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What you need to know about NBA’s return-to-play plan to this point – Sportsnet.ca

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4 years ago

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The NBA and NBPA are engaging in exploratory conversations about a likely resumption of play at Walt Disney World’s ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex as a singular bubble site for games, practices and housing.

There’s been a lot of information regarding this all week in the lead up to the NBA’s announcement Saturday afternoon and still a lot of questions to be answered, but for the time being, it certainly looks like the NBA is on track to make a return in the summer.

Here’s a look at what we know so far about the NBA’s potential return and possible next steps that will need to be figured out before it can become reality.

Multiple play formats in play

As Shams Charania of The Athletic reported Saturday, in order for the NBA to return to play, the league is weighing “a lot of bad options” to do so.

These include the following:

• Straight-up resuming the regular season with all 30 teams and then heading into the playoffs.

• Playing directly into the playoffs with the standings as they were as of March 12.

• A “playoffs-plus” idea that would give more teams a chance to compete for a final playoff seed.

The first two are very self-explanatory, but the “playoffs-plus” concept is worth a little more clarification.

This is the most radical idea, but also seems like the one that could most likely be the one to stick because the idea behind this format, which appears to have gained the most steam, would be to do so with a limited number of teams.

According to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, the NBA’s preference isn’t to have every team resume the season, and in Charania’s report about this proposed “playoffs-plus” format between 18-24 teams were floated as the number of teams that would be involved.

The logic behind limiting the number of teams returning to play seems sound enough. The fewer people at the bubble site the safer, obviously. Not to mention, it doesn’t seem worth it for teams that are very much out of the playoff picture, like the Golden State Warriors, to ramp up and go through the rigmarole of preparing just to play what amounts to just a handful of games and risk injury to key players – or even their lottery positions.

Additionally, according to Wojnarowski, should this “playoffs-plus” format get opened up to the entire league, the idea of rewarding some of the league’s bottom-feeders with a chance in the post-season was met with much skepticism.

The reason for this is because the driving idea behind the “playoffs-plus” option, according to Charania, is it could involve a play-in-style tournament for either the No. 8 seed, or 7 and 8 seeds.

Additionally, another way it could work is that the first round of the playoffs would be replaced with an international-competition-style, round-robin group stage with each team playing two games against their group opponent and the top two teams from each group advancing to the second round.

Either way, rewarding the league’s worst teams with a chance to pull a George Mason-like run in the NBA playoffs doesn’t seem to be appealing to many.

Why Disney World?

In the lead-up to the NBA’s announcement, there were reports that the NBA was debating between Disney World in central Florida and Las Vegas as its preferred bubble destinations.

By all appearances, it would seem as if Mickey Mouse has won this particular battle, and the rationale behind it is quite apparent.

First off, the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex is a massive, 255-acre campus with multiple arenas that could host many different games and practices simultaneously, and has already done so for the NBA as the host of the Jr. NBA World Championship in recent years.

Secondly, Walt Disney World is a gigantic 40-square mile plot of private land with about 24,000 hotel rooms to house players and coaches as well as other team and event staff.

And lastly, you can’t discount the relationship between the NBA and broadcast partner ESPN, which is primarily owned by Disney.

It doesn’t take much to connect the dots that it would likely please ESPN to go to a location with its own name in the facility’s title, and with the amount of money at stake for the NBA, pleasing a key broadcast partner is just the smart thing to do.

According to Sam Amick of The Athletic, the NBA is slated to lose about $900 million in television revenue should the 2020 post-season fail to happen, so prioritizing broadcast partners seems like the right call from the NBA’s perspective.

Extensive testing to come

Should the NBA decide to continue with a plan to play at Disney World in July, getting set up there is but one gargantuan task that will then lead to another, perhaps even bigger one: Maintaining the bubble.

The NBA, of course, is aware of this and, according to a Charania video report from Thursday, the league is looking into an extensive COVID-19 testing program.

Charania reports that NBA commissioner Adam Silver expects to have daily COVID-19 testing when the league returns and, most notably, no stoppage in play necessary should someone test positive, as that person would then go into self-isolation in their hotel room as the team continues on.

There are, of course, complications.

While daily testing would be vital for the league to run, where and how the NBA gets its tests is of the utmost importance. The league came under fire when the Utah Jazz used Oklahoma state’s tests, and when the Brooklyn Nets bought private tests it was viewed as big business using its affluence to jump the line ahead of the public in the midst of a global pandemic.

The perception of the NBA has reportedly been front of mind for Silver and any return-to-play plans would have to take into consideration the public’s supply of tests.

And to those ends, The Ringer’s Kevin O’Connor reported that the NBA has begun research into “group testing,” a procedure that could see many more get tested with fewer tests needed.

Here’s O’Connor’s explanation of what “group testing” is:

“Group testing is simple: Several samples from multiple individuals are taken and “grouped” together into the same lab test—this could be done randomly, or by mixing samples from members on the same team. Between five to 20 samples are usually mixed into the same test, which reduces the amount of tests needed, saving time, money, and resources. If the test is positive, those people’s samples would be separately retested to locate which individual sample(s) are responsible for the positive test in the group.”

This method of testing seems like a good solution to the NBA’s problems and according to research teams in Germany, Israel and the United States, grouped samples are able to detect the novel coronavirus.

The other problem the NBA will have to tackle if they do test daily is what happens when someone tests positive, especially a star player.

It’s well and good to say that play won’t stop and a player has to go into isolation if they test positive, but let’s say, for example, the Los Angles Lakers are facing the Milwaukee Bucks in the NBA Finals and LeBron James tests positive the night before Game 1, that would likely leave the Lakers without their most important player for the championship series. What does that do for the so-called legitimacy of the 2020 Finals?

It’s not difficult to envision a scenario where key players on multiple teams are forced out of the lineup because of a positive test and thus throwing the entire competition’s balance out of whack.

Wins and losses may seem like a small thing, ultimately, in the face of a public health crisis, but for the reputation of a professional sports league, this is a potentially huge problem.

Next steps that need to be sorted out

Lastly, here’s a very quick rundown of possible next steps that the NBA will have to get figured out before the season resumes.

• For non-American players, such as Dallas Mavericks all-star Luka Doncic, who may have decided to quarantine abroad, or even for members of the Toronto Raptors who stayed in Toronto and are working out at OVO Athletic Centre, the guidelines need to be clarified.

Do players need to be quarantined before they can start doing any work with their team in the bubble site? And if so, for how long?

• How long will the post-pause training camp last? And how many, if any, exhibition games will teams be allowed to play?

• If there are regular-season games that will be played, how many more will the NBA look to complete? According to Charania, getting the total number of 72 or 76 has been floated.

• What will the playoff format look like? Will it be the usual East vs. West? Or will all the teams just be re-seeded? With such strange times in the league’s history, the idea of taking just the best teams into the playoffs that many have wanted for years could actually happen this year.

• Charania also reported that some of the latest possible dates for the season to finish are Sept. 7 (Labour Day), Sept. 15, Oct. 1, Oct. 15 and Nov. 1. This is important to figure out as it impacts when the league’s draft could be held, when free agency would open and when the next season could be started.

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Washington Capitals 3-2 win ends Dallas Stars’ winning streak

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15 hours ago

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October 18, 2024

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Tom Wilson, Dylan Strome and Taylor Raddysh scored to help the Washington Capitals end the Dallas Stars’ season-opening winning streak at four with a 3-2 victory Thursday night.

Wilson’s goal was his third in three games, Strome his second of the season and Raddysh his first since joining the team in free agency last summer. Charlie Lindgren made 22 saves as the Capitals wrapped up this early homestand with back-to-back wins.

The Stars fell from the ranks of the league’s unbeaten teams despite a short-handed goal by Colin Blackwell and one at even strength from Jason Robertson. Rookie Oskar Bäck set up Blackwell for his first NHL point.

Casey DeSmith was screened on two of the three goals he allowed on 26 shots.

LIGHTNING 4, GOLDEN KNIGHTS 3

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) — Nikita Kucherov scored the winning goal with less than a minute to play just 1:27 after Brandon Hagel had tied it and Tampa Bay rallied to beat Vegas.

Kucherov’s second goal of the game with 55 seconds left was his sixth of the season.

Janis Moser had a goal and two assists for the Lightning, who remain unbeaten. Andrei Vasilevskiy made 22 saves.

Brayden McNabb, Pavel Dorofeyev and Ivan Barbashev had goals for Vegas. Adin Hill turned aside 21 shots.

Jack Eichel, with two assists on Thursday, now has 10 points this season in five games and reached reached double-digit points faster than any other player in Vegas history. He is the 10th U.S.-born player to accomplish the feat.

After Barbashev put Vegas up 3-2 early in the second, Hagel pulled Tampa Bay even at 3 with 2:22 remaining in the third.

BLUE JACKETS 6, SABRES 4

COLUMBUS, Ohio (AP) — Kirill Marchenko and Mathieu Olivier each had a goal and an assist and Daniil Tarasov made 21 saves to help Columbus to a win over Buffalo.

Yegor Chinakhov, Adam Fantilli, Zachary Aston-Reese and Damon Severson also scored for Columbus, and Zach Werenski added two assists.

Ryan McLeod, Owen Power and JJ Peterka scored for Buffalo, and Jiri Kulich added his first NHL goal. Devon Lev stopped 19 shots for the Sabres (1-5-1), who have lost two straight road games and five of their first six overall.

CANUCKS 3, FLORIDA 2, OT

SUNRISE, Fla. (AP) — J.T. Miller scored 2:09 into overtime and Vancouver got their first win of the season, beating Florida.

Teddy Blueger and Quinn Hughes had goals for Vancouver, with Kevin Lankinen stopping 26 shots.

Anton Lundell got his fourth goal in the last three games for Florida and Jesper Boqvist also scored for the Panthers, who got 30 saves from Sergei Bobrovsky.

Florida remained without forwards Aleksander Barkov (lower body) and Matthew Tkachuk (illness).

DEVILS 3, SENATORS 1

OTTAWA, Ontario (AP) — Jacob Markstrom stopped 30 shots and lost his shutout bid in the final minutes as New Jersey beat Ottawa.

Erik Haula, Nathan Bastian and Paul Cotter scored for the Devils, who won for the third time in four games and improved to 5-2-0.

The Senators, who were coming off an 8-7 overtime victory against Los Angeles on Monday, struggled to beat Markstrom.

Brady Tkachuk was the only scorer for the Senators, beating Markstrom, with a power-play goal with 65 seconds remaining in the third period.

Anton Forsberg, making his second straight start and hoping to rebound after getting pulled Monday, made 32 saves in the loss.

Haula opened the scoring early in the second period and Bastian added a short-handed goal, giving New Jersey a 2-0 lead after 40 minutes. Cotter scored midway through the third.

RANGERS 5, RED WING 2

DETROIT (AP) — Artemi Panarin had his eighth career hat trick and New York rolled to a victory over Detroit.

Panarin became the first Rangers player to have multiple points in the first four games of a season. He scored twice on the power play. Vincent Trocheck also had a power- play goal and assisted on all of Panarin’s goals.

Jonathan Quick made 29 saves in his season debut. Victor Mancini also scored.

The Rangers have won the last five meetings, including twice this week. New York had a 4-1 home victory over Detroit on Monday night.

Moritz Seider and J.T. Compher scored for Detroit. Red Wings goalie Cam Talbot was pulled in the second period after allowing five goals.

KINGS 4, CANADIENS 1

MONTREAL (AP) — David Rittich made 26 saves a night after being benched in the second period in Toronto, helping road-weary Los Angeles snap a three-game losing streak with a victory over Montreal.

Los Angeles improved to 2-1-2 on a season-opening, seven-game trip necessitated by arena renovations.

Rittich rebounded after allowing four goals on 14 shots in a 6-2 loss to the Maple Leafs. Alex Laferriere, Mikey Anderson, Andreas Englund and Adrian Kempe scored.

Justin Barron scored for Montreal (2-3-0). Sam Montembeault stopped 28 shots. He made a save on Kevin Fiala on a penalty shot.

BLUES 1, ISLANDERS 0, OT

ST. LOUIS (AP) — Joel Hofer made 34 saves and assisted on Jake Neighbours’ goal at 2:04 of overtime in St. Louis victory over New York.

Hofer had his second career shutout in his and the team’s second overtime victory of the season.

Philip Broberg carried the puck into the New York zone and made a centering pass to Neighbours for the winner.

Islanders goalie Ilya Sorkin made 29 saves.

Blues defenseman Nick Leddy sat out because of a lower-body injury, the first game he has missed this season. Leddy played in all 82 games last season.

OILERS 4, PREDATORS 2

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) — Brett Kulak scored twice and Connor McDavid added his first goal of the season to lead Edmonton to a victory over reeling Nashville.

Jeff Skinner also scored and Calvin Pickard made 25 saves for the defending Western Conference champion Oilers, who have won consecutive games after beginning the season with a three-game skid.

Filip Forsberg and Jonathan Marchessault scored and Juuse Saros made 32 saves for Nashville (0-4).

Forsberg’s goal midway through the first period gave Nashville its first lead of the season. That lasted less than six minutes before Kulak tied it.

Kulak sealed it with an empty-netter in the final minute for the defenseman’s first career two-goal game.

BLACKHAWKS 4, SHARKS 2

CHICAGO (AP) — Tyler Bertuzzi and Nick Foligno each scored a power-play goal, and Chicago beat San Jose.

Taylor Hall and Jason Dickinson also scored for Chicago. Connor Bedard and Teuvo Teravainen each had two assists.

Hall, who missed most of last season because of right knee surgery, put the Blackhawks in front 4:20 into the first period. It was Hall’s first goal since Nov. 5 and No. 267 for his career.

Tyler Toffoli and Fabian Zetterlund scored for San Jose, which trailed 3-0 early in the second. William Eklund and Mikael Granlund had two assists each.

The Sharks dropped to 0-2-2 under Ryan Warsofsky, who was promoted to head coach in June.

Petr Mrazek had 20 saves for Chicago, and Vitek Vanecek made 23 stops for San Jose.

KRAKEN 6, FLYERS 4

SEATTLE (AP) — Eeli Tolvanen, Jordan Eberle, and Shane Wright scored three goals in less than three minutes in the second period and Seattle held off a Philadelphia rally in a victory.

Tolvanen’s goal broke a 2-2 tie at the 14:57 mark. Eberle made it a two-goal game with a goal at 17:44. Eight seconds later, Wright scored to give Seattle a three-goal lead.

Jared McCann tied the game at 2-2 with the first of Seattle’s four second-period goals.

Cam York and Jamie Drysdale scored to pull Philadelphia within 5-4 in the third period, but Oliver Bjorkstrand responded with a goal to push Seattle’s lead to two with just over five minutes left in the game.

Scott Laughton scored twice for the Flyers in the first period, while Brandon Montour scored one in for the Kraken.

Chandler Stephenson had an assist in his 500th NHL game. Seattle’s Philipp Grubauer had 21 saves.

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Canada’s Dabrowski, New Zealand’s Routliffe out of Japan Women’s Open after walkover

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October 17, 2024

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OSAKA, Japan – Canada’s Gabriela Dabrowski and New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe are out of the Japan Women’s Open tennis tournament.

Spain’s Cristina Bucsa and Romania’s Monica Niculescu advanced to the final on Thursday by way of walkover.

The fourth seeds were supposed to play the top-seeded Dabrowski and Routliffe in the semifinals.

Bucsa and Niculescu will next face third-seeded Ena Shibahara of Japan and Laura Siegemund of Germany in the final.

Dabrowski and Routliffe defeated Japan’s Shuko Aoyama and Eri Hozumi in the quarterfinals 6-2, 6-4 on Wednesday to advance.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 17, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Mountain West commissioner says she’s heartbroken over turmoil surrounding San Jose State volleyball

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October 17, 2024

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LAS VEGAS (AP) — Mountain West Conference Commissioner Gloria Nevarez said Thursday the forfeitures that volleyball teams are willing to take to avoid playing San Jose State is “not what we celebrate in college athletics” and that she is heartbroken over what has transpired this season surrounding the Spartans and their opponents.

Four teams have canceled games against San Jose State: Boise State, Southern Utah, Utah State and Wyoming, with none of the schools explicitly saying why they were forfeiting.

A group of Nevada players issued a statement saying they will not take the floor when the Wolf Pack are scheduled to host the Spartans on Oct. 26. They cited their “right to safety and fair competition,” though their school reaffirmed Thursday that the match is still planned and that state law bars forfeiture “for reasons related to gender identity or expression.”

All those schools, except Southern Utah, are in the Mountain West. New Mexico, also in the MWC, went ahead with its home match on Thursday night, which was won by the Spartans, 3-1, the team’s first victory since Sept. 24.

“It breaks my heart because they’re human beings, young people, student-athletes on both sides of this issue that are getting a lot of national negative attention,” Nevarez said in an interview with The Associated Press at Mountain West basketball media days. “It just doesn’t feel right to me.”

Republican governors of Idaho, Nevada, Utah and Wyoming have made public statements in support of the cancellations, citing a need for fairness in women’s sports. Former President Donald Trump, the GOP nominee in this year’s presidential race, this week referenced an unidentified volleyball match when he was asked during a Fox News town hall about transgender athletes in women’s sports.

“I saw the slam, it was a slam. I never saw a ball hit so hard, hit the girl in the head,” Trump replied before he was asked what can be done. “You just ban it. The president bans it. You just don’t let it happen.”

After Trump’s comment, San Diego State issued a statement that said “it has been incorrectly reported that an San Diego State University student-athlete was hit in the face with a volleyball during match play with San Jose State University. The ball bounced off the shoulder of the student-athlete, and the athlete was uninjured and did not miss a play.”

San Jose State has not made any direct comments about the politicians’ “fairness” references, and Nevarez did not go into details.

“I’m learning a lot about the issue,” Nevarez said. “I don’t know a lot of the language yet or the science or the understanding nationally of how this issue plays out. The external influences are so far on either side. We have an election year. It’s political, so, yeah, it feels like a no-win based on all the external pressure.”

The cancellations could mean some teams will not qualify for the conference tournament Nov. 27-30 in Las Vegas, where the top six schools are slated to compete for the league championship.

“The student-athlete (in question) meets the eligibility standard, so if a team does not play them, it’s a forfeit, meaning they take a loss,” Nevarez said.

Ahead of the Oct. 26 match in Reno. Nevada released a statement acknowledging that “a majority of the Wolf Pack women’s volleyball team” had decided to forfeit against San Jose State. The school said only the university can take that step but any player who decides not to play would face no punishment.

___

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