Golf’s governing bodies announced a new local rule that will allow high-level tournaments to limit the length of drivers to 46 inches.
Called a Model Local Rule, it would go into effect Jan. 1, 2022. The PGA Tour said on Tuesday that it will adopt the rule, which does not apply to putters.
The United States Golf Association and R&A received feedback from players, equipment representatives and the various professional tours over the past several months before the announcement.
Bryson DeChambeau, who leads the PGA Tour in driving distance, has experimented with 48-inch drivers. Phil Mickelson, who won the PGA Championship using a 47½-inch driver, was critical of the potential move last month and took to Twitter again on Tuesday to voice his dissent.
“Really though, are the amateurs trying their best to govern the professional game the stupid ones?” Mickelson wrote on Twitter. “Or the professionals for letting them?”
Because it is a local rule, it would not prohibit amateurs from playing with a longer driver for handicap purposes. And it is unlikely regular competitions would invoke the rule; golf manufacturers do not mass-produce driver shafts longer than 46 inches.
There are numerous “local rules” in the rulebook that permit the game to be played in different ways at various levels. The tour often invokes a local rule called “preferred lies” or “lift, clean and place,” when playing conditions are an issue. The professional tours (except for the PGA of America) invoke the “one-ball rule,” which requires a player to use the same make and brand of ball throughout a round.
“We’ve worked closely with our industry partners to ensure the future for golf remains strong,” said Mike Whan, the chief executive officer of the USGA, which along with the R&A announced the change. “Admittedly, this is not the ‘answer’ to the overall distance debate/issue but a simple solution for competitive events.
“It’s important to note that it is not a ‘Rule of Golf,’ and as such, it is not mandated for the average, recreational golfer. Rather, this is an available tool for those running competitive events.”
The PGA Tour said in a statement that it surveyed usage of clubs across all of its tours and “found a very small number of players either have used or are currently using clubs great than 46 inches” and that its player advisory council reviewed the subject before deciding to implement the local rule on Jan. 1.
Andy Murray expects unvaccinated players to compete at the Australian Open but says he would support moves by local authorities to impose stricter conditions on them at Melbourne Park than those who have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19.
Victoria sports minister Martin Pakula said on Tuesday players planning to compete at the first grand slam of the year should get vaccinated to give themselves the best chance of competing in Melbourne.
Tennis Australia has declined to comment on arrangements for players based on their vaccination status.
However, vaccinated players are expected to given more freedom to move around and may also be able to skip the country’s mandatory 14-day quarantine upon arrival.
“My understanding is if you’re unvaccinated you’re still allowed to play, it’s just the rules are going to be different,” Murray told a news conference after Tuesday’s third-round loss to Alexander Zverev at Indian Wells.
“You might just have to leave (for Australia) a few weeks earlier than everyone else. That’s the player’s choice. If the local government puts that in place then I would support that.
“It would be great if more players got vaccinated.
“Australia in particular has been very, very strict over there. The public there have had to endure a painful 18 months or whatever.
“If people are going to come into the country and potentially risk an outbreak in their community, yeah, that’s understandable.”
World No.4 Zverev, who in April said he had not been vaccinated, did not want to be stuck in the middle of the debate.
“I fully respect the decisions of players that are not vaccinated. I also do respect the decision that the Australian government is giving,” he said.
“I don’t want to be in the middle of something which I kind of am not involved in because I don’t have that issue of the two-week quarantine, all that. I don’t want to go against anybody here.”
The Australian Open is due to start on January 17.
Mattia Binotto was absent from Ferrari’s pit-wall at the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix, where both his drivers Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz drove to fourth and eighth respectively, a result Binotto credited to the new power unit upgrade that’s giving them a small advantage.
Leclerc received the upgraded power unit on the weekend of the Russian Grand Prix, where he started 19th, and showed encouraging pace as he climbed up the order into the points, before a poor strategy call when the the rain came late in the race, saw him finish 15th. The pace was there though.
Sainz was given the upgraded power unit in the next race in Turkey, started 19th as well, and finished a strong eighth after pulling off some entertaining overtaking moves, as he sliced through the grid; his performance confirming the improvement promised by the new Ferrari power unit.
Binotto spoke to Formula 1’s official website about the upgraded unit, and the performance advantages it offered for the team and its drivers.
“It is giving us a small advantage,” he said. “I don’t want to quantify it on lap time because it is track-dependent. It’s not only pure ICE power, it’s energy recovery, so it’s a bit complex.
“But certainly it’s giving us an advantage,” Binotto reiterated, and continued: “If I look as well at quali with Charles, it was the… fourth [fastest] lap time. If I look behind him, it was very close, and I’m pretty sure that a couple of positions would have been lost without that specification.”
The team boss stressed that the decision to give his drivers the power upgrade was taken with 2022 in mind, as the team look to have a competitive power unit before the anticipated development freeze (on power unit development) becomes effective next year.
“As we said at the very start with Charles, when we introduced [the new hybrid system] in Sochi, the first objective was try to increase our experience in the view of 2022,” Binotto insisted.
“That’s why we introduced it as soon as possible, trying to rush it, taking some risks as well, but it’s all a risk assessment.
“Obviously for us, it’s clear [that we need to] get mileage on track and do our own experience before 2022 when the power units will be frozen… For us, that was the key and the reason [for the change],” he explained.
Although third in the constructors’ standings was not a priority for the Scuderia early in this season, as they focused on building a competitive car for 2022 under the new aero regulation, but as the season progressed, the Maranello squad find themselves only 7.5 points behind McLaren who are currently third. With six races to go, Ferrari are poised to usurp the Woking outfit, something Binotto admits is a realistic target now.
“[P3] is certainly a target that we have already communicated to the team,” he admitted. “I think everybody is on board with that.
“It would be great to finish third,” Binotto hoped. “So yes, we intend to finish, or at least our objective is to finish, third at the end of the season.”
Ferrari had a miserable 2020 season where they finished in sixth place on the constructors’ standings. They have shown some improvement this year, but the team hopes that 2022 would be the year they make their breakthrough, in a year when the sport is undergoing a major regulations change.
BURLINGTON, N.C. — JR Smith stepped into a hornets nest in his first college golf tournament, and it had nothing to do with his high score.
The 36-year-old two-time NBA champion was literally stung by hornets while completing his round Tuesday for North Carolina A&T on the second day of Elon’s Phoenix Invitational.
“To get stung on the basketball court or in an arena, never happens,” said Smith, now a freshman walk-on. “That’s one of the very few things you don’t have to worry about [in basketball] — other animals. When I got stung, I was like ‘No way.'”
The hornets just added to the sting of Smith’s birdie-less round of 8-over-par 79 on the Donald Ross-designed layout. Combined with his two rounds Monday, he finished at 29 over 240 — in 81st place out 84 entries.
Smith said he’s determined to improve because he knows others are paying attention. He communicated with Suns guard Chris Paul after Monday’s two rounds and heard from ex-NBA teammates as part of a group text.
“I got a lot of great feedback,” Smith said. “Chris Paul was telling me guys were talking about it in the locker room. Guys are really looking for my scores, so I got to take care of business so when I see them it ain’t going to be too much backlash.”
Still, he made an impact at the event. Well after the round, playing partner Mason Whatley of Presbyterian went to have a photograph with Smith.
“He has made golf cool for people,” Whatley said.
When the hornets attacked, being an ambassador for the game was not Smith’s top priority.
It happened on his third hole of the third round at Alamance Country Club. His tee shot went off the fairway and became embedded in pine straw. He found the ball, but his pull cart’s wheel rolled over the the nest.
Smith darted away from that area, waving his arms, before needing treatment. Smith, along with playing partners Florian Blatti of George Washington and Whatley, were granted a 15-minute break as other groups played through.
“I tried to turn it into a positive,” Smith said, referring to suiting up while ill in the NBA. “This might be your equivalent of a flu game.”
Smith had the sixth-best score out of six players on his team. The Aggies finished 11th in the 13-team field, 57 shots off the pace set by tournament champion Elon.
Smith played 16 years in the NBA, winning championships with Cleveland in 2016 and with the Los Angeles Lakers last year in the Florida pandemic bubble. The Lakers’ title-clinching win came exactly one year before his debut as an Aggies golfer.
Smith said he has a round tentatively set up next week with recently retired North Carolina basketball coach Roy Williams. Smith was originally set to play basketball for Williams’ Tar Heels before going jumping straight to the NBA in 2004.
WASHINGTON – In the battle for Toronto Raptors roster spots and playing time, Malachi Flynn and Sam Dekker made solid cases on Tuesday.
The duo combined for 25 fourth-quarter points to lift the Raptors 113-108 over the Washington Wizards in their pre-season finale.
“They both played really good, there’s no doubt and Sam certainly got hot there, it’s going to make the decisions tougher, I think, as we move forward,” said coach Nick Nurse. “We’re going to have to talk it over and think through a little bit and see what we end up with.”
Flynn, who is fighting for a spot in Nurse’s rotation in his second season with the Raptors, finished with 22 points.
“I was really happy with Malachi bouncing back again. Seems like he’s been really good, and had a couple tough nights and then really good,” Nurse said. “He bounced back, sign of a competitive guy. Obviously had a big fourth quarter there, as well.”
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Dekker, who had 18 points against his former team, is battling for one of the three remaining roster spots.
Veteran guard Goran Dragic, who was acquired in the sign-and-trade deal that sent Kyle Lowry to Miami in the off-season, added 16 points for the Raptors (3-2).
“Kind of what I was hoping to see out of Goran tonight to run the show and look at his opportunities,” Nurse said. “Looked much more comfortable out there tonight, which is good. Put in a couple of his old sets that he’s used to running back in the day and try to get him back in the groove.”
Gary Trent Jr. had 12 points and six rebounds, while Precious Achiuwa and rookie Justin Champagnie grabbed 10 rebounds apiece. Khem Birch had six points and six rebounds in his second game since recovering from COVID-19.
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Kyle Kuzma had 24 points to top Washington (0-3).
A night after the Raptors’ 107-92 win over Houston in Toronto, Nurse opted to rest starters Fred VanVleet and OG Anunoby. It was also a chance to get a last look at players vying for the available roster spots before opening-night rosters are set.
The Wizards raced out to an early 13-point lead but the Raptors sliced the deficit to 30-26 by the end of the first quarter.
Washington regained a double-digit advantage in the second, but the Raptors replied with a 22-10 run to go ahead for the first time since the game’s opening minute. The teams went into halftime tied at 58-58.
The Wizards led 89-81 with one quarter to play.
The Raptors will see the Wizards again when they host Washington in their regular-season opener on Oct. 20th, in front of a full crowd at Scotiabank Arena.
Because of COVID-19 regulations in Ontario, the Raptors haven’t played in front of a full arena in Toronto since Feb, 28, 2020. Border restrictions forced them to call Tampa, Fla., home last season.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 12, 2021.
The Nevada State Athletic Commission have banned Deontay Wilder from fighting until at least April 8 to protect the safety of the Bronze Bomber. The former WBC heavyweight world champion was on the receiving end of a brutal beatdown at the MGM Grand on Saturday night in a rollercoaster, modern-day classic against Tyson Fury as the Gypsy King inflicted some heavy punishment on his bitter rival before stopping him in the 11th Round of an all-out war.
Wilder was down himself in Round 3 but he battled back to drop Fury twice in the fourth before the bell saved the Brit, who would later regain his composure before battling on to victory.
The Gypsy King had Wilder down again in Round 10 before he closed the show with a savage right-hook that left the Bronze Bomber in a heap on the canvas just one round later.
There were immediate concerns for the health of Wilder after the contest as blood seeped from his nose, ear and mouth in the corner on his stool.
The doctor had taken a look before the ninth but decided Wilder was fit to continue but a violent, cold-blooded ending to the fight awaited him.
He said: “Deontay broke his right hand behind the third knuckle and he has to have that fixed next week.
“He has to have surgery, the knuckle is okay, it’s the bone behind the knuckle that broke.
“He’s healing and at this point, if everything is okay, after the hand surgery he’ll probably look to enter the ring mid next year, like April or May.”
Fury has also been handed a 45-day suspension with the Gypsy King now back in Morecambe to spend some time with his family.
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Finkel also added that he would love to make Wilder versus Anthony Joshua, regardless of the result in AJ’s rematch against Oleksandr Usyk.
He told The Sun: “My gut says the big fights. It’s not on the drawing board now, but he would love to get Fury back again.
“But again, it’s early and we have to get through Usyk and Joshua and see a couple of other possibilities.
“It’s a massive fight [Wilder vs Joshua], no matter what happens in the Joshua – Usyk fight.
“And I’m not sure that Usyk, even with his great skills, will be able to deal with the size of Fury.”
New York City’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate requires a person to have proof of at least one COVID-19 vaccine shot to enter indoor gyms — including Barclays Center, the home of the Nets, and Madison Square Garden, the home of the Knicks.
There are still numerous unknowns about Irving’s situation before Brooklyn takes on the defending champion Bucks on Tuesday in Milwaukee (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT).
Here’s everything we know and don’t know about Irving, the Nets and how the next few weeks (or months) might play out:
Why did the Nets decide to keep Irving away from the team?
Ultimately, the Nets decided the idea of having Irving attempt to be a part-time player was too big of a distraction to overcome. Thus, the team chose the only other alternative it had available: Keep Irving at home full time instead.
“Given the evolving nature of the situation and after thorough deliberation, we have decided Kyrie Irving will not play or practice with the team until he is eligible to be a full participant,” Nets general manager Sean Marks said in the statement announcing the team’s decision. “Kyrie has made a personal choice, and we respect his individual right to choose. Currently the choice restricts his ability to be a full-time member of the team, and we will not permit any member of our team to participate with part-time availability.”
After Irving wasn’t around the Nets at all last week because of the city’s vaccine mandate, things shifted Friday evening when New York City declared he would be allowed to practice at the team’s practice facility because it was a private business — unlike Barclays Center, which it deems a public one.
But after Irving was with the team for an open practice Saturday and a regular one Sunday in Brooklyn, it was notable he did not make the trip to Philadelphia to even be on the bench for Monday’s preseason game against the 76ers.
When Nets coach Steve Nash was asked about the decision to leave Irving home before the game, his answer was vague.
“We’re just trying to navigate this thing,” Nash said. “We don’t really know what’s going to happen tomorrow … we’re just trying to take our time to figure out what everything means.
“New information seems to come in every week, and we’re just in that process of not only trying to navigate the information, the parameters, but also what’s coming down the line, how it looks and feels and what we can do to make this work and all those things. That’s all.”
Less than 24 hours later, the Nets made it clear where they stood.
Why would the Nets not want him to just play road games?
This is an unprecedented situation as the Nets could have potentially gone long stretches without being able to work with Irving.
In the second week of the regular season, the Nets begin a six-game homestand in which they will be in New York for 13 consecutive days.
Playing Irving immediately after such long absences from game settings would have been untenable. And that’s just the next month. These awkward starts and stops would have repeated themselves throughout the season, and that’s less than ideal. “We’re not looking for partners that are going to be half-time,” Marks told the media Tuesday. “I don’t think that would be fair, not only on the team and staff and ownership and fans, but, to be quite frank, not fair on Kyrie either. When you’re putting someone out there that potentially can’t get the right ramp-ups and right buildups and so forth, and look as good as he and the team should under a different set of circumstances, that’s why this decision was ultimately made.”
Could Irving be traded?
Despite his All-NBA talent, teams could be reluctant to trade for Irving for several reasons.
There is some question as to whether Irving would immediately report to a new team if he was traded to a city where there wasn’t a local vaccine mandate. He has shown a willingness to leave without permission, regardless of consequences. Last season, Irving took an unapproved two-week sabbatical and missed five games for personal reasons, paying nearly $900,000 in fines for violating league protocols.
“Had a lot of family and personal stuff going on,” Irving said. “So, just want to leave it at that.”
Additionally, Irving has two years, $71 million left on his contract but has a player option next summer that would allow him to become an unrestricted free agent. Teams will be hesitant to give up significant players and draft picks for what could be a short-term arrangement.
Durant, for his part, has continued to say he hopes to have Irving on the team.
What’s the impact on Irving’s paycheck?
The NBA and the National Basketball Players Association agreed to a reduction in pay of 1/91.6 of a player’s salary for each game a player misses under the “reasonable cause” portion of the NBA’s collective bargaining agreement, a modified formula from the one that each side agreed to for last season’s 72-game campaign.
The NBA’s expectation, sources said, is that Irving’s refusal to get a vaccine shot, and thus being unable to render services to his team, will fall under the “reasonable cause” clause and force him to give up roughly $380,000 per game.
If he misses every game in Brooklyn this season (including preseason games), plus the two regular-season games against the Knicks at Madison Square Garden, it would cost him north of $17 million.
Irving is not suspended by the team and will continue to receive his salary for away games. The amount in loss of pay will increase once the playoffs start in mid-April and Irving begins to miss home playoff games.
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Brian Windhorst reports on what other NBA teams make of the loophole that allows Kyrie Irving to practice at the team’s facility in Brooklyn.
But the players’ association, sources said, has stressed it does not believe that is necessarily the case, something executive director Michele Roberts said publicly to the New York Daily News.
“They’ve been reporting that we’ve agreed that if a player who was not able to play because of his non-vaccination status, they could be docked [pay],” Roberts said. “We did not agree. The league’s position is that they can. We’ll see.”
In the Health and Safety Protocol memo issued to teams on Oct. 4, the language is clear that a player will lose a percentage of his pay if he refuses, without proper and reasonable cause or excuse, to participate in any game during the 2021-22 season.
In this case, Irving is available for away games and it is the discretion of the team that he will not play.
Even though the Nets have said Irving cannot practice with the team at home, he will not be fined for any of the missed practices.
Meanwhile, Irving is eligible to sign a four-year, $187 million extension with Brooklyn.
After Durant signed his extension this summer, Marks expressed optimism an agreement could be reached with Irving, but those talks are on ice, sources said.
Are other NBA teams or players affected by local vaccine mandates?
In New York, to enter any gym — including Madison Square Garden and Barclays Center — individuals need proof of at least one COVID-19 shot; in San Francisco, individuals must be fully vaccinated.
While the orders in New York and San Francisco apply to the players on those teams, the situation in Los Angeles is murkier. The Los Angeles ordinance, which was both passed by the Los Angeles City Council and signed by Mayor Eric Garcetti on Wednesday, will go into effect Nov. 29. Starting that day, anyone entering, among other facilities, indoor gyms will have to be fully vaccinated. Staples Center said the Los Angeles ordinance does not apply to it or Microsoft Theater, “who are already subject to an existing LACDPH order addressing this subject matter.”
Both the Lakers and Clippers said last month that their teams are, or are in the process of being, fully vaccinated.
Of note, Warriors swingman Andrew Wiggins received a COVID-19 vaccination and will be eligible to play in home games this season, coach Steve Kerr said. Wiggins applied to the NBA for a religious exemption, but that was declined by the league.
It’s also important to note that “non-resident performers” are exempted from all three orders, meaning that — as of now — visiting players are not impacted by any of them.
Who will step up in Irving’s place?
The Nets are as well equipped as any team to handle the absence of a star of Irving’s magnitude, with both Harden and Durant available to run the offense. Patty Mills, the team’s taxpayer midlevel exception signing, is projected to be the sixth man, while rookie Cameron Thomas has, at least initially, been the other guard in Nash’s rotation. Even without Irving, Brooklyn could have the NBA’s best offense this season.
“I mean, he’s a special player, so it is going to be hard to duplicate what he brings,” Durant said of Irving. “But professional sports are about the next-man-up mentality, so we are looking forward to guys stepping up and filling in that role as best as they can.”
“He’s a special player. We want him a part of this group. But a lot of stuff is out of our control, and we will let him figure that out for himself. It doesn’t mean that I will say that I don’t want him on the team. He’s a huge part of what we do, but guys got to step up in his absence and be who they are and move forward.”
ESPN’s Brian Windhorst and Ohm Youngmisuk contributed to this report.
The American entered the trilogy landing 39 per cent of his power strikes – and 52 per cent of his total strikes.
The latter number slipped to just 19 per cent as Fury stifled Wilder in each of the three bouts, although he did knock the Brit down on four occasions.
Fury got up each time, but it highlights the danger Wilder possesses in his striking power.
However, it’s no use in having powerful strikes if you land under 10 punches in 26 of the 30 rounds as Wilder struggled to deal with Fury’s exceptional defence.
Formula 1 Managing Director – Motorsports Ross Brawn weighed in on the hot topic emerging from the 2021 Turkish Grand Prix – Lewis Hamilton’s pit stop dilemma – hinting the team was right, as the driver is in a bubble.
Brawn gave his views on how the Turkish Grand prix unfolded, with all predictions towards the outcome rendered useless, a familiar trait of this year’s F1 season.
“The 2021 Formula 1 season is just the gift that keeps on giving,” he wrote. “We’re not entering races knowing who is going to win. Turkey was the same – it was a fascinating and engaging race.
“While it didn’t have a huge amount of spectacular action, there was a nice developing and evolving feel to it, especially towards the end with the dilemma of whether to stay out on one set of tyres or come in. It caught a few of the teams out.”
Brawn went on to address the elephant in the room – the Hamilton-Mercedes pitstop saga – being the latest of many pundits talking about it.
“Once again teams were faced with a very difficult strategic decision,” the director said. “In these scenarios, you’re trusting your judgment, experience and feel.
“As we saw with Lewis, there was a fair bit of initial resistance from within the car about pitting. When these situations are not clear-cut and you get a push back from the driver, it’s easy for a team to back off what they feel was the right decision.
Brawn went on to explain: “The driver is in a bubble. They need to give you information, but what they can’t see is all the data being fed to the pit wall.
“In Lewis’ case if he didn’t box and the tyres had gone away or there had been a light rain shower, he would have tumbled down the order and that would have been a disaster,” was Brawn’s final verdict on the matter, which clearly hinting at Mercedes taking the right decision pitting Hamilton for a new set of Intermediate tyres.
Unlike the fans, Brawn thinks that Valtteri Bottas was Driver of the Day, he said: “There were several good drives out there, including Carlos Sainz’s brilliant recovery drive from the back to score points, but my Driver of the Day goes to Valtteri Bottas.
“He did not put a foot wrong in very difficult conditions. Mercedes had a very good car, but he made the most of it – and never allowed a threat from behind.”
Brawn thinks Bottas is handling the fact that he is leaving the team quite well: “He’s the outgoing member of the team and in this scenario, it is easy to drop your chin, but he kept his up and I think he did a brilliant job.
“We all know Max is supreme in those wet conditions, but he couldn’t touch Valtteri. He showed us that if Alfa can give him the car next year, he’ll respond and make the most of it,” was Brawn’s prediction of Bottas’ Alfa Romeo future.
The Briton spared a word for Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, complementing his job on Sunday’s race, as the Mexican’s vigorous defense on the charging Hamilton was a race highlight.
“It was a solid performance from Checo after some difficult races,” he said. “It was another race where it was easy to make mistakes, but he delivered the sort of speed and showing we’ve been expecting him to since he joined Red Bull for this year.
“He made a fair defence of his position against Lewis (see the video below), and it was one of the most exciting parts of the race.
“He needs to do that every weekend,” Brawn advised. “Maybe it will give him a boost and we can see that level of performance from him more consistently in the future.”
Brawn’s opinion was expressed, in his latest routine column for F1.com after the the 16th round of this year’s Formula 1 season at Turkey’s Intercity Istanbul Park.
TORONTO – Newcomer Precious Achiuwa continues to make the most of his pre-season opportunity with the Raptors.
The 22-year-old Nigerian centre scored 17 points and grabbed a team-leading five defensive rebounds in 19 minutes of action in Toronto’s 107-92 win against the Houston Rockets on Monday.
About the same time Achiuwa arrived in Toronto to get familiar with his new surroundings a few days before the start of training camp, the Raptors’ leading man in the middle, Khem Birch, tested positive for COVID-19, and as a result, would miss a few weeks.
Birch made his return on Monday, but as expected, he was rusty. He only scored two points and tossed up two horrible free throws near the end of the first half.
Meanwhile, Achiuwa was one of the better Raptors, matching OG Anunoby for the team’s best offensive output.
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“Absolutely,” said Achiuwa when asked if his comfort level with his new team has improved. “It’s getting comfortable with what the coach wants, and I think that aligns with the way a lot of us want to play. We want to play fast, we want to start off the offence real early, and that kind of fits into the way a lot of us play. It just works out.”
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The six-foot-eight, 244-pound Achiuwa is not a traditional centre. He plays an athletic game. He can switch to cover a guard and score inside and outside, as evident by the three-point jumper he knocked down early in the third quarter.
“I believe this team is built around versatility,” he said. “Just looking at the guys on the team, there are a lot of guys that are my size, long arms, can do a lot of things, and we just play off each other. So far this pre-season, it’s been me, OG, Scottie (Barnes), Isaac (Bonga), who can do a lot of things.
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“Guys are big, tall, athletic, and it’s just a matter of learning how to play off one another.”
Achiuwa was acquired in the sign-and-trade with guard Goran Dragic from the Miami Heat in exchange for Kyle Lowry on Aug. 6th. As a rookie with the Heat last season, Achiuwa averaged only 12.1 minutes and five points a game.
But Raptors head coach Nick Nurse plans to split time at centre between Achiuwa and Birch.
“I thought (the Achiuwa-Birch combination) looked good, thought it looked improved,” Nurse said. “It should enable both of them to play six, seven minutes really hard, and the next guy can come in.
“Khem, it was really his first live-action at all, so he was a little bit out of sorts. He had a great look out to the corner and chucked in the seats, missed a couple of free throws. Legs were pretty wobbly for him, but we’ll get him in shape, get him out there again tomorrow, but obviously, it should be a decent combination.”
Toronto’s Malachi Flynn added 15 points against Houston, including three three-point jumpers, while rookie Scottie Barnes and Svi Mykhailiuk also chipped in 10 points apiece. Armoni Brooks led the way for the Rockets with 15 points.
The Raptors jumped out to a 9-0 lead against the Rockets, who finished with a league-worst 17-55 record last season, and led 28-19 after the first quarter. It was a stress-free outing as Toronto enjoyed 57-38 and 88-64 advantages at halftime and after the third quarter.
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Nurse elected to sit out newcomer Dragic. Instead, he will play in the Raptors’ fifth and final pre-season game in Washington against the Wizards on Tuesday.
Starters Fred VanVleet and Anunoby likely will get the evening off against the Wizards. The Raptors season opener is slated for Scotiabank Arena against the Wizards on Oct. 20.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 11, 2021.
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