Tag: season
BASKETBALL

Kentucky, Duke off to ugly starts in college basketball season

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The men’s college basketball season is finishing its first week following a wobbly start due to concerns and issues related to the coronavirus.  

As expected, scheduling issues will be a theme in the early stretch, as several Top 25 teams have been forced to postpone or reschedule games due to positive COVID-19 tests, contact tracing and quarantining. The NCAA tournament selection committee will have perhaps its most challenging assessment ever as a result of this season’s scattered schedules and potentially unbalanced schedules. 

Nevertheless, college basketball is back.

Here’s a look at four big-name teams that have struggled through a tough first week. 

1. Kentucky

Kentucky Wildcats head coach John Calipari talks with guard Terrence Clarke (5) in the second half against the Richmond Spiders at Rupp Arena at Central Bank Center. (Photo: Jordan Prather, USA TODAY Sports)

The Wildcats (1-2) lost

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SPORTS NEWS

Oregon recognizes Cal’s defense features several of the best players the Ducks will face this season

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EUGENE — For all the attention Evan Weaver deservedly received last year at Cal, the former Bears inside linebacker wasn’t the only major contributor on the defense.

No. 23 Oregon (3-1) knows this well and isn’t looking past winless Cal (0-3) on Saturday (4 p.m., ESPN). The only team to hold the Ducks under 20 points last season, albeit in a 17-7 defeat, the Bears have key playmakers back at every level of the defense in edge rusher Cameron Goode, weak-side linebacker Kuony Deng and cornerback Camryn Bynum.

“I think it was no secret going into the season there was a lot of attention surrounding their program, and as it warrants because they’ve done a really good job of recruiting and done a really good job of developing football players and you know they’re coached really well,” Oregon coach Mario Cristobal said. “We feel they’re as good as any team

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SOCCER

Portland Timbers look forward to 2021 after a long, strange, up-and-down MLS season in 2020

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The Portland Timbers believed they could win the MLS Cup in 2020.

After winning the MLS is Back tournament and spending much of the regular season within striking distance of the No. 1 spot in the Western Conference, all the reasons to believe were there.

But with a one-and-done first-round playoff exit to FC Dallas, the Timbers have no choice but to scrutinize what went wrong and how to fix it for next year.

So, despite all the optimism around the team throughout 2020, could the Timbers have done anything different?

“I wish we were allowed four or five DPs so when we lost two we had a few others to rely on,” Gavin Wilkinson joked Thursday.

The Timbers lost two high-priced designated players, Sebastian Blanco and Jaroslaw Niezgoda, to season-ending ACL injuries before playoffs began.

For most clubs in MLS, losing two DPs would automatically render the season a

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SPORTS NEWS

NRL 2021: New Zealand Warriors to relocate to Australia in the new year ahead of 2021 season

- by [email protected]_84

The New Zealand Warriors will head to Australia early in the new year in preparation for the 2021 NRL season.

The Warriors made a huge sacrifice this season to ensure the NRL got up and running, spending the entirety of the year based out of the Central Coast of NSW after an initial period in Tamworth. 

And unfortunately for the Warriors players, it looks like they will have to do the same for at least the early part of 2021. 

The Warriors announced on Friday that the club will be located in Australia up until at least round four of next year’s competition. 

MORE: James Graham hints at coaching role at the Dragons after fairytale finish to playing career

Similarly to 2020, the Warriors will start in Tamworth for a month from January 3 before returning to Terrigal, where they will stay until at least the end of round four. 

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SPORTS GAMES NEWS

2021 NFL Mock Draft: Updated Picks Entering the Last Month of the Regular Season | Bleacher Report

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    Barry Reeger/Associated Press

    Throw out everything you think you know about talent evaluation during a typical NFL draft cycle because the 2021 event will be unlike any other. Projecting where certain prospects should land and how they translate to the pros will be more difficult than ever. 

    Everyone knows it, too. 

    “My best guess? Whoever does well in the 2021 draft will have gotten lucky,” an AFC executive told Yahoo Sports’ Terez Paylor when the collegiate season still teetered on the brink of collapse. “And whoever doesn’t do well will have been unlucky, unless [their] picks fail because of character.” 

    Prospects opted out without playing another down. Others left their teams midseason. The season hasn’t gone exactly as planned with COVID-19 outbreaks, postponements and cancellations littering the weekly schedule. 

    Normally, scouts would be coming off the road in early December and NFL front offices would put together

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SPORTS NEWS

Steelers reportedly lose Bud Dupree for the rest of season with a torn ACL: NFL news roundup

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CLEVELAND, Ohio — The Steelers improved to 11-0 on Wednesday when they beat the Ravens, 19-14. However, they suffered a potentially devastating loss on defense.

NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that outside linebacker Bud Dupree is out for the rest of the season with a torn ACL.

He is the second linebacker the Steelers have lost to a season-ending injury. Devin Bush was ruled out for the season in their Week 6 win vs. the Browns.

After a breakout season in 2019 in which he had a career-high 11.5 sacks and 16 tackles for loss, the Steelers franchise tagged him prior to the 2020 season. This season, he was dominant once again with eight sacks and two forced fumbles.

Robert Griffin III questions NFL’s priorities after game

Robert Griffin III was pressed into starting duty in Wednesday’s loss because Lamar Jackson tested positive for COVID-19. Jackson was one of several

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BASKETBALL

Three key strategy changes for this unique fantasy basketball season

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The last fantasy basketball season was understandably truncated due to COVID-19. Entering the 2020-21 campaign, fantasy hoops investors face a new condensed scheduling format to navigate amid a pandemic climate that will likely demand increased managerial agility and foresight.

2020-21 fantasy basketball arrives just in time for the holidays! Create or join an ESPN Fantasy Basketball league today! Sign up for free!

With the inevitability of some players missing time due to load management, injuries and COVID-19 protocols, those in rotisserie and head-to-head formats could benefit from adopting season-specific management strategies in order to adapt to the upcoming season of professional hoops.

With an eye on what fantasy managers might want to consider during this unique era of professional basketball, let’s discuss potentially helpful draft and management strategies for the rapidly approaching NBA season.

1. Draft strategy

With 10 fewer games during this 72-game season, rotisserie formats are impacted to

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BASKETBALL

Where does each team stand after 1st week of season? Where did Rutgers land?

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The first week of the college basketball season has come and gone, and each Big Ten program took the court at least two times. The level of competition varied, but each team showed a glimpse of what to expect this winter.



a group of people on a court: The empty student section filled with cardboard cutouts of fans is seen in th background as Rutgers forward Dean Reiber (21) blocks a shot by Sacred Heart forward Cantavio Dutreil (30) the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Sacred Heart on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020, in Piscataway, N.J. Rutgers won, 86-63. There were no fans permitted in the arena due to COVID-19 restrictions.

© Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media/Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com/nj.com/TNS
The empty student section filled with cardboard cutouts of fans is seen in th background as Rutgers forward Dean Reiber (21) blocks a shot by Sacred Heart forward Cantavio Dutreil (30) the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Sacred Heart on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020, in Piscataway, N.J. Rutgers won, 86-63. There were no fans permitted in the arena due to COVID-19 restrictions.



a group of men playing a game of football: Rutgers Scarlet Knights center Myles Johnson (15) prepares to dunk the ball during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against the Sacred Heart Pioneers on Wednesday, Nov. 25, 2020, in Piscataway, N.J. Rutgers won, 86-63.

© Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media/Andrew Mills | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com/nj.com/TNS
Rutgers Scarlet Knights center Myles Johnson (15) prepares to dunk the ball during the second

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SOCCER

MFL eyes return of fans to stadium for 2021 season

- by [email protected]_84

The local fans only got to taste the atmosphere and excitement of supporting their favourite teams in their respective stadiums for three round of the 2020 Super League season before Malaysian Football League (MFL) announced that matches will be played behind closed doors to prevent the spread of Covid-19 in Malaysia.

Now plans are afoot to look into the possibility of fans being allowed back into the venues in stages and in accordance to governmental guidelines, taking their cues from what is happening around the world in other leagues like the Premier League in England.

A meeting was held yesterday to kickstart the discussion led by MFL and attended by the Sports Ministry and National Sports Council. They will form the taskforce in charge of preparing the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) for a domesitc travel bubble to local organised competition.

“This is the first meeting of the taskforce and we

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BASKETBALL

Football Regular Season Finale, Basketball Talk and Stats

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Locked on Boston College a daily Eagles podcast hosted by AJ Black editor and publisher of BC Bulletin has a new episode available today. Make sure to listen to all our episodes on your favorite podcast directory. 

In today’s episode we are joined by show cohost Eric Hoffses to talk about this weekend’s game against the University of Virginia. We look at the statistics of the Cavaliers, and the roster, and realize the Eagles could be playing “BC lite” this weekend. We talk about the Cavaliers season to date and Hoffses gives his prediction for the game.

On top of that, you can always count on Hoffses to give some expert basketball analysis. He looks at the first three games and talks about his takeaways from the opening of the season. What has he liked? What concerns him? 

Finally, we talk about statistics and our culture’s tendency to use them

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