Tag: timely

ESPN impressed by Sixers rookie Paul Reed’s G League performance

ESPN has been impressed with Philadelphia 76ers rookie Paul Reed in the G League.

While the Philadelphia 76ers of the present are working toward winning a championship with a talented group of players, the Sixers of the future are in the G League bubble in Orlando working on their own development.

The Sixers have two rookies with their affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats, as they continue to produce and develop for the future. Those rookies are second-round selections Paul Reed and Isaiah Joe.

Reed has been with the Blue Coats the entire season. Joe was just recently sent there. Reed has been performing very well since the beginning of the G League season, and he is catching the eye of just about everybody on the basketball circuit.

ESPN threw a lot of praise his way in its latest G League review:

The big revelation has come with Reed’s jump shot — he’s been able to knock down 44% of his 3-pointers despite struggling from distance in college and sporting unorthodox shooting mechanics. He has excellent touch, which manifests itself with the impressive creativity he shows finishing around the basket from difficult vantage points as well as how reliable Reed is from the free-throw line.

Being able to step into wide open 3-pointers with time and space as slower-footed defenders retreat has helped Reed find an excellent rhythm in pick-and-pop situations. He’s very dangerous attacking closeouts, pushing the ball off the defensive glass and using his excellent quickness, length and intensity as an offensive rebounder as well. The game still moves a little too fast for Reed at times, but there were very few big men at this level able to match up with his style of play.

The Sixers will still have a few veterans ahead of him in the 2021-22 season, but with his strong play in Orlando, Reed should earn a roster spot either with the Sixers or with another team for next season.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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5 free-agent guards the Rams should target

If the Rams are seeking guard help, these five players could be affordable options.

Guard isn’t a position the Rams are likely to pursue heavily in free agency this year, considering both David Edwards and Austin Corbett remain under contract through 2021. But Austin Blythe is a free agent at center, and if the Rams can’t find a viable replacement at that spot, it’s possible they’d consider adding a guard and moving Corbett to center.

The free-agent pool isn’t rich with talent at guard, aside from Joe Thuney at the top, but there are sure to be options out there for the Rams at a somewhat affordable cost.

BetMGM: Irish sizeable underdog to North Carolina

Can Notre Dame pull off an upset to keep their season alive this evening?

Notre Dame needed all of the heroics to get by Wake Forest in the first round of the 2021 ACC Tournament, Tuesday night in Greensboro, North Carolina.

Now they’ll need a little luck of the Irish on their side as they take on the North Carolina Tar Heels, who are seeded sixth.

When Notre Dame and North Carolina square off Wednesday night, the Irish will be a significant underdog against the likely NCAA Tournament-bound Tar Heels.

Here is how BetMGM, The King of Sportsbooks  sees has this one:

Spread: North Carolina -7.5 vs. Notre Dame
Total: 150.5
Moneylines: North Carolina -350, Notre Dame +260

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The winner of Wednesday night’s contest moves on to face third-seeded Virginia Tech on Thursday night in the quarterfinals.

Related:

A look back at Notre Dame’s 2015 ACC Tournament championship

Notre Dame’s all-time NCAA Tournament history

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For second week in a row, St. Cyr Earns B1G Second Star Of The Week Honors

Dylan St. Cyr takes home the same award for a second week in a row…

NOTRE DAME, Ind. — Fighting Irish senior goaltender Dylan St. Cyr has been named the Big Ten’s Second Star of the Week after leading Notre Dame to a weekend sweep of Penn State to close out the regular season (March 5-6).

St. Cyr led Notre Dame to wins of 5-2 and 7-1 as the Irish improved to 14-12-2 on the year. For the weekend, St. Cyr stopped 75 of the 78 shots he faced for a .962 save percentage to go along with a 1.56 goals against average.

A senior from Northville, Michigan, St. Cyr is now 11-8-1 on the season with a 2.30 goals against average and a .925 save percentage. He has started 14 of Notre Dame’s last 15 games dating back to the 2-1 win at Minnesota on Jan. 16 while posting a 2.00 goals against average and a .939 save percentage during that span.

It marked the second consecutive week St. Cyr earned Big Ten Second Star of the Week accolades.

Big Ten Stars of the Week — March 9
First Star: Cole Caufield, So., F, Wisconsin
Second Star: Dylan St. Cyr, Sr., G, Notre Dame
Third Star: Matty Beniers, Fr., F, Michigan

Notre Dame’s 2020-21 B1G Stars of the Week
First Star: Ryan Bischel (Dec. 1), Graham Slaggert (Jan. 19)
Second Star: Max Ellis (Jan. 13), Alex Steeves (Feb. 9, Feb. 23), Dylan St. Cyr (March 2 and March 9)

Next Up

  • Notre Dame will now play host to the 2021 Big Ten Tournament on March 14-16.
  • As the No. 4 seed, the Irish will play No. 5 seed Penn State at noon on Sunday, March 14 in the first game of the tournament.
  • All six games of the Big Ten Tournament will be televised by Big Ten Network.

Daniel Jeremiah names two draft prospects Rams could target at No. 57

Daniel Jeremiah highlighted two prospects he could see fitting well for the Rams at No. 57 overall.

For the fifth year in a row, the Los Angeles Rams will be sitting out the first round of the NFL draft. They traded away their first-rounder in a deal for Jalen Ramsey two years ago, a move that has unquestionably worked in their favor.

That pick wound up being No. 25 overall, which is where the Jaguars will make their second selection in Round 1. The Rams, on the other hand, will have to wait 32 picks later, joining the fun at No. 57 overall in the second round. It’s hard to predict which prospects will be there, or which position the Rams will target at that spot.

NFL Network’s Daniel Jeremiah held a conference call on Tuesday, answering questions from reporters for almost two hours. He was asked about positions the Rams could be looking at in the second round, highlighting edge rusher and the offensive line – both the interior and at tackle.

“I think when you look at them, I think trying to find more edge rush,” Jeremiah said. “You’re always trying to do that. We’ll see what happens in free agency. I would imagine they’ll probably be in the market for that. And then you could look on the offensive line, both interior and at tackle. Those would be the two places I would look.”

Jeremiah then went into more detail on two prospects he could see fitting with the Rams, ranking just outside his top 50 at positions of need.

Blue Coats discuss Sixers rookie Paul Reed’s progression in G League

The Delaware Blue Coats open up on rookie Paul Reed’s progression.

When the Philadelphia 76ers sent two-way rookie Paul Reed to the team’s G League affiliate, the Delaware Blue Coats, in February, coach Doc Rivers wanted him to get the court time he needs to develop in his NBA career.

Reed went to the Orlando G League bubble, and he had a terrific regular season, averaging 22.3 points and 11.8 rebounds while shooting 58.8% from the floor and 44.4% from deep. He has been terrific from the beginning and he had 26 points and 10 rebounds in Delaware’s win on Tuesday.

“I think Paul played really well at the start, and Paul continues to play well now,” said Blue Coats coach Connor Johnson. “He’s doing a better job picking his spots to be aggressive as a scorer. It’s a lot less isolation for him, he’s finding out how to score within the offense, how to create for others, how to be a passer that can kick out and find other guys. I think that’s great to see.”

That was always the biggest criticism of Reed. The talent was there and he was a guy who had a lot of athleticism and energy, but he needed to understand when to attack and when to get his shot. He also has been able to become a better passer: He had five assists on Tuesday.

“I feel like my shot has definitely improved since I got here,” said Reed. “It comes a lot from my coach having so much confidence in me to shoot the ball. Another place I improved is passing the ball. Teams are locking in on me, so I’m able to get my teammates open. I said earlier, I want to become a better passer, and I found myself getting more and more assists. That’s one of the areas of improvement.”

Then there is the defensive end of the floor. Reed had three blocks and two steals in the win as he now understands schemes and things of that nature. His defense helped Delaware hold one of the more prolific offenses in the G League to 100 points in the playoff win.

“Defensively, I think his understanding of what we’re trying to do is on another level,” Johnson added. “I think we had a really good defensive effort tonight and a lot of that comes down to how well your 5 can guard. To hold them to whatever it was that we did, a lot of credit goes to Paul. He’s the quarterback of the defense, he’s gotta call out every screen, he’s gotta always know what we’re in, I think he’s done a really nice job picking that up from day one.”

If Reed can continue this progression, he will be back with the Sixers in the near future.

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This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Sixers rookies Isaiah Joe, Paul Reed have big games, Blue Coats advance

Philadelphia 76ers rookie Isaiah Joe had another big game for the Delaware Blue Coats in the playoffs.

The Philadelphia 76ers are beginning to come back from the All-Star break and get set to begin the second half of the season on Thursday against the Chicago Bulls, but their G League team is continuing on in the playoffs.

The Delaware Blue Coats had another playoff game on Tuesday as they took on the Raptors 905 squad in the semifinals of the single-elimination playoffs and they received another big game from Philadelphia’s rookie Isaiah Joe.

Joe, who was placed on this G League assignment just before the All-Star break, had 24 points and five rebounds in a 127-100 win to advance to the G League championship game on Thursday. He shot 7-for-17 from the floor and he shot 5-for-14 from deep.

Paul Reed also had a big game with 26 points and nine rebounds with three blocks and two steals. He shot 10-for-18 from the floor and showed off the athleticism and the energy that the team is a big fan of.

Braxton Key also had 21 points and seven rebounds for Delaware and two-way player Rayjon Tucker had 16 points and three rebounds.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Sixers star Ben Simmons buys his brother, Sean, a brand new car

Philadelphia 76ers guard Ben Simmons bought his brother a car for his birthday.

Family is always an important factor in anybody’s life. For Philadelphia 76ers star guard Ben Simmons, he showed his brother, Sean, just how much he means to him on his birthday on Tuesday as he gifted him with a big surprise for his special day.

Simmons was on Instagram live with his brother to wish him a happy birthday and everything that came with that and he then took the phone out to the garage. He then flipped the camera around to a new car and he told his brother that it was for him as his gift. His brother then broke down and cried happy tears in a wholesome moment.

At the end of the day, family is what will always be there for you. That is something that was really taught to everybody during the past year or so. It is nice to see Simmons gift his brother with something really cool and it’s clear that it meant a lot to Sean.

This post originally appeared on Sixers Wire! Follow us on Facebook!

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Oklahoma bats have big night in 15-5 win over UT-Arlington

Oklahoma has a big night behind the plate scoring 15 runs to knock off UT-Arlington and move back to .500 on the young season at 6-6.

Oklahoma baseball returned to the diamond on their home soil on Tuesday night hosting UT-Arlington in a rematch of their game at Globe Life Field a couple of weeks ago. Similar to that night, the Sooners played well virtually all around to pick up the victory.

Things didn’t start off especially strong for Oklahoma, though, as starting pitcher Javier Ramos had a rough opening frame allowing four Mavericks runs. He would bounce back with a solid second inning to conclude his day after just six recorded outs.

The Sooners bats would pick him up quickly after he exited, putting up three runs in the bottom of the second, two of which coming on a double by right fielder Jace Bohrofen. They would then tack on six more runs in the bottom of the third on a home run by second baseman Conor McKenna, another 2-RBI hit by Bohrofen and then another two-run knock by designated hitter Jimmy Crooks.

Braden Carmichael entered the game in the third and was somewhat shaky allowing a run to cross, but really settled in after that. He tossed three shutout innings after that totaling up five strikeouts along the way. He gets the win in relief.

Oklahoma would score six more runs over the course of the sixth, seventh and eighth innings highlighted by a missile home run by third baseman Peyton Graham and yet another two-RBI hit by Bohrofen, this one a triple. He finished his evening with six runs knocked in.

The big day for the bats helps get the Sooners back to .500 on the young season at 6-6 and gives them a mini-season sweep of UT-Arlington winning both matchups this year. Oklahoma will now take a couple days off before returning to action at home for a three-game set with Arkansas State.

Oklahoma among top schools for 2022 four-star cornerback from California

Four-star cornerback in the 2022 cycle lists Oklahoma among his top schools for recruitment.

The Oklahoma Sooners found themselves among the top schools listed for four-star cornerback Ephesians Prysock of Bishop Alemany in Mission Hills, California. The long and tall cornerback listed OU in his top 10 schools, the list was released on his Twitter account on Tuesday.

Prysock is a long and tall cornerback standing in at 6’3″, his length gives him an advantage when going to bat the ball down or go for the interception. As a two-way player, you see the ball skills that he often demonstrates as a wide receiver. Projected to play on the defensive side of the ball at the next level, that is where he excels.

Prysock can play both off man coverage and press. He is physical when jamming his man at the line or when taking on the block. The California native would give Alex Grinch length at the position, it would come in handy against some of the taller receivers in the Big 12 Conference.

No timetable has been set for his commitment.

Rating

Stars Overall State Position
247 4 195 15 25
Rivals 4 210 11 22
ESPN 4 209 16 13
247 Composite 4 200 13 25

Vitals

Hometown Mission Hills, California
Projected Position Cornerback
Height 6-3
Weight 170

Recruitment

  • Offered on Apr. 8, 2020
  • No official visits during the NCAA’s dead period

Offers

Crystal Ball

No crystal ball predictions at the time of publication.

Film

Twitter

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