D2 eZ SU the washington post.monday, july 27 , 2020
HOCKEY
Chayka’s resignation
leaves Coyotes bitter
J ohn chayka earned a
contract extension as general
manager e arly t his season for
building the Arizona C oyotes into
playoff contenders in four short
years.
He w as being called a quitter
by the t eam in a strongly worded
statement S unday after stepping
down a week b efore t he Coyotes’
Stanley Cup qualifier series
against t he Nashville Predators.
former player a nd c urrent
assistant G m steve sullivan will
serve as interim general manager.
“The club is disappointed in his
actions and h is timing as the
Coyotes prepare to enter the
NHL’s h ub c ity of Edmonton,
where t he team will begin
postseason play for the first time
since 2012,” the t eam said in a
statement. “Chayka has c hosen t o
quit on a strong a nd competitive
team, a d edicated staff, a nd t he
Arizona Coyotes fans, the g reatest
fans in t he NHL.”
Chayka’s relationship with new
owner alex Meruelo began to
deteriorate when he asked for
permission to pursue a nother,
non-NHL opportunity, according
to Sportsnet....
Eddie shack, one o f the NHL’s
most colorful players o n and o ff
the i ce, died. He was 83.
The To ronto maple L eafs
announced the news i n a tweet
Sunday morning.
Known f or his b ruising style,
distinctive skating gait and
larger-than-life personality,
Shack w on four Stanley Cups with
To ronto in t he 1960 s, i ncluding
the f ranchise’s m ost recent
championship i n 1967.
The n ative o f Sudbury, o ntario,
scored t he w inning goal in t he
196 3 finals.
He p layed p arts of 17 seasons
from 1958 through 1975 w ith s ix
teams and h ad 2 39 goals a nd 465
points in 1,047 N HL games.
PrO basKEtball
In B radenton, fla., Kahleah
copper s cored 18 points, allie
Quigley hit a three-pointer w ith
14.7 s econds to play, a nd the
DIGEstChicago S ky s cored t he final 11
points t o beat the Las Vegas Aces,
88-86, in the season opener for
both teams.
The 2020 WNBA s eason,
delayed a nd s hortened by t he
novel coronavirus pandemic, is
being p layed in a b ubble at t he
ImG A cademy in florida.
gabby williams had 14 p oints
for C hicago. Quigley, w hose three-
pointer gave the S ky i ts f irst lead
since midway t hrough t he s econd
quarter, had 1 0.
angel Mccoughtry, c oming off
a knee injury t hat kept her o ut all
of last season, s cored 2 5 points
and grabbed eight rebounds for
Las Vegas, a nd a’ja wilson h ad
22 points and 11 rebounds....
s ylvia Fowles h ad 17 points
and 1 8 rebounds, napheesa
collier s cored nine of h er 11
points i n the f inal five m inutes,
and t he minnesota Lynx rallied
from an 11-point second-half
deficit to beat the C onnecticut
Sun, 77-69, in the s eason opener
for b oth t eams in Bradenton.
alyssa thomas led
Connecticut with 20 points and
eight rebounds, a nd Dewanna
Bonner added 1 9 points and e ight
rebounds....
Monique Billings s cored a
career-high 30 points and
grabbed 13 rebounds, rookie
chennedy carter added 1 8points a nd e ight a ssists, a nd t he
Atlanta Dream beat t he D allas
Wings, 105 -95, in the season
opener for both t eams.
satou sabally, the No. 2 overall
pick in April’s draft, had 1 1 points,
five rebounds, f our assists and
two steals for Dallas.mIsC.
Arizona State’s e ntire
swimming and d iving teams will
redshirt for the 202 0-21 season to
avoid the r isk of missing two
straight n ational c hampionships.
Sun D evils Coach Bob
Bowman announced the t eams
will focus on preparing for t he
202 1-22 season and olympic
aspirations.
The NCAA c hampionships
were canceled this year because
of t he p andemic, and the athletes
were not granted an extra y ear of
eligibility....
Commonwealth Games
federation President louise
Martin resigned from l eading the
organizing committee for the
202 2 event in t he central English
city of Birmingham f ollowing
concerns a bout the lack of
diversity o n the board.
The Scot will be replaced by
sandra osborne, a l awyer who is
president of t he Barbados
olympic Committee.
— F rom news servicestElEVIsIOn anD raDIO
mlb
3:30 p.m. los angeles angels at Oakland » MLB network
4 p.m. arizona at s an Diego » eSPn
6 p.m. toronto at Washington » MaSn, WJFK (106.7 FM), WFed (1500 aM)
7 p.m. baltimore at miami » MaSn2, WteM (980 aM), WJZ (105.7 FM)
7:30 p.m. new York mets at boston » eSPn
nba
3 p.m. Exhibition: Washington vs. los angeles lakers » nBa tv
5:30 p.m. Exhibition: utah vs. brooklyn » nBa tv
sOCCEr
8:30 p.m. mls is back tournament, round of 16 : san Jose vs. salt lake » Fox Sports 1
11 p.m. mls is back tournament, round of 16 : seattle vs. los angeles FC » Fox Sports 1
tEnnIs
11 a.m. World team tennis: Chicago vs. Orange C ounty » tennis Channel
3 p.m. World team tennis: springfield vs. las Vegas » tennis Channel
7 p.m. World team tennis: Orlando vs. san Diego » CBS Sports network
PrEmIEr laCrOssE lEaGuE
7 p.m. redwoods vs. Chaos » nBC Sports network
9:30 p.m. atlas vs. archers » nBC Sports network
australIan FOOtball lEaGuE
6 a.m. Fremantle vs. Geelong » eSPn2BY BEN GOLLIVERKISSIMMEE, Fla. — Los Angeles
Clippers forward Paul George
drained a pretty buzzer-beater
Wednesday afternoon, the type of
shot that would have triggered
mayhem and sensory overload if
he had done it in front o f the home
crowd at Staples Center. Te am
owner Steve Ballmer, the animat-
ed former microsoft executive,
would have high-fived or chest-
bumped his courtside compan-
ions. Two mascots would have
raced around the arena and
launched T-shirts into the stands,
the public address announcer
would have screamed, and the
dance team would have jumped
up and down. more than
19,000 fans would have erupted in
cheers, of course.
But George’s shot, which came
just before halftime in the Clip-
pers’ 99 -90 victory over the orlan-
do magic, prompted only one
woman t o clap three times, reflex-
ively, before realizing she was
alone in celebrating. The rest of
the Arena, one of three restricted
gyms utilized by the NBA for its
Disney World restart, was almost
silent.
Because of the league’s r igorous
approach to reducing the novel
coronavirus risk to players, there
were no fans, no cheerleaders and
no mascots at the first scrimmage
before the NBA resumes regular
season play Thursday. A camera-
man was positioned on the side-
line, two ballboys in masks and
gloves sat on the baseline, and two
scouts and roughly a dozen media
members watched from about
15 feet back from the court.
fourteen people, including the
public address announcer, official
scorer, shot clock operator and
team public relations officials, sat
at a courtside table, which was
surrounded by tall plexiglass
walls, like a hockey p enalty box, to
limit contact with players and
coaches. All told, there appeared
to be fewer than 200 people visi-
ble from the court, including the
players and coaches, who sat on
physically distanced chairs and
hydrated with personal bottles
rather than large buckets. Some
members of the coaching staff
and inactive players wore masks
on the bench as they took their
seats for the first time since the
NBA season was indefinitely sus-
pended march 11.
“It’s different when you walk
out on the floor, but when the
game starts it’s just basketball,”
Clippers Coach Doc rivers said.
“once you get in between the
lines, you can make the case that’sas comfortable as the players will
ever be or as normal as everything
will ever be. You could s ee the rust
and all that, but for [the players],
they were back in their natural
habitat.”
The Arena, which is part of the
ESPN Wide World of Sports Com-
plex, would be more accurately
named the Set. The facility is the
NBA’s premier stage, and it will
host the conference finals and
finals. There was never any doubt
the NBA’s resumed season would
be a made-for-television event,
but the much-anticipated first
look a t bubble basketball revealed
layers to the league’s p resentation
strategy.
Bright studio lights illuminat-
ed the playing area, and a steady
stream of rap songs played over
the sound system to add life. r ath-
er than broadcast empty seats in
the background, the NBA erected
a large video board behind the
benches that rotated through
team logos, cheer slogans and
player graphics. Nodding to the
many changes, the NBA’s restart
slogan — “Whole New Game” —
was visible in every direction.
A mobile camera placed on the
sideline followed the action by
moving along a dolly, and count-
less other cameras were fixed
around the court. With no need
for a Jumbotron above the court
to serve fans, the scoreboard was
moved to the wall across from the
benches so p layers and coaches
could view it more easily. Smaller
scoreboards were placed near the
baselines.
Instead of going through the
full pomp and circumstance of
pregame introductions, the start-
ers were quickly announced, and
play commenced. When the pub-
lic address welcomed the Clippersto the court, they received no
response. There was no playing of
the national anthem, a time-effi-
cient decision that conveniently
allowed the league to sidestep a
divisive political issue. The words
“Black Lives matter” appeared
prominently on the playing sur-
face, part of a joint effort with the
National Basketball Players Asso-
ciation to address players’ con-
cerns about distracting from on-
going social justice protests.
Because the Clippers were the
scrimmage’s designated home
team, the video boards and sound
effects played to their f avor. When
orlando brought the ball upcourt,
artificial “Dee-fense” chants
echoed through the building.
“When I was watching the
game for the first six minutes, I
thought it was cool that when
somebody scored they had their
own graphics on the screen,” Clip-
pers guard Lou Williams said. “I
heard the ‘defense’ chants. once I
was on the court, I didn’t see it,
hear it or feel it. I was locked into
the game. I don’t know who that
experience was for, because
there’s no fans in the arena. But it
definitely wasn’t for us.”
To say there was a buzz in the
building would be an overstate-
ment. Those in the crowd — which
included league personnel, Clip-
pers President Lawrence frank
and magic General manager John
Hammond — largely opted for
respectful silence, as if they were
watching golfers or violinists. The
scrimmage did not count in the
standings, the 10-minute quarters
were shortened from the NBA’s
typical 12-minute periods, four
key Clippers players were not
present because of various health
situations, and stars such as
George and Kawhi Leonardplayed limited minutes as they
ramp up to full conditioning.
These conditions contributed
to a general sense of informality.
After the game, players wore
sweats rather than designer
clothes. Throughout the night,
the coaching staffs donned their
new uniform of matching polo
shirts, dark pants and dress
sneakers rather than the full suits
that are the NBA’s custom. rivers
said he “loved” the change, add-
ing that he might feel compelled
to dress to the nines if his team
advances to the NBA finals.
The players appeared immedi-
ately for postgame interviews at a
cutout cubicle in the concourse
just off the court, their prompt-
ness owing to the need to bus back
to their hotel to shower in their
own rooms to reduce the corona-
virus risk. George, usually a slow
dresser and a willing talker, wast-
ed no time and, like a number of
other players in the bubble, redi-
rected all basketball questions.
“Breonna Ta ylor, rest in peace,”
George told a small cluster of
on-site reporters and a larger
group l istening in via a Zoom call.
“George floyd, rest in peace.
There are so many others that
have been brutally murdered by
the hands of the police. That’s my
message. That’s all I’ve got.”
for writers in attendance, there
was a new thrill: hearing the play-
ers, coaches and referees interact
on the court. rivers chided one of
his younger players for an obvious
traveling violation, while magic
Coach Steve Clifford screamed
“memphis!” to call a play. George
lobbied the officials for a charging
call, and the Clippers’ bench
erupted to celebrate unselfish
passes and key three-pointers.
Sneakers squeaked all night.
The building’s empty seats
were kept in the dark, and the
unused arena bowl behind the
television screen looked like the
backstage area of a major concert.
Piles of audio and video equip-
ment were strewn about along-
side exercise bikes, large sheets of
plywood and other oddities. Add-
ing to the surrealism, white-suit-
ed cleaning teams waited in the
hallway behind large black cur-
tains, ready to disinfect the court
as soon as the game ended.
Still, the NBA’s Disney debut
was surprisingly competitive, and
it delivered a sense of accomplish-
ment. months of planning led to
this moment, and the game came
off without a hitch. While basket-
ball’s conclusion still lies nearly
three months in the future, its
return is officially underway.
[email protected]NBA’s n ew, subdued stage made for TV
Ben goLLiver /the WaShington PoSt
the nBa’s coronavirus-era bench areas in Florida feature socially
distanced seats and personal water and sports-drink bottles.profit” is nice, he said, but not
the point. Clothing brands “don’t
boom right away,” so he’s satis-
fied with the incremental prog-
ress. He hopes to add more
inventory, as well as a women’s
apparel line, in August ahead of
the fall season.
“It’s go time,” he said. “I’m on a
steady path.”paul adams, ncaa 14 coach
Sitting in Columbia, mo.,
watching Gus Duggerton be-
come a juggernaut, Adams fired
up a friend’s PlayStation. This
summer, Adams followed as Dan
“Big Cat” Katz, a Barstool Sports
personality, live-streamed his
play of the NCAA football 14
video game on Twitch (which is
owned by Amazon, whose chief
executive, Jeff Bezos, owns The
Washington Post). Katz’s made-
up coach, Duggerton, became a
sensation. Te nnessee football
welcomed him to the school on
its official account, and reigning
Super Bowl champion Patrick
mahomes publicly lobbied for
“Coach Duggs” to stay at Te xas
Te ch for a second season.
So Adams created his own
coach: Paul Adams.
“Couldn’t think of a good
name,” he lamented.
Ye t real Paul was proud of
Virtual Paul. He took “a difficult
route,” starting as the offensive
coordinator at middle Tennessee
State before becoming the offen-
sive coordinator at ohio State.
With the Buckeyes, he won mul-
tiple championships and, “like,
98 straight games” but was never
given the h ead-coaching j ob. Just
before V irtual Paul, feeling unap-
preciated, decided to leave ohio
State, real Paul’s h ometown high
school reopened. Knowing it of-
fered him the best training, real
Paul left his friend’s PlayStation
and moved from Columbia to
Nashville.
Not long after, watching the
local nightly news, Adams was
stunned. The TV station, a real
TV station, was showing high-
lights from Katz’s NCAA 14
broadcast in which Virginia Tech
thrashed Duggerton. Te nnesse-
ans l ost a national championship
they didn’t even know they were
in.
The moment stuck with Ad-
ams. recently, he admitted he
felt the itch to play again. Virtual
Paul had too much unfinished
business.
“I might just buy a PS3,” he
said.
[email protected]routed out slots to fit the legs,
and each step underscored the
process’s fragility.
“A nother cool thing about
working with wood: You really
never know how it’s going to
react or warp or bow,” martin
said. “You maneuver with it
however it presents itself.”
from this process, martin re-
alized the satisfaction of looking
at something clean and profes-
sional and knowing who put it
together. And he’s not the only
one who has admired the handi-
work. The bird mcmansion,
martin said with a laugh, has
become the community’s go-to
spot for woodpeckers, finches,
nuthatches, doves, robins and
cardinals.
tim settle, fashion cEo
In late June, weeks before his
23rd birthday, Settle released the
project he had been working on
for two months. St. Echelon is
his luxury fashion line, inspired
by his favorite high-end brands,
St. L aurent and G-Star rAW. T he
company’s logo is a penguin
because of the post-sack dance
he began at V irginia Tech, a nd its
tagline is “Never Settle.”
“You got to check me out on
Instagram,” Settle said. “I think
I’m fresh.”
originally, the idea came
about because, during quaran-
tine, “I’m b ored in t he house, a nd
I’m in the house bored,” Settle
said, quoting a viral TikTok. But
the more Settle thought about it,
the more sense the idea made.
He believed high-end fashion
represented him well — “simple
but intriguing” — and he
thought the country’s cultural
moment might help an online,
black-owned business succeed.
Settle commissioned designs,
found a local vendor and part-
nered with Eric Kumah, a long-
time friend. They established a
supply chain, built a website and
marketed the product, m ainly o n
Instagram and with teammate
Greg Stroman. The combination
of football, an entrepreneurial
project and the upcoming birth
of “Baby Tim,” the son Settle
expects this week, has not fazed
him.
“I’m really good off a little
sleep,” he said. “Juggling every-
thing isn’t that hard for me.”
Since the release June 2 6,
Settle has found modest success,
including several unexpected
sales in Hawaii. The “pretty good
wasHIngton from D1
In free time, WFT players
developed new hobbies
really know what it’s going to be
like coming back, because I’ve
never gone through something
like this before,” Jensen said. “But
it’s s omething I’m going to have to
get in the game and kind of roll
with the punches and try to get
that kind of confidence back, get
back to that level of play as soon
as I can.”
Extras for the Capitals’ postsea-
son run will be Gudas, fehervary,
Lewington and Alexeyev, the lat-
ter of whom is not expected to hit
the ice during the playoffs, bar-
ring unforeseen circumstances.
Gudas, who played in 63 games
for the Capitals this season, is a
pending free agent and was a
healthy scratch in four of the
team’s last five games before the
shutdown. fehervary, who made
his NHL debut this year with the
Capitals, played in six games and
provides young but lauded depth.
note: The Capitals traveled to
To ronto on Sunday via a charter
plane, bringing 31 players with
them into the NHL’s designated
bubble. All expected regulars ex-
cept for Samsonov made the trip.
The extra players for the postsea-
son run are fehervary, Lewing-
ton, Alexeyev, Connor mcmi-
chael, Philippe maillet, Brian Pin-
ho, Beck malenstyn, Daniel
Sprong, Pheonix Copley and Vi-
tek Vanecek.
[email protected]The team’s third pair, Siegent-
haler and Jensen, could be a criti-
cal bend-but-not-break grouping.
Both made their Stanley Cup
playoff debuts in the 2018-19 sea-
son, when the Capitals fell in the
first round to the Carolina Hurri-
canes. Siegenthaler, 23, played in
four of the seven games during
that series, while Jensen played in
all seven games. Jensen averaged
18:43 minutes of ice time in that
series, while Siegenthaler aver-
aged 16 minutes.
This season, Siegenthaler
played in 64 games for the Capi-
tals, averaging 15:44 minutes of
ice time and recording nine
points (two goals, seven assists).
Jensen, who saw encouraging
growth in his game right before
the pause, played in 68 games and
averaged 17:49 minutes of ice
time.
over the four weeks before the
pause, Jensen was quickly becom-
ing one of the team’s steadiest
blue-liners. With his consistency
and confidence increasing, Jens-
en felt as if he was finally hitting
his stride and playing some of his
“best hockey on this team.” Still,
the season included rough patch-
es for Jensen, whom reirden re-
peatedly called “a work in prog-
ress.”
“To kind of be at that peak and
kind of have to take this whole
break, it kind of sucks.... I don’tp andemic in mid-march.
The ups and downs were most
noticeable with the top pairing of
Carlson and Kempny. After the
acquisition of Dillon from the San
Jose Sharks in february, Kempny
moved from the top pair to the
third pair with Gudas, limiting
Kempny’s ice time and forcing
him to adjust the way he plays.
Kempny, who underwent sur-
gery in April 2019 for a torn left
hamstring, never felt 100 percent
during the season, which hin-
dered his play. only now, a year
and almost four months later, is
Kempny fully recovered and feel-
ing “fresh.” A healthy Kempny not
only would benefit Carlson but
also keep from disrupting the
other two pairings, which are still
fairly new.
Dillon, who played in only 10
games for the Capitals before the
season was paused, and orlov,
who is playing on his off side in
this pairing, have never started a
game together. They were set to
start their first game together
march 11, when the Capitals were
supposed to play the Detroit red
Wings at Capital one Arena.
However, that game was never
played because of the coronavirus
shutdown.
The Dillon and orlov pairing
was experimented with in multi-
ple games before the pause, and
Coach To dd reirden has reiterat-
ed on many occasions that he
believes orlov will fare well play-
ing on the right side. orlov played
on his right growing up in russia
— where left-handed defensemen
actually play more on the right —
and orlov said he is capable of
doing so in the postseason.
“I think Dmitry’s a guy that has
that ability, does end up there in
the game at times. I think the ice
opens up for him on the right side
in terms of his ability to transition
the puck,” reirden said.
Additionally, Dillon, who typi-
cally looks for his partner first,
probably will be able to load up
orlov for more offensive chances.
They also likely will be a shut-
down pair, similar to the role matt
Niskanen and orlov played dur-
ing the 2018 Stanley Cup run.capItals from D1Caps seek more consistency on defense
toni L. SandyS/the WaShington PoSt
starting goaltender B raden Holtby will be under extra pressure
with the news that backup Ilya samsonov suffered an injury.