Browsing: disaster

With so much of the micro-view ugly for the Vancouver Canucks on Monday, the struggling National Hockey League team can encourage itself with the bigger picture.

As their injury wave crests again, the depleted Canucks managed to collect three points from a daunting three-game Atlantic road trip in which going 0-for was a real possibility and would have seriously damaged their playoff chances even this early in the season.

So, the Canucks survived to fight another week.

Thatâ€s the good part.

The bad part on Monday was that with a chance to use the tour of Stanley Cup contenders as a turning point in their season, and up two goals early and somehow still tied early in the third period, the Canucks†disaster on defence was too much to outscore and they lost 8-5 to the two-time champion Florida Panthers.

Yes, the Canucks scored five times on 15 shots on the road… and lost by three goals.

Vancouver was playing its second game in just over 24 hours, and head coach Adam Foote made the safe (and conservative) choice in net by giving minor-league goalie Jiri Patera his first NHL start in 601 days. But the Canucks were not remotely close to the Panthers, who also have some serious injuries, in any sense except their finishing.

After getting outshot 19-7 in the first two periods Sunday in Tampa, where the Canucks scored five third-period goals for the fourth time in franchise history to win 6-2, Vancouver was outshot 27-9 through 40 minutes by Florida.Â

In the Canucks†road trip opener Friday in Carolina, where goalie Kevin Lankinen earned them a point with a 4-3 overtime loss to the Hurricanes, Vancouver was outshot 26-12 through two periods.

For the three games, Natural Stat Trick had high-danger scoring chances at five-on-five 51-11 against the Canucks, whose expected-goals were just 24 per cent. Vancouver was outshot 109-50 on the trip.

Yet, against this territorial landslide, the Canucks managed to dig in and score enough times to go 1-1-1 and pass the quarter-mark of their regular season at 9-10-2, two raw points out of a playoff spot in the Western Conference, although considerably farther back on points percentage.

The Canucks have admirably adapted to the daily task of surviving the month-long injury crisis, which currently has six players out, but just alternating wins and losses is slowly but steadily flattening their playoff odds.

Vancouver has not won consecutive games since Oct. 19, when their lineup crisis accelerated with injuries that same afternoon to centres Filip Chytil and Teddy Blueger. The Canucks are 5-8-2 since then.

If they really want to survive and stay in the race, theyâ€re simply going to have to play better and plug the gaping holes in their defensive game. No team has allowed more goals than the 77 surrendered by the Canucks, whose goals-against average of 3.67 is 30th among 32 teams, and whose 67.1 per cent penalty kill is the worst in hockey.

As Sportsnet analytics correspondent Adam Vingan reported last week, the Canucks†defensive deterioration can be traced to the front of their net, where the share of shots coming from Vancouver’s slot had plummeted from 11th-best last season to 28th this year, and the team’s defence of slot passes had collapsed to 30th from fifth.

With their paper-thin depth at centre and lack of offensive game-breakers up front, the Canucks were expected to be a team that had trouble scoring, but one whose goaltending and strong defence would make Vancouver stingy and force opponents to work for their goals.

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More or less, the opposites have been true, exemplified by this road trip. Including an empty-netter, the Canucks scored 14 goals in the three games. And the most encouraging aspect of this is that their two franchise skaters, defenceman Quinn Hughes and centre Elias Pettersson, have rediscovered their world-class offensive levels.

Hughes helped set up the first three Vancouver goals in Florida, making him the first player in franchise history to collect 10 assists over three games. (Hughes had one game off during that streak due to an upper-body injury.) And Pettersson clinically scored the third and fourth Canuck goals on Monday as Vancouver rallied from a 5-2 deficit to tie it on defenceman Filip Hronekâ€s power-play finish off the rush at 3:14 of the third period.

Pettersson has eight points in his last four games, after being blanked in five of the previous seven.

The best part about this road trip for the Canucks is having both Hughes and Pettersson simultaneously playing again at an elite level. That hasnâ€t happened in a while.

Besides Lankinen and Hughes, what enabled the Canucks to win in Tampa was their special teams. Their power play went 2-for-3 while the barely-functioning penalty kill blanked the Lightning during two disadvantages.

In Florida, each power play scored twice. But timing is often as important as totals, and when the game was still there for Vancouver in the middle of the third period, its power play generated almost nothing during advantages when it was 6-5 and 7-5 for Florida. Canuck penalty-killing, meanwhile, didnâ€t survive Marcus Petterssonâ€s interference penalty at 7:11 as Panthers defenceman Seth Jones skated unchecked to the slot to convert Sam Reinhartâ€s pass and restore his teamâ€s two-goal lead at 8:19.

Nobody outside the team knows what conversations took place between Foote, goaltending coach Marko Torenius and Lankinen between the back-to-back games. But the head coach made the call to give minor-league backup Patera his first NHL start since March 26, 2024.

With starting goalie Thatcher Demko on his fifth injury in less than two years, Foote rested Lankinen, who was brilliant in Tampa and Carolina and would have been playing his third game in four nights in Florida. Lankinen faced “only†30 shots against the Lightning and handled back-to-back starts last weekend at home.

Patera is a 26-year-old with nine NHL games in his career. He was signed as a free agent by the Canucks in the summer of â€24 due to uncertainty about Demkoâ€s health and the organizationâ€s desire to have at least one experienced professional in the minors to play alongside Vancouverâ€s talented prospects.

Patera made several strong saves on Monday, but by the end of the night had allowed seven goals on 40 shots.

Demkoâ€s reported groin injury is week-to-week. With the Canucks finally getting a slight breather this week, with home games Thursday against Dallas and Sunday against Calgary before they open another four-game trip in Anaheim on Nov. 26, it may be a while before Patera gets another NHL game.

Weâ€re not going to judge newest Canuck David Kampf on one game when his team was outshot 41-15, but his debut as Vancouverâ€s checking centre after his contract termination in Toronto did free up Pettersson for more offensive starts. Kampf also went 11-4 on faceoffs, but finished minus-three and was on the ice for one of the Panthers†power-play goals.

Adam Foote: “We were right there and we made a couple of mistakes at the wrong time. We have to find a way to take some of the good stuff that happened out of that, too.â€

Oâ€Connor-Sasson-Boeser

E. Pettersson Jr.-Willander

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Thereâ€s no need to mince words — things are bad in New Orleans. Really bad. Referring to the Pelicans as an utter disaster would qualify as a euphemism at this point.

Following the Pelicans†31-point loss to the champs over the weekend, they are without a win in six tries, 28th in offense, 29th in defense, dead last in assists and rank even lower than that in vibes, optimism and outlook. If starting DeAndre Jordan in the year 2025 wasnâ€t the biggest indicator of a team in disarray, the early returns portray a group of lost individuals without a plan or direction.

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So where should the blame for this mess be attributed? The head coach is oftentimes the first in line when teams grossly underperform, and a handful of rival front offices expected Willie Green to have been relieved of his duties as early as Monday morning. But Green alone isnâ€t the cause of this catastrophe. Green can only work with the roster thatâ€s been given to him by head of basketball operations Joe Dumars and general manager Troy Weaver.

(Greenâ€s schemes, lineup combinations and overall on-court product have been a relative dud, but his most-used group — Zion Williamson, Trey Murphy III, Herb Jones, Yves Missi and Jeremiah Fears — has actually outscored opponents by 11 points in 30 minutes!)

(Henry Russell/Yahoo Sports Illustration)

There was a world that existed where even if the Pelicans continued on their current path, the franchise would head into the summer of 2026 flush with cap space and tantalizing draft assets in a class with names like Darryn Peterson, Cameron Boozer and AJ Dybantsa.

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Unfortunately, New Orleans chose the other door, the one full of asset mismanagement and miscalculations. Swapping out control of Indianaâ€s 2026 first-rounder for its 2025 selection (the 23rd pick) was premature, overshooting expectations for that Pacers team that made it to the Finals. To then package that ’25 pick with another unprotected 2026 first (more favorable of New Orleans and Milwaukee) and select big man Derik Queen with the No. 13 pick — a year after taking center Yves Missi — is just odd. Perhaps the Pelicans planned on playing Queen and Missi more than the eight total minutes theyâ€ve shared the floor so far, according to NBA.com tracking data. That would at least make some sense in a double big, post-Zion world, but right now it just looks like the Pelicans are more consumed with just getting a win than developing.

Sorting out New Orleans†cap sheet over the next few years is also a chore. The decision to dip into the non-taxpayer mid-level exception to sign Kevon Looney (sure, another big!) hard-capped the Pelicans at the first apron, which limits their flexibility.

Look, itâ€s not all doom and gloom — by 2027, the Pelicans could theoretically have both Jordan Poole and Dejounte Murray off the books. Thereâ€s also the option to push the red button and ship Zion — while heâ€s healthy and producing at a high level — to a better situation and start afresh. But man, the optics around this team are in the mud, and it might get a lot worse before it improves.

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Panic meter:High. Super high. Uber high.

Ja Morantâ€s missteps in Memphis

Any hopes of an emphatic return for Ja Morant off a one-game suspension for conduct detrimental to the organization were dashed on Monday night; a listless 5-for-16, five-turnover performance in a 114-106 loss to the Detroit Pistons. The Grizzlies have now lost three in a row, Morantâ€s efficiency continues to crater and his postgame interviews are going viral for all the wrong reasons.

Morant just seems disconnected right now. There was a similar vibe to James Hardenâ€s final days in Houston during the 2020-21 season, when short, monotone answers became more frequent. The chatter around the league suggests the electric guard just isnâ€t vibing with new head coach Tuomas Iisalo and the revamped staff, from substitution patterns to style of play and even on a personal level — in ways he connected with former assistants Blake Ahearn and Anthony Carter.

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The Grizzlies, who ranked dead last in pick-and-rolls per game during the 2024-25 season, are now up to 11th in frequency, yet are scoring a measly .79 points per chance. Morantâ€s rim rate is way down, now just at 25% of his total shots. Iisaloâ€s emphasis on pace (seventh) isnâ€t translating to actual efficient offense (26th, per Cleaning the Glass), and Morantâ€s 3-point shot has completely abandoned him (15.6% on 5.3 attempts per). Simply put, itâ€s not working.

I appreciate Morant for not shying away from interviews and expressing himself, albeit clearly frustrated and in an offensive rut (Memphis is still nearly nine points better defensively with him on the floor). But the longer this drags on, the more trade rumors will swirl. One high-ranking executive deemed Morant “too high risk†to realistically consider monitoring the situation. Another doubted Morant could fetch a similar return as former teammate Desmond Bane, who garnered four unprotected firsts and a pick swap. But in reality, what is Morantâ€s value around the NBA right now? Would the Kings call and offer a package around DeMar DeRozan and Dennis Schröder? Could the Suns, who could use a point guard, offer Jalen Green? Perhaps something out of the box like Cleveland?

Maybe weâ€ve reached a stage where both parties would benefit from a split. The Grizzlies still have talent on the roster, pieces to build around Jaren Jackson Jr. and the emergence of rookie Cedric Coward to look forward to. But itâ€s disappointing watching one of the most electric guards around seemingly searching for a circuit breaker.

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Panic meter:Tempestuous. Almost like walking on eggshells.

The Clippers are giving up 3s. A lot of them

Los Angeles is 3-3, which is a decent start given the state of the Western Conference, but if the Clippers’ title aspirations are legitimate, their 3-point defense (which was top five last season) needs a tune-up. Oklahoma City, the 2025 champs, were No. 1 in opponent 3-point defense. The Boston Celtics, the 2024 champions, were No. 4. The Nuggets were the No. 3 unit in 2023.

After Monday, the Clippers are 26th in 3-point defense, according to Cleaning the Glass. Not good.

And theyâ€ve surrendered the fifth-most 3s. Not good.

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They recently escaped the jaws of defeat to the *checks notes* winless Pelicans on Friday night by virtue of a Kawhi Leonard buzzer beater, on a night when New Orleans connected on 18 3s, seven of which came from Jordan Poole. Not good.

The Clippers’ most-used lineup features Bradley Beal and James Harden, two veterans in their mid-30s who were never the most adept shot contesters in their youth, let alone now. As lost as the Pelicans currently are, theyâ€re smart enough to know those two in particular are weak links.

According to Cleaning the Glass, the Clippers have played 115 possessions with both Harden and Beal on the floor. Theyâ€ve allowed a shade under 130 points per 100 possessions. Not good.

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Tyronn Lue has a very deep roster at his disposal. Itâ€s up to him to find the balance between getting better team defenders on the floor while keeping his veterans fresh for a long season. When Leonard shares the floor with the second unit (Chris Paul, Brook Lopez, Kris Dunn and John Collins), the Clippers allow just 106 points per 100 possessions. Not bad!

One potential solution is just to embrace switching more with the starters. Los Angeles does a decent job of forcing mistakes, ranking 13th in turnover rate per Cleaning the Glass. Sure, the Clippers run the risk of having either Harden or Beal targeted in isolation. But Leonard and Ivica Zubac are excellent rotational help defenders, and slowing down opponent 3-point rate is a surefire way of improving as a team.

Panic Meter:Not ringing the alarm yet, but one to watch

Orlandoâ€s offensive woes

Have you ever been more confused about something the longer you paid attention to it?

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One such example is Game of Thrones. The other is Orlandoâ€s half-court offense, currently fourth worst in the NBA.

When the Magic acquired Desmond Bane in an offseason blockbuster trade, the consensus was the 27-year-old was the missing piece on an Orlando team that struggled offensively. Adding Bane, a bona fide three-level scorer with playmaking upside, would give the Magic much-needed floor spacing, open up lanes for Paolo Banchero and turn this franchise into a contender.

That hasnâ€t quite happened yet. And itâ€s kind of odd.

For one, the Magic have transformed into this rim-battering machine. Last season, Orlando was just outside the bottom five in points in the paint. This season, the Magic are up to sixth (56 points per game). Their rim rate has jumped from 12th to first in the same time frame.

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On paper, some of it makes sense. Orlando technically isnâ€t a double-big team, but Franz Wagner, Paolo Banchero and Wendell Carter Jr. are all 6-foot-10. Both Banchero (94 total drives) and Wagner (74) are among the top 25 in frequency. Bane, with 70, isnâ€t too far behind.

Their inside-outside balance has suffered because of it. The Magic now take just 30% of their shots from 3, 29th in the NBA a season after hovering around 37%. Banchero, who is shooting less than 30% from behind the arc, simply isnâ€t respected as an outside threat and is treated more like a downhill driving big man.

Bane is shooting just 25.8% from 3, but Iâ€d expect those numbers to trend up the more games he shares the floor with Jalen Suggs. Thereâ€s just a bit more pop to Suggs than Anthony Black or Tyus Jones, who are fine options but not as versatile. If opposing defenses continue to dare Banchero to shoot, keeping Suggs on the same side is a nice counter.

One way the Magic have found success leveraging Bancheroâ€s lack of shooting is by actually using him as a screener, forcing the defense to collapse if either Wagner or Bane is the ball-handler. Itâ€s a different look than if Banchero is camped in the corner and defenses can sag off him, paying more attention to constricting the paint.

Maybe using Banchero more as a big helps with other areas of his game, particularly his shot selection. Since he entered the league, Banchero has essentially hovered around the lower quartile in points per shot attempt. He leads the team in touches and time of possession, but where heâ€s getting those touches is critical. More paint touches (only 2.1 per game, scoring 1.33 points per) should be the goal, which hopefully equates to more perimeter touches for the likes of Bane, Suggs and Wagner. Less 3s for Banchero and more for Bane/Suggs/Wagner should stabilize Orlando’s half-court woes.

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Panic Meter:Slightly concerning, but should improve with more games

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AEW Dynamiteâ€s October 1 anniversary show opened with twist involving The Young Bucks.

In earlier footage filmed outside the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Florida, Nick and Matt Jackson were shown arriving in style with their massive cash haul from the recent $500,000 tag team match. But the celebration didnâ€t last long.

The segment took a sharp turn when Nick Jackson headed into the casino with their bag of money and proceeded to gamble it all away. By the time the camera cut back to Matt Jackson, he was left holding the empty bag—and he was furious.

After clawing their way back from rock bottom following their downfall at All In Texas, this blunder resets everything. The Bucks had finally regained momentum after losing their EVP titles, their signature entrance, and even being humiliated with outdated theme music. Just weeks ago, they hit a major win with help from Jon Moxley in the $500K ten-man tag, and things looked like they were turning around.

Now, thanks to one reckless day at the casino, theyâ€re back to zero. The Young Bucks†fall-from-riches arc continues—and fans are left wondering if this is the final straw or the start of an even more chaotic redemption story.

Should The Young Bucks be written as hitting rock bottom again after this casino disaster? Or will they find a way to spin it into something even bigger? Sound off in the comments.

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Three years ago this Wednesday, 135 football fans died at the Kanjuruhan stadium in Indonesia after security forces deployed teargas and created a stampede for the exits. 1 October 2022 was the nadir of a curve that had been sliding downwards for decades. This is a country that, in this century alone, has seen its FA president run the federation from a prison cell while facing corruption charges, the creation of rebel national leagues, federations and national team Fifa bans and fans being killed by other fans.

In March 2023 there were more negative headlines when the country was stripped of hosting the Under-20 World Cup just months before kick-off after the governor of Bali said that Israel would not be welcome on the island. Erick Thohir, former owner of Inter and DC United and current co-owner of Oxford United, had just become boss of PSSI, as the federation is known, and did his utmost to save the tournament. Football fans braced themselves for Fifa punishment and more chaos to come. Instead, the world governing body was sufficiently impressed with the efforts of Thohir, who has been a cabinet minister for years, to give the country the Under-17 World Cup in November. It was a success and brought some much-needed positivity.

A man mourns in front of a memorial to victims of the 2022 stampede at the Kanjuruhan stadium that killed 135 people. Photograph: Juni Kriswanto/AFP/Getty Images

That would be nothing compared to qualifying for the World Cup and the national team are only 180 minutes away. When Fifa expanded the tournament to 48 teams, it hoped that China and India would make it but Indonesia, the fourth most populous nation on the planet and with more passion for the game than those other sleeping giants, would be quite a consolation. On 8 and 14 October, Team Garuda face Saudi Arabia and Iraq in a three-team round-robin playoff. The winner goes to North America.

Whatever happens, Indonesia is part of the final dozen in Asia, an almost unthinkable improvement on past attempts. Thailand and Vietnam, two more successful south-east Asian nations, reached the final round of qualification for the 2018 and 2022 tournaments and managed a combined total of six points from their 20 games. Indonesia got double that tally from half the matches, notably beating Saudi Arabia, China and Bahrain while drawing with Australia.

Naturalisation is the main driver. The former Dutch colony has gone heavy on European-born players (mostly from the Netherlands) with Indonesian heritage. This year, as many as eight or nine have started games. Patrick Kluivert was appointed as the national team head coach in January after the dismissal of the South Korean Shin Tae-yong. Results werenâ€t the problem but the former Barcelona striker was seen as a better fit for a team that had basically become European and communicated in Dutch and/or English. Indonesia are not the first or last to go down this route in Asia but few have done it so as aggressively and with such swift results. There have been concerns about the identity of this national team but getting to the World Cup would allay most of those, for now at least.

Ramadhan Sananta of Indonesia celebrates the 1-0 victory over China in Jakarta in June. Photograph: Zhizhao Wu/Getty Images

The same can be said about Kluivertâ€s coaching career in relation to his exploits on the pitch, with spells in charge of Curaçao and the Turkish team Adana Demirspor. Results so far have been OK. His first was a 5-1 loss in Australia, a scoreline that was harsh. The subsequent wins over Bahrain and China, the rivals for that all-important playoff spot, were the crucial ones and while there was no disgrace in losing in Japan, to do so 6-0 against an experimental team was a disappointment.

This is his biggest test. Facing Saudi Arabia in Jeddah (yes, the games are all taking place in Saudi Arabia and the hosts have a six-day rest between their games while the visitors play twice in three days) in front of 60,000 is going to be tough. Yet Indonesia drew there in the previous round of qualification and all the pressure is on the hosts who have not exactly impressed of late. Then it all comes down to a showdown against Iraq, a team with a history of talent but also of underachieving in World Cup qualification.

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Patrick Kluivert addresses fans after Indonesia defeated China in June.
Photograph: Robertus Pudyanto/Getty Images

Getting to the World Cup finals for the first time since 1938, and that was as Dutch East Indies, would give the whole football scene a boost. The national team may be in the top 12 in Asia and first in Asean but Indonesiaâ€s BRI Super League is ranked 25 on the continent and sixth in its own region. A rebranding ahead of this season promised to bring in more sponsorship and broadcasting revenue but these are still early days. A major issue is the ban on away fans. This has been in place since the disaster of 2022. Fifa has established an office in Jakarta to oversee an improvement in safety standards. The organisation was, according to reports, ready to lift the ban for the new campaign but changed its mind when its officials attended the final match of last season and Persib Bandung fans, celebrating their title win, let off flares and firecrackers that twice stopped the game. There are also still reports of salaries being paid late or not at all.

There are still issues then and while the World Cup would not solve everything, it would be another – and the biggest – sign of progress since that darkest day three years ago.

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What should be a hyped time for the John Cena retirement tour, exiting a historic Brock Lesnar match, is instead one of anxiety for fans.Â

Cena’s match with Lesnar, after all, wound up an unmitigated disaster just weeks before he’s scheduled to take on AJ Styles in a match at Crown Jewel from Perth, Australia on October 11.Â

Thankfully for everyone, fans included, Cena-Styles can book the feud and match in a way that is the polar opposite of the Lesnar debacle.

First, the trainwreck. By now, the majority of fans know what went down at the poorly-named Wrestlepalooza. Cena went out and got squashed by Lesnar at the PLE, a completely odd decision by all involved that was aimed at making Lesnar look amazing to casual fans on the first WWE PLE to stream on ESPN.

Cena looked like a chump in the process, with WWE going unnecessarily cruel, too, considering he did his entrance with a bunch of kids wearing his attire, then cameras made sure to pick up kids in the crowd in tears after his loss.Â

Just an odd thing all around, yet not so odd when one considers how miserable the majority of Cena’s retirement tour booking has gone. To tick off a few boxes, think, the failed heel turn, The Rock, Travis Scott, R-Truth and now squashed by Lesnar, not to start a feud and rematch, but to make the…48-year-old part-timer look good?Â

Anyway, a feud with Styles gives everyone a chance to course correct. Put the train back on some semblance of tracks, at least.Â

The groundwork for this already happened, too. Where the Lesnar feud was set up by a random attack and then the two, for some reason avoiding each other on weekly shows, Cena took to social media to build the feud by “campaigning” Triple H for the match. Styles, meanwhile, expressed frustration in interviews about not getting a Cena match.Â

It’s a little thing…but it’s a start. The experiment is again appreciated and, frankly, the build is already slowly creeping toward being one of the best of the retirement tour.Â

From here, Cena and Styles can go some interesting ways while building the feud. Since he’s been in WWE for so long, it’s almost easy to forget what a juggernaut of an international star Styles was for so long. Cena can certainly remind audiences of that.Â

There’s also the dynamic of Styles retiring in 2026. Getting this out there in front of huge audiences and working it into the story, even if it’s just Styles being prematurely bitter because his tour won’t get as many headlines as Cena’s, would be a nice way to build things.Â

Don’t forget the match itself, either. Lesnar-Cena, predictably, just spammed finishers. It’s not even worth a rewatch, but Lesnar ate, what, three finishers and kicked out before hitting three-plus F-5s for the win?Â

Frankly, that was insulting to viewers. We weren’t that far removed from Cena putting on a really technical, fun match with Logan Paul, of all people. Fans have known for years that while there’s a five-moves-of-doom cliche with Cena, he’s extremely underrated and capable of putting on versatile matches with almost anyone.Â

Cena going against Styles has a chance to stress that point in a big way. It would only be fitting if the two go into the matchup in Australia motivated to make that very point. One can almost hear the you still got it chants already.

If nothing else, it will be nice to see a carefully built feud for Cena against a great wrestler that gets the care and attention it deserves before a solid match. Some probably wouldn’t have predicted that Styles will need to bail out Cena’s farewell tour so late in the process, yet here we are.Â

If it’s Styles, Randy Orton and CM Punk as the high marks for the Cena goodbye tour over the last year or so, maybe that’s just fitting, really. It’s certainly marquee company for Styles to join and given both men’s importance to the sport over the last few decades, only right.Â

While it’s a shame things have come to this, it’s hard to suppress optimism that Cena-Styles, when booked with even the slightest bit of common sense, can be a high mark of the year while bridging the gap between both iconic wrestlers’ retirement journeys.Â

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Jeeno Thitikul had the second win of her LPGA season in her grasp on Sunday at the Kroger Queen City…