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Renck: Time for sports leagues to address gambling crisis developing, or you can bet they will regre

The easiest bet to win is that gambling will assault the senses at sporting events and in broadcasts.

Take -170 on it.

Odds are you know that Toronto Raptors forward Jontay Porter is being investigated by the NBA after questions surfaced following his early exits from games on Jan. 26 and March 20 because of an illness and eye injury, respectively. There were betting irregularities in each game, and Draft Kings reported massive losses on Porter prop bets for 3-pointers.

He has remained listed as “out for personal reasons” since the ESPN story broke. It intersects locally because his older brother Michael Porter Jr. stars for the Denver Nuggets. For the first time Wednesday night, Michael commented on the situation.

“I know what you guys know. I know Jontay loves the game of basketball. He’s been really excited to play with the Raptors,” Michael said. “I have known my brother my whole life. I know what type of dude he is. I know he’s excited to play basketball and highly doubt that he would do anything to put that in jeopardy.”

How could this happen? Let’s go live to Ball Arena for the pregame sports lines brought you to by a national sportsbook.  On the first night Jontay sat out, Altitude TV ran a prop bet on Michael’s unders. This is our new normal. But should their be more safeguards in place?

I am not outraged by gambling. I don’t participate, but my podcast was sponsored by a sportsbook. Ads remind people to call 1-800-GAMBLER if they believe they have a problem or need confidential help. The NBA cannot be surprised by Jontay’s story, only that it did not happen sooner.

Gambling odds are sewn into the sports fabric, so part of the daily coverage and experience that Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon told The Denver Post on Wednesday he plans to invest in the gambling website Rebet. The NBA’s collective bargaining agreement permits players to hold a passive stake in a gambling company, only forbidding them to promote NBA-specific gambling

“As long as I don’t bet on the NBA, I’m good,” Gordon said.

Is this good for our games?

Baseball is dealing with its own squirm-inducing controversy. The sport’s best player, Shohei Ohtani, declared he was the victim of fraud last week, betrayed by his former interpreter Ippei Mizuhara, who allegedly heisted $4.5 million from him to cover gambling debts with a bookie. Originally a spokesman for Ohtani said he knew about the wire transfer payments, then the statement was retracted and all blame pointed squarely at Mizuhara as a rogue employee. Consider me skeptical.

The Jontay Porter story makes me feel uneasy, because of something Michael said when I asked him about the omnipresence of gambling at games.

“You hear it more from the people in the crowd about what they need you to score tonight or what they don’t want you to score. Every night you are disappointing someone,” Michael Porter said. “You are disappointing the people if you score too much because they may have bet on the under, and you are disappointing people if you didn’t score enough. It’s part of the game now. I think that it’s obviously a dangerous habit, a dangerous vice for people. You know the love of money is the root of all evil so I think that even though it is a thing we as players just have to accept that.

“We get paid a lot of money to play this game and I know these fans they want to make some money as well. If they want to put their hard earnings on us, we appreciate that you put your trust in us I guess. It’s definitely something that has kind of taken over the sports world. I don’t know if it is a good thing or bad thing.”

It is something that requires more attention and education. Broncos defensive end Eyioma Uwazurike was suspended indefinitely last July after the league determined he bet on NFL games in 2022, including those involving Denver. Coach Sean Payton called the NFL’s memo on gambling convoluted, and he and his staff tried to simplify it. Where did they land? Don’t bet on the NFL. And don’t bet on anything where you are not allowed to carry a gun, such as the team facility, hotel and airplane.

The professional leagues are not going to change their stance on gambling, not with the massive revenue involved.

But it’s past time these leagues recognize the reach of their gambling partnerships and the effect on players. This has the potential to not only compromise games and end careers, but ruin lives.

Sports gambling’ gravitational pull requires a greater understanding and education by the leagues. They are trying to thread a needle, promoting gambling at every turn, while not recognizing the temptation pulling at players.

Many gamble for fun. Love it. Have no issues. This isn’t about that or you if that description fits. This is about pro sports, their players and what’s next.

The Porter and Ohtani stories feel more like warnings than outliers. Gambling is everywhere. The NCAA has lobbied for the elimination of prop bets on college athletics. Pro sports leagues need to consider some guardrails as well until they get a better handle on the proliferation of betting among their athletes.

Those who participate are asked to do so responsibly. The leagues need to heed this same advice.

They cannot take the “nothing to see here” stance. Not now. Not ever again. What has happened the last few weeks feels like falling pebbles before a rock slide.

It’s time the leagues see this as a potential crisis. If not, you can bet they will regret it.

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https://www.denverpost.com/2024/03/28/pro-sports-gambling-crisis-jontay-porter-shohei-ohtani/
Nuggets Michael Porter Jr. on reported gambling investigation centering on brother: “I know Jontay

Michael Porter Jr. said he doesn’t believe his younger brother Jontay would put himself in a position to violate the NBA’s gambling policy.

The comments came Wednesday night after Denver’s 104-97 loss to Phoenix and represent his first since ESPN reported the NBA opened an investigation Monday into suspicious activities on prop bets related to Jontay Porter’s play during games in January and March.

“I know what you guys know,” Michael Porter Jr. said during a postgame news conference. “I know Jontay loves the game of basketball. He’s been really excited to play with the Raptors. So, I know just as much as you guys know at this point. I have known my brother my whole life. I know what type of dude he is.

“I know he’s excited to play basketball and highly doubt that he would do anything to put that in jeopardy.”

Jontay Porter hasn’t played in any of Toronto’s past three games due to what the team has called “personal reasons.” He is on a two-way contract this year and has a salary of $415,000.

The proliferation of sports gambling has touched all corners of sports in the United States. The NFL’s suspended dozens of players and league personnel over the past two years, as commissioner Roger Goodell pointed out Tuesday during the league’s spring meetings. Baseball now has a major betting story on its hands, too, regarding the interpreter of Los Angeles Dodgers superstar Shohei Ohtani.

Michael Porter Jr. said he hears about gambling every day.

“Especially the last few years, you hear it more from the people in the crowd … what they need you to score tonight or what they don’t want you to score,” he said. “Every night you are disappointing someone. You’re disappointing the people if you score too much because they may have bet on the under, and you are disappointing people if you didn’t score enough. It’s part of the game now. I think that it’s obviously a dangerous habit, a dangerous vice for people. … It’s definitely something that has kind of taken over the sports world.

“I don’t know if it is a good thing or bad thing.”

If the billboards and arena sports books and between-quarter segments weren’t signal enough, all one had to do Wednesday was walk into the Denver locker room and ask the person closest to the door about the proliferation of gambling to understand just how thoroughly times have changed.

Nuggets forward Aaron Gordon told The Denver Post he’s planning on investing in a gambling website, an opportunity he said came to his attention only in recent days.

“Every day you hear about sports betting,” Gordon said. “I’m about to invest in a betting company myself. It’s called Rebet. It’s a social media platform that you can bet on different professional sports leagues. You can basically do a lineup of bets and show your friends. Your friends can push ‘rebet’ and make the same bet as you or go against you.”

Did that come with any red tape or work to do through the league?

“Nothing. As long as I don’t bet on the NBA, I’m good.”

The NBA’s 2023 collective bargaining agreement allows players to hold a passive stake in a gambling company as long as the player doesn’t hold more than 1% of the company (if the company offers NBA-related bets) and doesn’t promote NBA-specific gambling.

Gordon says the rules are simple.

“Don’t bet on the NBA,” he said. “Don’t tip anybody on the NBA. No betting, no tipping.”

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https://www.denverpost.com/2024/03/27/michael-porter-jr-gambling-investigation-brother-jontay/
Kevin Durant scores 30 points to lead Suns past short-handed Nuggets

Kevin Durant scores 30 points to lead Suns past short-handed Nuggets

28/03/2024, USA, Basketball, NBA (Basketball), Article # 31702147

DENVER — Kevin Durant had 30 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks and the Phoenix Suns won in Denver for the second time this month, beating the defending champion Nuggets 104-97 on Wednesday night.

The Suns, with the toughest remaining schedule in the NBA, moved a half-game ahead of Sacramento for the seventh spot in the Western Conference as they try to move up to sixth to avoid a play-in game. Dallas is No. 6, a half-game ahead of Phoenix.

The Western Conference-leading Nuggets struggled without starting point guard Jamal Murray, who missed his third straight game with a sprained left ankle.

Nikola Jokic had 22 points, nine rebounds and 10 assists as he fought through lower back pain and left hip soreness.

The Nuggets, a half-game ahead of Oklahoma City and Minnesota, lost for just the third time in 18 games since the All-Star break, and two of those losses have come at home to the Suns, who prevailed 117-107 in overtime at Ball Arena on March 5.

Denver won six straight games at home after that, but Wednesday night were again victimized by terrific long-range shooting from the Suns, who made 16 of 33 shots from behind the arc. Denver was 10 of 40 on 3s.

Michael Porter Jr. and Aaron Gordon each added 18 points for Denver, but the Nuggets’ bench shot just 5 of 19.

Jusuf Nurkic was out for Phoenix with a sprained right ankle after the center was hurt in the third quarter of the Suns’ 104-102 loss at San Antonio on Monday night.

Bradley Beal left that game with a sprained right ring finger, but he started Wednesday night and sank a trio of 3-pointers in the first quarter, setting the tone for another sizzling shooting performance by the Suns, who sank 15 3-pointers at Ball Arena in their last visit.

Thad Young’s fadeaway 6-foot jumper over Jokic’s outstretched arms gave the Suns a 59-52 halftime lead, and Durant scored half of Phoenix’s points in a 10-0 run the Suns used to take control early in the third quarter at 71-56.

Devin Booker got away with two fouls on one play in which he forced a turnover, inadvertently slapping Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in the face and drawing blood, then cross body-blocking Jokic, who lost the ball out of bounds as he stumbled over a sprawled-out Booker.

That served to energize the Nuggets, who pulled to 71-68 late in the third quarter. But they watched the Suns re-establish themselves via a turnaround jumper from Durant and back-to-back 3-pointers from Booker and Eric Gordon that restored Phoenix’s double-digit lead that was never really threatened again.

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https://www.denverpost.com/2024/03/27/nuggets-lose-suns-jamal-murray-out/
With Nuggets’ Jamal Murray out vs. Phoenix, a potential playoff rematch would (maybe) represent a

Happenstance occasionally throws an interesting curveball.

The Nuggets and Phoenix are plenty familiar. They could well end up meeting in the early part of the NBA Playoffs and if they do, it’ll be just that. The principals. The drama. The offensive firepower.

It’ll all look familiar with a dose of Bradley Beal thrown in.

It will also be the first time since that barnburner of a second-round series last spring, however, that the sides see each other at full strength.

That much became clear Wednesday night when Denver point guard Jamal Murray and Phoenix center Jusef Nurkic were ruled out for the rubber match of the three-game season series. Suns star Devin Booker missed the first two meetings of the year — a December Nuggets win and a Phoenix overtime victory earlier this month.

The teams didn’t set out to set it up this way, where neither side gets a look at the fully armed version of the other. But it’s interesting nonetheless.

“We know how talented they are offensively,” Malone said. “Devin Booker in transition, you have to pick him up at the four-point line. We’ve got guys like Eric Gordon we haven’t even talked about. Grayson Allen, Devin Booker, Kevin Durant who have four-point line ability. So you’ve got to stretch in transition.”

This is the time of year teams might find the good in experimenting, though the Nuggets have already played one extended stretch without Murray early in the season.

Malone wasn’t biting on the idea that moving pieces around with 10 games to go in the regular season is ideal.

“Just continue to play the way we’ve been playing,” Malone said. “If experimenting means trying different guys out, you can always give that a look. That was what was unique about our last game the other night against Memphis with injuries: We had a chance to play a lot of guys that maybe had not played and that was good to see what guys are capable of.

“We’ll do what we do and hopefully we can continue to move in the right direction.”

Malone by now knows what he has and knows how to mix and match for a game or two at a time. Still, a long playoff run comes with unexpected twists and turns, so a guy like Collin Gillespie draws the coach’s attention when he gets a shot.

“I have a ton of confidence in Collin. He’s a young kid that’s been through so much and has done whatever we ask him to do,” Malone said. “We wanted him to get healthy and recover from that horrific injury he suffered after his initial summer league. Then this year, ‘Hey, go to the G-League.’ He went down there, he averaged a triple-double and was an All-Star.

“It seems like every time we throw him out there in meaningful minutes he’s never afraid. He’s a tough kid, he’s got balls, he’s going to compete and he’s not going to be perfect, but nobody’s perfect. Nikola’s not perfect. For Collin Gillespie, man, I think he has the entire confidence of the entire locker room because of how tough he is. He scraps.”

Should these teams meet in the playoffs, they’ll look different than the regular-season matchups. Unless there’s another curveball ahead. That makes now the time to get prepared.

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https://www.denverpost.com/2024/03/27/jamal-murray-nuggets-out-phoenix/
Portal prowess a big key in sustained success for CU Buffs women’s basketball

Portal prowess a big key in sustained success for CU Buffs women’s basketball

28/03/2024, USA, Basketball, NBA (Basketball), Article # 31701685

Maddie Nolan had plenty of options once she decided to hit the transfer portal and spend her final college basketball season in new turf.

No doubt, Nolan spoke with plenty of interesting basketball minds during the recruiting process. She probably heard plenty of smooth sales pitches.

Yet it was one of Nolan’s first conversations with Colorado women’s basketball coach JR Payne that eventually sealed the deal with the sharpshooter from Michigan. Not only was Nolan sold on Payne’s passion and energy, but the attention to detail was unmatched.

“I remember them playing in the Sweet 16 last year, and that toughness and that tenacity that they play with is something that I pride myself on. That kind of drew me in,” Nolan said. “One of the things that stood out to me the most is I had a Zoom meeting with JR when I was getting recruited. She pulled clips of the offense that they do here and then their defense, and then pulled clips of me at Michigan. It was like, ‘Look, this is what you do already. This is how it fits into our system.’

“I was like, ‘Wow.’ That they took the time to kind of find those similarities and show me how I can fit into them was huge for me.”

The addition of Nolan and Sara-Rose Smith last summer continued a 1.000 batting average for Payne and her staff in recent years in the transfer portal. That ability to identify and land the perfect options for the program based upon need as well as fit is a big reason why CU will play in its second consecutive Sweet 16, against top-seeded Iowa on Saturday in Albany, N.Y. (1:30 p.m. MT, ABC).

It’s one thing to identify a need. It’s quite another for a coaching staff to consistently fill those needs with players that fit seamlessly into an established culture. Yet that’s what Payne and her staff have achieved.

During the summer of 2020, CU added Georgetown transfer Tayanna Jones, an athletic guard who was a key role player for the 2022 NCAA Tournament team and a starter last year who provided perimeter defense while finishing third on the team in rebounding during the Sweet 16 run.

In the spring of 2021, the Buffs added Quay Miller and Tameiya Sadler as transfers from Washington. Both players have been rotation fixtures on three consecutive NCAA Tournament teams, with Miller earning All-Pac-12 honors the past two seasons.

Two years ago, the Buffs needed more size inside. The Buffs landed Aaronette Vonleh, who immediately prospered in her move to CU from Arizona. Vonleh landed the Pac-12’s Most Improved Player honor last year and earned first team all-conference honors this year.

After last year’s Sweet 16 loss against Iowa, it was clear the Buffs needed another outside threat to complement Frida Formann. The Buffs found it in Nolan, who leads the Buffs with a .435 3-point percentage. CU also added a key depth player in Smith, a transfer from Missouri who filled Jones’ shoes. Like Jones last year, Smith is third on the team in rebounds (4.1 per game).

In each case, the new portal additions immediately looked as if they had played with their new teammates for years. It’s a testament to the attention to detail that first impressed Nolan, as CU’s staff leaves no stone unturned while vetting potential additions in the transfer portal.

“I think just really being intentional about, one, making sure that people line up with the culture that we have,” Payne said. “We want to recruit players that want to work hard, be a great teammate, be unselfish and just compete on a daily basis. And all of those players lined up with that mindset. Also, no real egos in that group. People that just want to be part of a great team, want to contribute to overall success.

“But then also niches. When we signed Aaronette, we needed a five. We needed a true post player. With Maddie, we needed a shooter, someone that can stretch the defense along with Frida. I think being pretty smart about what do we have, what do we need, and then just trying to fill those needs.”



https://www.denverpost.com/2024/03/27/portal-prowess-a-big-key-in-sustained-success-for-cu-buffs-womens-basketball/
Sophia Smith signs contract extension with Portland for highest annual NWSL salary

Sophia Smith signs contract extension with Portland for highest annual NWSL salary

28/03/2024, USA, Basketball, NBA (Basketball), Article # 31701556

By ANNE M. PETERSON (AP Soccer Writer)

PORTLAND, Ore. — Sophia Smith had options but in the end felt like she “wasn’t done” in Portland.

The Thorns announced Wednesday that they signed Smith to a contract extension through 2025, with a player option for 2026. Portland says the deal gives the 23-year-old forward the highest annual salary in the National Women’s Soccer League but would not disclose terms.

“I’ve felt so welcomed and so loved and so believed in and I just felt like I wasn’t done here. And there’s still things that I want to do with this team and this club and trophies I want to win,” she said. “And just with new ownership coming in, I have already felt that this club is just going in the right direction.”

The Thorns were sold in January to the Bhathal family, which is also part of the ownership group of the NBA’s Sacramento Kings.

Smith is embarking on her fifth season with the Thorns. She was the NWSL’s most valuable player and the U.S. Soccer player of the year in 2022. She was also the NWSL championship game MVP that year. She was set to become a free agent after this season and had some interest from European clubs.

“It’s a new era for us and the Bhathal family have been very clear of the vision that they have for this club. And we’re all aligned in that vision. And one of the key ingredients was to make sure that Sophia Smith was here,” general manager Karina LeBlanc said. “For her, this is a place she always wanted to be. For her to sign this contract, I think we’re eight months ahead of when she actually could have made it play out. She’s like, ‘I just wanted to get the season going and I just wanted this to be done.’”

Smith was the top pick in the NWSL draft in 2020 after helping Stanford to a victory over North Carolina in the 2019 NCAA College Cup championship. She scored three goals in the Cardinal’s semifinal victory over UCLA and was named the College Cup’s most valuable player.

She has scored 40 goals across all competitions with the Thorns, and her 11 goals last season — in 17 matches — earned her the league’s Golden Boot award.

A regular on the U.S. national team, Smith played in last summer’s Women’s World Cup. She has scored 16 goals in 44 appearances since her U.S. debut in 2020.

Smith said she wants to take a greater leadership role on the Thorns.

“I don’t believe anyone is perfect or any player has hit their full potential ever. So I think for me, I want to grow into more of a leadership role on this team. I want to be a player that kind of brings everyone around me into games,” she said. “I think that’s a big thing for me, is being less individual and bringing my teammates into games, whatever that looks like, and just kind of making this team something really special and contributing to that in any way that I can.”

Smith credited the new ownership with making her more comfortable. The team had been put up for sale in late 2022 after a misconduct scandal involving a former Thorns coach shook the league.

“I have just been waiting for some stability and some reassurance that this club is headed in the right direction and the Bhathal family coming in is doing exactly that, if not more,” she said. “Their vision for this club is so exciting. You can just tell how passionate they are about making this what it should be, and continuing to push the standard in women’s soccer globally, and making the Portland Thorns a center of that and in any way that they can.”

___

AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer



https://www.denverpost.com/2024/03/27/sophia-smith-signs-contract-extension-with-portland-for-highest-annual-nwsl-salary/
Here’s what we know about the allegations against Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara

Here’s what we know about the allegations against Shohei Ohtani’s interpreter, Ippei Mizuhara

28/03/2024, USA, Basketball, NBA (Basketball), Article # 31701031

By GREG BEACHAM (AP Sports Writer)

LOS ANGELES — Only a week has passed since the Los Angeles Dodgers abruptly fired Ippei Mizuhara, the translator and constant companion of their new $700 million slugger, Shohei Ohtani.

But the biggest story of baseball’s spring is still murky — and shocking — as the regular season begins in earnest Thursday.

The scandal encompasses gambling, alleged theft, extensive deceit and the breakup of an enduring partnership between the majors’ biggest star and his right-hand man. Investigations are being undertaken by the IRS and Major League Baseball, and Ohtani publicly laid out a version of events Monday that placed the responsibility entirely on Mizuhara.

Here are the basics as Ohtani and the Dodgers prepare for their home opener against St. Louis on Thursday:

WHY WAS IPPEI MIZUHARA FIRED BY THE DODGERS?

Ohtani claims his close friend repeatedly took money from his accounts to fund his illegal sports gambling habit. Ohtani also says he was completely unaware of the “massive theft,” as his lawyers termed it, until Mizuhara confessed to him and the Dodgers last week in South Korea, where the team opened its regular season against the San Diego Padres.

Mizuhara has given more than one version of his path to this trouble, which was catalyzed by the IRS’ investigation of Mathew Bowyer, an alleged illegal bookmaker. Mizuhara has consistently said he has a gambling addiction, and he abused his close friendship with the Dodgers’ superstar to feed it.

DID SHOHEI OHTANI EVER BET ON SPORTS?

That’s the biggest question to be answered in Major League Baseball’s investigation, and the two-time AL MVP emphatically says he has never gambled on sports or asked anybody to bet on sports for him.

Further, Ohtani said Monday he has never knowingly paid a bookie to cover somebody else’s bets. Mizuhara also said Ohtani does not bet, and Bowyer’s attorney said the same.

Mizuhara told ESPN on March 19 that Ohtani paid his gambling debts at the interpreter’s request, saying the bets were on international soccer, the NBA, the NFL and college football. If that were true, Ohtani could face trouble even if he didn’t make the bets himself — but ESPN said Mizuhara dramatically changed his story the following day, claiming Ohtani had no knowledge of the gambling debts and had not transferred any money to bookmakers.

MLB rules prohibit players and team employees from wagering — even legally — on baseball. They also ban betting on other sports with illegal or offshore bookmakers.

WHAT’S NEXT FOR OHTANI?

Ohtani has played in every Dodgers game since the story broke, and is expected to be their designated hitter in most regular-season games this season while baseball’s investigation continues.

Ohtani says his legal team has alerted authorities to the theft by Mizuhara, although his team has repeatedly declined to say which authorities have been told, according to ESPN.

Ohtani’s new interpreter is Will Ireton, a longtime Dodgers employee and fluent Japanese speaker who has filled several jobs with the team in everything from game preparation and analytics to recruiting free-agent pitches. But Ireton won’t be Ohtani’s constant companion, and manager Dave Roberts said Tuesday he’s optimistic that Ohtani will become closer to his teammates without the “buffer” provided for years by Mizuhara.

WHAT DON’T WE KNOW?

MLB’s investigation of Ohtani’s role in the events could last weeks or months, and it’s unlikely to be publicized until it’s complete. No one outside of Ohtani’s inner circle knows what it will find or how serious any repercussions could be, and nobody outside the circle is making informed speculation about the process.

One major question looms: How did Mizuhara have enough access to Ohtani’s bank accounts to get the alleged millions without Ohtani knowing? Is the slugger overly trusting, or is he wildly negligent in managing his vast fortune, which includes years of lavish endorsement deals in addition to his baseball salaries? Why didn’t the team around him, including his agent, do more to prevent the possibility of the theft he claims?

Finally, where is Mizuhara? Anybody who knows isn’t saying. He was fired in South Korea and apparently didn’t travel home with the Dodgers. Japanese media have visited his home in Southern California to look for him. Although born in Japan, Mizuhara’s life is in the U.S. — but his life will never be the same.

___

AP MLB: https://apnews.com/MLB

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https://www.denverpost.com/2024/03/27/dodgers-fire-interpreter-ippei-mizuhara-shohei-ohtani/
Keeler: CU Buffs on opportunity to end Caitlin Clark’s Iowa Hawkeyes career: “We want to come in

BOULDER — Caitlin Clark wears your heart on her sleeve. Her game is three-fifths Steph Curry, one-fifth Hermione Grainger, one-fifth John Cena. She’s LeBron with a ponytail, Taylor Swift with a better jumper, the smoke and the inevitable.

“It’d be hard to get into her head,” CU Buffs guard Tameiya Sadler told me Tuesday just before practice for the Sweet 16 at the Events Center. “But we’re going to try it.

“We’re going to keep going. We’re going to give her our best fight, for sure. Give her anything that we have to throw her off her game and get this one.”

Before we dive into Saturday’s Buffs-Iowa rematch in Albany, a quick bit of trivia on CU-vs.-Clark Part I, played last March in Seattle. Sadler was the only Buffs guard to play at least 21 minutes against the Hawkeyes during their Sweet 16 matchup and not pick up at least three or more fouls along the way.

Long story short: Iowa coaxed three Buffs starters into fouling out, outscored them 19-5 at the charity stripe, and ended CU’s season by rallying for an 87-77 victory.

Now this doesn’t make Sadler some expert on how to defend Clark, college basketball’s all-time scoring leader and the most popular NCAA hoops player on the planet. It just makes her less petrified than most mortals would be when running with an assassin who thinks 30 feet is a layup.

“Caitlin’s very emotional, so for us, it’s like, we can’t feed into her emotions that she’s going to play with,” Sadler continued. “Because she’s going to fall, she’s going to throw up her hands, she’s going to talk to the refs. But at the end of the day, we can’t focus on that. We have to focus on us.”

The focus, at least to 99.998% of the millions who’ll tune in to ABC for Saturday’s regional semifinal, will be on Clark, who’s already declared for the WNBA draft, and the Hawkeyes. CU? CU’s a speed bump. A bit player. The villains standing between America’s favorite shooter and America’s favorite Final Four narrative.

Sadler smiled at that last one. Wickedly. To heck with that. She wants to send Clark home.

“For sure. I feel like, going into the Kansas State game, we were like, ‘We want to come in and ruin everyone’s day,'” said Sadler, who did her part with 10 points, two assists, two rebounds and a steal in 19 minutes off the bench in a 13-point win over the fourth-seeded (and site host) ‘Cats this past Sunday.

“This is what we want to do. And so we like that underdog mentality because that’s when we play our best brand of basketball. So we were excited to be that villain.”

Iowa guard Caitlin Clark calls for a foul after a shot in the first half of a second-round college basketball game against West Virginia in the NCAA Tournament, Monday, March 25, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)
Iowa guard Caitlin Clark calls for a foul after a shot in the first half of a second-round college basketball game against West Virginia in the NCAA Tournament, Monday, March 25, 2024, in Iowa City, Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

America loves its bad guys. That is, until those bad guys start costing the powers that be money.

As good as Clark has been for the game, she’s proven to be even better for business. She’s made Iowa women’s hoops appointment viewing — which makes the NCAA tourney appointment viewing as long as the Hawkeyes are still rocking the bracket. The Iowa-Holy Cross game in the first round reportedly averaged 3.23 million viewers on ABC, making it the most-watched pre-Final Four game in women’s tourney history. (And it crushed the old mark of 767,000 for UConn-Jackson State in 2022.)

Fast forward to this past Monday night in Iowa City, and West Virginia had the Hawks on the ropes. Only the Mountaineers shot five free throws … as a team. Iowa shot 30. The visitors were whistled for 27 fouls. The Hawkeyes got tagged with 11.

Fuzzy math, that. Curious.

“I think the biggest thing is actually a mental approach to that, because you’re not going to avoid the fouls, we all know that,” Buffs guard and former Valor star Kindyll Wetta offered Tuesday. “But how are you going to respond when you do get the foul call? Are you going to argue? Are you going to complain? Or are you just going to say, ‘OK, I need to focus, keep playing the game, and not let this bother me?’ So, I would say (it’s) mostly mental.”

With more eyeballs comes more scrutiny. Neutrals felt West Virginia got jobbed. And celebs such as Damian Lillard weren’t shy about going to social media to share their disgust.

“We’re just going to see how the refs are calling the game and go from there,” Sadler reasoned. “But we’re a defensive team, and so we pride ourselves on defense. And we’re going to go out there and be aggressive, no matter what.”

Alas, the zebras in Bracketville don’t usually love cutting the story’s villains a break down the stretch.

Well, unless you’re Duke.

“We’re going to be the ones to ruin their day, for sure,” Sadler continued. “Because I know people are not even counting on us to even win this game. We’re going to show them what CU basketball is about.”

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https://www.denverpost.com/2024/03/26/caitlin-clark-cu-buffs-iowa-hawkeyes-ncaa-tournament-preview/
Fredette, Barry, Maddox and Travis picked for USA Basketball 3×3 Olympic men’s roster

Fredette, Barry, Maddox and Travis picked for USA Basketball 3×3 Olympic men’s roster

27/03/2024, USA, Basketball, NBA (Basketball), Article # 31699193

By TIM REYNOLDS (AP Basketball Writer)

Jimmer Fredette, Kareem Maddox, Canyon Barry and Dylan Travis piled up enough wins together last year to get USA Basketball qualified in men’s 3×3 for the Paris Olympics.

They’re staying together to chase gold in France.

USA Basketball announced its men’s 3×3 roster for the Paris Games on Tuesday, going with the same foursome that won a silver medal at the World Cup and gold at the Pan American Games last year. Other players were considered, including some from the NBA, but in the end the Americans decided to stick with what has worked.

“It’s the way that we wanted it to be,” Fredette said. “I think it’s what USA Basketball was looking for and it’s what we were hoping for.”

To them, it seemed right: The four players who did the bulk of the work — 3×3 rosters have only four players — should have gotten the opportunity to see what they can do on the sport’s biggest stage. USA Basketball evidently agreed.

“They’re the best team. And I think when you’re putting together a roster, you want the best team, the best group of four guys that are going to give you the best chance to win,” USA men’s 3×3 coach Joe Lewandowski said. “You’re not looking for an All-Star team. You’re not looking for the highest jumpers, the fastest guys. You’re looking for the best team, the guys who play so well together they take their game to another level.”

USA Basketball’s picks for men’s, women’s and women’s 3×3 are expected later this spring.

The U.S. didn’t qualify for men’s 3×3 when the sport debuted at the Tokyo Games; the Americans won gold in women’s 3×3 that summer, as well as in traditional men’s and women’s basketball. Every team that USA Basketball has sent to an Olympics — all 31 of them — has won a medal, 26 of them gold.

The 3×3 game is played on a half court with a 12-second shot clock and play is super-fast. Baskets are worth one or two points, and the winner is either the first team to 21 points or the leader when the 10-minute clock expires. Games rarely take the full 10 minutes.

The foursome announced Tuesday currently hold the world’s No. 2 ranking behind Serbia — which rallied late to beat the Americans in the final at the World Cup.

“They really represent the United States well,” Lewandowski said.

They came from wildly different backgrounds: Fredette was an NBA lottery pick, Maddox is a Princeton grad who hosted “All Things Considered” on National Public Radio in Colorado before returning to basketball, Travis retired once from playing and nearly retired from 3×3 as well because it was interfering with his job as a special education teacher, while Barry watched three of his brothers play in the NBA and is the son of Basketball Hall of Famer Rick Barry.

He didn’t get to the NBA. But neither his dad, nor his siblings, played in the Olympics.

“I’m very honored to be an Olympian,” Canyon Barry said. “And in the Barry family, it’s very hard to do something in the basketball realm that hasn’t been previously accomplished, whether it’s winning NCAA championships, winning NBA championships, becoming members of the Hall of Fame, playing in the All-Star Game. There are very few areas of basketball that have been unexplored by the Barrys, so to become an Olympian and kind of round out that portfolio is a cool treat.”

There isn’t a ton of money in 3×3, they fly coach without much of a support staff, they do their own laundry before rushing to airports to catch the next flight and they’re often away from home for extended periods.

It was one of those laundry missions that helped bring the group together. Maddox and Travis were hurrying to get some washing done in Amsterdam when they noticed a unique storefront nearby. They went in and emerged with a yellow stone, which has become a good-luck charm of sorts for the group. Where they go, the rock goes. And before they play, everyone touches the rock.

“It was very random,” Maddox said. “The gem dealer told us that rock was good for teamwork and leadership.”

It became a thing, and a few more rocks — Maddox says they represent good fortune and vitality — have since been added to the team collection. Nobody is quite sure what the yellow rock is; Maddox thinks it’s amethyst but can’t say for certain.

This much is clear, though: This summer in Paris, they get to chase a more precious metal — gold.

“I never even knew this could be in the cards for me,” Travis said. “I never thought I’d make a USA team, to be honest. And now this has happened.”

___

AP Summer Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/2024-paris-olympic-games



https://www.denverpost.com/2024/03/26/fredette-barry-maddox-and-travis-picked-for-usa-basketball-3x3-olympic-mens-roster/
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