REFS TO GIVE MORE SPACE TO SHOOTERS
YORK» NBA referees will be able NEW to call flagrant or technical fouls on defenders who get dangerously close on jump shooters without allowing them space to land, as Zaza Pachulia did on the play that injured Spurs star Kawhi Leonard in last season’s playoffs.
Officials will also make sure jump shooters are in their upward shooting motion when determining if a perimeter foul is worthy of free throws, which could cut down on James Harden’s attempts after he swings his arms into contact.
Leonard sprained his ankle when Pachulia slid his foot under Leonard’s in Game 1 of Golden State’s victory in the Western Conference finals. After calling a foul, officials will now be able to look at replay to determine if the defender recklessly positioned his foot in an unnatural way, which could trigger an upgrade to a flagrant, or a technical if there was no contact but an apparent attempt to injure.
“It’s 100 percent for the safety of the players,” NBA senior vice president of replay and referee operations Joe Borgia said Thursday.
The NBA had made the freedom to land a point of emphasis for officials a few years ago, because of the risk of injuries. But the play got renewed attention during the playoffs because of Leonard’s injury, and also one in which Washington forward Markieff Morris landed on Al Horford’s foot in Game 1 of their Eastern Conference semifinal, knocking him out of a game the Celtics rallied to win.
Draft-eligible players won’t play for U.S.
N.Y.» General manager BUFFALO, Jim Johannson ruled out the possibility of the U.S. men’s hockey team having NHL draft-eligible prospects competing at the Winter Olympics in February.
Johannson told The Associated Press he doesn’t view anyone from the 18-and-younger pool of prospects capable of cracking the projected lineup of non-NHL players, many of whom are opening this season on teams in Europe.
“We’re going to be too good,” said Johannson, who is also USA Hockey’s assistant executive director. “There’s no quote-unquote underage kids that could make this level of a team.”
Though much of the team will be made up of former NHL players, Johannson said his staff is targeting a number of established college players. He also would not rule out keeping a spot or two open for members of the U.S. team competing at the World Junior Championships this winter.
Denver ranks sixth.
Denver was rated as the sixth-best sports city by 24/7 Wall St.
During the last 20 years, Denver teams for the four major sports have had an average winning percentage of 52.4 percent and won four championships, with the Broncos winning the Super Bowl in the 2015 season.
Cities were awarded additional points for the number of teams, the number of championships in the past decade, and the consistency of the teams’ winning records, along with other factors.
Los Angeles was rated No. 1, followed by Boston, New York, Chicago and San Antonio. Denver was followed by Miami, then Minneapolis, Detroit and Dallas rounded out the top 10.
Footnotes.
Andre Ward announced he is retiring from boxing because he no longer has the desire to fight, leaving the sport at age 33 with a 32-0 record with 16 knockouts and the light heavyweight championship. … In the first NHL preseason game played in China, the Los Angeles Kings used a third-period scoring spurt to put away the Vancouver Canucks 5-2 in Shanghai. … Officials had to move two high school football games in Neeses, S.C., because the fields were infested with fire ants. … A high school golfer in Allentown, Pa., defied huge odds by recording two holes-in-one in the same round. Parkland High School golfer Ben Tetzlaff did it during a nine-hole practice round. The National Hold-InOne Registry calculated the odds of the feat at 67 million-to-1.