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  Ohm Youngmisuk

  ESPN Staff Writer

  Ohm Youngmisuk has covered the Giants, Jets and the NFL since 2006. Prior to that, he covered the Nets, Knicks and the NBA for nearly a decade. He joined ESPNNewYork.com after working at the New York Daily News for almost 12 years and is a graduate of Michigan State University.
  
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Dec 8, 2025, 02:33 PM ET

Orlando Magic forward Franz Wagner received positive news after an MRI revealed he suffered a high left ankle sprain, the team announced.

Wagner underwent the MRI on Monday after he was injured in the first quarter of the Magic’s 106-100 loss to the New York Knicks on Sunday. The injury appeared to be much worse after his left leg bent awkwardly upon a hard landing after a foul. Wagner initially grabbed his leg around his knee.

The MRI showed no structural damage to his left leg, sources told ESPN. The Magic said that Wagner’s return will depend on how he responds to treatment.

Orlando will have to play the Miami Heat in the NBA Cup quarterfinal without Wagner.

The forward has been Orlando’s best and steadiest player, averaging 23.4 points, 6.2 rebounds and improving his 3-point shooting to 35.4% before going down early at New York. He is a big reason why the Magic were able to go 7-3 without Paolo Banchero, who just returned from a groin injury last Friday.

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Six weeks into the High Score fantasy basketball season — about one quarter of the NBA regular season — certain patterns are emerging that continue to shape how I manage my roster. The scoring format is simple but demands a balance of strategy, consistency and thoughtful decision-making throughout the week.

After tracking trends, adjusting lineups daily, and navigating injuries across multiple teams, here are the four biggest lessons Iâ€ve taken away so far.

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1. Use lineup flexibility to raise your weekly ceiling

Why lineup flexibility matters in High Score

My first takeaway is obvious, but still needs to be said. Don’t get stagnant, setting and forgetting your lineup like it’s the showtime rotisserie oven. Throughout the week, I regularly adjust my starters based on performance, matchups, and availability. Iâ€m not trying to bench players unnecessarily — Iâ€m simply trying to replace my lowest score with someone who has the potential to post a higher one.

The UTIL spot is central to this strategy because of its positional freedom. If my lowest score comes from a guard, I can replace it with a frontcourt player, and vice versa. This structure allows you to stay proactive, maximize your weekly total, and avoid wasting potential points on your bench.

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[High Score is a new way to play Fantasy Basketball on Yahoo with simple rosters and scoring. It’s not too late to create or join a league]

2. Move players interchangeably to maximize upside

A simple lineup adjustment that expands your options

To piggyback off the first takeaway, another technique thatâ€s been especially effective is rearranging players to widen your replacement pool. The goal is to ensure your lowest score occupies the position that can be upgraded by either position group.

Hereâ€s an example:

• G: Tyrese Maxey — 54

• G: Ryan Rollins — 34

• FC: Alex Sarr — 46

• FC: Julius Randle — 51

• FC: Nic Claxton — 49

• UTIL: Cade Cunningham — 53

Rollins†34 fantasy points is the score you want to improve. But with Cunningham sitting in UTIL, your only option is to swap in another guard.

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By moving Cunningham into the G slot and shifting Rollins to UTIL, you free up the most flexible position. Now you can replace that 34 with either a guard or a frontcourt player from your bench, depending on who has the better matchup projection or opportunity. Having players with dual eligibility makes this action easier, as they can be swapped into any position in the starting lineup.

This small adjustment consistently increases your chances of upgrading your lowest-performing output and helps you squeeze more value from the schedule and lineup.

3. Daily management isn’t necessary, but it can help

How early-week decisions shape your total score

While you can simply start your best players and rely on their predictable production, High Score rewards managers who pay attention to opportunity. Early in the week, lighter slates create windows where your top players might not be on the floor, and thatâ€s where your bench becomes useful.

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If a role player draws a favorable matchup, gets a spot start, or sees an uptick in minutes due to injuries, that early-week opportunity can produce a valuable spike in performance. This could be a chance to mine the waiver wire to start the week or going with an already rostered player you might typically debate starting.

Banking one of those surprise performances before your stars play later in the week gives you a better foundation for your total score. Also, if you’re losing heading into Sunday, you may have to bench an underperforming star with no games left to sub in another option to achieve the win. It doesn’t always work out, but it gives you a chance at a clutch, outlier performance.

Your stars will provide stability. Your bench provides variance — and variance is often how you create separation in High Score.

4. Roster percentage shouldn’t dictate drop decisions

Donâ€t be afraid to cut ties

If a player consistently scores under 30 fantasy points per game and isnâ€t showing signs of improvement, it becomes difficult to justify the roster spot — even if the name is significant. Jakob Poeltl, Matas Buzelis and Devin Vassell are all over 88% rostered, and fall into the highly-rostered underachieving bucket that fantasy managers can safely drop for a better waiver option.

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From an injury perspective, the limited bench space often presents some tough business decisions. For example, my IL spots are tied up, and Zion Williamson’s latest adductor injury will sideline him for at least three weeks (and likely more). I need to keep pace with my league mates, so I’m likely going to drop him, since there are viable replacement-level options in a default 10-team High Score waiver pool. Cutting a well-known player is uncomfortable, but the goal here is to maximize points week over week — not to hold players based on their draft value.

High Score demands that you react to what players are doing right now, not what you hoped theyâ€d be.

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December 3, 2025 | Paul Stimpson

Tom Jarvis has become the top-ranked English player in the world after climbing to a career-high No 61 in the world rankings.

Jarvis made a jump of 11 places on the back of his run to the final of WTT Feeder Dusseldorf last week, in the process moving above Liam Pitchford, who is currently injured. Pitchford, who is set to receive a protected world ranking inside the worldâ€s top 100 when he returns from injury, for now drops to No 80.

Jarvis will also go above Pitchford in the Table Tennis England rankings once those are updated next week.

26-year-old Jarvis first entered the world’s top 100 in April 2023 and remained on the fringes of that level for a few weeks before dropping down the list.

However, it was after his sensational run to the last 16 of the World Championships in May this year that he cemented his place in the upper echelons of the world game, re-entering the top 100 at a career high No 78.

He has remained inside the elite group ever since, and has improved his career high on three further occasions, including this week.

Jarvis, however, says that while the career high – and the imminent move to England No 1 – are welcome, he is not motivated by climbing the rankings.

He said: “I’ve managed to get a run at quite a lot of tournaments this year and put a lot of wins together in the same week, which my ranking reflects.

“But at the World Championships and the tournament last week, I wasn’t thinking about rankings, I was thinking about winning matches.

“I said to (Director of Performance Development) Gavin Evans last week that it’s time to win a Feeder – I had a good chance to be in the final in Portugal (last month) and got to the final in Dusseldorf. It’s trying to get into the position to win by taking it match by match.

“You always want to be the best from your country – and there’s some unfortunate circumstances with Pitch, which is affecting his ranking – but I’d be more than happy if I was No 2 but had made that improvement myself and was still No 61 in the world.”

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CLEARWATER, Fla. — You would be forgiven for thinking that Tiger Woods’s much-anticipated press conference at the Hero World Challenge in the Bahamas was the most captivating golf happening on this Tuesday in December. It was not. The most entertaining action unfolded in a carpeted conference room at Feather Sound Country Club, here on Florida’s west coast, where eight of European golf’s leading lights from the past three-plus decades presided at a dais and joyfully held court in the prelude to the Skechers World Champions Cup.

The World Champions Cup is a relative newcomer to the professional golf calendar, a three-team (U.S, Europe and rest of the world), three-day contest for the 50-and-older set that is essentially a mashup of the Ryder and President Cups, albeit with a different fomat (sixballs and scotch sixsomes!) and a more complicated scoring system. In 2023, the Americans won the inaugural playing in nail-biting fashion with 221 points, while last year’s event was nixed on account of inclement weather. That brings us to the 2025 edition, where, in the all-important Team Vibes category, Europe — no surprise — has jumped out to a commanding lead.

Here was Darren Clarke, Europe’s playing-captain, cackling as he entered his team’s Tuesday-morning session with reporters; there was one of Clarke’s five playing teammates, the pony-tailed Spaniard, Miguel Ángel Jiménez, wearing the European flag like a cape; and, look, is that 55-year-old Alex Cejka with his hat spun around backward?! As Colin Montgomerie, who is 62, clambered up to the stage, his teammates jokingly groaned, then celebrated when Monty successfully arrived at the summit. This wasn’t a winner’s press conference, but it sure felt like one.

Filling out Clarke’s team are Thomas Bjorn and Bernhard Langer, along with vice captains Soren Kjeldsen and Jesper Parnevik, who used the occasion of his opening remarks to reveal: “I have made all the mistakes I can make this week. I got lost driving here. I couldn’t find the 1st tee in Sunday’s match with Darren. I couldn’t find the 10th tee yesterday. And I just today figured out how to work the shower in the hotel.”

Parnevik wasn’t the only player perplexed by the plumbing. When Montgomerie’s turn came for an opening statement, he said, “I’d just like to start by asking Jesper how the shower actually does work? I haven’t quite found out, and I’ve been here three days, Christ.”

And so it went. Cracks, quips, barbs, laughs.

When Clarke mistakenly said that his team would be ready to play when the matches begin Friday, Parnevik quickly corrected his captain, deadpanning, “I think we’re starting Thursday.”

“Yeah, Thursday,” Clarke said, laughing. “Yeah, when Thursday comes along, we are here to try to win this week, make no mistake. We want to do ourselves probably a little better than we did last time and get ourselves right in the mix.”

Clarke wasn’t just paying lip service. The guys aren’t here this week only for giggles. Last time around — at The Concession Golf Club, an hour’s drive south of here — the event came down to a Sunday clash between the U.S. and International sides. The Internationals had control of their own destiny, but then both Vijay Singh and Retief Goosen dumped their approach shots into a penalty area on the final hole, essentially handing the title to the U.S. “Kind of like throwing a Hail Mary touchdown in the last 10 seconds and then getting the onside kick and kicking a field goal,” Peter Jacobsen, the World Champions Cup tournament chairman, told me Tuesday. “We were in shock.”

As the Americans celebrated, the other teams’ skippers — Clarke and Ernie Els — stewed.

What Tiger Woods means when he hints at sweeping PGA Tour changes

By:

James Colgan

“Darren was pissed, and Ernie was pissed. So pissed,” Jacobsen said. “Because it means so much. There’s no age limit on competitive desire. Whether you’re 7 or 57, it doesn’t matter.”

This week, the U.S. playing-captain is Jim Furyk; his team is comprised of Stewart Cink, Jerry Kelly, Justin Leonard, Steve Stricker and Jason Caron, and vice captains Steve Flesch and Billy Andrade. International playing-captain Mike Weir will tee it up alongside Angel Cabrera, K.J. Choi, Steve Alker, Y.E. Yang and Mark Hensby; Weir’s assistants are Charlie Wi and Ricardo Gonzalez.

The Americans haven’t been letting the Europeans have all the fun. On Monday night, the U.S. team members sounded like they stayed up past their bedtimes. “Too many drinks probably to start the week off,” Stricker said. “That’s the way we ended two years ago, and we had a ball.”

Added Justin Leonard: “Need some electrolytes, please.”

However you feel about “Silly Season” events in the window between Thanksgiving and Christmas, it’s hard not to appreciate the assemblage of global talent that took the dais here Tuesday morning. For golf fans of a certain era, Feather Sound this week feels a little bit like one of those baseball fantasy camps that populate this area of Florida. But instead of World Series winners, you get major champions. Wander the property and you might spot Y.E. Yang, who famously upset Tiger Woods at the 2009 PGA Championship; or a Masters champion such as Mike Weir or Angel Cabrera; or an ageless wonder like 68-year-old Bernhard Langer.

On Tuesday afternoon, Montgomerie had just finished a nine-hole practice round when Langer’s tugged approach into the 9th green nearly doinked Monty on the head.

You couldn’t have blamed Montgomerie for being salty, but instead he quickly laughed it off. There’s a lot of that on this team.

“You would get that in a Ryder Cup setting, too” Montgomerie told me greenside. “We make fun of each other, take the mickey out of each other, take the piss out of each other. We leave our egos behind and all fight for each other.”

The High Score 100 — the top-100 players in Yahooâ€s newest fantasy basketball format — is a running reflection of year-to-date performance and trending production. Each weekly update captures whoâ€s actually delivering value and who’s fading.

Hereâ€s a breakdown of the biggest risers and fallers through the sixth week of fantasy basketball — with the complete High Score 100 at the bottom of the article. I’ll be updating my rankings every Tuesday throughout the fantasy basketball season.

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[High Score is a new way to play Fantasy Basketball on Yahoo with simple rosters and scoring. It’s not too late to create or join a league]

Before jumping into the risers, itâ€s worth noting the ripple effect of stars returning this week. Tyler Herro (36) and Jalen Williams (53) made their season debuts in Week 6, pushing rotational players down the list as usage and minutes normalized. As more stars come back from injury, expect more volatility in the middle tiers of the rankings.

Zach Edey – FC, Memphis Grizzlies: 76th overall (â¬†ï¸ 16)

The Grizzlies’ big man is becoming such a dominant force in the paint. I had to move him up in the ranks because of his outstanding play to close out week 6 in a win over Sacramento, racking up 32 points, 17 rebounds and 5 blocks on 16-of-20 shooting. A 64-point fantasy outing was shocking. Still, at this pace, he’s tracking to be a 37-40+ fantasy point asset in High Score. Edey’s averaging 13 points, 11 rebounds and 2 blocks per game since returning from injury — keep him locked into your lineups.

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Josh Hart – G/FC, New York Knicks: 87th overall (â¬†ï¸ 16)

Hartâ€s rotation minutes have ticked up as New York shuffles through injuries, and heâ€s responded with the multi-category contributions we’ve come to love and expect. Over the past four games, Hart is averaging 17 points, 11.8 rebounds, 7 assists and 3.3 stocks per game, equating to 52.5 fantasy points in High Score. A promotion was necessary after that level of production in Week 6. We can expect that type of stability as long as OG Anunoby remains out and Mitchell Robinson doesn’t play in back-to-backs.

Cooper Flagg – G/FC, Dallas Mavericks: 58th overall (â¬†ï¸ 15)

Flaggâ€s been showing signs of growth offensively over the past month. The rookie phenom posted consecutive weeks of registering at least 50 fantasy points in High Score. Also, he became the youngest player in NBA history to drop 35 in a game in a win over the Clippers in Week 6. Flagg’s versatility is beginning to shine through on both ends, showing the kind of upside fantasy managers expected when drafting him as a top-50 player. The usage spike and month-over-month improvement as a scorer will only send him further up the ranks.

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Ausar Thompson – FC, Detroit Pistons: 118th overall (â¬‡ï¸ 28)

Thompsonâ€s name appears on the fallers’ list in consecutive weeks because his production continues to trend downward. Even though he’s returned to the starting lineup, he hasn’t eclipsed 30 fantasy points since November 9. In his last seven outings, his highest score is 27 and for the season, Thompson is averaging 30.2 fantasy points per game. That’s on the cusp of not being worth holding on your fantasy roster in a default High Score league. He’s playing less than 30 minutes per night this season, so a boost in minutes would certainly improve his production.

Jarrett Allen – FC, Cleveland Cavaliers 100th overall (â¬‡ï¸ 20)

Like Thompson, Allen is back again and loosely holding down the final spot in the High Score 100. A finger injury has been affecting his performance lately, but we can’t ignore the stats. He hasn’t gone over 30 fantasy points in over two weeks, causing his average to dip to 31 fantasy points per game. He’s actually ranked 107, but I’m giving some grace for his finger ailment.

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Jaden McDaniels – FC, Minnesota Timberwolves: 101st overall (â¬‡ï¸ 10)

I expect McDaniels will have a brief stint on the fallers list after a disappointing Week 6, where he scored 26 fantasy points. With Jalen Williams and Tyler Herro returning, someone had to drop off, and McDaniels’ play of late hasn’t been enough to warrant keeping in the top 100. After a hot start to the season, scoring 18 ppg, which has normalized to 14 ppg over the past 14 games, with improved efficiency that unfortunately won’t factor into High Score.

Complete High Score 100 rankings

The High Score 100 is a running reflection of year-to-date performance and trending production.

Stay tuned for the next look at the High Score 100!

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December 1, 2025

(by Dr. Alan Chu, PhD, CMPC)

In the 1990s, psychologist Anders Ericsson revolutionized our understanding of expertise. Through his landmark research on expert performers—from musicians to chess players to athletes—he discovered something surprising: what separates world-class performers isn’t innate talent or the quantity of practice, but the quality of practice.

Based on his research, Ericsson went on to write the book Peak: How to Master Almost Anything. Ericsson identified “deliberate practice†as the key ingredient, characterized by focused attention on specific weaknesses, immediate feedback, and systematic progression just beyond one’s comfort zone. This applies just as much to mental training as it does to physical technique.

Core Components of Deliberate Practice

Ericssonâ€s framework identifies five essential elements that can help you transform ordinary practice into deliberate practice: Specific Goals, Full Concentration, Immediate Feedback (from yourself or others), Stepping Outside Your Comfort Zone, and Repetition and Refinement. This diagram below shows you some table tennis examples.

Applying Deliberate Practice to Your Physical and Mental Game

When we apply deliberate practice principles to mental training in table tennis, five relevant psychological tools stand out for every player to practice achieving their peak performance.

1. Set Process-Oriented Goals. Instead of “win the tournament,†set goals like “execute my focus routine between every point†or “implement breathing strategy when trailing.” These goals are within your control and directly target mental skills, following Ericsson’s principle of specific, measurable objectives. See more tips in Set SMART Process Goals: Focusing on the Journey Over the Destination.
2. Create Pressure Situations in Training. Your practice must simulate match conditions. Set up consequences for errors—push-ups, sprints, or lost points. Make training harder than competition so matches feel manageable – this trains your nervous system to perform under stress. See more tips in Handling Pressure in Big Moments: Lessons from Truls Moregardâ€s Grand Smash Victory.
3. Get Immediate Feedback. Work with a coach or training partner who observes your mental responses. Record yourself to review body language and emotional reactions. Use self-monitoring checklists during practice.
4. Develop Emotional Reset Routines. Create a specific sequence you’ll execute after errors: turn away, deep breath, bounce the ball three times, cue word (“next pointâ€). Practice this routine deliberately after every mistake in training until it becomes automatic. This gives you a reliable tool for emotional regulation during competition. See more tips in Use Pre-Point Routines – Mastering Crunch Time Like Timo Boll.
5. Maintain a Detailed Training Journal. After each session, write for five minutes about your mental performance. Which situations triggered anxiety? When did you lose focus? What worked? This reflection converts experience into learning and reveals patterns you can address specifically. See more tips in US Nationals Reflection – Winning the Mental Game.

The Long Game

Deliberate practice for mental training requires patience and consistency. You won’t see dramatic overnight improvements, but over weeks and months, you’ll notice greater composure under pressure, sustained focus, and clearer thinking during critical moments.

Remember that discomfort signals growth. If practice feels easy and comfortable, you’re probably not in the zone where real development occurs – elite players understand this.

Start with one or two specific mental skills, practice them with full concentration using the principles Ericsson identified, and stay committed to the process. The mental edge you’re seeking is built one deliberate session at a time.

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The calendar has flipped to December and we’ve played a quarter of the 2025-26 NBA season. We’re also just over three weeks away from the Christmas Day NBA slate, the best time of the year. Of course, in Yahoo’s new fantasy basketball format, High Score, the top output for a player in a given week is all that matters. So far we’ve seen plenty of superstars top out and even have a few surprising performances. Below we’ll go over the perfect lineup based off the top-six scores from November.

The top-six performances overall by position from November.

More on the top performers

Cade Cunningham, guard: The Pistons have the best record in the Eastern Conference and Cade has the best High Score of any player all season. Cunningham posted an astonishing 46-12-11 triple-double with seven stocks, good for 101 fantasy points, in an OT win over the Wizards on Nov. 10. The Pistons All-Star has had a wide range of outcomes this season, ranging from 28 fantasy points back in October in a loss to the Cavaliers to that explosion against Washington. He’ll almost always have a high floor given his assist numbers, averaging 9.4 per game on the season, second-best in the League.

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Tyrese Maxey, guard: Let’s be real, the 76ers are Maxey’s team. Unfortunately, Joel Embiid isn’t the same player and hasn’t even been able to play in half of Philly’s games so far this season. As a result, Maxey has gone full takeover and is chasing his first scoring title in the NBA, averaging 32.2 points per game, third behind Luka DonÄić and Shai Gilgeous-Alexander. There are few players who can fill it up like Maxey on any given night. He did just that with a career-high 54 points in an OT win over Milwaukee on Nov. 20, propelling him to 95 fantasy points. Maxey was a fringe first-round asset during draft season and is looking like he should have landed in the top five.

[High Score is a new way to play Fantasy Basketball on Yahoo with simple rosters and scoring. It’s not too late to create or join a league]

Jalen Johnson, frontcourt: Perhaps the most surprising name on this list, though we should give the budding star some credit. Johnson has taken over as the No. 1 option in Atlanta in the short-term with Trae Young dealing with a knee injury. Johnson posted a 31-18-14 triple-double with seven steals for 98 fantasy points in a win over the Jazz on Nov. 13, the second-highest fantasy total in High Score on the young season. We may not see another performance like that from him the rest of the season.

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Nikola Jokić, frontcourt: Real quick, we’d have Jokić on this list multiple times but we aren’t going to repeat players. The three-time MVP has been the best player in the High Score format (and honestly fantasy basketball overall so far this season). He’s leading all players in average fantasy points per game (70). Jokić doesn’t have fewer than 55 fantasy points in a game all season and has reached 80+ on four occasions — two High Scores of 89. There’s no reason to think he won’t be the top fantasy asset the rest of the season.

Giannis Antetokounmpo, frontcourt: The Greek Freak recently returned from a groin strain. While the Bucks have struggled so far this season, Giannis has still worked in a few ceiling games above 80 fantasy points. His ability to score at will and rack up plenty of rebounds, assists and stocks give him one of the best floors in High Score. He topped out with a near 41-point, 15-rebound triple-double for 86 fantasy points against Chicago, a team he generally dominates, on Nov. 7.

Luka DonÄić, utility: Of course it isn’t a High Score list without Luka on there. After starting the season injured, missing three of the first five games, DonÄić is back and producing at a high level. His gem of the season was a 35-8-13 line with seven stocks for 91 fantasy points in a two-point win over the Spurs on Nov. 5 — far from the easiest matchup. Even with LeBron James back in the lineup, this is DonÄić’s Lake Show to run.

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Free agency always involves risk, but the rewards can be transformative.

There are a number of high-variance stars like Cease who remain unsigned, highlighted by the seven big names below. Which version of these players will their next teams be getting? It’s a question interested suitors are surely debating.

Pete Alonso, 1B
Alonso has remained one of MLBâ€s premier home run hitters since he burst onto the scene with a rookie-record 53 dingers in 2019, but his overall offensive output has fluctuated in recent years. Among qualifiers, his wRC+ ranked 15th (tied) in 2022 (141) and eighth in â€25 (141), but he fell outside the top 30 in both â€23 (120) and â€24 (121). While those swings in production arenâ€t that extreme, theyâ€re concerning nonetheless for a player whose value is almost exclusively tied to his bat.

Cody Bellinger, OF
Bellingerâ€s career has been a study in extremes, from the heights of a 2019 NL MVP season to the lows of a non-tender just three years later. Even if we ignore his 69 wRC+ across 2021-22 and zero in on what Bellinger has done in three years since the Dodgers cut him loose, there are lingering questions about his offensive profile moving forward. Is he the near-league-average bat of 2024 (18 HR, 108 wRC+)? Or the standout of 2023 (26 HR, 135 wRC+) and â€25 (29 HR, 125 wRC+)?

Bo Bichette, SS
Bichetteâ€s return to form in 2025 (18 HR, 134 wRC+) makes it easy to look past his curious dropoff in â€24 (4 HR, 70 wRC+), especially considering the injury issues he faced that year. The shortstop has been quite consistent otherwise, posting a wRC+ of 120 or higher in every other season during his seven-year career. Still, any team considering Bichette canâ€t entirely ignore what happened in 2024.

Zac Gallen, SP
Gallen had a 3.29 ERA, a 3.45 FIP and a 3.43 K/BB ratio over his first six seasons, peaking with a pair of top-five finishes in the NL Cy Young Award voting in 2022 (fifth) and â€23 (third). However, he regressed sharply in 2025, posting a 4.83 ERA with a 4.50 FIP and a 2.65 K/BB — all career worsts. Gallenâ€s strong track record may make him a popular target in free agency, but as the Red Sox learned after signing Walker Buehler last offseason, taking a chance on a rebound candidate doesnâ€t always work out.

Kyle Schwarber, DH
Schwarber hit a lot of home runs for the Phillies over the past four seasons — 187 of them, in fact, tied with Shohei Ohtani for second most in MLB behind Aaron Judge. That said, the version of Schwarber we saw in 2025, when he finished second in the NL MVP Award voting with 56 homers and a 152 wRC+ (sixth best in MLB), was levels above the one from â€22-23. While the DH went deep 93 times in that span, he also tied for 31st among qualifiers with a 124 wRC+ while hitting .207 with a .333 on-base percentage.

Eugenio Suárez, 3B
Entering his age-34 season, Suárez is one of the biggest boom-or-bust hitters on the board. The third baseman fared so poorly over his first 79 games with the D-backs in 2024 (67 wRC+) that there were rumblings he could be designated for assignment. Suárez not only avoided that fate, he became one of MLBâ€s best hitters for more than a calendar year, ranking ninth with a 151 wRC+ while swatting 60 homers in 184 games from July 1, 2024, through July 30, â€25. However, his production dipped again following a trade to the Mariners, as he slashed .189/.255/.428 with a 91 wRC+ over 53 games for Seattle.

Devin Williams, RP
Williams was perhaps the gameâ€s best reliever from 2020-24, but this past season marked a notable departure from his previous dominance. Traded from the Brewers to the Yankees last December, Williams opened 2025 as New Yorkâ€s closer but lost his grip on the job multiple times en route to a 4.79 ERA. On a positive note, the right-handerâ€s underlying metrics paint a much rosier picture of his performance, as he ranked in the 95th percentile or better in expected batting average, whiff rate, chase rate and strikeout rate. He also looked more like his old self down the stretch, pitching to a 2.50 ERA with 34 Kâ€s in his final 19 games.

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Confirming a pattern that was obvious throughout the fall, the percentage of foreign-born All-Americaâ€s at the NCAA XC champs surged above 60%. Big change. Whatâ€s driving it? (MIKE SCOTT)

THE NCAA SCENE has changed dramatically in recent years, as old-school athletics and modern-day money have battled in the courts, and earthshaking verdicts have given us a college landscape that would be nearly unrecognizable to a time traveler from a generation ago. Now thereâ€s big-time NIL money, super conferences, recruiting services, and, you just may have noticed, more foreign athletes than ever.

It doesnâ€t take much digging to see how much the picture has changed in just the last 10 years. At the NCAA cross country Regionals in â€15, 30% of the menâ€s top 10 finishers were internationals, and 21.1% of the women were. In the qualifying races this year, the numbers jumped to 60% for men and 62.2% for women. At Nationals, the top 40 individuals get All-America recognition. In â€15, 30% of those men were foreign, and 32.5% of the women. This fall, those numbers exploded to 72.5% for men (29 of the 40) and 62.5% for women (25).

The many changes within the NCAA ecosphere are responsible, says Rita Gary, the head womenâ€s coach at Furman. “Itâ€s really just opened up a floodgate of allowing athletes into the NCAA that in history would not have qualified by the limit of age or by the parameters of education.â€

The other force is the ever-present mandate for top programs to win. “People want to keep their jobs,†said one of several coaches we talked to who did not want to be named. “Youâ€re looking for a higher-level athlete and if you canâ€t get the best American kid, youâ€ve got to get one [internationally].â€

“Itâ€s a real-life thing thatâ€s happening,†says Oklahoma head James Thomas. “People are adapting to the new times. Thereâ€s haves and have-nots when it comes to who has NIL money, who has potential revenue sharing, who has other outside types of things. And right now, itâ€s hard to get in a battle for some of the top kids in the U.S. unless you are employed at a really high-end, top institution with a reputation academically and athletically… So battling for the international athletes is just a way for a lot of programs to stay afloat.

“Thereâ€s a whole lot of schools and programs that are still being expected to win and perform well. [International recruiting] is becoming something I feel like almost every program is leaning on a little bit.â€

“Foreign influence†is by no stretch a new phenomenon. At the first NCAA Track & Field Championships in â€21, Dartmouthâ€s Earl Thomson, Olympic high hurdles gold medalist for Canada the previous year, won his event.

Fans have long been used to seeing certain track/XC programs that have traditionally had top-notch foreign talent on their rosters. One thing that has marked the current influx is that programs that in the past have predominately recruited Americans are now pulling in surprising numbers of international athletes, some competing at a very high level.

“Oh my gosh, yes,†agrees one coach who has won national titles on the strength of his foreign imports over the years. Now he faces more competition than ever for those recruits.

Says another, “Thereâ€s a lot more people that are hopping on board and saying, â€You know what, let me give this a go now, too.â€â€ (Continued below)

Tsunami By The Numbers

Sometimes a chart best tells the tale. These two compiled by Peter Thompson — a British-born, Eugene-based coach and well-known international clinician — cast the pointy end of the current collegiate distance running pyramid in stark relief.

Rule Changes Have Opened The Door

One of the biggest barriers to international athletes from some countries coming into the NCAA went away in January â€23. Thatâ€s when the NCAA, on the heels of the Covid pandemic, permanently eliminated the standardized SAT and ACT tests from its requirements for new athletes. Athletes still need high school diplomas with 16 NCAA-approved core-course credits on their transcripts, but critics says this marked a huge drop in standards. “Weâ€ve thrown academic requirements out the window,†says Gary.

Amateur status is still required, however. A number of coaches who would not be named say that the investigation of possible cases of foreign runners accepting pro money is not rigorous. Several Kenyan athletes in particular have been the cause of many rumors in this department. “Pro†payments, apparently, are easily concealed as travel/lodging expenses, which are allowed.

Then there is the age issue. Back in the â€70s much controversy raged over foreign athletes dominating NCAA track and cross country. In fact, our April 1977 cover — under a photo of UTEP senior Wilson Waigwa, who won that yearâ€s NCAA 1500 at age 28 — featured the headline, “Foreigners Dominate NCAA.†Inside, a number of articles and letters to the editor hashed it out in language that would set déjà vu flags waving for current fans. The NCAA struggled at the time to make an age rule that would survive legal challenges.

These days, there is no set age limit, per se. Rather, athletes must comply with the 5-year rule, meaning they get four seasons of competition within 5 years from their first full-time college enrollment. The NCAA grants athletes a free gap year between high school graduation and college enrollment without any loss of eligibility. After that, the clock starts ticking. Except for when it doesnâ€t.

Exemptions are frequently granted for religious or medical reasons, but the big loophole for older international athletes is the national team exemption. Delayed enrollment can be granted for athletes participating and trying out for national team competitions, including the Olympics and Worlds.

An athlete does not even have to make their national team to get the extension. They just have to try; they can get all of those seasons exempted, provided their paperwork is deemed up to snuff by the NCAA Clearinghouse.

Explains Sam Seemes, CEO of the U.S. Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association, “Internationally, a lot of countries choose their national teams based on a body of work. So sometimes an international student can have their eligibility clock start much later than a U.S. student. And even though theyâ€ve been training and competing, maybe at a world-class level, their eligibility clock may not start because for them, thatâ€s all a part of their body of work that would make them possibly be selected for a national team.â€

The door is wide open, agrees Thomas: “If theyâ€re good enough athletes and theyâ€ve had opportunities to compete and train at the world level, that doesnâ€t count against them.†And thatâ€s how we get a 29-year-old, Washington Stateâ€s Solomon Kipchoge, winning the West Regional as a sophomore.

Not to pick on Kipchoge, a transfer from Texas Tech. He was one of at least 10 athletes over 25 to make a Regional top 10, according to numbers researched by Peter Thompson, the keenly observant coach and clinician who has drawn up several informative charts and graphs like the two seen earlier in this report.

Being older than most American collegiate athletes is not a defining trait among the current influx of international competitors, says Seemes: “I think most international students line up just like student athletes from the U.S. do and are regular student athletes coming out of high school trying to get a degree and compete. But,†he adds, “I think thereâ€s been an increase in people that are able to access it at a more advanced age, and in some instances, a more advanced stage of being ready to compete.â€

The money question also needs to be addressed. BYU menâ€s coach Ed Eyestone recently told the Deseret News, “Theyâ€re coming because of NIL.â€

However, foreign athletes canâ€t receive NIL payments, which are forbidden by the terms of the F-1 student visa. One can surmise that a violation, especially these days, would lead to a prompt deportation, and not necessarily to the athleteâ€s home country. Yet there might be more to this angle that we have not been able to nail down for obvious reasons. Some of our sources say that a common end-run around that rule is to deliver payments directly to athletes†accounts in their home countries.

Whatâ€s Driving The Recruiting?

Coaches identify several key factors in their recruiting internationally. One noted that the merging of a number of conferences into super conferences is a major motivator. “That made it really, really hard to be successful.â€

For many others, though, the prime impetus are the new NCAA roster limitations: 17 in cross country, 45 in track — and 10/35 for SEC schools. Coaches, many of them hoping to reach performance bonuses in their contracts, feel they canâ€t afford to let too many spots be taken up by developmental athletes who donâ€t have potential to score in their Conference or at Nationals.

The first foreign NCAA Cross Country champion was Scotsman Forddy Kennedy of Michigan State (left) in â€58. Cornellâ€s Steve Machooka, though he never ran at an NCAA, won the â€61 Heps and IC4A titles as a soph — the first flash of Kenyan heroics in the U.S. collegiate sport.

Says Thomas, “Iâ€ve had multiple national champions and All-Americans that were books or walk-on kids that may have never had that opportunity in this current system. But we also donâ€t have that luxury now of going 30-40% success rate with your athletes. Youâ€re going to have to be in that 50-60% success rate with your athletes or thatâ€s called â€a significantly poor season†when it comes to the administration.â€

He adds, “With roster sizes changing, theyâ€re going to want to get more instant success, and therefore, going with a foreign athlete is more likely. If you get a 20-year-old, say, French male or female athlete, they probably have done the European U20 or U23 championships, so theyâ€ve got international experience, which U.S. high school athletes [generally] donâ€t have. International experience which takes them much further away from the American kids coming out of high school.â€

Joe Franklin, now coaching at Louisville after many successful years at New Mexico, cites a quote from Cardinals basketball coach Pat Kelsey, “We choose to embrace change rather than just complain about it.†He adds, “Pretty pointed, isnâ€t it?… People have to embrace change, if you donâ€t change, you die.â€

Recruiting Services Have Changed The Game

Long a feature of revenue sports in the collegiate world, only in the last few years have recruiting services become prominent in track and cross country. The days of an assistant coach flying to Eldoret to scout young Kenyan talent trackside are numbered, if not already over.

Thomas says one of the reasons is simply financial. “A bunch of programs have been getting budget cuts… The opportunity to go out there and watch every international kid, thereâ€s programs that used to be able to do that all day long. Now they canâ€t do that at all. From a business standpoint, youâ€re relying on some of the recruiting services. Thereâ€s a new one that pops up every week, and Iâ€m sure thereâ€s a lot of programs taking full advantage of a lot of them.â€

There are several recruiting services in play, with the two most prominent being Scholarbook Premier, a worldwide service based in Germany, and Townhall Premier Talents, which focuses on Kenyans. How crucial are they to providing the athletes that fans are cheering at nationals?

Counting JUCO, NAIA and the NCAAâ€s three divisions in indoor and outdoor track last year, Scholarbook says its alumni scored 26 national titles and 129 first team All-Americas, including Div. I winners such as Doris Lemngole (steeple), Samuel Ogazi (400) and Aleksandr Solovev (PV). Past alumni include decathlon world champion Leo Neugebauer and 800 Olympic and world champion Emmanuel Korir.

Townhall qualified 60 of its alumni to this yearâ€s NCAA Div. I XC Championships. Last year, NCAA champions Ishmael Kipkurui (10K) and Pamela Kosgei (5/10K) both came through the Townhall pipeline.

Rumors abound about how the recruiting services work. While Townhall did not respond to our interview requests, Scholarbook did. Joe Walker III, a former Div. I coach himself, is the relationship manager for schools looking at East African athletes. He explained that the service started in â€09, founded by two former NCAA runners from Germany, Simon Stützel and Thomas Bojanowski. For years the company contracted directly with athletes, mostly German at first, who wanted to be shopped to American programs.

“We flipped the model probably four years ago,†says Walker. “On a trip to Kenya and Nigeria, Simon found that a lot of those athletes obviously canâ€t afford over a thousand dollars in fees right up front for basic things, visa fees, applications fees. So 1764095684 weâ€re able to provide our services for free to those athletes.â€

The American schools foot the bill these days, through a system where a subscription fee gives the access to a pool of athletes. That gives the recruiters everything from contact info to video-confirmed performance results, as well as Scholarbook staff handing visa applications and most of the other logistics of the athleteâ€s move to the U.S. The top tier, which highlights the best prospects, is the All America package. That runs $30,000 a year. Other packages go for as little as $6000. Even so, buying a subscription doesnâ€t guarantee a school a new recruit.

“Weâ€re definitely not a placement,†says Walker. “I think thereâ€s an idea out there that someone is paying for an athlete. We absolutely canâ€t do that.†What subscribers get, says one college recruiter, “Itâ€s a smaller group of people that youâ€re battling against to get the recruit.â€

Notes Walker, “Weâ€ve had one school take 13 kids in one calendar year. Weâ€ve had others that have struck out, got zero. Nothingâ€s guaranteed. But with the All-American package, those are pretty high-end kids, most schools typically average two commitments per year.â€

Thatâ€s just how one service does business; others likely operate quite differently.

The services have changed everything. Says Thomas, “I used to get on social media all the time and connect with kids internationally and go to World Athletics and look at them on Instagram and all this kind of stuff, but if you connect with them now, itâ€s probably already too late. They already are connected with one of these services, and so youâ€re kind of wasting your time trying to recruit them on your own. They belong to somebody already. I think thatâ€s why people are leaning to that route instead of doing the legwork on their own.â€

BYUâ€s Ed Eyestone and Oklahoma Stateâ€s Dave Smith, coaches of the last two menâ€s champion harrier teams, aired opposite views of the foreign numbers explosion at a pre-champs press conference this year. See Last Lap. (KIRBY LEE/IMAGE OF SPORT)

The experience is different for the athletes too. Gary points out, “[As far as I know], theyâ€re not coming over for official visits. Theyâ€re not spending time with the team or on the campus or meeting with academic advisors, all the things that we think about with the NCAA recruiting and how we want to be this holistic fit where theyâ€re growing academically, theyâ€re growing athletically, theyâ€re growing spiritually, like itâ€s a multi-dimensional growth opportunity. Maybe Iâ€m old school or idealistic, I donâ€t know, but thatâ€s not happening.â€

She wonders what happens down the road for these recruits. “Are [the coaches] still invested in their well-being and their longevity, their family, health and wellness?… I think when NCAA programs recruit from these environments, without any oversight, it really sends a dangerous message, both to those athletes that weâ€re recruiting, but also to our domestic kids. And just to our public in general… it looks bad for us. I think in 5–10 years, people are going to lose their appetite. No one wants to watch the Kenyan National Championships at the NCAAs.â€

Notes Seemes, clarifying that itâ€s his personal opinion rather than a USTFCCCA stance, “There are businesses now built on being able to supply athletes for a fee. Iâ€m not saying thatâ€s illegal by any means of imagination. But I have some problems with it from an ethics standpoint. You know, itâ€s not too far off of selling human beings. Somebodyâ€s offering you an athlete and youâ€re paying for them to deliver that athlete. Some of this paperwork that goes through the clearinghouse, I think, gets professionally completed and filled out by folks who work at knowing the rules and how to go around the rules and answer the right answers to the questions that are in front of them that donâ€t raise a red flag.

“Iâ€m very surprised that this hasnâ€t risen to a high level within the NCAA. And Iâ€m really surprised that the U.S. government hadnâ€t gotten involved in it to a certain extent, especially with what is going on around the human trafficking and visas and entries into the country and so on.â€

Itâ€s possible the Trump administrationâ€s work to limit foreign visas has had a clear effect on foreign student enrollment. The Institute of International Education surveyed over 800 colleges and universities and found that foreign enrollment has dropped 17% for the current school year. Walker says Scholarbook has noticed an effect: “Our Euro numbers are down, perhaps starting with family concerns regarding Trumpâ€s attacks on higher ed.â€

Another possible issue, says Thompson, is that World Athletics rules require athlete agents to be registered. It is unclear if any of the recruiting services employ registered agents, or whether there could be any consequences. “I donâ€t think World Athletics is particularly aware of the situation,†he says.

He also points out that Seb Coeâ€s hopes to get cross country back into the Games [the Winter Olympics seem to be the leading idea] could have an eventual effect on the international pipeline. “National Olympic committees have not allowed any development funds to go to cross country, because itâ€s not an Olympic event. Once cross country comes back into the Olympics, then the potential is for the national Olympic committees to fund the development of cross country runners, male and female, around the world. So itâ€s going to become more important for countries to consider whatâ€s happening to their athletes.â€

A Legislative Solution?

Gary says she is introducing legislation in December at the USTFCCCA Convention: “Iâ€m tackling just the age issue, basically what Iâ€m proposing is that your eligibility starts at 20 years of age, regardless of what country youâ€re from, what educational system you went through, religion, all of that stuff, and that you have five years to exhaust four years of eligibility. That will make sure that 25 years of age is the upper limit.â€

“I personally think thereâ€s some challenges when you start saying age,†notes Seemes. “Thatâ€s easy term to use in discussion. But when you get down to a document, youâ€ve probably got to approach it in a different direction, even though the intent is the same.â€

Louisvilleâ€s Franklin is dubious: “I would find it hard to believe that it could get through and actually get in the NCAA manual with all the changes. And then what is the NCAAâ€s appetite for another lawsuit? I donâ€t know the answer to that. But somebody will sue, somebody will get eligible, it will set precedent, and then something will happen.â€

Lost Development Opportunities?

This all may result in athletic administrators taking a closer look at track/XC budgets, says Gary: “One of the things that our body sold to our administrators and our ADs and our presidents was that we needed 45 roster spots and 17 roster spots for Olympic development. That was one of our arguments. I think what weâ€re doing is a bit of a hoodwink because Iâ€m pretty sure they probably thought it was U.S. Olympic development, not necessarily world Olympic development.â€

Thompson has doubts about the oft-heard mantra that competing against foreigners will make U.S. collegians better. “When youâ€re talking about 60% of the top 10 are international athletes, then itâ€s no longer acting as a stimulus. Itâ€s acting as a block.â€

There are positives, says Oklahomaâ€s Thomas: “The fact that there is a way for some of these athletes to get to the U.S. a little bit easier is actually making the sport, in my opinion, a little bit better and a little bit more inclusive for people who probably would never be able to come to this country and compete. I think this is allowing a lot of people who are sub-elite, would-be elite, hopefully get to that elite level.â€

Thompson, who has long worked in international coaching development, points out another consequence to the foreign influx: “Those developing athletes are taken away from their home country coaches. Those coaches donâ€t develop, and then when the athletes go back to their home country, theyâ€ve grown beyond the coach, and so they either donâ€t go back and keep competing in the U.S., or if they do go back, they may give up training and competing.â€

He recalls a trip to Jamaica in the early â€90s, when he heard from a number of coaches, “â€Our job is to get our athletes U.S. scholarships.†They were all unanimous. There was no development of coaches, because coaches never worked with anybody beyond high school.†He discussed the problem with the head of the federation, and eventually a coaching development program started at the University of Kingston. One of the eventual products of that effort was one Usain Bolt. “He never wanted to go to a U.S. university. He always wanted to stay at home if he could and train.â€

Final Thoughts

“Their job is to win,†says Gary of her coaching peers. “And Iâ€m not even saying theyâ€re winning the wrong way. I refuse to say that. Theyâ€re winning fair and square. I just think as a sport, we can do better. I think as a coaching body, we can do better. And I think this is a call-to-action time, because weâ€re looking around and everyoneâ€s going, ‘What the hell is going on?†And we need to get our arms back around it. And like the pendulum, it just swung too far.

“I will say, these athletes bring an incredible ability and also global recognition to college running, which is something that we want. But whatâ€s lacking right now are just some basic guardrails for how do we still get that diversity and that influx of talent, but create some parameters that level the playing field and keep fair competition. The NCAAâ€s mission when it was founded was to ensure fair play among student athletes; it wasnâ€t supposed to be a semi-professional league.â€

Franklin sees it differently: “If youâ€re promoting only American athletes or age-limited athletes or… whatever the flag that youâ€re carrying is, if youâ€re true to that your entire life, Iâ€m good with it. But I feel thereâ€s a lot of hypocrisy because, you know, are you driving an American-made car? Is your refrigerator American-made? God forbid somebody in your family gets sick, are you only going to a doctor that was born and raised in [the USA]? The answer is no.

You donâ€t care whether theyâ€re born in Ann Arbor, or Indiana, or Bangladesh, or the United Kingdom. You want the best physician possible. And some of those people that become those physicians come in on athletic scholarships.â€

Beyond that eternal debate, thereâ€s general agreement that the recruiting game is boiling down to a battle of budgets, and the winners will be the best-funded programs who can bring in the best international stars. Says Thomas, “We have no clue how bad itâ€s actually going to get and what schools are going to benefit, what schools are going to be hurt from it.

“Thereâ€s going to be a couple of them that probably will have collections of superstars, almost like the Infinity Stones, and theyâ€re going to almost become untouchable at some point.â€

Jeff Hollobaugh is a writer and stat geek who has been associated with T&FN in various capacities since 1987. He is the author of How To Race The Mile. He lives in Michigan where he can often be found announcing track meets in bad weather.

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We’re over a month into the 2025-26 NBA season and while the Western Conference standings appear to be chalk so far, that hasn’t been the case in the Eastern Conference. The Detroit Pistons, currently on a 12-game winning streak, sit atop the East with a surprising Toronto Raptors squad right behind them.

The Pistons have been an interesting case study for High Score fantasy basketball. Cade Cunningham will always be an elite play among the top scorers week-to-week. Injuries had opened up opportunities for players like Paul Reed, Daniss Jenkins and Isaiah Stewart. But Detroit is getting healthy again and Jaden Ivey just returned to make his season debut. The Pistons are dominating opponents and have one of the deeper rosters in the NBA. While Cade and big man Jalen Duren will be High Score staples all season, it could be difficult to trust anyone else on the roster to consistently get us there.

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[High Score is a new way to play Fantasy Basketball on Yahoo with simple rosters and scoring. It’s not too late to create or join a league]

You know who is going to consistently get us there all season? MVP favorite Nikola Jokić, who had 71+ High Score fantasy points in three of four games this week. He’s among the top-six performers in High Score for Week 5. Let’s take a look at the perfect lineup.

The top-six performances overall by position from Week 5.

(Taylar Sievert)

More on the top performers

Tyrese Maxey: Arguably the best draft pick relative to ADP so far, Maxey is chasing his first scoring title this season. With Joel Embiid out last Thursday, the former Kentucky guard took the game over, dropping 54 points in an OT win over the Bucks. He also added 5 boards, 9 dimes, and 6 stocks (a pretty high total for him). Maxey is very easily among the top-five players in High Score this season, averaging 61.4 fantasy points per game.

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James Harden: Charlotte is going to get picked on by superstars this season and Harden’s back to getting elite usage with Kawhi Leonard still sidelined. The Beard dropped 55 points, the 25th time in his career he’s had over 50 points in a game. Harden shot 17-26 from the floor and 10-16 from distance. He also added seven assists but took care most of the scoring in a Clippers blowout win. Harden finished among the top producers in High Score on the week at 62.5 fantasy points per game.

Nikola Jokić: While Maxey is a top-five asset, Jokić is the top asset. He’s your leader in fantasy points per game at a whopping 72.2 on the season. He’s the perfect combination of floor and ceiling, and there’s really no reason Joker doesn’t finish the year as the best player in fantasy. To start a four-game week, the Nuggets dropped a rare game at home to the Bulls. However, Jokić dominated with a 36-18-13 triple-double with three stocks. That was good for just shy of 90 fantasy points, the fourth time the big man has broken the 80-point threshold this season. It’s going to be difficult to lose with Jokić in your lineup.

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Deni Avdija: The Bulls got rung up by a few stars on this list this week. Chicago allowed a huge game to Jokic and also Avdija a few days later. The young wing is finally putting it all together in his sixth season, averaging north of 25 points per game. He dropped a 32-11-11 triple-double in a buzzer-beating defeat at the hands of Chicago on Wednesday. Avdija has been a bit volatile but has the type of ceiling you’re looking for in High Score.

Jalen Johnson: With Trae Young out, Johnson has been doing a lot of the ball-handling for the Hawks. He’s averaging 7.6 assists per game this month and has at least eight dimes in eight straight games. That has elevated Johnson’s ceiling and we saw said ceiling last week when he threw up 98 fantasy points, one of the highest scores of the season. Johnson needed 25 points, 8 boards, 9 assists and 4 stocks to crack this lineup again in Week 5.

Luka DonÄić: The Lakers star had a chance to jump into one of the guard slots for the perfect lineup but fell short at just 69 points on Sunday night. Still, DonÄić did enough earlier in the week to make it as the utility spot. It was the tale of two games against the Jazz — one was a track meet and the other a slogfest. The track meet is where DonÄić was able to post his high score for the week of 74 on 37 points, 10 assists and 5 rebounds, plus 4 steals. It’s only a matter of time before we see DonÄić break the system; he’s notched only one triple-double all season. Perhaps he goes off in a revenge spot at home vs. the Mavericks on Friday.

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