INDEPENDENCE, Ohio -- The No.
Fred VanVleet Jersey . 1 overall pick is still looking for basket No. 1. Anthony Bennett, the first player taken in this years NBA draft, hasnt scored a field goal for the Cavaliers. Through four games, Clevelands burly forward from Brampton, Ont., has missed each of his 15 shots from the field, including eight 3-pointers. He appears lost with the ball in his hands, causing some to wonder if the Cavs made a mistake with their choice. Hes O-for-the-season so far. According to STATS, Bennett is just the fifth rookie -- playing a minimum of five minutes -- to begin his career without making a field goal in the first four games. None of the other four, though, was selected ahead of every player in the draft. Cavs coach Mike Brown said there are several reasons for Bennetts drought. "Hes probably pressing to a certain degree," Brown said after practice Tuesday. "So its probably a little of that and a little bit of being on a big stage now in the regular season with it counting. Theres probably some of where his opponents are looking at him and saying that theyre going to come at him. They may not care that hes the No. 1 pick." For comparisons sake, Philadelphia 76ers rookie Michael Carter-Williams has 26 field goals already, and eight other rookies who have attempted at least 15 shots have put one shot through the rim. Bennetts alarming field-goal deficiency extended to four games Monday night when he went 0 for 3 in 10 minutes during a 93-92 win over Minnesota. He was not available to speak to reporters following practice as he quickly dressed and went home to take care of personal business before the Cavs flew to Milwaukee. The 20-year-old showed flashes of offensive firepower during the exhibition season, but the regular season has been nothing but a series of missed shots. He is 2 for 4 at the free-throw line, with each attempt coming in his NBA debut against Brooklyn. The Cavs insist its too early for them to be overly concerned about Bennetts scoring woes. Brown dismissed any thought of sitting the first-year player to clear his head. However, Bennetts inability to score -- hes averaging 12.8 minutes per game -- could show that hes going to need some extra time before he can be counted on as a major contributor. "I look at it as hes a guy that can grow slowly into his role with us and thats the exciting part of it," Brown said. "I just want him to keep going out there and playing, and if you can take advantage of your opponent on either end of the floor, go ahead and do it." And while Bennett hasnt delivered on the offensive end, the 6-foot-8, 240-pounder has provided some solid defence and rebounding. At Indiana last Saturday night, when he tried to flip in a layup and had it roll around the rim and out, Bennett grabbed six boards. "Defensively, hes been better than what I thought," Brown said. "I actually thought he was going to struggle defensively -- bad. But hes picked up on the concepts and hes been tougher and stronger than what I expected. "At the end of the day, and Ive seen it with my own eyes, he can score. He can score from all three levels and once he figures out how hard he has to play offensively in order for it to happen on a possession by possession occurrence, hell be good." Until then, Bennett is getting support from his teammates. Theyre urging him to keep his chin up and the shots will eventually go down. "We just keep encouraging him," point guard Jarrett Jack said. "We want him to understand, You made it this far because you are a special player and dont ever forget that. The one thing you do have to have in this league to be successful is confidence, and once that starts to waver, its going to have a snowball effect. "There was going to be a time this season when he was going to have a tough three-game stretch. Its just that it started in the first couple of games. There are 78 more to go. Once were in January or February and hes being his old self, Ill go over to him and say, You did all that worrying for nothing." First, though, Bennett needs to make a shot.
Jose Calderon Jersey . Now he can be had by any team willing to pay his salary. According to a report from ESPN, the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are shopping the veteran CB and plan on releasing him Wednesday if they cant find a trade partner.
Alvin Robertson Jersey . The 19-year-old from Westmount, Que., was edged 7-5, 6-7 (5), 6-3 by third-seeded Alize Cornet of France. Cornet broke Bouchard twice in the last set and saved six break points in the three-hour match.VAL-DOR, Que. - Jerome Verrier scored the winner 8:24 into overtime and Louis-Phillip Guindon stopped 46 shots as the Drummondville Voltigeurs edged the host Val-dOr Foreurs 4-3 on Friday in Quebec Major Junior Hockey League playoff action. Frederick Gaudreau had a pair of goals for the Voltigeurs, who lead the second-round series 1-0, and Alexandre Grand-Maison scored once. Anthony Mantha scored twice for the Foreurs, including his second at 19:26 of the third period to force extra time, while Guillaume Gelinas had the other. Val-dOrs Antoine Bibeau turned away 18-of-22 shots in a losing cause. --- MOOSEHEADS 4 OLYMPIQUES 1 HALIFAX -- Andrew Ryan had two goals and an assist and Zachary Fucale made 25 saves as the Mooseheads took Game 1 of their quarter-final matchup against Gatineau. Brent Andrews and Philippe Gadoury also scored for Halifax while Jonathan Drouin and Nikolaj Ehlers each tacked on two assists. Jonathan Bourcier scored the lone goal for the Olympiques and Robert Steeves stopped 29-of-33 shots in defeat. Vincent Dunn had a chance to tie the game for Gatineau late in the second period, but Fucale turned him away on a penalty shot to keep the game 1-0 heading into the third period.
Patrick McCaw Jersey. --- DRAKKAR 4 HUSKIES 1 BAIE-COMEAU, Que. -- Philippe Cadorette made 25 saves and the Drakkar scored four unanswered goals to take Game 1 of their second-round series against Rouyn-Noranda. Alexandre Ranger, Gabriel Verpaelst, Charles Hudon and Maxime St-Cyr supplied the offence for Baie-Comeau. The Huskies got their only goal from Jack Nevins, who opened the games scoring at 8:03 of the first period. Rouyn-Norandas Alexandre Belanger turned aside 30-of-34 shots in a losing cause. --- OCEANIC 3 ARMADA 0 RIMOUSKI, Que. -- Philippe Desrosiers kicked out all 40 shots his way, including 17 in the third period, as the Oceanic blanked Blainville-Boisbriand to go up 2-0 in quarter-final action. Anthony DeLuca and Patrik Zdrahal scored 26 seconds apart for Rimouski in the first period and Michael Joly added an empty-net goal in the final minute of the third period. Daniel Walcott led the Armada with six shots in Desrosiers. Etienne Marcoux stopped 23-of-25 shots for Blainville-Boisbriand. ' ' '