Author: teddoncic

The distance control blueprint for winning the Rocket Classic revealed itself on Sunday afternoon, when Michael Thorbjornsen began tearing through the back nine at Detroit Golf Club. Davis Riley had started the day ahead of him. Xander Schauffele, Cameron Young and Rasmus Højgaard were still close enough to make every leaderboard glance uncomfortable. However, Thorbjornsen kept giving himself the same thing his rivals desperately needed: clean chances from the correct parts of Detroit’s newly restored greens. Then the putts started falling. He birdied the 10th. At 12, a missed green turned into another birdie when his chip disappeared. Two holes…

Cleveland does not need to look hard to find its biggest offseason flaw. Just replay the Eastern Conference finals. Knicks jerseys crowded the paint, Mitchell Robinson carved out rebounding position before shots even reached the rim, and Karl-Anthony Towns added another big body around the glass. Jalen Brunson kept dragging Cleveland deep into possessions until another defensive compromise appeared. That series exposed the Cavaliers interior depth problem in the harshest possible setting. New York outrebounded Cleveland 46.0 to 36.8 per game during the four-game sweep. The gap was not the product of one freakish night. Cleveland lost the physical battle…

Closeout discipline has to dominate Cleveland’s defensive work in training camp. The reason sits on the postseason tape. In Game 1 of the Eastern Conference finals, the Cavaliers led New York 93-71 with 7:52 left. Madison Square Garden had gone quiet, and Cleveland looked ready to steal home court. Then the floor tilted. Jalen Brunson repeatedly attacked Cleveland’s perimeter defense, including James Harden, and New York closed the game on a staggering 44-11 run. The Knicks won 115-104 in overtime, with Brunson finishing on 38 points. That collapse did not come from one broken defensive concept. Cleveland lost containment, opened…

Distance control feels different at the rebuilt Detroit Golf Club. A player can stand 150 yards from the flag, glance at his caddie and still have four numbers running through his head. Carry the bunker. Stay below the hole. Take spin off. Do not fly the back shelf. Then he has to swing. For years, Detroit rewarded players willing to floor it. Tony Finau torched the place for 26-under in 2022. Rickie Fowler followed with 24-under the next summer. Wide corridors and four par 5s gave the PGA Tour’s bombers plenty of places to attack. That version is gone. Architect…

Three-point volume sounded different in Cleveland last May: iron, long rebounds, and Knicks jerseys sprinting the other way. By the time Game 4 became a 130-93 demolition at Rocket Arena, there was nothing subtle left to diagnose. New York had swept the Cavaliers out of the Eastern Conference Finals. Cleveland scored 93 points in its last game and averaged only 99.5 across the series. A regular-season offense built to stretch defenses suddenly looked cramped. That is what makes this season uncomfortable. Cleveland already lives behind the arc. The Cavaliers attempted 39.8 threes per game last season, made 14.3 and scored…

If you watched the Chicago Bulls last season, you heard the same sound almost every night: sneakers squeaking through another desperate scramble toward an open shooter. One screen forced the first defender behind the play. Help arrived from the wing. Another pass followed, and suddenly someone was sprinting toward the corner with little chance of affecting the shot. Chicago allowed 121.5 points per game, 28th in the NBA. The Bulls finished 31-51, and too many defensive possessions followed the same pattern. They reacted instead of dictating. That is what Tiago Splitter has to change. The roster gives him a better…

The Bulls backup playmaking battle will become real the first time Josh Giddey walks toward the sideline at the Advocate Center. Norman Powell might be curling toward the wing. Matas Buzelis could be waiting to attack a closeout, while Caleb Wilson sprints toward the rim. Somebody still has to put the ball in the right place at the right time. Giddey made that job look increasingly natural last season, averaging 17.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 9.1 assists across 54 games. At 6-foot-7, he can secure a defensive rebound, turn upcourt and immediately become Chicago’s point guard without waiting for an…

Ball movement will define the Chicago Bulls in 2026-27 because this roster cannot survive as five separate scorers waiting for their turn. Listen inside the United Center this fall and Tiago Splitter will want to hear a particular rhythm: sneakers cutting through the lane, a screen landing on time, then the sharp smack of another pass before the defense can recover. Chicago already knows how to run. Basketball Reference tracked the Bulls at a 102.5 pace last season, second-fastest in the NBA. Yet all those extra possessions produced a 113.0 offensive rating, 23rd among 30 teams. The Bulls finished 31-51…

Hornets perimeter size now sits at the center of Charles Lee’s biggest training-camp decision. The overhaul began when Charlotte sent LaMelo Ball and Josh Green to Minnesota for Naz Reid and a deep package of draft assets. The Hornets then moved Miles Bridges and two picks to Phoenix for Grayson Allen, Royce O’Neale, and a future first-rounder. Dorian Finney-Smith arrived in a separate deal with Houston. Together, those moves dismantled Charlotte’s familiar perimeter core and replaced it with a deeper, more specialized group. The Hornets traded their lead organizer, their longest-tenured player, and two regular starters. In return, they added…

Bunker play at the Rocket Classic presented by AlumniFi hits players before they reach the first fairway. White sand flashes beneath the Detroit sun, cut into ridges and pushed toward the places modern professionals want to drive the ball. The edges look sharp. Steep faces look hungry. For years, this tournament felt like a track meet. Players launched driver, chased wedges, and kept making birdies until the card ran out of room. Tony Finau’s 262 in 2022 remains the 72-hole tournament record. Detroit Golf Club rarely allowed anyone to breathe because pars often felt like dropped shots. That old rhythm…