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Patriots Sign New TE Coach

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FOXBOROUGH – The New England Patriots promoted Nick Caley to tight ends coach. Caley was a coaching assistant with the Patriots for the past two seasons after coaching in the college ranks for 10 years. Caley replaces Brian Daboll, who left last week to become the offensive coordinator at Alabama.

Before coming to New England, Caley gained experience working on the defensive side. He coached at John Carroll (2005-06), Akron (2006-07), Auburn (2008), Iowa State (2009-11), Eastern Illinois (2012), Arkansas (2013) and Florida Atlantic (2014).

Caley is a John Carroll alumnus, as are Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels, director of player personnel Nick Caserio, assistant quarterbacks coach Jerry Schulpinski and director of pro personnel Dave Ziegler.

Game Scout: Celtics Face Hawks

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Atlanta at Boston
When: 7:30 PM ET, Monday, February 27, 2017
Where: TD Garden, Boston

BOSTON – The host Boston Celtics will try to take advantage of a struggling Atlanta Hawks squad before beginning a critical stretch of games when the teams meet on Monday. After the Hawks leave town, the Celtics host Eastern Conference-leading Cleveland – which leads Boston by three games – before playing five straight on the road.

Behind a 33-point effort by All-Star guard Isaiah Thomas, the Celtics halted a two-game slide Sunday with a 104-98 win at Detroit. Thomas has scored at least 20 points in a franchise-record 43 games in a row, and he hit the decisive basket with 2.4 seconds left to lift Boston to a 103-101 win at Atlanta in their first meeting of the season. The Hawks are averaging 86.7 points during their three-game losing streak, which includes a 105-86 setback at Orlando on Saturday. Tim Hardaway Jr. scored a team-high 15 points but was the only starter to hit at least half of his attempts as Atlanta shot under 40 percent for the second straight time.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FSN Southeast (Atlanta), CSN New England (Boston)

ABOUT THE HAWKS (32-26): Atlanta’s three-game slide is its longest since a seven-gamer from Nov. 25-Dec. 5, but the squad will return home for six straight contests once it is through with the Celtics. Point guard Dennis Schroder returned from a team-imposed one-game suspension to face Orlando and shot 4-of-17, but blame for the offensive issues go all around. “We’re just now playing well on defense, not playing very offensively,” coach Mike Budenholzer told reporters. “Coaching, all of us collectively need to find a way to be better, and it’s important that it starts quickly.”

ABOUT THE CELTICS (38-21): Boston will need Al Horford to get going for the stretch run, as the veteran center has struggled mightily at the offensive end of late. He was 2-of-11 – missing all three of his 3-point tries – in the win over Detroit and has been held to single digits in points in three consecutive games for the first time since March 2009. Horford did contribute nine rebounds as the Celtics, one of the worst rebounding teams in the league that was taking on one of the best, owned a 52-45 advantage on the boards.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Hawks C Dwight Howard has registered 37 double-doubles, tying him for sixth in the NBA and putting him one shy of his total from last season.

2. Boston C Kelly Olynyk scored a season-high 26 points on 9-of-11 shooting in the earlier win over Atlanta.

3. Celtics G Avery Bradley (Achilles) has missed 18 straight games but is expected to return “any day now,” according to coach Brad Stevens.

Big East: Weekly Report of Feb. 27

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NEW YORK – (Staff report from Official News Release) – Butler forward Kelan Martin has been named BIG EAST Player of the Week and St. John’s guard Shamorie Ponds has been selected BIG EAST Freshman of the Week. Martin helped the Bulldogs to a 2-0 week, which included road wins at Villanova and Xavier. Ponds averaged 19.0 points in a 1-1 week for the Red Storm.

BIG EAST Player of the Week
Kelan Martin, Butler, F, Jr.
Martin averaged 23.5 points and 7.5 rebounds in a 2-0 week on the road that included a 74-66 win at No. 2 Villanova and an 88-79 victory at Xavier. In the Villanova win, Martin scored nine points in a decisive 18-0 second-half run and finished with 22 points and eight rebounds. At Xavier, the junior posted game highs of 25 points and seven boards. Martin shot 61.5 percent from the field for the two games, including 6-of-12 from 3-point range.

BIG EAST Freshman of the Week
Sharmorie Ponds, St. John’s, G, Fr.
Ponds takes Freshman of the Week honors for the fifth time this season. He averaged 19.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 4.5 assists in a 1-1 week. He scored 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting from the field in an 86-80 win against Georgetown. For the season, Ponds is the top freshman scorer in the BIG EAST, averaging 17.3 points. He leads the league in steals with a 2.0 mark.

BIG EAST Honor Roll
Kamar Baldwin, Butler, G, Fr.
Baldwin averaged 16.0 points, 3.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists, while helping the Bulldogs to wins at Villanova and Xavier. Had 17 points, five rebounds and five steals at Xavier.

Billy Garrett Jr., DePaul, G, Sr.
Averaged 20.5 points, 5.0 assists and 3.5 rebounds in a 1-1 week. Hit two free throws with 0.2 seconds left to win at Georgetown 67-65. Matched a career high with 26 points against Seton Hall.

Rodney Bullock, Providence, F, Jr.
Posted a pair of double-doubles in a 2-0 week. Averaged 15.0 points and 11.0 rebounds in wins against Creighton and Marquette.

Bashir Ahmed, St. John’s, G-F, Jr.
Averaged 18.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in a 1-1 week. Had 21 points in a loss at Marquette and 16 points in a win versus Georgetown.

Angel Delgado, Seton Hall, F, Jr.
Averaged 20.5 points and 11.5 rebounds, while shooting 60 percent from the field in a 2-0 week. He posted his ninth and 10th consecutive double-doubles.

Gray Out of World Baseball Classic

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OAKLAND – (Special to Digital Sports Desk by The Sports Xchange) – Oakland Athletics right-hander Sonny Gray will not participate in the World Baseball Classic after he did not receive medical clearance from the tournament’s insurance carrier. Gray, who was expecting to participate for the U.S. National Team at the WBC next month, is the second player to be denied from the competition by the insurance company. Toronto Blue Jays catcher Russell Martin was told two weeks ago he couldn’t play for Team Canada.

Sonny Gray

Gray was denied insurance because of his extended time on the disabled list last season.

Oakland general manager David Forst told the San Jose Mercury News on Sunday that Gray was considered a “chronic-condition player” after spending more than 60 days on two DL stints for a strained trapezoid and a strained right forearm.

“The one exception on the book is pitching 10 innings after the injury and he didn’t even do that,” Forst said. “MLB pushed the issue, asked the insurance carrier to make an exception to allow him to pitch, and they didn’t do it.”

The A’s adjusted Gray’s spring schedule since he will not pitch for Team USA. He will make his first Cactus League start on Wednesday against the San Diego Padres, after originally being slated to go Monday.

The 27-year-old Gray originally received an invitation despite a rocky 2016 season. After winning 14 games in each of the previous two seasons, Gray stumbled to a 5-11 mark with a 5.69 ERA during the injury-plagued campaign.

Gray owns a 38-31 record and 3.42 ERA in four seasons with Oakland. A first-round draft pick (No. 18 overall) of the Athletics in 2011, Gray made a combined 64 starts in 2014 and 2015, recording a career-low 2.73 ERA while going 14-7 in 2015.

SportsBiz: FIBA Signs Deal with Nike

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MIES, Switzerland and BEAVERTON, United States of America – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – FIBA, the International Basketball Federation, and world leading sports apparel brand Nike, on announced the signing of an 11-year (2017-2027) commercial agreement covering FIBA’s Senior Men’s, Women’s and Youths’ flagship national team competitions. The new deal marks a partnership between the number one basketball brand in the world and the sport’s governing body which counts 213 National Member Federations all around the globe.

The agreement, which comes into effect during the year that sees the launch of FIBA’s Competition System 2017+, underlines FIBA and Nike’s desire to collaborate in order to grow basketball worldwide, focusing on the leading official competitions such as the FIBA Basketball World Cup and the Continental Cups.

Nike, the number one sports brand in the world, will benefit from long-term global marketing rights related to the major FIBA national team competitions. FIBA’s ambitions to grow the game will be supported by Nike contributions in the areas of promotion, marketing communication and the engagement of top players and ambassadors. In a first phase, the related activities will focus on the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 in China. Together, FIBA and Nike strive to build the FIBA Basketball World Cup into an outstanding global sports property.

Craig Zanon, Vice President and General Manager of Nike Global Basketball, said: “This partnership with FIBA. FIBA represents the highest level of international basketball competition, and Nike is committed to using our unmatched global reach to help foster player development and inspire fans around the world.

“We are honoured to have helped ignite a powerful culture of basketball in China. Chinese basketball fans’ passion and appetite for the game promise to make the FIBA Basketball World Cup 2019 a marquee global event,” added Zanon.

Speaking about FIBA’s Competition System 2017+, Lynn Merritt, Vice President of Nike Global Basketball Sports Marketing, said: “With this increased schedule and new emphasis on the international game, we look forward to helping connect fans to the energy and inspiration of their national teams and players.”

Patrick Baumann, FIBA Secretary General and International Olympic Committee (IOC) Member, said: “This is a memorable day for FIBA as we team up with Nike, THE basketball brand by excellence. FIBA has already enjoyed the privilege of working with Nike, who is the Founding Partner of 3×3, our ever-growing and popular urban discipline. We look forward to this long-term partnership and it helping us grow the game globally, thanks to the unrivalled popularity as well as worldwide presence that Nike has to offer.”

Nike becomes a FIBA Partner in the sports apparel (clothing, footwear and accessories) product category. As such, it has sponsorship rights for all Men’s and Women’s editions of FIBA’s competitions for the 2017-2027 period, including FIBA Basketball World Cups (2019, 2023 and 2027) and their Qualifiers, FIBA Women’s Basketball World Cups, FIBA Continental Cups and their Qualifiers, FIBA Olympic Qualifying Tournaments, FIBA U17 and U19 Basketball World Cups.

The advertising and promotional use of Nike’s marks and imagery at these competitions will include the prominent presence of the “swoosh” branding on the court, the integration of its branding across online and in-arena content as well as the provision of uniforms for on-court officials and volunteers.

The agreement also sees Nike become the title partner for FIBA’s World Rankings – one of the most visited sections on FIBA.com, with countries ranked based on the performances of their national teams – renaming it Nike FIBA World Rankings.

Additionally, Nike will have the Licensing Rights to develop, distribute and sell a range of Celebration products and footwear.

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