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Tag: Portland Pilots

  • Former Portland Pilot To Be Head Coach Of US Men’s Basketball Team For 2028 Olympics – KXL

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    (Associated Press) – Erik Spoelstra of the Miami Heat has emerged as the frontrunner to become the next coach of the U.S. men’s basketball team for the 2027 World Cup and 2028 Los Angeles Olympics.

    Sources say USA Basketball is closing in on an announcement that could be finalized in the coming days.

    Spoelstra would replace Steve Kerr, who led the team to a gold medal at the Paris Games.

    Spoelstra is entering his 18th season as coach of the Heat.

    He’s won two NBA titles as head coach and was part of USA Basketball’s coaching staff under Kerr.

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    Grant McHill

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  • A power loss changed everything: How Palou secured his fourth IndyCar title

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    Alex Palou wrapped up his fourth IndyCar championship in the last five seasons on Sunday at Portland International Raceway when title contender Pato O’Ward lost power early in the race.

    O’Ward started from the pole and was the only driver mathematically eligible to beat Palou for the championship. Palou went into Sunday with a cozy 121-point lead over O’Ward in the standings and so long as he left Portland up by 108 points, he’d clinch the championship in the first race of a three consecutive weekends to close the season.

    The Astor Cup became his just 22 laps into the race on the Portland road course when O’Ward had an electronic issue on his Arrow McLaren Chevrolet and had to make an unplanned pit stop. He returned to the track down nine laps from the leaders.

    Palou finished third, O’Ward finished 25th and Palou has the title cemented with two races remaining in the IndyCar season and an insurmountable 151-point lead.

    Palou was feisty in the closing portion of the race and raced unnecessarily aggressive at times — even driving off course with four laps remaining and drag-racing Christian Lundgaard for position.

    “We’re here to win. That’s why we’re here. We’ve said it many times. When we come here, although we have that big goal of winning the championship, our priority is always to win races and win every single weekend,” insisted Palou. “Even though could have been OK to stay third, we wanted to win.”

    Palou has won all four of his championships for Chip Ganassi Racing and ran away with this one, his third consecutive, by storming out of the gate with a win in the first two races of the year to set the pace for Ganassi to win its 17th IndyCar title in 30 years. The 17 championships tie Penske Racing.

    Twelve of Ganassi’s IndyCar titles have come in the last 17 years, starting with Scott Dixon’s brilliant 2008 season in which he put together a run similar to the one Palou had this year. Dixon in 2008 won six races, including the Indianapolis 500, six poles and the first of his six championships.

    Ganassi has many times before dressed-down drivers for putting themselves in unnecessary positions, but this time had no qualms with Palou racing hard for a race win rather than sitting back and coasting to to the title.

    “It depends on the situation, the driver. Like Alex said, we go into this race with that 10 car team, every race, we want to win the race, OK? That’s how we got to this point,” said Ganassi. “We didn’t change anything today. You can’t play God.”

    But Ganassi admitted Palou did cause a brief scare with his determination to race hard in the final laps.

    “When he was fighting for second or third, I was fine with it,” said Ganassi. “I got to say my heart skipped a beat when he went off there, but other than that I was all for it.”

    Only A.J. Foyt (seven) and Dixon (six) have more championships than Palou, who broke through this season by winning on ovals to finally show he’s the complete package. That was clear years ago, and he is embroiled in a $30 million breach of contract civil suit with Arrow McLaren for not honoring a deal to join that team.

    He’s instead stayed loyal to Ganassi and this year, Palou won five of the first six races, including the Indianapolis 500 that had eluded him in five previous tries. That win at the Brickyard cemented the Spaniard’s path to another championship and he’s been untouchable since.

    Palou went into Portland with a series-high eight wins, five poles, 11 top-five finishes in 14 races, 563 laps led and a 1.2 average finish. He padded those number on Sunday.

    Palou joined Dario Franchitti, Sebastien Bourdais and Ted Horn as the only drivers in series history to win three consecutive titles. But, with two more races this season, Palou has a chance to tie the IndyCar record for victories in a season set at 10 by Foyt in 1964 and Al Unser in 1970.

    He lost his chance to break the most wins in a season record Sunday when Will Power won at Portland. It was the first victory of the season for the Penske fleet, which has been in a slump all year and did not get its first win until the 15th of 17 races.

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    AP auto racing: https://apnews.com/hub/auto-racing

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  • Portland Pilots Knocked Out Of Women’s NCAA Tournament – KXL

    Portland Pilots Knocked Out Of Women’s NCAA Tournament – KXL

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    MANHATTAN, Kan. (AP) — Gabby Gregory had 22 points and Ayoka Lee scored 21 to lead Kansas State to a 78-65 win over Portland in the first round of the women’s NCAA Tournament on Friday.

    The fourth-seeded Wildcats built a big first-half lead and then kept the No. 13 seed Pilots at an arm’s reach the rest of the game. They led 40-28 at halftime and 25-10 after one quarter.

    K-State will face the winner of the Colorado vs. Drake game on Sunday in the second round.

    Serena Sundell added 16 points for Kansas State (26-7).

    Portland (21-13) was led by Maisie Burnham, who had 17 of her 21 points in the second half. The Pilots also got 12 points from Kianna Hamilton-Fisher.

    The game became chippy in the second half as there were 10 fouls called before the midway point of the third quarter. There were 15 total fouls called in the third quarter.

    Lee, who finished with nine rebounds, had 11 points in the third quarter as the Wildcats maintained their 12-point lead.

    K-State shot 26 of 51 from the field, including 7 of 16 on 3-pointers. The Wildcats, however, only made 65.5% of their free throws.

    Portland shot 44% for the game.

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    Grant McHill

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  • Nurkic rallies Blazers past Hornets on Lillard’s big night

    Nurkic rallies Blazers past Hornets on Lillard’s big night

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    PORTLAND, Ore. — Jusuf Nurkic scored 27 points, including a career-high five 3-pointers, to go with 14 rebounds and six assists as the Portland Trail Blazers defeated the Charlotte Hornets 124-113 on Monday night.

    Jerami Grant led all scorers with 32 points for Portland. Damian Lillard had 17 points and nine assists on a night when he was honored for becoming the leading scorer in Trail Blazers history.

    “I don’t know how to describe it. It made me feel old a little bit,” Lillard said. “Just the appreciation from my teammates. I don’t big bro them even though a lot of them are much younger than me and probably grew up watching me in the NBA when they were in high school. But tonight to hear them say congratulations, it was almost admiration in their voice and respect. I knew it was there but tonight I felt it even more.”

    Most of the crowd stuck around for the postgame ceremony, as well.

    “Even from the crowd, them sticking around and clapping every 10 words. These are the people that have cheered me on all along,” Lillard said. “They’ve seen my first preseason game all the way up to this point. I was just sitting there thinking about it. I was just like, I’ve gone from a 21-year-old to a 32-year-old right in front of these peoples’ eyes.”

    LaMelo Ball paced the Hornets with 25 points.

    Portland trailed by 14 in the second quarter but Nurkic sparked the turnaround, finishing with 21 points, 10 rebounds and four assists after halftime.

    “He had 20-10 in the second half,” Blazers coach Chauncey Billups said. “It was impressive. Obviously, he had the 3-ball going, but he got every rebound in his area. Defensively he was good. He had a night.”

    Nurkic hit his career-best fourth 3 with 8:55 left to give the Trail Blazers a 108-99 lead that Portland pushed as high as 15 before it was over.

    “Nurk Fever,” Lillard said.

    Grant’s dunk with 1:42 remaining in the second quarter ignited the Blazers and their crowd, helping them close the first half on an 8-2 spurt.

    Charlotte led 67-61 at halftime.

    A 3-pointer by Nurkic tied it at 67, the first tie since the first quarter. A layup by Josh Hart put Portland up 72-70, prompting a Hornets timeout early in the third period.

    “They played all zone,” Charlotte coach Steve Clifford said of Portland’s second-half surge. “It was one of the differences. We scored 28 (third-quarter points) but we couldn’t stop them. They kept running. They ran out of their zone and they changed the game.”

    Portland led by 13 in the third, but a pair of 3s by Ball to close the quarter cut it to 101-95 heading into the fourth.

    LILLARD HONORED

    It was Portland’s first home game since Lillard surpassed Clyde Drexler as the leading scorer in team history. Lillard was saluted with a standing ovation in the first quarter, as well as video messages from former teammates, coaches and current NBA players, including Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant. The Trail Blazers held a ceremony for Lillard on the court after the game.

    TIP-INS

    Hornets: A replay challenge by Clifford took two points off the board for Portland with 3:36 left. … Charlotte took advantage of eight Blazers turnovers in the first quarter to build a 34-30 lead. … Reserve big man Nick Richards missed his first game of the season. While the Hornets are without a key piece, they’re thankful he’s not out for longer. “Right after the game, it looked like it could be longer,” Clifford said. “I think actually they feel good about that. I don’t know day to day, but I do think he’s making good progress.” … Clifford also said guard Dennis Smith Jr. has been practicing with contact, but added he didn’t know an exact date for his return.

    Trail Blazers: Nurkic also had two steals and two blocks. … Justise Winslow will be sidelined for two weeks with an ankle sprain. Winslow was injured last week in a loss to Oklahoma City. “He does so much for us on both sides of the floor,” Billups said. “It (stinks) to lose him for that amount of time. I think we all feel a little relieved because it could have been worse.”

    UP NEXT

    Hornets: Host the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday night.

    Trail Blazers: Visit the Warriors on Friday night.

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    AP NBA: https://apnews.com/hub/nba and https://twitter.com/AP—Sports

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