LAKE BUENA VISTA, Fla. — Some NBA players are so smart, and process the game so fluidly, that they can play faster than superior athletes, and they make their teammates play faster, too. If you are really fortunate, you find a guy like that. The Denver Nuggets have two.
Jamal Murray and Nikola Jokic probably won’t win the NBA championship next month. But they keep showing why they can, with a style of basketball that has to appeal to anybody who loves the game and not just the highlights. If they were a movie, you would want to watch it again and again, finding subtle charms and new bits of brilliance each time.
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
The Nuggets’ 114–106 Game 3 win over the Lakers reminded us of what the rest of the playoffs have already shown: Murray and Jokic are not going away, in this series or in the next decade. The longer they play, the more they distinguish themselves. The Nuggets came back from 3–1 deficits in the first two rounds, and they are trying to come back from 2–0 down in this one, and people keep praising their resilience. That is part of it, to be sure. But also, with every game in a series, Murray and Jokic have more information to sort through.
“Hand in hand—there’s two parts to that,” Murray said. “You definitely learn more about your opponent, what to look for, tendencies and all that.”
On the two possessions that finished off the Lakers, Murray made winning plays. First, with Denver up 103–99, Murray started to back down the Lakers’ Alex Caruso, but as soon as Caruso bit on a fake, Murray dribbled away, realized he had time to set his feet behind the three-point line, and drained a three over Caruso. The craftiness that led to the three was every bit as impressive as the actual shot.
On Denver’s next possession, Murray drove, realized his shot would get block, dished to Paul Millsap, backpedaled so he was open, caught a pass, drove again, found Millsap again, and scored. He made a lot of choices, and executed them, in a very short span.
Denver coach Michael Malone said Tuesday night that “we have two superstars in Nikola and Jamal,” and it is amazing to think that a month ago, that would have seemed like hype. Now it is a statement of fact. If Murray was just a good player who had a hot series against Utah, somebody would have exposed him by now. Instead, he keeps exploiting every advantage.
Malone says that he sees teams game-planning more and more for Murray. It isn’t working. Blitz him and he passes the ball before he is trapped. Stick a bigger player on him, as the Lakers did at times, and he will beat his man off the dribble. Pester him with somebody smaller, and he uses his size. Murray is a master at creating just as much space as he needs.
Kim Klement-USA TODAY Sports
Jokic jokes that he is slow, and the jokes are funny because he is slow. But he doesn’t play slow. He is one of the best passing centers in history, capable of firing an overhand dart to a cutting teammate or making a no-look bounce pass in traffic. Still, the physical limitations are real, and this is especially evident against the Lakers.
In his first five games against Lakers this year, including Game 1 of this series, Jokic averaged 17.2 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists—a dropoff from his regular-season averages of 19.9, 9.7 and 7. It is easy to see why. L.A. has the freakiest center in the league, Anthony Davis, a player who is longer and much more athletic than Jokic. The Lakers can also throw a bunch of different large pests at Jokic—they have been starting each game with Javale McGee, then move on to Davis, Dwight Howard and others. For the first game and a half of this series, Jokic looked overwhelmed. But players this smart do not stay overwhelmed for long.
“We were one step slower than them,” Jokic said. “They were surprising us—by the pace, by the rebounding.”
Jokic has recovered in an assortment of ways. He counters the Lakers’ size by facing the basket. When he gets too much attention, he fires to a teammate. Howard has played this series like a pro-wresting heel. He appears to want to get inside Jokic’s head, but Jokic is far too smart to let it happen. He said he did not enter the game thinking about scoring.
“To be honest, they’re doing their job,” Jokic said of the Lakers. “I don’t think about it as a matchup. I’m just trying to play the game the way it’s supposed to be played.”
Murray and Jokic have an extremely advanced understanding of the way the game is supposed to be played. They are also both level-headed enough to be honest about when they don’t reach their standard, no matter what the stats say. After his 28-point, 12-assist night, Murray said, “I didn’t think I had a good game in total, to be honest with you. I didn’t get everybody organized. I had too many live-ball turnovers that led to points.”
The Nuggets still trail this series 2–1. The Lakers still have LeBron James and Anthony Davis. But Murray and Jokic have 48 more minutes of information in their brains that they can take to Game 4.
Olympic champion Maggie Mac Neil announced her retirement from swimming Thursday.
The gold medallist in the women’s 100-metre butterfly at Tokyo’s Summer Games in 2021 made the announcement in an Instagram post alongside a photo of her swimming as a child.
“The little girl above would have never dreamed this is where her love of swimming would take her,” Mac Neil wrote. “I am so grateful for all the memories, people, and places I have gotten to experience just through swimming.
“I’m excited to begin the next chapter of my life journey, as I embark on discovering who I am outside of swimming.”
The 24-year-old from London, Ont., earned a complete set of medals in Tokyo after helping relay teams to silver and bronze medals.
Mac Neil’s five gold medals at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile, were the most by a Canadian athlete at a single Pan Am Games.
She was fifth in butterfly and was a member of two women’s relay teams that finished fourth at the recent Olympic Games in Paris.
“Anyone who I crossed paths with never, ever told me I couldn’t achieve my goal of going to the Olympics,” Mac Neil wrote. “It’s still surreal to be able to say I’m a two-time Olympian.”
She completed her master’s degree in sport management at Louisiana State University this year.
Born in China and adopted by Dr. Susan McNair and Dr. Edward MacNeil, Mac Neil’s mother wanted her to take swimming lessons for safety reasons because of the family’s backyard pool.
Mac Neil’s 2017 diagnosis of sport-induced asthma — which can be triggered by the swimming staples of heat and chlorine — forced a switch from longer distances to sprints.
Mac Neil became Canada’s first world champion in the women’s 100-metre butterfly two years later.
The nearsighted Mac Neil, who doesn’t wear contacts or prescription goggles, has seen multiple times a meme of her squinting hard at the scoreboard in Tokyo as she tried to decipher her result.
“I like to think it helps because I can’t see where other people are and I’m able to focus on my own race,” Mac Neil said before the Olympic Games in Paris. “That was definitely the case in Tokyo.
“I got that meme sent to me at least three times in January even though it’s been three years since.”
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.
VANCOUVER – Quarterback Nathan Rourke says the B.C. Lions “have to have a sense of urgency” as they prepare for their final four games of the CFL season.
“There’s a lot of importance in these last four games,” Rourke said after practice this week. “We’ve got to get it going.”
The Lions (7-7) want to get back on track when they face the Hamilton Tiger-Cats (5-9) at B.C. Place Friday night. B.C. is coming off an embarrassing 33-17 loss at home to the Toronto Argonauts two weeks ago that left them in second place in the CFL West.
Across the country, a three-game winning streak has put the Tiger-Cats back in playoff contention in the East.
Defensive back Jamal Peters said the Ticats never stopped believing in themselves, even when they started the season with five losses.
“We kept the faith,” said Peters, who leads the team with four interceptions. “We kept believing in one another and kept working. We knew we wouldn’t ever be out of it.”
The Lions started the campaign 5-1 but are 2-6 in their last eight games. They head into the weekend two points behind the first-place Winnipeg Blue Bombers and one ahead of the Saskatchewan Roughriders.
After looking strong in beating Ottawa and Montreal by a combined score of 75-35, the Lions managed just 222 total yards against Toronto. Rourke was pulled after completing six of 12 passes for 110 yards and no touchdowns.
“We’re trying to piece it together ourselves,” Rourke said in trying to explain why the Lions can be ferocious one game, then kittens the next. “At the end of the day it comes down to being able to play a complete game.
“That’s what all the good teams around the league do. They are able to play four quarters and have their offence help their defence.”
Rourke is 2-3 in the five games he has played since returning to the CFL after failing to land a job in the NFL. The Canadian-born quarterback has completed 79 of 126 passes for 1,099 yards, four touchdowns and seven interceptions. In the last two games Rourke has no touchdown passes and has thrown three interceptions.
Coming out of a bye week, Rick Campbell, B.C.’s head coach and co-general manager wanted to stop any talk of a quarterback controversy in Vancouver by saying Rourke remains the Lions starter.
“I don’t want to create any confusion,” said Campbell. “Right now this is what we’re doing. I want there to be clarity and not a debate going on.”
Veteran Vernon Adams Jr. was an early candidate as the league’s outstanding player before sustaining an injury and the return of Rourke. Adams was four of seven for 75 yards, no touchdowns and threw an interception when replacing Rourke against the Argos.
For the season Adams has completed 171 of 266 passes for 2,544 yards, 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions.
“We can win with either one of these guys,” said Campbell. “We’re going to go with the continuity Nathan has been playing with the last several weeks. We think we have room to improve and grow.”
One reason for the Hamilton turnaround has been Chris Jones joining the team as a senior defensive assistant after being fired as Edmonton’s head coach and general manager.
In the 10 games before Jones arrived, Hamilton allowed an average 33.4 points a game and gave up 3.5 touchdowns. In the four he has been a coach, the Ticats have given up 26.5 points a game and allowed 2.25 touchdowns.
Quarterback Bo Levi Mitchell also leads the CFL with 4,044 passing yards (322 completions on 473 attempts) and 24 touchdowns.
Campbell knows Hamilton comes to the West Coast riding a wave of confidence.
“We always know we’re going to get their best shot,” he said. “Our job it to focus on us and make sure that they get our best shot.
“When they get our best shot, we’re pretty good. We need to direct all our energy and focus on ourselves.”
HAMILTON TIGER CATS (5-9) at B.C. Lions (7-7)
Friday, B.C. Place
ORANGE SHIRT DAY: The Lions celebrate their fourth consecutive Orange Shirt Day Game to pay respect to Canada’s National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Players will wear special Orange Shirt Day warmup jerseys, which will be raffled off in support of the Orange Shirt Society and Indian Residential Schools Survivors’ Society (IRSSS).
HOMESTREACH: The Lions play three of their final games at home. After Friday they host Calgary Oct. 4 and Montreal Oct. 19 before finishing the season with a bye. B.C.’s lone road game is an Oct. 12 visit to Saskatchewan.
BYE BYE: The Lions are 4-2 in their last six games after a week’s rest.
DOING THE STREAK: Hamilton is looking for it’s first four-game win streak since 2022.
THREE-PEAT: Lions running back William Stanback needs just 41 yards to reach 1,000 for the third time in his career.
CLOSE ENCOUNTERS: The two teams have split their last six games at B.C. Place, with five of them decided in the final three minutes.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 26, 2024.
NYON, Switzerland (AP) — Serbia and Albania are set to co-host the men’s Under-21 European Championship in 2027 in a soccer project that aims to overcome political tensions.
UEFA said Thursday only the Serbia-Albania bid met a deadline this week to file detailed tournament plans. Belgium and Turkey had declared interest earlier in the bidding process scheduled to be decided at a Dec. 16 meeting of the UEFA executive committee.
The Serbian and Albanian soccer federations teamed up in May to plan organization of the 16-team tournament played every two years that needs eight stadiums to host 31 games.
Albania soccer federation leader Armand Duka, who is a UEFA vice president, told The Associated Press in May that “it’s a 100% football project” with “a very good political message that we can get across.”
Weeks later at the men’s European Championship held in Germany, historic tensions between the Balkan countries — which in soccer included a notorious drone incident at a Serbia-Albania game in 2014 — played out at separate games involving their senior teams.
An Albania player was banned for games by UEFA for using a megaphone to join fans in nationalist chants, including targeting Serbia, after a Euro 2024 game against Croatia. Fans of Albania and Croatia earlier joined in anti-Serb chants, leading UEFA to impose fines for discrimination.
UEFA also fined both the Albanian and Serbian federations in separate incidents at Euro 2024 for fans displaying politically motivated banners about neighboring Kosovo.
After historic tensions were heightened by the 1990s Balkans conflicts, in 2008 majority ethnic Albanians in Kosovo declared independence for the former Serbian province. Serbia refuses to recognize that independence and considers Kosovo the cradle of its statehood.
An Albanian fans group daubed red paint on the federation offices in May when the cooperation with Serbian soccer for the Under-21 Euros was announced.
“We did have a few negative reactions from fans, mainly, and some interest groups,” Duka said then, “but not from the Albania government.”
UEFA has shown broad support for Serbia and Albania under its president, Aleksander Ceferin, who is from Slovenia.
The next annual congress of UEFA’s 55 national federations is in the Serbian capital Belgrade on April 3, and an executive committee meeting in September 2025 will be held in Tirana, Albania.
