Month: March 2014

Cal bounced from the Pac-12 tourney by Colorado

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By Morris Phillips

The Cal Bears didn’t look like the guy pushed up to the craps table downing free drinks until 6am, but they didn’t appear well-rested either.

In a season where making baskets and finding offense became increasingly more difficult, things picked up where they left off last week when the Bears won a close one but missed their final 10 shots.  And Colorado—Cal’s last opponent as well as their opponent in Thursday’s Pac-12 quarterfinal—showed up with a chip, determined not to get edged by a Cal team that beat them despite not making a single shot from the floor in overtime.

Whether it was poor shooting or lack of energy early, the Cal Bears scored just 22 points in the first half of their 59-56 loss to Colorado.  While most saw Cal’s 16 points in the first 16 minutes as poor shooting, Coach Mike Montgomery saw something more troubling in a game the Bears had to win if they intended to go dancing in the NCAAs.

“I thought we didn’t play hard enough in the first half,” Montgomery admitted.  “I thought they competed harder than we did, probably coming off the fact that they lost to us.  We were kind of back on our heels a little bit.  They out rebounded us pretty substantially.”

Whatever the concoction, it wasn’t satisfying.  The Bears trailed by 13 near the end of the half, then surged briefly starting the second, only to fall late to the Buffs.  The loss was Cal’s 9th in their last 14 games and most of those were punctuated with poor starts and bad shooting.  Montgomery mentioned the rebounding (Buffs held a 38-29 edge) and it appeared only Richard Solomon was a willing board guy as he grabbed 16 of those 29 and all but three of Cal’s total in the first half.

While the team attempts to remain upbeat, Thursday’s loss likely sealed the Bears fate as an NIT entry.  Even a win would have only set up a date with projected No. 1 seed Arizona, and they merely opened the tournament’s Thursday session with a 32-point win over a good Utah team.  A pessimist might even say that Cal’s tenuous place on the NCAA bubble at this point is only indicative of how few teams this season have a chance to build a tournament resume at this late date.

Justin Cobbs led the Bears with 21 points, the 16th time he’s led California in scoring this season.  Tyrone Wallace added 13 and David Kravish had 10.

Cal’s freshman contingent had another rough afternoon as Sam Singer, Jordan Mathews and Jabari Bird combined to miss eight of their nine shots.  Bird played only seven minutes and barely registered statistically.

For Colorado, Askia Booker led with 17 points and four Buffs’ starters finished in double figures. Xavier Talton was a Bear killer with 13 points, including 3 of 5 shooting from distance.

Cardinal rout ASU in Pac-12 tourney

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By Daniel Dullum

Sports Radio Service

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Stanford jumped on Arizona State early and never let up as the Cardinal upended the No. 3-seed Sun Devils 79-58 in the quarterfinal round of the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament in Las Vegas, Nev.

The win doesn’t guarantee that Stanford will be selected to the NCAA tournament field, but was a huge step in that direction. It was the Cardinal’s second win over Arizona State in three meetings this season.

The Cardinal built a 10-point lead early –helped by ASU missing its first seven shots – eventually holding a 30-27 halftime advantage. Stanford meets No. 2-seed UCLA in Friday’s semifinals.

Stanford (21-11) hit six of its first eight shots to open the second half while holding the Sun Devils without a field goal for over 4 minutes. A 3-pointer by John Gage stretched the Cardinal’s lead to 45-34.

ASU (21-11), which got off to a sluggish start, tried to battled back with a couple of second-half runs, but the Cardinal responded by hitting 17 of 24 floor shots to stretch its lead.

Chasson Randle led the Cardinal with 21 points, followed by Dwight Powell with 15 as Stanford shot 54 percent from the floor. John Huestis pulled down seven of the Cardinal’s 30 boards.

Jonathan Gilling scored 13 points to lead the Sun Devils in their most lopsided loss of the season. Bo Barnes added 12 points, and point guard Jahii Carson was held to 10 points on 4-of-13 shooting.

Sharks win 4th in a row, tie for first place

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by Jerry Feitelberg

PHOTO 5 OF 28 – SAN JOSE SHARKS VS. COLUMBUS BLUE JACKETS COLUMBUS, OH – MARCH 13: Matt Irwin #52 of the San Jose Sharks checks Cam Atkinson #13 of the Columbus Blue Jackets into the boards during the first period on March 13, 2014 at Nationwide Arena in Columbus, Ohio. (Photo by Jamie Sabau/NHLI via Getty Images)

Sharks win in a shoot out, tie for first place

The San Jose Sharks (43-17-7) beat a young and very determined Columbus Blue Jacket (34-27-5) team Thursday night in Columbus by a score of 4-3. For the Sharks, it was their fourth win in a row and with the win they moved into a first place tie with the Anaheim Ducks in the Pacific Division.

The one sour note is that the Ducks have a game in hand and the lead may be short-lived.

Nonetheless, the Sharks won the first game of a short three game road trip against a Blue Jacket team that is striving to make the playoffs for only the second time in their

existence as a franchise in the NHL.

The Sharks gave regular goalie, Antti Niemi, the night off and replaced him with backup goalie Alex Stalock (11-4-1) in the nets. Stalock played very well and came up big in the shoot out as he stopped all three attempts by the Blue Jackets. Reigning Vezina Trophy winner, Sergei Bobrovsky, tended goal for the Blue Jackets. The Sharks had their hands full trying to beat Bobrovsky but they persevered and

kept the pressure on to win the game. The scoring summary follows below.

Columbus drew first blood when Ryan Johansen notched his 26th goal of the year. Johansen sent a wrist shot past Stalock when teammate Nick Foligno sprawled himself in front of the goal blocking Stalock’s view and Johansen put the shot into the back of the net. Foligno and Boone Jenner assisted. Time of goal was 5:28. The Sharks tied the game at 10:53 when Patrick Marleau tipped in a puck for his 27th tally of the season. Logan Couture fed the puck from the corner and Marleau skating to the net tipped it in past Bobrovsky for the score. Game tied at one. The Blue Jackets had eleven shots on goal while the Sharks were able to manage just nine.

In the second period, the Sharks went on a power play when R. J. Umberger went off for tripping.

At 2:22 David Savard also was hit with a penalty that gave the Sharks a 5 on 3 advantage. The Sharks could not take advantage of the situation and then, to make matters worse, Umberger, coming out of the penalty box, was able to get a pass and had a breakaway to score a short-handed goal to give Columbus a 2-1 lead. The Sharks allowed just their fourth short-handed goal of the year but it was the second one allowed in the last two games. There was no further scoring in the period. 2-1 after two periods of play.

Things did not bode well for the Sharks. Not only did the Sharks have a history of not faring well in Columbus but their record this season was 3-13-1 when trailing after two periods. The Sharks, however, came out fighting. They tied the score at two with just 15 seconds played in the period. Matt Nieto scored his ninth goal of the year with assists to Logan Couture and Marc-Edouard Vlasic. They then look a 3-2 lead when the Sharks finally scored on a power play. They had gone 0 for 20 since play resumed after the Olympics. Patrick Marleau scored his second goal of the game with help from Joe Pavelski and Dan Boyle. Columbus refused to lay down and continued to play hard. They kept the pressure on and were able to put the puck in the net when James Wisniewski was able to beat Stalock. The Sharks were all on the right side of the net and somehow Wisniewski found himself all alone with the puck. Stalock moved out to cut down on the angle but Wisniewski banged it in over Stalock’s shoulder for the score. The game went to overtime and neither team could score. In the shootout, Stalock stopped all three Columbus attempts while Joe Pavelski beat Bobrovsky for the winning goal.

Notes- The Shark’s goalie, Alex Stalock, said that the team is a “loose group with success on the road all year.” Coach Todd McLellan had this to say about the Blue Jackets after the game. “"That team plays hard," "They’re as competitive as any team in the league. They’re physical. They’ve got good body position when they enter the zone. They throw a lot of pucks to the net. If we weren’t ready to go we wouldn’t have come close to getting the result we got tonight."

The Sharks play the Islanders on Friday night and finish the road trip Sunday against the New York Rangers.

Stanford squeaks by WSU

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By Jeremy Harness

 

It wasn’t a huge blowout like the game played earlier this season at Maples Pavilion, but the Stanford basketball team is still moving on in the Pac-12 tournament nonetheless.

 

The Cardinal began their push to attempt to get into the NCAA Tournament Wednesday night, as they used a big second half to ward off Washington State, 74-63, at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.

 

Even though the score a little tighter than when these two teams last met, but the script was pretty much the same. Stanford had much more balanced scoring than did the Cougars, who again mainly relied on two players to keep them close.

 

For Stanford, Chasson Randle led with 22 points while Dwight Powell chipped in with 16. Meanwhile, Anthony Brown and Josh Huestis each added 12 points to help the Cardinal move to the second round, during which they will face Arizona State Thursday night.

 

DaVonte’ Lacy led all scorers with 25 for Washington State, while D.J Shelton had 15 points while pulling down 11 rebounds.

 

Both teams started each half shooting the ball very well, but the difference was that Stanford was able to sustain the attack while the Cougars were not.

 

The Cardinal split their season series with Arizona State, winning at Maples Pavilion while faltering when they made their annual trip to Arizona two weeks ago.

 

Obviously, the work isn’t close to being done for the Cardinal. Having lost three of their last four games of the regular season, they need to make a big run in the Pac-12 tournament to get a serious look at an NCAA berth.

 

If Stanford beats Arizona State Thursday night, the No. 3 seed would likely draw No. 2 UCLA, a team that they have also beaten at Maples this season before they have a chance of a rematch with Arizona in the tournament final.

In Battle of the Streaks, Warriors Halted by Griffin, Clippers

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By Matthew Harrington

On a night when the Los Angeles Lakers received the bleak prognosis that Kobe Bryant would sit out the rest of the season due to injury, the other two California franchises garnered the major headlines while stoking the flames of a heated, burgeoning rivalry. With the Lakers glory days behind them, the Golden State Warriors and Los Angeles Clippers took the Staples Center Court Wednesday night with bragging rights as best of the West Coast on the line. The Warriors ultimately succumbed to the Blake Griffin show, dropping a hotly-contested 111-98 verdict to split the season series with their Southern California rivals. The Pacific Division leaders snapped Golden State’s five-game win streak, adding a ninth-consecutive win to LA’s total.

Clippers All-Star Griffin scorched the Warriors for 30 points and 15 rebounds, including his 3,000 board of his career in the third quarter. Griffin is now the third player in NBA history to shoot over 50 percent with 6,000 points, 3,000 rebounds and 1,000 assists in the first four seasons of a career, joining Hall of Famers Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Charles Barkley. Guard Chris Paul finished a pair of rebounds shy of a triple-double, collecting 16 points and 12 assists to hand the Dubs their fourth-straight loss to the Clippers at the Staples Center.

Klay Thompson went 10-for-19 from the field, finishing with 26 points including 4-of-6 from beyond the arc to lead Golden State in scoring. David Lee chipped in 20 points. The Warriors reserves scuffled from the field, connecting on only a trio out of 25 chances, but Draymond Green connected on 7-of-9 free throws and Harrison Barnes and Jermaine O’Neal pitched in three each to help the bench to a 20-point contribution.

The two teams matched each other point-for-point in the first quarter, wrapping up the first 12 minutes at a 29-29 stalemate. The lead changed hands nine times in a frantic second quarter that saw the Warriors escape to the half nursing a slim two-point edge at 56-54.

Golden State outscored the home team 20-15 over the first six and a half minutes of the second half to take its largest lead of the night at seven points but the Clippers closed the gap on a 10-3 run. Los Angeles tied it on a Willie Green three-pointer with 1:22 left in the quarter then scored the next five points unanswered to end the quarter on top 84-79. Jermaine O’Neal opened the fourth hitting three of four from the charity stripe to pull the Dubs within two, but it would be the closest the Northern California squad got. The Clippers dominated the run of play, outpacing the Warriors 27 points to 16 down the stretch for the win.

Looking to avoid consecutive losses, the Warriors welcome the Cleveland Cavaliers, currently two spots above Orlando for worst in the Eastern conference, to Oracle Arena for a Friday night showdown before a critical meeting with another of the Western Conference’s strongest teams. Golden State travels to Portland to face the Trailblazers Sunday evening.

Kings whip Philly, 115-98

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By George Devine, Sr.

The Kings did not show much brotherly love in Philadelphia, beating the home team there, 115-98. It was the 76ers’ eighteenth loss in a row, and their fourteenth at home.

Sacramento dominated in all quarters — even the first in which Philly led by 9 at one point — except the second, in which the two teams each scored 30 points. By the time the time remaining in the fourth period was 4:56, the contest was over, with the Kings leading by 20.

Rudy Gay, who averages 20.2 points a game, came in with 27 this time, and contributed 7 rebounds; he was 16 for 19 from the charity stripe. Isaiah Thomas had 20 points, and had 6 assists and 4 steals. DeMarcus Cousins had 19 points and 12 rebounds, all but three of them on defense. Ben McLemore had 15 points and Jason Thompson 14. Cousins racked up his 40th double-double.

For the Sixers, Henry Sims led the scoring with 20; his 10 rebounds were evenly divided between offense and defense. Those numbers represent career highs for him. James Anderson had 17 points and Thaddeus Young 16, contributing 3 assists.

Philadelphia is now 15-49. If they continue to move towards the worst record for the season, they will increase their chances of a top draft pick for next year; their competition for this dubious honor is Milwaukee.

Gordon’s Last-Second Score Draws Earthquakes Even With Toluca in First Leg of Champions League Quarterfinals

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By Matthew Harrington

SANTA CLARA, Calif.-The San Jose Earthquakes “never say die” attitude almost created an international incident, with the Quakes introducing their “Goonies” attitude to the opening leg to the CONCACAFA Champions League quarterfinal matchup against Deportivo Toluca FC. Despite having the better of the chances at Buck Shaw Stadium Tuesday night, it took the Earthquakes a last-second goal from Alan Gordon to head to Toluca with the aggregate score even, 1-1.

“That’s how soccer goes sometimes,” said Gordon after the match. “To be able to battle back and to show ourselves we still have that, we’re always going to have that. It’s in our DNA to come back and get results. It’s really good for our confidence moving forward. We played a good team and we played them well.”

Toluca dominated the possession game, hogging the ball for over 64.8 percent of play, true to the technical styling of most dominant Mexican sides. Despite the ownership of action, Los Diablos Rojos failed to force Earthquakes keeper Jon Busch into action for much of the game. The Quakes defense blocked 4 of 10 Toluca shots while the other five bids were off target excluding the lone Diablos goal. In total, the Quakes finished with seven shots on goal to one for Toluca. San Jose also took five corners to none for the away side.

“I think our team was superior to them,” said Toluca coach Jose Cardozo through a translator, reflecting on the controlling, technical approach of his squad. “On the field we had a team that was playing soccer and another team that was just shooting at the goal area.”

Earthquakes coach Mark Watson, however, didn’t think the shot choice kept the Quakes off the board, but rather the finish. Tuesday marked the first time San Jose took the pitch for a truly meaningful contest, with the MLS regular season set to kick off later this week.

“I thought we created lot of chances,” said Watson, reinforcing throughout his press conference that many of his players were not quite in game-shape just yet. “I think in a normal game, if you take that number of chance, on a different night, on a better night we would have finished those. I think there were goals we left on the table.”

Diablos midfielder Gabriel Velasco Gutierrez opened play in the 14th minute, ripping the first dangerous salvo to officially christen the start of the series. His kick from just inside the penalty box sailed over the outstretched hand of Busch and up over the crossbar by just under a foot, garnering a collective sigh for the Quakes supporters in the crowd.

The Quakes nearly took the early edge when team captain Chris Wondolowski raced up the pitch, feeding a streaking Cordell Cato on the wing. The lightning-fast Cato wheeled the ball over to Sam Cronin who booted a chance that Toluca netminder Alfredo Talavera just tipped over the crossbar.

The first goal of the quarterfinals came off the foot of Toluca forward Raul Nava Lopez after a Jason Hernandez miscue. Nava, entering play with four Champions League goals to lead Los Diablos Rojo, fired a flawless shot that beat a diving Busch to his right side to muddy his clean sheet in the 67th minute.

“We held a very good team to very few good chances,” said Watson. “I felt bad for Jason. It just came off the side of his foot. It was a fantastic finish, world-class. You have to tip your hat to (Nava). Collectively it was a very good defensive effort.”

Quakes forward Steven Lenhart nearly put his side on the sheet in the 79th minute, heading a cross feed off the cross bar and out. Chris Wondolowski followed up with a shot of his own that was blocked aside by a Diablo defender. The visitors then cleared it out of play after a number of Quakes took a stab at the loose ball before it was cleared out of play and out of danger.

Again San Jose appeared to have the answering tally but denial reared its head just four minutes from the end of regular time. Lenhart strung a pass across the goal box to Alan Gordon. The pass ended up just a step behind Gordon who couldn’t pull the trigger for a clean look. The book remained open on Gordon’s narrative as hero of the day, however, as he found a way to avoid rejection during the four-plus minute allotment of injury time.

“I think it was right after they scored, right in that moment,” pondered Gordon on the moment when his team mustered up the morale to believe. “It was in that moment, when that stuff happens. It feels like the ball isn’t going to go back into the net. But we didn’t put our heads down. We kept going. We got together in the middle of the field like we usually do and looked each other in the eye. We made a conscious effort to see it through, all the way to the end.”

In the final minute of play (or 30 seconds after play should have ended according to a frustrated Cardozo’s viewpoint post-match) Shea Salinas lofted the ball up for a challenge in the Toluca goal box. It was Gordon connecting on the header nearly unguarded, redirecting it just past Talavera to dramatically knot the teams at a goal apiece.

“You don’t usually expect to get goals like that in the MLS,” said Gordon. “You usually expect to get grabbed and pulled. I was a little surprised to be untouched. It was great, a good feeling.”

When the Earthquakes travel to Estadio Nemesio Diaz for the second leg March 19th, they will head to hostile territory on even footing, knowing that the winner on the pitch will be the one advancing to the Champions League semifinals. The challenge will be greater, considering Toluca fielded a mix of starters and reserves Tuesday but will more likely trot out a majority of the starters in game two with the home crowd hungry for victory. Toluca is already midway through its season in the Mexican league and wary of injuries in non-league play.

“It’s tough to go in to Mexico and get results,” said Gordon. “For us to go in there down 1-0 (in the aggregate) would have been a huge mountain. Now we’re in a one-game series. We’re looking for the result in Mexico. There’s no reason we should think that we can’t.”

Gordon, who sat out most of the preseason, saw the goal Tuesday as a positive sign that he’s ready to perform when it counts, including Saturday’s MLS season opener at Buck Shaw Stadium against Real Salt Lake.

“It was really our first run,” said Gordon. “The preseason is the preseason. It took me awhile to figure out preseason goals don’t count for anything. I joke with the guys that I’m in the preseason hall of fame. It never got me any goals in the regular season. Now I switch it up and don’t play any games in the preseason.”

Sharks rise to the top continues with a victory over Maple Leafs

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By Ivan Makarov

Having won seven out of the last eight games, San Jose Sharks continued to win on Tuesday day when they hosted the visiting Toronto Maple Leafs. The game was never close, with home team winning 6-2 and earning seven out of the possible eight points during the four game home stand.

Sharks outshot the Leafs 48-21, have played in the Leafs zone for most of the game (after going 49-28 in face-offs circle), and put one of the more complete games they have played all season.

“We’ve been good during different times throughout the season,” said Joe Pavelski after the game when asked where this victory ranked among others. “We’ve been playing good at home. This was definitely one of them. We got on them early, and had the puck a lot. It was a solid win.”

Before Sharks got the big lead in the game, they had to endure one of the strangest first periods of the season.

Sharks played the way they usually play this season at home in the first period – dominating the play all over the ice. The shot total ended up being 14-6 in the first period in their favor, but they only went up 2-1 on the scoreboard. It could have been more, but Sharks’ good goal scored by Tommy Wingels was disallowed. The replay showed the puck nowhere near being frozen on the play, and going inside behind Toronto’s goaltender James Reimer, but the referees blew the whistle and after discussing it over, disallowed the goal.

However, Marc Eduard Vlasic and Brent Burns scored more goals that counted. Vlasic blasted a slap shot from near the face off circle after a great pass from Matt Nieto who spotted him open on the play. Brent Burns scored in front of the net assisted by Joe Thornton, and there was a wait between the time he scored and when the goal counted, as refereed discussed it between themselves. With loud boos from the crowd, and having disallowed Wingels’ goal just minutes before, they at last awarded the Sharks with the second goal.

The second period continued much like the first. Sharks had the puck more, they were playing with more desperation and they were creating all the chances. All this advantage resulted in two more goals. Tommy Wingels at last got the goal allowed, scoring his 15th on the season on a deflection from the shot by Justin Braun 6:54 into the period. Joe Pavelski got the Sharks lead to three goals when he scored just over a minute later, assisted by Joe Thornton, making it 4-1. Sharks had the chance to make the score even more in their favor, when they went on 5-on-3 power play towards the end of the second period for more than 90 seconds. But the players failed to produce a single shot during that stretch with 2-men advantage as Toronto killed off those penalties.

“We made adjustment or two between [first and second periods], and talked about using our energy, few more pucks to the net,” said Todd McLellan reflecting on what was the key turning point in the game. “Fortunately, [Toronto] played on their end a little bit longer. We had the short change. A lot of the times in the second period the long change is what’s talked about. When you’re on the offense, you have the short change, and can pin teams in. We were able to that.”

The third period seemed more like a formality at that point for the Sharks, having a three goal lead going into the third period. But they continued to play hard while rolling all four lines, and scoring goals – with Joe Pavelski and Marty Havlat getting on the scoreboard.

Besides the goals, the game also saw four fights, with Andrew Desjardins dropping the gloves twice – once against David Clarkson and the second time against Tim Gleason, while Mike Brown fought Troy Bodie early on in the game. Tommy Wingels earned his first “Gordy Howe” hat trick of the night (goal + assist + fight) in the third period when he fought Joffrey Lupul with three minutes left in the game.

Sharks will next play three games on the road, visiting Columbus, New York and Rhode Island before they return back to San Jose.

Warriors remain hot, saddle Mavericks for fifth straight win

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By Joe Hawkes

OAKLAND — The Golden State Warriors haven’t been just on a roll since the All-Star break, but they are serving notice that they will be a factor come playoff time.

Ask the Dallas Mavericks.

Golden State had five players score in double figures helping the Warriors slow down the Mavericks, 108-85 Tuesday night at Oracle Arena. The Warriors picked up their fifth straight win, and improved to 10-2 since the All-Star break, tied with the San Antonio Spurs (10-2) for tops in the NBA.

Jordan Crawford led Golden State with 19 points and led a Warriors bench that outscored the reserves for Dallas 53-34. Harrison Barnes also scored in double figures with 13 points off the bench.

Klay Thompson scored 14 points on 6 of 10 shooting, and Stephen Curry added 10 points, but was 4 for 12 from the floor (1 for 5 on 3s). David Lee scored six points, but grabbed a team-high 11 rebounds in 29 minutes. Golden State has made it a habit of outscoring their opponents in the third quarter.

In the last two games, the Warriors have outscored their opponents 62-30 after halftime, which has been key to keeping teams down and making it difficult for a comeback.

The real story was the play of Andrew Bogut.

Bogut provided a little more offensive punch for the Warriors, scoring 15 points (all in the first half) to go along with 10 rebounds. Bogut was a huge part of holding the Mavericks to 37-percent shooting from the floor, and handing Dallas (38-27) their second loss to the Warriors this season.

Former Warrior Monta Ellis finished with 15 points and Jose Calderon added 13 points and five assists. Dirk Nowitzki had 12 points, but scored just four points in the first half and was defended well by Lee for the majority of the game.

Dallas is having a hard time just holding on to the eighth seed in the Western Conference playoffs and this loss further weakens their grip. Dallas leads the Phoenix Suns by 1.5 games in the standings with 17 games to go in the regular season.

This was a win that the Warriors needed, especially with the big game in Los Angeles against the Clippers Wednesday.

Golden State has won two of the three matchups against their Pacific Division foe this season, but the Clippers are hotter than the Warriors, winning their last eight games.