Latest news with #POY
Barnama
13-05-2025
- Entertainment
- Barnama
UOB Malaysia invites artists to showcase their unique artistry at the 15th UOB Painting of the Year competition
KUALA LUMPUR, May 13 (Bernama) -- UOB Malaysia invites established and emerging artists to unleash their thought-provoking ideas into powerful works of art in the 15th edition of UOB Painting of the Year (POY) (Malaysia) competition. The UOB POY competition is one of the region's most prestigious annual art competitions running simultaneously across Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. Launched in Malaysia in 2011, the competition offers one of the highest cash prizes in the country.
Yahoo
28-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
USHL Announces Finalists For Player Of The Year
Photo courtesy of FloHockey As the USHL continues to prepare for its end-of-season awards, the league announced the three finalists for Player of the Year. Will Zellers, Ryker Lee and Yan Shostak are this year's POY finalists. The winner will be announced next week. Will Zellers, F, Green Bay Gamblers Zellers recorded 71 points in 52 games for the Gamblers, tallying a league-leading 44 goals and 27 assists with a 1.37 point-per-game average, the highest mark for any skater in the league this season. Advertisement The North Dakota commit was a key piece of the Gamblers' top-ranked power play, which clicked at 27.8%, contributing 10 goals and 12 assists on the man advantage. Despite missing 10 games in the regular season, Zellers took a league-leading 214 shots with a 20.6 shooting percentage. The Maple Grove, Minn. native was selected in the third round of the 2024 NHL Draft by the Colorado Avalanche. The Boston Bruins acquired his rights midway through the season. Ryker Lee, F, Madison Capitols Photo Courtesy of the Madison Capitols In his first full USHL season with the Capitols, Lee led USHL rookies with 68 points on 31 goals, most among rookies, and 37 assists to lead Madison to a third-place finish in the Eastern Conference. Advertisement The Michigan State commit finished fourth in overall league scoring, racking up 23 points in the power play and contributing at even strength with a +9 rating. His five game-winning goals were second among first-year players. The Wilmette, Ill. native had multiple points in 21 of his 58 games this season. He is ranked 28th among North American skaters on NHL Central Scouting's final rankings for the 2025 NHL Draft. Yan Shostak, G, Lincoln Stars Photo Courtesy of the Lincoln Stars In his second USHL season with Lincoln, the 6-foot, 188-pound Minsk, Belarus native was 29-12-1-0 (W-L-OTL-SOL) with a 2.40 goals-against average, top among league goalies, and .911 save percentage, ranked second among his peers. The St. Cloud State commit was unbeaten for 11 straight games from Jan. 10 – March 1, helping stack the second-most wins among USHL goalies. In tandem with netminder William Prowse, the Stars allowed the fewest goals against per game of any team in the league at 2.68 and posted six shutouts with Shostak and Prowse each claiming three.
Yahoo
03-04-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
Yahoo Sports AM: Ohtani is inevitable
Yahoo Sports AM is our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it every weekday morning. 🚨 Headlines 🏒 Three. Goals. Away: Alex Ovechkin cannot be stopped, scoring in his third straight game to move within three goals of passing Wayne Gretzky. Advertisement 🏀 JuJu wins POY: USC's JuJu Watkins was named the Naismith Player of the Year, beating out UConn's Paige Bueckers, Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo and UCLA's Lauren Betts to become the first Trojan to win the award since Lisa Leslie in 1994. 🎄 Merry Chiefsmas: The Chiefs have requested that the NFL make them a fixture on Christmas Day, much like the Lions and Cowboys play every Thanksgiving. ⚾️ Extensions galore: Padres CF Jackson Merrill (9 years, $135M), Diamondbacks 2B Ketel Marte (6 years, $116M), Red Sox 2B Kristian Campbell (8 years, $60M) and Red Sox LHP Garrett Crochet (6 years, $170M) all inked new deals. 🏀 Houston clinches: The Rockets won their 50th game of the season to clinch their first playoff berth in five years. Not bad for a team that won 22 games just two years ago. ⚾️ Ohtani is inevitable () Shohei Ohtani hit a walk-off home run on his bobblehead night to lift the Dodgers past the Braves and into the record books: They are now the first defending World Series champions ever to start the season 8-0. (Atlanta, meanwhile, falls to 0-7.) () Dodger Stadium rose to its collective feet when their beloved superstar stepped to the plate in the bottom of the ninth with the score tied 5-5. First pitch he sees: Gone. Game over. () 🎙️ Joe Davis on the call: "Ohtani! Inevitable!" () NL West dominance: The Dodgers (8-0), Padres (7-0), Giants (5-1) and Diamondbacks (4-2) are off to a combined 24-3 start, which is pretty ridiculous. The poor Rockies are already in the basement at 1-4. 🏀 Hoops Hall: The newest member (Elsa/Getty Images) Carmelo Anthony will enter the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame when the Class of 2025 is announced this weekend at the Final Four. He got in on his first ballot thanks to a résumé that includes an NCAA title, three Olympic gold medals and lots and lots of NBA buckets. Advertisement From Yahoo Sports' Dan Devine: Over the past quarter-century, the NBA game has largely transformed from a grimy, physical, elbows-and-in slugfest into a more streamlined, faster-paced and immaculately spaced factory for creating layups, 3-pointers and free throws. This shift has generated the most efficient and effective offenses the sport has ever seen. It has also generated no shortage of arguments about whether said sea change is, in and of itself, a good thing — about the scourge of stylistic homogeneity, about forsaking art for math, and about whether something might be lost in the relentless pursuit of increased efficiency. Reasonable people can disagree on the relative merits of back-in-the-day ball and the post-Moreyball model. (Unreasonable people can, too. And they do. Most hours of the day and night. On pretty much every sports television, radio and podcast outlet.) Advertisement You'd like to think, though, that even the most ardent adherent of the modern game can feel stirred by watching a heavyweight deliver knockouts in a phone booth; can find joy in watching a craftsman create something simple and effective with tools honed over countless hours; can see the beauty in pristine and refined footwork, timing and form translate into points. Man, it was fun to watch Carmelo Anthony cook. Read the full story. 🏀 Hoops Hall: A glaring omission Sonny Vacarro (center) stands alongside LeBron James during the 2003 Roundball Classic, which Vacarro founded. (Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images) Anthony will be joined in the Class of 2025 by other players, coaches and contributors. Sonny Vacarro will not be among them, extending one of the puzzling omissions in sports, writes Yahoo Sports' Dan Wetzel. Advertisement Sole man: Vaccaro is most famous for signing Michael Jordan to an endorsement at Nike (the plot of the 2023 movie "Air"). But he also founded the first national high school all-star game, created the popular ABCD Camp, and came up with the idea of signing college athletic departments to shoe deals. And that was all before Phil Knight fired him in 1991. After a split from Nike, Vaccaro brought Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady to Adidas and began the so-called "shoe wars," which led to massive sponsorship dollars being poured into high school and travel teams across the country and eventually the world. To pretend the game of basketball — from city playgrounds to the pro arenas — wasn't significantly impacted by Vaccaro, that his "contributions" to it are somehow non-Hall worthy is ludicrous. You simply can't tell the story of the sport without him. So what gives? The problem with Vaccaro's candidacy appears to be the enemies he made along the way. No matter his job title, he was always a fierce and outspoken proponent of players' rights, especially against the NCAA. Advertisement Maybe a still bitter college sports industry is leaning on the process. Or maybe it is Nike, who engaged in decades of discord after firing Vaccaro. Whatever it is, he didn't even make the finalist stage. "I don't know what it takes," said Vaccaro, 85, from his home in California. "But I'm not going to dwell on it. It's not some slight, because I've lived a pretty damn good life." Read the full story. ⚽️ The U.S. Open Cup: 48 teams remain El Farolito's Edgard Kreye celebrates their upset victory. (Doug Zimmerman/ISI Photos/USSF/Getty Images) The second round of the U.S. Open Cup concluded on Wednesday, leaving 48 teams still contending in the country's oldest ongoing national soccer competition. Advertisement How it works: The tournament features teams from every level of the U.S. soccer pyramid, which includes three professional divisions and numerous amateur and semi-pro leagues. Division I: MLS Division II: USL Championship Division III: USL League One, MLS Next Pro Further down: Other notable leagues include the National Premier Soccer League, United Premier Soccer League and USL League Two. Where it stands: 16 clubs from 13 different states punched tickets to the third round this week, with four hailing from USLC, nine from USL1 and two from MLS Next Pro. Then there's El Farolito of the NPSL, an amateur side that won the 1993 U.S. Open Cup and are named after the owner's San Francisco burrito shop. They made it to the third round last year, too. Florida (2): Miami FC (USLC), FC Naples (USL1) Georgia: Tormenta FC (USL1) North Carolina: Charlotte Independence (USL1) California (2): AV Alta FC (USL1), El Farolito SC (NPSL) Maine: Portland Hearts of Pine (USL1) Nebraska: Union Omaha (USL1) New York: Westchester SC (USL1) Ohio: Columbus Crew 2 (MLS Next Pro) Oklahoma: FC Tulsa (USLC) Tennessee (2): Chattanooga Red Wolves (USL1), One Knoxville SC (USL1) Texas: El Paso Locomotive (USLC) Virginia: Loudoun United (USLC) Washington: Tacoma Defiance (MLS Next Pro) What's next: These 16 teams will be joined in the third round by the 16 highest-seeded USLC clubs (including 2024 quarterfinalists Indy Eleven, New Mexico United and Sacramento Republic). 16 MLS teams will then enter the tournament in the Round of 32. 📺 Watchlist: NIT championship (Ian Johnson/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images) The 87th NIT championship game is tonight in Indianapolis (9pm ET, ESPN), where the UC Irvine Anteaters will take on the Chattanooga Mocs. Advertisement The former big brother: The NIT (founded in 1938) predates the NCAA tournament (1939), and for decades it was college basketball's most prestigious national championship. But by the 1970s, the tournament now known as March Madness had become the sport's premier event. More to watch: 🏀 NBA: Grizzlies at Heat (7:30pm, TNT); Warriors at Lakers (10pm, TNT) … Los Angeles goes for its first season sweep over Golden State since 2019-20. 🏒 NHL: Jets at Golden Knights (10pm, ESPN+) … First place in the Central vs. first place in the Pacific. Winnipeg leads the league in points (106). ⛳️ Women's Golf: Augusta National Women's Amateur (1:30pm, Golf) … Megha Ganne (-9) shattered the tournament scoring record in Round 1. ⚾️ NCAA Baseball: No. 7 LSU at No. 10 Oklahoma (7pm, ESPN2) … The SEC has eight of the top 10 teams in the country. Plus: PFL World Tournament (7:30pm, ESPN+; 10pm, ESPN2); Round 1 of the PGA Tour's Texas Open (8:15am, ESPN+; 4pm, Golf); Round 2 of the College Basketball Crown (7-9:30pm, FS1); Round of 16 at the WTA's Charleston Open (11am, Tennis) 🏀 NBA trivia () Carmelo Anthony is 10th on the NBA's all-time scoring list, with 28,289 career points. Advertisement Question: Can you name the nine guys ahead of him, in the correct order? Hint: Four of their names start with a "K". Answer at the bottom. ⚾️ O's revive the Phiten necklace Ryan Mountcastle sporting his Phiten necklace during a spring training game. () Phiten necklaces were practically part of the baseball uniform in the early 2000s. Decades later, the Orioles are bringing them back. The Phiten revival: Randy Johnson is credited with bringing the braided necklaces to the U.S. after discovering them in Japan in 2001. The claim is that the nylon is coated in a titanium solution that improves balance and performance, but there's no medical proof to back that up. In reality, the necklaces were a fashion trend — and they were everywhere. Advertisement The Phiten necklaces were all the rage when Adley Rutschman and his teammates were growing up — a status symbol, almost, on travel baseball circuits — but only now are they coming back into style. And they're only coming back in style, it seems, because this group of knuckleheads who populate the Orioles clubhouse decided to bring them back. Team bonding: A few Orioles bought necklaces during spring training and the trend quickly spread throughout the clubhouse. A week into the season, there are few players without one. It's silly — but silly is good, says starting pitcher Zach Eflin. "It's a really long season, and a lot of it is monotonous. Little things like this keep everyone pulling the rope in the same direction." Trivia answer: LeBron James (42,036 points), Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (38,387), Karl Malone (36,928), Kobe Bryant (33,643), Michael Jordan (32,292), Dirk Nowitzki (31,560), Wilt Chamberlain (31,419), Kevin Durant (30,571), Shaquille O'Neal (28,596) We hope you enjoyed this edition of Yahoo Sports AM, our daily newsletter that keeps you up to date on all things sports. Sign up here to get it delivered to your inbox every weekday morning.
Yahoo
25-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
JuJu Watkins' knee injury casts pall over March Madness, changes NCAA women's tournament
UConn Huskies head coach Geno Auriemma was asked to answer a question within one minute so the broadcast could jump over to the final game of the night, where JuJu Watkins was preparing to lead USC to a potential Sweet 16 berth. 'Oh man. Get off me right now, let's get to her,' Auriemma said. 'I want to watch her play.' The rest of the nation feels the same way as the winningest coach in college basketball. Watkins is the biggest name in college basketball and a generational talent that is on pace to break Caitlin Clark's NCAA all-time scoring record. Her games draw diehards and casual fans alike. In the city of lights, stars are filling USC's Galen Center nightly to see her play with an ease few can match. And in her sophomore year, with a team built to make a run at a national championship, the two-way standout was set to further break out during a month that creates legends. The first weekend was nothing more than a first step to the grander lights. Those lights dimmed quickly. Less than six minutes into the game against Mississippi State, Watkins appeared to injure her right knee on a fast break. After catching a pass near halfcourt, she and two Bulldogs were in the same vicinity when Watkins' leg buckled beneath her. She immediately grabbed her knee in pain and was carried down the closest tunnel. The team announced at halftime she was being evaluated by USC's Keck Medicine staff and would not return to the game. The long-term prognosis is unknown. It is, in simple terms, an absolute bummer. Watkins, known to have a stone-cold face of competition in her rare minutes on the bench, will carve up a defender without showing emotion. So when she grasped at her knee, it was clear immediately that is was bad. Really, really bad. The moment sucked the life out of Galen Center and living rooms around the country. It's a landscape-altering injury that no one ever wants to see, but especially not now, in March. USC's chances at a national championship, should Watkins miss the rest of the tournament, are nearly non-existent. Meanwhile, Connecticut's took a leap up with an easier road out of the Spokane 4 region. And the rest of the favorites don't have to worry about facing the best player in the nation on their own paths to lifting the trophy in Tampa. She's ranked second in scoring average both seasons of her collegiate career and emerged this year as one of the nation's best defenders. USC and UConn were on a collision course to meet in the regional final for a second consecutive year with a spot in the Final Four on the line. It was a matchup circled as soon as the bracket was released for a litany of reasons. Two player of the year contenders in Watkins and Paige Bueckers would face each other on the college stage one last time. Bueckers, who won the POY as a freshman, has yet to win a title. Watkins could potentially win multiple. They're two superstars on the court and in name, image, likeness deals that have helped push women's basketball to new heights. Both earned unanimous All-American honors last week. The resurgent Trojans, who haven't reached the Final Four since 1986 and haven't won a national championship since 1984, having to go through the sport's powerhouse, 11-time national champion UConn. As South Carolina has done before them, it was a chance for USC to prove their place and slay the sport's Goliath. The buzz was loud and would have only built. USC could also match up for a fourth time with rival UCLA, an opponent against which Watkins has played her best games. And a national championship game featuring Watkins could boost viewership numbers that will surely drop from the 2024 all-time high, but are still on the incline. Watkins' injury, if as serious as it looks, will reverberate throughout the rest of the tournament and coming seasons. It's unfortunate for USC, the tournament, the fans and the game alike. If anyone knows what that's like, it's Auriemma and UConn. Bueckers sustained a season-ending ACL injury in practice ahead of the 2022-23 season. The Huskies missed the Final Four, snapping its record 14-year streak. In a cruel twist, a serious injury could be why they make it back to the final weekend. It won't be the way anyone wanted.
Yahoo
25-02-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
National player of the year race: The case for/against the top 4 contenders
The national player of the year race is heating up as teams close out the regular season and enter tournament time. Every game and performance has the ability to sway voters. In the last few weeks alone, two top POY contenders went head-to-head, another guided her team to a signature victory and a fourth fell flat for the first time this year. There is a case to be made for and against each of USC's JuJu Watkins, UCLA's Lauren Betts, Notre Dame's Hannah Hidalgo and UConn's Paige Bueckers. Bueckers is the only former Naismith and Wooden Award winner playing this season. She became the first freshman to win it in 2021. NCAA all-time scoring champion Caitlin Clark won the 2023 and 2024 Naismith and Wooden Awards. South Carolina's Aliyah Boston won in 2022. The four players were named to the Naismith Midseason Team and Wooden Award Late Midseason Top 20 watchlist announced earlier this month. The Naismith Award watchlist will whittle down to 10 semifinalists on March 13 and four finalists on March 24. The winner will be named on April 2 ahead of the Final Four in Tampa. The Wooden Award will be presented on April 11, between the NCAA championship game and WNBA Draft. Case for: Betts arguably holds the position of 'best and most important player on the best team.' UCLA won 23 games before taking its first loss and spent 12 weeks at No. 1. That success is largely attributable to Betts' two-way performance. Since the junior 6-foot-7 center draws double- and triple-teams in the post, her footwork, patience and improved passing ability is crucial. Instead of immediately taking it up herself off the entry pass or on an offensive rebound, she has a better understanding of where the open teammate will be for an uncontested attempt. The team field goal percentage jumped nine percentiles from a season ago and ranks sixth (48.5%). Just as important is her rim protection and paint patrol. She forces opposing players to alter their shots, and when they dare come at her, she denies them. She secured at least four blocks in eight games and set the program record with nine against Baylor. The Bruins pivot around Betts as their fulcrum on both ends, an impact that can't be understated in a NPOY race. Case against: The disadvantage for Betts in the race is a tale as old as the awards themselves. She's a traditional center without the pizazz and highlight-reel worthy displays of a guard. The statistics are strong, but few stand out as superior. Brittney Griner won back-to-back NPOY awards at Baylor and A'ja Wilson won in 2018 by ranking top-10 in three categories, including scoring. Iowa big Megan Gustafson led the nation in scoring and efficiency, and was third in rebounding. And though Aliyah Boston wasn't a heavy scorer when she won in 2022, she ranked fourth in rebounds and led South Carolina to the national title. UCLA has not played too many contenders this season and when it did, Betts performed short of the NPOY standards set by her peers. To improve her stock: There will be at least one more chance for Betts to put on a showcase against a fellow national player of the year contender. UCLA hosts Watkins and USC on Saturday. They might also meet again in the Big Ten Tournament. If Betts leads UCLA to a strong NCAA tournament showing, it will work in her favor as it did for Boston. Regular season schedule: at Wisconsin, vs. USC Case for: Few match Bueckers' efficiency (59.9 effective field goal percentage) and ball control. When on the court, she's been consistent across the board for UConn and her numbers are in line with her 2021 Naismith and Wooden wins as a freshman. She's a versatile guard who fills the holes of what the Huskies need. There's one key differentiator working in her favor: turnovers. She simply does not turn the ball over. Against Tennessee, which forces an average of 23 per game, Bueckers coughed it up just once. She cut her turnovers in half from the 2.5 she averaged as a freshman, her one red mark over 3½ seasons as a Husky. She ranks sixth in assist/turnover ratio (3.64), a career-best over the 2.43 a season ago. Case against: Playing in the Big East is a knock on Bueckers' case when it's this close. Whereas the other contenders on this list play nine to 11 conference teams ranked within the top 50 in NET, UConn faces just one (Creighton, NET 31). For that type of competition, her contributions could be greater. She doesn't rank even top-50 in any major category. And in the big-time non-conference contests, Bueckers hasn't had the scoring touch from distance or the patented aggressiveness to take over for the Huskies. She missed all four 3s in a loss to Notre Dame, went 2-of-8 against USC and, although she was more efficient in the win over South Carolina, she went 1-of-7 from inside the arc for the second time this season. Those types of performances won't win an award. To improve her stock: Because Bueckers set the bar high as a freshman, she has to considerably level up annually. That's tough with improving parity and increasingly stellar player performances. The redshirt senior needs powerful offensive showcases in the Big East tournament and beyond to make it a closer contest with the other three on this list. Regular season schedule: vs. Creighton, vs. Marquette Case for: In the simplest terms, Hidalgo is a walking bucket and defensive menace. Her ability to consistently pack the stat line is uncanny. She's a few assists and steals shy of repeating an average of 20 points, five rebounds, four assists and four steals in a season. Last year, she became the first to do that since at least 2009-10, the extent of the Her Hoop Stats database. The 5-6 sophomore is an energetic, dynamic guard whose crisp shooting places her tops in scoring. She's a strong ball-handler with a quick step to blow by defenders and the vision to find teammates if there's a better opportunity. It's also what makes her a roving defensive problem. She lights up the scoreboard while also guarding the opposing teams' best player and usually picking their pocket a few times. The strongest piece of Hidalgo's case is her performance against the nation's best teams and players. Her numbers actually go up when playing ranked opponents or on major networks. In wins over USC and UConn, she averaged 26.5 points (44.7 FG%), eight rebounds, eight assists and four steals. Case against: Those performances were from the first two months of the season. Notre Dame hadn't played top competition lately until Sunday's loss to N.C. State. It was one of Hidalgo's subpar showings in a battle of prolific backcourts. It will cast doubt on the strongest piece of her case when she did not score in either overtime period (on merely three attempts) and fouled out. There's a claim that no one has more assistance offensively than Hidalgo, who has meshed in seamlessly with point guard Olivia Miles after her return from an ACL injury. The duo are each former All-Americans and viable candidates to make the list together this time. To improve her stock: Notre Dame finishes its regular season with the ACC's top teams, allowing Hidalgo to bounce back onto her trend of playing her best against the best. She will be tasked with showing the NC State game was an anomaly. Regular season schedule: vs. Florida State, vs. Louisville Case for: Watkins' bag is deep and she can take over games in an instant with her size, strength and explosiveness. Look no further than a do-it-all showcase to upset former No. 1 UCLA that propelled her back toward the top of the NPOY conversation. The 6-2 sophomore guard scored 38 of USC's 71 points (including all of the second and third-quarter scoring), but it was her defensive effort that was more impressive as she finished with eight blocks. She ranks first among guards in blocks (96th percentile overall) and is one of three to average more than 1.6 per game. That effort has made USC a top-five defense. Watkins started the season more efficiently from the field than as a freshman, boosting her 3-point average and cutting turnovers down by 25%. The Trojans rely heavily on her to create and she delivers, particularly off the dribble in isolation. Case against: Watkins' big-time showing against UCLA was crucial to getting into the race because she fell into a bit of a sophomore slump before it. Efficiency is still lacking in Watkins' game; while she continues to be a top-five Division I scorer, her field goal percentage languishes in the 60th percentile range. Improving her off-ball movement and shooting, as well as focusing on smarter shot selection, will boost those marks. To improve her stock: Recency bias is real and Watkins has the best shot of any at staying top of mind. The Trojans finish the season at UCLA, where a clutch two-way performance by Watkins could lock up the trophy. Re-igniting her touch from 3-point range throughout the tournament would give her a boost as well. Regular season schedule: at UCLA
