Day: June 16, 2019

Women’s World Cupdate: No Surprises Here

Welcome to your daily 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup update, or Women’s World Cupdate, where we recap the past day’s proceedings from France while previewing what is still to come. These features will run every morning throughout the duration of the tournament and feature highlights, major news, and much more from France.

Here’s What Happened: Saturday, June 15th

Saturday was Group E day at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup with them and only them on the schedule. As expected, group favorites Canada and the Netherlands both prevailed rather convincingly in their matches to set up a decisive final group match between the two to decide who heads to the knockouts as group winner and who goes as the runner-up.

Netherlands 3-1 Cameroon

Entering France as a popular dark horse selection, the Netherlands has taken care of business in convincing fashion through its first two games of group play. A second dominating victory on Saturday saw the Dutch fly past an overmatched Cameroon side in Group E.

A brace from Vivianne Miedema opened the scoring then sealed the game all the while making her the highest scoring woman in Netherlands history. Cameroon did have a sliver of hope late in the first half, punching back and evening the score after Netherlands took the lead just minutes earlier. That good feeling did not much past halftime as the Netherlands retook the lead for good on a goal from Dominique Bloodworth.

Goals

  • Vivianne Miedema | NED (41′, 85′)
  • Gabrielle Onguene | CAM (43′)
  • Dominique Bloodworth | NED (48′)

Highlights

Canada 2-0 New Zealand

With the Netherlands taking care of business against Cameroon earlier in the day, it was up to Canada to follow suit and they did just that with a dominating performance against New Zealand. Controlling over 2/3 of the possession allowed Canada to keep playing forward and take chances at goal and that strategy eventually paid off.

It took 48 minutes but the relentless Canadian attack broke through with Jessie Fleming scoring the only goal her side needed to claim the victory and all three points. Even with the lead, Canada continued to pressure and New Zealand never had the ball long enough to create anything for themselves. With 11 minutes remaining, Nichelle Prince closed the game out with an easy tap in goal following a shot off the post.

Goals

  • Jessie Fleming | CAN (48′)
  • Nichelle Prince | CAN (79′)

Highlights

Plays of the Day

Back to our standard three plays after Saturday brought some big time highlights just not as many as we saw on Friday. Two goals from the early match and a save from the clutch save from the second make up today’s list.

Gabrielle Onguene (Cameroon)

Two minutes after falling behind, Onguene brought Cameroon back level with this goal that saw her head the ball around the goalkeeper to set up an easy tap into an empty net.

Vivianne Miedema (Netherlands)

This goal by Miedema was her second of the day and provided some insurance for the Dutch on their way to victory over Cameroon. It also put Miedema in the history books as the leading womens goal scorer in Netherlands history.

Erin Nayler (New Zealand)

Canada got the win but New Zealand goalkeeper Erin Nayler gets the spot in our best plays from Saturday for her diving save off a header from Nichelle Prince to keep her side in the game late.

Group Update

Only Group E was in action on Saturday and its pair of matches went about as expected, setting up a critical Matchday 3 that will decide the fate of all teams involved.

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Everything went according plan on Matchday 2 in Group E which means Canada and the Netherlands will meet on in the final group game on Thursday to determine who wins the group. Should they draw, the Netherlands take the top spot based on ‘goals for’ tiebreaker.

Advancing to knockout rounds: France (A), Germany (B), Italy (C), England (D), Netherlands (E), Canada (E)

Here’s What’s Next: Sunday, June 16th

Sunday marks the final day of Matchday 2 of group play at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup and we have a pair of Group F matches on tap to close it out. Before their big showdown later in the week, Sweden and the United States must take care of some other business first.

Sweden v. Thailand (Group F)

It took Sweden until the very end, but they managed to pull out a win against Chile in their opening match. Now they get Thailand who is reeling from a 13-0 drubbing by the United States, but should be motivated to bounceback and prove they belong in this tournament.

  • Time: 9:00 AM
  • Location: Stade de Nice (Nice)
  • How to Watch: FS1

United States v. Chile

No question the United States made a statement in its opening match with Thailand but now they must shift focus to a Chile side who gave Sweden all it could handle. Head coach Jill Ellis is expected to make some changes to her lineup and bring some fresh faces into the fold for the match where the United States will still be heavy favorites regardless of who is on the pitch.

  • Time: 12:00 PM
  • Location: Parc de Princes (Paris)
  • How to Watch: FOX

You can watch all these games live on the channels listed or streaming online at FoxSports.com with a cable sign in.

If highlights are more your style, check out @FOXSoccer on Twitter where goals and game recaps are posted throughout the day.

All game times are listed in Eastern Standard Time.

Golden Boot Standings

The Golden Boot Award goes to the top goal scorer at the 2019 FIFA Women’s World Cup.

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via FIFA.com

Not much change from Friday expect for Vivianne Miedema breaking into the top-10 with her two goal effort against Cameroon.

Keep up to date on everything Women’s World Cup right here on “The Bat Flip” where we will be posting our daily Women’s World Cupdate to recap what went on and preview what’s still to come in France.

Anthony Davis joins the Lakers

Just two days after the Toronto Raptors defeated the dynastic Golden State Warriors to win the NBA Finals, the first–and biggest–trade of the young NBA offseason has happened. The New Orleans Pelicans sent star Anthony Davis to the Lakers for quite a haul.

The trade is fascinating both teams. LeBron James will turn 35 during the 2019-20 NBA season and AD will be the best player LeBron has ever played with. The price the Lakers paid seems insane at face value, but it really seems like both teams made out in this deal. The Lakers now have two legit superstars; the Pelicans now have the No. 1 and No. 4 picks in Thursday night’s draft, several young players, plus draft picks to help in add to the team in the coming years.

If you’re wondering if Lonzo’s dad is mad, the answer is yes.

The Lakers are in win-now mode

It’s impossible to look at this without considering LeBron’s age. If the Lakers don’t get another star player, was getting LeBron even worth it? Clearly LeBron playing with younger, undeveloped talents didn’t work out so well for the Lakers last season. LeBron probably only has a few good years left, so the Lakers can’t afford to draft and develop players over several years. Davis makes the team instantly better and automatically a contender in the Western Conference.

Davis will re-sign with the Lakers in 2020

It’s already being reported that Davis will sign with the Lakers when he becomes a free agent next summer. The Brow is only 26, and could be the next superstar big man for the Lakers, as well as a guy they can build around whenever LeBron decides to hang it up. It’s hard to imagine the Lakers giving away so much for a one-year rental and it’s no secret that Davis has wanted to go to L.A. for some time now. Unless he and LeBron have a monumental falling out over the next year, he’ll be a Laker for years to come.

Now’s the time to strike in the Western Conference

The dynamics of the Western Conference have shifted dramatically in the last five days, beginning with Kevin Durant tearing his Achilles tendon in Game 5 of the Finals and Klay Thompson tearing his ACL in Game 6. Durant was expected to be the biggest name in free agency. There’s been endless speculation about where he would sign. Now it’s possible he’ll miss all of the 2019-20 NBA season and Achilles’ injuries are notoriously difficult to recover from.

There’s now uncertainty as to whether Durant will become a free agent at all–he has a $31.5 million player option with the Warriors for 2019-20. Durant could choose to forego free agency now and spend the next year rehabbing on the Warriors’ dime.

Thompson is also a free agent this offseason, though there was little doubt that he’d re-sign with Golden State. His father confirmed that Klay will be back.

The injuries have made the Warriors’ future murky and bring up a ton of questions regarding the salary cap and luxury tax.

The Warriors dynasty may not be totally over, but it’s hard to see them going very far next season based on their current situation. Thompson will miss time recovering from his ACL tear. KD might get paid to not play for the Warriors next year. DeMarcus Cousins is a free agent. Steph Curry may be the greatest shooter in NBA history, but he can’t win the Western Conference singlehandedly.

Future first-round picks may not be as valuable

If the Lakers can do anything in the next few years, the future first-round picks will automatically be less valuable. It’ll be interesting to see where the team is in a year’s time and where its first-round pick will be; if they can manage a playoff run, that pick will be in somewhere in the 20s. Some people are acting as though those first-round picks are too valuable to part with, but they aren’t for a team like the Lakers. It’s rare for draft picks to be a sure thing while Anthony Davis is already a proven talent.

The Lakers aren’t done

Simply put, the Lakers aren’t done making a splash this offseason. Free agency is just two weeks away and L.A. is now a premier landing spot for impending free agents. It’s anyone’s guess who they’ll sign; there’s been speculation involving the Lakers and everyone from Kemba Walker to Jimmy Butler to Kyrie Irving.

From LeBron’s Instagram from early 2018, but it’s easy to imagine him grinning from ear-to-ear right now.

The Pelicans just got so much more interesting

The Pelicans already had the No. 1 pick in the draft, and they’re certain to take Zion Williamson, the 6’7″, 285 lb. freak athlete/forward from Duke. Williamson is the most hyped prospect since LeBron in 2003. New Orleans now also has a the No. 4 overall pick, which could be used as a trade chip or to land another highly regarded prospect. It’s easy to wonder if they could dangle the No. 4 pick and a player to the Knicks to move up a spot to take Williamson’s Duke teammate R.J. Barrett with the No. 3 pick.

The Pelicans also now have a pair of recent No. 2 overall picks in Brandon Ingram and Lonzo Ball, who were integral to the deal. New Orleans also still has Jrue Holiday, who posted a career-best 21.2 points per game in the 2018-19 season. The Pelicans could be a contender much more quickly than anticipated and it’s hard to see David Griffin as anything but a damn genius; his team won the draft lottery/Zion sweepstakes and he used the Pelicans’ biggest asset to net a fantastic return. Davis didn’t want to be in New Orleans any longer and was going to walk next year anyway. Now Griffin can use that return to build around a generational talent.

The NBA offseason has only just begun…

…and it’s already freaking insane. The draft is a mere five days away. Free agency begins at 6 p.m. on June 30th. The KD and Klay situations have already been discussed, but there are plenty of other big name players who will hit free agency in two weeks. Reigning Finals MVP Kawhi Leonard, Kyrie Irving, Kemba Walker, Jimmy Butler, DeMarcus Cousins, and Khris Middleton will all be free agents, among others. This is looking to be one of the most fascinating offseasons in recent NBA history and it could reshape the league for years to come.