Browsing: All news

Jim Rassol-USA TODAY Sports
The Heat’s defense is great. It’s revolutionary, too.
In his 2014 novel, “Basketball Analytics: Spatial Tracking”, Stephen Shea identified rim protection as the number one variable that contributed to a team’s Defensive Rating.
Looking at the cream of the crop defensively in 2023, it appears Shea’s finding still holds true today:

NBA.com

Screenshot taken from NBA.com on January 29, 2023
The teams ranked one through four on this list all roster multiple gigantic guardians.

If you’re going to spend 13 hours on an aircraft the very least you can ask is that you get off that plane at a different airport. It doesn’t even have to be the airport you had wanted to go to in the first place, as long as it’s not the same one you took off from, your rage would be kept somewhat in check.
That’s not what happened to some folks in Dubai.
Passengers filed onto an Emirates Airline flight that was scheduled to fly to Auckland, New Zealand.

With tears in his eyes, the Cincinnati defensive end addressed what he was thinking on the play.
It was a somber scene in the Bengals locker room after they lost to the Chiefs in the AFC championship game on Sunday, and no one was more heartbroken than Joseph Ossai. 
On third-and-4 at Cincinnati’s 47-yard line with less than 20 seconds to go in the game, Kansas City quarterback Patrick Mahomes scrambled to his right to gain five yards and a first down. After Mahomes jogged out of bounds, Ossai shoved him from behind and was called for unnecessary roughness.

Building on Chris Buescher’s win last season, Brad Keselowski is looking for continued progress in his second year as co-owner at RFK Racing.

Rory McIlroy earned his third career Dubai Desert Classic title on Monday to cap off what could very well be the most dramatic week of his career.
After Patrick Reed posted an impressive seven-under 65 to take the clubhouse lead, McIlroy was able to birdie the final hole to take the honors by a shot. It was a fitting end to a week dominated by McIlroy and Reed in the headlines.
Prior to the start of the tournament, a video showed McIlroy ignoring Reed on the driving range and the LIV golfer tossing a tee at the World No. 1.

Photo by Stacy Revere/Getty Images
Jaren Jackson Jr. validated his allegedly-inflated block numbers while Hornets and Cavs also picked up wins
In case you missed it over the weekend, a Reddit user unearthed maybe the biggest off-court storyline of the season in a post detailing Jaren Jackson Jr.’s inflated block numbers, or at least making the case that they were inflated.
The post, from user u/AdMassive6666, has over 65,000 upvotes on Reddit and lays out a pretty believable case that there was indeed foul play involved.

A record broken. A forgotten star reemerges. An x-factor’s big night. Surprise musical guests. A last-second kick. Why you must get out of the apartment.
The Super Bowl stage is set, featuring a matchup between the Eagles and the Chiefs. The great stoic Epictetus once said: “If you want to improve, be content being thought of as foolish and stupid.” Such is the default setting of any aspiring sports prognosticator, who aims to be both bold and accurate.

Cameras caught the linebacker screaming in frustration while walking to the locker room after the AFC championship game.
The Bengals’ loss to the Chiefs in the closing seconds of the AFC championship game was made all the more painful by the fashion in which they lost. Cincinnati defensive end Joseph Ossai’s unnecessary roughness penalty for a late hit on Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes in the game’s final minute put Kansas City within field goal range, and kicker Harrison Butker responded with the winning 45-yard kick.

The two No. 1 seeds will face off for the NFL title.
The matchup for Super Bowl LVII will feature the top seeds in the playoffs with Philadelphia taking on Kansas City after both clubs emerged victorious on Championship Sunday. Oddsmakers at SI Sportsbook have installed the Eagles as 2.5-point favorites in the quest to hoist the Lombardi Trophy in Arizona.
In the first game of Championship weekend, the Eagles punched their ticket to Arizona after crushing San Francisco, 31-7, in the NFC title showdown.

Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images
It was a bad night for Eli Apple on the bird app.
Eli Apple came damn close to achieving the impossible this season: Making the Bengals unlikeable. His penchant for undeserved trash talk, paired with ceaselessly mocking the Buffalo Bills on Twitter following their playoff game meant that there was definitely a segment of people who wanted to see Cincinnati lose only so Apple could get his comeuppance.
And my goodness, were people ready to oblige.