Memphis Grizzlies vice president of basketball operations and team programs, Dana Davis, was found dead in his apartment, shocking an organization that relied on his acumen and infectious personality.Memphis Police were asked by team personnel to enter Davis’ Downtown apartment when he didn’t show up for work Wednesday. The cause of death is unknown. Foul play is not suspected.Grizzlies owner Michael Heisley was particularly shaken by the news. He and Davis, 56, known affectionately as “Double-D,” were close.“He was the most charitable human being I ever met in my life,” Heisley said. “I can’t handle it. It tears me up. He was almost like a son to me. I give millions of dollars to charity but he gave his life to it. When he wasn’t working for the Grizzlies, that’s all he thought about.”Davis was an only child to a white mother, Shirley Jean, and an African-American father, William “Mecie,” who was a musician. Davis recently became a member of the National Civil Rights Museum’s board of directors. Davis began as the Grizzlies’ traveling business manager but he evolved into a person responsible for more than just organizing plane rides, booking hotels and handing out per diem. He was described as part community activist, part fundraiser and part politician who had a knack for galvanizing people, according to the Memphis Commercial Appeal.Davis jokingly called himself “head flunky” and a “professional beggar.”“He was simply the heart and soul of the organization,” Fred Jones, founder of the Southern Heritage Classic told the Commercial Appeal. “He’s touched people in ways that have people calling from everywhere.”National Civil Rights Museum president Beverly Robertson added to the newspaper: “He came in with great enthusiasm. It would not be strange for me to get a call on a Saturday at 4 p.m. because he wanted me to talk to someone famous about the museum. He had the mission of this place at heart. I can’t tell you what a loss it will be to the museum. In many ways, he accepted Memphis as his new home.”Davis, from Peoria, Ill., once worked for eight years as business and tour manager for funk legend Bootsy Collins in the 1980s.“He was a man’s man. He was a champion,” said Willie Gregory, a close friend and the director of community/business investment for NIKE. “He was the face of the Grizzlies in Memphis. Whatever you needed done he would get it done. He got joy in helping people.”“He was a big part of this organization for a number of years,” coach Lionel Hollins said. “A lot of people depended on him. He enjoyed taking care of the players. It’s a big-time loss for our organization and a big-time loss for people who were close to him. He was a good, loyal friend. He meant a lot to a lot of people. We’re going to miss him.” read more
Last week U.S. sprinter Tyson Gay tested positive for a banned substance, just a month before the U.S. track and field team is set to compete in the world championships in Moscow.After the results of the test went public, the world’s second fastest man ever in 100 meters, conceded that his sample drug test was positive and made no excuses for the results.In a phone interview, Gay, whose voice appeared to be distorted by weeping, talked about the test, saying: “I don’t have any lies. I don’t have anything to say to make this seem like it was a mistake.”New information surfaced today about where the sprinter may have possibly received the banned substance. Sports Illustrated is reporting:“Gay has been treated by Atlanta chiropractor and anti-aging specialist Clayton Gibson. In the sports world, the term ‘anti-aging’ has often come to signify therapy that uses hormones — usually testosterone and HGH — and testosterone precursors, like DHEA. DHEA can be obtained over the counter and is permitted in certain sports, including baseball, but not those contested in the Olympics.”Gibson told SI in a phone interview that he staring working with the athlete prior to the Olympic trials last year, and that he was apparently clean before he started the treatment with Gay. “We had [Gay’s] blood tested and everything before the trials just as an evaluation and taking a history to learn about the patient,” said Gibson.When Gibson was asked what exactly did Gay take, the specialist responded, “Until I look at his files, I wouldn’t be able to know exactly what he was given. And I have to have a release to give out his information.” read more
“It just sucks,” said George, now with the Oklahoma City Thunder, when I asked him about Hibbert. “I guess that’s the direction of the league right now: Faster, more quick up-and-down pace, to where I don’t know if teams will gamble on that sort of big that can’t move as well. But then you see a guy like (Boban) Marjanovic, who’s the biggest guy in the league, and he has a job. So I’m not really sure. But I think Roy is still ideal for a team that needs a rim protector.”At the same time that Hibbert was struggling to have the same impact defensively, other players — ones with more mobility and better foot speed — began learning how to perfect the notion of verticality. “It’s been mimicked and copied all over,” Vogel said. “You see Rudy Gobert and Joel Embiid and think about them, but even at other positions. Wings have to learn it so they can guard someone like James Harden without fouling and without bringing your arms down.”In a way, Hibbert’s downfall just came down to awful timing. The NBA has become far more reliant on 3-point shots from everyone on the court, big men included. Players 6-foot-11 or taller now take more than twice3From 7.7 3-point attempts per 100 shots in 2013-14 to 16.7 attempts per 100 shots this past season as many threes as they did five years ago, according to ESPN’s Stats & Information Group. On top of that, players of that height are now on the cusp of matching the league’s average shooting percentage from long range, making 35.1 percent in 2017-18 — only a shade beneath the leaguewide mark of 36.2. Source: ESPN Stats & Information Group 2013-142,5737.7 Tristan Thompson75.7%–– NBA big men who hang back on the defense mostPlayers by share of time beneath the free throw line on defense, 2013-16 Steven Adams67.0–– Total 3-PT shotsShare of all shots taken Tim Duncan65.7–– PlayerShare of Time Zach Randolph66.8–– Kosta Koufos66.9–– 2014-152,5487.2 Roy Hibbert71.3–– Enes Kanter67.4–– DeAndre Jordan70.4–– Andre Drummond65.2–– 2015-162,9318.3 2017-185,70916.7% 2016-174,90113.7 Timofey Mozgov72.3–– The tallest players aren’t shy about taking threes anymoreTotal number of 3-point shots and share of shots that are 3-pointers for players 6 feet 11 inches and taller Includes only power forwards and centers with a minimum of 2,000 minutes total from 2013 to 2016.Sources: ESPN ANALYTICS, NBA Advanced Stats INDIANAPOLIS — Five years ago tonight, the Pacers needed a hero.It was Game 6 of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Knicks — a game Indiana needed to avoid a trip back to Madison Square Garden for a treacherous Game 7 — and New York was nursing a 92-90 lead over Indiana with five minutes left. The torrid Carmelo Anthony, who would finish the night with 39 points, received a post entry and spun left on a gambling Paul George before racing to the basket for what would be a massive tomahawk jam. Only it wouldn’t be.Just before Anthony’s dunk could find the bottom of the cup, 26-year-old defensive stud Roy Hibbert, Indiana’s 7-foot-2 tree of a center, managed to get his outstretched left arm between Anthony and the rim. The rejection, Hibbert’s fifth of the evening, sent the once-nervous Bankers Life Fieldhouse crowd into a tizzy and led to a Lance Stephenson bucket on the other end — the beginning of a tide-turning, 9-0 Indiana run that would seal both the game and the series for the Pacers. The block instantly became the defining play of Hibbert’s career — one he was so proud of that he made a point of placing not one but two posters of it on his man-cave wall.Yet five years later, Hibbert, one of the best rim protectors in basketball, is out of the league.How does that happen? How does a former All-Star and recent defensive player of the year runner-up — who’s 31, presumably still physically healthy and still has an elite skill that is always in demand at this level — find himself nudged out of the NBA in such quick fashion?The league learned new tricks, and Hibbert didn’t.“It’s surprising to me. I’ve talked to Roy about this, but he could still be playing in the league right now,” said Frank Vogel, Hibbert’s former coach in Indiana, who was recently let go by the Magic. “But the league has adapted, both big picture and in terms of what he was doing for us in Indiana. There’s been a severe evolution in how the league plays, and he’s been a victim of it.”To fully understand Hibbert’s fall, you have to grasp what made him special in the first place. Hibbert, who declined an interview request for this article, could score — he averaged 22 points in the 2013 conference finals against Miami, for example — but Hibbert’s real value was in his defense around the basket, where he was a master of playing within the NBA’s rules on verticality, in which a player looking to block a shot is only legally allowed to jump straight up and down with his arms extended. Hibbert was so good at doing this that LeBron James, seemingly frustrated with Hibbert and what he perceived to be uncalled fouls against the big man, once referred to it as “his verticality rule,” saying that officials allowed him to make use of it more than other players.His ability to jump straight up and rarely be whistled for fouls allowed Indiana to play an extremely aggressive style of defense, in which the Pacers played out on the perimeter to eliminate 3-point shots without really worrying whether an opposing player might get a path to the basket. If that happened, Hibbert would be there to clean up the mess.With that Hibbert-centric scheme, the Pacers led the league in defensive efficiency in 2012-13 and 2013-14, according to NBA Advanced Stats. They held opponents to a meager 97 points per 100 possessions each season while making back-to-back conference-finals trips in the process. The big man finished among the league’s top five in blocks and defensive win shares both years, while holding close-range shooters1Defined as shots within 6 feet of the basket. almost 16 percentage points beneath their average field goal percentage in 2013-14, a rate that easily led the NBA that season.2Among those who played at least 45 games and defended at least three shots near the rim per game.Yet as Hibbert continued to protect the rim well, that skill by itself became less valuable in a changing NBA. Take, for example, the Pacers’ 2014 playoff series against No. 8 seed Atlanta, in which the Hawks surprisingly took top-seeded Indiana to seven games.Atlanta, which would go on to win 60 games the following season, exposed the Pacers’ defensive scheme (and thus Hibbert’s shortcomings) by playing lineups in which all five players could shoot from the perimeter. Much like a dog who’s bound by the constraints of an electric fence, Hibbert opts to stay tethered beneath the free-throw line on defense when he can, both so he can shut down shots at the rim and because his mobility isn’t good enough to defend in open space. The Hawks nearly stole a series because of it.This lack of athleticism is part of the reason that Larry Bird, the Pacers’ president during Hibbert’s tenure with the team, applied blunt, public pressure to Hibbert, saying he wasn’t sure whether the slow-footed center fit the plan to play a more uptempo style going into the 2015-16 season.Hibbert spent just over 71 percent of his time on defense beneath the free-throw line on defense from 2013-14 through 2015-16, the third-highest rate in the league over that span, according to data tracked by ESPN Analytics and NBA Advanced Stats. It’s almost certainly not a coincidence that the two players ahead of him on that list — Tristan Thompson and Timofey Mozgov — have seen their on-court value diminish in the same time frame. (Nor is it surprising that other players on the list are all better offensive players, justifying their minutes.) Of course, these aren’t the only reasons why Hibbert is no longer in basketball. After spending years playing alongside George on defense, he had to navigate the vast majority of the 2014-15 season without the premier wing stopper, who’d broken his leg in gruesome fashion during a USA Basketball scrimmage the previous summer. Beyond that, ex-Pacers teammate David West, who now plays for the Warriors, suggested that Hibbert’s confidence took a hit when the team signed Andrew Bynum ahead of its 2014 playoff run.“It messed things up,” West said. “It was a distraction. Not because (Bynum) is a bad guy. But anytime you bring in a 7-foot-1, 320-pound man, it’s going to create a presence.”Hibbert’s shift from the East to the West for a one-year stint with the Lakers in 2015-16 also didn’t help. The young Lakers ranked dead-last in defense that season, a display that likely didn’t do much to help market Hibbert’s skills. At the same time, he went from ranking first and fourth in rim protection in 2013-14 and 2014-15, respectively (among players who logged at least 45 games and defended at least three close-range shots per game) to 63rd in that category in 2015-16, according to NBA Advanced Stats.“The thing is, in Indy, we had concepts. We normally weren’t hurt all that much by the things he couldn’t do because we wanted to force teams to drive on us,” West said of Hibbert. “What hurt him — and what was out of his control — was leaving Indiana and going to the West, where everything is wide open, and it’s a totally different ballgame.”Sure enough, Hibbert’s defensive numbers looked more normal again — arguably elite, even — when he moved back East in his last season, 2016-17, spending most of the year with the Charlotte Hornets.4He also played six games with the Denver Nuggets, a Western Conference team. He held opponents to a field goal percentage 12 points below their average around the basket, third-best in the league.5Among players who played 45 games and defended at least three close-range shots per game.It was yet another indication that Hibbert’s game and skill set hadn’t changed all that much since his glory days with Indiana. Instead, it was the rapidly changing NBA that seemed to chug right along without him.Check out our latest NBA predictions.CORRECTION (May 18, 5:00 p.m. EDT): An earlier version of this article misattributed data on the NBA big men who hang back on defense the most. The data came from ESPN Analytics and NBA Advanced Stats, not Second Spectrum. read more
Toronto Blue Jays third baseman Josh Donaldson bats against the Atlanta Braves on Sept. 15 at Turner Field in Atlanta.Credit: Courtesy of TNSWith the calendar flipping to October comes a few things: Halloween, Big Ten football and the Major League Baseball playoffs.With the playoffs set to begin on Tuesday with the American League Wild Card Game, some intriguing matchups lie ahead. The National League side has the St. Louis Cardinals playing the wild-card winner between Pittsburgh and Chicago. The other matchup is between the Los Angeles Dodgers and New York Mets, with the Dodgers grabbing home-field advantage.The AL has Kansas City as the top team and to play the winner of the Wild Card Game between the New York Yankees and Houston Astros. Then the Toronto Blue Jays play AL West champion Texas. Both leagues have been very competitive this year, and all of these teams have a formula to obtain the ultimate goal: winning the World Series.The National League has looked like the tougher league all season long. Maybe even with just the NL Central, which features three teams in the playoffs in the Cardinals, Pirates and Cubs. Those three teams have some special history to show just how dominant they have been: It is the first division in MLB history to have the three teams with the league’s best records. The funny thing with these teams is that they will all have to play each other in the playoffs, so whoever beats out the other two will have a shot at making the World Series against the Mets or Dodgers.The Mets had the easier road than the other divisions, based on division records. They had a fight midseason with the Washington Nationals, but since their acquisition of Yoenis Cespedes they have taken off. The Mets have one of the better young rotations with the likes of Matt Harvey, Jacob deGrom and Noah Syndergaard.The Dodgers had a tougher time dealing with the Giants, but they put them away and have won three straight NL West titles for the first time in franchise history. But this is minor news to the Dodgers, as they want nothing less than a World Series crown after committing the highest payroll in baseball. They have a great one-two punch with Clayton Kershaw and Zack Greinke, who should each finish in the top three in NL Cy Young voting. If they find a little offense, I think this team has a chance for the two aces to carry them.The American League has had some very exciting teams this year with the Kansas City, Texas, Toronto and even Houston. Toronto has claimed the second-best record in the American League and won its first division title since 1993. The Blue Jays also look like a team that is capable of taking it all, with a potent lineup that has scored a league-leading 891 runs. They back that up with their ace David Price, who was acquired at the trade deadline. They look dangerous, and not a team anyone wants to face.The Kansas City Royals were the team that ran away with the AL Central, and took the top seed after dominating throughout the season after winning the pennant a year ago. They still look dangerous with a great bullpen with Wade Davis closing, and a great offense led by Alex Gordon and Lorenzo Cain.It was truly the Wild West in the AL West, with the Rangers, Angels and Astros all coming down to the final day of the season. In the end, the Rangers took the division, while the Astros settled for the second wild-card spot and the Angels went home with nothing.Each of the 10 playoff teams can get hot, and have the tools to win. The NL has the three teams with the best record going at it for one spot in the National League Championship Series, as well as the drama from the big markets of New York and Los Angeles. The AL has the hot pick in Toronto facing either the veteran Yankees or young Astros. The Royals will also have to face a Wild West team as well, in the Rangers.There are so many possibilities that could happen, and the playoffs haven’t even started. This year has a chance to be one of the most interesting MLB playoffs in a while. Correction Oct. 6: An earlier version of this story said the Blue Jays were the top seed in the American League, when it is in fact the Royals. read more
Thank you all! pic.twitter.com/eVeCqAbYJ6— Marshon Lattimore (@shonrp2) January 11, 2017 OSU redshirt sophomore cornerback Marshon Lattimore (2) intercepts a pass during the first half of the Buckeyes 62-3 win against Maryland on Nov. 12. Credit: Alexa MavrogianisOhio State redshirt sophomore cornerback Marshon Lattimore announced in a tweet on Wednesday he will forgo his last two seasons with the Buckeyes and declare for the NFL draft.“With that being said, it’s been a pleasure playing at the best program in the country,” Lattimore said in a tweet. “I’m looking forward to continuing the Buckeye legacy on Sundays. I need all of you there for me as I go through this process of trying to become the best cornerback, thank you all! O-H!”Lattimore now joins redshirt sophomore safety Malik Hooker and redshirt junior cornerback Gareon Conley as players in the Ohio State secondary to declare early for the draft. Projections have Lattimore as a first-round pick and the No. 3 ranked cornerback in the draft class, according to Bleacher Report’s Matt Miller.Lattimore was able to make an impact in the passing game reeling in four interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown, plus nine pass deflections. Additionally, he made 38 total tackles in the 2016 season. In his final game against Clemson in the Fiesta Bowl, Lattimore had 3 total tackles. read more
The Ohio State cross country teams take to the course Friday in Delaware, Ohio in the Cross Country All-Ohio Championship.The men’s team began the season with a first-place finish at the Mountaineer Open on Sept. 18th at Appalachian State University. The Buckeyes finished in six of the top 10 spots, claiming a large margin of victory over the competition. The team is No. 4 in the Great Lakes Region and has received votes to make the national top 30.Senior Jeff See, the standout runner for the men’s team, finished the race second overall.See may be a new name to followers of last year’s team because he sat the season out to “build up my fitness level … to compete in track and cross country at a higher level,” See said.It also made him eligible for a fifth year of participation next year.The team has high expectations for Friday’s meet, See said.“We think we can win this one … there are some good teams in Ohio, but we want to prove we are the best,” he said.The men’s team has had great success under coach Robert Gary, winning the All-Ohio Championship seven of the 12 years he has been head coach.The Buckeye runners and coaches have high hopes for the season, but the pressure is not affecting the runners.“We are putting a lot of pressure on ourselves to do well this year,” See said. “Having the public eye on us more this year will help keep the team in check.”The women’s team has also started the season impressively, finishing third at the Dayton Flyers 5k Challenge, in which the Buckeyes’ top runners did not compete. They finished second in the Harry Groves Spiked Shoe Invitational at Penn State. The team has already jumped four spots to number seven in the Great Lakes Region since the preseason rankings came out.The women’s team has made all of this progress without top runner Sarah Foster, who injured her ankle very early in the season. In her first race back, Foster took first place overall at the 5k Cedarville Friendship Invitational. “I didn’t have to run at Cedarville, but I wanted to get a race in before All-Ohio,” Foster said.Distance coach Chris Neal is confident in the depth of this year’s team compared to previous teams, saying that “it is nice knowing that Foster does not have to be at her best every meet for the team to win.”The depth Neal emphasized was evident at the Penn State meet when juniors Jordan Jennewine and Ellen Birmingham and senior Katie Williams finished second, third, and fifth respectively.“Jennewine will be one of our go-to girls this season,” Neal said. “Those three are our most consistent in practice.”The team expects first place at the All-Ohio Championships this weekend, Neal said.“If you talk to the team, anything less than a win would be a disappointment.” Foster said. “With me back and winning All-Ohio, it would … show that we are ready.”The Buckeyes have not had much luck at the All-Ohio Championships the past two years, taking 10th overall last season and 11th overall in 2007. The 2007 11th-place finish broke a streak of four straight second-place finishes at the meet. Something that may help the Buckeyes is a 40 percent chance of rain this Friday. Neal said the team is “better when it’s muddy like at Penn State.”The team’s overall goal for the year is to “continue to move up in the conference and finish in the top half of the Big Ten … and get to the National Championship Meet,” he said.“We need to get some points at the pre-nationals to help us make it to the nationals,” Foster said. “We think we can finish third in the region, but we want second to secure a spot in the national championship meet.”With both teams eyeing the NCAA Championship meet at Indiana State University in Terre Haute, Indiana, this weekend will play a vital role in the morale of both teams who expect to take first place. “It really helps to have the support of people around Columbus and Ohio State,” Foster said. “We have a chance to make Ohio State history Friday by winning All-Ohio for the first time.”The women’s varsity race is at 2 p.m. and the men’s varsity is at 2:45 p.m. near the Methodist Theological School and Delaware Golf Club in Delaware, Ohio. read more
The anxiety level on the court seems to heighten. If the opposing team’s players weren’t in fear of the defense in front of them before, they almost surely are now. This is what happens when Aaron Craft and Shannon Scott play together, two quick defensive-minded guards that give ball handlers more trouble than they usually can manage. It’s been occurring more often lately, too, and it’s a major reason for Ohio State’s surge into the NCAA Tournament. The Buckeyes, a No. 2 seed in the West Region, take on No. 15 seed Iona Friday in Dayton. Last season, it was the combination of two-time all-American Jared Sullinger and then-sophomore forward Deshaun Thomas that OSU rode to the Final Four. This March, the Buckeyes most potent duo might be that of Craft, a junior guard, and Scott, a sophomore. They don’t score or rebound at the rate Sullinger and Thomas did; their effect on the game comes largely on the opposite end of the floor. During OSU’s three-game run to the Big Ten Tournament title in Chicago last weekend, Craft and Scott combined for 13 steals. In the Buckeyes’ two biggest wins down the stretch in the regular season, Michigan State on Feb. 24 and at Indiana on March 5, Craft and Scott totaled 11 steals. “We held a lot of teams to less points than they usually have. The defense we played was great for us,” Scott said. Craft has been, OSU coach Thad Matta said, the best defender in the country, “no question,” for the past two seasons. Scott’s ascension to defensive lore has taken some time to develop. “I think he has grown into it,” Matta said. “I think in essence what changed was his mentality. I give Shannon a ton of credit, being perceptive enough to understand what (he) has to do to help this basketball team.” Before Scott arrived in Columbus for his freshman season in 2011, he was hardly the defensive presence he is now. “He and I joke, ‘You didn’t have to play very hard in high school, did you?’ I joked with him, ‘How many charges did you take?’ He said, ‘I’ve never taken a charge,’” Matta said. One of Matta’s biggest selling points to Scott during the Georgia native’s recruitment was that he would get to play against Craft every day in practice. Now, they’ve been going head-to-head for nearly two years. It’s made them both better players. “I can pressure him, he can pressure me, and it kind of pushes us that way,” Craft said. “It’s made both of them better players,” Matta said. “You look at the growth of both guys, when Shannon got here, I said if you go against him every day, there’s no one in college basketball that can guard like him.” The two play at such a high level in practice, OSU’s coaching staff has to bottle them up at times. “The thing we have to watch at times is those two take such a beating with all the ball screens. We have to give them a break every time we can,” Matta said. Of the duo, Craft gets most of the credit. He’s the one on the cover of all the magazines, the one fans swoon over. But this season, Scott has been just as good, if not better, statistically, when it comes to defense. Scott has the best defensive rating of any player in the Big Ten, a statistic used to measure a player’s capability to prevent the other team from scoring. He was third in the conference in steals behind Craft, despite playing 13 minutes less per game. Scott led the conference in steal percentage, taking the ball away on 5.7 percent of an opposing team’s possessions while on the floor. Craft said Scott makes himself unforgettable while playing defense. “He’s very pesky. He does a really good job of not quitting on plays,” Craft said of his counterpart. “Even if you get by him, or you think he’s set by a screen, he’s right by you right away. You really have to be careful with the ball. You just can’t forget about him.” Craft’s no slouch, either, checking in at second in the Big Ten in steals per game and fourth in steal percentage. The two have benefited offensively by playing together as well. When they are on the floor together, Craft slides off the ball with Scott taking the point. This allows Scott to push the ball in transition and Craft to focus more on scoring. “You see things a little differently,” Craft said of playing with Scott on offense. “You don’t have to worry about taking care of the ball as much. You can sit back and read the defense a little more. It’s just really helped out as a whole.” The duo has been a critical aspect of OSU’s “small” lineup that also features Thomas and sophomore forwards LaQuinton Ross and Sam Thompson. That quintet was on the floor in the closing minutes of the Buckeyes’ game against Wisconsin Sunday, in which OSU won its fourth Big Ten Tournament championship, 50-43. “It really helps us space the floor out … with LaQuinton and Deshaun’s ability to guard multiple positions, it gives us a lot of mismatches on the offensive end,” Craft said. He and Scott will be pushed Friday. The Gaels are the second in the country in scoring at 80.7 points per contest. Iona senior guard Lamont “Momo” Jones averages 23.0 points per game. Jones’ running mate, junior guard Sean Armand, pours in 16.6. “They have a couple guys on their team that really like to score the ball,” Craft said. “They can really get out and score the ball in a variety of ways. It’s going to be a big team defensive effort this week and that’s what we’re trying to work on.” With Craft and Scott at the helm of OSU’s defensive attack, the Gaels likely have a lot to prepare for, too. OSU and Iona are set to tip off at the University of Dayton Arena at 7:15 p.m. Friday. If OSU wins, it will play the winner of the game between No. 7 seed Notre Dame and No. 10 seed Iowa State Sunday. read more
Eric Seger / Sports editorOhio State sophomore defensive end Noah Spence speaks with reporters following Ohio State’s scrimmage Saturday.Urban Meyer put any speculation about the statuses of redshirt junior defensive back Bradley Roby and senior running back Rod Smith to rest Saturday following Ohio State’s practice.Meyer has suspended the two players for OSU’s season opener against Buffalo on Aug. 31 for separate incidents. He said Smith will miss the first game for “a violation of team rules” and that Roby’spunishment comes from being involved in an incident at a Bloomington, Ind., bar on July 21. Initially charged with misdemeanor battery, Roby’s charges were downgraded to disorderly conduct on Friday.“I don’t know anything yet,” Meyer said. “He’ll be suspended one game just because there is an issue.”Meyer said he planned to suspend Roby for more than one game, but that changed after seeing a video from that night and noting thatRoby did not appear to assault anyone as the initial report indicated.“He was there, and he shouldn’t be there,” Meyer said. “Will he play in the first game? No.”Meyer said Smith had a good chance to be the starting running back after fellow senior running back Carlos Hyde was suspended for three games. That all changed once he broke a team rule, though.“If it wasn’t for a mistake in February then he’d be maybe the starter,” Meyer said regarding Smith. “It’s his last call. It’s the 11th hour for Rod Smith. So he needs to perform.”According to Meyer, there are only two ways in which players will learn their lesson when it comes to breaking the rules. Those include taking away playing time and taking away scholarship money.“They’ve been told. So there’s two ways,” Meyer said. “You can take their money and take their playing time.”Meyer also confirmed the end of freshman tight end Blake Thomas’ career due to a neck injury. Junior defensive lineman J.T. Moore is changing positions and has been practicing at tight end.Following the team’s scrimmage Saturday morning, Meyer said his team is not yet ready to play a game, saying there were only “probably four or five units” ready out of the nine on the team. The linebackers are among his biggest concerns.“The linebacking position is one of the units that I’m talking about. We’re not there yet,” Meyer said. “We’ve got some work to do.”Junior linebacker Ryan Shazier said he thinks his unit can do a much better job than what it’s doing right now. He said the biggest problem is a lack of confidence from the younger players at the position.“I feel like a lot of those guys are just over thinking and stressing about a lot of things and they’re just not going 100 percent right now,” Shazier said following Saturday’s scrimmage. “Once we can get them to react I feel like we will do a way better job.”Shazier said the offense is playing considerably better than the defense at this point in camp, and also noted that the offensive skill players are better than they were last year.Sophomore linebacker Joshua Perry said the unit’s leadership skills need to improve.“We’ve got a ways to go from the leadership standpoint,” Perry said, referencing the linebackers. “We’ve got to be able to bring them (the younger players) along as well as get some of the older guys in the room to play their best, too.”Meyer spoke highly of sophomore defensive end Noah Spence, mentioning how he has “extremely high character” and plays hard all the time.Spence, who said he has put on about 25 pounds this offseason, said he is trying not to make as many mistakes as he did last year in preparation of becoming a full time starter.“I’m trying to become more of a leader on our defensive line,” Spence said. “Knowing more about the defense, all the schemes and everything like that are going to let me be able to play faster.”Junior defensive lineman Michael Bennett said “it’s been good” to see Spence start leading on the field. Bennett said his confidence in the defensive line is very high.“I think that the bond that we have as a D-line is really the biggest thing that’s going to push us forward this year,” Bennett said. “The talent we have on the D-line is really good and I’m not too worried about it at all.”When asked for his thoughts on the Buckeyes being ranked No. 2 in the Associated Press’s preseason poll, Bennett said it does not change the team’s mindset.“Preseason doesn’t matter at all,” Bennett said. “It doesn’t matter until the fourteenth game is played. Take it one game at a time. You can’t go 2-0 unless you’re 1-0.” read more
Junior forward Sam Thompson (12), dunks the ball. OSU won against Morgan State, 89-50, Nov. 9. Credit: Shelby Lum / Photo editor The Ohio State men’s basketball team (1-0) used a hot start from junior guard Shannon Scott to pull away from Morgan State (0-1) early and secure its first victory of the 2013-14 season 89-50.Scott scored nine of OSU’s first 11 points, hitting each of his first three shots from beyond the arc to give OSU an early 11-5 lead, which it would hold for the rest of the game.Scott said he has been working hard on improving his shots, but that the Buckeyes’ ability to pass the ball was a big help.“I believe I’ve been working on that in practice a lot this year. My teammates did a great job of finding me (when) I was in open spots so whenever they did that, I would knock it down,” Scott said.Coach Thad Matta said Scott’s growth to be able to hit long range shots should really open up the rest of the floor for OSU.“I think one day this summer he got 400 shots up and he told me ‘I’ve never done that before,’ and I said ‘there’s maybe a reason you haven’t shot the ball particularly well.’ That’s something that for him we talked about all offseason,” Matta said. “You’ve got to be able to knock down those outside shots because it’s just going to open up so much more. He had shot it so well up to this point … to see it going in with the lights on is huge for us.”A dunk by Morgan State senior guard Justin Black cut the Buckeye lead to 18-12 with 11:24 left in the half. But OSU would close out the half with a 31-11 run to head into halftime with a 49-23 lead.Two players who were expected to have big seasons for OSU in 2013-14, junior forward LaQuinton Ross and senior guard Aaron Craft, struggled in the first half only scoring four and two points respectively.Ross, who ended the game with 14 points and 11 rebounds, made the first start of his OSU career after the departure of forward Deshaun Thomas to the NBA Draft last season.Starting for the first time wasn’t something that Ross thought about before the game, he said, adding that it was all about getting the win.“I don’t really think we thought about it too much. We got out here and got this win so we’re real excited about that,” Ross said.Senior guard Lenzelle Smith Jr. led all scorers with 18 points against the Bears. Scott added a career-high 16 points to go along with seven assists and junior forward Sam Thompson scored 14 for the Buckeyes.In his debut as a Buckeye freshman forward, Marc Loving had 10 points and five rebounds off the bench.Ross said having so many different scoring options is “exciting” and can be a big boost for the Buckeyes this season.“It definitely keeps me excited knowing we have players that can knock down open shots at any time,” Ross said. “We might have struggled with that a bit last year but now everybody’s been in the gym all summer, all preseason working on their games, so that’s a great help to our team.”Coach Thad Matta agreed, adding that having a balanced scoring attack is something that OSU is going to look to do for the rest of the season.“I think that’s the balance that this team’s going to have to have in terms of how we want to play and how we think we should play,” Matta said. “The rotations, I thought guys came and really gave us a good boost and that’s something that’s going to be big for this team.”Starting junior center Amir Williams struggled with foul trouble during the game, fouling out after only 14 minutes played. Trey McDonald came off the bench in place of Williams, scoring six points in 18 minutes played.OSU is set to return to action Tuesday at 8 p.m. against in-state rival Ohio University before hitting the road to take on Marquette in Milwaukee, Wis., Nov. 16 at 1 p.m. read more
pic.twitter.com/0BUh2gvOlz— Shish restaurant (@shishsidcup) November 18, 2016 Kind-hearted restaurant staff have been praised for offering free meals to the homeless and elderly this Christmas.Shish, a muslim-owned Turkish restaurant in Sidcup, shared a poster they put up in the window of the restaurant which reads: “No one eats alone on Christmas Day!”It adds: “We are here to sit with you. Three course meal for the homeless from 12-6pm. Any homeless or elderly are welcome.” Meanwhile, meet the generous man giving away free flights to strangers over the festive season. Last month, this waiter was stunned by a massive tip so he can go ‘home’ this Christmas. Please share this around and get the news forward to anyone that is in need/elderly/ homeless.— Shish restaurant (@shishsidcup) November 18, 2016 Their offer has been shared by thousands of Facebook users, with many praising Shish staff for their kind actions. Help us to make sure that no-one is alone this Christmas !!— Shish restaurant (@shishsidcup) November 18, 2016 Sally Cudmore wrote: “What lovely people!! Shish restaurant in Sidcup are opening their doors Christmas Day for the elderly and homeless cooking them a Christmas meal free of charge! Please share as this could help somebody who is alone this Christmas 🙁 x great job.” The restaurant’s offer includes soup and cacik to start, followed by main course options of chicken/ vegetarian casserole or chicken shish and rice pudding for dessert. Another wrote: “How great … this is what Christmas is about. Good on you.”Sharon Day wrote: “Nice to know there are still some lovely people out there thinking of others less fortunate.” Want the best of The Telegraph direct to your email and WhatsApp? Sign up to our free twice-daily Front Page newsletter and new audio briefings. read more
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