Latest news with #AllStar
Fox News
8 hours ago
- Sport
- Fox News
Bradley Beal reveals motivation behind leaving Suns in favor of Clippers
Last month, Bradley Beal's tumultuous run with the Phoenix Suns ended. The three-time NBA All-Star agreed to a buyout. As part of the agreement, Beal returned $13.9 million out of the $110 million on the final two years of his contract with the Suns, ESPN reported in July. Beal then agreed to a two-year deal with the Los Angeles Clippers. Beal's tenure was largely defined by his time away from the basketball court due to injury, while his discontent with the team also became a theme. But this week, Beal finally shared some details as to what led to his decision to join the Clippers. "I need a ring. I need a ring. I want one bad," Beal told KMOV news. "New environment, but a hungry environment, too. I'm definitely excited for the opportunity to go win." While the Clippers have never won an NBA Finals or a conference title, the team has been competitive for more than a decade. The franchise has advanced to the postseason in 11 of the last 13 seasons. However, seven of those playoff runs resulted in first round exits. The Clippers did reach the Western Conference Finals in 2021, but were ultimately eliminated by the Suns. This isn't the first time Beal has shared his hopes of competing for an NBA title. In March, Beal told ESPN that if he ultimately left Phoenix, he preferred to land with a contender. "I enjoy the game, man," Beal said at the time. "This game is fun. I try not to let nobody take the joy out of it for me. It's very hard. It's hard. We're all human beings, man. We have every right to shut down. We have every right to question what's going on. You have every right to say, 'Why me?' But I feel like that just drags you down a little bit more than you need." Beal appeared in 53 games in each of his two seasons with the Suns. The guard now joins a Clipper roster that features James Harden, Kawhi Leonard, and recently added Brooke Lopez and John Collins. Chris Paul also agreed to return to Los Angeles this offseason.
Irish Daily Mirror
14 hours ago
- Sport
- Irish Daily Mirror
GAA club wish 'speedy recovery' to legend as retirement U-turn ends in injury
Kildare legend Johnny Doyle came out of retirement at the weekend to help his club's bid to avoid relegation from the senior ranks - but ended up in hospital. The evergreen 47 year old, whose steady hand guided Allenwood to Kildare and Leinster intermediate titles in late 2023, hung up his boots at the end of last season after 30 years of adult football, having first lined out for the club all the way back in 1995. But with Allenwood struggling this year and without a victory in their 11 league games, All Star forward Doyle answered an SOS and leapt to his club's aid. Doyle returned for the Kildare SFC preliminary round encounter with Clogherinkoe. However, he failed to appear for the second half after sustaining what appeared to be a serious shoulder injury which required hospital treatment. Allenwood lost the game by a point, 3-11 to 1-16, after being 13 points down at half-time in a match where a win would have secured their senior status. Doyle was part of the last Kildare side to win a Leinster SFC, back in 2000 and won an All Star in 2014, before announcing his inter-county retirement in 2014. He also holds a Kildare Senior Championship medal from 2004. Allenwood now enter the losers section of the group stages with relegation from senior football still a possibility, and Doyle unlikely to appear again this year. The club posted on 'X' to say: 'A speedy recovery to the great JD! Always there to answer the call when his club needs him.'
Reuters
18 hours ago
- Sport
- Reuters
Slumping Giants look to run against streaking Padres
August 12 - The San Francisco Giants hope to avoid the Mason Miller treatment for a second game in a row when they get a rematch with the visiting San Diego Padres on Tuesday night. Making his second appearance in San Francisco since his former team, the Athletics, moved to West Sacramento this year, Miller reminded Bay Area fans of his dominant form when he needed just 13 pitches to strike out the side in the eighth inning of Monday's 4-1 win. A 2024 All-Star as a member of the A's, Miller has appeared in five games since being acquired by the Padres at the trade deadline. After allowing two runs in his second outing, he has found his footing in his past three appearances, recording a save and two holds while striking out nine in 3 1/3 scoreless innings. Interestingly, the 26-year-old is growing more and more comfortable in the San Diego bullpen even as speculation has focused on the possibility of him becoming a starter for the Padres. "I think all the focus is on this year and pitching out of the bullpen," he said on the "Foul Territory" telecast last week. "That's not to say down the road we can't revisit and have conversations. Being able to think about and say that I'm going to be here for the next four years, I think there are possibilities of that." The Padres' focus in the second of three games in San Francisco will be on recording a 13th win in a 16-game span and possibly catching the Los Angeles Dodgers atop the National League West. The Dodgers will take the field in the Freeway Series against the Los Angeles Angels on Tuesday night with just a one-game lead. Hoping to get the ball to the San Diego bullpen in good shape for the second consecutive night will be left-hander Nestor Cortes (1-1, 7.11), who will be making his second start for the Padres since being acquired from the Milwaukee Brewers. The 30-year-old has made just one lifetime start against the Giants, getting a no-decision for the New York Yankees in a 7-5 win at San Francisco last June when he allowed three runs and seven hits -- including home runs by Heliot Ramos and Casey Schmitt -- in 4 1/3 innings. Cortes can expect to see an aggressive Giants team on the basepaths. In an effort to wake up his slumbering offense, Giants manager Bob Melvin admitted he went into the series thinking steal signs might create some energy. The Giants entered the All-Star break at seven game over .500; they are now one game under. Unfortunately, the Giants got only four baserunners (not counting Rafael Devers' home run) on Monday. And the one time a running opportunity arose, it blew up in the team's face when Drew Gilbert, having stolen second base, was gunned down trying to take third when the throw got away. "We tried to push the running game. Obviously, you've got to get guys on base to do it," Melvin told reporters after the team's 11th loss in its past 12 home games. "Put guys in motion. Try to make something happen that way. But there was a lack of baserunners to really do anything with it." The Giants will turn on the mound to left-hander Robbie Ray (9-5, 2.85), who has gone winless in his past six starts despite allowing two or fewer runs in five of them. The 33-year-old will be making his 20th career start against the Padres, having gone 6-6 with a 4.15 ERA in the first 19 head-to-heads. - Field Level Media
New York Times
19 hours ago
- Sport
- New York Times
What's led to Pete Crow-Armstrong's rough start to August?
ST LOUIS — Pete Crow-Armstrong disagreed that his recent struggles have only been a week long. The MVP candidate has felt he's not performing at his best for a little while now. 'There's nothing glaring,' Crow-Armstrong said when asked if he's identified anything off with his swing or approach. 'On the inside, I think it's been harder for a little longer than just a week. But that's also because of my standards and expectations. I'm not chasing all that much. It's just results-based. It's a result-oriented game, obviously.' Advertisement The numbers don't support Crow-Armstrong's harsh self-criticism. From the All-Star break through the end of July, a span of 46 plate appearances, Crow-Armstrong had a 188 wRC+ with nine doubles and two home runs. July was actually his best month at a 170 wRC+. So Crow-Armstrong is just being hard on himself. His struggles started in August, and we're just a little over a week into the month. He has just three hits, just one for extra bases, and no walks in these nine games. Conventional wisdom would suggest Crow-Armstrong is chasing. It's what he does. He's a swinger and can look bad on pitches out of the zone, but also crushes them. However, that has just not been the case. The chart above shows that as Crow-Armstrong's chase has gone down recently — to his best rate of the season, in fact — his overall production has tumbled as well. It sounds a little basic, but it appears Crow-Armstrong is just missing his pitch. 'That's kind of what he's going through right now,' hitting coach Dustin Kelly said. 'There's not a ton of stuff with the swing that's different; the tempo looks really good. Sometimes you go through spells where you just don't get it on the barrel like you want to and it ends up on the ground.' The above shows Crow-Armstrong's wOBA by month against pitches that Statcast defines as the 'heart' of the zone. The league average for wOBA is .314 this season (it's usually close to the league average for OBP, which is .316 this season). Crow-Armstrong had a below-average month on those pitches in June, and through nine games in August has been abysmal. A perfect example of this was in the first inning of Sunday's loss to the St. Louis Cardinals. With two men on, Crow-Armstrong worked a 3-0 count. He then saw a 92.6 mph heater down the heart of the zone. Crow-Armstrong had a green light, took a rip and softly grounded out to first base. Advertisement 'Nothing is really wrong,' Crow-Armstrong said. 'I just suck at hitting baseballs sometimes right now. That's OK. It doesn't feel OK when I'm on the field and want to help my team win. You'd like to be the kick-starter or game-changer.' Crow-Armstrong's hard contact had been trending up, but that's started to dip of late as well. Meanwhile, his groundball rate has trended up. His hottest stretches are when he's pulling the ball hard and in the air. That can't be forced, though. 'The stretch that he was on was almost unconscious at times,' Kelly said. 'The way he hits the ball so hard and he's in the air so much, good results happen when you do that. Even when you're off the barrel. He's been on the ground a little bit more recently. Still hitting the ball hard.' Crow-Armstrong has been putting in the work. He's trying to make sure his swing is right and that he doesn't overthink his bad days. The opposition is also doing work. Despite July being the month with the fewest games, it was the month with his most plate appearances against lefties. So far this month, pitchers are really upping their offspeed usage against Crow-Armstrong. Kelly pointed out that in general, pitchers are attacking him slightly differently, especially early in counts. 'Early on, people were still trying to get him to chase below the zone and they'd miss up,' Kelly said. 'Now they're trying to miss away and then come in late and try to elevate. They're moving around the zone a little bit more and not just trying to get him to chase.' Crow-Armstrong has to adjust. He can't let a bad week turn into a bad month. He's incredibly hard on himself and sets a standard where he doesn't even feel like what he's done so far this season is good enough. Whether he can meet the future expectations he's set for himself with these incredible results is the question he must answer. Advertisement 'There's definitely a lot that we've looked at swing-wise,' Crow-Armstrong said. 'We've gotten back to really good positions. I think it's just one of those situations where one barrel, one blooper — if I get that one knock, then I get that knock. If not, then I just gotta go out and play center field.' Spot the pattern. Connect the terms Find the hidden link between sports terms Play today's puzzle
Irish Examiner
a day ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
Andy Moran in line to be new Mayo manager
Andy Moran is in line to be appointed the new Mayo manager, with an announcement expected imminently. An executive meeting of the Mayo County Board was called for Monday night after two candidates for the role were interviewed last week, 2017 Footballer of the Year Moran and Armagh All-Ireland winner Tony McEntee. Moran is set to take over from Kevin McStay, who was relieved of his role last June after three years in charge. Moran retired from intercounty football in 2019 after 183 appearances in League and Championship for Mayo. A two-time All Star, he won eight Connacht SFC championships. After retiring, Moran was appointed Leitrim manager in 2021. In 2024, they were promoted from Division 4. He also took charge of the county U20s that year, leading them to victory over his native county in the Connacht U20 championship. After leaving Leitrim, Moran joined Monaghan as a coach. They reached the All-Ireland quarter-final before losing to Donegal. Mayo endured a disappointing campaign. They reached the Division 1 League final where they were beaten by Kerry before going on to lose the Connacht final to rivals Galway. A group stage defeat against Cavan ultimately cost them as they failed to progress to the knockout rounds.
