Washington Wizards
fromThe New Yorker
5 hours agoThe N.B.A. Has a Tanking Problem
Tanking remains a strong incentive for teams, despite league efforts to combat it.
Raphinha's absence is a significant blow for Hansi Flick, given how central the Brazilian winger is to the team's attacking structure. In the 15 matches Raphinha has missed this season due to injury or rest, Barcelona have recorded nine wins, five defeats, and one draw - a return that shows a noticeable drop in consistency without him on the pitch.
"We try to put ourselves in situations every day in practice where we're facing adversity, where we're being pushed to our edge, and that's where you're forced to grow and feel forced to make decisions."
The signings of players such as Adrien Rabiot and Luka Modric denoted a switch to more ready-now profiles in key areas, for example. Not only that, but the 30-year-old and 40-year-old were joined by Pervis Estupinan and Christopher Nkunku, both of whom are 27 and would be considered in the prime of their careers.
Stacking refers to the practice of loading your lineup with multiple players from the same game or the same team. It is a widely used strategy, and most major DFS platforms allow it.
The Fifa Series 2026, a set of village fetes dotted across the globe, pits nations from different continents against each other in four-team tournaments, promoting football's universality and diversity.
While we talked about this year's men's tournament bracket and the unusually top-heavy crop of title contenders, we also talked about the stuff that will actually make the tournament fun to watch: the surprisingly varied styles of the teams that have been out ahead of the field all year, what a good college basketball roster looks like in this weird moment in the sport, how the transfer market actually works and why, and what has happened to the 5-12 upset.
Stat of the National League's opening weekend: Mayo kicked the same number of two-pointers in the first half in Salthill on Sunday - three - as they did across their six championship matches of 2025.
Next Gen Stats began in 2015, when the National Football League deployed RFID chips in player shoulder pads and even in the football itself, enabling the league to capture location data multiple times per second through sensors installed throughout stadiums.
The NFL is no stranger to innovation. Over the years, teams have adopted new strategies, technologies, and data-driven approaches to stay ahead of the competition. One of the most significant advancements in recent years is the rise of sophisticated analytics and modeling. These tools have become essential for teams seeking to improve player performance, game strategy, and overall team development.