Shawne MerrimanShaquem Griffin Is ‘NFL Ready’… Proved it at Combine
3/5/2018 7:25 AM PST
EXCLUSIVE
One-handed prospect Shaquem Griffin is “no doubt” making the NFL — so says Shawne Merriman, who’s convinced the talk of the combine is gonna overcome the odds and get drafted.
“He sure as hell looks NFL ready. He’s a beast,” Merriman told TMZ Sports.
FYI, the UCF stud ran the fastest 40 time for a linebacker in 15 YEARS over the weekend (4.38) … and also put up 20 REPS with a prosthetic left hand.
Shawne — a 3-time Pro Bowl LB with the Chargers — says you can’t judge everything off drills … but he ain’t gonna question Shaquem’s ability to succeed at the next level after all he’s been through.
Along with the still-streaking Houston Rockets, the rest of the Power Rankings’ top four remain unchanged. The real action, though, starts at No. 5, where the surging Portland Trail Blazers have won six straight to leapfrog the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Portland isn’t the only West contender vaulting up our list. Anthony Davis and the New Orleans Pelicans, winners of eight straight, have gone from first-round fodder to challenging for home court in a matter of weeks.
Every week throughout the regular season, our panel (ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz, Amin Elhassan and Ramona Shelburne, The Undefeated’s Marc J. Spears and FiveThirtyEight’s Chris Herring) will rank the league’s 30 teams from top to bottom, with research notes on each team provided by ESPN Stats & Information.
Houston can’t stop winning, extending its streak to 15 games on Saturday night, tying the second-longest in franchise history; the Rockets won 22 straight games during the 2007-08 season. Houston has found a lot of success in isolation, not only during the streak, but the entire season: According to Second Spectrum, the Rockets are averaging 1.11 points per direct iso, which leads the NBA. — Matt Williams
The Warriors are 5-0 since the All-Star break and play again on Tuesday against the Nets. With a win, it would mark the Warriors’ fifth straight season with at least 50 wins. Prior to this stretch, Golden State had only four 50-win seasons in franchise history (1993-94, 1991-92,1975-76 and 1971-72). –– Matt Williams
The Raptors haven’t lost consecutive games since Jan. 15 and haven’t suffered a double-digit loss since Dec. 27 against the Thunder. Toronto ranks among the top five in offensive efficiency (fifth), defensive efficiency (second) and net efficiency (third). Though they’re only two games ahead of Boston for the East’s top seed, this team might boast the most viable Finals hopes in franchise history. –– James Jackson
Boston lost a tough one in Houston, with Al Horford providing his worst plus-minus (minus-22) in 127 games as a Celtic. That said, the Celtics still sit only two games behind the Raptors for the East’s top seed with two matchups remaining against Toronto. — James Jackson
Look out for the Trail Blazers, who have won their past six games. The biggest reason? Their defense: Portland has allowed 98.1 points per 100 possessions during the winning streak, best in the NBA over that span. — Matt Williams
The Cavaliers are 2-4 since the All-Star break and are allowing 109.7 points per 100 possessions over that span (they gave up 109.8 points per 100 possessions before the break). But a bigger head-scratcher could be the lineups the Cavaliers use. The grouping of LeBron James along with new arrivals Rodney Hood, Jordan Clarkson, Larry Nance Jr. and George Hill has recorded a point differential of plus-15 since the break but has played only 12 minutes together. –– Matt Williams
The Pelicans have won eight straight games, their longest winning streak since January 2011, when Chris Paul led the then-Hornets to a team-record 10 straight. To no one’s surprise, Anthony Davis has been at the heart of New Orleans’ surge to fourth in the West. In the past 40 seasons, only The Brow, Shaquille O’Neal, Moses Malone and Karl Malone have averaged 35 points and 10 rebounds over an eight-game win streak, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. — James Jackson
San Antonio has hit a rough patch as of late, going 2-8 in its past 10 games. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, that is the worst 10-game stretch for the Spurs since they went 2-8 in the final 10 games of the 1996-97 season. The Spurs have also lost two straight home games after leading by 15 or more points in the second half, something they hadn’t done in 325 straight home games under the same scenario. –– Doug Clawson
If Russell Westbrook posts a triple-double in each of the Thunder’s three games this week, he would become the fourth player in NBA history with 100 career triple-doubles, joining Oscar Robertson (181), Magic Johnson (138) and Jason Kidd (107). — Matt Williams
Philadelphia has won 11 straight home games, last losing as the designated “home” team in London on Jan. 11 against the Celtics. That is the longest home winning streak for the 76ers since a 24-game streak in 1982-83; Philly won the NBA title that season. — Matt Williams
Despite missing John Wall, the Wizards have impressed, going 10-6 in his absence. Bradley Beal is coming off his first career 10-assist game and is averaging 6.9 dimes in 16 games without Wall. He could use his fellow All-Star back, though, as Washington has lost three straight home games for the first time since November and play four of their next seven on the road, all against teams over .500. — James Jackson
Victor Oladipo‘s 11th 30-point game on Sunday night gave the Pacers a 2-2 record on a four-game road trip last week. With a 15-16 road record for the season, they will be happy to head back to Indiana for three consecutive games at Bankers Life Fieldhouse, starting Monday. — Sopan Shah
Nikola Jokic had an odd week. In the Nuggets’ two losses, he averaged 19.5 points, 10.0 boards and 6.0 assists. In their two wins, Jokic didn’t reach double-digits in points or rebounds, shooting 39 percent. With just two games separating them from 10th-place Utah, the Nuggets will need to smooth things out to earn their first playoff berth since 2012-13. — James Jackson
The Jazz have won 14 of their past 16 games, with the only losses coming against the red-hot Trail Blazers and Rockets. And more wins could be on the way: Six of Utah’s next nine games are against teams at least 20 games below .500. — Matt Williams
The Timberwolves have a tough stretch ahead — facing the Celtics, Warriors, Spurs and Rockets in four of their next five games. BPI favors the Wolves in only one of those five games: Thursday’s against the Celtics, which is in Minnesota. — Sarah Langs
Against the 76ers, Milwaukee snapped a season-long four-game losing streak by becoming the second team in the past decade to overcome multiple 15-point deficits in a victory, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. With the Bucks 2.5 games out of the third seed in the East, Giannis Antetokounmpo will need more support beyond Eric Bledsoe (20.3 points per game, 51 percent shooting since Feb. 4) for the team to make some playoff noise. Milwaukee’s bench is last in points per game this season (25.3). — James Jackson
Since their first game after trading Blake Griffin (Jan. 30), the Clips are sixth in offensive efficiency and seventh in net efficiency (plus-3.8). Lou Williams has deservedly received credit for carrying LA’s offense, but the newly acquired Tobias Harris has also maintained his career year from deep (41 percent on 3-pointers) since moving West 12 games ago, providing welcomed frontcourt spacing for DeAndre Jordan to dominate inside. — James Jackson
After missing 15 games with a left knee injury, Lonzo Ball is 14-for-22 on 3-pointers (64 percent) in four games. Ball was shooting 30 percent on 3s in his first 36 games this season. — Doug Clawson
The Heat are holding onto the East’s eighth seed, but not very convincingly. Since their season-best seven-game winning streak, Miami is 8-13 and ranks 24th in offensive efficiency (103.5 points per 100 possessions). Although Dwyane Wade‘s late-game heroics were fun to watch last week, All-Star Goran Dragic‘s plus-minus is better with Wade off the court (plus-44) than on (plus-6) in the eight games since Wade’s return. — James Jackson
The Hornets are stuck in NBA purgatory: too inconsistent for a compelling playoff seed or lottery pick. Charlotte’s 15 wins since Jan. 1 are tied for fourth in the East, but they’re still 5.5 games out of the eighth seed. Fortunately, the Hornets have the opportunity to continue making ground, as they have the NBA’s third-easiest remaining schedule, according to ESPN’s BPI. — James Jackson
The Blake Griffin era in Detroit started off 4-0, but it has gone downhill since. The Pistons are 2-8 in their past 10 games, and Griffin is struggling from the field, shooting 39 percent from the floor and 27 percent on 3-pointers. — Matt Williams
The news continues to be bad for the Knicks without Kristaps Porzingis. With their loss on Sunday, the Knicks fell to 2-14 without Porzingis this season (they were 22-26 with him). It’ll be another season without a playoff appearance for the Knicks. The Knicks have won just one playoff series since 2000-01. In that span, almost every other team in the NBA (the Pelicans are the one exception) has won multiple playoff series. –– Sarah Langs
The Bulls overcame an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit on Friday to defeat the Mavericks. Entering the game, Chicago was 0-31 this season when trailing by at least 10 points in the fourth. –– Matt Williams
The Magic offense has been on fire of late, recording its 12th consecutive 100-point game on Saturday against the Grizzlies. That’s Orlando’s longest streak since February 1995. The leading scorer on the team during that streak was Shaquille O’Neal. –– James Jackson
Jarrett Allen has gotten in a nice groove of late, averaging 12.6 points per game on 67 percent shooting over his past 17 games. Prior to this stretch, he averaged 6.0 points per game and scored in double figures in nine of 38 games. — Jose De Leon
Few things have gone right for the Kings. Fortunately, they have an interesting backcourt in lottery pick De’Aaron Fox (4.3 assists per game) and Bogdan Bogdanovic, who is shooting 44 percent from deep since Jan. 1 and recently joined Jason Williams as the only Kings rookies to make 100 3-pointers in a season. — James Jackson
On Friday, the Mavericks led the Bulls by 11 points with 10 minutes to play but were outscored 28-9 the rest of the way in a loss. It was their league-leading fifth loss of the season when leading by double figures with 10 minutes to play in the fourth quarter. –– Jose De Leon
Sunday’s win over the Suns was the third game the Hawks have won this season in which they hit a game winner with less than 10 seconds left. Kent Bazemore, a DNP-Rest on Sunday, hit the other two before Taurean Prince drained the off-balance 3 Sunday. If the Hawks had lost all three of those games, they would have the NBA’s worst record. Instead, they now have the fifth-worst record and a 13.4 percent chance at the No. 1 overall draft pick, according to BPI. — Micah Adams
After losing 13 straight games and going winless the entire month of February, the Grizzlies have the worst winning percentage in the NBA. The losing streak is their longest within a single season since 2002-03, when they lost their first 13 games. –– Matt Williams
One bright spot for the Suns has been the play of Devin Booker, who recorded his 40th career 30-point game on Friday against the Thunder. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, Booker is the fourth player in NBA history with at least 40 30-point games prior to turning 22, joining LeBron James (100), Kevin Durant (75) and Carmelo Anthony (45). — Matt Williams
Aldon SmithGoes to RehabVictim Worried for NFL Star’s Life
3/5/2018 6:55 AM PST
EXCLUSIVE
Aldon Smith has checked into rehab — and the people who helped him get there are the parents of the alleged domestic violence victim … TMZ Sports has learned.
The embattled NFL star was involved in a domestic violence incident Saturday night. When cops arrived, Smith had left the scene and cops were trying to locate him.
Now, we spoke with Smith’s fiancee who confirms she is the alleged victim in the incident — but says the most important thing to her is that Smith gets help for his substance abuse problem.
“I can tell you this … Aldon called my parents and asked them to take him to rehab,” the woman tells us.
“He complied. They went and got him. I was not there. My family took him and had him checked in.”
“I wish the BEST for Aldon. And I’m scared for his life with his addiction. I cannot comment on the altercation but I can tell you I love him and so happy he turned to my family who considers him family and hopefully he gets the help he truly needs.”
Jon Lester is trying to channel his inner Chicago Bull to solve his well-documented throwing problem.
Lester told reporters Sunday that he’s been working on intentionally bouncing throws to first base this spring training, referring to Bulls legends Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen.
“We’ve been working on the Jordan-to-Pippen bounce pass,” said Lester, who revealed that he has been trying out the new approach with Cubs third-base coach Brian Butterfield.
“Just eliminate all tension and bounce it over there. … I don’t really care what it looks like. I don’t care if it bounces 72 times over there. An out’s an out.”
Jon Lester</cite>
Lester has struggled throwing to bases throughout his career and usually resorts to underhand tosses after fielding a comebacker. The veteran left-hander said he and Butterfield have been practicing the bounce throws on the back fields this spring.
“In [Butterfield’s] words, just eliminate all tension and bounce it over there,” Lester told reporters. “We’ve been working on it early in the morning. … I don’t really care what it looks like. I don’t care if it bounces 72 times over there. An out’s an out.”
Lester had a chance to try out the new approach during Sunday’s spring training game against the Diamondbacks, when he fielded a comebacker off the bat of Arizona’s David Peralta.
But after initially bobbling the ball, Lester bounced a throw past Cubs first baseman Efren Navarro for a two-base throwing error. Lester said after the game that he has been working on the throws with regular first baseman Anthony Rizzo and that Navarro, who is with the Cubs on a minor-league deal, was not expecting the unorthodox method.
“I feel bad for the guy today,” Lester said. “He had no idea what’s going on. He’s never been a part of it. With Rizz, probably the surprise wouldn’t have been there.”
One reason behind the bounce throws, according to Lester, is to decrease third baseman Kris Bryant‘s and catcher Willson Contreras‘ defensive responsibilities on bunts near the mound.
“[Butterfield] is trying to make that next step for me, so with the bunt, I don’t have to rely on [Bryant] to run in 30 feet to field the ball or [Contreras] to make an unbelievable play,” Lester said. “It’s so I can get the ball and get it over to [Rizzo] and get an out.”
Lester, 34, also has struggled with pickoff throws to first base and often avoids throwing, relying instead on holding the ball for an extended period. Opposing baserunners stole 19 bases against Lester last season and have 91 stolen bases over the past three years against the four-time All-Star.
Lester cited his open relationship with coaches and teammates as helpful in potentially solving his throwing problem.
“I’ve never run from it,” he said. “I feel for the most part, I’ve been upfront about everything. I feel I’ve worked my butt off to get better at things. I’ve tried to speed my delivery up, vary my holds, whatever it is. Obviously, from the outside looking in, it’s kind of like, ‘Why can’t you do that?’ Like I’ve said many times before, if I knew why, the things wouldn’t be an issue.”
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At the start of training camp, Carlos Correa said he thinks he can have a better season. Nothing unusual there. Every player goes to spring training and says he’s going to work hard to keep improving.
āI still have some holes in my game that people might not notice, but I do,ā he told reporters. He wouldnāt elaborate on details, saying he didnāt want to give inside information to opponents, but added, āI want to be able to save more runs and be an elite defender, and I think if I can do that with the way I hit, itās just going to be something special.ā
Correaās comments point to an idea: What can todayās young stars do to improve their games? Letās look at Correa and some of the other top young position players and how they can get even better.
Heās right about his defense: There might be room for improvement. Correa was credited with plus-4 defensive runs saved in 2017 (up from minus-3 in 2016), though other defensive metrics graded him a little lower. So maybe heās an average defensive shortstop, maybe a little better. The thing about defense, however, is that it generally peaks early in a playerās career. Correaās quickness and arm strength arenāt going to improve, so if he saves more runs, it would come from positioning and anticipation.
More likely, his improvement will come on offense. He hit .315/.391/.550 last year even though he got off to a slow start, hitting .233 with two home runs in April. He also didnāt hit quite as well after he returned from the torn thumb ligament, so give him six consistent months and the overall production will increase.
Hereās another reason Correa could post a monster 2018. In 2016, his chase rate on pitches outside the strike zone was 27.9 percent. That improved to 26.2 percent last season, which also led to a lower swing-and-miss rate. The league-average chase rate was 28 percent in 2017, so Correa is only a little better than average in this department. If he can get a little more selective — remember, he just turned 23 in September — he should be able to better tap into his power and get to 35 home runs.
As with Correa, itās not fair to expect improvement, but there are holes for Seager to work on. The most interesting scenario is if Seager learns to pull the ball more. Iām not necessarily advocating this; it could be that his natural swing and approach are to hit the ball to center and left field. Some hitters — Eric Hosmer is a prime example — simply tend to roll over on the ball too much when they pull it. Hereās Seagerās hit chart for fly balls, line drives and popups in 2017:
Look at all those fly balls to left-center and left field and the very few to right field. Most of his home runs also go to center or the opposite field. The elite power hitters pull the majority of their home runs — J.D. Martinez is a rare exception — so if Seager wants to turn into a 30-plus-homer guy, heāll have to pull more.
Another note: Seager hit just .133/.158/.235 after falling behind in the count 0-2. Of course, all hitters hit worse when down 0-2, but Seagerās numbers were actually worse than the MLB average of .164/.195/.254. Seager is too good to be worse than average in these counts — and he faced 101 0-2 counts in 2017 (16.5 percent of all his plate appearances).
Staying healthy would be the primary goal, but Harper could also improve against lefties. He hit .311 against them in 2017, but with little power (three home runs in 119 at-bats) and a 36-9 strikeout-to-walk ratio. That ratio was especially discouraging considering he was almost even in his 2015 MVP campaign (32 walks, 34 strikeouts).
The platoon split for all left-handed batters in 2017 was 92 points — lefties had a .775 OPS versus right-handed pitchers and .683 versus lefties. Harperās platoon splits have been much larger than that in his career, although thatās in part because he crushes righties:
Stay on the field and hit southpaws better and he could be looking at a second MVP trophy.
Everyone will be happy if Judge can simply match or come close to last yearās prodigious campaign in which he hit .284/.422/.627 and led the American League in FanGraphs WAR — while playing through a shoulder injury in the second half. He put up those monster numbers while hitting .185 with three home runs in August, numbers perhaps affected by the sore shoulder, although Judge said early in spring training the injury wasnāt an excuse (and September was his best month).
With 209 strikeouts, the obvious area of improvement would be more contact, although, with his long levers, strikeouts will always be part of Judgeās game. He had the fourth-highest swing-and-miss rate among qualified batters last year — although his chase rate was better than average, which helps explain why he still drew 127 walks. His kryptonite was sliders; he hit .153/.284/.274 against them. In 148 plate appearances that ended with a slider, 61 were strikeouts, and 38 percent of those came when he chased a pitch out of the zone. If he can lay off some of those sliders, maybe the walk rate increases or the batting average goes up. Easy to say, harder to execute.
Bellingerās swing is designed to do one thing: hit the ball in the air. He is the young prototype of the launch-angle revolution, with a higher fly ball percentage than even Judge. Unlike his teammate Seager, he pulled almost all of his home runs — only three of his 39 home runs went to left field. He hit lefties nearly as well as righties, especially impressive for a rookie, and while he struggled against off-speed pitches in the postseason, he actually mashed them in the regular season, finishing with a higher slugging percentage against off-speed pitches than he did against fastballs.
In fact, that looks like an area of improvement: doing more damage against fastballs. While he hit .264/.339/.548 against them — close to his overall line of .267/.352/.581 — most batters fare better against fastballs. Out of 144 qualified regulars, Bellinger ranked fifth in the majors in wOBA against off-speed pitches (curves, sliders, changeups and splitters), but just 71st against fastballs.
Bryant has finished 11th, first and seventh in the MVP voting in his three seasons. He owns a career line of .288/.388/.527 and posted a .409 OBP in 2017. His strikeout rate has dropped from 30.6 percent as a rookie to 19.3 percent last season. In some fashion, he has become more of a hitter and less of a slugger, although Iāll take the over on the 29 home runs he hit last year.
Thereās an obvious area that will make him more valuable, however: his situational hitting. Check his numbers the past two seasons:
2017
Runners in scoring position: .237/.373/.458
Two outs, RISP: .209/.354/.343
Late and close: .181/.344/.347
2016
RISP: .263/.366/.474
Two outs, RISP: .230/.347/.410
Late and close: .253/.366/.392
It could be nothing more than a two-year coincidence — he hit .350 with two outs and runners in scoring position as a rookie, for example, or it could be a real thing — maybe heās pressing more than he realizes. If he gets back to 39 bombs and hits better with men on base, heāll be back in the MVP discussion.
Carlos Correa, 
