Enrique “Baby Bull” Gonzalez didn’t have the best record heading into Combate Global’s USA vs. Mexico eight-man MMA tournament Friday night in Miami. But he emerged with the biggest heart.
Gonzalez of Laredo, Texas, won three fights in one night, including a grueling three-round decision in the finale over previously unbeaten Cristian “Puas” Perez of Ensenada, Baja California, Mexico.
“It was crazy,” Gonzalez told Zenger after the bout. “It took me back to when I was a little kid at the karate tournaments, but this was a lot different. The competitors are much tougher. I loved it.”
The three wins improved Gonzalez’ record to 12–4. He opened with a one-round decision over Jim “The Beast” Alers of Pembroke Pines, Fla., (14–5) and advanced to face Samuel “Alley Cat” Alvarez (6–5) of Manteca, Calif., where Gonzalez captured another one-round decision.
That earned him the chance to represent the U.S. in the finale against the unbeaten Perez, who looked impressive with a TKO of Alfrego “Tarzan” Ruelas (2–2) of Mexico City in the first round and a tough one-round decision over Patrick “La Sanguijuela” Lehane of Ireland (4–1), who fought for the Mexican team.
Enrique “Baby Bull” Gonzalez (left) and Cristian “Puas” Perez exchange blows during their championship fight in the USA v. Mexico 8-man tournament by Combate Global Friday night in Miami. (Scott Hirano/Combate Global)
The finale was a back-and-forth match with Gonzalez dominating with his ground game early in the first round before being dropped by a hard left hand from Perez in the final minute of the five-minute round. Seconds later, Perez dropped Gonzalez again with a spinning elbow to the jaw. Gonzalez weathered the assault, but lost the round.
“He clipped me a couple of times, but I overcame it,” Gonzalez said. “I knew what I was up against and what I was fighting for. I really wanted the wins on my record.”
Gonzalez followed a similar pattern in the second and third rounds, taking Perez to the ground where he controlled him and applied enough pressure and punishment to capture both rounds on the judges’ scorecards and win the tournament title.
“It’s a tough format because you can’t pace yourself the first two fights,” said Gonzalez’s trainer Mike Valle, owner of Valle Flow Striking Academy outside of Chicago. “You have to go all out. It comes down to skills and stuff like that, but it also comes down to a lot of heart. That mental stage of going out and getting back at it again. It’s very difficult, especially when you have just one round. It’s very little time to go at it.”
Valle said Gonzalez’s ability to recover from the heavy blows he endured in the championship fight was a testament to his conditioning and training.
Cristian “Puas” Perez of Mexico (right) delivers a spinning elbow that momentarily drops Enrique “Baby Bull” Gonzalez in the first round of their championship fight for the USA v. Mexico 8-man tournament. (Scott Hirano/Combate Global)
“He’s a tough kid,” Valle said. “The only way you recover from a situation like that is from the amount of work they put in. We were able to show a little more experience, and we were able to capitalize on the wrestling part of it because that’s what we do a lot of in camp.”
Gonzalez said the key to surviving the tournament was staying calm throughout the night during and between fights.
“I just tried keeping calm even when I was in the ring,” he said. “Each time I went up there after each round, I tried to keep my cool. I didn’t want to get too intense and have my heart rate up and have my adrenaline come crashing down me, so I tried to stay calm the whole time.”
Winning the title should raise Gonzalez’s profile. He moved to Chicago in 2015 to train with Valle after graduating from high school in Laredo and is looking to make a career of MMA. “This puts me in a great spot,” he said. “I know a lot of eyes were watching this. I know it will be good for me.”
He isn’t the only fighter who should benefit from the exposure. The bouts were televised by Paramount Plus and Univision. Combate Global is an MMA promotion that targets a Hispanic audience by featuring young, hungry, and personable fighters. Gonzalez, Perez and Lehane proved they fit that mold.
“I think the last three fights were as good of fights as we ever put on,” Campbell McLaren, the CEO of Combate Global, told Zenger. “I’m terribly impressed with Baby Bull, Puas and Lehane. They went in there with a personality and they don’t back down. For my promotion and the sport and their individual careers those are three stars right there.”
The real star may have been the tournament. McLaren held this event on the same date that UFC 1 launched 28 years ago. McLaren was a co-founder of the UFC and the initial event was an eight-man tournament.
“Seeing guys go through multiple fights in one night is an exhibition of human courage and tenacity,” McLaren said. “The physical side is tough, but the mental aspect is just as difficult. Preparing for one opponent is very different from preparing for three.”
New research has revealed how water once flowed about 460 feet upward to form the “world’s largest ice cave” in Austria, estimated to be between 5 and 10 million years old.
Eisriesenwelt, which means “World of the Ice Giants” in German, is in the town of Werfen, about 25 miles south of the picturesque city of Salzburg, located in the Austrian Alps. A small part at the beginning of the cave system is now publicly accessible.
“You might think that water flows downhill,” said Lukas Plan, a research associate at the Natural History Museum Vienna. “However, research has now shown that the cave system, known for its ice formations, was completely filled with water when it was formed and that it flowed up 140 meters [459 feet] under pressure in the ascending part that is open to visitors.”
A research team from the Natural History Museum Vienna and the University of Innsbruck examined the origin and direction of the flow of water when the 26-mile cave system formed, the Natural History Museum in Vienna said in a statement. The “results show that millions of years ago, water flowed upwards” due to pressure, the statement said.
A small part of the Eisriesenwelt cave system is now open to the public in Werfen, Austria. The giant ice world was completely filled with water at the time of its creation, researchers learned. (Eisriesenwelt/Zenger)
Based on comparisons to other caves, researchers say the Eisriesenwelt is believed to be between 5 and 10 million years old.
The study, conducted by Plan, as well as Gabriella Koltai, Eva Kaminsky and Tanguy Racine, was published in the academic journal Die Höhle, which specializes in speleology, the study and exploration of cave systems.
The researchers learned that the giant ice world was completely filled with water at the time of its creation, and that the “so-called flow facets are of particular importance in deciphering the development conditions.”
At the ice cave Eisriesenwelt in Austria, depressions in the walls called flow facets were formed by water eddies, scientists say. (Eisriesenwelt/Zenger)
“These asymmetrical, shell-shaped depressions in the cave wall were formed by water eddies” (swirling currents of water) and these depressions “today provide information about the former direction and speed of flow,” the statement said.
The researchers mapped the flow of the water and their results “showed that millions of years ago about 100,000 liters [about 26,417 gallons] of water per second flowed north-east through the Tennengebirge [mountain range] — that is, 140 meters [459] from today’s cave entrance.”
It is “very likely” that the water came from the “central Alps south of the Tennengebirge, whose fragments of rock in the form of sand and gravel can often be found in the cave,” the statement said. “The Eisriesenwelt is thus the first cave system in the Northern Limestone Alps, for which a former supply by rivers from the Central Alps can be proven.”
The only thing more incredible than Steph Curry breaking Ray Allen’s record for most career three-pointers made is how quickly he accomplished the feat.
On Friday night, Curry made 9 three-pointers in the Warriors’ 119-93 win over the visiting Chicago Bulls, surpassing Jesus Shuttlesworth as the league’s top all-time marksman. Curry recorded his record-breaking triple with 10:44 remaining in the game’s second quarter, and has drilled 3,666 regular season and playoff three-pointers in his career, surpassing Allen’s previous record of 3,358.
It took Curry all of 886 total games, compared to 1,471 for Allen — a whopping 66% fewer.
STEPH CURRY put on a show in front of his college coach
40 PTS (15/25 FG) & 5 AST
36th game with 9+ 3PTS (Dame & Harden have 9 each)
Passes Ray Allen (3,358) for most career 3PTS in regular season + playoffs: 3,366pic.twitter.com/gTiUAuaThd
As LeBron James continues to run down Kareem Abdul-Jabbar’s all-time record for most career points, we can only look back at the production of some of the game’s former giants and marvel at their accomplishments.
The fact that Wilt Chamberlain was able to score 100 points in a single game, to this day, still seems outrageous. Kobe Bryant scored 81, of course, but that took 42 minutes, 46 shots, 20 free throws and astronomical usage. He still wasn’t really able to come that close to 100, which makes Wilt’s accomplishment all the more amazing.
For what it’s worth, Wilt — who didn’t have the benefit of any three-point shots — took 62 field goal attempts and made 28 free throws, so he wasn’t exactly a stranger to high-usage rates, either.
But still.
We look back at Michael Jordan and the fact that he was able to go 6-0 in the Finals and say, “Wow! Will anyone ever be able to do that again?”
MJ’s six championships (and six Finals MVPs) were truly legendary, as was the fact that he was able to complete two separate three-peats. A three-peat is pretty difficult to accomplish, and when you consider that no team since Shaq and Kobe’s Lakers was able to win three straight, that says a lot.
Aside from Jordan’s Bulls, you’d have to go back to the 1960s to find a team that won three straight titles, though there was no shortage of teams that were able to win back-to-back. The third time — which was obviously elusive in this case — from a historical standpoint, is truly the charm.
So here’s some perspective: although we are firmly fixated on LeBron’s quest to become the league’s all-time scorer, we have to consider that he sits third on the all-time list, not second. His 35,516 points trail Karl Malone’s career total of 36,928 by a healthy margin of 1,412.
Although it seems to be a foregone conclusion that LeBron will pass Malone, every missed game increases the possibility that the accomplishment will have to wait until next season. If, however, he’s able to average 24 points per game moving forward, he’d need 59 games to surpass The Mailman. It’s certainly within the realm of possibility to happen this season, and almost certainly next.
Kareem on the other hand? That’s a whole different ballgame.
LeBron currently trails Kareem by 2,871 points. Assuming the same 24 point-per-game scoring clip, he’s 120 games away. There’s no guarantee he’ll get there, but if he’s able to stay relatively healthy — considering his high-level of play — you’ve got to like his chances.
So what does all this have to do with Curry?
This…
He broke Ray Allen’s career three-pointer made mark in a staggering 585 fewer games. That’s seven seasons worth.
It feels like LeBron has been great since forever, and he’s been a 20-point per-game scorer for the entirety of his career. He’s nearly there, but even after all these years, he still has pretty far to go before he surpasses Kareem.
A simple analysis of the numbers gives you a newfound respect for how great (and healthy) Kareem was, and where LeBron fits in his own right.
In the future, history will look at Curry and marvel at his career three-pointers-made mark much in the same way we look at Wilt’s 100 points or Kareem’s all-time mark (or, by then, LeBron’s all-time mark).
Ray Allen made 2.3 threes per contest. To this point, Curry has averaged 3.7 treys a night. Said differently, he’s obliterated Allen’s pace, making 60% more threes than Allen on a per-game basis.
Although Curry has had his share of injuries, he’s had five full regular seasons in which he’s made more than 5 three-pointers per game. This season would be his sixth.
We obviously have no idea when it will end for Curry and how long he can continue at his current level of productivity, but if he is able to play anywhere near his current level — and is able to play at least 75% of his games for another three or four years — it’s very possible that he could make another 1,000 three-pointers. Counting eggs before they hatch is never a good idea, but the true amazement in Curry’s journey is not only about how far he’s come, but how quickly he’s gotten to this point.
Years from now, we’ll be trying to explain to our children and grandchildren how Steph was able to do it. A truly revolutionary player, he’s expanded everyone’s imaginations. His peers, desperately trying to emulate him, are pulling up from the center circle.
He’s single-handedly birthed an entire generation of players who rather drill stepbacks than pull off windmill dunks.
Imagine one of today’s players scoring 48 points per game over the course of his career, or another beating Kareem’s career mark in 12 seasons. That’s the equivalent of what Steph Curry accomplished on Friday night.
Even more incredible, is how much further he has to go.
British and American tourists in the Canary Islands are having sex so often in a protected dune reserve that endemic vegetation is being destroyed and the island’s beloved giant lizards are choking on condoms, according to a new study.
The Maspalomas Dunes Nature Reserve in Gran Canaria, which receives around 14 million visitors a year, in the Spanish Canary Islands, is well known for its dune system and stunning golden sands.
Legally protected since 1982, Maspalomas is one of Europe’s last remaining dune systems and provides a resting place for birds migrating between Europe and Africa.
However, a study published in the Journal of Environmental Management suggests the protected area is being destroyed by randy tourists. “Cruising activities” are having an environmental impact on the coastal dune system, the study said.
Vegetation grows in the sand dunes on Dec. 4, 2020, in Maspalomas, Spain. The area’s vegetation has suffered from people trampling on native plants and establishing “sex spots,” researchers say. (Dan Kitwood/Getty Images)
Researchers identified 298 “sex spots” in an area of two square miles, mostly between “thick and dense vegetation” and nebkhas, dunes that form around vegetation. A “no-go” area in the nature reserve, considered completely off-limits to the public, had 56 sex spots.
Researchers studied the area beginning in May 2018, and the study period included the local Gay Pride festival the following month, a popular event in Gran Canaria that many members of the LGBTQ community attend.
The report said that cruising for sex led to the “trampling” of native plant species, three of which are endemic to the area, as well as “directly impacting” the nebkhas.
“We have no intention to criticize the actions of some of the LGBTI community,” said first author Leví García-Romero, from the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria (ULPGC) Institute of Oceanography and Global Change.
Although the researchers noted that all kinds of people are capable of pleasure-seeking in the dunes, they said that cruising is practiced openly in Maspalomas.
The Maspalomas Gay Pride Parade on May 11, 2013, in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain. (Jorge Rey/Getty Images)
Tourists displace plants and sand and make their own “nests,” which sometimes include makeshift fences, the report said. They often also leave their rubbish behind, including cigarette butts, condoms, toilet paper, wet wipes and cans.
The protected dunes have also served as a “bathroom” with human urine and excrement found in the affected areas.
Researchers learned that the more remote the sex spot, the more it had been used and the more trash it had.
The researchers also said a number of the island’s beloved Gran Canaria giant lizards (Gallotia stehlini) had died after eating condoms left by tourists.
Although the local authorities leave trash bags in some areas, they are usually full according to the researchers.
Maspalomas is not the only dune space in the world where people have sex, said study co-author Professor Patrick Hesp from Flinders University. Hesp also studies arid-zone coastal and inland dunefields in Australia, where sex spots can also be found.
“No matter what the human activity, popular coastal tourist locations need to closely monitor ecology and erosion trends,” Hesp said.
Fish and other species are migrating to deeper waters in the Mediterranean Sea as climate change heats up surface water, threatening both conservation efforts and the fishing industry, according to a new study.
Experts at Tel Aviv University looked at the effect of warming waters on hundreds of species in the Mediterranean Sea. They analyzed data collected on 236 species in trawling surveys, in which a boat drags a net to collect species, and catch depth is recorded. They found that dozens of different fish, mollusks and crustaceans are migrating deeper as they flee warming temperatures.
“It should be remembered that the Mediterranean was hot in the first place, and now we are reaching the limit of many species’ capacity,” said Professor Jonathan Belmaker. “Moreover, the temperature range in the Mediterranean is extreme — cold in the northwest and very hot in the southeast. Both of these factors make the Mediterranean an ideal test case for species’ adaptation to global warming.”
The study, led by PhD student Shahar Chaikin under the supervision of Belmaker, revealed that species are deepening their minimum depth limits in parallel with warming water temperatures, from the west to the east Mediterranean.
Sea life across the Mediterranean migrated an average of 180 feet, a range of about 6 degrees Celsius (11 F), according to the study, published in the journal Global Ecology and Biogeography.
The change was not the same for all species, with cold-water species deepening more than warm-water ones.
Fish, mollusks and crustaceans in the Mediterranean Sea have migrated to deeper waters to escape rising temperatures, according to a new study. (Shahar Chaikin/Zenger)
“The minimum depths for species in the Mediterranean are getting deeper, while the maximum depths remain stable,” Chaikin said.”The deepening effect was found to be more significant among cold-water species. In contrast, there are species that function within a narrow temperature range and at a certain depth that deepen much less, probably because they cannot survive in deeper water.”
The researchers say the migration is likely to have a damaging effect on conservation efforts and on the fishing industry.
Temperature-driven migration has been documented before, in the Arctic where narwhals have been forced into the open ocean due to warming fjords. But researchers say the warming process is especially pronounced in the Mediterranean, where the average water temperature has been rising by one degree Celsius (1.8 F) every 30 years and is accelerating.
A fish peaks out from behind some rocks in the Mediterranean Sea. (Shahar Chaikin/Zenger)
According to the researchers, the study shows that by looking at the traits of species, their reaction to the increasing temperatures can be predicted. This could be valuable knowledge for future conservation programs.
Conservation plans will have to account for species living in deeper than usual waters and marine reserves will need to be defined to provide shelter for species that have migrated, he said.
The fishing industry will also need to adapt with more focus placed on deeper waters. This will force boats to sail further into the ocean and burn more fuel. Belmaker warned that despite the ability of species to adapt to warmer waters, there is a limit, and the limit is the seabed.
“We are already seeing deep-sea fish like cod whose numbers are declining, probably because they had nowhere deeper to go,” he said.
Following the Los Angeles Lakers’ 107-83 loss to the Minnesota Timberwolves on Friday night, Anthony Davis didn’t mince words when discussing his team’s struggles — particularly in the third quarter (when Los Angeles was outscored 40-12 by Minnesota).
“We sucked,” Davis said. “No defense. Can’t score. That’s not just this third quarter; every third quarter we’ve played this season, we’ve come out slow, lackadaisical offensively and defensively. We got to get it together. Why? I can’t tell you. But we gotta do a better job. I mean, we scored 12 points in the third quarter, and they scored 40. That’s the game right there.”
Davis is right: The Lakers have been outscored in the third quarter in eight of their 13 games (including five times by double digits). On the season, Los Angeles has been beaten 408-321 in third quarters.
“Obviously, our effort hasn’t been good enough in the third quarter consistently throughout this season,” Lakers head coach Frank Vogel said. “We’re talking about it and we’re challenging our guys to be better. We were getting beat to loose balls, we weren’t keeping our man in front of us, we weren’t taking pride in protecting the rim, and I think we lost four or five loose balls consecutively. We gotta be better with that.”
Davis said that this defeat felt very similar to the Lakers’ loss against the Portland Trail Blazers on Nov. 6, since the team played with barely any effort or energy in both contests.
“We gotta decide who we want to be. A championship team? That’s not us right now,” Davis said. “We’re not winning a championship the way we’re playing. We have to be better, and we have to care more for our wins at home and our wins in general. That was embarrassing. To be up five at the half… obviously, this team shoots a lot of threes and they have guys who can score the basketball, but there was just no effort in the third quarter.”
“No sense of urgency,” Wayne Ellington said. “We come out slow, trying to get into the game instead of coming out at full speed. It’s been a struggle for us and something that we gotta be better at. Tonight, there was no excuse. We were all disappointed.”
“Sometimes, we come out and are fine; sometimes, we don’t,” Russell Westbrook added. “The inconsistency is a problem.”
The Lakers are now 7-6, which puts them in the Western Conference’s seventh seed (and 4.5 games back from the first-place Golden State Warriors).
Los Angeles currently has the NBA’s 23rd-ranked offense (scoring 102.7 points per 100 possessions) and 14th-ranked defense (allowing104.4 points per 100 possessions).
“What we can’t do is point the finger [like], ‘It was you! It was you! This play was you!’ We have to stay together,” Davis said. “And we stay together, but we also got to learn from the film. Film tomorrow is going to be big for us, to have another heart-to-heart about these types of games. We hate feeling this way. Obviously, we’re going to lose games; everyone loses games. But [it’s about] doing it the right way, having a team actually beat us and not beating ourselves. Those are the frustrating ones, when we beat ourselves… We hate losing games like that. But we have to learn from it and, most importantly, we have to stay together.”
While the Lakers were missing LeBron James, Talen Horton-Tucker, Kendrick Nunn, Trevor Ariza and Austin Reaves on Friday night, Davis and his teammates felt that they still should’ve won this game.
“It’s still fairly early — it’s only game 13 — and we still don’t have all of our guys back. But we have enough guys to win basketball games and we gotta continue to do what we do and play Lakers basketball,” Davis explained. “Some games we see it, some games we don’t. We’ll see it for a half, but the other half we don’t… We gotta put together a stretch of games where we’re playing our style of basketball for 48 minutes and live with that result.”
“There’s no excuse for us to come in and have a performance like we did tonight,” Ellington added. “That team is not better than us.”
While the team is frustrated about these recent struggles, it’s important to realize that the Lakers are going through an adjustment period after bringing in so many new players. Only three players returned from last year’s squad: James, Davis and Horton-Tucker. They’ve added 14 new players and while some are familiar faces — like Dwight Howard, Rajon Rondo and Avery Bradley, who were on the team as recently as the 2019-20 championship season — it’s taking time for this group to get on the same page.
“We know that we’re a good team,” Davis said. “You think about the long-term and that big-picture goal, but we want to win now. And it just sucks because we don’t know our full team, our full capability of what guys can bring to the team. But when we get everybody back, we know that we’ll be a great team. But we still gotta do what we do, no matter who’s on the floor. We still have to follow our principles on both ends of the floor.”
“It’s all new, man,” Ellington explained. “We’re all getting adjusted and we’re all still learning each other. Obviously, we want to win games while we learn each other, but [it’s tough]… Guys have been in and out and we really haven’t had a steady lineup yet this season, and we understand that. We see the big picture. But at the same time, we feel like we could be jelling a bit better. But we also understand that it takes time and that this is a marathon. We have a veteran team [with] guys who have played a lot of games in this league, and nobody is ready to go crazy… It’s a process, man. We’re all learning each other and it takes time; it don’t happen overnight… But I feel like it’s going to start coming together, for sure.”
The Lakers will look to bounce back on Sunday afternoon as they host the San Antonio Spurs, followed by a date with the Chicago Bulls on Monday night.
When the Washington Wizards acquired Kyle Kuzma, Montrezl Harrell and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope in a blockbuster trade that sent Russell Westbrook to the Los Angeles Lakers, the franchise continued to undergo a major facelift that left a lot of unknowns this offseason.
A brand new head coach in Wes Unseld Jr. A fresh-faced starting lineup. Six new players.
And yet, in this case, change has most certainly been welcome.
As of Friday, the Wizards sit with the Chicago Bulls atop the Eastern Conference at 8-3. Make no mistake: this isn’t your par-for-the-course, “Bradley Beal carries and the rest fall in line” group in Washington D.C. that we’ve seen so many different iterations of in the past. It’s a team in every sense of the word.
And the fact that it’s come together this cohesively and this expeditiously, for a franchise that retooled its staff and personnel less than three months ago, is incredibly unique.
“I mean it is a different team. Basically, half the roster’s different. So it is remarkable that they’ve kinda pulled together as quickly as they have,” Unseld said prior to Wednesday’s win in Cleveland. “But I give ’em credit. They were around in September, so we didn’t wait ’til the first official day of training camp to say, ‘Hey, let’s start putting in work.’ Those guys were trying to play together, do a small side of [pickup] games, get workouts [in], finding ways to be on the floor and build that chemistry. So it’s paid off for us thus far.”
“We’ve got a bunch of dogs, man,” Kuzma added. “Obviously, me and KCP, we’ve won. We know how to win in this league. Trezz has always been an underdog his whole entire career being a second-round pick and fighting his way through the G League and all the way to being the Sixth Man [of the Year]. But the people here, too — it’s not just us. It’s a collective group. It’s the coaching staff, it’s us, it’s Brad wanting to win big in this league. It’s [Raul] Neto coming in, being a dog for us, being huge. [Daniel Gafford]. It’s everybody. And it’s all about the culture. It’s all about trying to change cultures and just win. Everything’s good when you win.”
These Wizards are gritty and feisty. These Wizards have that dog mentality. These Wizards are going to make you earn it. Most importantly, these Wizards gut it out.
And while it is still a work in progress, when you have a collection of castoffs with something to prove and with a chip on their shoulder, they’re developing an identity of resiliency.
“It’s not something that I really mapped out. I think it’s a byproduct of who we have and their individual situations, but I think they’ve all bought into team success,” Unseld said. “They understand that when the team thrives, the individual stuff will come. They don’t have to press for certain things or play out of character. [They] play team ball, continue to play our brand and our style, and it’ll work out.
“It’s a long season, so it’s easy to say, ‘Hey we figured it out.’ I don’t believe that’s true. We’re playing well right now, which is terrific, but I think it takes time, maybe a year to say, ‘This is who we are, who we have to be.’ But a lot of times, that changes with your personnel. So I think it’s gonna take some time. It’s easy to say who we want to be. It may be a little different as far as how it plays out.”
According to Cleaning the Glass, Washington ranks fourth in the NBA with a 103.6 defensive rating and, as specified by NBA.com, is allowing a league-low 8.5 transition points per game and just a 48.3% Effective Field Goal percentage. It all starts with the players guarding out on the perimeter, and keeping their assignments in front of them.
“I think there’s just an urgency to what we’re doing. I’ve said this many times: it’s never perfect. There’s never a game where you walk away and those were a perfect 48 minutes of defense, but there’s urgency to what we’re doing,” Unseld said. “I think there’s an understanding of how we want to play, how we want to guard concepts and situations. Where we were two weeks ago and where we are now, I think we’re in a better place. And just, that’s having gone through it. You can’t simulate those reps enough, but having played [11] games now, you have a foundation you can kinda look back on and there’s validity to it.”
Not even a month into the season, Unseld’s trust in Kuzma is already sky-high.
“We saw it early in the preseason and obviously throughout the regular season, is our ability to switch and keep guys in front, and Kyle’s able to do that,” Unseld said. “He’s able to absorb some of the physical contact of those bigger wings, those power forwards, as well as keep those smalls in front, which is valuable. It keeps you out of rotations. And the way he’s rebounded the ball in general has been dynamic. So if we can put those two things together, and you make a couple threes, you’re a pretty good player.”
Coming over from the West Coast, Kuzma believes that he and his Laker teammates are defensively-oriented people, but he gives much of the credit to Unseld as the reason why the Wizards are so connected on the most important end of the floor.
Not even a month into the season, Wizards head coach Wes Unseld Jr.’s trust in Kyle Kuzma is already sky-high. (All-Pro Reels/CC BY-SA 2.0)
“I think a lot of times in this league, what separates good teams and bad teams is defensive schemes,” Kuzma said. “I’ve been on both sides. I’ve been on good teams, and I’ve been on bad teams throughout the early part of my career. And one of the reasons why I thought we were bad was because we didn’t really have schemes and whatnot. When you come here, first day of training camp, we want to be a top defensive team. Okay, how do we get that?
“Wes puts us in great situations. It’s really no ‘air’ out there. You kinda know what it is. If it’s a step-up, clear-side, we know what to do. Same thing, if we’re in the lock and the trail, we know what to do. That just clears up a lot of thoughts you may have on the court, so you can just play freely and play.”
Kuzma and Beal have logged the most minutes (307) among Washington duos and have allowed 99.8 points per 100 possessions, according to NBA.com. However, among two-man combinations who have played at least 150 minutes together, Harrell and Deni Avdija carry the top defensive rating (96.0) and net rating (19.1) on the team as a whole.
“I think they did a great job of picking the right head coach, man. As you can see, it’s resulting into our play,” Harrell said. “Coach comes in with a simple game plan, both offensively and defensively, as far as each team goes. But Coach does all the little things that some guys may not want to do at points in time, certain situations. But we’re all bought in and tied in and we support him 100 percent because at the end of the day, it’s a collective group effort. It’s not just the coaches and then the players and then the top staff.
“I think this organization moves at its best when we’re all working together as one, and I think that’s what Coach has done a great a great job of and instilling with everybody — coaching staff, players, even all the way up to the front office with Tommy [Sheppard] and our owner [Ted Leonsis].”
We all know by now that Harrell is a man who’s always going to win the scrap. He uses his upper-body strength and power relentlessly, wearing down frontcourt opponents of all sizes with his multiple efforts. It seems he’s found his footing once again following an unusual situation with the Lakers. Trezz is putting up 18.1 points and 9.3 rebounds per contest on a career-best 70.8% True Shooting percentage, which ranks seventh in the NBA (min. avg. 15 minutes).
He’s establishing quite the rapport with Beal not only in postgame press conferences after wins, but in pick-and-roll situations on the court. According to NBA.com, Harrell is 18-for-30 on passes from Beal. Further, on InStat, Trezz is scoring 1.37 points per possession as a roll man in general and converts on a league-best 88% of his rolls.
Following a hard screen or a slip, you’d be hard pressed to find somebody more aggressive in bolting to the bucket. Add that to his ferocious demeanor on the floor, and Washington has a one-man wrecking crew whose attitude trickles down to the rest of his teammates.
“Trezz plays hard as sh** every night out. You’ve gotta prepare for him,” Kuzma said. “Obviously, an [opposing] team, you’ve got to bring your best every night ’cause he’s coming at you full throttle. He’s crashing the offensive glass every single time, defensive glass. He’s challenging shots. If you give it to him in the pocket and he’s got it in the paint, it’s probably going in the rim. So he’s a beast.
“And that energy, we feed off of it, and it’s important. Especially for 82 games. You can’t bring that type of energy collectively as a group every night. It’s impossible. But when you see guys out there like him doing it every night, it motivates you to play hard.”
Unseld Jr. relays that Harrell’s threat of getting to the rim and the free-throw line both allows Washington to score points and get its defense set, using his 16-point, 5-rebound effort in the first half vs. the Cavaliers as an example.
“His voice carries a lot of weight, but that energy’s contagious. And it’s not just the highlight plays where he’s dunking the ball or he’s the first guy to the floor or he’s getting second possessions. He kinda just galvanizes that group at times,” Unseld said. “Sometimes he does it on his own where he has that stretch in the first half [vs. Cleveland], where he was kinda the lone offense. But it’s also behind the scenes — his voice on the bench, his voice in the locker room. So it’s great to have a guy like that, who’s played in big moments and understands the value of that.”
Number of dunks by the Wizards so far this season…
Beal is the head of the snake, and newcomer Spencer Dinwiddie has taken quite the load off of him as a ball-handler and initiator. Daniel Gafford is well on his way to becoming a household name. We’ve still yet to see what this all looks like with Rui Hachimura and Thomas Bryant in the mix.
But with Unseld’s approach, championship experience injected into the building and a number of people who know what it takes to be consistent on a nightly basis, the Wizards might have glued together the right parts to give D.C. a winner.
“I think we have an ‘OK’ chemistry right now. Obviously, it’s still early and young in the season, 11 games in. But that [win in Cleveland] is something that can take ‘OK’ chemistry to good chemistry — finding a way on the road, with the crowd against you, with a big frontcourt like they had,” Kuzma said. “For us to pull out a win like that, that’s a big moral victory obviously outside of winning. But for the morale of the team and to keep guys together and see how we molded into one out there that last five minutes of the game was huge.
“I mean we’re picking up wins, but I think we can take it to another level. I think that’s kinda just really plain and simple. Obviously, I think we have ways to go. We have a couple levels that we can take it up to. That’s just kinda next-level thinking — certain things defensively we can be better at, offensively we can be way, way better. Like I said from the jump, it’s gonna take time. Every regular-season game is rehearsals for the playoffs, and by the time we get to March, April and we figure things out, hopefully we’re on the right side of things. Like I said, we’ve got a long ways to go. Obviously it’s great to be 8-3, but it really doesn’t matter in early November.”
As Kuzma tweeted last week: “Capitol Boys out here.”
Researchers have developed a new therapy using “dancing molecules,” where a single injection can reverse paralysis caused by severe spinal cord injuries.
Scientists at Northwestern University have found that mice injected with the innovative treatment regained their ability to walk after only four weeks. Video showed how a once-paralyzed mouse could use its legs again after receiving the treatment.
Samuel Stupp, director of the Simpson Querrey Institute at Northwestern University, said the research group aimed to find a therapy that prevented paralysis after major trauma or disease. Their findings were published in the journal Science.
“For decades, this has remained a major challenge for scientists because our body’s central nervous system, which includes the brain and spinal cord, does not have any significant capacity to repair itself after injury or after the onset of a degenerative disease,” said Stupp.
The group intends to apply for federal Food and Drug Administration approval to test the therapy in human patients.
The breakthrough therapy sends bioactive signals that enable spinal cord cells to regenerate and repair. This was seen in five key areas: the severed extensions of neurons, called axons, regenerated; more motor neurons survived; scar tissue was significantly diminished; the insulating layer of axons, or myelin, which supports the efficient transmission of electrical signals, was renewed around cells; and blood vessels began delivering nutrients to cells at the place of injury.
Axons send signals between the brain and nervous system much like cables distribute electrical energy. When axons are cut or damaged, patients may suffer paralysis and/or loss of feeling. Renewing the connections improves body/brain transmissions.
Longitudinal spinal cord section treated with the most bioactive therapeutic scaffold, captured 12 weeks after injury. Blood vessels (red) regenerated within the lesion. Laminin is stained in green and cells are stained in blue. (Samuel I. Stupp Laboratory/Northwestern University)
Nearly 300,000 people in the United States live with a spinal cord injury, according to the National Spinal Cord Injury Statistical Center. Therapy options are limited, and their lives are difficult. Fewer than 3 percent of those with complete injury ever recover basic physical function, and 30 percent experience rehospitalization at least once during any given year.
Costs for care per patient can reach millions of dollars over a lifetime, while life expectancy is significantly lower than for people without spinal cord injuries. The situation has not improved since the 1980s.
Dancing molecules
The secret to the therapy lies in tuning the motion of molecules, so they can find and engage with cellular receptors, which are constantly in motion. The liquid therapeutic becomes a gel once injected, transforming into a network of nanofibers mimicking the extracellular matrix of the spinal cord. The synthetics communicate with the receiving cells by matching the matrix structure, imitating the movement of biological molecules with “bioactive scaffolds,” and incorporating signals for receptors.
“Receptors in neurons and other cells constantly move around,” Stupp said, noting that the key innovation is the control of the “collective motion of more than 100,000 molecules within our nanofibers. By making the molecules move, ‘dance’ or even leap temporarily out of these structures, known as supramolecular polymers, they are able to connect more effectively with receptors.”
Once the therapeutic materials do their job, they biodegrade into cell nutrients within three months and completely disappear without noticeable side effects. This is the first time the collective motion of molecules has been controlled by changing a chemical structure to increase a therapy’s efficacy. The fine-tuning of the molecules’ motion within the nanofiber network made cells more responsive to the therapy in paralyzed mice. Formulations of this therapy during in vitro tests with human cells also showed better performance, increased bioactivity and cellular signaling.
Longitudinal spinal cord section treated with the most bioactive therapeutic scaffold. Regenerated axons (red) regrew within the lesion. (Samuel I. Stupp Laboratory/Northwestern University)
One injection is followed by two signals
Following the injection, the moving molecules connect with receptors and initiate two signals that rejuvenate the spinal cord. One of them triggers the axons. The other improves the neurons’ chances of survival by stimulating other cell types to proliferate.
Blood vessels, which feed neurons and other cells, grow back, while myelin rebuilds around axons and reduces the scarring of glial cells, which protect and provide oxygen to neurons.
Co-author Zaida Álvarez said the natural proteins mimicked by the signals are expensive to produce. She said the synthetic signals the team developed, however “are short, modified peptides that — when bonded together by the thousands — will survive for weeks to deliver bioactivity.”
“The end result is a therapy that is less expensive to produce and lasts much longer,” Álvarez said.
Hope for regeneration following major trauma
Noting the lack of adequate therapies, Stupp said he wanted to “make a difference [in] the outcomes of spinal cord injury.” He said the new approach could also address “neurodegenerative diseases and stroke,” including ALS, Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s disease. The essential discovery of the study, according to Stupp, is that “controlling the motion of molecular assemblies to enhance cell signaling [can] be applied universally across biomedical targets.”
A baby wombat has a new home in an Australian zoo after her mother was killed by a car and the little joey was found alive in her pouch.
“There is a new arrival at The Australian Reptile Park winning hearts of all the staff — meet Poppy the baby wombat!” the Australian Reptile Park said.
“A video was released of the little bundle of joy on the Australian Reptile Park page last night, and it looks as though Poppy is a hit online, with the video being viewed tens of thousands of times in just 12 hours.”
Her rescue was due to a passerby, who checked the dead animal’s pouch and saw little Poppy staring back.
The wombat joey was brought to the Australian Reptile Park, where zookeeper Daniel Rumsey became her “new carer and surrogate mom.”
Baby wombat Poppy rests securely in the arms of her caregiver, zookeeper Daniel Rumsey, at the Australian Reptile Park. (Australian Reptile Park/Zenger)
The Australian Reptile Park said Ramsey is giving the wombat “around the clock care, including a bottle feed at 3 a.m. and the cuddles she craves.”
Rumsey said: “It’s always hit-and-miss with little orphans like Poppy. It’s hard to know if they’ve been exposed to disease, are malnourished, or even injured in the accident.”
He said she survived “like a true champion” and is “full of beans and has quickly won over everyone here at The Australian Reptile Park. She’ll follow you everywhere you go, loves cuddles and loves her bottles even more!”
Poppy at the Australian Reptile Park. Wombats like to burrow and, similar to their koala relatives, sleep about 16 hours a day. (Australian Reptile Park/Zenger)
After the death of Poppy’s mother, Rumsey said: “Cars are one of the biggest threats to Aussie wildlife. With so many people now out on the roads after New South Wales is opening back after lockdown, we are calling for people to slow down.”
Many animals are “killed by vehicles each year, and if we all took a little more care, we can decrease the number dramatically,” he said.
The Australian Reptile Park said Poppy will remain with them until she is around a year old. Experts will then establish if she is “strong enough to be released to the wild.”
After Poppy’s mother was killed by a car, a passerby found the baby wombat still in her pouch. (Australian Reptile Park/Zenger)
Until then, animal lovers can visit Poppy at the park’s animal-encounter program.
The zoo has reopened as a COVID-Safe business and observes all government rules “to keep its staff and visitors safe.”
Wombats live in various habitats, including forests, mountains and coastal shrub lands. There are three varieties: The bare-nosed wombat favors wetter forested areas, but the Southern hairy-nosed wombat lives in drier regions. The Northern hairy-nosed wombat is now critically endangered, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature.
The biggest threats to wombats are habitat loss and competing for food with other herbivores, such as rabbits, cattle and sheep.
The largest funnel-web spider ever seen by the staff at Australian Reptile Park was recently handed in by an anonymous donor. The spider can be milked to extract the venom needed to create an antidote for bites.
At 3 inches, it is almost twice the size of the average funnel-web spider.
The arachnid’s size also means it has fangs big enough to bite through a human fingernail. It will produce far more than the average amount of venom needed to produce life-saving antivenom.
Staffers are hoping they can find the anonymous donor who left it in a plastic container at one of their drop-off points, so other spiders might be found. The spider had been left in a container without any labels after being collected somewhere between Sydney, the Central Coast and Newcastle in Australia.
Nicknamed Megaspider by staff at the Reptile Park, the recent high humidity and rainy weather are perfect conditions for these spiders to thrive. There are at least 40 species of funnel-web spiders. While most funnel-webs are ground dwellers, a few live in trees.
The spider was probably donated by someone answering an appeal to catch them alive, so researchers can produce the antivenom, which saves hundreds of lives every year. The Australian Reptile Park is the only zoo in Australia that milks the spiders for their venom to make the serum.
An average funnel-web spider compared to “Megaspider” at the Australian Reptile Park. The larger the spider, the more venom is produced. (Australian Reptile Park/Zenger)
“Having Megaspider handed into the venom program is so amazing. In my 30-plus years at the park, I have never seen a funnel web spider this big,” Michael Tate, education officer of the Australian Reptile Park, said in a statement.
“She is unusually large, and if we can get the public to hand in more spiders like her, it will only result in more lives being saved, due to the huge amount of venom they can produce. We are really keen to find out where she came from in hopes of finding more massive spiders like her.”
The male of the Sydney funnel-web spider variety is believed responsible for all recorded deaths and many medically serious bites, according to the Australian Museum.
Promoting the drop-off points, Tate said: “People can bring any collected spiders to the Reptile Park itself. However, if they can’t get to us, we have drop-off zones around Sydney, the Central Coast and Newcastle. All facilities are provided with a spider safety kit to house the spiders until the Australian Reptile Park staff can come and pick them up each week.”
