June 2019

at 10:02 AM 0
INDIANAPOLIS — Bankers Life Fieldhouse is where Greg Oden grew up watching the Indiana Pacers. It’s where he helped Lawrence North win three state titles and earned his Indiana Mr. Basketball and Mr. Basketball USA titles in 2006.
It’s where Oden still calls home and the fans Sunday welcomed him back with open arms.
Sunday’s Big 3 action was the first time the former No. 1 draft pick stepped on the floor at Bankers Life since March 26, 2014, when he played against the Pacers as a member of the Miami Heat during his final NBA season.
Oden announced his retirement from basketball in 2016 after a one-year stint in the Chinese Basketball Association. His only other playing experience came last summer during The Basketball Tournament 2018 – a $2 million winner-take-all single elimination tournament.



Following the Aliens' 10-point loss Sunday in Ice Cube’s 3-on-3, halfcourt league, where Oden finished with eight points and six rebounds, he was asked about his perspective being able to play basketball again.
He paused.
“I saw my daughter walk down the stairs with my wife and it put a big smile on my face,” he said. “That’s my perspective. All this stuff is just extra.”
Quite a bit has changed for Oden in the past three years.
He’s stayed close to the game, finishing a stint as a student coach for the Ohio State men’s basketball team, who he helped lead to a national championship game appearance in 2007, earlier this year. He graduated, earning his degree in sports industry in May. He had his first child, Londyn, in 2016, and married his wife Sabrina in 2017.


Oden climbed his way out of alcoholism and has worked on his physical and mental health. That’s why, even after playing basketball against professional-level competition for the first time in years, he took some time to reflect. 

“It’s more about my mind and perspective of life and what I’m doing and what I spent most of my time with. That’s what’s changed for me,” Oden said. “I started thinking on the up and up and being better in the mental space a couple of years ago.”
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at 9:57 AM 0
© Reuters/PAUL CHILDS ICC Cricket World Cup - England Nets
(Reuters) - England opener Jason Roy has been ruled out of Tuesday's World Cup match against Australia at Lord's after failing to recover from an hamstring injury in time.



Roy, who smashed 153 against Bangladesh earlier in the tournament, was injured in the win over West Indies 10 days ago and has missed games against Afghanistan and Sri Lanka.
A second scan on Monday morning showed Roy's injury was much improved, boosting hopes he will be fit to play in the match against India at Edgbaston on Sunday.
"It's all positive news, he won't be fit tomorrow but we will monitor his progress this week. We will see how it goes," England captain Eoin Morgan told a news conference on Monday.
"Of course he's a big loss, it's Jason Roy. He's an outstanding performer who epitomises the way we play as a group."
Related slideshow: Cricket World Cup 2019 - best photos so far (provided by photo services)

Morgan does not believe Tuesday's match is a "must-win" and has backed the players to deliver under pressure.
"We don't need to win every game to get to the semi-finals," he added.
"It's another game where we try and produce a performance that's worthy of an innings at Lord's against Australia.
"They have performed under pressure of being favourites for the last two years in (every) series that we've gone in, both away from home and at home, and have no question mark about producing under pressure."
(Reporting by Hardik Vyas in Bengaluru; Editing by Keith Weir)

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at 9:13 AM 0
Welcome to ESPNcricinfo's Live Report of Afghanistan v Bangladesh. Enjoy our coverage through the day right here. If the blog doesn't load straightaway, please refresh the page

This is Shakib's world...





and we're all just living in it.

I mean, I'll just leave you with our selected ball by ball commentary for his three wickets. And with his figures: 5-1-6-3.

10.5 Shakib Al Hasan to Rahmat Shah, OUT, taken at mid-on. That is a soft dismissal for Afghanistan's best player. Length ball skids on with the arm at off stump. He looks to pull uppishly with the front leg in the leg side. Ends up slicing weakly for the fielder tracking back there

28.1 Shakib Al Hasan to Gulbadin Naib, OUT, brilliant field placing captaincy by Mashrafe! They had a man at short mid-off a little while ago and Liton was moved a touch wider at short extra cover at about yards. The ball has been stopping a touch on this pitch all day with flicks and drives going slightly uppish in the ring and on this occasion Gulbadin laces a flat drive to Liton, who claims a catch at ankle height crouching slightly forward. Shakib erupts, as does the partisan Bangladesh crowd! 8/10 on degree of difficulty due to the pace it came at Liton from short range but it was straight to him on line.

28.3 Shakib Al Hasan to Mohammad Nabi, OUT, Bangladesh's king of the tourney castles the President of Afghanistan! It was a beauty flighted on fourth stump and skidded on with Nabi's technique exposed. He gave a half-hearted stride forward prodding with a gap between bat and pad. The ball clips the inside edge before ricocheting onto leg stump. Shakib is rocking this tournament!

It could have been an over of 'If only'. There was a ball that saw bad cricket from both batsmen and the bowler, Mossadek Hossain.

Hashmatullah Shahidi had tapped the ball into the offside and both he and Gulbadin were ball-watching. Incredibly, they were strolling while ball-watching. Like a blooper reel, they both looked up to see each one was considerably down the pitch. There were gesticulations and a scramble back. Would have been an easy run out at the bowler's end. But where was Mossadek? Standing some metres away from the stumps, and not just that - standing in the line of sight of the cover fielder, Liton Das. Poor Liton had to relay the ball to Mossadek. By the time he turned and took some steps and lunged to break the stumps, the batsman was home. But Liton ended up copping a earful from Mossadek.

That would have been that, except two balls later, perfect drift, flight and glovework to have Shahidi stumped. Afghanistan 79 for 2 in 21 overs.






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at 8:53 AM 0



The New York Yankees and Fantasy baseball owners everywhere breathed a sigh of relief last Friday as outfielder Aaron Judge returned from the injured list. He is 2-for-10 since his return with an RBI and a walk, but will continue being integral to the Yankees' success and a staple near the top of 2019 Fantasy baseball rankings. Judge hit an astonishing 52 home runs on his way to Rookie of the Year honors two seasons ago, but has been bogged down by injuries since, missing more than 100 games the past two seasons. However, for those of you that aren't lucky enough to have a reliable slugger in your lineup this week, scouring the 2019 Fantasy baseball rankings to find trade possibilities might be your best shot of improving your roster. You always want to extract maximum value out of any deal, which is why you'll want to use Ariel Cohen's 2019 Fantasy baseball trade chart and evaluator on SportsLine before you make any deals.
Cohen is the creator of the ATC (Average Total Cost) Projection System. He was a finalist for two FSWA Awards in 2018 -- Baseball Article of the Year and Baseball Writer of the Year. Cohen and his Fantasy partner, Reuven Guy, have used the ATC system projections to finish in the money in NFBC, RTSports, Tout Wars and other national leagues, racking up plenty of division titles.
This trade evaluator tool is extremely user-friendly. You simply download an Excel file and input the players you are giving away and receiving. The tool will then give you a value. "C" is an even deal; anything above is a win for you, and anything below is a loss. You can only access this must-have tool at SportsLine. 
In this week's 2019 Fantasy baseball rankings and trade chart, we can tell you that Cohen's MLB projections are fading Phillies starting pitcher Aaron Nola. It's been a rough season for Nola, as evidenced by his 4.55 ERA. And just when it looked like he might be turning the corner with four wins and three quality outings during a five-start span in May, he lost his touch by giving up 14 earned runs in his next three trips to the hill.
Nola's swinging strike rate is down to 9 percent from 13 percent last year, which is why the model has dropped him from No. 23 in head-to-head 2019 Fantasy baseball rankings two weeks ago all the way to No. 67.
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