Becky Hammon racks up another award, Mark Davis has a message for Las Vegas Raiders fans, and Jimmy Garropolo gets the keys to the offense. All this and more last week in Las Vegas sports (Mar 27 – Apr 2).
The Golden Knights have ended their playoff drought after clinching a spot in the postseason. Not only does this mean Bruce Cassidy got the team back on track, but it also gives them a chance to chase the Stanley Cup. They will have to get through the Winnipeg Jets if they want to get past the first round, however.
“It’s obviously great to clinch a playoff spot,” Golden Knights forward Nicolas Hague said. “We got our foot in the door there now. We’ve got some huge games coming up…”
While the Knights will have an uphill climb in the playoffs, Cassidy has found ways to capitalize on their strengths. Despite multiple injuries, Las Vegas is still the first team in the West to qualify.
Becky Hammon keeps climbing to new heights. She’s now been named a finalist for the 2023 Naismith Hall of Fame. According to ESPN, she will be joined by Pau Gasol, Dirk Nowitzki, Tony Parker, Greg Popovich, and Dwayne Wade as finalists for the prestigious honor.
The news comes as Hammon and the Las Vegas Aces look to defend their WNBA title. Going back-to-back as champions might seem like a difficult task to accomplish, but Hammon has a range of stars at her disposal. This includes A’ja Wilson, Candance Parker, Kelsey Plum, and Jackie Young who all took home hardware last year.
Las Vegas continues to be one of the worst teams in the NFL and their fans are not happy. Not only is that evident by the decrease in attendance, but also by the lack of support. Owner Mark Davis seems to have made it worse by telling fans to be patient.
“Unfortunately, every time you change there is going to be change that those people are going to see but you have to give them time to understand the changes,” Davis said. “I know that a lot of people can watch film and think that they know it all, but watching the film doesn’t give you all the answers. You need to watch the games and be there to get the full picture. “So, yeah, you gotta have patience.”
While Las Vegas does deserve time to get their chemistry together, this shouldn’t be used as an excuse. There has to come a point where patience goes out the window.
The Las Vegas Aces are gearing up for their title defense, but have some roadblocks in their way. One of them is the accusation that the Aces have been making under-the-table payments to players and free agents. The allegations have prompted an investigation by the WNBA into the matter that is ongoing.
The accusations were made by Dearica Hamby, who claims she was pressured into not having a child. She also alleges that they tried to bribe her several times. Mark Davis commented on the ongoing investigation, calling the allegations false.
“Obviously, the way that it was reported was that we were giving under-the-table payments, which is absolutely false,” Davis said in an interview. “If I was another team and we were doing that — giving under-the-table payments — I’d probably be upset, too. Because, again, I saw some of the comments that were made that if they’re doing that, well just let us know that’s the rules and we’ll do it, too. That’s not the case.”
Jimmy Garoppolo is the new quarterback of the Raiders and it will be exciting to see how that plays out. What makes this move even more exciting however is that an NFL insider claiming that Garoppolo will have a lot of control of the offense. While this might be a good thing, it could hurt them. Just the idea that Coach McDaniels wants to give Garoppolo so much control is a red flag. It also raises questions about how he will handle this added pressure.
“One thing that was interesting about talking to Jimmy is how excited he is to have control back,” Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer told KRLV-FM in Las Vegas on Monday. “The quarterback controls everything ( in the offense of Raiders HC Josh McDaniel’s).”
Next: Mistakes the Las Vegas Raiders have already made this offseason
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