Monthly Archives: January 2021

The Mavericks will have to endure at least one game without superstar Luka Doni after he was ruled out of Sundays meeting with the Chicago Bulls.

Coach Rick Carlisle confirmed during his pregame media session that Doni would be out with a left quadricep contusion suffered in the Miami game on Friday.

It happened late in the second quarter, Carlisle said. Hell be listed day to day. So well see where he is (Monday).

The Mavericks have their first back-to-back set of games of the season when they visit Houston on Monday. They then have two days off before playing at Denver on Thursday.

Well see how he is tomorrow, Carlisle said. I dont think this is a long-term thing, but well just have to see how he feels when he gets up and see if tomorrows going to be a possibility or not.

The 6-7 Doni is averaging 24.4 points, 7.6 rebounds and 6.4 assists per game.

Carlisle said that rookie two-way player Nate Hinton will be active for the first time in his career.

Porzingis getting closer: The news was considerably better in regard to Kristaps Porzingis, who continues his rehab from arthroscopic meniscus surgery in October.

Carlisle said that Porzingis had his longest full-court workout of the season on Saturday during an optional practice.

He played full-court for about 35 minutes with our young guys and some of our lower-minute guys, Carlisle said. He did well. Hes feeling the fatigue in his legs, as you can certainly understand. This is all part of the process of coming back from a minor surgery two-plus months ago.

One of the things working against the 7-3 Porzingis is that the Mavericks are not going to have a lot of practice time in the coming days.

In terms of the timetable . . . as we look at this week, theres no practice today or (Monday) obviously with two games. Tuesday will be an off day coming off the back-to-back. Wednesday will be a practice day and then we leave for Denver.

Theres nothing imminent with him playing in terms of a target date. But were a lot closer than we were.

Twitter: @ESefko

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Luka to miss at least one game; Porzingis making solid progress - The Official Home - Mavs.com

SF Giants President of Baseball Operations Farhan Zaidi. (Photo by Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images)

Heading into the winter, the SF Giants identified a left-handed bat, starting pitching depth, and bullpen depth as offseason priorities. To an extent, they have addressed those needs with the following signings:

In the case of Vosler, Wisler, and Brebbia, they are on rookie contracts so the Giants have control of them after 2021. Despite how slow the baseball offseason has been as stars such as Trevor Bauer and D.J. LeMahieu remain on the market, the SF Giants have been zigging when everyone else has been zagging.

So far, they have committed roughly $27.5 million to 2021 through free agency this winter. When the offseason began, they had in the neighborhood of $85 million available below the competitive balance tax (CBT), which is set at $210 million for 2021.

With the decision to non-tender Tyler Anderson, who was due a modest raise from his $1.75 million salary in 2020, and the moves they have already made, the Giants have $61 million remaining below the CBT. I should caution that just because they have that much available does not mean they will necessarily spend all of it.

Rather, the Giants have been looking to limit the long-term contracts they hand out with the money they have already committed to Buster Posey, Brandon Crawford, Brandon Belt, Evan Longoria, and Johnny Cueto.

With that being said, the Giants have shown that they have been willing to spend this offseason. Despite the lost revenues from the COVID-19 pandemic, the Giants seem to be in a better financial position than many teams. So far, no team has spent more on the 2021 roster than the Giants have this winter.

There is still work to be done as the starting rotation is light on depth.Since taking over as the president of baseball operations, Farhan Zaidi has been aggressive in January and February. We may see more of that this year, especially when it comes to signing veteran pitchers on minor league deals. They likely have room to make three or four more additions of that nature.

In terms of the bullpen and lineup, the Giants seem pretty content and much of the legwork appears to be done. They should still target a left-handed bat to give them another option behind Vosler, but it will likely be a minor league deal as well.

With only six weeks remaining before pitchers and catchers are projected to report, there are still a lot of free agents on the market. The Giants might not be in the market for the top-end names, but they will likely continue shopping in the bargain section as they get the roster ready for 2021.

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SF Giants: Offseason Check-In and Progress Report - Around the Foghorn

Credit Keldon Johnson, for putting up the best scoring night of his professional life while also being asked to defend LeBron James.

Kudos to Derrick White, for showing up for his first game since offseason toe surgery and almost immediately adding to his charges-taken ledger.

High-five to Dejounte Murray, who didnt play as well as he did two nights earlier against the same Los Angeles Lakers, but neither did he rest on that laurel.

There will be a time when simply making the defending NBA champions work for a 109-103 victory will not be cause for celebration in the Spurs locker room.

At this point in the teams youth-laden rebuilding effort, coach Gregg Popovich had to be pleased with the Spurs close-but-no-cigar effort to open 2021 on Friday at the AT&T Center.

We played a heck of a basketball team, Popovich said, and we were a good basketball team tonight also.

Johnson scored a career-best 26 points, made a career-best five 3-pointers and collected 10 rebounds, while DeMar DeRozan recorded 23 points with nine rebounds and seven assists.

It wasnt enough for the Spurs to overcome the LeBron James and Anthony Davis show.

Davis led Los Angeles with 34 points, while James posted 26 points, 10 assists and 11 rebounds for his 95th career triple-double as the Lakers won at the AT&T Center for the second time in three days.

Theyre good, White said, who played in his first game since the 2019-20 season ended in Orlando, Fla.. Theyre the defending champs for a reason.

The Spurs (2-3) at least made the Lakers (4-2) break a sweat Friday.

With 2:34 remaining, the Spurs took a 103-100 lead when Rudy Gay stepped through Wesley Matthews in the post, made a basket and drew a foul.

That would mark the Spurs final points of the night.

From there, the Lakers clamped down with championship-level defense to claim the game.

Davis followed Gays 3-point play with a 3-pointer of his own to knot the score again. The Lakers took the final lead they would need with 57.9 seconds left, as Kyle Kuzma cleaned up James miss at the rim.

The Spurs missed all five of their final shots, with five different players contributing the game-ending futility.

Still, it was not difficult to see the progress the Spurs made from one defeat against the Lakers to the next.

Of course we want to win, no matter who we are playing against, DeRozan said. We fought hard and played them tougher. It just shows you when we go out there and compete at a high level and play hard on both ends what can happen for us.

Truth be told, the Spurs werent terrible two nights earlier against the Lakers either.

LeBron and Co. did not fully run them out the AT&T Center in the first game of the Lakers two-game residency in San Antonio this week.

The Spurs hung around Wednesday behind Murrays career-best 29 points, but the Lakers had enough juice to keep them at bay.

The Spurs cut out some mistakes Friday, and the results were a tied score heading into the final minute.

We played better, Popovich said.

The difference in the end was the Spurs had neither James nor Davis on their roster.

Davis hit four of the Lakers 14 3-pointers, and grabbed 11 rebounds to go with his first 30-point scoring night of the season.

James meanwhile packed the box score as few other players can. Among active players, only Russell Westbrook (150) has more triple-doubles.

Lakers coach Frank Vogel likes to preach to his team about playing no-stress offense. Apparently, having two first-team All-NBA performers on the same roster is quite a stress reducer.

LeBron and Anthony make plays at the end of games, Popovich said. Thats what they do.

Before the game, Vogel said he wasnt sure what to expect of his team, given the Lakers had just beaten the Spurs by 14 points two nights earlier on the same floor.

Theres a big psychological component to tonights game, Vogel said before tipoff.

Vogel did know what to expect from the Spurs.

He expected the Spurs best shot. Thats something that comes with the territory of being the champs.

We know were going to get everybodys best shot, Vogel said. Thats the biggest challenge. Everybodys best effort is going to come our way.

Vogel was right.

Give a special game ball to Johnson, the Spurs 21-year-old forward who capped an eight-day stretch in which he guarded All-Star-caliber scorers in Pascal Siakam, Zion Williamson and James twice by pumping in a career scoring high.

He surpassed the 24 points he twice scored in games in the Orlando, Fla., bubble as a rookie last season.

Johnson has now recorded at least 20 points four times in first 25 career contests. The last Spurs player to accomplish that feat was Johnsons former assistant coach, Tim Duncan, who had six in his first 25 games of the 1997-98 campaign.

Hes a competitor, Popovich said. Hes a fine young player, and hes going to have a great career.

For now, silver linings and moral victories will have to do for the Spurs.

Having lost to the Lakers in consecutive games at the AT&T Center, the Spurs dont have to deal with LeBron and Co. for another six days.

The teams meet again Thursday in Los Angeles.

Popovich, for one, is looking forward at taking another crack at the champs.

Its not good for the record, Popovich said, but its good for our basketball team as far as long term is concerned.

jmcdonald@express-news.net

Twitter: @JMcDonald_SAEN

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Spurs show signs of progress, even in defeat - San Antonio Express-News

Metrics might help speed vaccinations

To the Editor: I am a Bedford Democrat who has crossed party lines for Governor Chris Sununu for the past two elections. I have met him at charity events and am convinced he is the right guy for our state, for our time. That said, we have a population that we need to vaccinate as soon as humanly possible. Early indications about our progress on vaccinations do not give a lot of confidence.

After spending most of my career in the private sector, one leadership lesson I have learned is that it is important to drive focus and alignment on a shared mission. While I understand that the negative severity of our challenge may sell more media, it is important for all our leaders to focus peoples attention on our ability to address this situation. Mask wearing is hugely important but not measurable. But our ability to vaccinate our citizens is the measurable priority we have been waiting for and it should be publicly broadcasted.

People want and, candidly, deserve progress from here. We should be increasingly focused on vaccination execution. We need a shared and understood vaccination target, a shared plan to get there, and frequent communication on our progress to that goal.

Anything less is noise and the kind of banter that the Live Free or Die state pushes itself to rise above.

In the words of my 11 year old, LETS GO!

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Letter: Vaccination metrics needed to drive progress | Letters to the Editor - The Union Leader

Posted: Jan 1, 2021 / 01:03 PM EST / Updated: Jan 1, 2021 / 01:04 PM EST

(WSYR-TV) Gov. Andrew Cuomo updated New Yorkers on the states progress with the COVID-19 pandemic on Friday.

As we enter this new year, New Yorkers should be energized with a bright hope for the future. We know what we have to do to defeat this invisible enemy and we are reminded of what can be achieved when we come together and work toward a united solution. As we start 2021, I encourage all New Yorkers to look to their better angels and continue the practices we know stop the spread of this virus wash your hands, socially distance, andwear a mask. I am confident that we will win this war together because we are New York Tough.

Cuomos office released the following data on Friday:

Below you can find the hospital bed capacity and occupancy in each region:

Below you can find a breakdown of ICU bed capacity and occupancy in each region:

On Thursday, 219,523 test results were reported to the state. Out of those, 7.52% were positive. Below is a breakdown of positivity rates over the last three days:

The governors office also broke down the number of positive cases in each county:

On Thursday, 166 New Yorkers died from COVID-19. This brings the total number of deaths in the state to 30,208, according to the governors office.

More from NewsChannel 9:

For more local news, follow NewsChannel 9 on Twitter @NewsChannel9.

Link:

Gov. Cuomo updates New Yorkers on COVID-19 progress in the state - WSYR

The COVID-19 pandemic has defined our past year, upending the way we learn, interact with each other, and see our families. None of us is immune to the coronavirus or its impact on our daily lives.

But this pandemic is no equalizer not in terms of who has gotten sick or who has been hit hardest by its calamitous economic repercussions.

For our states communities of color, COVID-19 has proven especially devastating.

In Maryland, the rate of cases among Latino residents, per 100,000 people, is nearly three times the rate of their white counterparts.

Black people make up less than a third of Marylands population, compared to 59% who are white. But 37% of the people confirmed to have died from COVID-19 in our state as of Friday were Black, and 48% were white.

Black residents are dying from the virus at a rate of 122 people per 100,000, a rate thats 33% higher than it is for white Marylanders.

These epidemiological outcomes are not random. They have little to do with any unique biological characteristic of the COVID-19 virus.

Ultimately, the wrenching public health disparities we see today are the consequence of broader entrenched inequality and decades of disinvestment in historically marginalized communities.

In our region, Black, Latino and poor residents are more likely to work critical frontline jobs and rely on public transportation, making social distancing more difficult and contracting the virus more likely. Those same marginalized populations disproportionately face pre-existing conditions tangled up in poverty like heart disease, asthma and diabetes that can turn this virus especially lethal.

These disparities in transmission then compound with adjacent conditions of inequality.

The need to transition schooling online has run up against a stark gulf in technology access between students from wealthy and low-income backgrounds. The already-dire achievement gap in our schools is worsening during remote learning.

On average in Montgomery County this academic year, the percentage of Hispanic students in poverty who received failing grades was up 24 points from last year. For Black students in poverty, the increase was 16 points.

Those previously on precarious financial standing have seen the ground disappear beneath them. Food insecurity in our county has exploded, with local food banks unable to meet the demand of newly stretched lines. Unemployment rates, including the number of first-time claims, skyrocketed.

More and more working people, struggling to pay their bills, are reaching into already thin savings.

With the first batch of vaccine doses reaching Montgomery County recently, the beginning of the end of the pandemic is in sight.

But the damage to progress on racial and socioeconomic equity will not vanish on its own. Addressing the inequality exposed and exacerbated by COVID-19 is the primary moral charge of our political leaders in the new year.

Maryland should follow the excellent lead of our countys council members and invest in targeted African American and Latino health programs. The countys emphasis on bridging public health gaps in historically marginalized communities through culturally competent resources sets an exemplary standard for the rest of the state.

Our states leaders must also give new focus politically and fiscally to a heightened achievement gap. New legislation must protect those who have fallen behind on their rent during the pandemic who will face eviction when the states moratorium is eventually lifted.

And retroactive financial support must be doled out for our states frontline workers, who have done the essential work of keeping our state running but have not been paid an essential wage.

There is an urgent need to extend Marylands Pandemic Unemployment Assistance Program. Deep investments in rental assistance, food assistance and workforce development will be necessary to give those pushed to the financial brink the freedom to not only survive, but put money away, afford their childs higher education and invest in new businesses.

Legislative frameworks for addressing structural inequality, like 2019s still underutilized racial equity law, should be fully implemented to guide this policy work moving forward with the dual goals of recovering a generations worth of progress on racial and socioeconomic equity and forging new ground in making our community a more equal, better place to live.

Last year was devastating. For our state and county leaders, the priority of 2021 must be intentional, justice-driven healing.

Nate Tinbite is a former student member of the Montgomery County Board of Education and a recent graduate of John F. Kennedy High School. Ananya Tadikonda is a former student member of the board and a graduate of Richard Montgomery High School. Matt Post is a former student member of the board and a graduate of Sherwood High School.

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Editors note: Bethesda Beat encourages readers to send us their thoughts about local topics we have covered for consideration as a letter to the editor or op-ed piece in our Saturday newsletter. Email them to editorial@bethesdamagazine.com. Here are our guidelines. We require a name and hometown for publication. We also require a phone number (not for publication) for us to verify who wrote the letter. Please provide a source for any facts in your letter that were not part of our coverage; if they cant be verified, they likely will be omitted.

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Repairing progress on racial, economic justice must be priority in new year - BethesdaMagazine.com