It’s been almost a month since the Philadelphia 76ers signed Doc Rivers to be their next head coach. On Oct. 28,ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski delivered the additional breaking news that former Rockets General Manager Daryl Morey is finalizing a deal with the 76ers that will make him the new President of Basketball operations. According to Woj, Rivers and Morey have a close relationship from their time together with the Celtics. Also, NBC Sports reported Rivers met with Morey this past Saturday to discuss the 76ers moving forward.
Daryl Morey, like Rivers, brings a great deal of experience and success that has been lacking in the 76ers front office the past few seasons. Morey had been general manager of the Rockets since May 2007. Morey stepped down as manager of the Houston Rockets on Oct. 15, despite signing a five-year contract with the organization in March 2019.
During Morey’s time as the manager of the Houston Rockets, the team enjoyed a great deal of success. Throughout Morey’s tenure with the Rockets, the team had the second-best record in the NBA winning 61.5 percent of their games. In addition, under Morey’s lead, the Rockets appeared in the playoffs 10 times, had 51 playoff wins, and even made two appearances in the Western Conference finals.
Morey had a young protege working with him in Houston, Sam Hinkie. The Sixers brought on Hinkie as GM in 2013 and “the process” was started. No Sixer fan wants to endure that again.
Morey put significant emphasis on shooting three-pointers, as his Rocket teams broke numerous records for three-pointers made and attempted in a single season. Given this background, how well will Ben Simmons fare in an offense that emphasizes taking a healthy amount of three-pointers, when he’s been so reluctant to take any outside shots so far in his career? Is there something they know that the fans don’t? Is Morey planning to make a blockbuster trade involving Ben Simmons?
There is one player specifically that Morey could be looking to obtain. That player is James Harden. Harden and Morey spent the last eight years together in Houston and sustained a great deal of success together. In fact, Morey was the reason why Harden was even on the Rockets in the first place. One of Morey’s greatest accomplishments as general manager of Houston was the trade he made on Oct. 27, 2012 to acquire James Harden or, as some know him, “the beard.” Harden was drafted by the Oklahoma City Thunder with the third overall pick in the 2009 NBA draft. Harden was the sixth man for the Thunder coming off the bench but wasn’t able to showcase his full potential as he had to sit behind superstars Kevin Durant and Russel Westbrook. Morey could see that Harden had superstar potential, however, he just needed to be put in the right situation. So after four games of the 2012 season, Harden was traded along with Cole Aldrich, Daequan Cook and Lazar Hayward from the Oklahoma City Thunder to the Houston Rockets in exchange for Kevin Martin, Jeremy Lamb and two first-round picks. Morey clearly won that trade, as Harden who went on to be an MVP (2018) and eight-time all-star since he became a member of the Rockets.
Not all Morey moves worked out. He acquired Kyle Lowry in 2009 but traded him three years later. Lowry has gone on to become a six-time all-star as well as a World Champion with Toronto.
If there was some way Morey could trade for Harden, he should absolutely pull the trigger. Harden is a once-in-a-generation talent, and the thought of him teaming up with Joel Embiid in Philadelphia sounds too good to pass up, even if that means trading away Simmons. If Morey has the opportunity to acquire Harden, it’s likely that he won’t pass up the opportunity. After leaving the Rockets Morey took out a full page in the Houston Chronicle and dedicated it to Harden, saying “An entire page could be dedicated just to James. He not only transformed my life but also revolutionized the game of basketball — and continues to do so — like almost no one has before. The game is played differently because of James, and on every playground in the world, the next generation of talent is studying and imitating his game… I can’t believe I won’t be able to have another strategy session with James,” Morey wrote.
Perhaps he will again. The current form of the Sixers was only a sixth seed in the Eastern Conference, notwithstanding the “potential,” so you hire Morey to win now.
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After what can only be described as an unexpected year, the tennis season is drawing to a close.
The end of the tennis year can be a mess, with unexpected players making deep runs. This can be credited to injuries and mental fatigue, which isn’t the case this year thanks to the shortened schedule. Players are excited to be back on court after having most of April to September off.
November marks the end of the 2020 season, with the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) gunning for a 2021 start during the first week of January.
Paris Open: Nov. 2 – Nov. 8
The last masters tournament of the season is in Paris. While France announced a second lockdown, the Players Council tweeted Oct. 28 that the tournament would still be played. The ATP has plans for the tournament to be played behind closed doors, but “further government clearance is necessary.”
Due to the ATP point protocol for this season, Novak Djokovic will not be playing. He has no points to earn at the tournament and appears to be focusing his efforts on the ATP Finals, which is worth up to 1,500 points. Last week Djokovic stated his goal to take over the record for most weeks as world number one, and “will do all [he] can to make it happen.”
The field is still strong with Rafael Nadal, coming off his win at the French Open, taking the number one seed. Andrey Rublev, Diego Schwartzman and Matteo Berrettini are still battling it out for the final two open spots for the ATP Finals and will be making a push.
Sofia Open: Nov. 8 – Nov. 14
Since its inception in 2016, the Sofia Open has been played in February, but it was scheduled to be played in September for the first time. Unlike a lot of the other 250 tournaments, it was left on the schedule, but due to COVID-19, was pushed to November.
Vying for an ATP Finals berth, Schwartzman has announced his intention to play. After returning from the break, he has been playing some exceptional tennis. Following his finals run at Cologne he withdrew from the Vienna Open but will be playing in both Paris and Sofia. “I have a new goal: to play in the Nitto ATP Finals at the end of the year and… I am very focused, as if it were a Grand Slam,” he said.
The defending champion, Daniil Medvedev will not be playing. He wants to crack the top five by the end of the year, so he’ll be focusing his attention on Paris and the ATP Finals, where more points are available. Hometown favorite, Grigor Dimitrov, will also not be playing.
Roberto Bautista Agut, who won the tournament in 2016, will be headlining along with Kevin Anderson, Pablo Carreno Busta and Fabio Fognini.
NITTO ATP Finals: Nov. 15 – Nov. 22
The season will officially come to an end after the completion of the Nitto ATP Finals. Sadly, its final year of being hosted at the O2 Arena will have to be behind closed doors. After 12 years of being held in London, the tournament will be moving to Turin, Italy in 2021.
The tournament is played in a round-robin format with the top eight players on tour. Up to 1,500 points can be earned, with 200 points being deducted from that total with every round-robin loss. It is often called the “fifth grand slam,” but is never given the same weight in all-time discussions.
Defending champion Stefanos Tsitsipas has already secured his spot in London. Following a first week loss at the U.S. Open, he bounced back by making the finals at the German Open and the semi-finals at Roland Garros. Djokovic, Nadal, Dominic Thiem, Medvedev and Alexander Zverev have all qualified for the finals as well.
Gael Monfils, who has not won a match since the COVID-19 break, was in the running but announced an early end to his season via a Twitch stream on Oct. 27. After unexpectedly crashing out in the first round at Vienna, Denis Shapovalov’s finals hopes were also crushed.
Djokovic will be attempting to tie Federer’s record of six ATP Finals. Despite this being his ninth appearance, Nadal has yet to win once. Maybe this will be his lucky year.
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On July 11, 2014, Luis Suarez signed with the Spanish giants, FC Barcelona. Over the next six years, the Uruguayan striker would go on to solidify his status as a Barcelona legend and one of the best players to ever put on the Blaugrana shirt. From 2014 to 2020, Suarez won 13 trophies with the Catalan club, and scored 198 goals, becoming their third top scorer of all time. However, this past summer, after a few years of subpar results, Barcelona decided to shuffle their deck and look to a new era. This meant that several big-name players would have to leave, and Luis Suarez was the most high-profile departure, leaving for fellow Spanish club Atletico Madrid in September. Barcelona’s other top striker, Antoine Griezmann, was thought to be the long-term replacement for Suarez, but as the current season continues on, Suarez has adjusted well to life in Madrid while Griezmann has yet to score a single goal this season. This statistic begs the question, did Barcelona make a mistake by selling Luis Suarez?
After leaving his native Uruguay to play club football in the Netherlands, Luis Suarez rose to prominence on the global stage for his goalscoring abilities for Groningen, then Ajax as well as for the Uruguayan national team. A controversial character, Suarez was a player who never shied away from doing whatever it takes to win, no matter the consequence. Despite his provocative nature, he earned a move to Liverpool where he took his game to the next level, becoming one of the best players in the world and singlehandedly dragging Liverpool within inches of their first Premier League title in two decades. After that colossal season with Liverpool, Suarez moved to Barcelona for around 80 million euros with massive expectations on his shoulders. To the delight of Barcelona fans, he definitely lived up to those wishes, linking up with Lionel Messi and Neymar Jr. to form one of the most lethal attacking trios in football history.
Suarez’s first season was his best in terms of trophies as Barcelona won a historic treble; he even scored the winning goal in the Champions League Final against Juventus. While the 2014/15 season was Suarez’s best in terms of trophies, the 2015/16 season was his finest in terms of individual performances and accolades. He scored an insane 59 goals in 53 games on top of 16 assists. With these numbers, Suarez won the Pichichi award and the European Gold Boot as the top-scorer in both Spain and in Europe overall, breaking the Messi-Ronaldo hegemony.
Suarez turned 30 in 2017 and his form started to dip especially in important Champions League matches. However, he was still Barcelona’s second-best player behind Messi, and would still score goals in double digits every season. Beyond goals, he was also essential to the way Barcelona would play in terms of their buildup and team morale. As evidence, whenever Suarez was not in the squad, Barcelona played significantly worse.
In the summer of 2019, Barcelona signed the French striker, Antoine Griezmann, for 120 million Euros in a contentious transfer from Atletico Madrid. While not at the level of Suarez, Griezmann was still a world-class striker who was in the prime of his career. After spending his entire club career in Spain, Griezmann already had a great experience in La Liga, not to mention that he won the 2018 World Cup with France. With all this in mind, Griezmann was seen as the long-term replacement for Suarez.
Griezmann’s first season with Barcelona was disappointing by his high standards, scoring only 15 goals compared to his 21 last season with Atletico, or his 29 the season before. However, because Suarez was ahead in the pecking order, Griezmann would often have to play out of position on the wing as Suarez was the starting striker. Therefore, a dip in form was expected.
At the end of the 2019/20 season, Barcelona was left in ruins. After a Supercup loss to Atletico, manager Ernesto Valverde, was sacked in the middle of the season and Quique Setien was hired as a quick fix. The incompetence of the last few years from the Barcelona board came to a climax. Barcelona had one of the worst seasons in history, going trophyless and ending their Champions League campaign with a humiliating 8-2 loss to Bayern Munich. Following this defeat, top to bottom changes were required at Barcelona, and the complaints were finally heard. Unfortunately, the board did not resign (although they eventually would this October) but Setien and the majority of the coaching staff were sacked. Next was the squad, and many big players feared that they would be told to leave. To the detriment of many fans, Luis Suarez was one of those players as the new incoming coach Ronald Koeman told him he had no spot for him in his team.
Juventus then came calling, but after an issue with Suarez getting an Italian passport, he officially signed with Atletico Madrid on Sept. 23, 2020. Whether or not you agree with Suarez leaving, you have to admit the way they essentially kicked him out the door was incredibly disrespectful as he was reportedly informed of his forced departure by phone call. Within the next few days, Suarez visited his locker for the last time and said goodbye to his now-former teammates. This would be the last time Suarez walked through the Camp Nou as a Barcelona player. For a player who gave everything to this club for the past six years, the level of disregard was truly unfair.
On the pitch, many thought Griezmann would fit better into the team now that he can play centrally, filling Suarez’s role. However, seven matches into this season, Griezmann has zero goals in all competitions. He has played on the wing, in the number 10 role as a striker, yet he is unable to find any form, often looking out of position, unconfident in front of goal and lacking a real place in the team. In several of the biggest matches, Koeman has even benched Griezmann for younger players who are in better form. On the flip side, Suarez currently has four goals in seven matches for Atletico Madrid making him their top-scorer so far. He has slotted perfectly into Diego Simeone’s style of play and is linking up wonderfully with both Joao Felix and Angel Correa.
In my opinion, this offers all the evidence you need to prove that Barcelona made the wrong decision to sell Luis Suarez. While sure, he is older and some of his pace and sharpness are gone, he still has raw talent along with true hunger for the game. Yes, if Suarez remained at Barcelona, Griezmann would again be pushed off to the side, but one can argue that Griezmann was never a fit for Barcelona in the first place and therefore never should’ve been signed. As mentioned before, the Barcelona board made a plethora of bad decisions; the sale of Suarez and purchase of Griezmann can be considered two of the largest examples. Not to mention that in recent games, Barcelona lost 3-1 to Real Madrid, 1-0 to Getafe and tied 0-0 with Sevilla as they hit a bad run of form following a strong start to the season. In these three matches, the biggest problem was the ball in the final third. They would often create many good chances, but when it comes to that final pass or the shot on goal, the players would fail to capitalize. One could only wonder if Barcelona still had a pure goal-scorer like Luis Suarez in the team, if they still would have dropped points in these three matches.
To be fair, there still is a lot of validity to the argument that Barcelona made the right decision to sell Suarez, regardless of Griezmann’s performances. For example, due to, yet again, the board’s terrible decision-making, Barcelona has been in a negative financial situation. Behind Messi, Suarez was the biggest name on the wage bill, and freeing up those funds is a great amount of money that can be spent elsewhere. On the pitch, one can also argue that Suarez’s best years are far behind him, and keeping him would only hurt the squad overall. At Barcelona, Suarez averaged 33 goals a season, but in the 2019/20 season, he only scored 21. Sure, he missed a major part of the season due to a knee injury, but his age also means injuries like these will become more common. Injury aside, Suarez’s goal tally has declined bit by bit every season since 2015/16. As a result of playing an enormous amount of games every season and the inevitable fatigue, Suarez lost a lot of his sharpness in the past two seasons. He would make great runs, get into the right positions, but his shots would be off, his passes would not find their target or he would lose the ball, ruining what could have been a good attack for the team.
Overall, I still believe that Suarez should have stayed a Barcelona player this season. While he is not the same player he was in 2016, he is still one of the most talented strikers in the world and a club legend. What they should have done is tell Suarez that he would stay, but his role would be reduced in order to give opportunities to younger players. In this system, Griezmann would be able to have the spotlight, being the main striker, while Suarez would start on the bench, coming on in the second half as an impact sub. This would give Griezmann the confidence knowing he is the main man, but at the same time, Suarez’s talents would still be at Barcelona’s disposal. Also, given that he would not be playing as many games, he would be less inclined to injury and he would be less fatigued, meaning he would be more clinical in front of goal.
Regardless of whether or not Luis Suarez is currently contracted to Barcelona, he will always remain a Barcelona player in the hearts of the fans, and his departure does not take away from any of the success he enjoyed in the Catalan capital.
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Wentz Led The Eagles to Victory In Week 7 (Emilee Chinn / Getty Images)
After a relatively mundane Week 6, Week 7 of the NFL, on paper, looked to be more of the same. In reality, it provided a handful of exciting games.
The week kicked off Thursday night with a terribly bad yet exhilarating-to-watch NFC East battle between the New York Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles. Carson Wentz continued to take poor care of the football. The highlight of the night was Daniel Jones breaking free for an 80-plus yard touchdown run until, in true NFC East fashion, he was gobbled up by the turf monster. Despite leading for most of the game, a late drop by Evan Engram that would have all but sealed a win for the Giants gave possession back to the Eagles. Carson Wentz manufactured a game-winning drive and dropped an absolute dime to Boston Scott for the game-winner. The Eagles now sit atop the NFC East with a 2-4-1 record. Looking forward, the Birds have a Sunday night battle with the Dallas Cowboys, who had an abysmal performance against the Washington Football Team this week, losing in rout 25-3.
A handful of teams who have struggled out of the gate this season put up a fight against perennial playoff contenders. After getting trounced by the Steelers in Week 6, the Browns were boosted by an electric performance from Baker Mayfield. Despite this, they found themselves in a high-scoring battle with the one-win Cincinnati Bengals. Baker found Donovan Peoples-Jones in the corner of the endzone with under 20 seconds left to seal Cleveland’s victory. It was not all good for Cleveland though, they lost Odell Beckham Jr. for the season with a torn ACL.
The Buffalo Bills, led by MVP candidate Josh Allen staved off an early scare from the winless New York Jets to win 18-10. This game, however, leaves many wondering if the Bills are genuine contenders in the AFC.
Carolina is in the middle of a rebuild. With star running back Christian McCaffrey missing his fifth straight game it looked like the Saints would walk all over the Panthers. The former Saint Teddy Bridgewater kept his Panthers in it until the end when Joey Slye attempted an NFL record 65-yard field goal to tie the game that came inches short, giving the Saints a 24-27 victory.
A handful of games were blowouts by teams far superior to their opponents. Tom Brady and the Bucs easily beat the Raiders; Aaron Rodgers and the Packers continued their hot run of form against the lowly Houston Texans; Rookie Justin Hebert secured another win against the struggling Jacksonville Jaguars; The Patriots benched Cam Newton during their 33-6 defeat at the hands of Jimmy G and the 49ers, who jumped back above the .500 mark; Patrick Mahomes led the Chiefs to a comfortable divisional victory over the Denver Broncos; On Monday night, the Rams defense dominated the Bears, and both teams left SoFi Stadium 5-2.
On paper, the best matchup going into the week was the undefeated Pittsburgh Steelers against the undefeated Tennessee Titans. This game was supposed to occur in Week 4, but after a COVID outbreak at the Tennessee camp, the game was played in Week 7. Nonetheless, the game lived up to the hype. The Steelers came out of the gates quickly, jumped out to an early lead, and were up 17 at halftime. An early second-half field goal extended the Pittsburgh advantage to 20 points. In the Pittsburgh Steelers’ long and storied history, they have never lost a game when leading by 20 points. Tennessee almost changed that. With 14 seconds left, the Titans found themselves down three. After a long drive, Ryan Tannehill led the team into field goal range. Head Coach Mike Vrabel trotted out veteran Stephen Gostkowski for a 45-yard attempt that missed wide to the right, and the Steelers found themselves 6-0, much to the shock of Ben Roethlisberger.
Detroit also visited Atlanta. Though this game does not sound like a contest many would tune into, it turned out to have the best ending out of any game this weekend. After a back-and-forth first half, Matt Prater hit a 49-yard field goal to put the Lions up 16-14 with a little bit over three minutes left in the game. Atlanta stormed down the field and found themselves with a first and goal at the ten-yard line. Falcons running back Todd Gurley, who recovered his own fumble on the previous play, took the handoff and recognized the Lions were trying to let him score. However, he noticed this too late and tried to fall short of the goal line but ended up just slightly crossing the plane. After a successful 2-point attempt, the Lions found themselves down six, with just over a minute left and no timeouts. Two consecutive plays over 20 yards put the Lions at the Falcons 11-yard line. After hurrying up and spiking the ball, the Lions stopped the clock with just three seconds left. It all came down to one play. Matt Stafford rolled out of the pocket and threw a dart to T.J. Hockensonfor the score and tied it. Since the Falcons successfully completed a 2-point conversion, the Lions needed the extra point to win. Matt Prater, who already missed a field goal earlier in the fourth quarter, split the uprights and the Atlanta Falcons found yet another heartbreaking way to lose.
Maybe the most exciting game of the weekend was Sunday night. Future league MVP Russell Wilson faced off with former number one pick Kyler Murray. For people who love high octane and exciting plays, this was the game for them. At halftime, the score was 27-17, with the Seahawks holding the edge. There was just one punt in the first half and already multiple turnovers. No drive lasted longer than six minutes throughout the entire game – something rarely, if ever, seen in this high-scoring of a contest. The Seahawks scored to go up 34-24 with just under seven minutes to go. The Cardinals quick-strike offense scored a touchdown and, after a Seattle punt, the ball was in Kyler Murray’s hand, down three with less than a minute to go. Murray led a beautiful drive and spiked the ball at the Seattle 26 with three seconds remaining. Kicker Zane Gonzales hit the field goal to send the game to overtime. Seattle got the ball first and punted – meaning all Arizona needed was a field goal to win. Murray drove them down again into field goal range.
After a negative play on first down with over three minutes left, Cardinals coach Kliff Kingsbury decided it was time to end the game. This time, however, Zane Gonzalez missed the 41-yard field goal. You’re probably asking yourself, “wasn’t it second down when they kicked?” and “wasn’t there still a lot of time left in the game?” The answer to both questions is an emphatic yes. MVP front runner Russell Wilson was given a chance to put together a game-winning drive. After driving his team down the field, Russell Wilson showed everybody that he is in fact human. Russ was picked off by Isaiah Simmons with a minute left. With the ball near midfield with under a minute to go, Kyler Murray had one final chance to win the game. This time Kingsbury decided to kick the potential game-winner on fourth down. Gonzalez trotted out with an opportunity to redeem his previous miss. From 48 yards out, Gonzalez gave the Cardinals the 37-34 win and handed Seattle their first loss of the season.
Week 8 is shaping up to be a solid slate of games. Highlighted by the Steelers facing off against the Ravens with AFC North supremacy at stake. Another divisional matchup to keep an eye on is the 49ers and Seahawks, and despite being early in the season, both of these games have massive playoff implications.
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This NBA season has certainly been different. With that being said, it was generally successful, and all the teams have returned back home with the conclusion of the finals. With the Lakers taking the championship, all eyes are now on the offseason and what the future of the NBA will look like.
In just a month, the NBA Draft will take place. The draft is normally held at the Barclays Center with friends, family and spectators in attendance, watching to see all the prospects starting a new chapter of their careers. Unfortunately, the draft will be held virtually on Nov. 18 this year. Besides that, everything else will be the same: two rounds with 30 picks in each round.
The Minnesota Timberwolves will have the first pick of the draft, and this is only the second time that the Timberwolves got the number one pick from the NBA Draft Lottery. The first pick was, of course, Karl Anthony Towns. It will be interesting to see who the Timberwolves will select to be a part of their team. The Timberwolves have not made a clear choice to who they are going to draft.
“There’s no guy that has separated himself from the pack from public or external view, but I’m very confident about identifying one guy, the best talented player with the most upside and most ability for our organization,” said Gersson Rosas, president of Minnesota’s basketball operations, to ESPN.
So, who exactly are the top prospects of this 2020 draft? There is no established first pick this year, and although the Timberwolves do have the luxury of the top pick, they could choose to trade that pick for a more suitable player that fits the team profile. In no particular order, here are some of the top prospects to keep on your radar:
LaMelo BallLaMelo has been a suspected top prospect in the NBA draft for quite a while now. Ball’s brother, Lonzo, is also in the NBA, but Ball has made a name for himself. The six-foot-eight point guard has good length and size for his position. He first started out at Chino Hills High School in California, then decided to go overseas, where he played in the Lithuanian League. Ball now competes in Australia with the Illawarra Hawks in the National Basketball League. He can stretch the floor and take it all the way to the basket. His ability to read the floor will be a key aspect in the development of his game in the NBA.
Obi ToppinOut of the University of Dayton, Obi Toppin had a tremendous sophomore year as a Flyer. He averaged 20 points and 7.5 rebounds per game. The first thing that comes to mind when thinking about Toppin’s strengths is his athletic ability. Not only can he take it all the way to the rack, but he can also post up down low. His size and six-foot-nine height gives him a good advantage. Although he is a power forward, Toppin’s shooting has improved this past year at Dayton. If his versatility develops, he will make waves as a rookie.
James WisemanA true big man in James Wiseman, who, at just 19 years old, will look to land a spot on a NBA roster. Wiseman is a Tennessee native and High School Gatorade Player of the Year. He played just three games at the University of Memphis, but competed at a high level, averaging a double-double, 19.7 points, 10.7 rebounds and three blocks. Wiseman, the seven-foot-one center, keeps his game in the paint. The lefty developed a mid range game before his collegiate career and can run the floor. Wiseman’s season was cut short due to recruiting violations that landed him a 12 game suspension. The pandemic also ended the 2019-20 college basketball season early. Since NBA scouts do not have much film on Wiseman, his short collegiate career and outstanding high school campaign will be enough to give them a sense of what he will become.
Anthony EdwardsThe six-foot-five combo guard is and will continue to be a big part of the talk for draft night. Anthony Edwards, the University of Georgia player, is explosive and extremely hard to guard. He has the ability to shoot the ball beyond the arc and dribble to the rim, making it difficult for defenders to guard him. Edwards can run the ball in transition and throw it down with his athleticism. Additionally, he is not afraid of contact and is a natural scorer. He was awarded Freshman of the Year and second team All-Conference. Edwards is a true competitor and dynamic scorer who is not afraid of competition.
These are just four of the players who will be waiting on Nov. 18 for their names to be called by Adam Silver. Deni Avdija, Onyeka Okongwu and Killian Hayes are some additional prospects in the draft. Although the draft will be held virtually, the build-up and emotion will be the same. These players have all worked so hard to get to one of the most memorable nights of their lives, and it’s time for them to take this big step.
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Rafael Nadal took home a historic 13th French Open title this month. With his win, he brought his total number of Grand Slam wins to 20, tying Roger Federer’s record. This victory reopened the GOAT debate for many fans.
Following Nadal’s win in Paris, Federer posted an Instagram caption that said, “I hope 20 is just another step on the continuing journey for both of us.” Neither player is planning to step away from the court anytime soon. Besides Nadal and Federer, Novak Djokovic is vying for a seat at the table. Djokovic has won five of the last nine majors, and as the youngest of the three men, he could be on tour long after Federer and Nadal bid adieu.
The tennis season is a whirlwind. With four different surfaces (that all play at varying speeds), four grand slams, a multitude of smaller tournaments played on almost every continent and almost no offseason, a lot is expected of every professional player. The fact that these three players have kept up their outstanding levels of play for over 15 years is a testament to their dedication.
There are many factors used to debate who the Greatest Of All Time in tennis is: head-to-head, number of majors, weeks at number one, most matches won, and performance at masters levels events. However, picking one person isn’t so simple.
Nadal leads his head-to-head with Federer with a score of 24-16. Federer is still clinging onto his record for most-weeks-at-number-one. Djokovic has beaten Nadal 29 out of their 56 meetings, barely edging out the lead. Federer has the most wins at majors, and Federer and Nadal have the most majors. You could keep going around in circles, pointing out why one player is the best. But the truth is that there are too many variables to name one player as GOAT, especially with the three leading contenders all still active on tour.
Some journalists and fans will say having the GOAT discussion is reductive: why not appreciate the fact that some of the best to play the sport are playing at the same time? To some extent, they are right. There is an argument to be made that Federer is the GOAT of grass, Nadal is the GOAT of clay and Djokovic is the GOAT of hard. Let them all have a piece of the pie.
But the real question is: why censor discussion? GOAT discussions help introduce people to tennis. It helps foster conversation. In a sport where being a fan can seem isolating, especially in America (where tennis isn’t on most people’s radar), having something that promotes conversation is a positive. While some fans like to stifle this debate, letting people talk about a sport they love and the players they love should be supported. Sports, at its core, is about community.
As cliche as it sounds, we should appreciate the history that is being made right in front of us. And for some, appreciating means debating. It’s all in the game.
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Romelu Lukaku of Inter Milan (Photo by Claudio Villa – Inter/Inter via Getty Images)
As of last Tuesday and Wednesday, this season’s Champions League Finals are officially underway. Because of the unforeseen health crisis that impacted the whole world, the new season started about a month later than usual, and it has only been less than two months since Bayern Munich beat PSG in last season’s final to claim the 2020 European crown. But alas, we are finally back on the European scene again, and thankfully for us, matchday No. 1 definitely did not disappoint, even if no fans were allowed in the stadiums.
Group A
In the marquee match of this group, and possibly of the entire matchday, reigning champions Bayern Munich welcomed Atletico Madrid to Munich. Both sides have started the season well, but not perfect. Atletico Madrid have adopted a blend of attacking football and are still adjusting to the new tactics while Bayern have had to overcome some defensive mishaps. While many expected this game to be a tight, cagey affair, it was anything but. Atleti were not necessarily bad, but Bayern were just perfect in every way on the night, smashing last season’s quarterfinalists 4-0 without mercy. Not only that, but every single one of Bayern’s four goals were beautiful, further proving why they are reigning champions and the best team in Europe.
The other match in Group A between Red Bull Salzburg and Lokomotiv Moscow was not the high-profile match of Bayern vs Atletico, but it was arguably even more entertaining as they split the points in a hard-fought 2-2 draw.
Results:
Bayern Munich (Germany) 4–0 Atletico Madrid (Spain)
Red Bull Salzburg (Austria) 2–2 Lokomotiv Moscow (Russia)
Group B
In what could turn out to be the most exciting group of this competition, Group B was a good example of the wonderful football the Champions League had on display this week. In a game of two halves to a stereotypical degree, Real Madrid were absolutely torn to shreds by a Shakhtar Donetsk side missing many of their starters, going 3-0 down before halftime. In the second half, however, Real Madrid went on the offensive, scoring two wonderful goals in quick succession. A late equalizer in stoppage time was ruled out for being offside, awarding Shakhtar all three points in a historic win.
The next game of this group held up to the billing as an exciting Inter Milan faced off against an underrated but talented Borussia Monchengladbach side.
Inter took the lead after a goal from Romelu Lukaku, only for Monchengladbach to fight hard for a comeback and take the lead themselves, forcing Lukaku to steer home a late equalizing goal, saving Inter’s blushes.
Results:
Real Madrid (Spain) 2–3 Shakhtar Donetsk (Ukraine)
Inter Milan (Italy) 2–2 Borussia Monchengladbach (Germany)
Group C
In a group that looked to be a cakewalk for Manchester City, at least on paper, the results today prove otherwise as Manchester City had to come from behind and grind hard for a win against Porto after Luis Diaz opened the scoring with a great solo goal. Man City upped the ante in second half to secure a win, but it was by no means easy.
In Greece, Olympiacos welcomed Marseille to what turned out to be the French side’s first Champions League match in years. Though Marseille were unable to mark their return with a win, they certainly tried as only a stoppage-time winner from Ahmed Hassan made the difference for Olympiacos.
Results:
Manchester City (England) 3–1 Porto (Portugal)
Olympiacos (Greece) 1–0 Marseille (France)
Group D
Group D has some interesting matches lined up for this season, and this week we got to see a glimpse of that. Liverpool opened their campaign with a victory over a much-changed Ajax side, but they did so by the skin of their teeth, with Fabio “Fabinho” Henrique Tavares forced to make an elastic goal-line clearance to maintain a clean sheet for the Reds.
In a battle of underdogs, Atalanta traveled to Denmark to face off against Midtjylland. Credit to Midtjylland for qualifying for this tournament, but they are no doubt the weakest team in this group, as Atalanta expertly dismantled the Danish team.
Results:
Ajax (Netherlands) 0–1 Liverpool (England)
Midtjylland (Denmark) 0–4 Atalanta (Italy)
Group E
In what could turn out to be the least interesting of the groups here, Chelsea and Sevilla opened their campaign with possibly the least entertaining game this matchday, playing out a drab 0-0 draw. Both sides defended well but did not really trouble the opponent’s goal that easily.
The other match in Group E also ended in a draw, but this time with some goals scored as Rennes drew 1-1 with Krasnodar. Rennes have a team filled with bright young stars, but given that this is the club’s first-ever appearance in the Champions League, their inexperience may be their Achille’s heel.
Results:
Chelsea (England) 0–0 Sevilla (Spain)
Rennes (France) 1–1 Krasnodar (Russia)
Group F
Both matchups in Group F featured teams playing teams that were around a similar skill level, resulting in two very exciting matches. Borussia Dortmund traveled to Rome to play Lazio, but Lazio clearly showed they are the more clinical and professional side as Ciro Immobile was able to score against his former side. Erling Haaland pulled one back for the Germans, but it was a momentum that Dortmund were unable to handle as Lazio scored another, raising serious questions around manager, Lucien Favre’s, job security.
Zenit Saint Petersburg then matched Club Brugge in a game that exploded into life in the last half hour. Despite coming back from a goal down, Club Brugge stole all three points with yet another stoppage-time winner this week.
Results:
Zenit Saint Petersburg (Russia) 1–2 Club Brugge (Belgium)
Lazio (Italy) 3–1 Borussia Dortmund (Germany)
Group G
In a group that is headlined by Barcelona and Juventus, we were, unfortunately, unable to see Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo face off this week but were still treated to some good football. Juventus traveled to Ukraine to play Dynamo Kyiv in what was Andrea Pirlo’s first-ever Champions League match as a manager. After a slow first half, Alvaro Moratascored a poacher’s brace to win the match for Juve.
In the other match, Barcelona aimed to undo the humiliation of past seasons and prove they are among the elite again, playing some beautiful football to see off Ferencvaros, who are playing their first Champions League match in over a decade.
Results:
Dynamo Kyiv (Ukraine) 0–2 Juventus (Italy)
Barcelona (Spain) 5–1 Ferencvaros (Hungary)
Group H
Last but definitely not least, we have Group H, which is also a contender for most exciting group in this competition. In what is slowly turning into a rivalry, PSG hosted Manchester United to their home stadium in Paris, and just like last time, Man U nabbed all three points following a late winner from Marcus Rashford, much to the distress of the Parisians. In a tightly contested match, both goalkeepers, David de Gea and Keylor Navas rolled back the years and gave world-class performances.
In the last match we will look at this week, RB Leipzig met Istanbul Basaksehir in a match between possibly the two most hated teams in Europe. Leipzig was one of the surprise teams last season, and they showed they lost no luster as two masterfully taken goals from the left-back (yes, left-back), Angelino, saw off the Turkish side.
Results:
Paris Saint-Germain (France) 1–2 Manchester United (England)
RB Leipzig (Germany) 2–0 Istanbul Basaksehir (Turkey)
Best Goals:
Across the matchday, there were a plethora of absolutely world-class strikes that ended up in the back of the net. These include, but are not limited to, Dominik Szoboszlai’s side-footed dipping shot against Lokomotiv Moscow, Kingsley Coman’s mazy run against Atletico Madrid, Luka Modric’s slightly curled longshot against Shakhtar Donetsk, Gundogan’s swerving free-kick against Porto, Papu Gomez’s rocket of a shot against Midtjylland, Coutinho’s trademark curler after a stunning buildup play against Ferencvaros and Angelino’s quick turn and shot against Istanbul Basaksehir.
However, in my personal opinion, my two favorite goals this matchday were Corentin Tolisso’s redirected longshot which flew into the upper 90, almost tearing the net and leaving Jan Oblak no chance, as well as Luis Diaz’s amazing solo goal which saw him glide past three defenders before rounding Manchester City’s entire defensive block and placing his low shot in the far corner.
However, I must also give a shout out to Dejan Lovren, as even though he is a center-back who is not known for his goal-scoring prowess, he was approximately an inch away from scoring no doubt the best goal this week after he unleashed an absolute tomahawk missile of a shot that clipped the post and deflected off the goalkeeper before bouncing in. Unfortunately for Lovren, this goal had to be marked down as an own goal for Club Brugge’s goalkeeper, Ethan Horvath.
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The 2020 season has not been very kind to the Philadelphia Eagles. The team currently sits in second place of the dreadful NFC East at (1-3-1) behind the Dallas Cowboys (2-3).
Unfortunately for the Cowboys, their “franchise” quarterback, Dak Prescott, is out for the season after fracturing his ankle against the New York Giants on Oct. 11. It was a devastating injury for Prescott who was playing on the franchise tag in hopes of cashing in on a big contract after this season. Due to the injury, Prescott might be forced to prove himself once again next year to secure the elusive huge contract.
The Eagles haven’t been able to avoid the injury bug this year, either. Not only are five starting offensive linemen missing significant time (Lane Johnson, Brandon Brooks, Issac Seumalo, Andre Dillard and Jason Peters), but all three of their starting receivers heading into week six have missed time as well (Alshon Jeffrey, 2020 first-round pick Jalen Reagor and DeSean Jackson). Fortunately, the injuries have led to a new face leading the charge of the wide receiver group.
Enter Travis Fulgham. Fulgham was drafted with the 184th pick in the sixth round by the Detroit Lions. In 2019 Fulgham made three appearances for the Lions without recording a reception and was promptly waived on Aug. 9, 2020. Shortly after, Fulgham was picked up off waivers by the Green Bay Packers on Aug. 10 and then ultimately waived by the Packers on Aug 19. A day later Fulgham was claimed by the Eagles, then waived on Sept. 3, and then signed to the practice squad on Sept. 6. That turned out to be a wonderful move by Eagles General Manager Howie Roseman.
Once the Eagles injuries continued at the receiver position this season, Fulgham was promoted to the active roster on Oct. 3, and boy has Fulgham has made the most of his opportunities. The very next day, Fulgham made his Eagles debut against the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday Night Football. What did Fulgham do? Oh nothing, he just caught two passes for 57 yards, including a 42-yard touchdown pass from Carson Wentz, that wound up being the game-winner and giving the Eagles their first victory of the season.
If you don’t stay up to date with the Eagles roster transactions, it should be assumed that most people watching that Sunday night game had never heard of Fulgham. However, after the Eagles game the very next week against the Pittsburgh Steelers, it was hard not to know who Fulgham was as a football fan. Why? Fulgham one-upped his performance against the 49ers as he went for an unbelievable 10 catches, 152 yards and a touchdown against the vaunted Steelers defense. While the Eagles ended up losing the game, there’s hope that they may have at long last found their next franchise receiver.
When asked about Fulgham, Carson Wentz was very confident that Fulgham is the real deal. Wentz couldn’t hold back his excitement about Fulgham when talking with NBC Sports. “I think he showed last week that there was no fluke,” Wentz said on Wednesday. “The big touchdown catch against the Niners, I think he showed last week that it wasn’t a fluke. He’s a big-time player and we’ve seen what he’s done in practice now for a while and how he’s kind of come along within our offense, within our system.” Wentz continued.
“With the injuries and everything going around, he was the next guy up. We looked out there and said, ‘Hey, we’re confident in this guy to get it done.’ And he’s been making play after play. I think he’s got a bright future ahead of him.”
Fulgham is not the only thing getting the fans and team excited. On Tuesday afternoon, the Eagles announced that for the first time this season fans will be allowed at the game. As the Eagles are set to host the Baltimore Ravens this Sunday, around 5,000 fans will be allowed to be in attendance for the game. Tickets will be first offered to season ticket holders that opted in to receive tickets for the 2020 season. The tickets that remain after will go on sale starting Oct. 14 for the Oct. 18 game against the Ravens and the Oct. 22 game against the Giants.
For the rest of the games remaining at home, the single sale tickets will be able to be purchased in the next couple of weeks. (NBC Sports) The Eagles are one of nine teams that will allow fans in the stadium in week six. After hearing the news that fans will be allowed at Lincoln Financial Field, Eagles head coach Doug Pederson was thrilled. “I’m excited. I’m happy. I’m so glad for this day to be here, to have fans in our stands. To feel the energy of the crowd, even a small crowd. It was really good in Pittsburgh to have the fans there. Just to see them when we come out of the tunnel and to see people in our bleachers, it’s going to be exciting. We’ve talked about it before, our players are going to feel energized to have them there and to have our families back in the stands is important to them, it’s important to us and we’re really looking forward to it,” said Doug Pederson to Action News’ Jeff Skversky during Wednesday’s press conference.
While the Eagles will certainly welcome fans this Sunday, their work is put out for them as they face the reigning MVP Lamar Jackson and the 4-1 Baltimore Ravens.
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On the fateful night of July 8, 2014, Brazil lined up against Germany in the semifinals of the 2014 World Cup, which was being hosted in Brazil. What occurred in that match was no doubt the most shocking result in World Cup history and probably in all of football as Brazil was utterly torn to shreds, 7-1, by the Germans. The game was so devasting that it now has its own name, referred to as the Mineirazo by Brazilians.
You all know how it went down. Brazil came into the match off their enigmatic victory over high-energy Colombia, but were now left without Neymar and Thiago Silva. Germany arrived after expertly sending France home in the quarterfinals. While most were expecting a tight game, Thomas Mueller opened the score in the 11th minute after terrible marking during a corner. Absolutely atrocious defending from the Brazilians continued as Miroslav Klose slotted home Germany’s second, breaking Ronaldo de Lima’s record for most World Cup goals in history. From there on, the match descended into chaos as Germany scored a total of four goals within the next six minutes: two goals from Toni Kroos and one from Sami Khedira adding to Klose’s goal.
Brazil ended the first half 5-0 down, and while they tried to mount a comeback, their efforts proved futile after Andre Schuerrle came off the bench and scored two in the final 20 minutes. Oscar was able to score a consolation goal for Brazil in the final moments, but the damage had already been done.
The match ended in a 7-1 defeat for Brazil, their worst ever defeat in the World Cup, their first defeat on home soil since 1975 and a result that equaled their previous record for heaviest defeat, a 6-0 loss at the hands of Uruguay in 1920. This was also the worst defeat of any team in the semifinals of the World Cup and the worst defeat suffered by a host nation. To add insult to injury, the German striker, Klose, eclipsed de Lima, Brazil’s best ever striker, for most goals in World Cup history.
But let’s not forget who Brazil are. They are no doubt the most successful national team in football history. They have won more trophies than any other country, including five World Cups, a record high. This is the nation of legends like Pele, Garrincha and Ronaldo, the same land where football is part of national pride and everyday life. So, what was wrong with Brazil? How exactly did the best footballing country in the world concede seven goals in a single match?
Well, the simple answer is that Brazil was missing both Neymar Jr. and Thiago Silva for their semifinal matchup with Germany. Neymar was absent through injury after he sustained a fractured vertebra when the Colombian defender, Juan Zuniga kneed him in the back during their quarterfinal match. Thiago Silva had received a yellow card in that same match after he carelessly fouled Colombia’s goalkeeper, David Ospina, and yellow card accumulation meant he would miss the semifinals.
The absence of these two players both metaphorically represents a larger issue within themselves but together they also represent underlying problems with this team which came to an epic climax during this match against Germany. The injury to Neymar was definitely the more high-profile of the two missing players. He was the star of this Brazilian team and the star of the whole World Cup. His awe-inspiring performances throughout the tournament meant that any chance of Brazil winning the World Cup rested on his shoulders.
If one were to look at the statistics, it would only confirm Neymar’s importance. In the five matches he played, he scored four goals and had two assists. Brazil scored a total of 11 goals at the 2014 World Cup, meaning that Neymar directly contributed to six out of the 11 or 54 percent, a much higher percentage than any other player in the squad. He also received two Man of the Match awards.
Beyond the stats, Neymar’s role in the team was vital to Brazil’s success from a moral point of view. If one were to watch this team play, they would see that every attack is either started by Neymar or involves him somehow. The rest of the team seemed to just pass Neymar the ball and expect him to do something.
This is partly because of how great of a player Neymar is, but at the same time, it shows how much the rest of Brazil’s attack underperformed. At the 2014 World Cup, Givanildo “Hulk” Vieira de Sousa had great runs but his decisions in the final third were atrocious. Frederico “Fred” Chaves Guedes was probably the worst player on the pitch against Germany, and arguably had the worst performance of any player in the entire tournament. Willian Borges da Silva barely got to play but when he did, he did not necessarily impress. Like Willian, Joao “Jo” de Assis Silva did not play much but was even worse in the few moments he had on the pitch. And finally, Bernard Anicio Caldeira Duarte, the player who was tasked to fill Neymar’s spot, looked like a lost child and failed to replicate any of Neymar’s influence on the team. In fact, the only attacker besides Neymar who had a decent tournament was Oscar dos Santos Emboaba Junior. Without Neymar, Brazil had major problems up top. Not only was their top goal scorer and creator gone, but they did not have anyone able to replace him.
The moral damage of not having Neymar was equally devasting, the entire team’s success was depending on him. Even with everyone in top form, Neymar was still the lynchpin. A player of his caliber forces the opposing team to dedicate an extra defender to cover him, restricting freedom of the overall team. He was the player that would induce fear in all the teams they faced. He was also the player whose face was on television commercials, billboards and magazines across the nation. The same player whose name was on the shirts of all the children up in the stands. Losing Neymar Jr. was the worst possible thing that could happen to this fragile Brazilian team, and it happened.
While Thiago Silva’s yellow card suspension did not generate as much media attention as Neymar’s injury, it should in no way diminish how harmful his absence was. Besides Neymar, Silva was no doubt Brazil’s next best player. To put it metaphorically, Thiago Silva was the glue that desperately held together Brazil’s already shaky defense. He was also the captain of this team and one of the most experienced players.
While many criticized, and continue to, criticize his leadership qualities (and rightly so as he can be too emotional and anxious at times), Silva was arguably the best-suited player in the squad to be captain, certainly better than David Luizwho captained Brazil in his absence. On the pitch, Silva is easily Brazil’s best defender in terms of his anticipation of play, composure, ability in the air and eye for tackles.
But his influence is more than that as he is often seen screaming at his teammates, motivating them, telling them where they should be or what they need to do. Without him, the whole team, especially the defense, was completely disorganized, a weakness that Germany heavily exploited. Much like Neymar in offense, Silva was the only defender in Brazil’s squad who played well for the most part. Dani Alves da Silva and Marcelo Vieira da Silva Junior were good going forward, but their positioning was appalling, leaving major gaps behind them while Maxwell Scherrer CabelinoAndrade and Maicon Douglas Sisenando looked slow and cumbersome. David Luiz Moreira Marinho had some great moments at this tournament, but at the same time, he also had some truly terrible ones as well. David Luiz by nature is an ambitious and extravagant player. However, his boldness can sometimes be a liability, that’s why when he is paired with a more conservative and calculated center back like Thiago Silva, who can cover for him, Luiz’s great abilities can be seen on full display. Thiago Silva’s replacement for the game against Germany, Dante Bonfim Costa Santos, was the complete opposite of what David Luiz needed. In 2014, Dante was by no means a bad defender, but he was no Thiago Silva, and at times it seemed that Dante and David Luiz were having a competition to see whose decision making can be more rash.
Lacking players of both Neymar and Thiago Silva’s quality would be a great loss for any team, but the fact that Brazil, a nation who is known for being a conveyer belt of world-class talent, couldn’t offer proper replacements for these two players, highlights a much deeper problem that existed for Brazil in 2014, and that is that their generation of players simply was not good enough. It is unfortunate, but these things happen in football. National teams have certain generations blessed with talent and others that are not. The generation of Brazilian footballers from 1999 to 2007 and even the generation from 1994 to 1998, made up some of the best teams of all time. In that period, Brazil won two World Cups and four Copa Americas among other many other trophies. A dip in quality was inevitable, but unfortunately for Brazil, it came at the worst possible time, when they were hosting the World Cup. The squads at both the 2010 and 2014 World Cup were evidence of this. While they were not bad squads by any means, but they were subpar by Brazil’s high standards. The only reason that Brazil was favored to win the 2014 World Cup was that they were the hosts. But for a footballing powerhouse like Brazil, these generational problems usually resolve themselves over time. And from 2017 to the present day, Brazil have an extremely talented squad and arguably the best team in the world again.
Still, you could take a good but not great squad and achieve success, all it takes is the right manager and an intelligent plan in place. Again, unfortunately for Brazil, they lacked that in 2014. For years, Brazil struggled to find a manager that fit their team, and with the World Cup coming up soon, they panicked and hired Luiz Felipe Scolari, who is commonly known as Felipao, and gave him the job as he won the World Cup with Brazil in 2002. However, the team in 2014 was vastly different than the one in 2002, and Scolari himself is a different man too. And throughout his second tenure, he made several big mistakes which led to Brazil’s ultimate demise.
The first major mistake he made was his squad selection. As mentioned before, Brazil was not experiencing a golden generation or anything, but still, Luiz Felipe Scolari made the problem worse with the players he chose to bring to the World Cup. After Brazil emphatically won the 2013 Confederations Cup, also on home soil, Scolari stubbornly stuck with the same starting XI, despite the fact that some of the players were in poor form. Jose “Paulinho” Paulo Bezerra MacielJunior had a mediocre season with Tottenham and Julio Cesar Soares de Espindola was now playing in the MLS, yet they still retained their starting spot for example.
The Confederations Cup is a very different tournament from the World Cup, so Scolari needed to stop harping on the success he had there and modernize his team. There were also some other very questionable picks in the squad too. Both Maicon and Maxwell were called up, and while both used to be great players, they were far past their prime and should not have been in the squad. The players that Scolari overlooked and did not call up raises some eyebrows as well. Despite breaking the Barcelona-Real Madrid hegemony in Spain and winning La Liga before making it to the Champions League Final with Atletico Madrid, all while proving to be some of the best defenders in the World, both Joao Miranda de Souza and Filipe Luis Kasmirski were left at home.
Defense ended up being Brazil’s weakest area of the pitch during the tournament, and Miranda and Luis could have been put to great use if they were there. Another area that was lacking was the striker position. Ever since Adriano LeiteRibeiro experienced personal problems and his form dipped, Brazil was lacking an elite striker. However, Scolari had the solution to that problem in the form of Diego da Silva Costa, who was one of the best strikers in the world at the time. But for whatever reason, Scolari never truly gave him a chance, and faced with a desire to want to play at the World Cup, Costa switched his allegiance to Spain, and then went on to represent the Spanish at the World Cup.
Instead of Diego Costa, Scolari trusted in his two strikers Fred and Jo. While I would not consider Fred a world-class player, he was amazing in the Confederations Cup, was the top-scorer of the Brazilian Serie A that year, represented Brazil at the 2006 World Cup, 2007 and 2011 Copa America and was scoring goals for fun in the National Team. True, the 2014 World Cup proved to be too large of a task, but I still understand his place in the squad. Jo, on the other hand, who was a flop at Manchester City back in 2008 before the financial takeover, I do not. No disrespect to the man, but there’s no reason Jo should be representing Brazil at the World Cup. Other players who were not called up were the gifted young players Lucas Moura and Marquinhos. Even the Brazilian legends, Kaka and Ronaldinho, who admittedly, were not in the best form, would’ve brought raw talent, class and valuable experience to this squad.
Upon the fact that Scolari did not even bring the best possible squad to the tournament, the issues were made even worse by Scolari’s poor tactical decisions. For the majority of the World Cup, several key members of the starting XI played poorly, yet for the most part, Scolari was stubborn and continued to field them. One can argue that his options on the bench weren’t much better, but that itself falls on Scolari’s poor decision making too. As was mentioned before, Fred had a genuinely dreadful World Cup but he continued to be the starter striker. Sure, Jo was no upgrade, but Scolari could have changed formation so that Hulk was the center forward or Neymar was a false nine in place of Fred. Speaking of Hulk, he was having a tough time out on the right-wing, but instead of moving him to a different position, or just simply benching him for Willian, Hulk started almost every game. Dani Alves and Paulinho, players who were playing poorly and actually lost their starting spots, were replaced by Maicon and Fernandinho respectively, who played even worse.
Scolari not being able to find the perfect starting lineup, as well as poor tactic decisions, were exposed heavily by Germany in the semifinals. Despite Germany being the best in the competition thus far, Scolari opted to virtually play the exact same formation from earlier matches while having the youth player, Bernard, take Neymar’s spot on the left-wing. What Scolari should’ve done was bench Fred, then play Hulk as the center forward with Oscar directly underneath him and Willian and Ramires Santos do Nascimento on the flanks as deep-lying wingers while Paulinho and Luiz Gustavo sit at the base of midfield. This would’ve further protected Brazil’s defense and given Germany a much harder time controlling the middle of the field. Instead, what happened was Germany completely waltzed right through Brazil’s midfield like a tank through a cornfield and Bernard Anicio Caldeira Duarte was completely man-marked out of the game by Philipp Lahm and Jerome Boateng.
Another major issue with this Brazilian was the complete lack of experience as well. Only six of the 23 players in the squad had even played at a World Cup before. Obviously, Scolari had no say there as most of the Brazilians who played in previous World Cups had retired, but at this point, the responsibility was on him in order to mentally prepare these players for this tournament. But instead, the opposite occurred. Throughout the cup, it seemed that this crop of young players was cracking under the pressure little by little, acting too emotional, crying at the national anthem, being too afraid to take penalties during penalty shootouts, etc. and all it took was an experienced team like Germany to shatter it. This is partly the fault of the captain, Thiago Silva, but more so on, again, Luiz Felipe Scolari. Representing your country at the World Cup is usually the most nerve-racking and scary thing the average player faces in his career, but when you are the host nation, and not just any nation, the greatest footballing country on Earth, whose fans were already expecting you to win this tournament before it even started, I’m sure the pressure was at unfathomable degrees.
So overall, there were many reasons that Brazil was crushed under a German fist in Belo Horizonte. Whether it be the absence of Neymar and Thiago Silva, a subpar generation of talent, an inexperienced squad under the pressure of an entire nation or the poor tactic decisions of the coach, open wounds were festering and everything came to head on that infamous Tuesday evening. And while this article mostly focused on Brazil, this should take no credit away from Germany who were perfect, top to bottom. This team was no doubt the deserved winners of the 2014 World Cup and one of the best teams I have ever seen. Germany in 2014 was an absolute machine. Unlike Brazil, funnily enough, they had an incredibly experience
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This year hasn’t been kind to the world or the Philadelphia 76ers. While the 2019-2020 season brought high expectations with the offseason addition of Al Horford and Josh Richardson, and the resigning of Tobias Harris, the team fell well short of expectations. The Sixers went 51-31 in the 2019 season as the third seed in the Eastern Conference and making it to the second round of the playoffs; the team finished the 2020 season going 43-30 for sixth place in the Eastern Conference only to be decisively swept in the first round of the 2020 NBA playoffs by the dreaded Boston Celtics. For a team with championship ambitions, the 76ers failed to meet expectations back-to-back years. Something needed to be done. But what?
The first step in fixing the 76ers this offseason was terminating Coach Brett Brown. 76ers fans finally got what they’ve been wanting for a long time, and that was for the removal of Brett Brown. Just a day after the Sixers were swept by the Boston Celtics, it was announced on Aug. 24 that Brett Brown had been fired. And Brown does not appear to be a candidate for any of the NBA head coaching vacancies.
Now the question was, who is going to be the 76ers’ new head coach? Was it going to be former Rockets Coach Mike D’antoni and his high octane offensive game plan? Or was it going to be Ty Lue and his championship pedigree and ability to work with multiple superstars (Kyrie Irving, Kevin Love and Lebron James)? The answer is neither D’antoni nor Lue became the head coach of the 76ers. On Sept. 28, it was announced that the Clippers and head coach Doc Rivers had “parted ways.” Within an hour after the announcement was made it was reported that the 76ers had already made contact with Doc Rivers and his agent. 72 hours later, it was announced by ESPN NBA Insider Adrian Wojnarowski that Doc Rivers had reached an agreement with the 76ers on a five-year contract to become the 25th head coach in the history of the franchise. And the first-ever to be hired with a head coaching World Championship already on his resume.
Rivers brings a great deal of much-needed pedigree and experience to the 76ers. Before he was a coach, Rivers enjoyed a 13-year professional basketball career as a point guard playing for the Atlanta Hawks, Los Angeles Clippers, New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs. Once he was finished with his playing career, Rivers went into coaching. Since 1999, Rivers has been a head coach in the NBA. Rivers started his coaching career with the Orlando Magic winning the NBA Coach of the year in his first season. After coaching the Magic for four seasons Rivers went on to coach the Boston Celtics from 2004-2013. In six of those nine seasons with the Celtics, Rivers had his teams above 500. In the 2007-2008 season, the Rivers-led Boston Celtics went 66-16 and went on to win the NBA Finals in six games against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers.
In a highly unusual 2013 transaction, Rivers was actually acquired by the Los Angeles Clippers from the Celtics in exchange for an unprotected first-round draft pick. Before Rivers joined the Clippers, the Clippers were known as a perennial losing organization that could never compete with their city neighbors, the Los Angeles Lakers, or most of the rest of the NBA. In Rivers’ seven seasons with the Clippers, the team appeared in the playoffs in six of those seasons. In addition, Rivers adeptly navigated the Donald Sterling crisis that arose in his first year as Clippers head coach. Rivers stated that he would not return as head coach for the following season with Sterling still in control as owner. Sterling was mandated to sell the team, which he did later that summer. Before Rivers arrived the Clippers had only made the playoffs nine times in 43 years.
Despite being the most successful coach in Clippers franchise history, River’s tenure with the team didn’t come without disappointments that ultimately led to his leaving. With Rivers at the helm, the Clippers blew two 3-1 series leads in the playoffs. The first came in 2015 in the second of the playoffs against the Houston Rockets, and then again this past season in the NBA Bubble against the Denver Nuggets. Despite helping turn the Clippers into a respected organization and a free agent destination, Rivers finished his stint with a playoff record of 20-26 without ever advancing past the second round of the playoffs.
Doc Rivers has an opportunity with the 76ers to flip the script and prove to all the doubters that he can get past the second round. The coach did it with the Celtics, winning an NBA title, and has a chance to do it in Philadelphia. With the 76ers, Rivers gets an opportunity to work with Ben Simmons and Joel Embiid, who he in the past compared to Kareem Abdul Jabbar and Magic Johnson. We should only be so lucky. Rivers was considering taking a break from coaching when he parted ways with the Clippers, but when the 76ers called, he felt the opportunity was too good to pass up. Speaking on a conference Zoom call on Oct. 5 at the 76ers’ practice facility in Camden, New Jersey, Rivers couldn’t hold back his excitement. “When [General Manager Elton Brand] called, it was an easy ‘Get on the plane and take a look’ for me,” Rivers said. “You look at these players, these young players, and their potential… the fact that they’ve had so much success in so many ways at the ages they are already, and where I think they can go, for me it’s a job you just couldn’t turn down… That’s why I’m here. Just really excited about it.”
The 76ers definitely landed a big name in Doc Rivers, but will he be able to do what Brett Brown couldn’t? It certainly feels like it already, but we will see when the upcoming season begins, the logistics of which are posing more questions than answers at the moment.
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