Month: February 2014

Warriors arena at piers 30-32: Warriors back to the drawing board;voters avalanche City Hall with height control ballots

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by Ken Gimblin

SAN FRANCISCO–Warriors spokesman Nathan Ballard said it best this whole new arena idea about building on a few deteriorating pylons at Pier 30-32 wasn’t going to be the slam dunk as the NBA basketball team thought it would be. The drawing of what the UFO looking saucer arena would be with a bay window that would put any see through glass around here to shame overlooking the bay, Bay Bridge, and what would be the Warriors former home the East Bay was rejected for it’s size by registered voters in San Francisco in the size of 20,000 ballots whom have spoken loudly asking for a measure that asks voters to control the height of a new Warriors arena.

The main protest is that San Francisco residents do not want any of the proposed projects by the Warriors to block or be over sized in blocking the waterfront bayviews, “it’s difficult to build an arena over the water when we’re replacing two crumbling piers that are dilapidated and falling into the bay, we never said this was going to be easy” said Ballard. A San Francisco ballot measure that asks city voters should there be height control to not only the Warriors proposed 12 story new arena but also the planning of a 17 story luxury condo and ten story hotel to be built across the street from Piers 30-32 at the Embarcadero.

Jim Stearns spokesman for the height control ballots says any confusion over this issue between voters and City Hall should be cleared up after more than 20,000 ballots were double the minimum of 10,000 to qualify to get the measure on the ballot, “there’s been a disconnect between City Hall and the voters about waterfront height limits. We’re confident the voters want to have a say in what is developed there” said Steans.

Some of the voters or city residents do not want a Warriors arena at the piers at all but at the very least they want an arena with limitations to what was proposed in the original Warriors blueprints. The drawing of the structure left very little doubt that the hotel, condo or the arena should have height limitations according to those who signed the ballots. San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee who called the new arena “a legacy” to his administration has backed off that stance and has recently said that it is up to the voters of San Francisco what the future of the waterfront should look like.

After the realizing the city voters are ready to squash any over sized building at the piers the Warriors go back to the architect and will redesign a new arena that will hopefully satisfy the residents height issues. The Warriors were hoping to have the arena done by 2017 but now have set their completion date at 2018 by that time it is expected that the Warriors will have both sides of the argument on board fully.

The Warriors have met with community leaders for and against the project on Tuesday at Pier 1 showing the Warriors schedule and the steps to be taken over the course of the months between now and 2018 on the development of the arena, condos, and hotel. There is little doubt after the Warriors backtracked on a new completion date that they will also introduce new height sizes for the three buildings.

The Warriors are concerned that the size reduction might cut into their business profits as the hotel and condo were designated to off set the new arena costs. While Ballard said piers 30-32 were dilapidating the Pier 1 meeting no doubt will aim to settle the arena being built at piers 30-32 regardless of the piers condition.

Meanwhile the ballot measure that will ask voters if there should be a height limitation on any new buildings at the pier 30-32 site will be on the June 2014 election ballot. It might be all for not as the Warriors sound like their prepared to adjust the size to satisfy the voters and waterfront residents so they can get the downsized project off the ground at a shorter version. The Warriors want to get an idea of when groundbreaking day is going to be they might have to go to the voter to find that out.

Ken Gimblin is covering the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings arena developments for Sportstalk radio

Flyers too much for the Sharks

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By Ivan Makarov

Going into the Monday night matchup against Philadelphia Flyers at SAP Center, San Jose Sharks did not lose to that team in 13 straight games, dating all the way back to December 21, 2000. The world was very different back then – we could bring liquids on the plane, there was no iPhone and the average price of gas was $1.65 per gallon.

The winning streak against the Flyers came to an end in one of the more disappointing performances by the home team. After beating the current Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks at home on Saturday, the Sharks showed the lack of consistency, focus and depth, and lost 5-2.

The only positive time for the Sharks came in the first period when Sharks showed speed and resiliency they are known for when playing at home this season, especially at the start of the game. They did allow the Flyers to score first on their power play, when Mark Streit put a slapshot past Antti Neimi while he was screened by Flyers’ forward Wayne Simmonds. But the Sharks came right back and tied the game three minutes later on their own power play. Matt Neito scored after a nifty pass from Tommy Wingels as he was the first to the puck after Matt Irwin dumped it inside the Flyers zone.

Matt Nieto didn’t stop there and recorded another goal five minutes later. During Sharks possession inside the Flyers zone he was able to skate away from coverage. As he received the pass from Brent Burns from the corner, he made a great individual play as he paused the puck to bring Steve Mason down and put the puck into the net.

But this is where positives ended for the Sharks.

Being up one goal, they seem to have been content to try to ride it until finish, but were unable to match Flyers energy and execution. They ended up keeping the lead all the way into the third period, but the visiting team dominance on the ice eventually translated into goals, as Flyers scored three in the first four minutes of the third period.

“Even in the first, I did not think we were very sharp as we needed to be,” said Sharks head coach Todd McLellan. “We broke the cardinal rule – when you get outworked and get outnumbered all over the rink – you’re going to lose. It’s as simple as that.”

Those punches were too much for Sharks to overcome, and they were unable to generate any sustained pressure, or chances on goal even after Sharks coaching staff replaced Antti Niemi in goal with Alex Stalock. The move did not shake up the team like it sometimes does, and the Flyers increased the lead to three goals with a couple of minutes remaining. It was obvious with what McLellan thought of team’s performance as he let third and fourth line finish off the game.

“I don’t have any other explanation or excuse for it,” he said after the game. “I thought [the Flyers] were harder than we were, in all facets of the game – the goaltender, the blue line, 5-on-5, special teams. They were just a better team. It’s disappointing.”

Sharks still have a chance to rebound before the Olympic break in the schedule that starts after the game on Friday, and they’ll look to do just that when they host Dallas Stars on Wednesday.

Kings cripple Bulls, 99-70

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By George Devine, Sr.

The fans at Sacramento didn’t mind the home team scoring below 100 points, as long as they won, which they did handily, defeating the visiting Chicago Bulls, 99-70. DeMarcus Cousins was the leader in points with 25 and rebounds with 16, coming back with a vengeance after missing six games due to an ankle injury. All but two of Cousins’ boards were on defense.

Isaiah Thomas scored 19 for the Kings, and Rudy Gay — who has been scoring an average of 20 points — accounted for only 14 but had 6 rebounds, 5 of them on defense. Coming off the bench, Jimmer Fredette scored 11.

For the Bulls, Jimmy Butler had 17 points and 5 rebounds. Tony Snell and Taj Gibson each had 11 points.

The Kings will host Toronto at 7 p.m. PST on Wednesday, February 5.

Morris Phillips and Michael Duca on Cal basketball: Bears get mojo back on Cobbs buzzer beater;Look forward to big game with Cardinal at Haas

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by Morris Phillips and Michael Duca
Cal basketball commentary special to Sports Radio Service

BERKELEY–Boy howdy, what a difference a few days and games make for the Cal Golden Bears and for Justin Cobbs last Saturday night in that unforgettable buzzer beater with 0.9 second left to tip the undefeated Arizona Wildcats really put this team futher out on the map. A criple layup on a steal against Arizona State and missed the final shot that would have won the game in regulation for Cobbs.

For Cobbs to come back and get redemption against the the number one team in the nation the Bears have to feel extrremely good and in fact I know it did because we talked with Cobbs exclusively after that game. It wasn’t just that final shot, he was the only Cal Bear to score in the final 11:30 of that game.

Arizona who could have dominated or took a lead for most of this game could and was expected to be the winner of this match but they lead for only 16 seconds in the first half and for about 48 seconds in the second half. It always felt like this was Cal’s game. The question was whether or not they were going to hang on because what I expected was that game was going to be a parade to the foul line.

Arizona had all 16 of their free throws and they beat Stanford the other night by getting to the free throw line over and over again. This is what was concerning was whether they were going to win the game while the clock was running because Arizona wasn’t going to win the game when the clock was stopped.

Cal didn’t have a particularily have a great game against the Wildcats, they had to know there was a lot of speed on the court and the Bears didn’t react to it until the second half and they had a spectacular game plan against Arizona. They were able to compete with them somewhat on the floor, and they were unfortunate in that the Wildcats had a miserable shooting night.

At one point the Wildcats were shooting 26% in the first half which about the only way you could survive when you give a team 11 offensive rebounds in one half. Cal on their behalf was shooting 50% and everything was falling the way it needed to but it was particularily intriging by the way Cal head coach Mike Montgomery had three freshman out on the floor just eight minutes into the game.

Montgomery pointed out given that Arizona State’s seven foot center hit a basket low post and he had to have a guy who looks like someone that will be able to guard him, it’s when the big men start moving around and are fluid on the floor that looked like the defender had problems keeping up with him because he was really quick. You have to credit Montgomery for his scouting, for seeing where Cal could exploit certain weaknesses that Arizona had and for going out and doing it and executing it perfectly.

Morris Phillips and Michael Duca do Cal basketball commentary each week for Sportstalk Radio

Larry Leavitt on Sharks hockey: Sharks wrap up first half on SAP ice; should be a war these last two games

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by Larry Leavitt

SAN JOSE–The San Jose Sharks who came off an amazing victory in a shootout with the Chicago Blackhawks last Saturday night it was basically a puck possesion team versus a puck possesion team with a surprisng short handed goal from the Sharks Joe Pavelski. Then right away Chicago answered back to tie it up.

The interesting part of last Saturday’s game was the shootout the Sharks are now eight for nine in their last shootouts all eight of those victories were shootout victories which in the beginning of this year the shootouts weren’t going as well. Take the point while you can get them. Their stealing them now.

The Sharks who had come into that game with a three game losing streak and it was not so much the losing streak that was important and that would bother you because your going to lose some, it’s the team your playing at the moment. They were playing Chicago and they came out with the tie and the one point in the shootout. which was a big moral victory.

If the Sharks face Chicago again it would have to be in the Fianl Four round of the Stanley Cup playoffs and the Sharks have to be glad they got this one under their belt. The Sharks can always to refer to the Blackhawks who were an unbeatable team that won the Stanley Cup a few years ago. They have a chance this year and it gives you a lot of confidence when you go into those finals.

The Sharks played the second of four home games with Philadelphia on Monday night at the SAP and the games on Saturday and Monday were battles, one thing the Sharks did right was they keyed up the fans and they really have had three good games this week. It started wtih Philadelphia on Monday night, then they will host Dallas on Wednesday night, and wrap up the first half of the season with a finale before the All-Star break with Columbus on Friday night.

There’s that two week Olympic break coming, their going to see a big push here, the big concern is they have Jason Demars out, he was scratched last Saturday night with multi scratch injuries last game for the Sharks, we hope to see Demars get some ice time. You have to be excited about these three games finishing out before the Olympic break. That means your going to be that much closer to seeing Logan Courture coming back.

There is not a lot of word on Tomas Hertl but the Sharks are very fortunate to get as far they have and the people that they’ve called up have done a really good job an admirable job and it’s not like their pulling their weight but their not Logan Couture. Their not that top light and as much as I’ve given them credit for he’s done a great job. He still has a little ways to go to fill those Olympic shoes.

Larry Leavitt does San Jose Sharks commentary each week for Sportstalk radio

Seahawks shut down Peyton, rout Denver for first NFL crown

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NFL COMMENTARY
By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Sunday, February 2, 2014

Seattle scored first in Super Bowl XLVIII (48), literally, in a New York minute. After that, it was a hopeless downhill slide for Denver.

The safety scored by the Seahawks’ defense on the first play from scrimmage was also the fastest score of any kind in Super Bowl history, according to Elias Sports Bureau.

There’s other fun stats too: Elias also reports that it’s the first time the winning team scored more than 40 points while the losing team scored less than 10.

Whatever. On a day of good football weather in East Rutherford, N.J., the Seahawks claimed their first Super Bowl victory by routing Denver 43-8. It was Seattle’s first NFL title in its 38th season in the league.

The win also provided Seattle Coach Pete Carroll with redemption of sorts. Carroll was fired in his first two NFL head coaching gigs at New England and with the New York Jets before winning a pair of national college championships at Southern California.

On this day, Seattle’s defense was too physical, too quick, and, frankly too good for the Broncos to handle. The Seahawks made life miserable for quarterback Peyton Manning from the first snap and never let up.

Adding insult to injury, it was the lowest point total by a Broncos team with Manning as its quarterback.

The rout began 12 seconds into the game, when a snap to Manning flew past him and into the end zone, where running back Knowshon Moreno fell on it, giving the Seahawks a 2-0 lead.

Seattle added a pair of field goals by Steven Hauschka made it 8-0. That was just the start, as the Seahawks’ noted 12th man – its fans – made their presence felt in what is usually a sterile, very corporate environment.

Marshawn Lynch’s 1-yard plunge made it 15-0. Linebacker Malcolm Smith, selected as the game’s most valuable player, returned an interception 69 yards to make it 22-0 and the rout was on. Russell Wilson tossed a pair of touchdown passes to help extend Seattle’s lop-sided advantage.

Now, the discussion for the next six months reverts to Manning’s legacy. Even with a bag full of records and wins, Peyton is 11-12 in the postseason and 1-2 in Super Bowls. Denver is 2-5 in seven Super Bowl appearances.

Next year’s Super Bowl will be played at University of Phoenix Stadium in Glendale, Ariz.

Michelle Richardson on the NCAA Cal’s upset over Arizona adds to the best in college ball

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by Michelle Richardson

Cal 60 Arizona 58: This game was a shocker to me of all teams that took Arizona down it was a Cal Berkeley team that did that and yes I still can’t believe it Cal took them down. Yes it was on Haas Pavilion but you really didn’t expect that this game was really tight. It was a tight game all the way through. The first half basically The Bears held Arizona to 29 points in the second half.

The Bears just ended up beating Arizona by a bucket, Arizona was looking beyond Cal and at Cal the fans went crazy. Usually the Bearcats challenge teams but it just wasn’t enough as the Bearcats top scorers Kaleb Tarczewski 18, T.J. McConnell 13, and Rondae Hollis-Jefferson with 10. For Cal’s top three scorers Justin Cobbs 19, David Kravish 14, Richard Solomon with 12.

That jumper that Cobbs hit with 0.9 seconds to win that game is going to go down as one of those “oh my God where were you at” moments for Cal fans. It’s going to be one of those moments, the problem with Arizona was they really didn’t get a lot of help. There were a few people doing the scoring and litterally that was mostly Tarczewski and McConnell. Those were the only two players that scored for the Bearcats and they were looking for Eric Gordon but he was held to just eight points.

Syracuse 91 Duke 89: You knew this game was going to be spectacular welcome to the ACC Syracuse (21-0) and Duke and these two teams are not new to facing each other but their new to the ACC. They came in as championship like teams they’ve been to the Final Four before and I really like the way these teams let the ACC know that their in it to win it.

Right now Syracuse is the top dog in the ACC, number two Syracuse who will be polled at number one on Monday is just on a roll they’re playing so well and what can you say about them with top scorers like T.J.Fair with 28 points on Sunday, Jerami Grant 24 points, and Trevor Cooney and Tyler Ennis both finishing with 14.

Everybody was in this game from the beginning, even guys who were on the bench but that last second shot that forced the game into overtime that’s when that gets your heart going. That last second shot from Grant to take it into overtime, “it’ll make you say, are you kidding me, this can’t be happening.” That’s the thing that makes the college game so great when things like that happen.

Cincinnati (21-2, 10-0) 50 U South Florida (11-1) 45: It was a five point differential for the Bearcats in the win against the Bulls on Saturday. In this game USF gave Cincy a scare, the Bulls gave the Bearcats a run for their money but Cincinnati topped it off with a five point win. Top scorers for the winning Bearcats 18 for Sean Kilpatrick, Justin Jackson 15, and Ge’Lawn Guyn with eight points.

It was kind of an even game but what made it close there were quite a few turnovers on both sides, and the Bearcats were able to hold on and make the AAC. The next four games of the Bearcats schedule is Connecitcut, SMU, Houston, and UCF. Saturday Feb 22 Cincinnati will face Louisville

South Florida is one of the top dogs in the conference and you kind of have to wait for this kind of excitment that’s waiting to happen and it’s going to happen and can’t wait to see it happen and can’t wait to get into the tournaments I’m going to lose my mind.

Michelle Richardson does commentary on the NCAA each week

Stanford Sweeps Battle of the Bay Series

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By: Joe Lami

The Stanford Cardinal (21-1, 10-0) took the one-hour bus ride across the bay on Sunday to take on their arch rival in Cal (14-7, 6-4).  Stanford was looking for the win to complete the sweep after they defeated the Bears on Thursday at Maples Pavilion by the final score of 70-64.  They got just that, defeating the Bears on Sunday by the final score of 79-64. 

California came into this game with some confidence, even though they lost the game at Stanford on Thursday, as they were able to comeback from a 30-point deficit to only lose by five.  Their confidence showed early, as they jumped on Stanford first.  Brittany Boyd, the Bears leading scorer from Thursday, was the first to score, as she hit an early three to give the Bears the lead.  It wouldn’t take much longer for Stanford to answer, as Freshman Lili Thompson hit a three of her own.  The game was tied at three just 1:30 into the game. 

The game would go back and forth for the next eight minutes until Stanford took the 13-12 lead with the help of a Chiney Ogwumike layup.  There would be no more lead changes after that, as Stanford was able to hold the lead the rest of the game.  Stanford would extend their lead to ten going into the half, as they led the Bears 35-25.

Coming out of halftime, the teams would continue to trade baskets.  Stanford did end up winning the second half 44-39, with the help of free throws.  Stanford ended the game shooting 24 of 30 from the foul line.

Ogwumike led all scorers with 29; she also added eight rebounds, four assists and two blocks, for what was one of her most impressive all-around performances of the year.  Karlie Samuelson continues to shine off of the bench, as the Freshman scored 16 points.  Amber Orrange was the only other Cardinal to get into double figures, as she added 13.  Mikaela Ruef had another outstanding performance contributing in everyway.  The red-shirt senior had 11 rebounds, nine points, five assists and a block.

Boyd once again led the Bears, as she finished the game with 20 points.  Other starter, Mikayla Lyles, had 16 points.  Reshanda Gray was held scoreless on Thursday and only added seven on Sunday.

California did one thing really well, as they held the Cardinal to only three offensive rebounds.  Stanford ended up winning the rebound battle 33-30.

The Bears continue to slump in Pac-12 play, as their handed their seventh loss of the season and the fourth in the last six games.  Cal’s record drops to 14-7, and they take on the Huskies of Washington in Seattle on Friday.

Stanford continues their amazing run, as they gain their 21st win of the season and the 20th straight.  The number four team in the country takes on the Washington State Cougars next.  

Warriors commentary: With upcoming road trip Warriors can close out first half big before All-Star break

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by Daivd Zimor

OAKLAND–What we saw with the Warriors in their last game on the road against Utah is a team that was playing without David Lee. His presence on offense has been a really big boost for this Warriors team he’s one of the best inside scorers around basketball and one of the best in the NBA.

There was a reason why he was named to the Olympic roster just a couple of weeks ago and it was because of that ability, losing him definitely changes how the Warriors approach these games because they simply don’t have the same inside scoring presence without him. What happened in Utah was very interesting with the Warriors bench being thin with injuries to Jermaine O’Neal, Festus Ezeli and Lee.

Andrew Bogut has had a great week and a half as it is against Utah he was scoring points he was typical on his impact on defense but it was the offense that was really surprising. With Bogut everyone knew he had some kind of offensive skill but the Warriors haven’t called on him all that much. The Warriors do like to call on him as a passer but when we saw him in the last game he was somthing else he would hit a 19 footer with his foot on the three point line and it would have been a three.

Lee was running, he was cutting he was making moves around the basket, he was playing that brand of basketball that made him one of the top picks in the NBA way back when he was with the Milwaukee Bucks if the Warriors can get a little bit more of that kind of play out of Bogut they would be tough to stop.

Granted Utah is not a great test case because Utah is a lousy team but Bogut was showing some offensive skills that we really haven’t seen from him this season but we haven’t seen this all in one game. If the Warriors can coach that out of him every now then that would be a weapon other teams would have to worry about.

It’s worth noting that Bogut had that big game and Stephen Curry has the highest scoring night of the year with 44 points. In the last few games Bogut has really been the key for this Warriors, Curry is doing his typical Curry stuff and their starting to come around the defense is starting to come into play and we’ll see how they do in this final stretch towards the All-Star break they have a game against Charlotte, Miami, and Phoenix so they have some winnable games.

Miami is not a sure thing but if they beat Miami and they seemed to match up pretty well against them and whenever they play Miami they get up for it, it’s one of those things they rise to the occasion. Going into the All-Star break their 29-19. They have four games until the break they can win three out of those four and their capable of winning all four. This is an important stretch to put the Warriors in solid footing.

David Zizmor covers the NBA for Sportstalk Radio