TORONTO — Tuesday night — Wednesday morning, actually — as the Toronto Raptors landed in Charlotte following a demoralizing, dying-seconds loss to the Portland Trail Blazers and what had to be the worst evening of Terence Davis’s young NBA career, Norman Powell grabbed the rookie guard and told him they’d be having a film session the next day.
Well, yeah, the Raptors watch film every day. And as they were playing the latter half of a back-to-back on the road, film would take place Wednesday morning at the team hotel ahead of that evening’s tip-off against the Charlotte Hornets. But Powell wasn’t talking about the team film session. This would be a private study.
“He said, ‘I know you’ve seen what Nurse said — we’ve all seen it,’” Davis remembered. “Now, it’s how you respond to it.”
A long-simmering rookie slump had hit a nadir against Portland for Davis, who blew a couple of defensive coverages, committed a turnover, and missed both shots he took in eight ineffective minutes the Raptors lost by three points. When Toronto head coach Nick Nurse was asked after the game why Davis, who was averaging 17 minutes per game coming into the night, had played only eight, he went straight to the neck: “He’s not playing very well — it was probably five too many.”
What Davis hadn’t realized over the preceding weeks was that he’d grown complacent. As an undrafted college senior signed during summer league, Davis had blown the doors off Raptors training camp and stepped right into a regular, 15-minutes-a-night rotation role for the defending NBA champions. It’s not supposed to happen like that. But it speaks to the former football star’s athleticism, relentlessness, and talent that a coach as demanding as Nurse gained faith in him that quickly. Davis’s minutes were earned, not given.
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But then he came to expect them, and his aggressiveness waned, which is where the slump started. It set in deep. Davis didn’t notice this either, but he’d stopped being as gregarious as he normally was off the court. He wasn’t smiling as much; he was moving differently. That’s what Powell picked up on, and it’s part of the reason why the fifth-year Raptor sat down with Davis one-on-one on Wednesday for nearly an hour to closely watch every second of those eight minutes he played against Portland in fine detail. And to lift his young teammate’s spirits.
“As a rookie, you don’t really understand the small things that go into the game. And how fast the pace of it goes. And how quickly you have to think on both defence and offence,” Davis said. “So, we went over some of those things. He broke down the whole eight minutes, man. He told me what I had to do better, gave me pointers. It really uplifted me, man. He was like, ‘Man, I used to be the same way.’ Picking up my dribble, not carrying out with an edge, things of that sort. He said, ‘I see a lot in you that I’ve seen in myself when I was young.’”
It was crazy for Davis to hear that, because when he was a sophomore starter at Ole Miss three years ago, it was Powell’s game tape he was studying. A Rebels coach thought the two guards had a lot of similarities in their games and urged Davis to closely watch Powell, a four-year college grad himself who was in his second season with the Raptors. And Davis did. All year long.
Davis wanted to mimic Powell’s aggressiveness, remaining a willing and unhesitant shooter when opportunities presented themselves, no matter how well or poorly a night was going. He loved how Powell rose to the occasion when thrust into big moments, as he did in the opening round of the playoffs that year against the Milwaukee Bucks, when his barnstorming 34 minutes in Game 4 — after he didn’t get off the bench in Game 2 — turned that series on its head.
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“He was ready when his time came. It’s the grit he plays with. The way he grinds. Just his whole work ethic, the way he approaches it,” Davis said. “I need to get back to some of those things. I definitely do. I got relaxed. The playing time was already coming to me, so, I got relaxed. And that can’t happen, man. Especially as a young guy. I can never relax.”
Davis’s response Wednesday night in Charlotte was to play the best game of his career. Having challenged Davis to be better a night earlier, Nurse put his name in the starting lineup, giving his rookie runway to prove him wrong. And Davis’s impact was immediate, as he paced all scorers with 13 points in the first quarter, including a couple of three-pointers and a ballistic finish at the rim demonstrating exactly the edge Powell was emphasizing during their film session:
He played hounding defence on Charlotte’s two primary options, holding Terry Rozier to four points on 1-of-5 shooting and Devonte Graham to three on 1-of-4 during the possessions Davis guarded them according to NBA.com’s matchup data. As the Hornets took a three-point lead two minutes into overtime, Davis knocked down back-to-back threes to swing the game in his team’s favour:
He finished plus-20 with 23 points, 11 rebounds, and five assists in 37 minutes. A night after he’d played Davis five minutes too many, Nurse couldn’t take him off the floor.
“In a guy’s first season, there are a lot of learning curves and a lot of growth. And it’s pretty drastic, right? There’s some really up-there highs and really down-there lows,” Nurse said. “He’s got some guts. He’s got some heart. He’s not afraid. And I think that’s huge. I think that’s why he came into this season taking and making shots. He had the guts and confidence to take them.
“And it takes that same thing coming back off a couple bad games in a row. So, that was good to see. He really bailed us out the other night.”
It’s worth remembering that the most games Davis ever played in a season prior to this one was 36 during his sophomore year at Ole Miss. Sunday will be his 39th at a more physical and competitive level, with more extreme travel demands, and more incalculable yet profound mental stresses to process.
That’s no different than the experience of any NBA rookie, mind you. But it’s something that has to be considered, particularly as Davis’s play slumped right around the 35-game mark when, for the last four years, his season would typically be ending. This year, he isn’t even halfway through.
“It’s true. For him, his 30 games means he’s putting his shoes away — or at least his real shoes,” Nurse said. “We’re just getting started here. We’re just getting loose.”
What it means is Davis can be forgiven for the rut he fell into, the complacency that crept in, the body language that made a teammate want to sit him down and watch film. It’s just part of his development. Powell went through it when he was young(er), and now Davis is going through it, too.
It’s even the little things. Davis says he’s learning to pound fluids and electrolytes after games, and optimize his diet between them so he doesn’t feel so lousy after back-to-backs like the one earlier this week. On the flight back from Charlotte, he picked up a cramp he was still feeling on Friday. He sits next to Serge Ibaka on those flights, and learned early on not to bring any junk food with him lest he endure the 12-year veteran’s wrath.
“I’m scared to bring it around him,” Davis said. “I’m afraid of what he’s going to say, man. He’s just going to look at me crazy.”
Just another night in the league. Davis has been hearing it from all angles lately — whether it’s old veterans like Ibaka, young ones like Powell, or a head coach putting him on blast after a poor performance. But he’ll take all the tough love he can get.
“Just call it straight out. Be straightforward. If you’re not playing right, they’ll definitely let you know,” he said. “I love it, man. I understand that. Who wants someone sugar coating things, you know? I’m an honest guy. I’ll be honest to you. And I want the same in return.
“My play was terrible. It’s just them wanting me to play better. Obviously, I accepted the challenge. And that’s what I like. I’m into it. All my coaches have been that way — straightforward. I wouldn’t want it any other way.”
NAPA, Calif. (AP) — David Lipsky shot a 7-under 65 on Thursday at Silverado Country Club to take a one-stroke lead after the first round of the Procore Championship.
Winless in 104 events since joining the PGA Tour in 2022, Lipsky went out with the early groups and had eight birdies with one bogey to kick off the FedEx Cup Fall series at the picturesque course in the heart of Napa Valley wine country.
After missing the cut in his three previous tournaments, Lipsky flew from Las Vegas to Arizona to reunite with his college coach at Northwestern to get his focus back. He also spent time playing with some of the Northwestern players, which helped him relax.
“Just being around those guys and seeing how carefree they are, not knowing what’s coming for them yet, it’s sort of nice to see that,” Lipsky said. “I was almost energized by their youthfulness.”
Patton Kizzire and Mark Hubbard were a stroke back. Kizzire started on the back nine and made a late run with three consecutive birdies to move into a tie for first. A bogey on No. 8 dropped him back.
“There was a lot of good stuff out there today,” Kizzire said. “I stayed patient and just went through my routines and played well, one shot at a time. I’ve really bee working hard on my mental game and I think that allowed me to rinse and repeat and reset and keep playing.”
Mark Hubbard was at 67. He had nine birdies but fell off the pace with a bogey and triple bogey on back-to-back holes.
Kevin Dougherty also was in the group at 67. He had two eagles and ended his afternoon by holing out from 41 yards on the 383-yard, par-4 18th.
Defending champion Sahith Theegala had to scramble for much of his round of 69.
Wyndham Clark, who won the U.S. Open in 2023 and the AT&T at Pebble Beach in February, had a 70.
Max Homa shot 71. The two-time tournament champion and a captain’s pick for the President’s Cup in two weeks had two birdies and overcame a bogey on the par-4 first.
Stewart Cink, the 2020 winner, also opened with a 71. He won The Ally Challenge last month for his first PGA Tour Champions title.
Three players from the Presidents Cup International team had mix results. Min Woo Lee shot 68, Mackenzie Hughes of Dundas, Ont., 69 and Corey Conners of Listowel, Ont., 73. International team captain Mike Weir of Brights Grove, Ont., also had a 69.
Ben Silverman of Thornhill, Ont., had a 68, Nick Taylor of Abbotsford, B.C., and Roger Sloan of Merritt, B.C., shot 70 and Adam Svensson of Surrey, B.C., had a 71.
Lipsky was a little shaky off the tee for much of the afternoon but made up for it with steady iron play that left him in great shape on the greens. He had one-putts on 11 holes and was in position for a bigger day but left five putts short.
Lipsky’s only real problem came on the par-4 ninth when his approach sailed into a bunker just shy of the green. He bounced back nicely with five birdies on his back nine. After missing a 19-foot putt for birdie on No. 17, Lipsky ended his day with a 12-foot par putt.
That was a big change from last year when Lipsky tied for 30th at Silverado when he drove the ball well but had uneven success on the greens.
“Sometimes you have to realize golf can be fun, and I think I sort of forgot that along the way as I’m grinding it out,” Lipsky said. “You’ve got to put things in perspective, take a step back. Sort of did that and it seems like it’s working out.”
Laird stayed close after beginning his day with a bogey on the par-4 10th. The Scot got out of the sand nicely but pushed his par putt past the hole.
Homa continued to have issues off the tee and missed birdie putts on his final four holes.
GUADALAJARA, Mexico – Canada’s Marina Stakusic is moving on to the quarterfinals of the Guadalajara Open.
The Mississauga, Ont., native defeated the tournament top seed, Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia, 6-3, 5-7, 7-6 (0) in the round of 16 on Thursday.
Stakusic faced a 0-4 deficit in the third and final set before marching back into the match.
The 19-year-old won five of the next six games to even it up before exchanging games to force a tiebreaker, where Stakusic took complete control to win the match.
Stakusic had five aces with 17 double faults in the three-hour, four-minute match.
However, she converted eight of her 18 break-point opportunities.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 13, 2024.
PARIS (AP) — French judicial authorities are investigating the disappearance of two Paralympic athletes from Congo who recently competed in the Paris Games, the prosecutor’s office in the Paris suburb of Bobigny confirmed on Thursday.
Prosecutors opened the investigation on Sept. 7, after members of the athletes’ delegation warned authorities of their disappearance two days before.
Le Parisien newspaper reported that shot putter Mireille Nganga and Emmanuel Grace Mouambako, a visually impaired sprinter who was accompanied by a guide, went missing on Sept. 5, along with a third person.
The athletes’ suitcases were also gone but their passports remained with the Congolese delegation, according to an official with knowledge of the investigation, who asked to remain anonymous as they were not allowed to speak publicly about the case.
The Paralympic Committee of the Democratic Republic of Congo did not respond to requests for information from The Associated Press.
Nganga — who recorded no mark in the seated javelin and shot put competitions — and Mouambako were Congo’s flag bearers at the opening ceremony of the Paralympic Games, organizers said.
