Sports
Exclusive: Kai Sotto goes undrafted in 2022 NBA Draft
#Kai #Sotto #undrafted #NBA #Draft
FILE–Kai Sotto during his stint with Gilas Pilipinas. –AFP
MANILA, Philippines — Kai Sotto was not selected in the 2022 NBA Rookie Draft on Friday (Manila time) at Barclays Center in Brooklyn, New York.
No NBA team took a chance on drafting the 7-foot-3 center as his name was not called by Commissioner Adam Silver and his deputy, Mark Tatum, after 58 picks.
Sotto, who was hoping to become the first Filipino homegrown talent to be drafted in the NBA, is automatically an unrestricted free agent.
Despite being undrafted, the 20-year-old still has a chance to chase his ultimate dream if he gets an opportunity to play in the NBA Summer League in July, where he can impress the coaches and scouts.
The former Ateneo high school star attended a dozen of pre-draft workouts with the New York Knicks, Orlando Magic, Los Angeles Clippers, Chicago Bulls, Sacramento Kings, and Indiana Pacers.
Sotto had an impressive stint with the Adelaide 36ers in Australia’s National Basketball League stint, where he averaged 7.6 points on 51 percent field goals including a 39-percent shooting from deep, and had 4.5 rebounds and 0.7 blocks in 15.2 minutes in 23 games.
Remy Martin of University of Kansas and Ron Harper Jr. out of Rutgers, the two other players in the NBA Draft who are of Filipino descent, also went undrafted.
Harper, though, immediately signed a two-way contract with the Toronto Raptors according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski.
Paolo Banchero was the No.1 overall pick by the Orlando Magic. Oklahoma City selected Chet Holmgren as the second overall pick, while the Houston Rockets drafted Jabari Smith Jr.
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Sports
Exclusive: NBA: Steve Clifford to be coach of Hornets for second time—report – TalkOfNews.com
#NBA #Steve #Clifford #coach #Hornets #timereport
Oct 9, 2019; Atlanta, GA, USA; Orlando Magic head coach Steve Clifford reacts during the second half against the Atlanta Hawks at State Farm Arena. Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports
Steve Clifford agreed to a multi-year deal on Friday for a second tour of duty as coach of the Charlotte Hornets, according to multiple reports.
The 60-year-old Clifford went 196-214 with two playoff appearances in five seasons with the club from 2013-18. He was fired after going 36-46 in the 2017-18 campaign.
The move comes after Golden State Warriors assistant Kenny Atkinson agreed to become coach of the Hornets and later reneged on the deal.
After being dismissed by Charlotte, Clifford spent three seasons with the Orlando Magic and went 96-131. He has an overall mark of 292-345 in eight NBA seasons.
Clifford’s first two Orlando squads made the postseason but his final team went 21-51, the third-worst record in the league. Clifford and the Magic elected to part ways following the campaign.
Clifford spent last season in a consulting role for the Brooklyn Nets.
Clifford is just 11 wins shy of matching the Charlotte record for coaching victories held by Allan Bristow (207 from 1991-96).
Charlotte also considered veteran coach Mike D’Antoni for the job.
The Hornets fired James Borrego after going 43-39 last season. Charlotte lost to the Atlanta Hawks in a play-in game to miss the postseason for the sixth straight season.
Borrego went 138-163 in his four seasons with the Hornets. Last season was his only winning campaign.
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#30year #Origin #hoodoo #haunting #South #Wales
It’s almost 30 years since a Blues team came back to win a State of Origin series after losing the opener in Sydney, but two stars of that memorable NSW team of 1994 have laid down a blueprint for Brad Fittler’s men to follow.
Brilliant fullback Tim Brasher and giant back-rower Paul Sironen admitted things looked bleak for the Blues when Mark Coyne scored the famous last-minute try to win the Queenslanders an epic Game One that series.
“I know how this team feels – because it’s the same way we felt back in ’94,” Sironen, now a member of the Blues’ management team, told Wide World of Sports from Perth.
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“When you have game one at home you just have to win it – and we blew it.
“We didn’t play as well as we could have and we didn’t execute the way we trained and we knew we were really going to be up against it for the rest of the series.
“But what we did was turn that to our advantage by using that frustration, disappointment and anger at ourselves to spur us on.
“We levelled the series in Melbourne and it then all came down to the decider in Brisbane.”
Brasher has vivid memories of the lead-up to the all-important third match at Lang Park.
“Everyone was telling us about Lang Park being the cauldron and how we would cop it up there and I must admit I wasn’t all that confident in the week leading up to the game,” Brasher said.
“But then on game night, as our team bus went down Caxton Street and they came out of the pub and shook the bus and threw bottles at us, I think that actually did us a favour.
“It galvanised us, gave us a siege mentality and we were determined to go all the way.”
The Blues won the decider 27-12, with a young Brad Fittler playing in the centres.
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Players who made their State of Origin debut as teenagers
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