Michael Kan

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PCMag
2019-05-17 20:54:44 UTC

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North Korea has demanded the United Nations take “urgent measures” to help return a cargo ship taken by the United States, calling the seizure a “heinous” act.

Washington announced last week it had taken possession of the North Korean-registered bulk carrier M/V Wise Honest – a year after it was detained in Indonesia – citing sanctions-violating activities.

“This act of dispossession has clearly indicated that the United States is indeed a gangster country that does not care at all about international laws,” the North Korean ambassador to the UN said in a letter sent to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres dated Friday, according to North Korea’s KCNA news agency.

Earlier this week, Pyongyang had slammed the seizure as an “outright denial” of the spirit of a statement signed by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump at their first summit in Singapore last year.

The US Justice Department said the North Korean cargo ship was seized and impounded to American Samoa. The vessel was accused of illicit coal shipments in violation of sanctions.

The ship was first confiscated by other foreign maritime authorities in Indonesia in April 2018.

The 17,000-tonne ship, which was also used to deliver heavy machinery to North Korea, is one of the country’s largest bulk carriers, the Justice Department said.

The case marks the first time the US has seized a North Korean cargo vessel for violating sanctions.

The seizure came amid heightened tensions after Pyongyang conducted weapons drills involving short-range missiles in recent weeks, and with nuclear talks deadlocked since the collapse of the Hanoi summit between Trump and Kim earlier this year.

With the denuclearisation talks stalled, North Korea went ahead with more weapons tests this month. The tests were seen as a protest by Kim after Trump rejected his calls for sanctions relief at the Hanoi summit.

North Korea is sanctioned under multiple UN Security Council resolutions for its nuclear and missile programmes, and lifting of some of the measures was a key demand from Pyongyang at the second Trump-Kim summit in February that ultimately broke down without a deal.

Why did Pyong Yang fire new missiles? | Inside Story

SOURCE:
News agencies

Syrian air defences have targeted projectiles coming from “occupied territory”, a reference to Israel and the Palestinian territories, and brought some of them down, Syrian state television reported.

Loud blasts echoed across Damascus late on Friday, residents said, shortly before the television news bulletin that reported the incident.

SANA, Syria’s state news agency, quoted a Syrian military source who said that the air defence system was activated against missiles fired at western Damascus from the direction of Quneitra, in the occupied Golan Heights.

The state television channel also showed footage of the night sky with a point of light firing up into it and the sound of shooting, and reported that air defenses had brought down some objects. It did not immediately report casualties or material damage.

Last month, three Syrian government fighters were wounded in Israeli raids on military positions in the city of Musayaf in the province of Hama late last month.

Syrian military sources said at the time that the Israeli aircraft had carried out raids from Lebanese airspace.

The Israeli military does not usually comment on reports concerning its air attacks in neighbouring Syria though it has recently acknowledged hitting what Tel Aviv claims are Iranian targets in Syria.

Since the civil war started, Israel has carried out scores of military air bombings in Syria against suspected arms transfers and deployments by Iranian forces and their Lebanese Hezbollah allies which are backing Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

SOURCE:
News agencies

It’s been less than a week since Kawhi Leonard hit the biggest shot in Toronto Raptors history, a fallaway from the corner that bounced on the rim four times before falling through and becoming the first Game 7, winner-take-all buzzer beater in NBA history.

Two games later, the Raptors are down 0-2 to the top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks. For stretches of the 125-103 Game 2 loss, they looked helpless, particularly against MVP candidate Giannis Antetokounmpo.

With just under six minutes to play, Antetokounmpo powered through three Raptors for an and-one. Milwaukee faithful chanted “MVP!” as he nailed the free throw, extended the lead to 18 and shut the door on a mini-run by the Raptors. He finished the game with 30 points, 17 rebounds, five assists, two blocks and a steal.

Despite several small surges from Toronto during the second half on Friday, Game 2 provided precious little hope for Raptors fans just five days removed from witnessing Kawhi’s season-saving shot. Leonard continued his ludicrous run through the 2019 postseason, scoring 31 points on 10-of-18 shooting, but the rest of the team was 27-of-69 (39.1 percent). Toronto starters not named Kawhi went 11-of-37 (29.7 percent).

To beat a team as good as the Bucks—who just had the 29th-best regular season in NBA history, according to simple rating system—the North will need significantly better production.

In 2017-18, Toronto had eight players with at least 500 minutes and an above-average box plus-minus. Only the Golden State Warriors had more. It was depth that made the Raptors so good last season. And four of those players were dealt elsewhere since the end of the 2018 playoffs.

Jonas Valanciunas, Delon Wright, Jakob Poeltl and, of course, DeMar DeRozan are all gone. Marc Gasol and Leonard are in their place. Obviously, that’s a trade-off that just about any front office in the league would make. But now, in the Eastern Conference Finals, Toronto looks overwhelmed against a deeper team.

Leonard has been doing his part. Gasol has to be better.

“I played really bad,” Gasol told reporters after the game. “And that set the tone.”

After going 1-of-9 from the field in Game 2, Gasol (acquired in exchange for Valanciunas and Wright) is now 3-of-20 in this series. He’s a minus-13, and it’s about more than missing shots. In Game 1, he at least had 12 boards and five assists. His five rebounds and one dime on Friday did little to move the needle.

His frontcourt partner hasn’t been much better. After a breakout regular season, Pascal Siakam is being outplayed by Bucks backup forward Ersan Ilyasova. Yes, Ersan Ilyasova.

“Since November I’ve been worried Ersan would be unplayable against Toronto if these teams met in the playoffs,” Brew Hoops’s Frank Madden tweeted. “Two games in, Ersan has not just been playable — he’s somehow also outplayed Siakam. Big, big kudos to Ersan.”

Like Gasol, Siakam has been terrible from the field. He’s now 10-of-29 for the series, this after averaging over 20 in the postseason prior to this matchup. And to make matters worse, foul trouble limited him to 26 minutes in Game 2.

“It didn’t look like it tonight,” Siakam said of being nominated for Most Improved Player prior to the game, per TSN’s Josh Lewenberg. “I’ve gotta be more aggressive, I’ve gotta do a better job, I’ve gotta be better.”

It may sound reductive to simply say guys need to make more shots for Toronto, but that’s clearly been an issue for them. Against the length and athleticism of Milwaukee, you have to take advantage of the decent looks you get.

The bigger picture here is that the Raptors just may not have the firepower they need to beat the Bucks. They played about as well as they could for the first three quarters of Game 1 and still managed to lose.

Milwaukee looks like a juggernaut. And not just in this series. Over the course of the postseason, the Bucks are destroying Vegas’ lines, per John Ewing of The Action Network:

They have perhaps the game’s best player in Giannis, surrounded by seven or eight guys who’ve been solid throughout the playoffs.

Toronto, meanwhile, has looked like a one-man show for stretches. And while it’s a good one, Leonard needs more help to upend Milwaukee.

With his team needing to win four out of the next five to avoid elimination, that thought may be creeping into Kawhi’s head too. Bucks fans certainly tried to plant it there on Friday:

The Los Angeles Clippers have just under $50 million in salary guaranteed for next season. The cap is projected to be $109 million. That’s enough room for L.A.’s own Kawhi to sign there and add plenty of help around him. If the Clips can find a taker for the $22.6 million Danilo Gallinari is owed in 2019-20, they can get real aggressive.

A team with Kawhi, Lou Williams, Montrezl Harrell, Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Landry Shamet, and oh, say Jimmy Butler (?) would be pretty scary, right? And L.A. is the kind of market Leonard was reportedly after when things broke down between him and the San Antonio Spurs.

And the Clippers aren’t the only big-city franchise poised to go after big names this summer. The New York Knicks and Brooklyn Nets will both have significant cap space. And though rumors floated around this season about young players not wanting to join LeBron James, that team still screams folklore.

Leonard is from Los Angeles. And he grew up there in the 90s and early 2000s. Kobe Bryant and Shaquille won their first of three consecutive titles for the historic franchise just before Leonard’s ninth birthday. If the heartstrings have any say in the matter, the Lakers may still be in play.

With all those options potentially in front of him, will Leonard want to re-up with the North right after being dismantled by Milwaukee?

He’s provided plenty of excitement in one season with this organization. On top of the buzzer beater, he posted the sixth-best single-season box plus-minus in Raptors history. If he maintains his current level of play, he will comfortably put up the best playoff box plus-minus the team has ever had.

But time may already be running out on this player-team relationship. Even with someone as good as Kawhi, the Raptors look outmatched.

And if their best player leaves, Toronto may have to go back to the drawing board. Sure, Siakam will still be there. And he should be better. But Serge Ibaka, Gasol and Lowry will all be a year older. Fred VanVleet doesn’t look quite as promising as he did a year ago. Same might go for OG Anunoby. And even without Leonard on the books, the Raptors won’t have much, if any, flexibility with the salary cap.

That’s the risk general manager Masai Ujiri took when he dealt DeRozan, the face of the franchise, and Poeltl, a key cog in an intriguing young core, for Leonard.

The trade made sense because of the potential reward, but Giannis and the Bucks may be holding it at a (long)-arm’s length away.

Malcolm Brogdon collected a Game 2 victory and a hefty financial commitment from NBA legend Charles Barkley on Friday night.

Following the Milwaukee Bucks’ 125-103 win over the Toronto Raptors, Brogdon spoke to TNT’s Inside the NBA crew. During the interview, Brogdon discussed his involvement in a charity that’s focused on building wells in East Africa. On the spot, Barkley told Brogdon he’d foot the bill for a $45,000 water well.

Brogdon teamed up with fellow NBA veterans Justin Anderson, Joe Harris, Garrett Temple and Anthony Tolliver to create Hoops2o last October.

“I saw from a very young age the value of clean water in communities in Africa,” he said of the initiative. “I made a promise to myself that once I reached a time and place in my career where I could do more, I would.”

Brogdon added he was inspired by Chris Long’s Waterboys charity and works alongside the Philadelphia Eagles defensive end. According to the group’s website, Waterboys has helped to fund the construction of 59 wells throughout Tanzania.

The Milwaukee Bucks jumped out to a 2-0 series lead over the Toronto Raptors in the Eastern Conference Finals following a 125-103 win Friday at Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee.

Giannis Antetokounmpo posted 30 points, 17 rebounds and five assists in the victory. 

Khris Middleton was an efficient 5-of-8 en route to a 12-point night. Malcolm Brogdon also chipped in with 14 points, four rebounds and five assists off the bench.

Kawhi Leonard had 31 points and eight rebounds in the loss. 

Kyle Lowry had a night to forget, shooting 4-of-13 for 15 points.

Brogdon, Mirotic Can Help Bucks Dethrone Warriors

Last year’s playoffs illustrated the Bucks’ limitations when Antetokounmpo and Middleton basically have to do everything themselves. Antetokounmpo averaged 25.7 points, 9.6 rebounds and 6.3 assists, while Middleton averaged 24.7 points and shot 61 percent from three.

Their contributions couldn’t prevent a first-round exit to a more balanced Boston Celtics squad.

Going from Joe Prunty to Mike Budenholzer at head coach obviously had an impact, but this year’s postseason has shown how much stronger the Bucks are across the board. In the second round, George Hill exploded for 52 points in the final three games of the series. Brook Lopez was instrumental in Milwaukee’s Game 1 over Toronto, with 29 points and four blocks.

On Friday night, the trio of Malcolm Brogdon, Nikola Mirotic and Ersan Ilyasova collectively stepped up make the Raptors miserable. They scored 46 points together and shot 7-of-18 from the perimeter. 

Ilyasova’s 17 points were two short of his season high.

In a possible Finals matchup with the Golden State Warriors, the Bucks would clearly need Antetokounmpo and Middleton to lead the way. In order to actually beat the Warriors, Milwaukee’s supporting cast would need to continue delivering as it has throughout the postseason.

Brogdon and Mirotic should be particularly vital. Brogdon is one of the team’s best perimeter defenders and would thus would probably draw Klay Thompson when he’s on the floor. Mirotic is responsible for helping space the floor for Antetokounmpo and providing an outlet when the Warriors crowd the Greek Freak.

Warriors head coach Steve Kerr told reporters it’s unclear how long Kevin Durant might be out with his calf strain, per ESPN.com’s Nick Friedell. If Durant’s injury continues to linger into the Finals, then a deeper Bucks roster will push Golden State to the limit in a seven-game series.

Raptors Facing Bleak Future

Leonard’s Game 7 buzzer-beater against the Philadelphia 76ers already feels like a lifetime ago.

On that night, anything seemed possible. The Raptors could roll through the Bucks en route to the Finals. Leonard could re-sign with Toronto, extending the franchise’s championship window for the foreseeable future.

Friday night was a reality check for the Raptors. Toronto is two games away from a playoff exit and an offseason that could radically alter the team’s long-term direction.

Bucks fans weren’t above trolling their Canadian counterparts about Leonard’s impending free agency—assuming he opts out of his contract.

Independent of Leonard’s decision, going through the Eastern Conference won’t get any easier in 2020. 

As soon as the Raptors watch LeBron James head westward, they see Antetokounmpo essentially become the same kind of singular challenge to overcome in the playoffs. And Antetokounmpo is still 24, so he’s only approaching his prime playing years.

The 76ers, too, should be improved with a full season of Jimmy Butler and Tobias Harris if they decide to run things back next season. The Boston Celtics might benefit from a return to legitimate team chemistry if Kyrie Irving decides to opt out this summer. The New York Knicks would look a lot different if they can land Irving and/or Kevin Durant in free agency.

Even if they stand pat and retain all of their best players, the Raptors are bound to have a higher level of competition in the East.

Take Leonard out of the mix and things get pretty dark. The Raptors’ lack of depth behind Leonard has been clear throughout the playoffs.

In general, it’s way too early to consider a complete teardown. But fans may be seeing the end of the Raptors’ run as a title threat without a complete roster overhaul.

What’s Next?

The series moves to Toronto for Game 3 on Sunday, with tip-off scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. While not an elimination game, it’s effectively a must-win situation for the Raptors. Falling behind 3-0 to the top-seeded Bucks would be an almost impossible mountain to climb.