Quantcast
Channel: Business Insider
Viewing all 89902 articles
Browse latest View live

The 24 players who are going to take over the Women's World Cup

$
0
0

Louisa Nécib

When the Women's World Cup begins on June 6, a whole bunch of players are going to become household names in their countries.

We went through all 24 World Cup teams and picked out one player from each team who's going to be incredibly important to her country's chances.

CANADA: Christine Sinclair (Group A)

Age: 31

Position: Forward

Thing to know: As the undisputed star for the host nation, Sinclair will hope to lead Canada to its first-ever Women's World Cup title. She's Canada's all-time goal scorer with 153 goals.



CHINA: Ma Jun (Group A)

Age: 26

Position: Midfielder

Thing to know: After missing the World Cup for the first time in their nation's history four years ago, China is hoping for a strong showing this summer. With forward Yang Li injured, China will now rely on Ma Jun, who leads the remaining group heading to Canada in goals scored with 15, and is one of its most experienced players.



NEW ZEALAND: Abby Erceg (Group A)

Age: 25

Position: Defender

Thing to know: New Zealand has failed to advance past group play in all three of its prior World Cup appearances, but will look to captain and star defender Abbey Erceg to help anchor their defense and break the trend this time around. Erceg certainly possesses the experience to do so, recently becoming the first New Zealand soccer player — male or female — to reach 100 caps.



See the rest of the story at Business Insider







Famous Harvard law professor sues TD garden over 3-year-old slip-and-fall

$
0
0

alan dershowirz obamacare

One of America's most high-profile lawyers is suing Boston's TD Garden over a fall he blames on a wet bathroom floor and lack of paper towels. 

Harvard law professor Alan Dershowitz, who has represented numerous celebrity clients like Mike Tyson and OJ Simpson, is suing the Boston sports arena for an undisclosed amount of cash for a fall he says he suffered three years ago at a Celtics game.

As the Boston Globe reports, Dershowitz claims the Garden's alleged failure to provide paper towels in the bathroom resulted in a slippery floor that led to his fall.

“This dangerous condition allowed water from the recently washed hands of each of the myriad bathroom users to drip or be ‘shaken’ onto the floor, negligently creating a hazardous situation for all users,” the complaint alleges, according to the Globe.

The fall, however, did not stop the Harvard law professor — a longtime Celtics fan — from staying for the rest of the game. He only called for an ambulance later, reportedly not wanting to miss the end of an exciting playoff game between the Celtics and the Miami Heat. 

Dershowitz told the Globe that he had to walk with a cane following the incident, and is still suffering after his fall. Dershowitz claims that he could need additional surgery on his knee.

Neither Dershowitz nor the Garden responded to Business Insider's request for comment.

Dershowitz's name came up in the news earlier this year, when he was mentioned in a lawsuit filed by two women who were allegedly sex-trafficked as minors by the financier Jeffrey Epstein. A legal filing in the case, which didn't name Dershowitz as a defendant, said the Harvard professor had sex with an underage girl.

Dershowitz denied the allegations, and a judge subsequently ordered that the claims about him be stricken from the record.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: This incredible time-lapse shows a side of Boston you've never seen before








Bill Simmons had a solid explanation for why the NBA season is too long

$
0
0

LeBron James

When the NBA Finals tip off Thursday night, Stephen Curry will be playing in his 96th game of the season and LeBron James will be playing in his 465th game since the start of the 2010-2011 season.

Because of these totals and the increased wear and tear on players, there is a growing sentiment among people in the NBA that the season is too long.

James took a two-week break in the middle of the season. Gregg Popovich, long known for resting his Spurs players in-season, rested his star players more often and earlier than ever before in 2014-2015. This is a problem for a league in which fans and TV networks pay a lot of money to see the best players.

Before the season, when the NBA toyed with the idea of shortening the length of games, James was adamant that the real problem was the number of games.

"No. It's not the minutes, it's the games," James told ESPN.com. "We can play 50-minute games if we had to. It's just the games. We all as players think it's too many games. In our season, 82 games is a lot."

The counterargument is that the NBA has been using an 82-game regular season since the late 1960s and a four-round playoff format since the mid-1970s, and it wasn't a problem for great players in previous generations.

On one of his final ESPN podcasts, Bill Simmons argued that the NBA season may be the same length as it was in the 1980s, but it was not the same game, and the toll it takes on players today is far greater.

"I wonder if the guys just play harder from game to game now," Simmons said. "I was watching [old games] and I was just watching how casually they played defense in the '80s. They would turn it up in the last six minutes of playoff games, but for the most part you just played offense, kind of half-heartedly jog around guys, maybe in the low post you shove people. But you can't do that in 2015, and everybody plays really hard and you have to run out on shooters all the time, more ground to cover, and if you don't give a crap and you mail in a possession or a play, you end up like Otto Porter standing there like a jackass while his guy runs away and you're on 'Shaqtin' a Fool.' So there is this pressure to just go [all] out all the time ... It's not sustainable. You're going to lay in the runway. You're going to fall on your wrist. Your knee is going to act up. You're going to be playing through some injury and pretend you don't have it, and I just wonder if these guys go too hard and do we have to reduce the season now."

Simmons' comment can certainly be nitpicked and may be overly simplistic. Many people believe Simmons' favorite player, Larry Bird, had his career cut short because he played hard all the time instead of picking his spots and late in his career was often seen lying on the court when he wasn't in the game. Others may argue that Simmons is not giving previous generations enough credit for their defense.

But the other points remain valid.

More likely to be playing on national television than generations' past in the first place, a player who does something foolish on the court is one YouTube user away from being seen by millions and picked up by SportsCenter.

There are also more stats to judge how valuable a player is. In the 1980s, a star player need only worry about getting his 25 points or 12 assists. Steals and blocks were the only way to measure defense.

Nowadays a player's entire performance is judged every night, and it affects not only their highlight reel, but also their salary.

And then there is the new style of play, with record numbers of 3-pointers taken. This season, teams averaged 22.4 3-point attempts per game. In 1984-1985, that number was 3.1 per game.

NBA Chart

This means, as Simmons points out, there is a lot more court to cover on defense, which means players are moving and running farther than they used to.

This all adds up to an NBA in which there is probably more physical demand on a player's body than ever before, something that could be remedied with fewer games.

Of course, before the NBA shortens the season it needs to figure out a way to make up for the corresponding loss in ticket and television revenue. One way would be to sell the television rights to a midseason soccer-like tournament. But until that happens, the season will remain 82 games long.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Why Kobe Bryant Is The Hardest-Working Player In The NBA








Here's how the Cleveland Cavaliers can pull off an upset over the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals

$
0
0

lebron and kyrie irvingAfter a long break, the Cleveland Cavaliers and Golden State Warriors will tip off Game 1 of the NBA Finals on Thursday night.

Both teams have cruised through the playoffs with relative ease, with the Warriors going 12-3 on their way to the Finals and the Cavaliers going 12-2.

Much of the NBA world considers the Warriors the favorites in the finals. Though Cleveland has been just as good in the second half of the season, many people feel the Cavs rode an easier path through a weak, battered Eastern Conference than the Warriors, who, statistically, rank among the NBA's all-time great teams.

It figures to be a competitive series, but the Cavaliers will have their hands full on both ends of the court. Here's how they could pull off an upset as the underdogs:

1. LeBron James dominates

James is clearly the biggest advantage for the Cavs. He remains the best player in the NBA, the ultimate deciding factor in any game.

LeBron recently said he's playing the best basketball of his career. While statistics don't necessarily bear that out, he's undoubtedly the driving force for the Cavs.

Everything the Cavs do on offense will have to depend on LeBron. As a ball handler, he's going to have to use his speed to get into the lane, suck in defenders, and try to find open teammates. If he's not on the perimeter, expect LeBron to go to the post, where he can overpower smaller players. He brutalized the Bulls forward Jimmy Butler this way:

LeBron post up 1

The Warriors could use Harrison Barnes and Andre Iguodala to defend LeBron, opting for speed and length to try to contain him. If they do so, LeBron will have to force the mismatch in the post. If the Warriors put the bigger Draymond Green on LeBron, he'll have to use his speed to blow by him.

James hasn't been efficient in one-on-one plays in the playoffs, so he's going to have to use a smarter approach and find ways to create mismatches. If Kyrie Irving is still hobbled, James will have to be the engine of the offense, and he'll have to use all of his smarts and physical tools to beat the best defense in the NBA.

2. The Cavs win the rebounding battle

tristan thompsonCleveland's chances of winning become a lot greater if they stop the Warriors' explosive offense from getting second chances all while giving themselves extra possessions on the other end.

The Cavs have been the best rebounding team in the playoffs while Warriors rank third. This isn't a huge advantage for Cleveland, but winning the rebounding battle has been a big part of Cleveland's run to the finals.

Against the Atlanta Hawks, the Cavs collected 57% of all rebounds, grabbing 30% of their own misses and 85% of Atlanta's misses. The Cavs were getting offensive rebounds on nearly one-third of their shots while Atlanta was getting offensive rebounds on about one-sixth of their shots. Allowing a team with LeBron extra chances to score is simply too dangerous.

This could be key for the Cavaliers against Golden State. Their offense can't go possession-for-possession with the Warriors, and while Golden State is actually an even better defensive team than they are an offensive one, the Cavs could exploit that defense simply by grabbing offensive rebounds and getting extra chances. Additionally, easier shots tend to come after offensive rebounds, either at the rim or on the perimeter where defenders have already left their assignments.

As Grantland's Zach Lowe also noted on his podcast "The Lowe Post," some of these rebounding scrums could be a chance for the Cavs to get the Warriors into foul trouble.

3. Kyrie Irving is healthy

Kyrie IrvingIrving is what ultimately separates this Cavs team from being a one-man show with James, or being something closer to his Big Three Miami Heat teams.

As mentioned, Irving says he still isn't 100% healthy, but if he can be close to 100%, it changes the whole dynamic of the Cavs' team.

LeBron was able to take down the Hawks twice without Irving, but the Warriors are a far superior defensive team that boasts both perimeter and interior defenders to make James' life harder. LeBron can suck in defenders and kick it out to shooters like Smith and Shumpert, but there's a common belief that the Warriors may experiment with letting LeBron run rampant while shutting down his other options. LeBron can will a team to a victory by himself, but can he do it four times in seven games against the best team in the NBA?

If Irving is healthy, he gives LeBron a far more versatile second option than anyone else on Cleveland. He can break down any defense with his ball handling, get into the lane and score at the rim (58% in the restricted area in the regular season) or find shooters. If Irving is handling the ball while James waits on the perimeter, James' gravity is such that Golden State can't send an extra defender to stop Irving's drives. Add Shumpert and Smith to that equation, and it allows Irving even more space to operate while the Warriors are attached to their defensive assignments.

Here, a simple pick-and-roll allows Irving to slither to the basket for an easy layup:

Kyrie layup 1

This is the basic principle of spread pick-and-roll offense. Keep the defense honest with shooters on the perimeter and give the ball handler and roll man room to operate inside of the perimeter.

kyrie layup 2

And though Irving is arguably the worst defender in the Cavs' regular rotation, his health will be crucial on that end, too. He doesn't have a prayer of sticking with Stephen Curry. (Who does?) But being healthy and nimble enough will at least give Irving the speed to keep up with Curry.

For the Cavs, there's nowhere to hide weak defenders in Golden State's starting lineup. Curry is unguardable, and Klay Thompson is in perpetual motion off the ball and can post up Irving, as can any other member of the Warriors' starting lineup. Until Golden State goes to their bench, Irving will be mismatched on defense. The best Cleveland can hope for is that he'll at least be healthy, fast, and strong enough to physically keep up with whomever he's guarding.

On paper, the Cavs seem outmatched by the Warriors. However, there is a blueprint to beating Golden State, and if the Cavs can pull off a perfect series with all three of the above factors, they have a shot at winning it all.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How LeBron James spends his money








Tiger Woods' most famous shot was even more incredible than people realize

$
0
0

Tiger Woods

Tiger Woods won his fourth Masters Tournament in 2005. On the 16th hole in his final round, he sank a chip shot from the right rough in the most iconic moment of his career. In a new interview with Golf Digest, Tiger's caddie Steve Williams revealed some details behind the shot that make it look even more incredible.

At the time Woods had a one-stroke lead over his playing partner, Chris DiMarco, whom Tiger would eventually beat in a playoff. DiMarco had 15 feet for birdie while Woods had hit his tee shot on the par-3 into the rough.

CBS commentator Lanny Wadkins called it "one of the toughest pitches on the entire [course]" and speculated that because of the thicker rough sitting just behind Tiger's ball, he would have a hard time getting the ball within 15 feet of the hole. There was also the threat of having the ball roll off the green and into the bunker.

Woods got the ball up in the air, it landed on the hill, slowly rolled down to the hole where it rested on the edge for a moment ... and then fell in for a birdie with commentator Verne Lundquist yelling, "OH WOW!" (1:20 mark of this video).

When Tiger recalled the shot, he spoke about remembering a similar shot made in a previous year by Davis Love III and needing to aim for a strip of light in between the shadows. But Woods' former caddie says there was more to it than that.

In an interview with Golf Digest, Williams says Tiger was actually aiming for an old ball mark the size of a dime and that he hit it perfectly on the fly.

"There's more to that Tiger hole-out than you probably know. After Tiger inspected the green and was walking back to his ball, he pointed out an old ball mark on the green. It was the size of a dime, almost fully healed, practically invisible. He said, 'You think if I hit that spot, it'll take the slope without going into the bunker?' ... I told him I liked that play. He then hit that old ball mark exactly, from 20 feet away from a tough lie. That the ball went in the hole was sort of a miracle, but hitting the old ball mark on the fly was one of the most amazing things I've ever seen."

Fighting for the lead with three holes to play in the biggest tournament in the world and Woods hits a bulls-eye under terrible conditions.

Incredible.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How LeBron James spends his money








Here's who the experts are picking to win the NBA Finals

$
0
0

Klay Thompson

While the Cleveland Cavaliers have LeBron James, the majority of experts are picking Stephen Curry and the Golden State Warriors to win the NBA Finals.

Out of a pool of 61 experts from around the NBA media world, 50 believe the Warriors will win, compared to only 11 who believe the Cavaliers will pull off the upset. Here's how the 61 picks broke down:

  • 22 out of 61: Warriors in 6 games
  • 17 of 61: Warriors in 7
  • 11 of 61: Warriors in 5
  • 8 of 61: Cavs in 6
  • 3 of 61: Cavs in 7

The picks we used are from Bleacher Report, CBS Sports, ESPN, Grantland, NBA TV, ProBasketballTalk, the New York Post, Sporting News, Sports Illustrated, TNT, USA Today, and Yahoo Sports. 

In his NBA Finals prediction, ESPN's J.A. Adande writes that he's learned his lesson to always pick the best team rather than the best player, after mistakenly picking Kobe Bryant's Los Angeles Lakers over the more complete and well-rounded Boston Celtics back in 2008:

"After I and so many of my media colleagues went with the hot hand and picked Kobe Bryant and the Lakers to beat the Celtics in 2008, Scalabrine strolled into the interview room and chastised us after the Celtics' Game 6 triumph ... 'We won 66 games, we had the best defense in the NBA,' he reminded all of the failed prognosticators. 'I just didn't see it.' The Warriors won 67 games, they had the best defense in the NBA. I can see clearly now. Warriors in seven."

Like Adande, the majority of experts predicting a Golden State victory don't see them winning the series easily. Not a single expert picking the Warriors believe they'll win in a sweep. In fact, 39 of the 50 experts picking Golden State predict they'll need at least six games to down the Cavaliers. All 11 experts who are picking the Cavaliers also believe the series will go to at least six games.

One such expert is Hall of Famer and Inside the NBA analyst Charles Barkley. Barkley went on ESPN radio Monday and told ESPN's Colin Cowherd he's picking the Cavaliers in six due to not just the play of LeBron James, but also the play of two of the Cavalier's key role players — Iman Shumpert and J.R. Smith:

"I always say you have to have two things to win a championship. You have to have a star, which LeBron is, and you have to have a crazy person — and the Cavaliers have two of them, Shumpert and J.R. Smith. And I think those guys are going to play great ... They're going to rise to the occasion."

Game 1 is Thursday at 9 p.m. ET.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How LeBron James spends his money








LeBron James has played more minutes than anyone in the NBA since 2010, and it isn't even close

$
0
0

When the Cleveland Cavaliers face the Golden State Warriors tonight, LeBron James will be playing in his fifth-straight NBA Finals and the sixth Finals of his already-storied career.

With the level of success James has enjoyed comes an incredible amount of mileage placed on his body in terms of games played. Over the last five seasons, James has averaged 94 games played per season including the playoffs and has started 464 games, 29 more than any other NBA player.

LeBron also tends to play a lot of minutes each night. Since the start of the 2010-11 season, James has played 17,860 total minutes, more than 2,000 more than the next highest total.

LeBron James Chart

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 70 people were injured while filming this movie with 100 untamed lions








David Blatt — the Cavs coach whose first NBA job was coaching LeBron — is a lesson in compromise

$
0
0

david blatt

David Blatt arrived in Cleveland with a certain swagger. While he'd never coached in the NBA before, he'd won most of the major European trophies you can win over the course of two decades overseas. Once he came to the NBA, it quickly became clear that Blatt thought of himself as an established coach with a proven track record of success, not as a "rookie," and he wanted everyone to know it.

When Grantland's Zach Lowe asked him whether he'd use LeBron James as a "stretch 4" in one of his first interviews as Cavs coach, Blatt responded, "Stretch 4s became popular in the United States because of Europe. If anyone knows that style of play, it’s probably me."

Stretch 4, you say? Well let me teach you a little something about the stretch 4.

But it was another quote from that same interview that would prove more prophetic.

"There are coaches that have their system, and they are gonna use that regardless of what the team makeup is," he told Lowe. "And there are coaches that are adaptive, and take their roster, and play according to their skill set.

"I’m more from the adaptive school, with a few principles that are consistent throughout my career. But we have to see what the team looks like before I can tell you exactly how we’re gonna play."

No coach — or player or executive, for that matter — has had to compromise more this year than Blatt. The things he has had to give up, willingly or not, are fundamental to his job. He has scrapped his offense and allowed LeBron to take extraordinary power over the on-court direction of the team. He has endured the indignity of an assistant literally calling timeouts behind his back, and a player changing his play call on the most crucial possession of the season.

Blatt said he would see what his team looked like and then adapt, but he couldn't have imagined he'd have to give up this much.

LeBron James and David Blatt

The offense that Blatt was forced to scrap (largely, it's assumed, because LeBron and others wouldn't buy into it) was actually getting rave reviews in the preseason. Mike Miller called it "borderline genius," LeBron famously mastered it immediately, and veteran Brandon Haywood paid Blatt the ultimate compliment by calling the offense "Spurs-esque."

"There’s great ball movement, which is very key in the game of basketball," Haywood explained. "There isn’t as much of one-on-one."

Nine months later, that offense is gone and the Cavs are basically a one-on-one team.

Cleveland ran more isolation plays than any other team in the NBA during the regular season. Things have only gotten worse in the playoffs, where injuries to Kevin Love and Kyrie Irving have forced LeBron James to try to win games by himself. During the regular season, 11.4% of Cavs possessions ended in isolations — that number has jumped to 16.5% in the playoffs.

It's ugly and horribly inefficient at times, but the Cavaliers have been able to win with it thanks to offensive rebounding and some weak competition in the Eastern Conference.

David Blatt knows it's not ideal. In a new interview with Jeff Zillgitt of USA Today, Blatt said, "What you learn in coaching is — and I knew this before, but it's a lot truer here than it is over there — what you learn is that you have to do in the short-term what works, not what you want to do necessarily."

In the same interview Blatt admitted that the learning curve in coming to the NBA was steeper than he thought.

"I know I said many times the game is the game. Well, it's not. It's different. It's different in many, many ways," he said.

blatt lebron

The LeBron-Blatt relationship has been generally awkward this year. Beyond the simple abandonment of the planned offensive system, there was LeBron inserting himself at point guard without asking permission, LeBron taking play-calling duties, and LeBron telling the team to run a different play at the end of a playoff game. When Blatt says NBA basketball is different from basketball in general, this is part of what he's talking about.

Blatt is doing what works. And now (unfortunately for him and the way he's perceived) what works is letting LeBron James largely run the show.

This is an admittedly kind interpretation of the job Blatt has done this year. You could argue that any offense is better than the offense the Cavs are running right now, and that letting LeBron dribble around the perimeter before driving to into a double team and chucking up a shot every time is coaching malpractice.

But no matter how bad the East is, you don't get to the NBA Finals just by showing up. You don't seamlessly incorporate three key pieces into your team halfway through the year without some coaching. And you don't quietly build a playoff-best defense on the fly if your coach is really just an empty suit.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How LeBron James spends his money









How Stephen Curry became the best shooter in the NBA

$
0
0

stephen curry shooting

Stephen Curry, the NBA's MVP, broke his own record for most three-pointers in a season this year.

As a 44% career three-point shooter who's made an average of nearly 200 three-pointers per season, he's on pace to crush the record for most all-time three-pointers.

Between a smooth stroke and deft ball-handling ability, Curry is practically unguardable, a threat 30 feet from the basket that can single-handedly change defensive schemes.

Curry's rise to becoming the best shooter in the NBA, and perhaps all-time, comes from a pattern of hard work and intense preparation that has paid off immensely.

Here's some of how he did it.

1. His father, Dell, played 16 seasons in the NBA and shot 40% from three for his career.

So maybe some of of Steph's skill comes from genetics. His father, Dell, was widely considered one of the best shooters in the NBA when he played.

Curry was apparently a great shooter from the beginning. ESPN's Tom Friend wrote a great profile detailing Steph and Dell's relationship (along with Klay Thompson and his father, Mychal, who played in the NBA). Dell told Friend that when he played for the Bucks, he and 11-year-old Steph would regularly compete against other NBA players in H-O-R-S-E competitions during practice and the two would consistently win.

2. He's hard-working and fiercely competitive.

These are, of course, common traits in professional athletes, but it takes an exceptionally competitive and determined person to become, perhaps literally, the best at any one skill. This is also comes with a sort of killer instinct.

According to Sports Illustrated's Lee Jenkins, Curry was torching people on the court before he was even in high school. Dell told Jenkins that he once left one of Curry's eighth grade games early because he was beating the other team so badly. "I had to get out of there," Dell said. "I felt bad for the other team. I couldn’t watch what he was doing to those kids."

Curry's college coach, Bob McKillop, said Curry was consistently the hardest-working player at Davidson and told Cory Collins of Sporting News that Curry had a "fire that raged within him."

Stephen Curry

3. He re-taught himself how to shoot in high school to adapt to bigger, better players.

Though Curry is now 6'3", he was a late-bloomer and before he grew he reportedly used to shoot a sort of flick shot that he released from his chest. As his competition got bigger and better, Dell helped Curry change his shooting form so that his release point was above his head. He had to re-learn how to shoot the ball.

Curry told SI's Chris Ballard it was "the most frustrating summer," saying:

"I really couldn't shoot outside the paint for like the first three weeks. All summer when I was at camps people were like, 'Who are you, why are you playing basketball?' I was really that bad for a month and a half [before] I finally figured it out."

4. He uses an insane "flashing lights" test to work on his ball-handling while improving his reflexes and focus.

Curry told Ron Kroichick of the San Francisco Chronicle:

"The lights mimic what’s happening on the court. If there’s a defender in front of me, then I’ve got to know where he is and still be ready to initiate whatever move I’m going to make."

The test looks dizzying:

Stephen Curry dribbling drill GIF

Curry works diligently on his ball-handling, not just because he has the ball most as the Warriors point guard, but he also can use his dribbling to create shots for himself. When he gets open, he can quickly seize the opportunity:

Stephen Curry crossover Chris Paul

Warriors coach Steve Kerr told Kroichick, "[Curry] has the best skill set I’ve ever seen in terms of the combination of shooting and ballhandling, along with speed and quickness.”

5. He practices a combination of fundamental and extremely detailed footwork that allows him to move, get into rhythm, and be ready to shoot easily and quickly.

The idea is that if Curry can master the actual physical movements he needs, the rest can come naturally. SI's Rob Mahoney profiled some of Curry's behind-the-scenes work, with Curry telling him:

"We do a warm-up drill every day that we practice where we literally work on just pivoting, stepping through, and pick-and-roll footwork. Just break it down, step by step. Those things happen so many times in a game that you might take it for granted—just the coordination it takes to be explosive in certain situations on the floor. So we work on that in practice. Outside of that, I just kind of work on footwork in moves that I normally will make in a game, whether it's dribble moves into shots or the footwork coming off a screen, things like that. You drill that while you're getting shots up so that you'll obviously be efficient and make your workouts tough. But staying on top of that simple fundamental makes you a little bit faster, a little bit more creative, a little bit more efficient on the floor."

Warriors assistant Bruce Fraser added, "He's always constantly pushing himself to make shots challenging so that when he gets in the game he's done that a lot.”

Curry puts so much work into his craft that he's able to get away with some of the most ridiculous shots in the NBA. Few players can even pull off this move, let alone make the shot and make it look good:

Stephen Curry 3 pointer vs Clippers gif

6. Finally, Curry gets up plenty of shots.

Lee Jenkins describes a shooting drill that Curry does in which he takes 10 shots from five different locations on the three-point line, going back and forth until he takes 100. According to Jenkins, former Warriors assistant coach Brian Scalabrine told Curry that Kyle Korver does the drill, calling Korver the best spot-up shooter in the NBA.

Curry took offense to the title and now does the drill regularly. Jenkins describes the scene as Curry does it:

Curry sets up in the right corner and splashes nine of 10. "Good," says special assistant Nick U’Ren, rebounding for him. Curry moves to the right wing and cans 10 of 10. "Better," U’Ren nods. Curry skips to the top of the circle and drains 10 of 10 again. U’Ren turns to a couple of spectators under the basket. "Wow," he mouths. Here it is, the Curry Zone. He starts 48 of 50...He sweeps back across the perimeter, hitting 10 of 10 from the left corner, 10 of 10 from the left wing. Teammates are watching. Cameras are filming. "Don’t get giddy," Curry tells himself. He’s made 77 in a row, and when he finally misfires from the top of the circle, he grabs Green’s jersey and screams. He finishes 94 of 100. 

Fraser also told Jenkins that Curry will occasionally get "bored" with the drill and become less accurate. That's when coaches and staff challenge him other drills and shooting competitions, which Fraser says, "He needs the action. And when he gets it, he just snaps on."

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 12 awesome facts about WWE superstar Brock Lesnar








This is why LeBron James is in such good shape

$
0
0

LeBron James has led his Cleveland Cavaliers to the 2015 NBA Finals against the Golden State Warriors. We took a look at the science behind the low-carb diet that got him into fighting shape.

This video was originally posted on October 10, 2014. 

Produced By Matt Johnston
 
Follow BI Video: On Facebook

Join the conversation about this story »








Shia LaBeouf has something to say to the Cavs and Warriors

$
0
0

Shia LaBeouf NBA Finals motivational video

Shia LaBeouf had a few words to help pump up the Cavs and the Warriors before the first game of the 2015 NBA Finals.

Using a motivational speech that LaBeouf recorded in front of a green screen last month, the video staff at Grantland created a hilarious mashup, which featured Shia telling everyone that in order to win they can't "let their dreams be dreams. Just do it!" Welcome to the NBA Finals.

You can watch the hilarious mashup below: 

 

 

SEE ALSO: Here's how the Cleveland Cavaliers can pull off an upset over the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's what 'Game of Thrones' stars look like in real life








The Warriors waited 50 minutes to finally unleash their secret weapon, and it was devastating for the Cavs

$
0
0

steph curry

The Golden State Warriors survived a classic LeBron James performance and beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 108-100 in overtime of Game 1 of the NBA Finals. It's a win that feels much more significant than the 1-0 series lead indicates.

The Cavs followed the blueprint for upsetting the Warriors to the letter through 50 minutes. They got 44 points out of LeBron, grabbed offensive rebounds in bundles early, and had the supposedly injured Kyrie Irving looking downright spry.

But in the last three minutes of overtime the Warriors stole the game, and it came after coach Steve Kerr made a gutsy decision to finally pull out the small-ball lineup he hadn't used all night.

All year the Warriors have been devastating teams by playing a super-small team of Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes, and Draymond Green. Green, at 6-foot-7, is the nominal center. This lineup destroys people on offense because all five guys can shoot threes and attack off the dribble, and it's good enough defensively to hold its own because all five guys can switch on screens and guard multiple positions.

Kerr didn't use it at all in through the 48 minutes of regulation and the first two minutes of overtime, probably because he feared the Cavs would destroy his team on the offensive boards. But when the game was on the line late, Kerr went small, and it paid off.

The Warriors led 100-98 when they went small with 3:16 left. In their next five possessions they scored eight points to push the lead to 108-98 and put the game away.

The maddening thing about this lineup for opponents is that since everyone can shoot, one defensive lapse leads to a wide-open three-pointer — like the one Harrison Barnes drained to make it 105-98 with two minutes left:

cavaliers warriors 3

To combat this lineup, the Cavs tried to go small(ish) themselves by bringing in James Jones and playing LeBron at the 4. But with Tristan Thompson forced to chase Draymond Green around the court, there was no one home to protect the rim. Once Iguodala gets by J.R. Smith here, only Jones is between him and the basket. If Andrew Bogut is in the game for the Warriors, the Cavs can park at big man at the rim and take away these sorts of drives:

cavs warriors small

Golden State got some luck as well during this period. Irving left the game with a leg injury and LeBron, who'd been otherworldly all night, couldn't drain a couple of threes to narrow the gap. But it was a devastating stretch for the Cavs, not just because they lost a game they could have easily won and wasted LeBron's 44 points, but because it showed how tough it's going to be for Cleveland to matchup with this lineup.

After the game, Kerr told reporters he went small to try to disrupt LeBron.

"You have to kind of try to keep doing some different things with LeBron because he's, I mean, he's just so talented and can score in so many ways," he said. "So we just decided to change the look a little bit. Whether that worked or not, I mean, it worked on the scoreboard. He may have missed a couple shots that he had been hitting earlier, but it was just something we did."

Offensive rebounding has been central to the Cavs' success in the playoffs. If they are suddenly forced to go small to match up with the Warriors, that means Timofey Mozgov and Tristan Thompson aren't on the floor at the same time, and the extra possessions Cleveland gets with offensive boards go away. And if Irving is out, what exactly is this small Cavs lineup going to look like?

It'll be fascinating to see if Kerr goes back to this extensively in Game 2, or if he tries to keep it traditional. There's a reason, after all, he refused to use it all night long — over a larger sample size, maybe the big Cavs lineup really would destroy the little Warriors on the boards. But at the very least, both teams now know this wild card is on the table if things are going against Golden State.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: How LeBron James spends his money








The most powerful person in the world at every age

$
0
0

Most Powerful People 2015

True power is ageless.

From the toddling Prince George, third in line to the British throne, to 100-year-old Pulitzer Prize-winning author Herman Wouk, we found the most powerful person at every age from 1 to 100.

To create this list, we took four criteria into consideration: command, or the degree to which a person formally controls a group of people; past influence, or how much a person has changed the world; future influence, or how much a person is likely to change the world going forward; and net worth.

Spanning industries and time zones, these are the most powerful people, from 1 to 100.

AGE 1: Prince George of Cambridge

Heir to the British throne

What makes him powerful: After his grandfather and father, little George is next in line to succeed his great-grandmother, Queen Elizabeth II. As an eight-month-old he took his first royal tour — a 19-day visit to New Zealand and Australia. He's also a tiny fashion icon, and he recently became a big brother to new princess Charlotte Elizabeth Diana.



AGE 2: Macallister Bogue

Son of Marissa Mayer and Zach Bogue

What makes him powerful: While he's only a couple of years old, Bogue, son of Yahoo CEO Marissa Mayer, still influences his mom's outlook at work. Though Mayer herself only took a few weeks off after giving birth, she doubled the amount of paid maternity leave Yahoo offers new mothers from eight to 16 weeks and offered new dads eight weeks as well.



AGE 3: Blue Ivy Carter

Daughter of Beyoncé and Jay Z

What makes her powerful: Nothing is too good for this power couple's little girl. Blue Ivy's second birthday was celebrated at the exotic Jungle Island in Miami; for her third, Blue got an ice sculpture with her name carved into it. Gwyneth Paltrow, who is good friends with the Knowles-Carter clan, said of Blue Ivy: "She is a powerhouse. I love her so much."



See the rest of the story at Business Insider






The super-aerodynamic bike that Britain's best cyclist will try to set a new world hour record on

$
0
0

Jag_Pinarello_Bolide_HR_Image_050615_04_LowRes

On Sunday, the greatest British cyclist alive, Sir Bradley Wiggins, will attempt to set a new hour record, one of the most prestigious, and most difficult, achievements in all of cycling.

The 2012 Tour de France winner and Olympic champion will try to ride well past the existing record of 52.937 kilometers, or about 32.894 miles, at the Lee Valley VeloPark in London

Many think that Wiggo, as he's called, will have no problem breaking the current record held by compatriot Alex Dowsett, who rode 52.937 kilometers earlier this year. Some say he's looking to go 55 kilometers, or about 34 miles.

The special bike he's going to ride is the Pinarello Bolide HR, co-engineered by Jaguar and Italian bicycle manufacturer Pinarello. Wiggins is calling it "the most aerodynamic track bike I've ever ridden."

Here are the photos released by Jaguar (you can read the full press release below):

Jag_Pinarello_Bolide_HR_Image_050615_06_LowRes

Jag_Pinarello_Bolide_HR_Image_050615_05_LowRes

Jag_Pinarello_Bolide_HR_Image_050615_04_LowRes

Jag_Pinarello_Bolide_HR_Image_050615_03_LowResThe hashtag #MyHour on the top tube of his bike will help motivate Wiggins on Sunday.

Jag_Pinarello_Bolide_HR_Image_050615_01.JPG

11411753_829474780475257_1010154358323269618_o

Wiggins Hour Record Cycling

Bradley Wiggins Hour Record for Cycling

Here's a good overview video of the hour record, and what Wiggins will be trying to do on Sunday (via The Guardian):

The full press release from Jaguar:

Pinarello & Jaguar Co-Engineer UCI Hour Record Bolide HR Bike for Sir Bradley Wiggins

  • Sir Bradley Wiggins to ride the Pinarello Bolide HR at the Lee Valley VeloPark on Sunday 7June for UCI Hour Record
  • Jaguar lends its world class expertise in aerodynamics for modification of Wiggins' World Time Trial Pinarello Bolide frame
  • The same CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) design methods used to develop the Jaguar XE, the most aerodynamic car Jaguar have ever produced, applied to the Bolide HR
  • The Bolide HR has an overall aerodynamic performance increase of 7.5% largely down to a new one-piece titanium handlebar, narrow fork and chainstay design
  • Sir Bradley Wiggins hails the Jaguar Pinarello Bolide HR as "the most aerodynamic track bike I've ever ridden"

British sporting icon Sir Bradley Wiggins will attempt to break the UCI Hour Record on a new Pinarello Bolide HR bike, which has been co-engineered by Jaguar and Italian bicycle manufacturers, Pinarello.

The UCI-sanctioned Bolide HR track bicycle, which has been optimised for Sunday's Hour Record based on Wiggins' World Time Trial-winning Pinarello road model, possesses a revolutionary one-piece titanium handlebar and frameset to ensure the perfect aerodynamic performance.

Sir Bradley Wiggins said: "The UCI Hour Record is the toughest challenge of human performance in cycling, where every fraction of a second matters.

"I've worked with Jaguar's performance engineers since 2010, and their world class knowledge and experience in aerodynamics, combined with Pinarello's expert frame building, gives me confidence that I can set a new standard on Sunday.

"The Bolide HR is the most aerodynamically efficient track bike I've ever ridden."

Using the same methods and taking key insights from the technology-leading work on Jaguar Land Rover road cars, Jaguar's engineers have applied their advanced aerodynamics knowledge to help create an overall aerodynamic performance increase of 7.5%.

The same CFD [Computational Fluid Dynamics] design methods used to develop the Jaguar XE, the most aerodynamic car Jaguar have ever produced, were part of a comprehensive study of the world class Bolide frame where every component was analysed to inform modifications.

The Pinarello Bolide HR contains a completely re-designed one-piece handlebar system to optimise Wiggins' interaction with the bike. Laser Sintering Technology has been applied to create a deeply re-shaped titanium handlebar, including the removal of the brakes, gear levers and an innovative arm rest area to reduce air pressure and drag.

Jaguar and Pinarello have narrowed the fork design, making it closer to the front disc wheel, to enhance airflow in the bottom bracket area. Other key component changes from the Bolide road bike include the enhancement of the front fork surface, and re-shaping of the chainring and wheel hubs to optimise the bike's aerodynamic capability.

"Jaguar has a talented team of engineers with a great depth of aerodynamic knowledge, so we're very proud to be able to work on this collaboration with Pinarello," said John Pitman, Principal CFD Aerodynamicist at Jaguar Land Rover.

Pitman added: "Applying this level of engineering capability and analysis to the development of bikes is still very new in cycling, and showcases the industry-leading expertise and facilities we have at Jaguar Land Rover."

Pinarello has a long-standing affiliation with the Hour Record, most notably in 1994 when the Italian bike manufacturer developed the Pinarello Espada for Miguel Indurain during his successful record attempt.

"I'm extremely honoured to be involved in creating this special Bolide HR for Bradley's Hour Record challenge, twenty years after the last model we designed for Miguel Indurain," said Fausto Pinarello, CEO of Pinarello.

"Our relationship with Bradley, as well as Jaguar during our years as fellow partners of Team Sky continues to ensure Pinarello are creating world class, high performance bikes."

Mark Cameron, Global Brand Experience Director for Jaguar Land Rover, said: "Sir Bradley Wiggins is a British sporting legend, who has been integral to Jaguar's global cycling sponsorship. Being able to co-engineer Wiggins' Bolide HR bike and continue our excellent partnership with Pinarello helps Jaguar illustrate its world class engineering credentials to a global audience."

SEE ALSO: Why cyclists shave their legs

DON'T MISS Barry Bonds spent $20K on one of the rarest bikes

SEE ALSO: Why cycling — not golf — is the new sport of choice for young professionals

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: NYC Bike Messenger: Cab Drivers Are Not The Biggest Problem On The Road








The Warriors are letting LeBron James dominate by himself, and it worked in Game 1

$
0
0

lebron james nba finals game 1

The Warriors overcame a dominant 44-point performance from LeBron James to beat the Cavaliers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals Thursday night.

Facing the Warriors' top-ranked defense, LeBron took over for large portions of the game, willing his team through four quarters before the Cavs eventually crumbled in overtime.

And while James' dominance nearly won the game for the Cavs, the Warriors are willing to live with him scoring 44 points on 38 shots, so long as his teammates aren't getting in on the action.

As ESPN's Ethan Sherwood Strauss wrote, this is part of the Warriors plan: let LeBron dominate and shut down his teammates. Make LeBron win a game by himself. Strauss wrote, "They want a game in which James shoots 38 times, with only four of those tries coming in the restricted area... If LeBron beats Golden State with floaters and step-back jumpers, those are the breaks."

Warriors center Andrew Bogut clarified the philosophy, saying, "He made a lot of tough jumpers that were contested and we'll live with him shooting a lot of shots and scoring 40 because we feel like a lot of guys who are key to them winning a series don't get touches and don't get going."

While James hasn't been efficient in isolations this postseason, scoring just 0.68 points per possession and shooting 32.5% on shots out of isolation, he still powered to 20 points on isolations Thursday night, according to SportVU.

Despite putting talented defenders like Harrison Barnes, Draymond Green, Andre Iguodala, and Klay Thompson on him, LeBron bullied and tumbled his way to the basket, tossing up a variety of tough floaters and fadeaways:

LeBron James iso Warriors 1

The Warriors will concede this tough move from LeBron, because they're denying the rest of the Cavs:

LeBrom James iso 2 Warriors

LeBron v Warrors

Eventually, James wore down, missing five of his final six shots, and as Bogut suggested, the rest of his teammates were out-of-sync on offense. The Cavs missed 12 consecutive shots in a stretch from the fourth quarter to overtime, with J.R. Smith missing his final four shots in that stretch and Timofey Mozgov missing his final two shots.

Worsening matters for Cleveland is that James will have to carry an even heavier load after his best supporting cast member, Kyrie Irving, left the game early with a knee injury. Irving had 23 points on 10-22 shooting last night and can make James' life easier as a playmaker or spot-up shooter. 

The Warriors' philosophy of letting LeBron just dominate could bite them at some point. LeBron nearly carried the Cavs to a win in Game 1, and he's certainly done it on his own in the past. However, the Warriors are hedging a bet that James doesn't have enough 40-point explosions in him to beat them four times, and it paid off in Game 1.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 12 awesome facts about WWE superstar Brock Lesnar









On the eve of the Women's World Cup, there's an issue with the turf in the most important stadium

$
0
0

Soccer

With 24 hours to go before the start of the Women's World Cup in Canada, there are still major concerns for the highly-controversial turf being used at one of the key stadiums.

Prior to the start of the World Cup, organizers upgraded the artificial turf at BC Place Stadium in Vancouver, which will host nine matches, including the final on July 5. The early indications are that the turf will eventually be great, but it's unclear if it'll be fully broken in in time for the tournament.

The installation of the turf was completed just one week before the start of the World Cup. The problem is, according to the company that makes the turf, it takes 6-10 weeks to properly break it in, as reported by News 1130 in Vancouver.

One FIFA official says the break-in process has been accelerated, and he thinks it'll be fine.

"It’s been an aggressive schedule this week but we’re confident we’ll be ready to go," FIFA's Don Hardman told the media. "Working on compaction and working on some of the testing methods to ensure the criteria and it involves a series of increased maintenance schedule. Working on compacting the turf with some rolling machines, things like that to really accelerate the break-in process."

When BC Place hosts its first World Cup match on Monday, it will be just the second match played on the turf. The first came last weekend when the Vancouver Whitecaps of MLS hosted Real Salt Lake. After that game, the players were less than pleased with the playing surface.

"Slippery for sure, you saw all the guys slipping out there," Nick Rimando of RSL told the media after the game.

Another big issue is that the filler used to cushion the turf, sand and tiny pieces of rubber, is so new that it hasn't been compacted or settled yet.

"I wasn’t a fan," Rimando continued. "Every time the ball comes, the sand gets in your eye and rubber gets everywhere. You saw, [sand is] all over everybody’s feet and legs."

In addition, the players were left covered in a residue of dust and shoes and legs were covered in a green residue.

Soccer

The reason the turf wasn't installed earlier was due to other commitments at the stadium.

"Part of it was timing," Hardman told the media. "This is a very busy building between the trade show in the offseason and the MLS schedule. We had a window of opportunity in May and we made the best efforts we could."

Abby Wambach led a group of players who sued FIFA over the playing surfaces.

This is just the latest problem for the World Cup and its playing surfaces. Prior to the tournament, a group of players filed a sexual discrimination suit against FIFA for their decision to play the World Cup on artificial turf instead of the natural grass used during the men's tournament. The suit was later dropped when it became clear it would not be resolved prior to the start of the World Cup.

Whether the new turf at BC Place Stadium will be ready for Monday's match, or more importantly, for the final in four weeks, remains to be seen. But if it is not, you can be sure the players will not be happy.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 12 awesome facts about WWE superstar Brock Lesnar








Researchers have a theory to explain why high-school athletes go on to be successful in life

$
0
0

field hockey, athletes

Playing high-school sports doesn't just boost your chances of teenage popularity.

In a twist that is either horrifying or reassuring depending on your past, people who played sports in high school may actually go on to have more professional success.

For years, economists have shown that former student athletes go onto earn significantly more than their non-sports-playing peers — between 5% and 15% more, according to research cited by the Atlantic.

Now, a new study, published this month in the "Journal of Leadership & Organizational Studies," suggests a potential explanation for those higher salaries: One-time athletes are seen as having more self-confidence, more self-respect, and better leadership skills than people who pursued other hobbies — yearbook and band, in the case of the study.

"People seem to activate a certain set of expectations with people who've played high-school sports," lead researcher Kevin Kniffin, a professor at Cornell University, tells Business Insider. And notably, those expectations seem to hold whether or not the people doing the evaluations were once athletes themselves. "We're not reporting that likes are attracting likes," Kniffin explains. It's everybody.

Moreover, Kniffin's research suggests that former athletes seem to live up to those perceptions. Looking at longitudinal data from World War II veterans — men in their 70s, 80s, and 90s at the time of the survey — it appeared that people who played sports did go on to have more high-status careers. Fifty-five years after high school, they earned more than nonathletes, and they were more likely to assume positions in upper management.

And — contrary to certain stereotypes — the former student athletes also gave more money to charity and spent more time volunteering than people who hadn't played sports. 

So does that mean the secret to lifetime achievement is four years of high-school basketball and a side of track? Maybe — but maybe not. "Our study really just scratched the surface," says Kniffin. Having played high-school sports correlates with future success, but whether your sophomore volleyball career is the reason you make partner has yet to be determined.

high school athleticsAs the paper notes, it's possible that "participation in youth sports might function as a marker for other background traits such as family stability or general mental ability."

If you played a sport in high school, that means you went to a school that had athletic options, that your family responsibilities left you time to take advantage of them, that you're reasonably athletic (or willing to play anyway), and that you felt like you'd be reasonably welcome to participate — all factors that could help explain your future success. Sports come with cultural caché, and that could account for the self-confidence boost, too. 

Kniffin also points out that while certain qualities — leadership, self-confidence, and self-respect — are associated specifically with athletics, it's likely that future studies could show "important traits associated with other activities — the discipline that comes along with learning a musical instrument, for example." 

The takeaway here, Kniffin stresses, is not that we all have to play high-school sports, force our children to play high-school sports, and spend the rest of our lives regretting it if we did not play high-school sports.

(Let us take this moment to point out, too, that while a whole bunch of business leaders are one-time athletes, a whole lot aren't. Warren Buffett, Steve Jobs, and Bill Gates are known for many things, but their collective athletic prowess is not one of them.)

Still, Kniffin suggests that there's something unique about athletics — and while there's more research to be done to investigate a causal relationship between sports and success, he has some theories that could potentially explain the link. "Being part of a team, working intensively with teammates, managing a common resource, and interacting closely with a coach where there's a common goal" are all potential factors, he says.

Kniffin didn't look at how different types of sports affect success, but that's his next project. If crew is the ultimate team sport, then are one-time rowers even better leaders than former track stars? 

There's a lot we still don't know. But one thing seems clear: For better or worse, what happens in high school doesn't stay in high school.  

SEE ALSO: The surprising danger of being good at your job

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: The 9 highest-paying jobs with openings right now








Andre Iguodala, the Warriors' $48 million sixth-man, came up huge in Game 1 of the NBA Finals

$
0
0

Andre Iguodala dunks

Once the Cleveland Cavaliers got the ball back with 26 seconds left and the score tied 98-98 in Game 1 of the NBA Finals, everyone in the building knew LeBron James was going to take the final shot. That included Andre Iguodala, the Warriors' sixth man who had guarded LeBron for most of the night.

Iguodala was in a similar situation last season when LeBron, then with the Miami Heat, hit a game-winning jumper over him:

LeBron sinks game winner

This time, it was different result. Iguodala stayed closer to LeBron, and his outstretched left arm forced LeBron to take an even more highly contested shot, which bounced off the rim. 

Iggy blocks LeBron's shot

Iguodala told Sports Illustrated's Ben Golliver after the game that the memory of giving up that game-winner last season helped him predict what James was going to do this time around:

"Last year he beat us on a similar shot. You get a feel for guys, what they want to do. ... I kind of knew what play he wanted to get into. Just going left, step-back. I was right there on him, and he was still able to get it off. At that point, you just want percentages to kick in and help you out."

Iguodala certainly had a feel for LeBron the entire game. While LeBron would finish the game with 44 points, most of the damage was done against Harrison Barnes or other Golden State defenders. When LeBron was guarded by Iguodala, he struggled:

Prior to this season, Iguodala started every game throughout his 10-year career. But after Barnes' flourished as the team's starting small forward, Steve Kerr asked Iguodala — who signed a $48 million contract in 2013 — to take a reserve role this year. He has excelled as the Warriors' sixth man ever since.

"I thought he was fantastic," Warriors coach Steve Kerr told CBS Sports' Matt Moore after the game. "Andre is one of the smartest defenders I've ever seen. I mean, he understands angles; he understands where everybody is on the floor. You know, it's funny to say when a guy gets 44 points that the defender did a really good job, but I thought Andre did extremely well. [He] made LeBron take some tough shots."

Iguodala didn't just have a strong defensive game; he was instrumental in the Warriors offensive attack as well. He shot six-for-eight from the field and two-for-three from behind the arc. He finished with 15 points, 10 of them coming after the final minute of the third quarter.

During the Warriors' fourth-quarter run, Iguodala lost his shoe just past half court, but continued to run to the corner where Curry found him wide open for a three to bring the Warriors within one:

Iggy shoots with no shoe

Iguodala will look to follow-up his stellar performance when the Warriors and Cavaliers square off in Game 2 at Oracle Arena Sunday at 8 p.m. ET.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 8th-grade basketball team loses after game-winning shot gets stuck on rim in freakish fashion








The Oakland A's just called up a relief pitcher who pitches with both arms

$
0
0

 Pat Venditte

The Oakland A's have promoted Pat Venditte to the major leagues. Normally the promotion of a middle reliever would not make any waves, but Venditte is different: He can pitch with both arms.

When Venditte appears in his first game, he will be the first switch pitcher in Major League Baseball since 1894 and the first pitcher to use both arms in a single game since Greg A. Harris did in 1995. Harris was a right-handed pitcher who taught himself to throw left-handed, doing it only once, in his next-to-last game in the big leagues.

A natural right-hander, Venditte was encouraged by his dad, a former college baseball player, throw with both arms. His father told ESPN's E:60 that his hope was just that his son would make it further in baseball than he did.

Pat Venditte

The biggest challenge growing up was finding a glove Venditte could use in Little League games after being told he couldn't take two gloves to the mound.

The result was this six-fingered monstrosity produced by Mizuno in Osaka, Japan.

Pat Venditte

There are two huge advantages to being able to pitch with both arms. The first is within the game as Venditte can switch arms depending on the batter at the plate or the situation in the game. Venditte can choose to throw right-handed to a right-handed batter, left-handed to a left-handed batter, or keep a runner on first base closer to the bag by throwing lefty, to name a couple of examples.

The other advantage is that Venditte can, in theory, throw twice as many pitches and twice as often as a normal pitcher, a huge advantage in today's game where teams often need three to five relievers in a single night.

The only complication occurs when there is a switch-hitter, something that has already been addressed by Major League Baseball's Rule 5.07, which includes a section for ambidextrous pitchers. The rule says Venditte must declare which hand he will use for each batter and he cannot switch until he faces a new batter:

"A pitcher must indicate visually to the umpire-in-chief, the batter and any runners the hand with which he intends to pitch, which may be done by wearing his glove on the other hand while touching the pitcher’s plate. The pitcher is not permitted to pitch with the other hand until the batter is retired, the batter becomes a runner, the inning ends, the batter is substituted for by a pinch-hitter or the pitcher incurs an injury. In the event a pitcher switches pitching hands during an at-bat because he has suffered an injury, the pitcher may not, for the remainder of the game, pitch with the hand from which he has switched. The pitcher shall not be given the opportunity to throw any preparatory pitches after switching pitching hands. Any change of pitching hands must be indicated clearly to the umpire-in-chief."

That rule was put in place to avoid a situation like the one that occurred with Venditte in the minor leagues back in 2009, when he faced a switch-hitter and the two kept switching back-and-forth and nobody seemed to know what to do (see the 1:13 mark of this video):

There are downsides to being a switch-pitcher. It likely takes Venditte twice as long to warm-up and on top of that, pitchers are allowed just eight warm-up pitches when they enter the game. Venditte will likely have to split those pitches up.

The bigger issue is mechanics. Pitching is a complicated process with a ton of moving parts. One hiccup in the operation can mess everything up. Venditte, while he has similar throwing motions from both sides, still has two sets of mechanics he must be concerned with at all times while developing two separate arms to be big league ready.

That latter point was likely a contributing factor to why it has taken Venditte seven years to make it to the big leagues since being drafted by the Yankees back in 2008.

If Venditte can prove both arms belong in the big leagues, it will be a huge advantage for the A's, who now get an extra arm to use that other teams can't have.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: 12 awesome facts about WWE superstar Brock Lesnar








There are 7 countries with a legit shot to win the Women's World Cup

$
0
0

Women's World Cup

The US and Germany are the overwhelming favorites to win the World Cup, but the gap between the top teams and the rest of the world is narrowing, according to the latest model by Nate Silver.

In addition to the two favorites, five other countries have at least a 5% chance of winning the World Cup, including the host nation, Canada, and the defending champions, Japan.

Here are the chances of winning the World Cup entering the first week of the tournament:

  • United States, 28%
  • Germany, 27%
  • Japan, 10%
  • France, 8%
  • Canada, 7%
  • Brazil, 6%
  • Sweden, 5%

No other country has more than a 2% chance of winning the tournament and 14 of the 24 teams are being given less than 1% chance of winning. 

The United States also has a 96% chance of getting out of the group stage and a 65% chance of reaching the semifinals.

Join the conversation about this story »

NOW WATCH: Here's how Cristiano Ronaldo spends his money








Viewing all 89902 articles
Browse latest View live