After Syracuse won its first two conference games of the season, the Orange (11-5, 2-1 Atlantic Coast) suffered another setback in a 73-59 loss to Georgia Tech (10-6, 2-1) on Saturday inside the Carrier Dome. The SU offense was unable to beat the Yellow Jackets’ defense that entered the matchup ranked 16th in adjusted defensive efficiency, per KenPom, while the defense was unable to stop Georgia Tech from dominating in the paint.Here are the superlatives from the loss:The Big Moment: James Banks III’s poster dunk on Elijah HughesWith just under two minutes left in the first half and Syracuse up three, a loose ball led to a scrum with players battling for possession. The ball found Curtis Haywood II who quickly passed the ball inside to an open James Banks III. He rose and slammed it over Elijah Hughes, who fouled him on the play, giving an and-1 for the junior forward. Banks III made the free throw to tie the score, shifting momentum to Georgia Tech as the Yellow Jackets would never trail the rest of the way.Stud: Jose AlvaradoAdvertisementThis is placeholder textOne year ago, Alvarado finished 1-for-8 in a win over Syracuse. But with several key pieces leaving the Yellow Jackets, Alvarado was tasked with leading the Georgia Tech offense in his sophomore year. Alvarado had just six points in the first half, but two quick corner 3s early in the second half helped the 6-foot guard reach double digits. There was nothing SU could do to stop Alvarado, who finished the game with 19 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including a perfect 3 for 3 from beyond the arc.Dud: Syracuse offenseThere was nothing Syracuse’s offense could do against Georgia Tech’s stout defense. One of the worst 3-point shooting teams in the country kept chucking and kept missing. Oshae Brissett finished the first half scoreless, and no player could pull the Orange out of the second-half hole they dug themselves into. Nearly 28 minutes into the game, SU had just 33 points. Syracuse finished the game shooting 31.6 percent from the field and 21.2 percent from 3. Despite shooting 45.8 percent from inside the arc, SU kept relying on the 3-point attempts. Its big 3 of Tyus Battle, Brissett and Hughes, meanwhile, combined for just 38 points on 11-of-34 shooting. In short, Syracuse was a game to forget for the Orange offense.Highlight: Buddy Boeheim’s back-to-back 3sWith Syracuse down 16 and desperately looking for any sort of scoring, the Orange found it from an unlikely source: Buddy Boeheim. The freshman point guard has struggled all season, but he made two 3s down the stretch. The first came from the right corner and, after an Alvarado turnover, Buddy nailed one from the right wing to cut the lead to 10. That 3 tied his career high — 3 in a game — and provided a quick boost of offense on a night Syracuse couldn’t buy a basket. The Carrier Dome had never been louder on Saturday night than following Boeheim’s back-to-back 3s, a glimmer of hope for a sputtering SU team.Lowlight: Interior DefenseThere were always worries about whether or not Marek Dolezaj could keep up with bigger, stronger centers in ACC play. He held his own in the first two conference games of the season, but on Saturday, Georgia Tech’s big men dominated. Dolezaj often guarded Abdoulaye Gueye, who at 6-foot-9 and 217 pounds, outweighed the SU center by 37 pounds. Gueye forced his way into the paint using a variety of hook shots and other post moves to create enough separation for easy shots. The other big man, 6-foot-9, 243-pound forward James Banks III, was also a force. The duo combined for 26 points on 11-of-17 shooting, as Georgia Tech outscored the Orange inside the paint 36-16. Gueye left the game with an injury with 15:54 left in the game, but that didn’t slow down the Yellow Jackets. Comments Facebook Twitter Google+ Published on January 12, 2019 at 8:23 pm Contact Charlie: csdistur@syr.edu | @charliedisturco
Kylian MbappeMonaco, Principality of Monaco | AFP | Monaco coach Leonardo Jardim has claimed that star striker Kylian Mbappe was left on the bench last weekend “to protect him” rather than as a punishment.The 18-year-old sensation reportedly wants away from the French champions, with Paris Saint-Germain his favoured destination but Real Madrid also reportedly ready to pay 180 million euros ($211 million) for his services.Mbappe started Monaco’s first two competitive matches of the season but sat on the bench for the duration of the principality club’s 4-1 Ligue 1 victory at Dijon on Sunday.Jardim said after that match that dropping Mbappe was a “decision by the club” but the Portuguese coach told media on Wednesday that it was not taken to punish the French international.“We never punish our players. That is not the right word. ‘Protected’ is a better word. When so many things are happening around an 18-year-old kid, it is our responsibility to protect him,” said Jardim.“That means me, Vadim (Vasilyev, the vice-president) and the sporting director (Antonio Cordon). It is always to protect the squad, the player and the club.“Kylian is not at 100 percent. He is not in great form. But that is to be expected of a kid who is just 18… Even you (journalists), if tomorrow another newspaper offers you a contract where you will earn 15 times more, you won’t be so good when it comes to tapping the keys on your computer keyboard,” he added with a smile.Mbappe, whose Monaco contract runs until June 2019, could again be left out when his side travel to Metz on league duty on Friday evening.“The philosophy at AS Monaco is to play those who are at 100 percent and totally available to the squad,” said the coach, whose side have won their opening two Ligue 1 matches. If he does not play, either Guido Carrillo or Adama Diakhaby will partner Radamel Falcao — scorer of a hat-trick in Dijon — against Metz.Mbappe won his first four caps for France at the tail end of last season but Jardim accepted that the current situation puts at risk his chances of being called up for his country’s World Cup qualifier against the Netherlands at the end of the month.But the former Sporting Lisbon boss is more concerned with what losing Mbappe might mean for his squad after seeing Bernardo Silva, Benjamin Mendy, Tiemoue Bakayoko and Valere Germain leave, amongst others, since winning the title.“I always say we have to adapt. Those who stay are always the most important. The objective is to be able to play well with those who remain. That is the mentality. I never cry about those who leave.“I know the transfer market. Twenty percent of it is about buying players to strengthen the team and the other 80 percent is about weakening the opposition and messing things up for everyone else.“It is a strategy. There are only two weeks left. After that it’s finished.” Share on: WhatsApp
Despite a fourth place showing in league standings, hockey evaluators have noticed the Kootenay Wildcats possess a core group of exciting players.Why else would the B.C. Female AAA Hockey League selected no less than eight players to the upcoming All star game Sunday, at the Events Centre in Langley.Trail’s Christina Bonacci, Erin McLean and Katie Yuris, Denomie Vockeroth-Fisher of Rossland, Castlegar’s Morgan Flynn, Kathryn Haegedorn of Kaslo, Shea Weighill of Nakusp and Holly Nikirk of Invermere were recently selected by B.C. Hockey to appear in the showcase contest.Kootenay manager Mike Bonacci was also selected to be at the game in an official capacity.It’s the most players ever selected for one All Star Game from the Wildcats.A total of 40 players — 12 defencemen, 24 forwards and four goalies — were selected from the five teams in the league.Players were selected based on on- and off-ice performances.An exciting component of the 2011 All Star Game is the skills competition that will be held for the participating all-star players during the intermissions.The skills event includes fastest skater and shoot out competition.Weighill gets honourable mentionIn other Female AAA news, Mackenzie Wong of the Fraser Valley Phantoms was selected player of the month for November.Wong led the Fraser Valley Phantom in points for November with one goal and five assists.The Phantom is currently undefeated with a 12-0 record, which puts them in first place within the FMAAA standings.Weighill, with four goals and three assists for the Wildcats, was one of four players on the honourable mention list.sports@thenelsondaily.com
With all the activities now available to students, schools sports, such as volleyball, has taken a back seat at Trafalgar Junior Secondary in Nelson.Which are primarily why there have been very few boys teams wearing the Thunder jerseys.That’s all changed as Trafalgar has its first boy’s volleyball squad in many years serving, diving and bumping in gymnasiums throughout the West Kootenay/Boundary region.Mallard’s Source for sports would like to salute the Boy’s Thunder squad with Team of the Week honours.The squad includes, Van Kozak, Nathanial Pan, Amran Bhabra, Joe Davidson, Drake Proctor, Kaleb Percival, Mason Scott, Matti Erickson, Ben Thast, Dylan Mowery and coach Staci Proctor.