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Kamis, 25 April 2019

Adam Schefter tells M&C Patriots aren't interested in trading for Josh Rosen, doesn't foresee them taking QB early in NFL Draft - WEEI

One of the biggest stories surrounding the NFL Draft has been Josh Rosen’s status with the Cardinals. With Arizona rumored to be targeting Kyler Murray with the No. 1 overall pick, it seems only sensible for the Cardinals to explore trading Rosen. They’ve even left him off promotional videos, an obvious sign he’s being shopped.

But according to preeminent NFL Insider Adam Schefter, there’s a strong chance Rosen remains in Arizona, no matter how awkward the situation may be. In an interview Thursday with “Mut & Callahan,” Schefter said the Cardinals aren’t close to trading their 2018 first-round pick, and reported the Patriots haven’t even inquired about him.

“I do know the story; I am not holding back. They do not have a trade, or anything close to a trade,” Schefter said. “The only two teams they’ve spoken to over the last month have been the Miami Dolphins and New York Giants –– period. End of story. They have not talked to the Patriots. They did speak to the Chargers at one point maybe a month ago, but they are not interested at this time. The Dolphins haven’t had contact with the Cardinals in days. The Giants, I believe, want to see how and where this draft unfolds before they would make a move. I’m telling you, they do not have a deal in place for Josh Rosen. I’m telling you, I am not holding back a single thing. There’s no deal in place. If there was a team that wanted Josh Rosen that badly, they would’ve traded for him on April 1 so he could go through the offseason program in the new offense and get familiar with that. Doesn’t that make sense?”

There is precedent with teams carrying two starting-caliber quarterbacks, including the Patriots, who held both Tom Brady and Jimmy Garoppolo for the 2016 and (some) of the 2017 campaigns. With that history in mind, Schefter says he doesn’t think the Cardinals are in a hurry to deal Rosen for anything less than a second-round selection, meaning he could stay in the desert for the season.

“I do see Arizona open to the idea –– as awkward as it might be –– of carrying him the way the Cowboys once carried Troy Aikman and Steve Walsh, the way the 49ers carried Joe Montana and Steve Young,” Schefter said. “We’ve seen this happen where teams can carry quarterbacks. Maybe there’s an injury this summer, maybe some quarterback gets in trouble, maybe somebody gets into a situation where there’s a scenario you didn’t envision unfolding, and they say, ‘Let’s go trade a ‘two’ for Josh Rosen.’ But Arizona isn’t in a rush to give him away, there hasn’t been a whole lot of interest in him up until now. That could change the moment the first round unfolds, but they absolutely do not have a deal in place.”

In addition to Rosen’s rookie struggles, there are also questions about his attitude and leadership abilities. Schefter said he can’t imagine the Patriots showing interest, unless he comes at an extreme discount.

“Again, Arizona is going to want a ‘two,’ and I don’t see New England giving up a ‘two.’ I don’t think that’s where they were on the guy last year,” he said. “Could their feelings change one year later? I guess, but that’s not something I foresee New England pursuing. Now, if Arizona wanted a sixth- or seventh-round pick, would New England be interested? Maybe they’d kick it around. But Arizona isn’t going to do that, so it’s a moot point.”

Overall, Schefter doesn’t seem that bullish on the Patriots picking up any quarterbacks early in the draft.

“We seem to have done this in many years, where we talk about New England at the back of the first round. ‘This will be the year they take a quarterback; this will be the year they take a quarterback; which quarterback are they going to take?’,” Schefter explained. “And every year, it comes and goes. I won’t be surprised at all if they take a quarterback, but I don’t see a quarterback at No. 32 on a team that, even though it’s the defending world champion, still has as many holes as this one does. The backup QB is not a big hole right now for a team that has more draft capital than any other team. They’re going to take a quarterback when there’s value at quarterback, and that’s not going to be at the end of Round 1.”

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https://weei.radio.com/blogs/alex-reimer/adam-schefter-interview-espn-insider-says-patriots-arent-interested-acquiring-josh

2019-04-25 13:33:31Z
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Lou Williams Stuffed Golden State Into The Trash - Deadspin

Illustration for article titled Lou Williams Stuffed Golden State Into The Trash — Photo: Ezra Shaw (Getty Images)

Raise your hand if you expected this series to be over by now. Sure, the Clippers are fun and feisty and Lou Williams is a delight forever, but their opponent is Golden State, destroyers of world and shuckers of corn. And yet, whether out of boredom or exhaustion or just annoyance, the Warriors haven’t quite looked like the Warriors yet. They certainly didn’t on Wednesday, when they let Los Angeles to claw its way to a 129-121 victory that sends the series back to SoCal for at least one more game.

The Clippers’ surge towards the Game 5 victory was powered by Williams (more on him in a sec), but it was really kicked off by Montrezl Harrell calmly rolling up Kevin Looney and kicking him down the sidewalk:

Before that block, Los Angeles seemed to be on the same low trajectory of every Golden State opponent of the last five seasons: spunky and motivated, but ultimately not strong enough to fend off The Run that comes in every important Warriors game. If the Clippers had crumbled after hanging around for 43 minutes, it would have been a damn shame, but an understandable one. Instead, it seems like something flipped with Harrell’s block.

Beyond the immediate effect of, you know, not allowing the Warriors two points, the play seemed to re-energize the Clips. They still gave up seven of the next 10 points, because the Warriors are the Warriors, but they hung around long enough to hand the game over to Lou Williams and get the fuck out of the way. In the minute-plus spanning from 2:32 left in the game until 1:30 remaining, Williams scored eight straight points, effectively ending the game over the course of three straight offensive possessions.

The most important of those was the first: after Kevin Durant slammed home a dunk to give the Warriors a 118-117 lead, and with Golden State’s delicate fanbase finally rocking and rolling, it sure felt like the end. But Williams, the absolute madman that he is, went straight at Durant and nailed a three in his face, drawing the foul to boot. A one-point Warriors lead had turned into a three-point Clippers advantage, and that margin would only get bigger before the end of the game.

After a Patrick Beverley steal on the next Warriors possession, Williams again took the rock and drove straight into the Golden State defense, banking in a gentle floater. With two minutes left, the Clippers were up five, and it sure began to seem like it was all happening:

Here’s a good time to point out that Golden State’s offense devolved into complete ass under pressure. After initial sets were ably shut off by the Clippers, the greatest collection of offensive talent in NBA history seemingly had no ideas except “isolate Durant late in the shot clock.” I’ll leave it to others to parse what that might mean for the Warriors going forward, but when Durant missed a three-pointer after one of those same isolations at around 1:47 left, it was tempting to call game for the Clips.

Instead, Williams took that task on himself. He saved his sweetest-looking shot for last: a gentle fadeaway jumper over Andre Iguodala with 90 seconds remaining.

And so, after 62 seconds of game time that featured two Golden State turnovers and a Los Angeles four-point play, the Clippers won Game 5 and set themselves up nicely to keep annoying the shit out of the defending champions in a home-court Game 6 on Friday night. While the Rockets took care of business and closed out Utah, finally, in five games earlier on Wednesday, Golden State’s creaky, grouchy core must now drag itself out of bed for another first-round game in a city that’s not their own. Lou Williams had enough smoke to send the tech bros back across the Bay in resigned indifference, and now the Warriors have to deal with it.

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https://deadspin.com/lou-williams-stuffed-golden-state-into-the-trash-1834297312

2019-04-25 14:53:00Z
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Clips' Williams -- Warriors erred in 'looking ahead' - ESPN

9:00 AM ET

OAKLAND, Calif. -- In recent days, some Golden State Warriors players admitted they were keeping an eye on their potential second-round opponent, the Houston Rockets.

"We see our opponent, they're up 3-0," Warriors guard Klay Thompson said of the Rockets after his team's Game 4 win Sunday. "So we don't wanna give them any more rest days."

But the LA Clippers, who beat the Warriors 129-121 in Game 5 on Wednesday to extend their first-round series, took exception to being overlooked.

"For us, our focus was to come in, extend the series and get another win on the home floor," Clippers star reserve Lou Williams said after the win at Oracle Arena, which pushed the series to Game 6 on Friday in Los Angeles. "It's their mistake for looking ahead. So that's on them."

The Clippers are the first team to win two playoff games as double-digit underdogs in the same postseason since the 1993 Lakers, according to ESPN Stats & Information. (The '93 Lakers won Games 1 and 2 against the Suns in the first round as 13.5- and 14-point underdogs before losing the best-of-five series in five games.)

Wednesday's upset also tied for the second-largest postseason upset since 1991, according to ESPN Stats & Info. The Clippers entered the game as 15-point underdogs.

After losing Game 5, Thompson admitted he was looking ahead.

"Yep, start with me. I was," Thompson said. "I thought we were going to come out and win tonight, but sometimes life doesn't go as planned. We're still in a great position with hopefully only 48 minutes left to close these guys out. They've been pesky. They've been tough, but now it's time to do what we do."

Warriors stars Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry, however, both said the team isn't looking past the Clippers.

"I know I'm not thinking about the future," Durant said. "Just thinking about the game. And I feel like everybody has their mindset."

Said Curry: "We understand, we've been in this situation plenty of times. We know how hard it is to close a series out. At the end of the day, as bad as we played in the first half, we were up one with 2½ minutes left. So we clawed our way back and gave ourselves a chance to win. They just made shots down the stretch. And you gotta, I think at the end of the day, look yourself in the mirror and hold our team accountable for how we started the game and gotta do a better job of that."

During the series, Clippers coach Doc Rivers said he felt that his team hadn't played to its potential.

"I told our guys, like, they haven't been [themselves] in the series," he said. "We have yet to put a game where we are us through the game."

But that changed Wednesday.

"That was us," Rivers said. "That was our team today. And so that was great to see."

Could the Clippers be ahead 3-2 in the series? Clippers guard Patrick Beverley seemed to say as much after the game when he referenced his team's performance in Game 4.

"This past game, Game 4, we felt like we should have won that," Beverley said. "We felt like we lost a game, not that they beat us."

Rivers also mentioned the possibility that Wednesday could've marked the last game for longtime Clippers broadcaster Ralph Lawler, who is retiring after the postseason.

"Ralph never speaks to me before the game when I'm on the floor, and he walked up to me, first time ever, and said, 'Coach, I've had 20 people [come up] to congratulate me on my career and say good luck, like, tonight is the end of Ralph. Please do something about that,'" Rivers said.

"So Ralph, we did. And it's all good."

Clippers players also spoke about extending Lawler's broadcasting career for at least one more game.

"It's great for Ralph," Williams said. "It's great for all of us. And Ralph's been around 40 years. So for us to have an opportunity to keep dragging him in the gym and having him around, it's great."

For his part, Warriors coach Steve Kerr heaped praise upon the Clippers, describing them as "a hell of a team" that won 48 games in the regular season.

"They have our respect, for sure," Kerr said. "They outplayed us tonight, and they've got a hell of a team. So we've got to bring it if we're going to beat them."

Thompson, when asked to describe the Clippers, replied simply: "They play hard. They play hard."

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http://www.espn.com/nba/story/_/id/26600317/clips-williams-warriors-erred-looking-ahead

2019-04-25 12:53:41Z
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Yankees Win, but Lose Another Player - The New York Times

ANAHEIM, Calif. — On a day when the Yankees welcomed the return of a key player from the injured list, another essentially took his place, continuing the team’s seemingly endless stream of injuries.

The power-hitting catcher Gary Sanchez became only the second Yankee to make it back from an I.L. stint so far this season. Even though he struck out four times and made a fielding error on Wednesday, the depleted Yankees came back to beat the Los Angeles Angels, 6-5, for their sixth consecutive victory.

After the game, Yankees Manager Aaron Boone announced that the outfielder Clint Frazier, who was handed an opportunity following injuries to others and had become one of the team’s best hitters, was headed to the I.L. on Thursday with an injured ankle. Boone said that he was unclear on the exact diagnosis, but that a magnetic resonance imaging examination revealed that Frazier had suffered a partial tear — in other words, a sprain — in the left ankle he twisted while sliding back to second base in Monday’s zany victory.

This will bring the Yankees’ number of players on the I.L. back up to a major-league-leading 13. A whopping 15 different players have been on the I.L. this year; only the starting pitcher C. C. Sabathia and Sanchez have returned.

“Dang, that’s really tough but you just have to keep moving forward,” Sanchez said in Spanish about his swapping spots with Frazier. “You have to keep playing. We can’t give up. I returned from the I.L., struck out four times and we still won. That’s what’s important.”

Although the Yankees (14-10) shied away from providing a timetable for the star right fielder Aaron Judge’s return, Boone gave one for Frazier, 24. He said the good news was that the team felt Frazier’s absence could be between the minimum of 10 days or two weeks.

“We don’t feel like it’s a long thing,” Boone said. Frazier “very much feels like he can play or is close to playing, but the M.R.I. revealed enough in there.”

Aroldis Chapman closed out the Yankee victory.CreditMarcio Jose Sanchez/Associated Press

Only the day before, Frazier spoke optimistically about his ankle injury, describing Tuesday’s absence from the starting lineup as precautionary. He had missed most of last season with a concussion so he was thrilled to be healthy and playing every day. And entering Tuesday’s game, Frazier, who was in Class AAA Scranton/Wilkes-Barre when the season began, led the Yankees with six home runs and 17 runs batted in. (First baseman Luke Voit surpassed him with two home runs in Tuesday’s game.)

Frazier, however, admitted then that he felt some pain in his ankle. But he pointed to his ability to play two more innings on Monday, running in the outfield and on the basepaths, as positive signs that he could go on. He said he also passed the ankle mobility tests given to him by the Yankees training staff.

“The I.L. is too full and I’m not trying to join that party,” he said before Tuesday’s game.

When Frazier was out of the starting lineup on Wednesday for a second straight day, Boone said it was because there was black-and-blue bruising and swelling in Frazier’s ankle. While a doctor didn’t feel Frazier needed any imaging after the initial injury, Boone said, the Yankees decided Frazier should receive an M.R.I. on Wednesday because of the discoloring.

Normally sprightly and chatty, Frazier declined to speak with reporters after the game. The Yankees overcame a rough start by Sabathia, who is three strikeouts short of 3,000 for his career, thanks to stout pitching from relief pitchers Jonathan Loaisiga and Aroldis Chapman, tough at-bats in the latter innings against the sputtering Angels’ pitching staff, and a go-ahead R.B.I. single by D. J. LeMahieu in the top of the ninth. Four of the Yankees’ six runs came from players who weren’t on the major league opening day roster.

“This has been unbelievable watching this bunch of guys and their grittiness,” Sabathia said.

Earlier in the day, Boone ran through his usual list of updates on the Yankees’ many injured players. While the center fielder Aaron Hicks (back) has progressed to running, throwing and swinging, the shortstop Troy Tulowitzki (calf strain) and third baseman Miguel Andujar (labral tear) are further along and may face pitching soon at the team’s spring training facility in Tampa, Fla.

The most concerning revelation from Boone was about a setback with the slugging outfielder Giancarlo Stanton, who landed on the I.L. in early April with a left biceps strain. Boone said on Wednesday that Stanton’s biceps ailment had healed but that there was a “residual” problem with his left shoulder that merited a cortisone shot two days before. Stanton will rest and remain in Southern California for a few days to work with the people who helped with his past rehabilitations.

So while the Yankees were already eagerly awaiting the return of several injured players, another one — Frazier — joined their ranks.

“Another opportunity for somebody else,” Boone said, pointing to Tyler Wade, an infielder who can play the outfield and was handling left field in Frazier’s recent absence. Boone continued, “We got a lot of good players in here that are capable of getting this thing done.”

At this rate, though, the Yankees may run out of bodies.

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https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/25/sports/baseball/new-york-yankees-injuries-clint-frazier.html

2019-04-25 11:38:25Z
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Gary Sanchez's Yankees return couldn't have gone worse - New York Post

ANAHEIM, Calif. — It is a plus that Gary Sanchez is the first significant Yankee to step off the injured list and join the lineup, even though he didn’t show it in the Yankees’ 7-5 win over the Angels on Wednesday night.

Sanchez’s return can’t be the be-all and end-all when it comes to the catcher rejoining a team that has been stripped of its best players, staff ace and bullpen stud due to injuries.

Sanchez was activated for Wednesday night’s game at Angel Stadium. He is expected to add muscle to a lineup that has been carried by Luke Voit and Clint Frazier with an occasional sprinkling of power supplied by Mike Tauchman and Mike Ford. And with Gleyber Torres and DJ LeMahieu fighting their way through slides at the plate, Sanchez can help balance that out.

But Sanchez had a game to forget in his return to the lineup, striking out four times and committing a fielding error.

Since Sanchez went on the IL with a strained left calf on April 12 (backdated to April 11), the Yankees had gone 8-3 with Austin Romine and Kyle Higashioka, who was sent back to Scranton Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday, handling the catching chores. Judging by the Yankees’ rotation pitching very well in the previous eight games (4-1 with a 1.56 ERA), the starters have done well with Sanchez sidelined.

While Sanchez caught better in eight games this year than in the past two seasons, his bat is needed now.

“Obviously, really excited to get him back,’’ Boone said of Sanchez, who was inserted in the cleanup spot. “It was good to write his name in the lineup, no question. Looking forward to him getting back in the fray and help us to continue to win games.’’

How good Sanchez is coming back remains to be seen. Outside of a minor league rehab game for Single-A Charleston on Monday night, Sanchez hasn’t played since April 10 when he pinch hit against the Astros in Houston. The night before that he was the DH and the night prior to that was the last time Sanchez caught.

“There are going to be games for the backup so I am not going to run him into the ground obviously, but he is a full-go player and catcher,’’ Boone said.

Thanks to a three-homer splurge against the Orioles on April 7 in Baltimore, Sanchez has six homers and 11 RBIs in 12 games. His averaged dropped to .244 after Wednesday’s stinnker.

Since Sanchez went on the IL before Greg Bird (left plantar fascia) and Aaron Judge (left oblique strain) went down, but after Aaron Hicks, Miguel Andujar and Giancarlo Stanton, it’s good news for the Yankees that he is the first one back.

Yet being back doesn’t automatically mean Sanchez will produce at the plate immediately. And he has the added burden of handling a pitching staff.

The fact nobody can accurately predict when the other injured parts of the lineup will return — and Judge, the most important member of the IL, could be months away — Sanchez not only has to return but perform.

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https://nypost.com/2019/04/25/yankees-glad-gary-sanchez-is-back-despite-return-game-stinker/

2019-04-25 10:12:00Z
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Josh Allen wouldn't mind staying home to play for Giants or Jets - New York Post

NASHVILLE, Tenn. — The state where Josh Allen was lightly recruited out of high school as a two-star linebacker could end up as his home again — in the NFL.

The Kentucky pass rusher, who hails from Montclair, N.J., could be in play for the Jets at No. 3 or the Giants at No. 6 on Thursday night in the first round of the draft.

“I would just be real thankful,” Allen said Wednesday. “Great, high picks and they both need an outside linebacker/pass rusher. So whoever gets me, I just want to make that team great. I want to be great. So let’s be great together.”

The 6-foot-5, 252-pound Allen splashed onto the scene as a sure top-10 pick last fall in his senior season for the Wildcats. He racked up 88 tackles, 21.5 for loss, and 17 sacks, while forcing five fumbles and recovering two. He earned SEC Defensive Player of the Year honors, the Bronko Nagurski Trophy and Chuck Bednarik Award as the nation’s top defensive player.

In a draft that is top-heavy with defensive-front talent, Allen was asked what separates him from the rest.

“My sack numbers. I’ll just end it right there,” said Allen, who broke Kentucky’s program-record with 31.5 career sacks.

Both the Jets and Giants could desperately use a pass rusher. The Giants were 31st in the NFL in sacks last year while the Jets have long been looking for a consistent presence off the edge.

Allen already has a connection on the Jets in inside linebacker Avery Williamson, a Kentucky product, while the Giants’ facility and MetLife Stadium are a short drive from his hometown. Among the side benefits of playing for either team, he said, would be not having to spend much time looking for houses.

“I’d be basically home,” he said. “The best thing about it is I’d probably have an idea where I’m going to live.”

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https://nypost.com/2019/04/25/josh-allen-wouldnt-mind-staying-home-to-play-for-giants-or-jets/

2019-04-25 09:48:00Z
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Clips' Williams: Warriors erred in 'looking ahead' - ESPN

3:34 AM ET