"Definitely bothers me," defensive lineman Kayden McDonald said. "If we want to be the best defense in the country, we can't let people score." As the midpoint of the 2025 season arrives, even the most dominant unit on the most dominant team is looking for areas to improve. This has largely been a season of imperfections and invalidated predictions. Don't stare directly at the preseason polls or you'll damage your eyes.
Safe to say the Rangers got their revenge with 6 goals while again holding the Penguins to just one goal. For those keeping track, that's just two goals allowed by Igor Shesterkin over the first three games. This time around it was the defense that shined, holding the Penguins to 19 shots on goal. A full team win up and down the lineup, despite the injuries to Vincent Trocheck and mid-game to Carson Soucy.
STATEN ISLAND, NY - Staten Island FerryHawks outfielder Mark Contreras has been named to the Atlantic League Drake All-Defensive Team, earning recognition for his stellar play and reliability in the outfield throughout the 2025 season. The announcement highlights another milestone for both Contreras and the FerryHawks organization, which continues to build a strong defensive reputation in just its third full season of competition.
One player who has clawed his way into the rotation as a Raptor has been Ochai Agbaji. After he was acquired from the Utah Jazz in 2024, Agbaji was brought on as somewhat of a project player that pronto was looking to rehabilitate, and safe to say, he has not wasted their belief in him. Brandon Ingram mentioned Agbaji specifically during his media availability yesterday, showing that he is continuing to make an impact on his teammates and this organization.
Defensive Runs Saved oscillated between giving Alonso positive and negative grades earlier in his career but has soured on him more recently. He was credited with a -3 score last year and -9 this season, bringing him down to -7 for his whole career. Outs Above Average has been more consistently down on him, as 2021 is the only year that metric had him above average. He's at -33 for his career overall, including -8 in 2024 and -9 in 2025.
"I've never been a horrible defender, so I was kinda confused on that, but I've gotten better and i want to continue to get better and be a two way player, thats kind of my calling card so I want to continue to embrace that"A common theme during media day thus far has been defense, and Toronto's focus on it this season and throughout the summer.
Rhoden is on the same page as Jones and Rajaković, saying that his role in the NBA is going to be as a defender first. Both the players and coaches have echoed the idea that running similar systems has helped make it easy to "directly translate" what they do in the G League to the Raptors. And not a lot of players end up in Rhoden's shoes - spending their third straight season on a two-way contract -
After a year of offensive experimentation, where Barnes tested his limits as a scorer, his role heading into this season will be much different. But this is something he's used to. Over the course of his four-year career, Barnes has had to wear a variety of hats, first for a fledgling team trying to make the playoffs and then for a rebuilding group that oriented around him.
They're doing enough just to get by on offense with key players on the sidelines, nowhere near the juggernaut they were in previous years when they were laying waste to the division and going deep into the playoffs. The latest example Sunday was a 16-15 win over the Arizona Cardinals, with a 10-play 63-yard drive finished off by a 35-yard field goal by Eddy Pineiro.
Toronto Blue Jays shortstop Bo Bichette hasn't appeared in a game since September 6. That was the day he collided with Yankees catcher Austin Wells on a play at the plate. While he remained in the game following a rain delay, he was placed on the IL on September 9. Just over a week later it was announced that Bichette would miss the remainder of the regular season.
Hayes started his second straight game in place of Kirk Francis and completed 23 of 36 passes without an interception for Tulsa (2-2), which last beat Oklahoma State in 1998. It was the Golden Hurricane's first win in Stillwater since Nov. 3, 1951, ending a streak of 23 consecutive losses there. The loss leaves things from bad to worse for coach Mike Gundy and the Cowboys, who have won just one of their last 12 games dating to last season.
Orange Lutheran coach Rod Sherman has known Jon Ellinghouse for a long time. Before facing Sierra Canyon on Thursday night at Orange Coast College, Sherman said he wouldn't mind telling the Trailblazers coach directly that he thought Ellinghouse's team was the best he had seen the school produce. After No. 2 Sierra Canyon dismantled No. 7 Orange Lutheran 41-9, Sherman was certain. "No doubt," he said. Eric Sondheimer, The Times' high school sports columnist, nicknamed the Trailblazers' swarming, antagonizing defense the "Kaboom Squad" - a superhero-like, nonstop force of power, speed and IQ. How do you stop a defensive front such as Sierra Canyon's?
