Tag: reaction

How accurately did ESPN’s Basketball Power Index predict Auburn’s SEC record?

Now that the regular season has ended, Auburn Wire has re-visited ESPN’s Basketball Power Index pre-SEC predictions. Did they get it right?

Now that the regular season has come to a close, it is a perfect time to take a look back at the season that was for Auburn basketball.

Our first look-back features the ESPN Basketball Power Index, and how they forecasted Auburn’s SEC slate to conclude. Prior to the conference portion of the schedule, Auburn Wire examined how the BPI projected Auburn’s season to shake out. Did they get it right?

The men’s College Basketball Power Index (BPI) is a measure of team strength meant to be the best predictor of performance going forward. BPI represents how many points above or below average a team is.

RELATED: Senior rewind: A look back at Allen Flanigan’s Auburn career

Here’s a look at how the ESPN Basketball Power Index predicted each SEC game to shake out, as well as what really happened:

Nets’ Royce O’Neale says the bench brought ‘a lot of energy’ in win over Rockets

Royce O’Neale gave the bench credit for bringing their A-game in Tuesday’s win over the Houston Rockets.

Brooklyn Nets forward Royce O’Neale has been one of the players that have had to accept a bench role for Brooklyn after the Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving trades. However, instead of putting his head down, O’Neale has embraced his role off the bench as a shooter and defender and he has fulfilled that role perfectly.

In Tuesday’s 118-96 win over the Houston Rockets, O’Neale had 11 points, 11 rebounds, and two steals as he was able to contribute in multiple ways for Brooklyn. His rebounding was pivotal in this game as he had to help with the rebounding since Nic Claxton and Nerlens Noel got into foul trouble early in the game. O’Neale also had one of his better shooting games as he went 2-of-4 from three-point land.

O’Neale essentially played starter’s minutes in this game as he played the second-most minutes for the Nets at 33. He was also +21 because of how good he was on both ends of the floor. O’Neale was a big part of a Nets bench that was incredible on Tuesday. He spoke on what the bench brought to the table for Brooklyn:

“Yeah, I mean, you know, we, as a bench coming off, we just wanted to bring a lot of energy, especially on the defensive end, help each other out. You know, like, led us to easy fast break points. And you know, we executed and, you know, built the lead from there.”

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Perfect Game shares high acclaim for Auburn Baseball with respectable ranking

Vincent Cervino of Perfect Game explains why Auburn baseball has been worthy of such a high ranking in their poll all season.

Auburn baseball returned to the College World Series in 2022 for the second time in three seasons and ended last season ranked among the nation’s best teams across all polls.

Entering this season, Auburn had to find ways to rebuild their weekend pitching rotation, as well as replace their closer and top four hitters. Four of the six major polls were hesitant to put Auburn in their preseason top 25, but one outlet started off with a high opinion of Auburn and has continued to show confidence in the Tigers with each passing week.

Perfect Game gave Auburn their highest preseason ranking by placing them in the No. 17 slot. Since then, Auburn has risen to No. 11 in their poll, which is their highest ranking across the board by nine spots despite the Tigers winning five straight games and has pieced together an eight-game stretch without recording a loss.

The discrepancy has raised the question of “what does Perfect Game see in Auburn that others don’t?” We reached out to Perfect Game’s Vincent Cervino for an answer. He delivered.

Cervino says that he and the staff at Perfect Game are high on Auburn for one simple reason.. head coach [autotag]Butch Thompson[/autotag] knows how to win.

“I think at this point Butch Thompson has proven he knows what it takes to build a winner at Auburn and while the Tigers did lose some key pieces, I really like their freshman class a lot,” Cervino tells Auburn Wire. “They’re deep at a lot of positions and even if they don’t have the flashy star power that some other SEC programs have they do have both performers and program consistency.”

The freshman that is making the most noise for Auburn through three weeks has been [autotag]Ike Irish[/autotag]. The freshman from Hudsonville, Michigan entered this week with a .535 average, six doubles, and nine RBI. He has also strung together eight multi-hit games. Cervino says that Irish could have a crowded trophy case by the time his Auburn career comes to a close.

“Ike Irish was a PG All-American back in high school and his bat was never in question throughout his prep career,” Cervino said. “I was a little surprised to hear that Ike was going to be hitting 3 or 4-hole right away but he’s been dominant to open his career. It’s a real bat with power behind it and he’s setting himself up for not only an SEC Freshman of the Year campaign but potentially towards a first-round draft selection in 2025.”

Auburn looks to continue building on their hot start this weekend with a series against Southeastern Louisiana, a participant of the Auburn regional last season, before facing a challenging week against Georgia Tech and Arkansas to open the SEC slate next weekend.

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Twitter reacts to C.J. Gardner-Johnson’s cryptic tweet fanning free agency flames

C.J. Gardner-Johnson said One Love to Philadelphia Eagles fans in a cryptic message and hype video ahead of the 2023 NFL Free Agency frenzy

Howie Roseman and the Eagles have said all the right things about wanting to keep C.J. Gardner-Johnson on a long-term deal, but as the new league year fast approaches, things could be changing.

Philadelphia will now head into NFL free agency with limited cap space and a looming contract extension for All-Pro quarterback Jalen Hurts.

As expected, the Eagles let Tuesday’s franchise and transition tag deadline pass without locking down C.J. Gardner-Johnson, Javon Hargrave, or any of their 19 pending free agents.

Likely seeing the writing on the wall, Gardner-Johnson posted this cryptic Tweet, saying one love to Philly fans with a hype video to remind folks just how good he was in 2022.

Social media reacts to everything and Gardner-Johnson essentially saying goodbye to fans drew some urgent responses.

Nets’ Joe Harris reacts to team following the gameplan in win over Rockets

Joe Harris gives his team credit for sticking with the gameplan in Tuesday’s win over the Houston Rockets.

Brooklyn Nets guard Joe Harris has been big for the Nets when he has been called upon and Tuesday was another reminder of what Harris can do when he finds a rhythm. Harris is one of the veterans for Brooklyn that is still in the rotation and that’s because of his three-point shooting.

In Tuesday’s 118-96 win over the Houston Rockets, Harris scored 12 points on 4-of-7 from three-point land. Harris was lights out as part of a Brooklyn bench that out-scored Houston’s bench 37-24. Harris has been a steady presence for the Nets as they try to develop chemistry with four new players in the rotation.

Not only did Harris do his part by making threes, he also contributed on the defensive end in Tuesday’s win. Harris, a +18 for Brooklyn, also picked up two steals as he did a good job of keeping active hands to allow himself to get deflections. Despite being down as many as 11 points to the Rockets in the first half, Brooklyn stuck with its gameplan of making Houston play outside of the paint. Harris spoke about this strategy after the game:

“Well, I think it’s exactly that. I mean, basketball, especially the NBA is all just a game of momentum. You know, as soon as you start to get that little bit of energy on your side, you know, that translates you know, both sides so you know, if you’re able to get stops in particular, definitely translates to the offensive end… Just over emphasis in packing the paint, limiting their drives. You know, they’re a really good transition team, heavy drive team, really good offensive rebounding team. So you know, the whole game plan was trying to make them beat us over the top, you know, really just tried to pack the paint and, and limit driving opportunities for them.”

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Cowboys News: Prescott extension talk, Jerry Jones on if combine will survive

The scouting combine is under fire, but Jones still sees the value. Also, Dak talks extension, and a mock draft brings LVE2.0 to Dallas. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The NFL’s franchise tag deadline spurred several teams to make last-minute deals on Tuesday. Among them, the New York Giants inked quarterback Daniel Jones to the same deal that Dak Prescott got from Dallas two years ago. But these two passers are not the same. Prescott, meanwhile, shared his thoughts on the extension that’s almost surely coming his way. And one outlet wonders if Prescott will go the “team-friendly” route with this one in order to help surround himself with more talent and cement his place with the Cowboys fanbase for doing so.

Elsewhere, we’re looking at the Cowboys’ risky gambit to bank on a stout defense yet again, Mike McCarthy talks about the changes to his coaching staff, and Jerry Jones weighs in on whether the annual scouting combine can survive the current calls for its death. We’ve got details on a new salary cap number, we’re mocking Leighton Vander Esch 2.0 to Dallas, we’re looking for draft clues in who the Cowboys interviewed in Indianapolis, and we’re watching to see what happens with a former Cowboy who’s about to embark on a very uncertain football future. That’s all up in News and Notes.

10 most athletic Patriots’ draft picks of the Bill Belichick era

Who cracked the top-10 most athletic Patriots draft picks? Some names on the list might surprise you.

Whether true or not, New England Patriots fans believe the team typically drafts for old school style players that fit football schemes, while opting to pass on explosive playmaking athletes.

That might have been true when having the greatest quarterback of all time, Tom Brady, leading the offense. The team opted to select more intelligent, passionate players than flashy athletes they needed to develop.

But the truth is the Patriots did in fact draft high-end athletes. Let’s face it, they’re all elite athletes if they’re in the NFL, but in terms of comparing apples to apples (or NFL Players to NFL Players), they did so at a lower clip than most.

RAS, or relative athletic score, has been widely used to quantify just how athletic a player is based on their official combine performances for their position and size. Players are given a 0-10 score, which is derived from other players at the same position throughout history.

The closer a player is to 10.00—and there have been a few—the more “freakish” the athlete. Players like Calvin Johnson, Jordan Davis, and Anthony Richardson are examples of the short list of players since 1987 to score a 10.00 on the RAS scale.

Let’s take a look at the Patriots’ 10 most athletic draft selections in the Bill Belichick era.

Nets’ Nic Claxton ‘getting back to himself’ after win over the Rockets

Here’s how Nic Claxton reacted to getting his 22nd double-double in Tuesday’s win over the Houston Rockets.

Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton has been one of the bright spots for a Nets team that has gone through a great amount of change in the past month thanks to the NBA trade deadline. Even before the deadline, Claxton was making a case for being the MIP (Most Improved Player) and the DPOY (Defensive Player of the Year) this season.

In Tuesday’s 118-96 win over the Houston Rockets, Claxton had 18 points, 13 rebounds, and four blocks while shooting 8-of-9 from the field. Against the Rockets, Claxton showed that he had what it takes to affect the game on both ends of the floor, especially on the defensive end with the way that he defends the rim. However, Claxton also showed how much he can provide on the offensive end when the team needs a bucket.

On several occasions, Claxton either scored a tough basket in the post or he caught the ball outside of the paint and used his dribble to get by his man for the bucket or draw contact to get to the free-throw line. Claxton has not shown his euro-step in the lane recently, but that move is part of his bag as well. Claxton spoke immediately after the game about his mindset during the Rockets game:

“I’m just trying to get back to myself, figuring out, picking my spots with a new team. It’s gonna be a process and I’m just taking it game by game and today you know, I’m gonna continue to make improvements.”

When Claxton was asked what allowed the Nets to change the momentum of the game after Houston built an 11-point lead early on:

“We just had to lock in defensively. they were getting easy looks and we all just had to come together, stick to the game plan and get stops. That’s what started our offense.”

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Daniel Jones is now making Dak Prescott money; what a time to be alive

Both QBs got the same terms when they signed their respective extensions, but one seems to be a much better investment than the other. | From @ToddBrock24f7

The Cowboys can expect to keep seeing Daniel Jones twice a season for a while.

The Giants and their starting quarterback came to terms on a contract extension on Tuesday, with reports nailing down the details at four years and $160 million.

If those numbers sound familiar to Cowboys fans, that’s because it’s the same deal Dak Prescott signed with Dallas almost exactly two years to the day earlier.

Plenty of observers railed against the Cowboys front office at the time for overspending, but just 24 months later, Prescott’s contract already looks like a bargain. In terms of average annual value, he’s just inside the top 10 richest at the position.

And now Jones joins him.

Such is the nature of pro sports contracts, and in a few years, Jones’s deal will also likely look like small potatoes. But right now, it’s awfully hard to look at Prescott and Jones and think they deserve to have identical price tags.

So which organization made the wiser investment with their $160 million?

Here’s how the NFL careers of both Jones and Prescott stacked up at the time of their signings (regular season only). Keep in mind Jones has played four seasons; Prescott had five seasons under his belt when he signed his extension in March 2021.

Player W-L-T Starts Comp Att Pct Yds TD INT Rtg Rush Atts Rush Yds Rush TDs
Daniel Jones, 2019-22 21-31-1 53 1,113 1,740 64.0 11,603 60 34 86.5 292 1,708 12
Dak Prescott, 2016-20 42-27 69 1,514 2,293 66.0 17,634 106 40 97.3 259 1,314 24

Oh, and Jones has gone 1-5 against Prescott’s Cowboys so far in his career.

If you were going to pay $160 million for only one of those players, which one would you pick?

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How Daniel Jones’ new 4-year, $160M deal with Giants impacts Eagles’ QB Jalen Hurts

With NFL quarterback salaries soaring, here’s a breakdown of how Daniel Jones’ new 4-year, $160M deal impacts Eagles All-Pro quarterback Jalen Hurts

The price for Eagles quarterback Jalen Hurts just went up again after the New York Giants agreed to t a four-year, $160 million deal with the Giants that includes $35 million in incentives as well.

The $40 million a year puts Jones among the top ten highest-paid quarterbacks and he’s tied for 7th on the list with Dak Prescott and Matthew Stafford’s $40 million per season.

All eyes will now turn toward new deals for Lamar Jackson (non-exclusive tag), Justin Herbert (Chargers), Joe Burrow (Bengals), and Hurts.

Hurts is a Pro Bowl quarterback, All-Pro and 2022 MVP runner up.

A 2020 second-round pick, Hurts won’t have to worry about a fifth-year option before he can cash out and 2023 will be the final year of his rookie contract.

Howie Roseman is all about striking first and since the Eagles’ third-year quarterback’s trajectory has risen to elite status, Philadelphia could be on the hook for even more than was initially guaranteed when they signed Carson Wentz to a new deal.

After leading the Eagles to the playoffs in back-to-back years, while also vastly improving under center, Hurts will soon be one of the top five highest-paid signal-callers.

Here’s an early projection of what a new deal for Hurts would look like thanks to Jones.