Month: July 2020

It’s been one hell of a year to break into the NBA but Davis handling things just fine — Toronto Sun

The rookie season Terence Davis has been working through had already reached unbelievable status well before the coronavirus pandemic hit. Read More

It’s been one hell of a year to break into the NBA but Davis handling things just fine — Toronto Sun


More from Mike Ganter

Published:July 2, 2020

Updated:July 2, 2020 10:08 PM EDT

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The rookie season Terence Davis has been working through had already reached unbelievable status well before the coronavirus pandemic hit.

An undrafted first-year playing substantial minutes on the roster of the defending NBA champions — even getting the odd start — certainly qualifies for the unbelievable category.

But then to have your first go-around at professional basketball stopped in its tracks and put on hold by the pandemic for almost four months is definitely out of the norm.

The stoppage was problematic for a 14-year vet like Kyle Lowry, let alone a first-year player still trying to navigate the trials and tribulations of an entirely new experience.

Davis though returned to supervised individual workouts last week in Naples, Fla. as the team prepares to enter the NBA bubble in at Disney World in Orlando next week, anxious to get going, again looking to continue what he started.

“I do come into this season, as you say, the second season, I would come into this more mature, being that I went through three-fourths of a season,” Davis said. “Just growing up, man, maturing, taking the steps in the right direction. These guys, Fred (VanVleet), Kyle (Lowry), Marc (Gasol), Norm (Powell), all these guys man, they make sure the young guys are where they need to be, because to them, it’s everything. These guys are defending their title. You wanna be a part of that, so definitely.”

And while he may still feel like this is his rookie year those veteran teammates he looks to for guidance and advice no longer view him that way, at least not from what Davis can see.

“I definitely don’t think so, man,” he said. “These guys, if I make a mistake, I’m not a rookie anymore. I think I heard someone say that. So definitely, man. These guys are in tune. I think (Gasol) is already in playoff mode right now. That right there’s your anchor, you get everyone in playoff mode. We’re locked in over here, man, for sure.”

Davis wound up playing in all 64 games the Raptors played, the only Raptor who can make that claim. He started two games and over the year averaged 17 minutes. Not bad for a guy who was passed over by every team in the league on draft day.

But Davis doesn’t measure himself that way. His entire approach is to earn and keep the trust of his coaching staff and his teammates so that there is no hesitation to put him in any situation that arises.

Raptors’ assistant coach Adrian Griffin says there’s no doubt in his mind, or any of the other coaches that Davis accomplished that goal.

“If you went back and watched some of our games, Coach Nurse has unbelievable trust in him and so does the entire coaching staff,” Griffin said. “ As I mentioned before, he started in a couple games, he started in the Charlotte game and had one of his career-highs, he had an excellent game at home where he shot the ball very well. He’s just a complete, all-around player and he’s still improving. And I think that’s the scary part about it, I think he’s already positioning himself as one of the elite scorers and shooters in this league as a 2-guard and he has a phenomenal attitude. He’s fun to work with, has a great work ethic with all our coaching staff.”

So yes, he has that trust now but he says he continues to work every day to expand on it and become a guy no one else on the team even thinks of as a rookie.

“I had to gain these guys’ trust and I would say it means a lot,” he said. “I wouldn’t say this is something that’s normal, but for me being an undrafted guy playing with the defending champions it’s just unbelievable. So I honestly don’t know what to say, it’s just like you can’t make it up. That’s something that you want as a young guy. You want these guys to be able to trust you and that’s something that I’m working towards every day. So I’m excited about the process, going to Orlando and really finishing out the season because we really have a chance to do it again, for sure.”

The one area Davis has yet to perform is in the playoffs. He’s very much looking forward to that chance once the Raptors get to Orlando.

GASOL LEANER, STRONGER

If there is one guy getting plenty of attention and second looks in the Raptors’ temporary home in Florida, it is big man Marc Gasol.

Or maybe we should say not-so-big Marc Gasol.

Yes, he’s still 6-foot-11 but Gasol has returned from Spain a leaner, stronger player than he was when he left.

Raptors assistant coach Adrian Griffin wasn’t even sure he was looking at the same player when he first came across him in Florida last week.

“I had to do a double take. I won’t lie,” Griffin said. “I was so impressed about the way he looks. He just looks phenomenal. I know that it’s not easy. As someone, myself, who as a player always struggled to maintain a certain weight, it’s not easy. It really isn’t. He could have been doing anything during the quarantine, during the pandemic. That shows you what kind of person he is, a high-character guy, that he took it upon himself to get in the best shape possible.”

And Griffin said that transformation could be the difference for the Raptors once they get to Orlando and start taking on the rest of the NBA.

“Truth be told, I think the team that wins this championship is going to be the team that’s in the best physical shape,” Griffin said. “You’re not going to have those months, ideally during an NBA season, where you can work yourself into shape. The team that comes in the best conditioning is going to give themselves a competitive advantage. My hat goes off to Marc. I kind of miss the big fella, though. He was just so likeable, but I’m getting used to the new Marc.”
— Mike Ganter

MLB will be lucky to finish season amid virus surge: Manfred — Nusfeed.com

FILE PHOTO: Rob Manfred, commissioner of Major League Baseball, takes part in the Yahoo Finance All Markets Summit in New York, U.S., February 8, 2017. REUTERS/Lucas Jackson July 2, 2020 While attempting to clarify comments he made a day earlier that caused a bit of a stir, MLB commissioner Rob Manfred on Thursday admitted the  league will “be lucky” to play a full 60-game abbreviated season.

MLB will be lucky to finish season amid virus surge: Manfred — Nusfeed.com

During an interview on the “Dan Patrick Show” on Wednesday, Manfred said, “The reality is, we weren’t going to play more than 60 games no matter how the negotiations with the players went or any other factor.”

Many saw that comment as potentially something the MLB Players Association could use against MLB should the union file a grievance alleging owners did not negotiate in good faith.

Speaking with USA Today on Thursday, however, Manfred tried to qualify those comments.

“If we had started an 82-game season (beginning July 1), we would have had people in Arizona and Florida the time the second spike hit,” Manfred told the outlet.

“My point was that no matter what happened with the union, the way things unfolded with the second spike, we would have ended up with only time for 60 games, anyway,” Manfred added. “As time went on, it became clearer and clearer that the course of the virus was going to dictate how many games we could play.”

“We just weren’t going to be able to play more than 60 games at that point with everything being shut down,” Manfred continued, before admitting that even now, “the reality is that we’re going to be lucky if we get 60 games now given the course of the virus.”

Opening Day was scheduled for March 26 before the coronavirus pandemic shut down sports.

The league has yet to confirm the official 2020 schedule of 60 games, but Opening Day is expected to be July 23 or July 24.

Players proposed a longer season, but Manfred said owners were never going to sign off on more than 60 games for health reasons.

(Field Level Media)

Blue Jays are in flight north after getting federal government approval for Rogers Centre training camp — Toronto Sun

Baseball is back in Toronto – the training camp version, anyway. The Blue Jays finally received federal government clearance to fly north this weekend where they will use the Rogers Centre to prepare or the 2020 Major League Baseball season. Players and staff were completing intake screening in Dunedin, Fla. on Thursday and are scheduled […]

Blue Jays are in flight north after getting federal government approval for Rogers Centre training camp — Toronto Sun

Baseball is back in Toronto – the training camp version, anyway.

The Blue Jays finally received federal government clearance to fly north this weekend where they will use the Rogers Centre to prepare or the 2020 Major League Baseball season.

Players and staff were completing intake screening in Dunedin, Fla. on Thursday and are scheduled to board a pair of charter flights to Toronto over the next couple of days. The Jays, who have had at least four players test positive for COVID-19, have stressed that those players won’t travel until testing negative.

The Jays have yet to receive clearance to play their 30 home games at the downtown Toronto stadium, but club officials are confident they can finalize a safe plan to gain approval from government and health authorities, both provincially and federallly.

As reported by the Toronto Sun earlier this week, the Jays had backing from provincial and municipal authorities and were awaiting the final clearance from Ottawa.

That came on Thursday which set the wheels in motion to get camp underway.

As many as 60 players are expected to be at the Rogers Centre for initial workouts this weekend. Players will be housed and quarantined in the Marriott Hotel which is attached to the Rogers Centre.

“The plan for hosting summer training camp in Toronto required government and public health approval at the municipal, provincial, and federal levels,” the Jays said in a statement. “At its core, the plan necessitates players and club personnel to enter a closed environment at Rogers Centre, which is isolated from the general public.

“In collaboration with public health agencies, the Blue Jays have established comprehensive protocols to ensure the highest standards of health and safety are met prior to and during travel, and to create a cohort quarantine environment at Rogers Centre and the adjoining hotel.

“These protocols will be in place in addition to those outlined in the 2020 MLB Operations Manual.”

The Jays emphasized that the Rogers Centre remains as the preferred destination for home games and now they have three weeks to cement that permission. TD Ballpark in Dunedin, the team’s spring training home, remains the backup plan.

Tyson Ross opts out of 2020 season — HardballTalk | NBC Sports

On Thursday, free agent pitcher Tyson Ross became the fifth player to opt out of the 2020 season during the novel coronavirus pandemic.

Tyson Ross opts out of 2020 season — HardballTalk | NBC Sports

On Monday, Nationals pitcher Joe Ross became one of four players to opt out of the 2020 season due to the novel coronavirus pandemic. On Thursday, Joe’s brother Tyson Ross opted out of the 2020 season as well, per Jon Heyman.

Ross, 33, is currently a free agent. He racked up 35 1/3 disappointing innings for the Tigers last year, posting a 6.11 ERA with 25 strikeouts and 18 walks.

Mike Leake, Ryan Zimmerman, and Ian Desmond are the three other players to have opted out of the 2020 season thus far. None of these players are considered “high risk,” so they are forgoing their salaries and service time.

NBA teams installed their actual courts inside a giant Disney World ballroom — For The Win

See how NBA teams will be practicing at Disney World.

NBA teams installed their actual courts inside a giant Disney World ballroom — For The Win

The 22 NBA teams set to participate in the resumed regular season will relocate to Disney World in Orlando next week to enter the NBA’s bubble and begin training camp – and players will begin training camp on July 9th playing on the same surfaces they used back home.

According to ESPN‘s Rachel Nichols, the NBA had teams ship their own courts to Orlando, where they are being installed. The teams will also be in relatively close proximity – a photo of a gigantic open ballroom shows the Indiana Pacers’ court is adjacent to the Miami Heat’s court, and there’s still room for a couple more in the building.

Laying down the practice floors!

NBA Restart begins July 30th with daily & nightly games on ESPN, TNT, ABC, NBA TV & NBA League Pass! #WholeNewGame pic.twitter.com/whbSl8iqsy

— NBA (@NBA) July 2, 2020

NBA training camp will run from July 9th to 29th, with the regular season set to resume on July 30th.

A Pirates scout got COVID-19 in Venezuela — HardballTalk | NBC Sports

Per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, Pirates scout Jessie Nava got COVID-19 while in Venezuela and is raising money on GoFundMe for treatment.

A Pirates scout got COVID-19 in Venezuela — HardballTalk | NBC Sports

Per The Athletic’s Ken Rosenthal, Pirates scout Jessie Nava came down with the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) in Venezuela. He is currently hospitalized and there is a GoFundMe to raise money for his treatment with a $5,000 goal. As of this writing, the goal is a little over halfway towards being met, at $2,710.

We’re going to be seeing more and more of this as the months go on and the MLB season progresses. Inevitably, people working within baseball, however tangentially, will be afflicted by the virus. For many of them, they will also need GoFundMe or similar drives — or the benevolence of their employers — to pay for medical treatment.

Hopefully, in Nava’s case, the Pirates get involved directly and help cover his medical costs. Pirates owner Bob Nutting (pictured) and his family have a net worth of $1.1 billion, per CNBC. According to Forbes, the Pirates are valued at $1.26 billion. (Update: The Pirates have made a “sizable” contribution towards Nava’s medical expenses, per Rosenthal.)

Nava, 32, pitched in the Mariners’ minor league system from 2006-11, making it as high up as Single-A Clinton in ’11.

Follow @Baer_Bill

Two Cincinnati Reds players test positive for COVID-19 — Redleg Nation

With players arriving in Cincinnati on Tuesday to prepare for workouts to get ready for the upcoming season, Reds players and staff underwent testing for COVID-19 as a part of the health and safety plan. Some players underwent testing before arriving. Two of those players have had their tests come back positive. Bobby Nightengale of…

Two Cincinnati Reds players test positive for COVID-19 — Redleg Nation

With players arriving in Cincinnati on Tuesday to prepare for workouts to get ready for the upcoming season, Reds players and staff underwent testing for COVID-19 as a part of the health and safety plan. Some players underwent testing before arriving. Two of those players have had their tests come back positive. Bobby Nightengale of the Cincinnati Enquirer had the quickest fingers this morning, beating the other beat writers to the report by a matter of seconds, reporting the news that neither of the two players live in, or were in Cincinnati.

#Reds had 2 players in the organization test positive for COVID-19. They were tested outside of Cincinnati and are not in Cincinnati now.

— Bobby Nightengale (@nightengalejr) July 2, 2020

Major League Baseball and the 30 teams are not allowed to report who the players are that test positive for COVID-19 as it’s considered a “non-baseball” injury, which makes it different from a team announcing that a player has a sprained ankle or some other physical injury suffered while playing. Essentially, the media and fans will have to play “guess who it is” unless the player chooses to announce it themselves. We know that it wasn’t Tucker Barnhart, who announced on twitter yesterday that he tested negative. And if you really want to, you can browse the social media of other players and see that some of them are in Cincinnati and eliminate them as possibilities, too.

Players have the choice to opt out of the 2020 season if they would like to. They don’t get paid, nor do they get the service time – but they can choose to sit out if they do not feel comfortable playing for any given (or ungiven) reason. So far the number of players to opt out is small, but includes former Reds pitcher Mike Leake. Manager David Bell told the media on Wednesday morning, as first reported by C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic, that no Cincinnati players had opted out as of now.

#Reds David Bell says as of now, nobody has opted out

— C. ???????????? (@ctrent) July 2, 2020

The first workouts at Great American Ballpark and Prasco Park – the teams second training site in Mason, Ohio – will begin on Friday. There are currently 57 players on the Reds 60-man player pool roster – though with the two positive tests, only 55 players will be present.

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Phillies, Blue Jays place players on IL, COVID-19 speculation ensues — HardballTalk | NBC Sports

The Phillies and Blue Jays placed a handful of players on the 10-day injured list, inviting speculation about which players might have COVID-19.

Phillies, Blue Jays place players on IL, COVID-19 speculation ensues — HardballTalk | NBC Sports

With ‘summer camp’ about to get under way, MLB.com’s transactions log is back up and running. As of this writing, two teams have placed players on the injured list: the Phillies and Blue Jays. For the Phillies, Héctor Neris, Tommy Hunter, Ranger Suárez, and Scott Kingery are on the 10-day IL. The Blue Jays have Brandon Drury, Jonathan Davis, Hector Perez, and Elvis Luciano DL’ed. None of the players have reasons listed for their appearance, so speculation about which players might have the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has ensued.

On Tuesday, I discussed the tricky spot MLB teams are in regarding disclosure of players affected by COVID-19. Due to the Basic Agreement, teams aren’t allowed to disclose their players’ medical issues if they aren’t employment-related (consider a cancer diagnosis versus a torn UCL). The lack of transparency — whether for nefarious reasons or not — for COVID-IL players will simply invite rampant speculation, and that is what we have seen early on. Fans and members of the media alike are wondering which players, if not all of them, are suffering from the virus. Since a player’s placement on the IL typically comes with a reason for said placement, it won’t be difficult to parse which players are there for COVID-19 and which are not.

The most important thing is that players have privacy and control over their medical information. That being said, the highly public and competitive nature of their jobs has resulted in transparency regarding their medical information. One wonders if the headaches caused by the speculation might result in the current policy being amended. Players could have generic reasons listed for their placement, or teams could simply reveal which players have COVID-19. There isn’t an easy fix, but the current system doesn’t appear to be the solution.

Follow @Baer_Bill

BLUE JAYS CLAIM VALERA

BLUE JAYS ROSTER MOVES

The Toronto Blue Jays have claimed INF Breyvic Valera off waivers from the San Diego Padres.

Additionally, RHP Bryan Baker, INF Patrick Kivlehan and OF Josh Palacios have been added to the Club Player Pool.

Valera, 28, played in 17 Major League games last season, splitting time between the New York Yankees and the Toronto Blue Jays. The 5-11, 190 lb. infielder batted .234 in those 17 contests and connected for his first career home run on the final day of the regular season. In 54 career games, the native of Montalban, Venezuela, holds a .223 batting average while playing for five teams. He has also slashed .299/.360/.397 across 1,001 Minor League contests.

– BLUE JAYS –

ACHARA OUT FOR SEASON WITH TORN ACL

ACHARA OUT FOR REMAINDER OF SEASON WITH ACL TEAR

Toronto FC announced today that rookie midfielder Ifunanyachi Achara tore the anterior cruciate ligament (ACL) in his left knee. He will undergo surgery on Tuesday, July 7 and as a result will miss the remainder of the 2020 season.

            Achara made his MLS debut and scored the game winning goal earlier this year in Toronto FC’s home opener against New York City FC on March 7. He was selected 25th overall in the 2020 MLS SuperDraft and signed with TFC on February 21.

-TORONTO FOOTBALL CLUB-

Brett Brown says Ben Simmons is good to go for NBA’s restart — The Sports Daily

When the Philadelphia 76ers take the court on Aug. 1 against the Indiana Pacers in Disney World, they will have their All-star point (…)

Brett Brown says Ben Simmons is good to go for NBA’s restart — The Sports Daily

When the Philadelphia 76ers take the court on Aug. 1 against the Indiana Pacers in Disney World, they will have their All-star point guard back in the starting lineup.

On Wednesday afternoon, Sixers head coach Brett Brown told reporters that Ben Simmons is fully recovered from his back injury, which he suffered on Feb. 22 against the Bucks.

“He’s good to go. He’s put in a tremendous amount of work for me to be able to confidently say that,” he said on a conference call (h/t Tim Bontemps of ESPN).

“As you search for silver linings with this pandemic and the way things have shaped up, it would be hard-pressed for me to find something more obvious than this: It’s enabled Ben to reclaim his health. He’s good to go, and we look forward to watching him with what I’m told is effectively 100 percent health.”

Back in April, ESPN’s Jackie MacMullan reported that the former first-round pick would be ready to go if the 2019/20 season resumed.

Additionally, MacMullan also mentioned that the Sixers plan was to bring back Simmons towards the end of the regular season, to get prepared for the NBA playoffs.

However, as we all know, the NBA had their season suspended on Mar. 11, which allowed Simmons and other players to recover from their respective injuries.

With Simmons back in the fold, the Sixers should be in good shape heading down to the bubble in Orlando, Florida, barring any other foreseen circumstances.

When healthy, Simmons is one of the best two-way players in the league and adds another dimension to the Sixers’ offense. This season, the former LSU standout is averaging 16.7 points, 8.2 assists, and 7.8 rebounds per game.