Daily Horoscope

Nancy Black

Tribune Content Agency

Linda

Black Horoscopes

Today’s Birthday (02/24/23). Reap a bountiful harvest this year. Disciplined practices build to realize your long-term dreams. Springtime animates imaginative possibilities, motivating the redirection of your summer research. Joint ventures earn extra autumn profits, before changes reorient your creative communications. Invest and save for the future.

To get the advantage, check the day’s rating: 10 is the easiest day, 0 the most challenging.

Aries (March 21-April 19) — Today is a 9 — Take advantage of favorable financial conditions. Buy, sell and trade. Monitor accounts for growth. Changes can bring lucrative opportunities. Advance to the next level.

Taurus (April 20-May 20) — Today is a 9 — Changes could benefit you personally. Confidence comes in handy. Direct positive attention toward a passion project. Energize your efforts. Pour on the steam.

Gemini (May 21-June 20) — Today is a 7 — Settle into your private productivity zone. Adapt plans around an evolving situation. Look for hidden opportunities and find them. Notice dreams. Envision perfection.

Cancer (June 21-July 22) — Today is a 7 — Exchange the latest. Network to share news, data and resources. Reconnect with friends and teammates. Adapt shared projects to take advantage of recent changes.

Leo (July 23-Aug. 22) — Today is an 8 — Take charge for career gain. Expect a test. Polish promo materials. Update your bios and public profiles. Prepare to catch an opportunity before it happens.

Virgo (Aug. 23-Sept. 22) — Today is an 8 — Study the options. Plan your itinerary to grab a lucky break. Organization and preparation allows you to travel light. Advance an exciting exploration.

Libra (Sept. 23-Oct. 22) — Today is an 8 — Monitor financial conditions with shared accounts. Investments can surge. Carefully manage for growth. You’re building for the future. Conserve resources. Nurture your garden.

Scorpio (Oct. 23-Nov. 21) — Today is an 8 — Learn from another’s experience. Discover something new about someone you love. Collaborative efforts flower. Ally forces for common gain. Romantic connections develop naturally.

Sagittarius (Nov. 22-Dec. 21) — Today is a 9 — Prioritize your work and health. Power into a busy schedule with good food and rest. Exercise and nature recharge you. Physical action gets satisfying results.

Capricorn (Dec. 22-Jan. 19) — Today is an 8 — Have fun with someone charming. Connect around common passion. Relax and get playful. Creativity flowers. Romance blossoms. Discover beauty hiding in plain sight.

Aquarius (Jan. 20-Feb. 18) — Today is a 7 — Stick close to home. Conserve resources. Manage systems for comfort and functionality. Organize, clean and clear space for upcoming projects. You’re cooking up something fun.

Pisces (Feb. 19-March 20) — Today is an 8 — Follow your curiosity. Get carried away by a fascinating thread. One clue leads to another. Summarize and share the benefits of your research.

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Sally Hoelscher & Wendy L. Brandes

Solution to Thursday’s puzzle

Complete the grid so each row, column and 3-by-3 box (in bold borders) contains every digit, 1 to 9. For strategies on how to solve Sudoku, visit sudoku.org.uk

Whether their choice is made over years or months, one of the biggest things Taylor brings into account is the players’ personality and attitude off-court. With so many results tied to individual performance, having the right team chemistry can make all the difference on the sideline, in training or mid-match. Passionate and energetic players can keep their teammates energized, and cool personalities keep level heads in their or other games.

“You can’t have all testosteronedriven egomaniacs that are going nuts, but then you also can’t have just all soft spoken guys,” Taylor said. “When you’re looking down the line a year or two, you want to bring in a freshman that can sort of emulate an Isaac Becroft or a Tyler Zink… guys that could bring power or calm to a team at any given time.”

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Alongside his role as assistant coach of a Virginia team that won four national championships and produced two national singles champions, Taylor spent more than a decade as a professional coach on the ATP tour, tutoring former NCAA players from across the country to career-high pro rankings.

The experience of working with college players on the professional tour puts Taylor, affectionately dubbed ‘DT,’ in a unique position to maximize player development for success on the professional and collegiate stage.

“We want to pride ourselves on being one of those elite programs that takes every player, tries to look through their lens and tries to develop their identity, has that player buy into their identity and have a bunch of different game styles [on our team],” Taylor said. Taylor implements his coaching method across the program in different ways. He exposes players to film of like-minded professionals, pushes them to explore their on-court personalities and how to infuse it into their game. For freshman Alessio Basile, it’s a system he’s not used to but enjoying being a part of.

“My childhood idol was Roger Federer,” Basile said, “but at the moment, I try to take a bit away from (world No. 21) Tommy Paul. I mean, we talk about with our coaches, like ‘try and find your identity,’ and it told me that I match pretty well with Tommy Paul. So I try to look up to him more now.”

Individual lessons are also key to the system — whereas other Power Five programs across the country typically implement weekly or biweekly lessons, Taylor believes daily work is key to both current and future success. Although entirely optional, it’s taken advantage, who already work with individual coaches or parents in the offseason.

“In the time that I’ve been at Oklahoma State, it’s clear to me that I’ve gotten better in the short period of time that I’ve been here,” Zink said.

“They’ve been such a help to me… just having more of a plan, really playing a ball ahead; I wasn’t very good at it coming here, but I’m starting to get the hang of it more and being able to do it in competition.”

While Taylor is focused on winning as a team in the present, with his system and history of creating high-level pros, he could soon put a Cowboy in the same place as Shelton found himself in January, or perhaps even higher.

“That’s promised to them in the recruiting pitch, Taylor said. If you just do team practice, it’s gonna create a good competitive environment, but actually developing guys’ games? I found it tough to do with six courts going on and the madness that team practice is … it’s something that we as coaches in our staff we really pride ourselves on, that we’re going to give you the individual time that guys on the tour are getting with a coach.” sports.ed@ocolly.com