Sonny Giuliano Articles - Page 35

It’s been reported that the Brooklyn Nets aren’t taking calls on potential deals for 27-year-old swingman Mikal Bridges, who the Nets acquired only a year ago in the deal with the Suns that sent Kevin Durant to Phoenix. On one hand, it’s understandable that the Nets would be hesitant to move Bridges. In his seven-year […]

South Carolina Gamecocks quarterback Spencer Rattler was the first quarterback to take the field on Saturday afternoon in the Reese’s Senior Bowl, and for a single series, he resembled the guy who was the number one quarterback recruit in the country just five years ago, and the preseason Heisman Trophy favorite heading into the 2021 […]

Following the departure of defensive coordinator Dan Quinn, who is off to Washington to become the 31st head coach in Commanders franchise history, the Dallas Cowboys are now left with a big vacancy on their coaching staff. However, that void may soon be filled by a long-time NFL coach who is very familiar with what […]

With hopes of making a playoff push for the second consecutive season, the Seattle Seahawks made a midseason move ahead of the trade deadline, acquiring defensive tackle Leonard Williams from the New York Giants in exchange for a 2024 2nd-round pick and a 2025 5th-round pick. The acquisition of Williams didn’t result in a postseason […]

Houston Texans quarterback CJ Stroud is taking part in the NFL Pro Bowl Games this weekend in Orlando, Florida, but the Pro Bowl nod that Stroud received is arguably a minor accomplishment in comparison to everything else he was able do during his rookie season. CJ Stroud finished his rookie season with the best touchdown […]

NBA All-Star Weekend has certainly lost some of its luster over the years, with diminished effort in the All-Star Game and lack of star power in the Slam Dunk Contest being the primary causes for the stark dip in interest. One way the NBA is attempting to combat that this year is with a high-profile […]

Since 1950, the Senior Bowl has provided NFL coaches and scouts the opportunity to get an extended look at some of the seniors who will soon be coming into the league. Along with the game itself, which features some of college football’s top seniors, a week’s worth of practices with no shortage of NFL decision […]

The story of Brock Purdy is one you surely know front-to-back by now, but here’s the cliffs notes version of it: three-star high school recruit… began his freshman year at Iowa State as the third-string quarterback, but would go to become a four-year starter for the Cyclones… departed Iowa State as the program’s all-time passing […]

For nine years, the Michigan football program had been in the capable hands of Jim Harbaugh, an alum who helped the Wolverines reach heights they hadn’t seen since the 1990’s. In what turned out to be his final season in Ann Arbor, Harbaugh not only officially turned the tide in the rivalry against the Ohio […]

Jerry Rice knows a thing or two (or three) about winning Super Bowls. As a member of the San Francisco 49ers, Rice won all three Super Bowls he appeared in, with his only loss in the big game coming in 2003 as a member of the Oakland Raiders. Niners fans are justified to act like […]

When Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots announced that they would being parting ways just a few weeks ago, the assumption around the NFL was that Belichick, an NFL lifer who is just 27 wins shy of breaking Don Shula’s record for most coaching victories in NFL history, wouldn’t be jobless very long. With […]

So look, I’m not gonna sit here and pretend that I have a full, firm grasp on what’s going on in Knoxville, or suggest that I know how the NCAA’s investigation into possible Name, Image, Likeness (NIL) violations at the University of Tennessee is going to eventually play out. What I do know for a […]

Thanks to a trade with the Carolina Panthers that has a chance of going down as one of the greatest heists in NFL history, the Chicago Bears own the number one pick in the 2024 NFL Draft, with generational quarterback prospect Caleb Williams the likely prize. Williams, the USC Trojans product who won the Heisman […]

One of the things that bugs me the most about the NBA is how so many great former players seemingly do all they can to cut down the current product, especially the guys who cover the league for a living, but spend most of their time complaining about the state of the game. What’s rare, however, […]

Milwaukee Bucks guard Damian Lillard spent the first eleven years of his NBA career with the Portland Trail Blazers, where he departed this past September as the franchise’s leader in scoring, three-pointers made, and free throws made. Whether he’s the best, second-best, or third-best Portland Trail Blazer of all-time is up for debate, but it’s […]

With the first half of the 2023-24 NBA season in the books, that meant it was time for NBAStore.com to put out their annual “Top-Selling Jerseys” list. Each year, this list provides a somewhat accurate snapshot of who matters most in a given NBA season. Of course, it’s not always perfect — the love affair […]

After being dismissed as the offensive coordinator of the New Orleans Saints just two weeks ago, Pete Carmichael now finds himself employed once again. As long-time head coach Sean Payton continues his efforts to turn the Denver Broncos into the Mile High Saints, he took another step in that direction, hiring Carmichael, his long-time Saints offensive […]

In the must-read, recently released book “The Football 100” written by various columnists from The Athletic, there’s a section on former Houston Oilers running back Earl Campbell, who was voted the 67th greatest player in NFL history, according to the staff of The Athletic. Dan Pompei, who wrote the essay on Campbell, noted that Campbell’s […]

Following the surprising retirement of Nick Saban and subsequent hiring of former Washington head coach Kalen DeBoer, the Alabama football team was hit hard by transfer portal departures, losing 30 players who were on the team last season within weeks of Saban’s retirement. Now of course, within today’s college football landscape, wholesale changes being made […]

Just three days removed from a bonkers 73-point scoring outburst against the Atlanta Hawks, Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic put together yet another brilliant performance in a 131-129 win over the Orlando Magic on Monday night. Doncic, who finished the game with 45 points, 9 rebounds, and 15 assists, was the catalyst of a 16-point […]

The Milwaukee Bucks came into their game against the Denver Nuggets on Monday night ranked 24th in points per game allowed and 19th in defensive rating. All season long, and really, ever since the Bucks acquired Damian Lillard leading up to the season, the concern has been that the Bucks defense wouldn’t be able to […]

The Atlanta Falcons moved on from head coach Arthur Smith on Jan. 7 after a third-straight 7-10 season, and just four days later, the New England Patriots and Bill Belichick announced that they would be parting ways. Within minutes, Belichick had been linked to the Falcons head-coaching vacancy with the assumption being that the 71-year-old […]

On Sunday afternoon, the Kansas City Chiefs came into Baltimore for the AFC Championship Game to play a Ravens squad that most unbiased fans and analysts considered to be a far superior team. On both sides of the ball, the Ravens had been both better and more consistent than the Chiefs all season long, and […]

Welcome to the final edition of Bracketology for the month of January here at ClutchPoints! Pretty hard to believe that in just a few days, March will officially be just one month away. But let me tell you this… if you’re looking to get a taste of March a month early, wait until we get […]

Life in Los Angeles hasn’t been easy for the Chargers. Since leaving behind San Diego, their home since 1961, ahead of the 2017 NFL season, the Chargers have made just two postseason appearances, and won only a single playoff game in that time. Given the success of Los Angeles’ other team, the Rams, who won […]

The Buffalo Bills entered the offseason with a vacancy at offensive coordinator, and just one week after their season ended in dramatic fashion to the Kansas City Chiefs, they’ve filled that void with the name that most fans and folks around the league expected to get the job… interim offensive coordinator Joe Brady. “The #Bills […]

A few years back on Five Thirty Eight, Chris Herring answered an important and puzzling question… why do the San Antonio Spurs have such difficulty keeping bats out of their home arena? This is what Herring found back in 2019. “The AT&T Center (now the Frost Bank Center) is 25 miles southwest of Bracken Cave, […]

It may all be forgotten at this point, but Minnesota Timberwolves center Rudy Gobert is a key figure in the origin story of San Antonio Spurs rookie sensation Victor Wembanyama. Rewind the clocks back to 2021, when a video popped up on YouTube that showed a then-sixteen-year-old Wembanyama not only holding his own against the three-time […]

It was supposed to be that all of the records that Jerry Rice set during his illustrious 20-year NFL career — and boy oh boy, let me tell ya, there are plenty of ’em — were unbreakable. As far as regular season records go, that may continue to be the case. Even in today’s pass-happy […]

The Kansas City Chiefs cannot afford to look ahead to Super Bowl LVIII. Even though Kansas City, the closest thing to a modern day dynasty in the NFL, has been to three of the last five Super Bowls, Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid, and the Chiefs have never faced a test so tough on their way […]

As I write this, it’s 8:17 AM. I’m sipping on an iced coffee, still wiping away my morning eye crusties, and I’m contemplating which flavor of PopTart I want for breakfast. I was leaning toward Chocolate Fudge — my sweet tooth craves chocolate at all times — but then something happened… I started thinking about […]

The 2023 NFL season has certainly been plenty fun, but every once in a while, we’re reminded that in addition to standing for the National Football League, sometimes NFL stands for No Fun League. This is one of those instances. During the Divisional Round of the NFL Playoffs, the Baltimore Ravens took a commanding 31-10 lead […]

Against the Dallas Mavericks on Friday night, the Atlanta Hawks gave up 148 American basketball points, and nearly half of those points came from Mavs star Luka Doncic, whose 73-point performance goes down — at least for now, but who knows how long that’ll last with how scoring has been trending in the NBA this […]

Following the decision to move on from Bill Belichick after 24 seasons and six Super Bowl titles, a new era of New England Patriots football will begin in 2024. However, it won’t be entirely new faces making up the coaching staff. Jerod Mayo, the long-rumored heir apparent to Belichick, was hired to become the 15th […]

In an offseason that will be defined by multiple potential franchise altering decisions — including the retention of head coach Matt Eberflus and the hiring of new offensive coordinator Shane Waldron — the Chicago Bears have now settled on the man who will look to restore the defense’s reputation as “The Monsters of the Midway.” […]

It’s time to have a discussion about the state of scoring in the NBA, and let me tell you, I’m very happy that someone as astute and thoughtful as CJ McCollum was one of the first to weigh in during a week when we’ve seen four 60-point performances, including two of the ten 70-point performances […]

Earlier this week, Philadelphia 76ers center Joel Embiid scored 70 points in a particularly cruel evisceration of Victor Wembanyama and the San Antonio Spurs. On Friday night, perhaps with a bit of a chip on his shoulder because of a Draft night trade back in 2018, Dallas Mavericks star Luka Doncic came into Atlanta on […]

Following a 3-7 start to the season, the Los Angeles Clippers have stormed back in a big way, winning 26 of their next 33 games, ascending to 3rd in the Western Conference at the time of this writing. You could point to any number of reasons for this in-season turnaround — the collective health of Kawhi […]

In arguably the most surprising coaching hire of the 2024 offseason, the Atlanta Falcons, who were rumored to be closing in on Bill Belichick and a small gathering of Belichick’s former Patriots assistants, instead opted to hire Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris, who got a solid endorsement as a head coaching candidate last week from […]