Weaknesses Islanders must fix to become Stanley Cup champs
NY Post
Anders Lee was missed terribly on Mathew Barzal’s left side. But do you know who the Islanders missed just about as much? Jordan Eberle, that’s who. And unlike Lee, who went down with a season-ending knee injury in March, Eberele was actually in the lineup on Barzal’s right. You could be excused for not noticing that against the Lightning other than for a shift or two in Game 6 of the Stanley Cup semifinals.
The Islanders deserve a heap of credit not only for making it to the final four again, but also for pushing the Lightning to the limit in a riveting semifinal series. The franchise has put the Shipwreck label in dry dock. The overachiever tag is past its expiration date, as well. Now, it is Lou Lamoriello’s responsibility to engineer the next step with little room in which to maneuver under the cap before the Islanders become just another of those teams that comes close but can never quite make it to the mountaintop.
It feels right that on the day we celebrate Aaron Judge joining an elite pantheon of athlete — the multi-time winner of the Most Valuable Player award — that we take a walk back to the beginning, when Judge was little more than a 6-foot-7, 280-pound curiosity who mostly specialized in striking out.
The NFL has warned its players to take precautions against a “transnational crime ring” that is suspected of orchestrating a number of break-ins of athletes’ homes including Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.
Joel Embiid isn’t pleased with details of the 76ers’ team meeting after Monday’s loss being leaked, telling reporters after Wednesday’s road loss to the Grizzlies, “whoever leaked that is a real piece of s–t.”
PHOENIX — Jalen Brunson didn’t want to comment on the NBA looking into his father’s promotion and contract as a potential salary-cap circumvention, but the point guard certainly had a message to anybody questioning Rick Brunson’s coaching credentials.
PHOENIX — Wednesday brought some cautiously optimistic updates for the Knicks frontcourt.
The Greatest Escape in franchise history was perpetrated by Glen Sather, when the general manager extricated himself and the Rangers from the final five years of Scott Gomez’s contract by moving the $7,357,143-per-year center to Montreal on June 30, 2009 after two years in New York.
The Yankees publicly are on the same page: Hal Steinbrenner, like Brian Cashman and Aaron Boone before him, said that issues with the club’s fundamentals did not hover over the team all season.
The first day of the rest of Daniel Jones’ dwindling time with the Giants arrived Wednesday, with Jones in the building, in the meetings, on the practice field (although not doing very much) and not at all part of the game plan for the next game, relegated to a non-participant role for the remainder of the season.
There will be a little extra magic for Knicks-Spurs on Christmas Day.
The quickest way for the Giants to climb out of quarterback hell is also the quickest way to extend their stay there for at least three more years.