Fc Dallas Practice Observations: June 12

Two days after Nikola Jokic bluntly said the Nuggets are “not a good shooting team,” he tried to take matters into his own hands. His 41 points and career-high seven 3-pointers were enough to erase an 18-point deficit, but not enough to protect Denver’s late lead in a 109-104 loss to the Clippers on Saturday at Ball Arena.

AURORA — Riverdale Ridge just put Class 5A on notice. In the school’s first year in the biggest classification, the Ravens claimed the state title by beating Broomfield 9-8 in the semifinals and then Cherokee Trail 8-4 in the championship on Saturday at Aurora Sports Park. It marked the young school’s first team title in Class 5A, and only its third team title overall, joining Class 4A crowns in boys golf in 2021 and girls basketball last winter. Not bad for a program that started with just seven players at its first practice six years ago. “That first practice, us coaches looked at each other and I said, ‘It’s time to walk the halls,'” Riverdale Ridge head coach Ray Garza said.

AURORA — For a program that’s just five years old, Lutheran softball’s already cemented a dynasty. Lutheran pitcher Annie Schroeder delivers against Windsor during their 4A title game on Saturday, Oct. 26, 2024, at Aurora Sports Park in Aurora, Colorado. Lutheran won 1-0. (Photo by Andy Colwell/Special to The Denver Post) The Lions beat Windsor in the Class 4A title game on Saturday at Aurora Sports Park, 1-0, as sophomore Annie Schroeder pitched a complete-game shutout. It marked Lutheran’s fourth straight title, and third consecutive in 4A, in their fifth straight title game appearance since the program was founded in 2020. “If someone could show me a better class of freshmen through seniors, who had a better run, I’d sit down and have a drink with them,” Lutheran head coach Glen Maestretti said.

AURORA — Be it fall or spring, Eaton’s diamond dominance can’t be stopped. The Reds won their third straight Class 3A softball title and fourth championship in five seasons with an 8-6 victory over rival University on Saturday at Aurora Sports Park. It marked the latest breakthrough for an Eaton softball program that’s started to match the supremacy of the school’s baseball team, which owns a CHSAA-record 15 titles, including four in a row. “Community support and passion for the game are similar in baseball and softball,” first-year head coach Chad Shaw said.

It is time for the Broncos to stop running from the truth. Bo Nix is quick. Not by quarterback standards. By any standard. He cannot pass through a school zone without getting a ticket. He has eclipsed 20 mph on multiple runs, whether a scramble or designed. As we reach the midway point of the season Sunday, coach Sean Payton needs to lean into the movie that is playing on the Mile High Jumbotron, “Fast & Curious.” The prevailing opinion is that Nix was selected in the draft for his accuracy.

BOULDER — You want to know why the Buffs would run through Hades in a gasoline suit, to paraphrase the late Pete Rose, for Robert Livingston? Because he’ll do the same for them. No matter how badly his lungs burn. “I always thought he was a very confident young man. Whenever something would go wrong, a mistake, he wouldn’t let it bother him,” Jimmye Laycock, who coached CU’s wunderkind defensive coordinator at William & Mary, told me recently by phone.