One week after the news broke that Doc Rivers had agreed to relinquish his role following seven seasons as head coach of the Clippers, he was across the country, wearing a new team’s logo on his lapel and answering reporters’ questions during a virtual introductory news conference as the head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers.…
Doc Rivers introduced as the Philadelphia 76ers new coach — Press Telegram
NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell has warned the league’s 32 teams of penalties including potential forfeits of games for violations of COVID-19 protocols that force changes in the regular-season schedule. In a memo sent to the teams Monday after a conference call involving NFL and club executives, Goodell reiterated the need to adhere fully to all…
Goodell warns teams that forfeits possible for NFL virus protocol violations — Daily News
NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Heat
Monday, October 5, 2020
LeBron James
Los Angeles Lakers
Practice Day
Q. Just wondering what stood out the most to you
when you went through the film last night?
LeBRON JAMES: Our turnovers. Our turnovers really
killed us. We understand that we can’t turn the ball over
versus this team. We also had some breakdowns
defensively throughout the course of the game that we’re
not accustomed to having. Those will be cleaned up in
Game 4.
Q. You guys have responded pretty well after losses
in the playoffs so far. I’m wondering if there’s a
common theme between those different times, and are
you seeing that same kind of mentality now?
LeBRON JAMES: We’re able to take a loss and
understand why we lost. Understand things that we should
have done better and things that we can apply to the next
game to be better. We’re right back at that moment once
again with the opportunity to be better than we were in the
game before.
Look forward to the opportunity tomorrow night.
Q. Specifically with Anthony, when he’s had off nights
or what have you, he’s always responded in a really
big way. He’s talked about you always kind of knowing
how to approach him after a night when he’s struggled.
What’s your approach been with him today and what
do you expect from him tomorrow?
LeBRON JAMES: I expect him to be AD. I’m looking
forward to getting out on the floor with him once again
tomorrow night.
Q. You’ve been in the Finals 10 times now. You’ve
been up in series, you’ve been down in series. What’s
it like to process the time off in between games
coming off a loss?
LeBRON JAMES: Pretty much the same coming off a win
for me. Until the series is completed, I kind of stay on
edge, stay locked in on the job at hand. Obviously, no one
wants to ever lose. You hate that feeling, especially when
you know you didn’t play your best, and I definitely wasn’t
at my best last night from an individual standpoint. So I
take that responsibility and I take that with a lot of passion
and understanding of how I can be much better in the
following game.
Throughout the postseason, I stay even keel. As I’ve
grown in this game and I’ve grown over the years, I kind of
stay even keel, understanding that there’s always another
opportunity to get better. We have that opportunity today
and also tomorrow night in the game.
Q. You’re wearing a “More Than a Vote” shirt right
now. In terms of trying to influence change, thinking
back eight years ago when you wore those hoodies as
a statement of Trayvon Martin, what are the biggest
things you’ve learned about impacting change off the
court? Is there advice you now would have given
yourself eight years ago when you kind of started this
journey?
LeBRON JAMES: That you can’t get caught up in what
everybody else thinks, because everyone is not going to
always agree with your movement. Everyone is not going
to agree with your words. Everyone is not going to agree
with your passion. Everyone is not going to always agree
with why you’re doing it, things of that nature. If you’re true
to it and it hits home and it hits the heart, then it shouldn’t
matter. And it doesn’t, because you have the knowledge
and you have the passion and you have the support to be
able to shed light on situations that you feel are either
unjust or wrong.
There’s a thing called common sense. You know the
difference between right and wrong. It’s something I’ve
always grew up on. My mother always told me [about]
being able to understand the difference between right and
wrong and noticing it and being able to have that feeling.
To sit back and think eight years ago when we sat in
Detroit in the ballroom as a part of the Miami Heat team,
and we all decided to put our hoodies on in a reflection, in
a remembrance of Trayvon Martin and that tragic incident,
we knew that it was going to be uncomfortable to a lot of
people. But we didn’t care, because we understood how
much it hit home for us and a lot of our guys having sons of
their own. We could imagine if our kid was to leave home
and not return. I think that’s what it boils down to.
102332-2-1015 2020-10-05 20:02:00 GMT Page 1 of 2
Q. In terms of talking to opponents on the floor, are
you a guy who just responds to trash talk? Do you
initiate it? As your status has moved up in the league,
has it changed? Have different players said different
things or do they not want to talk to you because they
don’t want to get you going? How does that equation
go?
LeBRON JAMES: No, I’ve always been a guy who kind of
let his game do the talking. But when guys get to talking, I
can do that, as well. I’ve always tried to let my game do
the talking.
Some guys like to talk their way through the basketball
game. I think it helps them out personally. There’s always
communication going on on the floor. For me personally,
as long as it doesn’t get disrespectful, I’m fine with it.
But I’ve never really started up a trash-talking dialogue.
That’s just not me. I believe the way I play the game is
enough trash talking in itself.
Q. From just a strategy standpoint, Bam is the type of
big who is obviously a really great playmaker but he
doesn’t space the floor so much with his shooting.
The guys that Miami plays at the position now, Meyers
and Olynyk, both do. How much different does that
force you guys to be defensively? You talked about
those defensive breakdowns last night. I imagine
spacing had something to do with a couple of them.
LeBRON JAMES: I think it all boils down to, no matter
who’s in the lineup for those guys, they’re a great team. It’s
just that simple. They’re going to put you in positions that
may feel uncomfortable, that will be uncomfortable,
throughout the course of 48 minutes, and we have to be
able to adjust. There’s things that Meyers and Kelly do that
Bam doesn’t do, but we also understand that there’s things
Bam does that not too many guys in this league can do.
They create different challenges depending on who’s out
on the floor.
When there’s five guys out on the floor for the Miami Heat,
they’re going to play how they play. They’re going to move
the ball, they’re going to move with pace, they’re going to
share the ball. They’ve got guys that can get into the paint.
They’ve got guys that can shoot threes. They’ve got guys
that command double teams and things of that nature. It
doesn’t matter who’s out on the floor for them; they’re going
to be playing at a high level because that’s just the way
they are. They’re extremely well-coached from top to
bottom.
Q. You’ve always prided yourself on playing the right
way. You still have those moments like the fourth
quarter against Denver in the close-out game where
you’re like, this is going to end now and you go to that
place. Jimmy parallels you in that regard in that he
doesn’t want to have the ball in his hands every
possession; he wants to get other guys involved. And
then you saw last night what he ends up doing. Are
you in that space yet where you think you might have
to go that tack to close this thing out and go to that
fourth-quarter-Bron-against-Denver mode, like we’ve
seen so many times from you in the past? Or are you
not there yet?
LeBRON JAMES: I’ve never predetermined my game plan
throughout my whole career. I’ve never gone into a game
saying, okay, I need to score 40 tonight, I need to dominate
in the scoring facet, things of that nature, I need to make
big shots. I’ve never predetermined my game. Throughout
my whole life, I’ve never done that. One thing I’ve always
been, I’ve always been prepared. If you’re prepared, then
whatever the game — however the course happens, you’re
able to make adjustments throughout the game and you’re
able to impact the game because you’re prepared and
you’ve put in the work. It’s just that simple for me.
I think anytime I’ve ever thought about, okay, I’m going to
try to go out and do this, it doesn’t happen that way. The
game has too many things that can happen throughout the
course of the game and throughout the course of a quarter
or possessions here and possessions there where you can
try to plan for it, but audibles happen in the football sense.
The best thing I can tell you is that I’m always prepared
and I know that I’ve put in the work. I trust that.
Q. Early in the pandemic you mentioned that your
body was kind of in shock, that you were rounding
toward third base for the playoffs and then you had to
stop. All these months later, how would you say your
body has responded to all that?
LeBRON JAMES: I’m in great shape. I bounce back
extremely well in between games. I could play right now if
we had to play right now, at a high level.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports.
NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Heat
Sunday, October 4, 2020
Frank Vogel
Los Angeles Lakers
Game 3: Postgame
Miami Heat 115, Los Angeles Lakers 104
Q. I know you talked about this in the first quarter
interview, the 10 turnovers in that first quarter, how did
you think that was emblematic of just the general
effort, if at all?
FRANK VOGEL: It wasn’t about effort. It was just about
execution, but again credit their defense. They played a
terrific game, forced a lot of those turnovers. We’ll look at
the tape and see how we can be better.
Q. You mentioned the turnovers. Does it feel like a
different series now? Obviously they got their first win
on the board, but with the looming potential return of
Bam Adebayo, what does it feel like preparing for
Game 4 as you turn the page?
FRANK VOGEL: Well, we’ve had great respect for this
team from the start. That didn’t change after Game 1 and
that didn’t change after Game 2. Even with guys out, we
still have great respect and we saw that in Game 2 what
they are capable of from an offensive firepower standpoint
and defensive competitiveness standpoint. So they are
going to be a great opponent with those guys or without
them.
Q. It’s another tough night for Danny and KCP,
obviously in that starting lineup, they held space and
it’s a dangerous weapon against the zone. What do
you see out of their performance the last two games,
and they have been through slumps before, but is
there a way to get them through that?
FRANK VOGEL: Yeah, just stay the course. Those guys
have been fine. They have been great for us all year. We
have to execute as a group better. If we execute as a
group better, have more intent to get higher shot quality,
then those guys will be fine.
Q. Did it bother you at all that a couple of your players
walked off the court before the game was over with?
FRANK VOGEL: I think they thought the game was over. I
don’t think they realized there was point-whatever still on
the clock.
Q. Did you think you got thrown out rhythm by the
early foul trouble? I know LeBron came back in pretty
quickly.
FRANK VOGEL: What was the question?
Q. Did you think you never got a rhythm with the
Davis early foul trouble in that first quarter?
FRANK VOGEL: Yeah, I mean, I think that impacted us
some but we’ve been in foul trouble before, and you have
to play through it. That’s part of the game. We see that all
throughout the course of the season and in the playoffs,
and you know, you have to be able to adapt and adjust.
Probably had a small factor on our offensive rhythm, but
we’ve just got to be better overall on both ends.
Q. Jimmy Butler in his walk-off interview mentioned
the key to this series is keeping you guys off the
boards. How do you guys play the way you want to
play while also limiting Jimmy Butler?
FRANK VOGEL: We definitely have to do a better job on
Jimmy. What did he have, 40 and 13? Identifying the right
situations to help, the right situations not to help. We didn’t
do a good job in those situations, but obviously we’ll look at
the tape and see ways we can be better.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports
NBA Finals: Lakers vs. Heat
Sunday, October 4, 2020
Erik Spoelstra
Miami Heat
Game 3: Postgame
Miami Heat – 115, Los Angeles Lakers – 104
Q. Should we be surprised that you guys get down 0-2
in The Finals and it’s a guy from Marquette who just
does crazy things? Are you surprised by that?
ERIK SPOELSTRA: Look, how do you — how else do you
say it other than Jimmy effing Butler. But this is what he
wanted, this is what we wanted. It’s really hard to analyze
or describe Jimmy until you actually feel him between the
four lines. He’s a supreme, elite competitor and we
needed it.
Obviously this was a very desperate urgent game and he
was doing it on both ends of the court, just put his imprint
on every important part of the game. He’s in the top
percentile of this entire association in terms of conditioning
and you saw he just got stronger as the game went on.
But in terms of you saying a Marquette guy, you know,
Dwyane swore to us, he looked Pat and I dead in the eye
and said this is your guy. This is the next guy.
But it’s also just one. So we also have perspective, like
we’re not going to get carried away with this.
Q. To follow up, double-digit leads mean nothing in a
three-point era now, obviously, but you had a couple
slip away and then Rondo’s layup early in the fourth
put you guys down two. At that point, were you
worried about how much you would have had left?
You are playing shorthanded and all that, were you
worried at all?
ERIK SPOELSTRA: No, our guys are in great condition.
It’s more about conquering those moments of truth during
the game and this is where this opponent is probably — not
probably, they are better than anybody in the league at
that. You have LeBron and Rondo controlling and
orchestrating the important parts of the game and we were
losing those battles big in the first two games.
So you’re not expecting it to be easy. Like it’s a 12-point
lead, that’s going to go like that (snaps fingers), but you
have to be able to respond to it and do it appropriately.
You have to do it with intensity, but you have to do it with a
mind. To get what we’re trying to do, it can’t just be
running around as hard as you can, you have to have a
real thought behind it and a discipline and a poise, and we
showed that better tonight obviously than the first two
games.
Q. The Lakers turn it over I think like 10 times in the
first quarter or something like that, and you guys only
lead by three. At that moment did you feel like that
was an opportunity there that you didn’t take full
advantage of? And then I guess secondly Jimmy’s
just physical toughness, the fouls he took late, he was
stealing minutes on the ground there trying to, you
know.
ERIK SPOELSTRA: Nah, he wasn’t. He got hit down
there. But he knows how to do that.
The answer to your first question, no, like you’re not
expecting it to be easy. You have to do whatever is
necessary. It’s a 48-minute game for a reason. You have
to be able to compete at a high level and there’s a lot of
ups and downs during the course of it. I liked it and I really
wanted to see how we were going to respond. We have
been in those moments in games 1 and 2, they were too
fleeting and we didn’t respond that well enough. This is
elite competition both ways and we responded to it better
tonight.
And then in terms of the physicality, this is what Jimmy,
why he prepares the way he does that is so uncommon,
year-round. Just to be able to take on that physicality, to
make those plays, to be able to draw fouls and take
contact and get up and be able to make those free throws.
I mean he just was, it’s so settling when you have that type
of guy in a really competitive game like this. It allows your
other guys, and we’re playing young guys, they can just be
who they are, they don’t have to worry about too much
pressure or context. They can just be who they are when
you have somebody like that that takes on all the pressure
for them.
Q. You had a lot of players you coached over the
years who are great, LeBron, D-Wade, Shaq, Alonzo
also. Talk about what Jimmy did today, guarding
LeBron and taking over the offense on the other end,
where would you rank this in some of the best
individual performances you’ve seen throughout your
coaching career?
ERIK SPOELSTRA: First, mubahay salamat po, and
secondly out of all due respect, I’m not going to rank it. It’s
one win. Jimmy understands this, that it’s going to take
whatever is necessary, everything over the top and
beyond. This is not about comparing to anybody else in
the history, and that’s out of all due respect. It’s about
what we’re trying to get accomplished in this locker room.
We have a very committed group to this. We have
incredible respect for this opponent. We have to figure this
out, and if we’re not on top of our game we saw what it can
look like in the previous two games.
But this is why we pursued Jimmy so aggressively. We
just felt, on all across the board, there was an alignment,
that we’re sharing the same competitive values for right or
wrong and we don’t — it doesn’t matter what everybody
else thinks. We’re aligned on that and you’re able to build
a culture from that and develop a team around him.
Q. Even the greatest players in the history of sports
sometimes come up short when their team needs them
the most, the way you needed Jimmy in this game
tonight. What is it about Jimmy that makes him able to
produce his greatest game ever in his most desperate
game ever?
ERIK SPOELSTRA: Oh I think there’s a lot of genuine
care and love in this locker room. Guys really want to do
this for each other. Our hearts are broken, you know,
about Goran and Bam missing these games because
there’s sincere love for them. Jimmy takes that to heart.
Guys know that they have to do more until or if those guys
come back.
But this is what competition’s all about. You have to raise
your game and like I said many times, you just can’t put an
analytic or a number or an evaluation to Jimmy Butler in
the conventional way. He is an elite top-percentile
competitor, and this is top-percentile competition that we’re
facing and it’s bringing out a different level.
Q. When you know that Jimmy’s going to play
40-plus-minutes and he’s going to defend LeBron,
what do you do from a coaching standpoint to buy him
time off the floor so he can have a little bit of energy
left to draw those fouls and not be completely worn
down?
ERIK SPOELSTRA: To be honest, we can’t afford that.
That’s why he puts in the work that he does. That’s why he
does the insane things year round, offseason to put himself
in a position like this to be able to handle all of this. No
one could have predicted that we would have some of our
main guys out and he would have to play 45 minutes a
game. But it’s whatever is necessary at this point and he’s
willing to take on that responsibility. We were not trying to
save him or — I tried to steal him a couple minutes here or
there, but we’re way past that now.
Q. You said a lot that your defense should be what’s
feeding your offense. Can you just describe what Jae
Crowder did for you on that defensive end?
ERIK SPOELSTRA: Yeah, it’s the hardest challenge of his
career right now. He’s facing an MVP-type talent, he can’t
do it on his own. There’s going to have to be a five-man
defense and anything that I say right now, it’s going to be a
whole lot easier said than done. Just have to be a
competitor and throw yourself out there, be vulnerable to
the competition.
He’s our type of guy in terms of competitive spirit. But
again, look, it’s one game, we know there will be a
response and we have to be ready for that. We’re trying to
get something accomplished right here, so we know it’s
going to be tough.
Q. Their big-to-big passing the first two games really
hurt you guys at different spots, so what did you do to
try to take some of that away tonight?
ERIK SPOELSTRA: Yeah, you know, I don’t know.
They’re really good, you know. They’re doing that against
our man in the first game, and then they’re doing it against
the zone. We tried to bring a better spirit tonight
competitively. We are who we are in between those four
lines, it was good enough to get this win tonight. But those
guys, that’s a great team and great players that you have
to take on that challenge.
FastScripts by ASAP Sports….
ARLINGTON, Texas >> When is a closer not a closer? It looks like the Dodgers are trying to find out this postseason. The Dodgers’ all-time saves leader — regular season (312) and postseason (17) — Kenley Jansen was not on the mound in the ninth inning of Game 2 in the Wild Card Series. Dodgers…
Dodgers Dave Roberts indicates closer will be chosen on a case-by-case basis — Daily News
LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — After backing down Kentavious Caldwell-Pope and nailing a turnaround jumper, Jimmy Butler skipped back and lowered his hand three feet off the ground, as if patting a child on the head. The message: Too small. It applied to the Lakers, too, who shrunk the moment of Game 3 and could…
Jimmy Butler, Heat punch back in Game 3 to stun Lakers — Press Telegram
by Harry Porter | The Miami Heat are one of the Cinderella stories of the 2020 NBA Playoffs. Jimmy Butler led the Heat through the first two rounds with a 4-0 sweep of the Indiana Pacers and a 4-1 upset over the top-ranked Milwaukee Bucks. The Boston Celtics forced a game six in the Eastern […]
Film Analysis: How the Lakers dominated an injury-riddled Miami in games one and two — The Hive Sports
Follow Southern California Newspaper Group’s Kyle Goon as he covers the Lakers during the NBA Finals inside the bubble in Orlando. Follow for updates, highlights and social media takes from Game 3 of the NBA Finals between the Lakers and Heat, 4:30 p.m. But first, ready today’s previews and what they’re saying on social media.…
What they’re saying before the Lakers vs. Heat, Game 3 — Press Telegram
Nationals pitching coach Paul Menhart will not be brought back next season after working in the organization for 15 years.
Nationals let pitching coach Paul Menhart go one year after title — MLB | NBC Sports
TORONTO FC (2) – PHILADELPHIA UNION (1) POST MATCH SUMMARY
SCORING SUMMARY
PHI – Sergio Santos 5’
TFC – Ayo Akinola 58’ (Tony Gallacher)
TFC – Alejandra Pozuelo 76’ (Pablo Piatti)
MISCONDUCT SUMMARY
PHI – Jose Martinez 83’ (caution)
RECORDS
TORONTO FC: 9-2-4 31 PTS.
PHILADELPHIA: 8-3-4 28 PTS.
LINE-UPS
TORONTO FC – Quentin Westberg; Richie Laryea, Omar Gonzalez, Chris Mavinga, Justin Morrow (Tony Gallacher 39’); Jonathan Osorio (C), Marky Delgado, Pablo Piatti (Tsubasa Endoh 86’), Alejandro Pozuelo; Ayo Akinola (Patrick Mullins 86’), Jozy Altidore (Nick DeLeon 53’)
Substitutes Not Used: Alex Bono, Laurent Ciman, Liam Fraser, Erickson Gallardo, Jayden Nelson
PHILADELPHIA – Andre Blake; Olivier Mbaizo, Jakob Glesnes, Mark McKenzie, Matt Real (Andrew Wooten 86’); Alejandro Bedoya (C), Jose Martinez, Jamiro Monteiro, Brenden Aaronson (Anthony Fontana 66’); Sergio Santos (Ilsinho 71’), Kacper Przybylko
Substitutes Not Used: Joe Bendik, Aurelien Collin, Jack Elliott, Matej Oravec, Michee Ngalina
GREG VANNEY – HEAD COACH, TORONTO FC
Third win over a tough Eastern opponent. Do you applaud your team for finding ways to win or do you think, ‘we’ve got to stop giving up the first goal to put us in a tough situation?
“Both. We do need to stop conceding the first goal. We need to start better. That’s one. But I do think that, by and large, in the last couple of games specifically, not so much in the New York game, we’re starting to control games. We controlled the game, we played the majority of it in the attacking half. We’ve had good possession, we’ve pinned the opposition back. The first half we didn’t create as many chances as I’d like for the amount of the ball that we had. So, we tried to adjust a little bit of our movements for the second half, to try to open up some spaces. I thought we got a little bit better at doing that and creating chances. But with the way the schedule is, with the way everything’s going, and good opponents and teams that specifically defend well like Columbus and Philadelphia, you have got to attack really well and you’ve got to really execute, because you’re probably not going to get as many chances as you get in some other games. And we executed in some moments today. So that’s really good, so you have to applaud the guys for finding ways. But to answer the first part of the question, we do need to stop playing from behind and stop giving up early goals. And they’re not even great goals, that’s the problem. They’re goals that one hundred percent need to be cleaned up.”
You take pride in being able to win in a variety of different ways with this group. How would you characterize this win, because it looked like there were a few themes on the night?
“Yeah, I think that there was some patience involved. Like I said, I felt like in the first half we controlled a lot of the possession, we played a lot of the game in their half of the field, that’s how I felt. But having said that, we didn’t create a lot of chances, a lot of great clear chances. But we are in good areas on the field. We had to manage the transition a few times and crosses things like that, we had to deal with it. Obviously, Q had to make an important save. Part of that was just in the transition, us getting a little bit pulled apart and them having too much space. But every now and then you’re going to give up a shot from distance and Q made an incredible save. But I thought we stayed patient in the idea that the chances and the goals were going to come if we just did the right things and made some adjustments in terms of how we were moving. The opportunities that we were looking for would come. But we had to also be solid defensively. They have two big forwards who are mobile, who are a handful to defend. And for a lot of the game, Aaronson, who plays underneath them, who is quick and shifty. And I thought we did a nice job of making it really difficult for him to impact the game. But those two forwards are handful, especially on balls that are served into the box. Or balls that are played out. But I thought we did a lot of things solid on the night. It’s the first game back after being away for eight days, and so we have to rebuild that rhythm. But it was a good start against a good team. Good start to the five-game stretch. Not a good start to the actual game itself.”
Can you give an update on Jozy and Justin?
“I don’t have great information yet. Jozy, it seems to be it looks like a minor hamstring issue. I don’t know how minor or not minor. He says that soreness is there. We’ll have to see. We don’t exactly what the time frame looks like until we get a scan and we get a sense of what it is. As far as Justin, it was more just calf tightness that started to build a little bit in the warmup. So, we were aware that he was feeling sort of the onset of it, but he felt like he could go, and he could give it a go. He wasn’t sure how long, or if it would continue to tighten. So, we were communicating because he was right in front of the bench, as things were going. He was going to go as long as he felt like he was in a safe zone but if it started to progress then we were going to get him off. So that kind of happens a little bit there before the end of the first half. But he thinks he’s fine. We will get him some treatment. We will try to loosen it up. We don’t think it’s anything specific. We think it might be just a byproduct of a change of surface, or something that’s maybe causing a little bit of that. So how it changes the rotation … obviously we’re down a forward if Jozy’s out for some period of time. That puts Pat back into the rotation. Maybe it brings, at times, Poz back into the middle. There’s plenty of things that we will do to adjust. We’ll miss Jozy because I really felt like he was starting to pick up his rhythm with everybody. I thought he was starting to move in a good way. He was maybe a little bit away from the goal through the course of the first half, but I think that was just a product that Poz was inside a lot so that Jozy was drifting a little bit wider and that was one of the things that we wanted to adjust a touch in the second half but it didn’t last too long for Jozy. So, we ended up moving Poz to the inside and bringing Nick to deal with the outside, and I think that opened up a few things for us.”
JONATHAN OSORIO – MIDFIELDER, TORONTO FC
Two wins against two top teams in the conference is Rentschler Field beginning to feel like home?
“Yeah, a little bit for sure. We’re doing our best to use it to our advantage and make it a home advantage and we’re trying to do that with the way we play here and getting two wins against two big opponents helps a lot. It helps for the confidence of the team to play on this field and we’re getting comfortable in playing in this environment. It’s not easy, of course we wish there was fans and it’s a much better atmosphere when there is and for our supporters and everything. It is what it is. We’ve been dealing with it for most of the year now, but these two wins definitely help get us more comfortable playing here at The Rent. It’s always nice to win.”
What does this team remind you of?
“I think a little bit of the 2017 team. We’re in a good rhythm right now, we’re playing really good football. I think we played well in the last game and a half against two really strong teams, two teams that are top of the league. I think this team is coming together now. We went through a little bit of a transition in the beginning of 2019. I still think that throughout the whole year we always had that quality it was just getting the system down, getting used to a little bit of a different system and players getting used to the philosophy that we play with here. Once that happened and everything started clicking and guys got healthy towards the end of last year that’s when you saw the quality that we had. Like you said, we were resilient, and I think we’ve brought that over to this year and you’ve seen over the last two games with the come from behind wins. But I think this year we’re dominating games in a better way, in the way we want to and we’re playing really positive football.”
ALEJANDRO POZUELO – MIDFIELDER, TORONTO FC
Another big game from you, is this best you’ve ever played?
“No, I don’t think so. I had a good period in another team, I know I feel good. The more important thing is the team. We play very good football, we started losing but we kept going and pushing and the three points is the most important.”
Do you set any type of goal to have an MVP caliber year?
“No, this is not my goal. My goal now in this moment is to be fit because we have a lot of games and the most important is not to be injured and try to play all the games possible and working for the team. This is my goal in this moment. If you’re thinking about the MVP (award) this is no good. Now in this moment we need to keep working for the team, we need to keep working in training and this is a good example for the young guys also.”
-TORONTO FOOTBALL CLUB-
BALTIMORE — Swiss Skydiver beat favored Authentic in a stretch duel in the Preakness Stakes run without fans Saturday, making her the sixth filly and first since Rachel Alexandra in 2009 to win the race, which this year served as the third leg of the Triple Crown for the first time. Swiss Skydiver upset favored…
Swiss Skydiver proves she’s got game, edges Authentic at Preakness — Daily News
The view from left field 