’t I do that?’

Because then if you go into the G League, they can get paid other things. Shoe contracts can already start. It’s just going to open up doors. I think NCAA basketball as a whole has been exposed over the past couple years, just in terms of how much money these colleges and people running it are making, and how these players are being treated in general.

https://www.facebook.com/17729777319/videos/2699082450218972

While Rivers was able to parlay his success at Duke into becoming an NBA lottery pick, he then pointed out that he’s an exception to the usual rule.

“I’m fine,” Rivers said. “The guys who are the 0.01 percenters who are only going to college for just one year, it makes no difference.” He continued:

But you’ve got to understand the 99.9% of college sports, they go to college for four years, they graduate, and they’re like, ‘What now?’ They’ve given their bodies and everything, and they haven’t made a dollar. A lot of them leave and don’t have an idea of what to do, and it’s tough. I think some players are now going to go that route, if they can go to the G League right away and fast track their way of making money earlier for their family.

Rivers said that while playing internationally is also a longstanding option, he sees that as too logistically cumbersome for most prospects. However, the G League program could be different.

“You saw a couple guys go overseas, but that’s just way more of a move,” he said. “That’s a long way to go, flying across the world. That’s just different. But this is interesting. I never thought I’d see something like it.”

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Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament: No. 1 Seed – 2014-15 Irish

Now, we get to the heavy hitters in the Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament, beginning with the top seed.

Now, we get to the heavy hitters in the Notre Dame 15 Years Tournament, beginning with the top seed. The 2014-15 Irish represented the program’s second season in the ACC, but they made it clear to everyone that they intended to compete in perhaps the best conference in college basketball, not simply lay down for the likes of Duke, North Carolina and Syracuse. No one could deny it when this season was over.

En route to a 32-6 record, the program’s best since going 33-7 in 1908-09, the Irish jumped out to a 15-1 start and ended up winning 20 of their first 22 games, including eight of their first nine ACC games. That run ended with a four-point win over the No. 4 Blue Devils, at which point the Irish were ranked eighth, as high as they would get during the season. In spite of their 14-4 conference record, it only netted them a No. 3 seed in the ACC tournament. That didn’t matter, however, because the Irish squeezed out wins over Miami, Duke and North Carolina by an average of 8.3 points to win Mike Brey his first championship and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

The close but meaningful games continued in March Madness. Seeded third in their region, the Irish needed everything to get by 14th-seeded Northeastern in a four-point first-round win, and the second-round win over in-state rival Butler required overtime. They breathed a little easier in an 11-point win over Wichita State in the Sweet Sixteen, setting up an Elite Eight matchup with Karl-Anthony Towns, Willie Cauley-Stein, Devin Booker and top-ranked Kentucky. The game was a classic, and the Irish would have made their first Final Four in 37 years had Jerian Grant not air-balled a corner 3 at the buzzer, giving the Wildcats a two-point victory.

Jerian Grant was named to the Consensus All-American First Team alongside Stein, Jahlil Okafor, D’Angelo Russell and Frank Kaminsky. He led the Irish with 16.5 points and 6.7 assists a game. Zach Auguste, Pat Connaughton and Demetrius Jackson all had scoring averages in the neighborhood of 12, and Steve Vasturia averaged 10.1 points a game. All of this made the Irish the second-best shooting team in the nation (50.9 percent), the third-best scoring team (2,963 points) and the ninth-best passing team (576).

What were some of the things you felt …

What were some of the things you felt you improved most on during your time at Duke? Cassius Stanley: I would probably say just being more versatile. I felt like I was improving just being able to impact the game in any way from any position, one through three. I felt my shooting was improving day-to-day. I think just being a competitor, too, and becoming the best player that I could be, which was improving every day. I think that we would have been really special if we had the chance to play in the postseason. Because I felt like while I was improving a lot, we were all improving a lot.

Have any former Duke players given you …

Have any former Duke players given you advice on taking this next step? Cassius Stanley: Yeah, the brotherhood is really real. In the summer, even before going there, I ran with so many NBA players. I worked out a lot with Justise Winslow. I also worked out with Austin Rivers and Seth Curry and Rodney Hood. They were all great and telling me to go into it with the mindset of learning everything you possibly can from Coach because he knows exactly what he is talking about. That is exactly what I did. I came in as a sponge, just trying to soak everything I could.

You played for one of the best coaches …

You played for one of the best coaches of all-time in Coach K. What were some of the lessons he taught you that you are most grateful for now? Cassius Stanley: I would probably say accountability. He runs the program like a pro team. He supports his players a lot. He taught us so many things. He taught us off-the-court stuff. He would teach it himself or he would have other people just stressing it. We had a nutrition staff, we had a strength-and-conditioning staff. Everything was high level. He taught me and he taught all of us how to be real men and be professionals.

Breaking Down “Notre Dame Football Quarantine House”

SEND THE BOSTON COLLEGE GAME ON THE NEXT ROCKET TO MARS, PLEASE AND THANK YOU!!!

If you’ve been on social media for any five second period during the last month, chances are you’ve seen something about “what quarantine house do you want to be in?”

Whether it’s been food or celebrities you’d rather live with, none held my interest.

Until now.

NBC Sports’ Douglas Farmer put out this tweet and boy oh boy do I have takes.

The only correct answer is House 6. I will not accept any other. And here’s why.

The National Championship loss to Alabama was awful. But if you put in contest, was it really that bad or unexpected?

That team was good. But it was not great. That Alabama team was one of the best in college football history.

The Oklahoma win was the biggest road victory of the Kelly era on a Saturday night in Norman.

The 2017 Citrus Bowl saw the rise of Ian Book and one of the best plays in school history with Miles Boykin’s game-winning TD catch.

And both the Virginia and Virginia Tech games were a team fighting and clawing to dramatic wins.

The highs of those four games are valued more to me than the loss to Alabama.

Here’s how I’d break down the others.

House 1

The three USC victories were great (one a butt-kicking over Sam Darnold and the others were games with huge stakes), but the Bush Push (I see the Dwayne Jarrett catch in my nightmares) and the season-opening loss to South Florida ruin it for me.

House 2

Everyone loves a good Michigan win, but last year’s no-show against the Wolverines coupled with a loss to Duke. No thanks.

House 3

The Snow Bowl is my favorite game of all-time. The UCLA/Samardzija was one I remember jumping up and down in my apartment watching. The Game of the Century is probably my second-favorite game of all-time. BUT…

SEND THE BOSTON COLLEGE GAME ON THE NEXT ROCKET TO MARS, PLEASE AND THANK YOU!!!

Also, that Nebraska game was a gut punch.

House 4

The wins were good wins, but not epic wins. Utah, Rutgers, Pitt and Navy don’t move the needle for me like others. And I’m sorry Charlie. I don’t care how bad your team is. You don’t lose to Navy at home.

House 5

Love the Stanford wins. 2018 was one of my sneaky favorite games of all-time with Dexter Williams’ return and what it meant for the rest of the season. Obviously the goal-line in 2012 was great.

But that 2015 Stanford game hurt. Bad. That 2015 Kizer-led squad went through a lot and was really, really good. That run by Kizer to put them up I thought had sealed their spot in the playoff.

And you don’t lose to Syracuse. Me meeting my wife later that night was the only good thing to come out of that day.