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  • Legend girls basketball cruises past Horizon into program’s first Final Four: “We’re ready to prove ourselves even more”

    Legend girls basketball cruises past Horizon into program’s first Final Four: “We’re ready to prove ourselves even more”

    After winning its first Continental League title and making its first appearance at the Denver Coliseum, Legend girls basketball isn’t done on its march toward ultimate history.

    The Titans easily dispatched of Front Range League champion Horizon, 62-35, to open the Great 8 games on Thursday at the Denver Coliseum.

    “We knew what we were capable of at the start of our season, but we didn’t know fully what we could do with our talent,” junior guard Maley Wilhelm said. “Now we do.”

    Morgan Ives (2) of Horizon Hawks drives as Maley Wilhelm (5) of Legend Titans defends during the first half of a Colorado state high school basketball tournament Great 8 game at the Denver Coliseum on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

    Legend used a dominant first quarter in which the Hawks didn’t score a field goal to take an early 11-2 lead, weathered a Horizon rally in the second quarter, and then pulled away in the second half. It was the Titans’ second win over Horizon this year after beating them 70-53 in a tournament at the beginning of the season.

    Wilhelm’s three fast-break lay-ups on Titans’ steals was a turning point in the third quarter, and Wilhelm finished with a team-high 13 points. By the time junior guard Ava Gavi drained a pair of threes to start the final frame, Legend had the game in the bag, and Horizon never got close again.

    “We had the intensity on defense, and we were pretty good on the glass today, but the one big, glaring weakness was not having composure on offense (in the second quarter),” Legend head coach Darren Pitzner said. “We played the second half with much more composure, and much more under control. You can’t come to the Coliseum and force tough shots. That’s Rule No. 1 coming here.”

    Head coach Darren Pitzner of Legend Titans works against the Horizon Hawks during the first half of a Colorado state high school basketball tournament Great 8 game at the Denver Coliseum on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
    Head coach Darren Pitzner of Legend Titans works against the Horizon Hawks during the first half of a Colorado state high school basketball tournament Great 8 game at the Denver Coliseum on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

    Pitzner, in his first year as the Legend coach, is headed to his fifth Final Four. He also made school history at Green Mountain, leading the girls to their first three Final Four appearances there, and was an assistant coach on the 2017 Lakewood girls team that lost in the state championship game to Grandview.

    The Titans (24-2) blew the doors off opponents for much of the season with a high-octane approach on offense while also placing a premium on defensive pressure. Their lone setbacks came via forfeit to Lutheran (due to a player eligibility issue) and on the road to No. 1 Cherokee Trail, 52-42 on Jan. 8.

    The Cougars haven’t lost to an in-state team all season and appear to be the Class 6A championship favorite, but not if Legend has anything to say about it. The Titans’ win over Regis Jesuit in the Continental League championship on Feb. 16, 68-53, underscored the team’s belief it could make a deep tournament run.

    Grace Stanley (3) of Legend Titans drives against the Horizon Hawks during the first half of a Colorado state high school basketball tournament Great 8 game at the Denver Coliseum on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
    Grace Stanley (3) of Legend Titans drives against the Horizon Hawks during the first half of a Colorado state high school basketball tournament Great 8 game at the Denver Coliseum on Thursday, Feb. 29, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

    “The girls knew they could be in the mix, but we also knew we had to prove we could play with the top teams,” Pitzner said. “That’s where the Regis win was really big, because it showed we were in that top group.”

    Kyle Newman

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  • CSU Rams lose to Nevada on buzzer-beater

    CSU Rams lose to Nevada on buzzer-beater

    FORT COLLINS — Just when it looked like Colorado State had completed a second-half comeback to send its game against Nevada to overtime, the Wolf Pack made sure extra time would not be needed.

    Isaiah Stevens drained a jumper to tie the game at 74 with 2.8 seconds remaining, but the Wolf Pack banked in a half-court 3-pointer at the buzzer to claim a 77-74 victory Tuesday night at Moby Arena.

    It was CSU’s first Mountain West conference loss at home and just its second loss at home this season. It was also CSU’s third straight loss overall on the heels of an 0-2 road trip last week at New Mexico and UNLV.

    The Rams dropped to 20-9 overall and 8-8 in the Mountain West with two games remaining in the regular season.

    “Basketball can be unforgiving sometimes,” CSU head coach Niko Medved said. “Tonight was a gut-punch. There’s no other way around it.”

    Trailing 39-28 at halftime, the Rams scored the first four points to cut the Wolf Pack lead to 39-32 and then cut it to five at 42-37 on a layup by Patrick Cartier with 14:21 remaining in the game.

    But a 3-pointer followed by three free throws from a foul on a 3-point attempt pushed the Wolf Pack’s lead back to double digits at 48-37 with 13:20 left.

    CSU got back within five after a three-point play by Patrick Cartier made it 53-48 with 10:15 remaining. The Rams got that close a few more times, the last coming on a free-throw by Jalen Lake with 4:19 remaining that made it 63-58.

    With 3:23 remaining, the Rams got within two at 63-61 on a three-point play by Stevens, but the Wolf Pack answered, as they did all game, with four straight points to extend their lead to multiple possessions again.

    Finally, the Rams got within striking distance, pulling within three on a 3-pointer by Nique Clifford with 22 seconds left and then two on a jumper by Stevens with 11 seconds remaining and then tied it on another jumper by Stevens with just under three seconds left.

    Colorado State’s Nique Clifford puts up a shot against Nevada on Tuesday at Moby Arena in Fort Collins. (Nathan Wright/Loveland Reporter-Herald)

    Then Nevad’s Jarod Lucas, who missed a pair of free throws between Stevens’ two jumpers, raced down the sideline, heaved the ball from halfcourt and banked it in.

    “It was a heck of a game,” Stevens said. “We kept fighting. I give our team a lot of credit, but we just didn’t make that last play.”

    Stevens led the Rams with 23 points. Joel Scott added 15 and Clifford 10.

    CSU led for the first 1:51, but after Nevada took a 5-3 lead on a 3-pointer, the Rams never led again in the opening 20 minutes.

    The Wolf Pack extended its lead to five before the Rams were able to whittle it back down to one at 10-9 after a 3-pointer by Clifford with 13:40 left in the first half.

    Nevada took a seven-point lead at 29-16, but the Rams cut their deficit to four at 30-26 on a jumper by Lake, but CSU would get no close than that before halftime as the Wolf Pack closed the period on a 9-2 run to take an 11-point lead into halftime.

    Five first-half turnovers and a 39.3 shooting percentage from the field hurt the Rams in the first half. They were also only 5-for-12 (41.7%) from behind the 3-point line and got to the free-throw line once. Joe Palmer made one of two on that lone trip to the stripe.

    Stevens had 10 points to lead the Rams in the first half.

    Nathan Wright

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  • Nikola Jokic on his defense after 4 steals vs. Warriors: “I think I’m not bad, not good. I’m in the middle.”

    Nikola Jokic on his defense after 4 steals vs. Warriors: “I think I’m not bad, not good. I’m in the middle.”

    SAN FRANCISCO — The cartoonish Defensive Player of the Game chain is objectively the Nuggets’ corniest tradition, a blinged-up symbol of morale and affirmation usually reserved for college football sidelines rather than NBA locker rooms. If it seems one is too many, brace for impact.

    “We only travel with one. We’ve gotta change that,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said after a 119-103 win over the Warriors on Sunday. “Because if we had two chains, Nikola would have gotten the other one.”

    The lone chain couldn’t belong to anyone else but Kentavious Caldwell-Pope for his dogged efforts in trying to out-cardio Steph Curry in the half-court. But in Nikola Jokic’s trio of videogame performances since the All-Star break, his defense has stood up respectably next to his offense. He’s averaging 27.3 points, 16.7 rebounds and 15 assists on 68.7% shooting … plus three “stocks,” a combination of blocks and steals.

    When he’s on the floor this season, the Nuggets are allowing 112.1 points per 100 possessions, 1.3 below their overall total as a team.

    As a crowded MVP race heats up with Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic, Jokic’s four steals against Golden State were a testament to the trickiness in evaluating his defense. He’s not always noticeably impactful — the No. 1 argument skeptics make against his annual candidacy is that he’s a liability, even — but when he’s engaged in the game plan and actively anticipating an opponent’s next move the way he does on offense, he can be a master of his role in Denver’s defensive system.

    “I think I’m not bad, not good,” Jokic said Sunday at Chase Center. “I’m in the middle.”

    By the same token that Jokic doesn’t dunk the basketball often, he rarely swats shots or plays above the rim defensively. Instead, the Nuggets maximize their center’s strengths by having him guard higher up against ball screens than most big men in the NBA, subsequently leaning heavily on weak-side help from Aaron Gordon and Michael Porter Jr. to contain rollers. When Jokic can play from the middle of the floor, his vision and IQ work in sync with his quick hands.

    “The more he’s up in pick-and-rolls and on the ball … that’s what he’s great at,” Caldwell-Pope said recently. “Just being up. Active hands. Getting deflections when they try to make that pocket pass.”

    Jokic amassed five deflections to go with his four steals in Denver’s seventh consecutive win against the Warriors. As of the 56-game mark, he was tied for eighth in the league with 2.9 per game (as many as the absurdly wingspanned Victor Wembanyama). “That speaks to activity, that speaks to a physicality, that speaks to being in that right place in the right time,” said Malone. Disrupting the pocket pass is a facet of Jokic’s innate understanding of pick-and-roll angles, the same understanding that makes his two-man game with Jamal Murray so brilliant at the other end of the floor.

    It’s not Murray he’s generally teaming up with to defend the pick-and-roll, though. It’s Caldwell-Pope, who’s regularly charged with premier backcourt matchups. The experienced Caldwell-Pope is one of the best guards in the league at navigating screens. But the Nuggets have minimal off-day practice time during the season to refine two-man defensive chemistry, and Jokic and Caldwell-Pope haven’t been playing their entire careers together. So, says Caldwell-Pope, it’s a matter of “learn on the go.”

    “I feel like with Jok, in a pick-and-roll with him defensively, I know he’s gonna be up,” he said. “I know he has great hands, just like I have great hands. He’s gonna try to go for the steal as well. So just us two, being in that action, it helps me out a lot. It helps him just to get back to his man and helps me stay as close as possible to my man. That’s our game plan, him being up. And it’s good for our team, for him to be up.”

    Caldwell-Pope added that his individual emphasis, to hound the ball-handler through the screen while Jokic also stays up, is made easier by Jokic dropping marginally behind him and being able to see other aspects of the play unfolding. “He reads plays faster than I can sometimes,” the former Laker said.

    “That’s him, to be honest,” Jokic retorted of his chemistry with Caldwell-Pope. “I’m just there to not mess up. He’s a really good defender, and I’m there to just, try to help him a little bit. As much as I can. But it’s mostly him.”

    Bennett Durando

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  • Russell Wilson reiterates willingness to return to Denver despite uncertainty on podcast appearance: “People think I’m out of there. Maybe I am”

    Russell Wilson reiterates willingness to return to Denver despite uncertainty on podcast appearance: “People think I’m out of there. Maybe I am”

    Russell Wilson reiterated that he hopes to return to the Broncos in 2024 but doesn’t know whether that will happen during a podcast with former Denver wide receiver Brandon Marshall.

    Over more than 80 minutes on Marshall’s “I Am Athlete” podcast, the pair talked extensively about Wilson’s career, marriage, family and much more but they also briefly got down to brass tacks about Wilson’s current limbo with Denver.

    “For me it’s about winning. In the next five years I want to win two (Super Bowls),” Wilson said. “I want to feel the chill of that trophy again. So yeah, I want to go back to Denver. I hope I get to go back. I’d love to go back, to be honest with you. I’ve got amazing teammates.”

    Wilson, though, acknowledged he doesn’t know if that will happen. Marshall tried to get him to talk about other potential destinations, but the veteran quarterback didn’t bite.

    “I honestly haven’t really thought about it. I’m still in Denver,” he said, later adding, “If it’s not there, though, I’d go to a place where we can win again.”

    Asked if Wilson could play again for Broncos head coach Sean Payton after their first season together, he said flatly, “Yeah.”

    Most in the NFL expect, though, that Denver will release or, far less likely, find a trade partner to jettison Wilson before March 17, when $37 million in 2025 base salary would become guaranteed.

    The podcast went live Sunday night, perhaps not coincidentally, just before the NFL descends on Indianapolis for this week’s Scouting Combine. It’s a time on the calendar when a lot of business gets done and a lot of groundwork for future moves is put into place. Payton and general manager George Paton are slated to speak Tuesday morning and now Wilson’s put his stance on the record ahead of time.

    Marshall at one point joked with Wilson about where he’d live if he returned to the Broncos because of recent Business Den reporting that he and his wife, Ciara, are taking showings and accepting offers on their Cherry Hills mansion.

    “My house ain’t for sale. It’s not for sale,” Wilson said before tempering that a bit.

    “It’s not on the market right now.”

    Either way, he said he feels like he bounced back from a poor 2022 season and is planning on playing at a high level well into the future.

    “People think I’m out of there. Maybe I am, but no matter what I’d love to go back,” he said. “I committed. There. I committed to be there. I want to win more Super Bowls there. I love the city and everything else, but you also want to be at a place that wants you, too.”

    Parker Gabriel

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  • Rockies spring training recap: Prospect Yanquiel Fernandez shows off power, Jaden Hill throws 99.2 mph fastball

    Rockies spring training recap: Prospect Yanquiel Fernandez shows off power, Jaden Hill throws 99.2 mph fastball

    Diamondbacks 6, Rockies 2
    Saturday at Salt River Fields

    On the mound: Right-hander Noah Davis, competing for a spot in the back of the rotation, pitched two scoreless innings, allowing three hits, walking one and striking out three. Davis threw 40 pitches (with 23 strikes) while mixing in all five of his pitches. He said that his game plan going into his first Cactus League start was to work on all of his pitches — sinker, curve, cutter, slider and curveball. Manager Bud Black said he wants to see more pitch efficiency from Davis.  … Lefty prospect Joe Rock had a rough two innings, yielding five runs (four earned) on four hits, with one walk, one strikeout and a wild pitch that allowed a run to score. He’s pegged as a starter in the minors to begin the season.

    At the plate: Outfield prospect Yanquiel Fernandez, who boasts intriguing power, hit a 419-foot solo homer to right in the sixth inning off of lefty Andrew Saalfrank. Fernandez nearly hit another homer in the ninth but just got under the ball and lifted it to the right-field warning track.

    Injury update: Starting third baseman Ryan McMahon made a nice play by diving and throwing out a runner at second base in the third inning, but stayed on the ground for a couple of minutes after tweaking his lower back. He stayed in the game, however, and got another at-bat. “It was just a small spasm and I waited for it to calm down,” McMahon said. “It’s fine now.”

    Prospect watch: Right-hander Jaden Hill, who’s been converted from a starter to a reliever, threw a perfect seventh inning, striking out two. Hill’s hottest fastball was clocked at 99.2 mph.

    Rockies 5, A’s 1
    Saturday at Hohokam Stadium

    Peter Lambert (20) of the Colorado Rockies works against the the Oakland A’s during Colorado’s 5-1 Spring Training win at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

    On the mound: Right-hander Peter Lambert, the favorite to win the fifth spot in the rotation, pitched two scoreless innings, allowing no hits while walking two. … All told, seven Colorado pitchers combined to limit Oakland to three hits and two walks while striking out six.

    At the plate: Michael Toglia, trying to stake his claim in the crowded position battle at first base/right field, hit a solo homer off Osvaldo Bido in the fourth. … Outfield prospect Jimmy Herron had two hits and drove in two runs.

    Jimmy Herron dives towards second against the the Oakland A's during Colorado's 5-1 Spring Training win at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
    Jimmy Herron dives towards second against the the Oakland A’s during Colorado’s 5-1 Spring Training win at Hohokam Stadium in Mesa, Arizona on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

    Prospect watch: Infielder Aaron Schunk, who’s pegged to begin the season at Triple-A Albuquerque, hit 1-for-1 and scored a run.

    Up next: Rockies at Brewers, 1:10 p.m. Sunday

    Rockies probable pitchers: RHP Karl Kauffman, RHP Anthony Molina, RHP Justin Lawrence, RHP Chance Adams, RHP Riley Pint, RHP Matt Koch.

    Patrick Saunders

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  • Bill Walton is becoming Nikola Jokic’s biggest fan, and he’s tired of reductive superlatives: “One of the greatest basketball players ever”

    Bill Walton is becoming Nikola Jokic’s biggest fan, and he’s tired of reductive superlatives: “One of the greatest basketball players ever”

    PORTLAND, Ore. — Nikola Jokic was in a rush to leave the building last Sunday after his sixth All-Star Game. His abbreviated version of a break was finally about to begin. But he made time for one of his biggest fans.

    In the hallways beneath Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis, Jokic stopped to dap up Hall of Famer Bill Walton. The day before, during a public practice, Walton had sought out Jokic on the sideline to chat. Their interactions at All-Star weekend are becoming something of an annual tradition by now.

    “Big man to big man,” Jokic said.

    What does the 71-year-old Walton tell the Nuggets big man?

    The same stuff he eagerly tells everyone else who’ll listen.

    “His celebration of life through basketball, his focus on the team … he’s better than perfect. He’s Nikola Jokic,” Walton told The Denver Post. “He’s the best player in the world. I watch a lot of Denver Nuggets basketball, and every time I watch, I just get a smile on my face. It’s fantastic.”

    Walton, a winner of two championships and an MVP during his celebrated but injury-shortened career, has long remained a fixture of the college and professional basketball communities. He is famous for his out-there analogies and asides while providing enthusiastic color commentary of Pac-12 games for ESPN, but he is especially moved by Jokic — so much that he’s practically a spokesman for the Serbian center. In the last year, he has raved about Jokic everywhere from The Pat McAfee Show to The New Yorker.

    The admiration runs so deep that Walton needs to share it with Jokic directly, whenever possible. Whenever they’re face-to-face.

    “Joy and happiness. And hope. And optimism. And purpose,” Walton said. “He plays with purpose. He plays to win the games. And he does it with beautiful style, grace, dignity, professionalism. Nikola Jokic represents the conquest of substance over hype.”

    “He just told me (his) appreciation. Nice things about me,” Jokic told The Post. “I really appreciate it. Just a nice thing when a legend can talk to you. I think it’s amazing.”

    As minor as their interactions might be, they’re also a window into a side of Jokic that is seldom highlighted: his respect for NBA history, particularly the Hall of Famers who dominated at the center position in the generations before him. Over the years, he has developed a mutually appreciative on-air relationship with Shaquille O’Neal, who attempts to say something in Serbian every time Jokic joins TNT’s Inside the NBA for a postgame interview.

    Jokic has also grown increasingly introspective about his All-Star appearances. He said after making the team this season, “I will say to the guys in the locker room when I go there, it’s always a pleasure to be around them, in that group of people. It’s an honor and a legacy that me or the guys over there are going to appreciate when we’ve finished (our) career.”

    Speaking of legacy: There’s a point Walton wants to make about Jokic’s.

    Presented with the common notion that Jokic is one of the greatest passing big men of all time, Walton scoffed.

    “He’s one of the great basketball players ever,” he said. “It’s a disservice to (Jokic) to limit him. He’s an incredible scorer. He’s a fantastic rebounder. He’s an incredible passer. He’s an incredible teammate. He has it all. Don’t try to limit him. Don’t try to box him in. Because with Nikola Jokic, there are no limits.”

    Jokic emerged from his break (or lack thereof) by earning triple-doubles by the end of the third quarter in back-to-back games. He has shot 81.5% from the field in consecutive wins (including one over Walton’s Trail Blazers), averaging 25 points, 17 rebounds and 14.5 assists. He’s up to 122 career triple-doubles entering Sunday’s clash with Golden State.

    Bennett Durando

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  • Michael Porter Jr. scores season-high 34 as Nuggets cruise past Trail Blazers

    Michael Porter Jr. scores season-high 34 as Nuggets cruise past Trail Blazers

    PORTLAND, Ore. — Written on the locker room whiteboard Thursday night at Ball Arena was a summons for players to get to the Denver airport by 10:20 p.m. for their team flight to Oregon. It was an unrealistic goal, especially considering Nikola Jokic’s typically methodical postgame process and media obligation.

    So maybe the Nuggets were a little late to take off. They made it to Portland just fine.

    And after a slightly slow start at Moda Center the next night, the defending champions took off and earned a 127-112 win over the Blazers, sweeping a back-to-back out of the All-Star break. Michael Malone called a timeout after three early turnovers yielded an 8-3 deficit. Then Denver cruised.

    The Nuggets (38-19) gave Jamal Murray the night off to avoid straining him in the back-to-back after he went into the break dealing with shin splints. His absence was more for precautionary reasons after an encouraging performance against the Wizards and before a marquee matchup Sunday at the Warriors. Kentavious Caldwell-Pope, on the other hand, played after missing the second half of Thursday’s game with a sprained finger.

    Without Murray, Nikola Jokic posted a triple-double by the end of the third quarter for the second time in 24 hours, and Michael Porter Jr. scored a season-high 34 points on 21 shots to go with a dozen rebounds.

    “I was just getting easy shots. My teammates were finding me in transition,” Porter said. “When a player like ‘Mal is out, a lot of guys have gotta step up.”

    “Michael is such a big target, and (defenders) play on the high side, so they’re trying to make him a 2-point scorer,” Malone said. “And he’s shown that he can do that just as efficiently (as scoring from three). This was a night when Michael played at a high level throughout the course of the game.”

    Jokic finished the night with 29 points, 15 boards and 14 assists on 12-of-17 shooting. With 2:37 remaining in the first half, he missed his first shot in 15 attempts since the break. Aaron Gordon also supplied another efficient and well-rounded game, going for eight points on 4-of-5 shooting (all in the first half) and seven assists.

    Bennett Durando

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  • Justin Lawrence has right stuff to be Rockies’ closer — if he can harness it

    Justin Lawrence has right stuff to be Rockies’ closer — if he can harness it

    SCOTTSDALE, Ariz. — June 13, 2023, Fenway Park, Boston. Rockies 4, Red Sox 4. Seventh inning. Justin Lawrence trots out from the bullpen and hikes the mound.

    “I came into a jam in a tight ballgame and I caught myself singing the ‘Sweet Caroline’ song,” the Rockies’ right-hander recalled Wednesday. “I was looking around and I thought, ‘This is kind of cool.’

    “Then I thought, ‘Wait a minute, it’s a tie ballgame in the seventh inning, I’m coming in to get us out of a jam, and it’s my first time ever at Fenway.’ It didn’t matter, it was a fun moment.”

    Lawrence pitched 1 2/3 innings that night, and although he issued two walks, he allowed no runs, stranded two inherited runners, and kept Colorado in a game it eventually won, 7-6, in 10 innings.

    It wasn’t the singular moment of Lawrence’s career but it illustrates how far he’s come since being a raw prospect with a unique, sidewinder delivery, 102 mph fastball and frequent bouts of inconsistency.

    Justin Lawrence (61) of the Colorado Rockies warms up during Spring Training at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, Arizona on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

    “There are two main things about Justin,” manager Bud Black said. “On the fundamental side, he’s tightened up his stuff. Secondly, I’ve seen changes in his poise and maturity. In essence, he’s grown up to where his perspective and his mindset are of major league quality.”

    Lawrence, 29, is competing with friend and fellow right-hander Tyler Kinley for the closer job. Righty Daniel Bard, who will miss spring training after undergoing arthroscopic surgery on his left knee, could be in the mix, too, when he returns.

    Black and his staff are going to take a hard look at both Lawrence and Kinley for the ninth-inning role.

    “We think (Kinley) is mentally built to handle the ninth inning,” Black said. “Stuff-wise, he’s got weapons. He can pitch with velocity with the fastball, has a swing-and-miss slider and he’s working on the changeup. The bread and butter is his slider. But like Justin, he’s not a secret anymore in the National League and in our division.”

    Lawrence’s road to the majors has been full of potholes but he’s always had tantalizing talent. Black became intrigued with Lawrence’s raw stuff in 2018 when the right-hander posted a 2.65 ERA in 55 appearances with High-A Lancaster. Lawrence wowed the Rockies in the Arizona Fall League and impressed again during spring training 2019. But then his control evaporated and his ERA soared at Triple-A Albuquerque and Double-A Hartford.

    Then came the lowest moment of Lawrence’s career. He was suspended before the 2020 season for taking DHCMT, a substance banned by Major League Baseball. Lawrence said he didn’t know that the NSF-certified supplement he was taking contained DHCMT.

    “I wouldn’t wish what I had to go through on my worst enemy,” Lawrence said later.

    With those struggles behind him, he now has an opportunity to lock down his dream job.

    “I like the idea of going in to get the saves and the holds,” he said. “I don’t feel out of my element at all, and I don’t feel like the game speeds up on me or anything like that. I mean, this is what a competitor wants. As a kid, you want to be the starter, or the four-hole hitter, or the closer. It would be awesome to be the closer, but I came to camp ready to prepare for whatever role the team needs me for.”

    Justin Lawrence (61) jokes with Lucas Gilbreath (58) of the Colorado Rockies during Spring Training at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, Arizona on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)
    Justin Lawrence (61) jokes with Lucas Gilbreath (58) of the Colorado Rockies during Spring Training at Salt River Fields in Scottsdale, Arizona on Wednesday, Feb. 21, 2024. (Photo by AAron Ontiveroz/The Denver Post)

    Lawrence’s 2023 season was a mixed bag. He posted a 1.47 ERA in 15 appearances and moved into the closer role in June when Pierce Johnson (later traded to Atlanta) started walking batters in droves. In his first 17 games as the closer, Lawrence converted seven of eight save opportunities while posting a 1.86 ERA. But he slumped in the second half of the season and lost the closer job to Kinley in early September.

    Lawrence’s first- and second-half splits illustrate his inconsistency. In 38 appearances before the All-Star break, he had a 2.76 ERA and opponents slashed just .188/.284/.269 against him. In the second half, his ERA soared to 5.22 in 31 outings and opponents slashed .299/.400/.470.

    “I liked everything about last season — the good, the bad and the ugly,” he said. “I liked the bad and the ugly because I learned from those things. I also loved that I was healthy the whole year and that when Buddy asked, ‘Hey, are you good to go?’ I was available.”

    Lawrence is also aware that volitivity is part of a reliever’s life.

    Patrick Saunders

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  • 2024 Colorado state basketball tournament brackets, results

    2024 Colorado state basketball tournament brackets, results

    The brackets for the Colorado high school state basketball championships:

    BOYS

    Class 6A

    First round

    Wednesday, Feb. 21

    Higher seed hosts

    Game 1: No. 1 Fruita Monument (23-0) vs. No. 32 Highlands Ranch (10-12), 6 p.m.

    Game 2: No. 16 Overland (14-9) vs. No. 17 Broomfield (17-6), TBA

    Game 3: No. 8 Eaglecrest (16-7) vs. No. 25 Castle View (12-11), 7 p.m.

    Game 4: No. 9 Ralston Valley (18-5) vs. No. 24 Arapahoe (11-12), TBA

    Game 5: No. 5 Rock Canyon (18-5) vs. No. 28 Rocky Mountain (13-10), TBA

    Game 6: No. 12 Douglas County (15-8) vs. No. 21 Arvada West (16-7), 7 p.m.

    Game 7: No. 4 ThunderRidge (18-5) vs. No. 29 Fort Collins (14-9), 7 p.m.

    Game 8: No. 13 Cherry Creek (13-10) vs. No. 20 Fossil Ridge (16-7), 6:30 p.m.

    Game 9: No. 2 Mountain Vista (19-4) vs. No. 31 Fairview (13-10), TBA

    Game 10: No. 15 Monarch (18-5) vs. No. 18 Denver South (16-7), TBA

    Game 11: No. 7 Smoky Hill (17-6) vs. No. 26 Horizon (13-10), 7 p.m.

    Game 12: No. 10 Regis Jesuit (15-8) vs. No. 23 Pine Creek (15-8), TBA

    Game 13: No. 6 Valor Christian (21-2) vs. No. 27 Mullen (12-11), TBA

    Game 14: No. 11 Doherty (18-5) vs. No. 21 George Washinton (13-10), 6 p.m.

    Game 15: No. 3 Chaparral (18-5) vs. No. 30 Rangeview (12-11), TBA

    Game 16: No. 14 Legacy (17-6) vs. No. 19 Legend (12-11), TBA

    Sweet 16

    Saturday, Feb. 24

    Higher seed hosts

    Game 17: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, TBA

    Game 18: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, TBA

    Game 19: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, TBA

    Game 20: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, TBA

    Game 21: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, TBA

    Game 22: Game 11 winner vs. Game 12 winner, TBA

    Game 23: Game 13 winner vs. Game 14 winner, TBA

    Game 24: Game 15 winner vs. Game 16 winner, TBA

    Great 8

    Thursday, Feb. 29

    at Denver Coliseum

    Game 25: Game 17 winner vs. Game 18 winner, TBA

    Game 26: Game 19 winner vs. Game 20 winner, TBA

    Game 27: Game 21 winner vs. Game 22 winner, TBA

    Game 28: Game 23 winner vs. Game 24 winner, TBA

    Final Four

    Friday, March 8

    at Denver Coliseum

    Game 29: Game 25 winner vs. Game 26 winner, TBA

    Game 30: Game 27 winner vs. Game 28 winner, TBA

    Championship

    Saturday, March 9

    at Denver Coliseum

    Semifinal winners, 4 p.m.

    Class 5A

    First round

    Wednesday, Feb. 21

    Higher seed hosts

    Game 1: No. 1 Northfield (21-2) vs. No. 32 Thornton (13-10), 6 p.m.

    Game 2: No. 16 Longmont (15-8) vs. No. 17 Pueblo South (13-10), 6:30 p.m.

    Game 3: No. 8 Mead (17-6) vs. No. 25 Pueblo West (15-8), 6 p.m.

    Game 4: No. 9 Palmer (19-4) vs. No. 24 Eagle Valley (14-9), 6 p.m.

    Game 5: No. 5 Silver Creek (19-4) vs. No. 28 Frederick (13-10), 6:30 p.m.

    Game 6: No. 12 Dakota Ridge (16-7) vs. No. 21 Durango (11-11), 7 p.m.

    Game 7: No. 4 Mesa Ridge (21-2) vs. No. 29 Sand Creek (13-10), TBA

    Game 8: No. 13 Green Mountain (15-8) vs. No. 20 Falcon (17-6), 6:30 p.m.

    Game 9: No. 2 Vista PEAK Prep (19-4) vs. No. 31 Palisade (10-13), 6 p.m.

    Matt Schubert

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  • Nikola Jokic on NBA’s 65-game rule after Joel Embiid injury: “It forces players to play, even if they’re injured”

    Nikola Jokic on NBA’s 65-game rule after Joel Embiid injury: “It forces players to play, even if they’re injured”

    INDIANAPOLIS — No matter how many All-Stars the NBA filed into a packed room Saturday to talk over one another in simultaneous news conferences, a silence reverberated loudest. Loud enough to be heard in at least a few of the questions.

    The most significant absence in Indianapolis this weekend is the one that’s shaking up the 2023-24 MVP race.

    Philadelphia’s Joel Embiid was the presumptive favorite until early February when he underwent surgery to repair his lateral meniscus. The left knee injury has rendered him ineligible to repeat as league MVP under new NBA policy, which requires players to appear in a minimum of 65 games to be considered for end-of-year awards such as MVP and All-NBA.

    The procedure will sideline Embiid long enough that he almost definitively wouldn’t have won MVP even without the new rule. However, his situation has still sparked debate in league circles about whether or not the 65-game minimum should have been instituted in the first place. Why? Because there was wide speculation Embiid felt pressured to play through a pre-existing knee injury in order to maintain awards eligibility, especially after getting ridiculed for missing his fourth consecutive road game against the Nuggets — and MVP adversary Nikola Jokic — in late January.

    Two games later, Embiid was back in the lineup when Golden State’s Jonathan Kuminga fell on his leg and caused the injury that required surgery.

    Jokic is perversely positioned to benefit from Embiid’s unfortunate situation. The Nuggets center is the new betting favorite to win his third MVP in the last four years. But he takes no joy in that. He was asked about the 65-game rule Saturday during his media session at All-Star weekend.

    “Definitely forcing players to play, even when they’re injured or whatever,” Jokic said. “But we saw what happened with Joel. … I don’t know. I just don’t like it, how it forces players to play even if they’re injured, if they want to achieve something.”

    Arguments against the rule largely depend on the arbitrary nature of the league’s chosen number. No data-driven evidence was provided to explain why 65 makes more sense as a games-played minimum than, say, 67 — one more than the number of games Embiid played last year when he won MVP. In 2022-23, Jokic finished second in voting with 69 games played. Giannis Antetokounmpo was third with 63.

    With the door wide open now, Jokic’s biggest challenger for the 2023-24 crown is his All-Star teammate, Oklahoma City’s Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

    The Thunder guard, who ranks second in the league in scoring (31.1 points) and first in steals (2.2), wasn’t as quick to condemn the rule as Jokic was.

    “I’m not too sure. I think no matter what, there’s like a fine line,” Gilgeous-Alexander said. “Like, when it comes down to it, there’s always a fine line in games played and availability. And I think the league has the right intention in trying to make that line a little bit bolder and easier to make a decision. Now, I try to be as available as I can every night, not only for that but just for the love of the game. But as far as how the rule goes, I don’t really have an opinion. I’m gonna try to be available for my team to win basketball games every night, and if I can’t be available, then I just can’t, and it is what it is.”

    Bennett Durando

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  • NBA trade deadline winners, losers: Did rest of league catch up with Denver Nuggets?

    NBA trade deadline winners, losers: Did rest of league catch up with Denver Nuggets?

    While the Nuggets didn’t change their 18-man roster at the 2024 NBA trade deadline, other contenders around the league made a variety of moves — mostly on the margins — in an effort to steal the throne from Denver.

    From the view at altitude, here are the winners and losers of the deadline:

    Winner: New York Knicks

    The leader of every other winners-and-losers think-piece is the leader of this one, too. New York landed Bojan Bogdanovic and Alec Burks on deadline day at relatively low cost, but the Nuggets already got a close-up view of the new Knicks when O.G. Anunoby registered six steals against them at MSG. With Milwaukee reeling and Philadelphia hedging after Joel Embiid’s injury (Buddy Hield was a solid middle-ground acquisition), New York suddenly transformed into the most proactive win-now team in the East this deadline.

    Loser: Dallas Mavericks

    In arguably the highest-profile trade on actual deadline day, Dallas overpaid for P.J. Washington, whose 13.6 points per game felt somewhat like empty calories in Charlotte. The trade was simultaneously an admission of failure in the Grant Williams Experiment and a brand-new roll of the dice. More importantly, the Mavericks did what the Knicks avoided: They traded a precious first-round pick (2027). Future: mortgaged. Draft assets are close to extinct now for Dallas, a franchise throwing darts at the wall and hoping one will stick before it’s too late to salvage and extend the Luka Doncic era.

    Winner: Boston Celtics

    Is Xavier Tillman going to be a significant role player in Joe Mazzulla’s playoff rotation? Probably not. Will the Celtics feel a lot more comfortable having an affordable, playable backup big ready to aid the injury-prone Kristaps Porzingis and aging Al Horford? Absolutely. Especially if they’re dealing with six or seven games of Nikola Jokic. This was a depth move that felt tailored to fit a Nuggets NBA Finals matchup, but it cost Boston only two second-round picks to add a salary under $2 million.

    Loser: Oklahoma City Thunder

    The Thunder should have done what Boston did. Don’t get me wrong: Gordon Hayward seems like an outstanding veteran addition to a young team. A lot of teams would have pursued him if Charlotte had bought out his contract. But Oklahoma City’s biggest need still hasn’t been addressed. Back in October, I asked Michael Porter Jr. for his first impressions of Chet Holmgren after Denver won in OKC. “I think he’s very, very talented,” Porter said. “To me, he’s more of a four.” Holmgren, who has an even more injury-prone body type than Porzingis and already missed all of last season, is the Thunder’s starting five. Sophomore charge-taking specialist Jaylin Williams (6-foot-9) backs him up. The center position runs dry from there. For a team so small and with a rebounding weakness (No. 27 in the league), it seems neglectful not to dip into a horde of 10,000 picks and add a more traditional five to at least deploy in bench lineups. Without reinforcements, Holmgren is susceptible to getting worn down by Jokic in a long series.

    Winner: Monte Morris

    Congratulations to one former Nuggets backup point guard, who moved from the league’s most puzzling team (Detroit) to a Western Conference title contender. Smart trade for the Timberwolves, who needed more offense to support their top-rated defense. Minnesota’s two most common lineups involving point guard Mike Conley have net ratings of 9.6 and 7.6, respectively, in 635 combined minutes. The most common lineup without Conley on the floor is a minus-5.1 in 127 minutes (a lineup including Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns), and second-most common without Conley is a modest 4.9 in 100 minutes (using all four starters except him). Morris supplies 3-point shooting and an upgrade in turnover prevention for an offense that’s third-worst in the NBA at protecting the ball in clutch time.

    Loser: Bruce Brown

    Pour one out for a different former Nuggets backup point guard. Brown did the Reverse Morris three weeks ago, getting traded from a young playoff-caliber core in Indianapolis to a losing team. But the league-wide expectation was that Toronto would flip Brown. There was a market for his versatility and recent championship experience. So he waited and waited, until the deadline passed Thursday, leaving him temporarily stranded in Canada. Brown was just one bullet point on a list of head-scratching decisions by the Raptors, also including their forfeiture of a 2024 first-round pick among other assets for Kelly Olynyk and Ochai Agbaji.



    Bennett Durando

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  • Fourth-ranked CU Buffs rack up assists, dominate Oregon to reach 20-win mark

    Fourth-ranked CU Buffs rack up assists, dominate Oregon to reach 20-win mark


    Fast break

    Why the Buffs won: They were incredibly unselfish, posting 32 assists on 36 buckets and were stellar on defense, holding the Ducks to 32.8% shooting.

    Three stars:

    1. Maddie Nolan: She scored a season-high 19 points, hitting 5-of-9 from 3-point range, while also having a season-high six assists and adding four rebounds.

    2. Quay Miller: Posted yet another double-double, with 12 points and 11 rebounds.

    3. Jaylyn Sherrod: Finished with six points, six assists, three rebounds and two steals.

    Up next: Colorado will host No. 17 Oregon State on Sunday at noon at the CU Events Center.

    Maddie Nolan yelled and pumped her fist after another bucket by the Colorado Buffaloes, but while she was the leading scorer on Friday night, this celebration came after one of her passes resulted in points for someone else.

    The unselfish nature of the No. 4-ranked CU women’s basketball team was on full display Friday as it raced past Oregon, 90-57, at the CU Events Center.



    Brian Howell

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