Dwyane Wade Asks Coach Ty Lue To Bring Him Off The Bench, JR Smith To Start Once Again

Dwyane Wade Asks Coach Ty Lue To Bring Him Off The Bench, JR Smith To Start Once Again

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by | Oct 23, 2017 | Featured, NBA

Most athletes talk about being a good teammate and doing things for the better of the team before themselves but few actually put their actions where their mouths are. Dwayne Wade is one of those few. Cavs coach, Tyronn Lue, said earlier on Monday that Wade came to him and said he would prefer to come off the bench rather than start.

According to Lue, the reason for Wade wanting the change was for the betterment of the team overall, since he has struggled in his role in the starting lineup and thinks the team would benefit more by JR Smith starting in his place.

At the Cavs practice today, Wade was able to explain things in his own words to reporters.

As Wade mentioned, him coming off the bench and being a leader for the second unit was something he discussed with Lue when he first signed with the team.  Although it’s still very early in the season, Wade has struggled in the starting role, averaging 5.7ppg, while shooting only 28% from the field. His average of 23 minutes per game isn’t exactly starter minutes either. The move to the bench should give him a little more freedom on the court as the playmaker with the second unit, where he won’t be playing off of Lebron as much. After practice, Wade took to twitter and it was clear he is very content with the move.

One lesser talked about situation in all of this was the rumored tension between Wade & Smith after Wade took his starting role after Smith claimed he was told nothing would change when the Cavs signed Wade. This move by Wade should smooth over any lingering feelings and build better team chemistry. Overall it’s a smart move by a veteran athlete who has already won at the highest levels and sees what his role can be to help this team reach it’s peak.

Written By Joe Casey

Twitter: @IamJoeSports

Oct 23, 2017 No Comments
Broken Arm Ends Carson Palmer’s Season And Possibly His Career

Broken Arm Ends Carson Palmer’s Season And Possibly His Career

NFL

by | Oct 23, 2017 | NFL

Carson Palmer left yesterday’s game against the Rams in London with a broken left arm. The injury occurred in the second quarter, when he was hit by Alec Ogletree as he was in the process of throwing a pass that wound up being intercepted.  The Injury is another devastating blow to the Cardinals season but it could be the final blow that also ends Palmer’s career.

The injury is expected to keep Palmer out for eight weeks, so technically speaking, there is a slim chance he could play again late in the season. However, with the Cardinals currently at 3-4 and a couple of those wins being pretty lucky, you would have to assume that the team won’t be anywhere near playoff contention come late in the season. This is also thanks in part to the season ending injury David Johnson had in week one. The Cardinals were being talked about as legit contenders in the NFC and now it appears they are headed for a top 10 pick in the draft. Even after acquiring Adrian Peterson from the Saints, his addition is basically going to be useless for the rest of the season, although for him on a personal level I would expect to see his workload increase.

Palmer entered Sunday with some pretty decent success in throwing the ball. He was third in passing yards and tenth in yards per attempt. But with this season likely being Larry Fitzgerald’s last and head coach Bruce Arians also likely headed out of town, it’s easy to see that the chances of Palmer already playing his final game in the NFL are very strong.

Injuries have always came at the worst possible time for Palmer. There were the two brutal knee injuries that he sustained, one in Cincinnati and one in Arizona, when both of those teams had super bowl aspirations as well. It’s hard to not feel for the guy but he has always left it all out on the field.

If Palmer has indeed thrown his last pass, his finishes his career with some impressive numbers. He’s thrown for more than 46,000 yards, which leaves him currently as 12th all time, 294 touchdowns, which also currently ranks him as 12th all time, with a completion percentage of 62.5, which is good for 20th in NFL history.

Perhaps Palmer will still want to play next season but the odds are definitely against it. If he walks away after this season, he’s had a hell of a career that he can be very proud of and based on the stats of some other quarterbacks in the hall of fame, it’s possible that Palmer can eventually wind up there as well.

Written by Joe Casey. All Stats courtesy of Pro Football Reference.

Twitter: @IamJoeSports

Oct 23, 2017 No Comments
Colts T.Y. Hilton Throws Entire Offensive Line Under The Bus After Ugly Loss

Colts T.Y. Hilton Throws Entire Offensive Line Under The Bus After Ugly Loss

NFL

by | Oct 23, 2017 | NFL

Indianapolis Colts receiver, T.Y. Hilton, made the bad mistake yesterday of throwing specific teammates under the bus after a ugly, 27-0 loss at the hands of Jacksonville Jaguars. Hilton called out the offensive line after quarterback, Jacoby Brissett, was sacked 10 times by the Jags defense. Now nobody will say he was wrong because anyone watching that game could see the offensive line was completely overmatched. However, the way he went about calling them out will likely lead to some tension in the locker room.

Hilton called them out for not having pride and also added “What if we put them back there to take those hits?”, referring to the hits Brissett continued to take in the backfield.

Charlie Clifford of WISH shared Hilton’s response in full, which actually started with a question about how the receivers can help Brissett more.

Again, nothing is factually incorrect about what Hilton said but his teammates on the o-line aren’t going to be happy with him. That’s not the way to try and get better by calling people out publicly. I have seen Hilton drop passes over the past couple seasons that would’ve been big plays if he caught them and I don’t remember anyone on the offensive line getting mad at him for not making plays.

If anyone is to blame, Hilton should be looking up at the front office because the line has been an issue for years. They invested so much money in Andrew Luck and other positions that they basically ignored upgrading the line. Part of the reason Luck is injured now is because of the constant beating he took as defensive players feasted on him due to the lack of protection.

Hopefully if you’re a Colts fan or player, you understand this season is already over and you try and come together to look for positives to build on heading into next season.

Written by Joe Casey

Twitter: @IamJoeSports

Oct 23, 2017 No Comments
What Is Going On With The Phoenix Suns?

What Is Going On With The Phoenix Suns?

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by | Oct 23, 2017 | Featured, NBA

Not much was expected from the Phoenix Suns this season but at the very least, fans thought they would be a fun team to watch and see grow. Instead, they are now 0-3, which really isn’t a big deal but all the drama surrounding the team most definitely is a big deal.

*UPDATE*

Bledsoe met with the Suns early on Monday and was sent home. He reportedly told them his tweet that said “I Don’t wanna be here” was about a hair salon he was at. Suns general manager, Ryan McDonough, wasn’t buying that excuse in the least bit.

The Bucks, Nuggets and Knicks are reportedly some of the teams in discussions to trade for Bledsoe.

*Original story continues below*

While most fans around the country were caught up in NFL Sunday, Suns guard, Eric Bledsoe, randomly tweeted out “I Don’t wanna be here.”

Less than an hour later, courtesy of Adrian Wojnarowski, we learned the Suns were firing head coach, Earl Watson. According to Woj, Suns GM, Ryan McDonough and Watson have been at odds for some time now. The team is one of the youngest in the league and since nothing was expected besides a rebuilding season, it’s extremely odd that they would fire a coach only three games into the season. Suns owner, Robert Sarver, was reportedly a major factor in the decision to let Watson go at this time.

As I mentioned prior, the Suns have only played three games this season but they have already lost by more than 40 points twice! Watson was 33-85 during his tenure as the coach of the team, which is hard to knock considering the roster he has had to work with but it’s likely more so that he lost the ear of his players that led to the timing of his firing. Bledsoe’s tweet I’m sure only made things worse.

One person who was happy to see the tweet from Bledsoe was his former Clippers teammate, DeAndre Jordan, who would love to have him come back to Los Angeles.

Phoenix has tried to trade Bledsoe numerous times since last season but they have yet to find a deal that worked. I’d be shocked if they didn’t find a trade partner by the end of the week after all this nonsense and it will be best for all parties involved. Assistant coach,  Jay Triano, was promoted to interim head coach and will likely remain in the position for the rest of this season.

There is a big chance that the Suns will wind up as the worst team in the league this season. With nothing else to lose, now it’s time to refocus for them and get back to the rebuilding process and try to look for small wins throughout the season to show that they are at least on the right track. They still have a young core with Devin Booker, Josh Jackson and more, so it will be in their best interest to put all this early season drama behind them and try to get better individually and collectively.

Written by Joe Casey

Twitter: @IamJoeSports

Oct 23, 2017 No Comments
Recap: OKC Thunder Stunned By Andrew Wiggins Buzzer Beater (115-113)

Recap: OKC Thunder Stunned By Andrew Wiggins Buzzer Beater (115-113)

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by | Oct 23, 2017 | Featured, NBA

Minnesota and Oklahoma City came into this season with new faces on the team. Being division rivals that means that they will see each other four times in the year. The Timberwolves added Jimmy Butler, Jeff Teague, Taj Gibson, and Jamal Crawford in the offseason and wanted to be taken serious coming into the season to stop their playoff drought. The Oklahoma City Thunder on the other hand have been extremely successful in the 10 year existence off the team and this offseason they improved tremendously. The Thunder added Paul George and Carmelo Anthony which would set up for a perfect matchup.

The Thunder were coming off their first loss of the season against the Utah Jazz last night in Salt Lake and wanted to bounce back. Russell Westbrook was very passive last night in Utah and came out against the Minnesota Timberwolves with the MVP mindset that we all know about. Westbrook came out in attack mode and didn’t look back at all as he was able to attack the rim and get to his spots to help his teammates out. This team in OKC is special and if they can all get on the same page they could be unstoppable. This OKC team is like the “07/08” Boston Celtics with hungry stars that will need to sacrifice to make it work. The OKC Big 3 showed a lot of sacrifice and promise throughout the night against the Timberwolves. The Thunder Big 3 of Westbrook, Anthony, and George combined for 68 points tonight and looked really good. Melo and Russ found their stroke from all over the court and Paul George wasn’t able to get it going but kept shooting. One thing we know about PG is that he’s going to continue to shoot the ball and look for his rythym. One thing that was really good to see tonight from the Thunder was the production from the bench. Raymond Felton and Jerami Grant both contributed 12 points each and were able to carry the load when Westbrook and the other starters went to the bench.

The Timberwolves on the other hand were able to scrap and stay in the game as they played off of their stars in Towns and Wiggins. Both Towns and Wiggins had 27 points a piece and were able to get get open looks and easy second chance points throughout the game. Once Andre Roberson exited the game it seemed as though Wiggins got his game going and was able to hit some tough shots over Abrines. Towns was playing like a monster in the paint and was able to get rebounds and takeover the paint on the offensive end. The good thing about the Timberwolves squad is the fact that it’s well balanced and everyone knows their role in the offense. All of the starters were able to score in double figures and were able to click on all cylinders for the Timberwolves. The Thunder were struggling on the pick and roll from the Timberwolves and couldn’t get to Towns in time throughout the game especially when Steven Adams came out the game.

Russell Westbrook got the inbound pass with 8 seconds left and was able to drive and kick it to Melo for the 3 pointer to give them the lead. Everyone wanted to know who would get the ball in the late game situations and it seems like whoever is open will get the ball. Carmelo hit the 3 pointer but the Thunder needed to hurry up to get back on defense as the Timberwolves still had 4 seconds to have a chance to score. The ball was inbounded to Wiggins as he was able to get down the court with the help of what looked like an illegal screen but Towns and hit a hail mary bank shot with no time remaining for the Timberwolves to come into OKC and steal the victory from the Thunder.

Both teams play again on Friday and the Thunder will be looking for some revenge for this loss tonight.

 

Photo Credit:  (AP Photo/Sue Ogrocki)

Oct 23, 2017 No Comments