Mateo’s Hoop Diary: The Spurs suffered the worst meltdown in Finals history in Game 4

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Josh Hart was so close to becoming public enemy number one in New York after blowing an open layup on the break to the horror of home fans, but De’Aaron Fox bailed him out with one of the sorriest plays in NBA Finals history: rushing for a layup when OG Anunoby, of all people, was on his back hip, and all he needed to do was hold onto the ball. Then Anunoby tipped-in the dagger on the next possession.

 

For goodness sake, the Spurs were up a point. The basketball gods recoiled in disgust.

 

It was easily so much worse than J.R. Smith forgetting time and score at the end of Game 1 of the 2018 Finals. The Cleveland Cavaliers still had overtime to play. The Spurs had a pistol in New York’s mouth and then fired on themselves with Fox pulling the trigger.

 

How will Fox sleep at night? He’s so lucky there’s a players’ union that ensures he’ll get on the jet. On top of that, coaches across the world will educate their players with that nightmarish tape in the film room. 

 

They had been up 29 points, and now the Knicks’ win surpasses the Boston Celtics’ epic comeback over the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 4 of the 2008 Finals as the greatest in the NBA’s championship round.

 

The Spurs are going back to San Antonio down 3-1. The only team that’s come back from such depths in the Finals were the 2016 Cavaliers, but they had all-timer in LeBron James. Maybe Victor Wembanyama will finish with a special career, but he is not prime James, so good luck, San Antonio.

 

Wemby choked at the line worse than Manu Ginóbili and Kawhi Leonard in Game 6 at the Miami Heat’s house 13 years ago. He also shot 22.2 percent in the fourth quarter in the biggest game of his life, scoring eight of his team’s 30 second-half points.

 

Mitch Johnson got out-coached, and was unable to direct any solid instruction in the second half when his players were settling for jumpers. He stood there like the witnesses to Jesus’ whipping while the Spurs folded, and he subbed out Dylan Harper when he should have played all of the fourth quarter.

 

Four games have been decided by an average of four points. The reason they aren’t holding the 3-1 lead is because the Knicks are mentally stronger.



Marlins SS Otto Lopez Should be an All-Star

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MIAMI — While there is still a month’s worth of baseball to go, we have seen enough.

Miami Marlins shortstop Otto Lopez should be an All-Star.

Not just an All-Star, but the starting shortstop of the National League. After all, the third-year Marlin leads Major League Baseball in batting average (.341) and hits (89). He is also second among all shortstops in total bases (128) and OPS (.859), while being third in on-base percentage (.369).

With Cincinnati Reds star Elly De La Cruz currently on the injured list, the chase for the top spot at shortstop is between Lopez and CJ Abrams of the Washington Nationals.

After Lopez knocked in three hits, including the go-ahead single in the Marlins’ 10-6 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks on Tuesday, manager Clayton McCullough made the case for why he should be in Philadelphia on July 14.

“This has been a hitting machine since day one of the season, and he’s played a high-level defense,” McCullough said. “There’s hard to find someone at that position in our league that’s having a better year offensively than he is with the average, the clutch hits, and the extra base hits. He’s really doing it on both sides of the ball, and he’s making a very strong case for himself each and every day.”

Lopez is a success story in terms of Peter Bendix’s track record of finding diamonds in the rough. Lopez, born in the Dominican Republic but raised in Canada, spent his first two MLB seasons with the Toronto Blue Jays. The Marlins claimed Lopez off waivers from the San Francisco Giants in 2024, where he batted .270 with a .690 OPS, six home runs, and 39 RBI through 117 games.

Lopez’s slash numbers dropped in 2025, but his power rose with 15 home runs and 77 RBIs. Now, all of his numbers are up.

“I feel pretty good at the plate,” Lopez said. “All the work that I’ve been putting in that year to now, it’s all the experience that’s been working.”

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: The Finals have been better than advertised

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Three Finals games and three road wins. Each night has been decided by an average of five points and neither side has seen much success outside of the lane for long stretches. 

 

According to ESPN Press Room, Game 2 of the Finals averaged 16.43 million viewers, making it the most-watched Finals outing since Game 2 in 2018. The opener nearly had 20 million people watching, too. 

 

The Finals have been better than advertised, and the public might get an all-time great series if the Spurs match New York’s two road wins. Their triumph on Monday ended the Knicks’ 13-game winning streak, the second-longest in NBA history behind the 2017 Golden State Warriors, but another one would set up an epic Game 5 if they could get it done on Wednesday.

 

If the San Antonio Spurs were to win the title, they would be the first team in NBA history to do so after losing the first two home games. They’ll have a good chance if they can replicate all those inside actions from Game 3 for Victor Wembanyama. Eight of his 11 baskets were in the paint.

 

Another thing they’ll need is more production from De’Aaron Fox and Keldon Johnson. They didn’t have big stat lines on Monday, but played a crucial part of the fourth quarter together, helping the team keep their edge, and Fox hit the biggest shot of the game with 12.2 seconds left. 

 

A Knicks championship would make them the seventh third seed since 1983-84 to win. They’ll need Jalen Brunson to pick it up because he’s only making 37 percent of attempts after averaging 48.9 percent through the first three rounds. On top of that, he’s logged just as many turnovers as assists in the Finals. 

 

The Knicks can’t forget about Karl-Anthony Towns, either. The plan should be for him to make Wembanyama work as much as possible, so they’ll need to put him in motion and run a nice diet of screen-rolls for him, too. 

 

Notably, the Knicks and Spurs have allowed 17 and 17.7 wide-open 3-point attempts over the last three games, and are giving up 37.3 and 37.7 percent. That is slightly above average shooting. Both sides are trying to stop penetration at the expense of the arc and are getting lucky that opponents are missing with at least six feet of space.

 

Goodness willing this series extends to a seventh game, which would be the 21st in Finals history.

 

 

 



Mateo’s Hoop Diary: The Spurs need more from Victor Wembanyama in the Finals

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The New York Knicks are living their dreams up 2-0 in the Finals while the San Antonio Spurs are suffering through a nightmare. It’s been a fun series with Game 2 being the best playoff outing since the Western Conference Finals opener, and now the championship round has shifted to New York.

 

One could point to Victor Wembanyama turning the ball over by throwing it to Stephon Castle’s back, or coach Mitch Johnson not calling a timeout before that mistake late in Game 2, considering how shaky the team looked, or how Julian Champagnie has been San Antonio’s only deep threat. Yet the Knicks have gotten contributions from everyone and are ahead because they’ve made Wembanyama look human. Being the more macho team has made it difficult for him to get loose consistently on the inside, making him do the extra work to set up on the perimeter.

 

New York’s Game 2 win was like a body shot that tests the will of its victim. There will be no hiding how badly the Spurs want to keep going the moment they find themselves in a 15-point hole or give up a momentous run in the third quarter. 

 

Wembanyama had a huge third quarter in Game 2, scoring a dozen points on 62.5 percent shooting, but needs to put that type of pressure on New York every minute. He also can’t allow Karl-Anthony Towns to outplay him, especially in key moments. He’ll need to track KAT closer at the arc, and shoot better outside of the lane since he’s missed too many open 3-pointers. The only spot he’s shooting decently is at the rim, but he’s not strong enough to get there every time.

 

The reserves, Luka Kornet and Carter Bryant, have struggled and this means Wemby may have to play extra minutes than the 39.1 he’s averaging in the series. Logging that many is never easy, but many of the greats have done it when there was no other choice. Think back to Michael Jordan averaging 45 minutes in two playoff rounds, LeBron James doing the same seven times or how Wilt Chamberlain did that in 27 of 29 series. The best ones make sure they go down emptying the clip. 

 

Of course, De’Aaron Fox has to start playing like an All-Star again, too. He was nice in the fourth quarter of Game 2, but more of it is necessary so Wembanyama takes open jumpers or scores off easy rolls. 

 

Both games have been decided by 11 combined points. Unless the levy breaks because of mental resignation, the Spurs can still win in New York if they get nastier in the trenches and score more than 12 fastbreak points. 

 

Keep in mind that the Spurs are the third team to be in this position after losing the first two Finals games at home. The previous teams failed.



Miami’s Relief Army Leads Charge Against Tampa Bay

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MIAMI — The Miami Marlins celebrated 90’s Day at loanDepot park on Saturday by having manager Clayton McCullough play his bullpen like a deck of Pokémon cards.

With injuries impacting half of the starting rotation, McCullough played seven relievers during Saturday’s 4-3 win over the Tampa Bay Rays. Starting with Lake Bachar, who tossed three hitless innings with three strikeouts.

“Threw the baseball over the plate as much as I could,” said Bachar. “I just think in general, just get ahead, stay ahead.”

It’s easy for the Marlins to lean towards their bullpen in times of need. Their bullpen leads Major League Baseball in opponents’ batting average (.200), and is second only to the two-time defending World Series champion Los Angeles Dodgers in hits allowed (152). Although more impressively, the Marlins bullpen has pitched 39 more innings than the Dodgers.

“They’re frustrating to try to navigate through,” Rays manager Kevin Cash said. “Nobody gets in a rhythm at all, because you’re not seeing the same pitcher.”

RHP Anthony Bender maintained the bullpen’s collective no-hitter through the fourth parts of the fifth inning before handing it off to John King to finish off the frame. He has a 0.24 WHIP through 12.2 innings over his last 10 appearances. King has not given up a run in 13 straight home games.

The Rays snapped the no-hitter in the sixth inning on a single by former Marlin Victor Mesa Jr. The Rays pulled within one run in the ninth inning and loaded the bases to chase off Marlins closer Pete Fairbanks, who previously made his bones in Tampa Bay.

Tyler Zuber, the least renowned member of the bullpen, came in to strike out Junior Caminero and secure his first career save as a big leaguer.

“My whole pro career, I’ve closed a lot, but this is like one of those things that I wanted the most,” Zuber said. “I’m still shaking right now. I’m shaking now more than I was in my debut, so that tells me that this means a lot.”

The Marlins send Sandy Alcantara on the mound Sunday in hopes of closing out the Citrus Series with a win.

Indiana reporter Scott Agness says treatment from Pacers and Fever is “a little like bullying”

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Independent reporter Scott Agness doesn’t think he would be getting shut out by the Indiana Pacers and Fever if he had ESPN or the Indianapolis Star attached to his name with an editor overseeing his work. If he was at one of those spots, he would have the backing of an editor to handle what he describes as “a little like bullying.” He is the man serving the public with continuous coverage and that will not change despite being persona non grata.

 

Agness, is from Indiana, and was on the scene as far back as 2012. He reported in his Substack newsletter, Fieldhouse Files, on Tuesday about the situation, which first started with the Pacers limiting his access for the 2023-24 season before severing it completely after the All-Star weekend in Indiana. The Fever PR team recently took his credential over a dispute about the reporting of Caitlin Clark’s “strategic management plan.” Agness was notified of his standing by email and says there had never been any issue between he and the PR team.

 

The NBA changed its accessibility rules during the pandemic by creating a tier system for credentialed reporters. Agness was placed in the lower tier. He told Five Reasons Sports Network over the phone, “That negatively impacted me because I got placed in Tier Two because [of] running my own site. There’s like four or five different items of criteria. I covered all of them, the only thing that they did not like is that I run my own business, I did not have an editor. Editorial structure was the word.”

 

He says access was normal before that which meant full access. In the WNBA, they do not allow media inside locker rooms, so reporters are limited to press conferences, shoot-arounds and practice media availability. 

 

In regards to the locker room access, Agness said, “I think for us reporters the biggest thing is it takes away the ability to make observations. Like you see in March Madness, you can see the highest of highs and the lowest of lows, whether it’s a team celebrating together, a couple of players in the corner watching film, or the other way: a player frustrated with their performance with a towel over their head. That is great color that I think you can share with fans.”

 

Not being in those spaces denies the opportunity to talk to a handful of other players. Doing so benefits the public, and as a result creates more interest in the league. 

 

When Agness was still around the Pacers, one of his go-tos in the locker room was talking to the last few players on the bench. “They have a really good feel about where the team is at, what’s going on and why things are working,” Agness said.

 

In those days, David Benner was in charge of the Pacers’ PR team. He died in 2023, and was replaced. Agness never had much of a working relationship with the new chief before he took over and explains in his Tuesday report about his emails not being responded to. Agness just wants a fresh start.

 

Also in his report, he wrote that Pacers PR said he parked in the media parking lot when he wasn’t supposed to. He told FRSN they never provided proof of the accusation, which was used as justification for taking his credential, and that he said it felt “like an excuse they are looking for. That feels like a jail sentence for what should be a parking ticket.”

 

Agness has tried to handle the situation with the Pacers through back channels, but couldn’t remain silent after the Fever barred him. It hasn’t been easy because helping fans connect with the teams is what he loves to do, and he has described the situation as frustrating in a separate interview he did with Caroline Fenton and Coley Harvey of Yahoo Sports.  

 

After Agness’ report, there was mass outpouring of journalists coming out in support of him, posting on X (formerly Twitter). He posted, “I want to thank everyone for the support over the last few days. I know many of you have been asking, but I don’t have an update to share. The work continues. The Fever are back in action tonight, and I’ll keep doing the work and showing up.”

 

It’s unclear when or if he’ll get his credentials back. 



Independent reporter says he was denied access by the Pacers and Fever

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It’s never a good day when a reporter has his credentials snatched for doing his job. Scott Agness, the independent reporter who created his Substack newsletter Fieldhouse Files, says the Indiana Pacers (in 2024) and the Fever recently took his.

 

He reported on Caitlin Clark’s absence that it was “part of a strategic management plan for the season,” and stood by it when challenged by the Fever’s PR department. Their position is that he spread misinformation, when his reporting is consistent with Clark’s handling.

 

Keep in mind that Agness has been on the scene, covering the Fever since 2013, way before they were the biggest attraction in the WNBA. He was also there when they were in the Finals in 2015.

 

The type of treatment Agness describes from the W is not a surprise. In my case, I’ve only ever found the league communications office helpful when asking about something that could help them (Asking for numbers on national TV games when the league started — my point was highlighting how growing a league takes a lot of years.) 

 

Two years ago, I emailed one of the two directors for WNBA Communications, Ron Howard, if the league was looking into Diana Taurasi’s dangerous late-game hit on Cheyenne Parker-Tyus at a critical moment in the game. His first response back was, “Are you a member of the media?”  when we had communicated in the past, and I had been on a conference call with him on it, and he refused to let me ask a question.

 

Perhaps they would have treated Agness with respect if ESPN or CBS were attached to his byline. Or maybe he should have been a shill, and then he’d still have his pass. As long as he remains out of the press room, the public suffers for it.

 

The WNBA Communications office did not respond to a request for comment, and Agness did not answer a request for an interview. 

 

Update: Five Reasons Sports was able to talk to Scott Agness after this was published. Check that out here.



Mateo’s Hoop Diary: The 2026 Finals will be a special series

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What a time to be alive for New York Knicks and San Antonio Spurs fans. The former have patiently waited to get back to the promised land since their magical eighth-seed run in 1999, and the latter has come this far in the build’s first playoff run.

 

Keep in mind that these have been the most-watched playoffs in 28 years, per NBA Communications. The Finals start on Wednesday in San Antonio and those numbers should be great as well. 

 

The Knicks last won in 1973 defeating the Los Angeles Lakers for the second time, and Willis Reed, who hit a momentous mid-range jumper late, was the Finals MVP. Yet, it shouldn’t be forgotten how critical Walt “Clyde” Frazier’s third-quarter takeover was in the closeout Game 5, which was also Wilt Chamberlain‘s last outing.

 

The Spurs’ fifth ring came in 2014 after they savaged the Big Three Miami Heat. Kawhi Leonard was Finals MVP, and he erupted into Miami’s bringer of panic, pain and partition. 

 

So it’s been a long time coming — and this encounter can’t be a bigger embarrassment for Vivek Ranadivé, owner of the wasting Sacramento Kings, which had De’Aaron Fox and Mike Brown both on the team as late as the 2023-24 season.

 

The Knicks had their guts tested when down 2-1 to the Atlanta Hawks, and haven’t lost since. Take a look at these playoff stats:

 

Jalen Brunson has been tearing up any scheme, and is making 54.7 percent of his two-pointers.

 

Karl-Anthony Towns has more than doubled his playoff assists average (5.9).

 

Mikal Bridges is scoring 16.6 points, shooting 63.8 percent over his last 11 games.

 

The Knicks have the top defensive rating in the playoffs (103.5).

 

New York has the highest rebounding percentage (54.8).

 

One of their most important tasks will be limiting the Spurs in transition. Notably, the Spurs have the highest playoff frequency, but the Knicks have been more efficient, logging a sharp 1.32 points per possession. 

 

Now take a look at these playoff numbers for San Antonio:

 

They have the second-best defensive rating (104.4).

 

Victor Wembanyama is scoring 11.2 points in the paint and taking 6.8 free throws per game (87 percent).

 

De’Aaron Fox averages the most deflections on the team (3.4) and recovers the most loose balls (offense 0.6, defense 0.6).

 

One of the things to keep an eye on is the 3-point shooting. They allow between 17 and 18 wide-open 3-point attempts per night, but New York has been drastically affected less, giving up 31.8 percent to San Antonio’s 37.1. The winner of this series could be determined by which team is more disciplined, staying attached to shooters, especially late if the game is close.

 

Another thing to key in on will be who Karl-Anthony Towns guards if OG Anunoby is checking Wemby. Expect the Spurs to test Towns’ resistance defending at the level of the screen, too. 

 

Considering how the Knicks will be the strongest opponent the Spurs have seen, it might be a good idea for coach Mitch Johnson to play Wembanyama more than 37.7 minutes per game, like was allowed in the Western Conference Finals against Oklahoma City. He’s a top-shelf athlete so he should be able to power into the 40s.

 

The outcomes are tantalizing. If the Spurs win, Wembanyama will be crowned as the new face of the league. And if New York triumphs with Brunson leading the charge, like he has been, the he will join rarified air next to Isiah Thomas and Stephen Curry as the small guards of history to lead their team to a championship.

 

Mateo’s Hoop Diary: Notes on the Western Conference Finals between OKC and San Antonio

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The Western Conference Finals are headed for Game 7 in Oklahoma City on Saturday, deciding which team will face off against the New York Knicks in the championship round.  As it was correctly pointed out on Game 6’s NBC/Peacock broadcast, it’s been the best WCF since 2018. 

 

Here are some quick stats ahead of Game 7:

 

1.The Spurs haven’t been able to punish OKC from the corners (29.8 percent).

 

2.OKC’s bench (49.1) has outscored San Antonio’s (28.8) in all but one game. 

 

3.The leading scorers for each team have been Shai Gilgeous-Alexander (24.3 on 37.9 percent shooting) and Victor Wembanyama (28.2 on 48.2 percent accuracy).

 

4.Before this postseason, home teams won a Game 7 74.2 percent of the time. The Cleveland Cavaliers and Philadelphia 76ers were the only teams that won a Game 7 on the road this year.

 

5.The only road victories of the series were Game 1 for the Spurs and Game 3 for the Thunder. 

 

Naturally, both sides are sick of each other; the Thunder have flopped, plus Lu Dort has deployed dirty tactics, like recklessly jumping into De’Aaron Fox’s leg. Carter Bryant has given it back to them by ramming into Shai Gilgeous-Alexander twice in Game 6 and was lucky he didn’t get ejected. 

 

The champs are at a disadvantage because their second-best player (Jalen Williams) made an ineffective return from hamstring injury following a three-game absence, and Ajay Mitchell missed the last three outings with a calf strain, too. Yet Shai Gilgeous-Alexander is further validating his MVP crown by picking up the slack for them and others. While the sportsbooks favor the Thunder, it will still take a top-notch performance from SGA to eliminate the Spurs since Chet Holmgren has been physically overmatched for much of the series.

 

The same can be said for Wembanyama if he wants to put down the champs. The best way he can do that is to catch most of his passes from the middle to short range, so he doesn’t have to work as hard. Putting him in motion as the curler around stagger and down screens, or passing to him after using him as the screener, would help.

 

On top of that, since its Game 7, coach Mitch Johnson can’t conserve Wemby’s minutes, and has to be prepared to let him go into the 40s without overtime, especially when Fox has been having a rough series. Playing him below 40 was one of the reasons they lost Game 2, 3 and 5 as well.

 

The Thunder are chasing history to be the eighth team to repeat and the first since 2017 & 2018 (Golden State Warriors). The Spurs are the new kids on the block that want what they have. This will be a series that’s remembered.

 

AJ DeLaGarza Opens Up On Miami Days to FiveReasons

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After establishing himself as one of the most iconic soccer players of all time, David Beckham has spent the past decade building Inter Miami from the ground up as the club’s President and Co-Owner. Only two players have had the privilege of working alongside Beckham both as a teammate as well as an employee of his team: Blaise Matuidi, who played with Beckham at Paris Saint-Germain, and A.J. DeLaGarza, who played with him at LA Galaxy.

 

Born on November 4, 1987, Adolph Joseph DeLaGarza was raised in Bryans Road, MD and quickly established himself as one of the best young talents in the state, eventually earning a move to the University of Maryland, College Park. He led the Terrapins to the National Championship in his freshman and senior year, prompting the LA Galaxy to select him with the 19th overall pick of the 2009 MLS SuperDraft by LA Galaxy. DeLaGarza quickly emerged as a vital cog in defense, leading the Galaxy to three MLS Cups and becoming one of just a handful of players to make 200+ appearances for them. He also made a name for himself at the international level, playing two friendlies for the USMNT in January 2012 before switching to Guam and registering 11 caps – including their first-ever two World Cup qualifying wins vs. Turkmenistan and India.

 

DeLaGarza departed for Houston Dynamo in 2017, leading them to a first playoff spot in three years, before enjoying a brief sojourn with expansion side Inter Miami during the 2020 season. He spent the final two seasons of his career with New England Revolution before retiring in November 2022: since then, he’s passed his time raising his three children in the Carolinas, bouncing around from various startup companies like ZALA and Photon Sports, working as a Match Director for MLS, and launching The GoalDen, an elite indoor soccer facility in Charlotte. Five Reasons Sports spoke to DeLagarza about a number of topics, including:

 

You grew up in Charles County…what was it like playing in this region of Maryland, and trying to prove yourself as not just one of the best players in the state, but one of the best players in the country? It does seem like early on, you were recognized as one of the top young players in Maryland. Was that a lot of pressure dealing with that?

 

Well, just for geography, Charles County is in southern Maryland, so I was actually right outside of Washington D.C., but I did play for a club team that was in Baltimore. The travel and the commute there every week to get to training, I remember going to training right after high school ended, and I would go sit up there and just wait for practice to start because of that commute, and if you waited too long, you were gonna be stuck in traffic and potentially miss practice. I would go there and take a nap in the parking lot if I needed to and all that in high school, but yeah, I would say that I kind of felt some pressure not until I was in high school, when I was one of two freshmen to make varsity. I was a starter, and I was also a forward, and as a freshman in high school, I probably weighed 95 pounds. But here I was, playing against grown men, right?

 

There were guys who were 3-4 years older than me, which I was not used to. I ended my first year as the leading scorer, making the all-conference team and the all-county team. I won’t say I had a target on my back, but everyone knew who I was at that point, if they hadn’t already. I would say that freshman year in high school was really where my name really started to get out there. and then I had expectations to follow that, and unfortunately, my sophomore year did not go as well as my freshman year. Our team went 0-16, we didn’t win a single game, and I still had to show up every day and try to be a leader. Unfortunately, it didn’t work out, but I think that going through that tough year helped me be a better teammate and a better communicator.

 

It was a challenge that most kids nowadays are like, ‘I don’t want to do that,’ whereas that helped me and made me stronger. I remember crying on the field in our playoff game. We all make the playoffs, so we actually lost 10-0 in the playoffs, and it was on Halloween night, and a few of our starters decided to go trick-or-treating instead of coming to our playoff game. Unfortunately, that was the commitment level of some of my teammates, whereas I was out there doing whatever I could, and at the end of the day, I was still all-county, and still all-conference, and all that. I try to put my best foot forward, even under very difficult circumstances.

 

Talk to me about your move to Inter Miami; did your previous relationship with David Beckham play a role in your transfer, or not really?

 

I mean, I’m sure it did. Obviously, he knew who I was and my character and all that, so I’m sure he had a little bit of an influence on certain moves. It’s cool to be one of two players that he played with, and then employed as an owner alongside Matuidi…pretty cool experiences.

 

Overall, what did you make of your time in Miami? Obviously, they were just starting off at that point, what was it like playing with an expansion side?

 

 Yeah, that’s one of the biggest what-ifs. Obviously, we all wish COVID didn’t happen, but I wish the experience was a little bit different in year one, especially with that team. But also, I remember being in preseason, and I was actually doing finishing drills with the strikers, and the defenders were doing defending drills, and I was like, ‘Hold up, does this coach know who I am? He’s got me on the wrong side of the field, like, what am I doing up here? It was hard because we were not good; we were not playing well. I had asked manager Diego Alonso midway through the year, ‘What do I need to do to get on the field?

 

And he told me, ‘You do everything great, but I like my center backs to be taller and faster. And I was like, ‘You really don’t know who I am, right? It’s not all about being tall and fast. You have to be able to read the game and control moments, and give the balls to the proper people to make things happen, right? That’s what I felt like I was good at, and unfortunately, I wasn’t given that opportunity until really late into the season, and we started doing well, we were the last team to make the playoffs, and then the COVID bug hit us again. We were missing too many folks in the playoffs, and we got bounced by Nashville. I was a free agent again, and left to go to New England, so that’s one of the biggest what-ifs, because I really enjoyed my time in Miami and where we lived, and the culture, and all that.

 

Do you feel like that’s the biggest regret of your soccer career?

 

Yeah, I would’ve liked to have stayed there a little bit longer to see that club evolve, obviously, to what they are today. It would have been great to be a little bit more stable, right? Like, I had to move two cities in one year, so that was hard on my family, and I had young kids at the time as well.