標籤: excuse

For Houston Rockets guard Fred VanVleet, there was one special thing he missed this season that led to his disappointing results: Fred VanVleet.

After trading for Kevin Durant over the summer, the Rockets were viewed as a serious threat to the defending champion Oklahoma City Thunder. And why not? They were a young, talented, defensive-driven team that missed a late-game finisher in 2024-25.

But just before the season began, nine-year veteran VanVleet suffered an ACL injury during a September practice. Although it was a notable loss, most NBA experts believed that the Rockets still had enough talent to remain a force in the West under head coach Ime Udoka. However, despite looking strong early on, they slipped as the season progressed.

They finished the campaign as the fifth seed in the West, and were surprisingly eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs by a Los Angeles Lakers team without Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves for most of the series.

Fred VanVleet says the Rockets’ biggest problem in 2025-26 was not having Fred VanVleet

After their disappointing defeat in the playoffs, there has been much speculation as to what went wrong. However, it seems VanVleet believes his absences were the biggest reason for his disappointment in 2025-26 and that next season will be much better.

“I know what I bring to the table and I know having me on the team will make us a better team,” he said in a new video on his YouTube page. “It’s been the same for me on every team I’ve ever been on. Before you get to the game, I’m going to make the team better by being available, being around and bringing my energy.

“My leadership and competitiveness, that’s what it’s all about. I try to make everything I touch better,” he said. “That’s my mentality. I’m not saying I do that, or I don’t, but that’s how I look at it when I go in.”

The one-time All-Star has a $25.5 million player option for next season. From his comments it appears he is likely to exercise or fully expect to sign a new long-term deal for less money annually.

After earning a journalism degree in 2017, Jason Burgos worked as a contributor to several sites, including MMA Sacca… More about Jason Burgos

In the name of Arne Slott liverpool Large sections of the Anfield fanbase are not washing their hands this season, and it’s the same in the Netherlands.

Journalist Henk Spahn is the latest person to call out the Liverpool manager Hate Parul this week. He did not impress from the slot in the defeat to Paris Saint-Germain.

A four for Erne Slott

Henk Spahn covered Arne Slott today and gave him four points for his performance in the 2-0 defeat to PSG at Anfield. He feels the Liverpool manager has ‘lost his way’.

This is demonstrated by their strategy at present. He explains that last week the slot ‘exposed Van Dijk’ with the back five. This week, he was forced to substitute Dominik Szoboszlai at right-back midway through the game.

But he questions whether this was forced or whether Slott simply chose to ‘exile this pure footballer to the ‘Siberia of Anfield”.

He also questions the reaction after the game. Slott criticized the refereeing in his post-match comments. According to Spahn, this is a tactic he has used many times before.

As far as he is concerned, the truth is that Liverpool were ‘outclassed once again’ by a team that is superior in every respect, but especially technically and tactically. He says PSG are ‘ahead’ of Liverpool.

Growing criticism for slots

Henk Spahn’s comments are part of a growing trend in the Netherlands when it comes to Arne Slot. While last year they were praising him a lot, this year questions are being raised continuously.

Journalists and analysts have regularly criticized him in recent weeks. One such report details how he has lost his way at Anfield this season.

The pressure on the Dutch coach is undoubtedly increasing. Despite the immense heat that set up Liverpool for the next decade, their title defense has been a disaster.

Now criticism is spreading, even to the Netherlands, where only a year ago he was a genius.

MLSE head Keith Pelley sent a letter to Toronto Maple Leafs ticket holders on Wednesday. A sort of ‘State of the Union’ for the team, if you’ll pardon the expression. The letter explained why they could not publicly discuss the team’s deadline plans and their continued goal of producing a Stanley Cup winner.

But also, more importantly, why do they believe they find themselves in a hopeless situation. The Leafs are six points back of a wild card berth with 25 games to play.

As TSN reports, the letter was sent in an email, and outlines injuries as the main contributing factor to the team’s poor position at this point.

The 2025-26 season for the Maple Leafs, so far, has been a series of ups and downs, and unfortunately due to several key injuries affecting the team, we are currently not in the position we had hoped for, but this is professional sports…

It has been an honor to be able to witness and be a part of the passion and commitment that Leafs Nation has for this team and we will not stop until we deliver a championship to our loyal Leafs fans and the city of Toronto.

We understand the strengths of this team, as well as the areas we need to focus on, and we know that with the support of our fans, we will achieve this ultimate goal together. While we always strive to be as open as possible, I know you understand, in the world of professional sports, protecting competitive advantage is paramount and limits our ability to reveal team strategy until appropriate times.

The injury excuse is as old as the game itself, and let’s just say it’s not going down well with the Blue and White faithful. On TSN’s Overdrive Wednesday afternoon, Brian Hayes and the crew explained how they felt.