… You often mention how integral your agent B.J. Armstrong and Travis Walton (a former Michigan State teammate and current assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers’ G League team, the Agua Caliente Clippers) have been in your progression as a professional. How exactly?
B.J. has been huge for me. He’s someone I can talk to. As we all hit slumps throughout the course of the season, he’s not one to really call and talk about that because he gets it. But then if he sees you get to a certain point, then he’ll check on you. He always knows what to say. He gives some of the best advice being that he’s played in the league.
But also because he’s seen it from every side possible. He’s been in the front office, he’s obviously an agent, he’s played, he’s seen it from every side and he gets it. And so, he’s been key in my development as a basketball player but more so as a person in really understanding this business. He’s really helped me understand this business, which in turn helps me become a better basketball player.
And also, working out with Travis Walton each and every summer. Travis dissects my game and watches every clip that I was in for a whole year and then puts together a plan. Then we get into the gym, we work on it.
Sidney Crosby has played 930 NHL games when you combine the regular season and playoffs. He’s had hundreds of teammates during that time and a dozen summers worth of free agency, with new faces coming and old ones going.
This summer, however, stuck out above the rest for Crosby.
Losing Marc-Andre Fleury, Chris Kunitz and others — how about Crosby’s past two Stanley Cup recipients in Trevor Daley and Ron Hainsey? — was noticeably different for Crosby. And difficult.
“It was tough,” Crosby admitted Sunday for Day 2 of Penguins training camp at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex. “To see that many guys who you played with for a long time, to see them move on to different teams, I don’t know if I’d had that happen all at once like that before.
Houston Texans strength coach Craig Fitzgerald keeps close tabs on his players’ workouts in the offseason. Because of the NFL’s collective bargaining agreement, his time with the players is restricted, so he trusts that the players’ trainers will keep them in shape in the spring and summer.
He sees the videos on Instagram or Twitter just like the rest of us. The guys are in Miami or Arizona or Houston—it’s always a warm-weather city on a lovely day—where maybe they’re pushing a truck, doing a ladder drill on a beach or sprinting with some sort of resistance.
When they come back to the team facility, Fitzgerald can’t help himself during the first few drills.
“Man, I saw you run faster than that on the videos!” he’ll shout to his players.
… Connolly also wanted to tackle the misconceptions about sports science. Namely, that the proliferation of data, analytics and technology will automatically transform athletes and teams into faster, stronger, and less injured versions of themselves. More simply: Does sports science actually work?
To some extent it has, as the rapidly evolving field of sports science continues to change the way athletes and teams train and compete. Collegiate and professional teams have hired sports scientists, like Connolly, to pay more attention to things like sleep and recuperation. But has doubling down on sports science—something we have seen the Browns and 76ers do—resulted in more wins?
Connolly believes that there is a gap between what people want sports science and technology to do and what it actually does. Many teams have the technology but haven’t yet figured out how to win with it.
GPS data captured through devices worn by AFL players was shared with broadcasters and licensees (Champion Data) on an ongoing basis this season for the first time through changes in the new CBA.
This includes identified individual (top five only) and team metrics such as distance covered and maximum and average speed. GPS data has now joined statistics, highlights and opinion in the analysis of players, teams and AFL games. But given broadcasters and media outlets have only commenced using GPS data under this new agreement since week one of the AFL finals, it remains to be seen how it will contribute to the conversation.
Geelong was criticised for its work rate in the first week of the finals after its 22 players combined for the least distance covered of the eight teams, but how strong is the correlation between distance and desire?
The New York Times, The Upshot blog, Aaron E. Carroll from
Many high-school-age children across the United States now find themselves waking up much earlier than they’d prefer as they return to school. They set their alarms, and their parents force them out of bed in the morning, convinced that this is a necessary part of youth and good preparation for the rest of their lives.
It’s not. It’s arbitrary, forced on them against their nature, and a poor economic decision as well.
The National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute recommends that teenagers get between nine and 10 hours of sleep. Most in the United States don’t. It’s not their fault.
The NCAA brought 19 college basketball athletes to Indianapolis this past weekend for the Elite Student-Athlete Symposium, an educational program that attempted to tackle head-on “the challenges and pitfalls” highly touted prospects face, with an eye toward helping them pursue a career in professional basketball.
The NCAA invited prospects who could become NBA draft-eligible for the first time in 2018, such as 17-year old Udoka Azubuike (Kansas) and other underclassmen: Tyus Battle (Syracuse), V.J. King (Louisville) and Rawle Alkins (Arizona). They were joined by upperclassmen such as Jalen Brunson (Villanova), Allonzo Trier (Arizona), Ethan Happ (Wisconsin), Trevon Bluiett (Xavier), Kelan Martin (Butler), Anas Mahmoud (Louisville), Angel Delgado (Seton Hall), Dean Wade (Kansas State) and Jevon Carter (West Virginia), among others.
… Nike revealed a new uniform design for teams, as well as a “thermaflex” warmup hoodie for athletes and, for consumers, a new tech-enabled jersey: the Nike NBA Jersey with NikeConnect, which allows fans to scan a machine-washable tag on the jersey and receive personalised game day content, like a Spotify playlist of what Kevin Durant listens to before a game, exclusive, shareable GIFs and more.
The content accessed by consumers is catered to which athlete’s jersey they buy and available through the NikeConnect app, which “builds on top of the [Nike Plus] experience and is linked to the others,” says Stefan Olander, Nike’s vice president of digital
A couple of steps behind the free-throw line, Josh Okogie tossed up soft jumpers in the sunlit gym at Georgia Tech’s Zelnak Basketball Center. A computerized voice provided immediate feedback on the angle of his shots as they descended on the basket.
“Forty-three. Forty-four. Forty-six,” spoke the voice as Okogie fed a series of shots through the rim.
For the Yellow Jackets’ oft errant shooting, a technological aid arrived last month, a $5,000 shot-tracking system that measures shot angle, left/right deviation, depth, position on the court and whether the shot scored. Using a sensor suspended 13 feet above the basket, the system logs data for individual players and can provide information served in charts, diagrams and heat maps, accessible on a wall-mounted television in the gym or remotely from a laptop or smartphone.
… Since Fisher arrived he has seen a $15 million indoor practice facility built. As well as a players-only dorm. The locker room was renovated and looks like something out of a sci-fi movie. The players also have their own arcade and movie theater. Because, you know, why not?
The entire football operation has been overhauled. Millions upon millions of dollars have been spent. And he has one of the highest paid coaching staffs in the country. And yet Fisher seemed to dismiss it all by calling everything the administration and boosters had done for him “a few little adjustments.”
I understand why that would irk some folks. And when I first saw the quote – I admit I didn’t hear the answer live because I was listening to my Journey greatest hits CD in the car – I was taken aback. Like how in the world could he categorize everything the school and Al Dunlap had done for his program as little?
Worcester Telegram & Gazette, Elaine Thompson from
The local American Youth Football association has been placed on probation and one of its coaches suspended after a 10-year-old player was put back in a game after an EMT said the injured player should stay sidelined.
Parents were notified Tuesday that the Shrewsbury Patriot’s Fifth Grade team coach, James G. Ellis, a Worcester personal injury lawyer, was suspended for four games until Oct. 9, for “re-entering an injured player ruled out by the EMT …” in a game against a Leominster team at Oak Middle School on Sept. 9.
In addition, the entire Shrewsbury American Youth Football association was placed on probation Thursday for the remainder of the season because of the incident.
Philadelphia 76ers President of Basketball Operations Bryan Colangelo announced today the hiring of C. Daniel Medina Leal, MD, PhD to the newly-created position of Vice President of Athlete Care. Dr. Medina joins the organization from the renowned Fútbol Club Barcelona, where he most recently served as Deputy Director of the Sports Science and Medical Department, overseeing 2,000 athletes and more than 125 athlete care and performance staff members. He served as Team Physician for FC Barcelona from 2008-2015 and first joined its medical services department in 2005.
In his role with the 76ers, Dr. Medina will be based at the state-of-the-art Philadelphia 76ers Training Complex in Camden, N.J., and oversee all areas of athlete care and performance, including the medical and sports science departments, as well as the athletic training, physiotherapy, nutrition and strength and conditioning departments.
It’s 6:15 a.m. on Aug. 18, and as groggy Missouri football players walk into the Mizzou Athletics Training Complex to begin another day of fall camp, I’m following director of sports nutrition Claire McDaniel as she fast-walks between her office in the MATC weight room and the student-athlete dining hall at such a pace that it’s surprising she hasn’t worn a tread into the tile flooring.
She’s made a tray of blueberry smoothies and transports them into the dining hall, stopping only to admire the bright orange clementines sitting on ice at the fruit bar. Now, she’s visiting football players’ tables to comment on breakfast choices and remind those with sickle cell anemia to fill out forms to monitor their daily eating habits.
The NBA competition committee has recommended the league proposals on draft lottery reform and guidelines for the resting of players to the board of governors for final approval, league sources told ESPN.
NBA commissioner Adam Silver has been determined to pass a plan that deters the tactic of tanking games to gain access to better odds at higher picks and the resting of players in nationally televised games.
The competition committee also recommended a plan to the board of governors to curb the resting of healthy players in the regular season, league sources told ESPN. The proposed guidelines for resting players will encourage teams to sit healthy players for home rather than away games, and discourage the practice during nationally televised games.