Month: November 2014

Sharks drop third in a row at home

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By Ivan Makarov

SAN JOSE, CA — It’s been a rough season for San Jose Sharks so far. Facing a tough schedule in the first couple of months and spending a long time on the road, they have been inconstant and have yet to show that they are a powerhouse they used to be known as in the last several years. Going into the home matchup against Calgary Flames on Wednesday, they have lost three in a row, including the last two at home.

The season did not get any easier for them, as their slid continued with Flames earning the two points in 2-0 victory and Sharks dropping to a dismal 2-4-2 record at home, and putting themselves five points behind the third place in the Pacific division.

The game got off to a bad start from the get go, with Calgary Flames dictating the play and getting two great scoring chances on the very first shift. Antti Niemi was sharp and weathered the initial storm. As the game progressed, Sharks recovered and the game because even, with Sharks holding the puck more and holding a shot advantage.

The first goal in the game came towards the end of the second period when Flames forward Jiri Hudler broke through the middle of the Sharks zone on a well timed centering feed from TJ Brodie and put the puck above Sharks netminder Antti Niemi’s blocker. Niemi reacted but it was too late and Hudler scored his ninth of the season, giving his team a lead leading into the third period.

So far this season the Sharks did not have very many games when they won after trailing, being 24th in that category in all of the NHL. This game did not prove to be an exception, and even one goal game lead for the Flames proved to be too much. Sharks had their chances in the third period, perhaps their best, but the Flames played a strong defensive game, keeping the Sharks on the peremiter of their zone and blocking a lot of the shots. Whatever pucks reached the net, they were stopped by the stellar play of the Calgary’s backup goaltender Karri Ramo.

When the game came down to the last two minutes when teams usually pull their goaltender for an extra skater, Sharks did so but just to even out the number of players on the ice as Justin Braun was in the penalty box. Patrick Marleau did seem to have a scoring chance at that time as he broke through on the wing, but he missed the net on his shot and the puck skated all the way outside the Sharks zone, giving two Flames players an open net, with Hudler taking the shot and scoring his second of the night.

Both the coaches and the players felt disappointed after the game

“We’re a result based league and not happy with the results,” said Sharks coach Todd McLellan. “The effort was there. We had some opportunities to score, obviously. For whatever reason, they’re not going in. Defensively we didn’t give up much. I thought the weakest shift we had was the very first one when they got two or three scoring chances. After that we played pretty well defensively. Didn’t give up much.”

Joe Pavelski felt the same way, thinking they “had some good looks and maybe it didn’t feel as dangerous as it could’ve been at times and it’s just disappointing. We want to win; we want to get out of this. It’s the harder we try right now, the worse it’s going. So we’re probably not doing the right thing from guy to guy and we’ve got to find a way.”

Sharks next face Anaheim Ducks back at SAP Center on Saturday.

Houston Stave Off Kings Comeback, Win 102-89

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By Shawn Whelchel

The Sacramento Kings tried to fight through tired legs on their second game of a back-to-back matchup on Wednesday, but ran out of steam as the Houston Rockets earned a 102-89 victory.

Sacramento dug themselves an early hole, as a lack of scoring and easy offense by Houston gave them as large as a 22-point lead in the first half of play. The Kings continued to find their rhythm on offense while pulling to within striking range of the James Harden lead Rockets, but ultimately stalled short of amassing a comeback as a 16-point fourth quarter sealed their fate.

With center Dwight Howard sitting out tonight’s contest with a knee injury, shooting guard James Harden was able to let loose, heaving 31-shots for 26-points on the night to lead his team in scoring. Without their down-low presence, the Rockets lived behind the arc, connecting on 12-of-25 attempts with guard Isaiah Canaan earning 18 of his 24 points from three point range.

On the other side of the court, big man DeMarcus Cousins kept the Kings in the game with 29-points on 9-of-18 shooting while Sacramento was forced to play without starters Rudy Gay and Darren Collison for the second straight game, as they continue to be plagued by injuries.

While the Kings managed to scrap their way to just a one-point deficit in the third quarter, their sloppy play proved too much to overcome, as Houston benefited from 21 Sacramento turnovers on the night, which they converted into 32 points to back their winning effort.

After jumping out to a hot start, the loss drops the now 9-6 Kings to fourth place in the Pacific division, ahead only of the bottom-dwelling Los Angeles Lakers who sit with a 3-12 record on the season. The Kings will look to bounce back on Friday, as they hit the road to take on the San Antonio Spurs

Raiders look to make it two in a row, face Rams in St. Louis

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — No longer searching for the first win 2014, the Raiders will look to pick up their second win of the season as they hit the road to St. Louis to take on the Rams Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome. Kickoff is set for noon CST (10:00 a.m. PST) and can be seen locally on CBS/KPIX 5.

Oakland (1-10) took down their AFC West rival Kansas City Chiefs 24-20 last Thursday in front of a nationally televised audience to kickoff Week 12. With the win, Oakland snapped a 16-game losing streak dating back to last season.

Offensively, quarterback Derek Carr put the Raiders on his back. The rookie signal caller engineered a 17-play, 80-yard, game-winning drive that ended with Carr tossing a nine-yard touchdown to wide receiver James Jones. The drive chewed up 7:21 of the fourth quarter.

Carr finished the game 18-of-35 for 172 yards.

“Amazing. Hopefully there’s many more to come,” Carr said after Oakland’s victory, “because I like this feeling better than the other one, that’s for sure. I’m glad that this finally came. I’ll be able to enjoy it.”

The Silver & Black’s poor rushing attack got a huge boost from Latavius Murray. Murray rushed for 112 yards with two first quarter touchdowns, one from 9o-yards out that gave Oakland a 14-3 lead in the second quarter. The second-year running back was knocked out of the game with a concussion on his fourth carry, so who knows what numbers Murray would’ve finished with if he could’ve stayed in the game.

Defensively, Oakland was led by their 38-year-old leader free safety Charles Woodson.

Woodson, finished second on the team with seven tackles (one assisted) and  a sack, becoming the first person in NFL history with 50 interceptions and 20 sacks. The 17-year veteran from Michigan was also named AFC Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts.

St. Louis (4-7), are coming off a heartbreaking 27-24 loss to the San Diego Chargers last week on the road where the Rams squandered a 17-6 third quarter lead.

Rams quarterback Shaun Hill completed 18-of-36 passes for 198 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions.

Rookie running back finished with 62 yards on 16 carries, after beating up the Denver Broncos for 113 yards yards on 29 carries for a Rams 22-7 victory in Week 11 at home.

Offensively, St. Louis doesn’t score many points, only averaging 19 points per game. But where the Rams lack in offense, their defense can get after the quarterback and make tackles.

Defensive end Robert Quinn leads the team with six sacks, but rookie defensive tackle Aaron Donald is second with five sacks.

Quinn has a knack for getting to quarterbacks, after registering two of the eight Rams’ sacks on San Francisco 49ers’ quarterback Colin Kaepernick in St. Louis’ 13-10 victory in Week 9.

Oakland should not sleep on Rams linebackers James Laurinaitis and Alec Ogletree.

These two linebackers are always around the ball and are sure tacklers, with Ogletree leading the club with 75 tackles (68 assisted), while Laurinaitis is second with 70 (59 assisted).

Players to Watch

Oakland, RB, Latavius Murray. If Murray is able to be cleared to play Sunday, he has to be in the starting lineup. Murray clearly has added life to a morbid running game that was getting absolutely nothing from Maurice Jones-Drew and Darren McFadden. Again if Murray didn’t take a nasty hit from Chiefs free safety Kurt Coleman in the second quarter, Murray might still be running through Kansas City.

St. Louis, TE, Jared Cook. Cook leads the Rams with 37 catches and 473 yards, but just one touchdown. The Rams like using two tight end sets, so keep an eye on backup tight end, Lance Kendricks. Kendricks may just have 22 catches on the season, but he leads the Rams with four touchdown catches.

 

 

SF Giants report: Flannery retires; second big figure to leave S.F.

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by Jeremy Harness & Morris Phillips

SAN FRANCISCO–For the second straight day an influential figure has left the San Francisco Giants first it was Pablo Sandoval on Monday this time Giants third base coach Tim Flannery has hung up his waving and sending signals to runners and hitters after eight seasons with the team. Flannery 57 is retiring after some 33 years in baseball.

Flannery was asked if it was a difficult decision to leave the game he worked in for so many years Flannery said he was thinking about leaving the game during the 2014 season and inspite of winning three championships with the team Flannery said the time has come. Giants manager Bruce Bochy said he and Flannery spent many years coaching together “I think he did some soul searching and thought this was the right decision for him and his family. I certainly respect that. I’m going to miss Flan, with over 30 years of playing together and coaching together. We’ve gone down a lot of roads together” said Giants manager Bruce Bochy.

Flannery was floated to manage in the big leagues some day after many years of coaching at third base but never wanted any part of managing and he said that he has done everything that he had to do in the show and is satisfied with what he accomplished.

“I had no desire to manage. This has all been thought out. This is not a knee jerk-reaction. So then you ask yourself, what else are you going to do? Keep coaching third till I drop over? Win a fourth championship? A fifth? What else can I do in the next phase of my life? asked Flannery.

Flannery also has been hit with various setbacks over the years as well as many different surgeries and he had knee surgery last year. Flannery also says he has double vision and he plans to take care of that soon. Flannery had suffered from double vision since spring training.

The Giants are considering two candidates to fill Flannery’s old job as third base coach Bill Hayes who is a former minor league manager and has worked coaching as a bullpen catcher and catching coach and filled in as a third base coach. The Giants could look to their Triple AAA manager in Sacramento Bob Mariano.

Morris Phillips and Jeremy Harness both are Giants beat writers for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Stanford roasts Delaware

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By Jeremy Harness

STANFORD – It may not be time to say that Stanford will be the team to give conference front-runner Arizona a run for its money this year – or finish the regular season any better than right in the middle of the Pac-12 standings, where it seems to end up year after year – but the first two weeks have proved to be promising.

The Cardinal got its real test in a tough loss to No. 4 Duke – coach Johnny Dawkins’ alma mater – in last weekend’s Coaches vs. Cancer Classic, and they got back to their winning ways Tuesday night in an 84-47 rout of Delaware at Maples Pavilion.

During Dawkins’ tenure, Stanford’s calling card has been playing sound defense, and that was certainly on display in dismantling the Blue Hens and doing it rather quickly.

Truth be told, the competitive stage of this game came and went after only a few minutes. Stanford got off to a great start, and the Cardinal found themselves with their biggest margin of the first half – 23 points – as they went into into the locker room at the break.

The Cardinal got whatever shot they wanted while holding Delaware to 25 percent shooting in the first half and, for the most part, limiting the Blue Hens to one shot at a time. In fact, for the first 12 minutes of the game, Delaware had only one offensive rebound before collecting three more before halftime.

To put Stanford’s defensive effort in proper perspective, Delaware only had two players score in double figures Tuesday night. Sophomore guard Cazmon Hayes had 15 points, but he made only four of his 21 shots in the process, something that Kobe Bryant can identify with these days.

Freshman swingman Chivarsky Corbett himself was forced into a 4-of-12 shooting night to get his 10 points.

Meanwhile, Stanford converted on 43 percent of their shot attempts in the half, and all it did in the second half is widen its lead, as the 3-point shot became more of an ally and it generally kept the throttle down on Delaware.

The Cardinal opened the half with a 10-3 run in the first five minutes, and from that point, it was time to see if everyone on the Stanford bench was going to get to play.

As the game went along, Stanford had more fast-break opportunities, which padded the scoreboard even more in its favor and helped spread the scoring around.

The Cardinal ended up having four different guys in double figures, with senior Chasson Randle leading the way with 15 points, although he only made four of his 12 shots. Stefan Nastic has the most efficient night of the group, as he converted on six of his 10 attempts for 12 points to go along with seven rebounds.

Standout post man Dwight Powell has graduated, and even though they don’t have anyone to completely fill his shoes, the Cardinal may have someone in Reid Travis.

The freshman forward, who chose to come to Stanford over Minnesota and Duke and has also played for Team USA, had six points on 3-of-8 shooting but also had 11 rebounds on Tuesday and showed a great deal of tenacity on the defensive end.

Kings Win Third Straight

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By Jeff Hall

NEW ORLEANS ­–

Rudy Gay was out of the Kings lineup but Omri Casspi stepped into the starting role and scored 22 points filling in the necessary role for the Kings to lead the Kings to their third victory in a a row with A 99-89 win over the New Orleans Pelicans

Michael Malone was ejected in the second quarter after coming to mid-court to argue with official Eric Lewis. It was the first time Malone was ejected as a Kings head coach. The last Kings coach to be ejected from a game was Rick Adelman in the 2003 season

Former Kings player Tyreke Evans had 22 points, seven rebounds and five assist for New Orleans.

It was another strong defensive game for the Kings which was a primary key that led the Kings to victory.

New Orleans turned the ball over 11 times that the Kings turned into 17 points

It was another great game for Kings Center DeMarcus Cousins. Cousins scored 22 points and collected 12 rebounds.

Rudy Gay was held out because he I still struggling with a right Achilles tendon injury.

Next up, The Kings will be in Houston Wednesday to take on the Rockets.

49ers and Seahawks meet for Thanksgiving date

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By: Phillip Torres

SANTA CLARA-The San Francisco 49ers (7-4) are set to host the Seattle Seahawks (7-4) on Thanksgiving Night. The date between the two division rivals is the first of the season. The playoff hopefuls will then see each other again just 17 days later in Seattle. The meeting on Thursday Night is huge for both teams.

Both teams come into the game at 7-4 and just two games back of the first place Arizona Cardinals. The Cardinals will be hosted by the Atlanta Falcons (4-7) on Sunday. On paper Arizona is the clear favorite to win the ballgame, but Matt Ryan has great numbers when playing at his home field. So, the winner between San Francisco and Seattle could possibly be just one game back in the division after Sunday.

The 49ers are coming off of a game where it was a must win against the Washington Redskins (3-8) on Sunday. The defense of the Red and Gold came up big once again with another sensational performance. Robert Griffin III was sacked five times, twice by Aldon Smith. The two sacks by Smith now give him career 44 sacks in 44 career games. Justin Smith recorded the fifth and final sack of Griffin inside the last minute of the game forcing a fumble that fell into the arms of Ahmad Brooks. Chris Borland also led the team with eight tackles, two of which went for a loss.

Quarterback Colin Kaepernick has thrown touchdown pass in 18 consecutive games, tying Hall of Famer Steve Young for the longest streak in that category in 49ers franchise history. The dual threat quarterback will look to continue his fine season with a huge win against Seattle and add to his total of 15 touchdown tosses this season. His go to target this season is yet again, Anquan Blodin. Boldin needs to record 175 yards to earn his second 1,000 yard receiving season with San Francisco in as many years.

The Red and Gold will play three of their remaining five games at home this season. One of those two away games will also be played in Oakland, CA, just down the freeway. That means San Francisco will only have to travel one more time during the regular season, and that is in two weeks when they make the short trip to Seattle to face the Seahawks at CenturyLink Field. The 49ers are 3-2 at Levi’s Stadium this season.

Kickoff between the 49ers and the Seahawks this Thursday will be at 5:30 pm.

Splash Brothers Make Waves In Win Over Miami

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By Matthew T.F. Harrington

The Golden State Warriors continued their franchise-best start to a season, topping the host Miami Heat 114-117 to run their record to 11-2. Stephen Curry bounced back from a sub-par 15-point performance Sunday against the Thunder to score 40 points on 12 of 19 shooting to give the Warriors their sixth-straight win. The Warriors shot 57.3 from the field and turned the ball over just 11 times in the win.

Tuesday marked the seventh time in Curry’s career he cracked the 40-point plateau over his 37 minutes of play. The Warriors point guard hit an eye-popping 8 of 11 three-pointers. Fellow Splash Brother Klay Thompson pitched in with 24 points. Andrew Bogut led all players with ten rebounds after exiting Sunday’s contest in the first quarter with an apparent injury.

For the Heat (8-7), the final remaining member of the Big Three led the way. Center Chris Bosh scored 26 points on 10 of 19 from the field. He also topped the home team in rebounds with nine.

The Warriors trailed by as much as 16 in the second quarter but closed out the half on a 22-6 run to pull within one at 62-61. The two teams swapped the lead five times over the first 9:30 of the third quarter, but Golden State outpaced the Heat 11-7 down the stretch to take the lead one final time at 91-86. They then played their stingiest defense of the night, allowing only 11 points in the final frame to 23 of their own for the 114-97 final.

The Warriors won’t get much respite on the road, a place where they have been very successful this season. They’ll take their 6-1 record away from Oracle Arena to Orlando Wednesday night in game two of a Sunshine State back-to-back.

DeMarcus Cousins: NBA Western Conference Player of the Week

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demarcus_cousins

by Charlie O. Mallonee

DeMarcus Cousins of the Sacramento Kings has been named NBA Western Conference Player of the Week. Cousins lead the Kings to a 2-1 record for the week averaging 25.7 points, 16.3 rebounds, 3.0 assists and 1.7 blocks in 31.7 minutes of playing time. He recorded a double-double in all three contests.

Cousins is leading the NBA in rebounds with 12.3 per game. He is averaging 23.2 points per game. Cousins is second in double-doubles with 10 so far this season.

This is the second time Cousins has been named Player of the Week. He was granted the honor for the week of January 13, 2014.

Cardinal Escape the Pit, Beat New Mexico in Nail Biter

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By: Joe Lami

The Stanford Cardinal (3-1) were given a scare on Monday night in Albuquerque, as they defeated the New Mexico Lobos (0-4) in the first road game of the season 70-65. They did so without their leading scorer, as sophomore Lili Thompson, was scratched from the game due to illness. Thompson is averaging 26 points per game, and was voted ESPNW’s player of the week for the first week of the season.

Karlie Samuelson filled that void, however, as she led the team in scoring with 23 points. Head Coach, Tara VanDerveer, added “She’s usually kind of our sixth player. I love the energy she brings off the bench, you can depend on her and tonight she played really great”.

Two other Cardinal scorers achieved double digit scoring, as Amber Orrange contributed 18 points on 43% shooting from the field. Freshman, Kaylee Johnson finished the night with ten points, but more importantly brought down 23 rebounds, a career high in her young, impressive Stanford career.

Both teams depended on their starters quite heavily, as the Lobos edged the Cardinal in bench scoring 11-9.

New Mexico saw four different starters get into double digits. The fifth starter didn’t score at all. Guard, Bryce Owens led the way with 16 points, with nine of them coming from beyond the arc. Cherise Beynon followed with 14 points. Khadijah Shumpert was almost perfect from the field as she went six of seven to finish the night with 13 points. Antiesha Brown finished out the scorers for the Lobos with 11.

The Cardinal once again struggled with their free throw shooting, something that VanDerveer has been pressing all season. Monday night was one of their worst nights of the young season, as they finished the night 58% from the charity strike.