Los Angeles Times - 24.02.2020

SPORTS

MONDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2020:: LATIMES.COM/SPORTS

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INDIANAPOLIS — The
spotlight is trained on the
quarterbacks — it always is
— as the annual NFL scout-
ing combine gets underway
this week.
But the player creating
the most buzz is the one
who runs them down, the
appropriately named Chase
Young of Ohio State.
“Men lie.. Women lie.. But
numbers don’t...,” Young
recently tweeted of his
statistics since 2018, which
according to Pro Football
Focus are all No. 1 among
edge rushers: 29 sacks, 81
hurries, 131 pressures.
Also hurrying this week
are the league’s 32 teams,
who are looking to gather as
much in-person information
as they can about the top
300-plus draft prospects.
Those teams already have
identified their areas of
need and have broken down
a film festival full of game
video, but now they get to
meet the future pros face to
face, host them for inter-
views, have their medical
staffs look them up and
down.
Already, prognosticators
are slotting Young to the
Washington Redskins as the
No. 2 pick in the draft be-
hind Louisiana State’s Joe
Burrow to the quarterback-
starved Cincinnati Bengals.
Current NFL stars cho-
sen second overall in the
past decade include Saquon
Barkley, Carson Wentz and
Von Miller.

Young

sprints

to head

of pack

There’s a rush of

interest in Ohio State

defensive end at NFL

scouting combine.

SAM FARMER
ON THE NFL

CHASE YOUNGhad 29
sacks the last two years.

Rick ScuteriAssociated Press

[SeeFarmer,D3]

PHOENIX — Corey Sea-
ger, Dodgers shortstop and
obsessive swing artist, is
usually found carrying a bat
at the ballpark. His mani-
acal drive to perfect his hit-
ting mechanics is a never-
ending, around-the-clock
pursuit. The vocation in-
cludes regularly studying vi-
deo of himself at the plate —
before, after and often dur-
ing games.
Seager estimated he
spends 65% to 70% of every
inning of every home game
in a video room, next to the
dugout at Dodger Stadium,
to examine his plate appear-
ances. Did he get his front

foot down in time? Was his

swing balanced? Were the

pitches where he thought

they were?

He said he can consis-

tently absorb his findings

and implement changes

from at-bat to at-bat, self-

correcting to improve him-

self and help the Dodgers

win. Video is a tool he has

come to rely on to become

successful at the highest lev-

el in this age of technology

sweeping the sport. A month

before the 2020 season be-

gins, however, the tool may

be on the verge of abolition.

Limiting, if not com-

pletely eliminating, player

access to video during

games has emerged as a like-

lihood in the wake of the

Houston Astros’ sign-steal-

ing scandal and Major

League Baseball’s ongoing

investigation into allega-

tions the Boston Red Sox

broke rules to steal signs in

Dodgers don’t see

eye to eye on issue

They have different

views on possible

MLB ban of in-game

video watching.

By Jorge Castillo

[SeeDodgers,D3]

SALT LAKE CITY — A

flu-ridden Nick Rakocevic

sat at the end of the bench, a

towel draped over his head,

trying not to pass out. Jonah

Mathews, fighting the same

virus, had already left to

vomit, only to check back in

soon after. Nearby, Isaiah

Mobley, hobbling in pain,

tried to stretch out a sprain-

ed ankle that had turned

deep shades of black and

blue.

As March drew closer, ev-

ery conceivable force of na-

ture seemed to conspire

against USC on Sunday, just

as its dwindling tournament

hopes were at their most vul-

nerable.

The Trojans (19-9, 8-7)

had done enough to dig that

hole on their own, dropping

four of their last six, falling to

sixth place in the Pac-12, slid-

ing further down the NCAA

tournament bubble.

And so, with the clock

ticking on their tournament

chances, the timing could

not possibly be worse for a

bug to sweep through the

Trojans’ locker room. Still,

they fought — out of pride,

out of self-preservation, out

of desperation — until three

minutes remained and their

last bit of energy was

sapped, leaving the Trojans

to reckon with a 79-65 defeat

to Utah from which they

might never recover.

They fought their way out

of a familiar, 15-point hole,

USCguard Ethan Anderson goes to the basket as cutting the lead to just five,

Utah forward Mikael Jantunen tries to defend.

Rick BowmerAssociated Press

Utah hands loss

to ill-fated USC

Trojans’ NCAA

tournament hopes

dwindling with three

games remaining.

UTAH 79

USC 65

By Ryan Kartje

[SeeUSC,D6]

LeBron James wasn’t talking

specifically about Sunday, but

what he said before leaving the

Lakers’ locker room truly applies.

“If you know anything about

me,” James said, “I’m all about the

process.”

The intensity and importance

in the Lakers’ 114-112 win over Bos-

ton? Those embers were lit genera-

tions ago by the sweat and desire of

Bill Russell and Bob Cousy and

Jerry West and Elgin Baylor. This is

Lakers-Celtics, James said, and

that needs to mean something spe-

cial to the players on the court to-

day because it mattered to the

players on the court 60 years ago.

And the game-icing bucket, a

spinning jumper from the right

post? That was a move set up by an

entire game of physicality, pound-

ing Boston’s young wing, Jaylen

Brown, to the point where James

knew he had him right where he

wanted him.

“I had been setting him up all

night,” James said, not an ounce of

LeBRON JAMESflirted with a triple-double against the Celtics at Staples Center, finishing with 29 points, nine assists and eight

rebounds and the go-ahead jumper with 30 seconds left. “He got to his money shot, the shot he always makes,” Anthony Davis said.

Photographs by Christina HouseLos Angeles Times

Rising to the occasion

James’ winner lifts Lakers

to hard-fought victory in

Celtics rivalry, on eve of

Bryant tribute at Staples.

LAKERS 114, BOSTON 112

By Dan Woike

[SeeLakers,D4]

ANTHONY DAVISloses a rebound to Jayson Tatum as he bat-

tles Daniel Theis, but he grabbed 13 of them to go with 32 points.

On the eve of when the Lakers

and the NBA will pay tribute to Ko-

be Bryant, Magic Johnson elo-

quently spoke about how the iconic

player’s death has affected Los An-

geles and basketball fans around

the world.

Bryant, his 13-year-old daugh-

ter, Gianna, and seven others died

last month in a helicopter crash in

Calabasas.

“It’s going to be hard for the city

to move on,” Johnson said. “... it’s

hard in a two-minute, five-minute

time to say everything that he

meant to the world, to the NBA, to

basketball fans, because he’s just

bigger than life. It’ll take a long year

to get over his passing and [that of

his] daughter and the seven other

people who lost their lives as well.”

There will be “A Celebration of

Life for Kobe & Gigi Bryant” Mon-

Magic on

Kobe: It will

be hard to

move ahead

By Broderick Turner

[SeeJohnson,D4]