Month: December 2014

Opinion: Why the Kings Fired Malone

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
D' Alassandro
Kings General Manager Pete D’Alessandro

by Charlie O. Mallonee

There is not one easy answer to the question of why the Kings fired Head Coach Michael Malone on Sunday night. There are multiple reasons, but the question of timing looms large.

The fact is Michael Malone was not going to be the Kings coach long term. Malone was hired by owner Vivek Ranadive before he hired Pete D’Alessandro as General Manager. It is safe to say that Michael Malone would never have been hired if D’Alessandro had been a part of the hiring decision. That is not to say D’Alessandro does not think Malone is a talented coach, but it does say Malone is not D’Alessandro’s kind of coach.

D’Alessandro (and Ranadive) admire and aspire to build a team that mimics the San Antonio Spurs. The Spurs style is sometimes referred to as “positionless basketball”. It is an uptempo style that uses multiple passes and strong outside shooting to decimate their opponents. When you see the Spurs play in person, it is tiring to watch because of the frenetic pace.

In his press conference on Monday, D’Alessandro cited “style of play” as the main reason Malone was dismissed. Malone is a defense first type of coach. He wanted a hard nosed defense to set the table for the offense. Malone’s offense was less than wide-opened. A major schism existed between the philosophies of D’Alessandro and Malone.

D’Alessandro is a data guy. The way he analyzes the success of his team is based on statistics. He is looking for his team to play within certain parameters that he believes will lead his team to success. D’Alessandro wants his team to run and believes any team can run.

Think Billy Beane and Sabermetrics. Rather than batting average, Beane looks for on-base percentage. Rather than setting up the sacrifice, Beane looks for the hitters to swing away based on the data that shows swinging is more productive.

Beane also looks to the system based on the data to be the stability for the team. To some degree, managers and coaches are less important and will be seen as successful as long as they work “the system”.

It appears that Michael Malone was not working “the system” based on D’Alessandro’s data points. It is also safe to say that he was never going to follow “the uptempo less defense oriented system” so, the firing was inevitable.

The curious thing about Malone’s dismissal is the timing. If the termination had happened in May, the philosophical differences reason and timing would have made more sense. Explaining a new coach was needed to install a new system would have been more easily accepted during the off-season. Frankly, it would have made more sense than 24 games into the season.

The next coach of the Kings will have a longer tenure than Malone as long as he works “the system” based on D’Alessandro’s data.

Who will that coach be? In his press session, D’Alessandro emphasized that the full weight of the organization was behind Tyrone Corbin and that he was excited to see what “Coach Ty” would do.

In the meantime, the rumor mill has George Karl being the next coach of the Kings. The names of Chis Mullin, Vinny Del Negro and even Don Nelson are also being tossed around. For now, Tyrone Corbin is the man in the “hot seat”.

Kings Fire Head Coach Michael Malone

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fired Michael Malone

by Charlie O. Mallonee

The Sacramento Kings have fired their head coach Michael Malone. The team has not made an official announcement, but multiple news agencies are reporting the dismissal while the Sacramento Bee states it has confirmed the firing.

The Kings have been playing through a very difficult stretch as their All-star caliber center DeMarcus Cousins as been out due to viral meningitis. Sacramento is just 2-7 with Cousins out of the lineup. The loss of Cousins’ 23.5 points and 12.6 rebounds per game has been devastating for the team. The Kings do not have the team depth to win consistently without Cousins on the floor.

Malone may have been a victim of his own success. His team won nine of its first 14 games bringing hope and energy to the fan base. The Kings have posted just a 2-8 record over the last 10 games and the excitement about the team has waned.

David Aldridge of NBA.com reports,“Sources indicated management was not happy with the team’s style of play or the direction of the team under Malone, who was hired in 2013 and went 28-54 in his first season.”

Malone’s point of emphasis was defense. He analyzed his team’s defensive play after every game. Kings ownership and management were known to be placing a greater emphasis on playing a more uptempo offense which the team has been inconsistent at executing.

Malone’s record as coach was 30-67.

Reports have Kings assistant Tyrone Corbin taking over the team as the interim coach. Corbin is the former head coach of the Utah Jazz.

The Kings next game is Tuesday versus the Oklahoma City Thunder.

Stanford Rebounds After Finals, Crushes Broncos 82-43

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By: Joe Lami

The Stanford Cardinal return to the floor after a two-week hiatus for finals, and that time off the court seemed to help on Sunday night, as they defeated the Santa Clara Broncos 82-43 at Maples Pavilion. Before the break, the Cardinal were handed two losses within the span of a week, which the timing of the break couldn’t have been better, as it allowed the team to regroup.

Senior point guard, Amber Orrange led the Cardinal in scoring with 20 points, as she shot 58% from the field. Freshman, Kaylee Johnson, once again was impressive on the boards, as she brought down 22 in the victory. Sunday night marked the second time this season where she has accomplished just that.

Bonnie Samuelson came off of the bench to add 11 points, including perfection at the charity strike. Freshman, Bonnie McPhee matched Samueson’s 11 from the bench as well to cap off the double-digit scorers for Stanford.

Most impressively, the Cardinal held Santa Clara to just 30% field goal shooting. The Broncos scoring was practically non-existent if it weren’t for guard, Nici Gilday. The senior led the way with 17 points, and was the only Bronco to score over four points.

The Cardinal travel to Chattanooga on Wednesday, before they take on Tennessee on Saturday.

49ers’ flaws and signs of decline obvious in playoff-eliminating loss to Seahawks

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Colin scrambles

By Morris Phillips

The effort was there, the results were not.

The 49ers annual trip to the sound den at Century Link Field in Seattle saw the 49ers battle but come up short.  The showing was a stark reminder that the NFC finalists of the three previous seasons have slipped dramatically.  The 17-7 loss was also the official end of the team’s playoff hopes as the 49ers were officially eliminated from the post-season hunt.

After the game, the 49ers faced numerous questions about their new reality: a first-ever three-game losing streak in the Harbaugh era, which almost certainly will end at the conclusion of the season, and how that will affect their mindset entering the final two games of the season. The suddenly loquacious Colin Kaepernick, embracing the role of team leader, spoke loudest.

“I think, regardless of the situation, we are going out to win.  There is no one on this team that is going to step out on the field and say, ‘Hey, our season is over, we are not going out to compete.”

If nothing else, the 49ers’ situation is more clearly defined after their trip to Seattle.  As they did defensively last year in the ill-fated NFC Championship, the 49ers’ defense held the Seahawks to just a field goal in the first half only to be done in by Russell Wilson and crew in the second half.  Injuries to Chris Borland and Michael Wilhoite, the team’s new—if not as accomplished—answer to Patrick Willis and NaVorro Bowman were the key to Seattle establishing Marshawn Lynch, who gained 76 of his 91 yards after the break when Borland and Wilhoite departed.

Just as integral to the injuries that cost the 49ers their two key tacklers, was the patience and confidence of the Seahawks, who were able to fashion two scoring drives in the final 20 minutes of the game to seize control.  And as Wilson finally stood up to the 49ers and their staunch defensive effort, it was made that much easier by a 49ers’ offense that disappeared after the half.  The 49ers were limited to just 76 yards in offense after halftime, and their 3rd down opportunities were anything but as the Seattle pass rush kept Kaepernick scrambling with few escape routes.

“It’s just a maximum group effort,” Seattle’s K.J. Wright said.  “Everybody is getting to the ball and making plays.  We’re not letting teams breathe out there.”

As unexpected as the 49ers’ initial competitiveness, the performance of Seattle’s defense was not.  In shutting down the 49ers when it mattered the Seahawks’ defense was simply doing what it’s been doing.  In their four-game win streak, Seattle has allowed just 27 points, 10 of those to the 49ers in two games.

With Seattle running around making plays, what ails the 49ers became crystal clear.  The 49ers’ injury-riddled offensive line can’t protect or pass block anywhere near a championship level.  Wondering why Kaepernick has regressed?  Wonder no more: key downfield target Vernon Davis is a wounded performer still limited from two very violent collisions earlier in the year and the injuries that resulted, and the rest of receiving corps offers little in terms of speed and ability to separate from defensive backs.

Davis played throughout, but saw just two passes thrown his way.  Michael Crabtree’s answer to all the verbal abuse thrown his way by Richard Sherman was to catch three passes, which combined totaled less than 20 yards.  Not letting up on the 49ers’ key possession receiver, Coach Pete Carroll demanded a review of Crabtree’s first catch as if it was unbelievable that he could catch a pass of any length with Sherman guarding him.

And the 49ers’ pass catching leader?  Fullback Bruce Miller who needed to be all things in all places with Gore and Hyde sidelined and the 49ers’ receivers blanketed.  Miller grabbed four balls for 56 yards.

In addition, the running game wasn’t exactly humming along, then Frank Gore was lost to a concussion and rookie Carlos Hyde had his afternoon end on a play where his knee and leg were visibly twisted during a tackle.  At least in Gore’s defense, he made a gutsy run on fourth down in the first quarter that went 10 yards for the 49ers’ only score of the day.

And what of the 49ers’ immediate future?  In the final two weeks, anticipate seeing more of the team’s record draft haul that saw the team draft and keep 12 rookies, including Borland and rush linebacker Aaron Lynch.  If the 49ers are brash enough to fire a coach as successful as Harbaugh, then the answer will be to embrace the challenge of hiring someone just as capable and prepared to lean heavily on their young draftees next season and beyond.

It’s not as sexy as deep playoff run, but it is the reality the 49ers face.

.

Raiders blitzed by Chiefs

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By Jeremy Kahn

After narrowing the Kansas City Chiefs lead down to just four points early in the third quarter, the Oakland Raiders put themselves in position for a possible victory.

Unfortunately, somebody forgot to tell that the Chiefs that the Raiders wanted to pull off another upset over their longtime rivals.

In a four minute 42 second span of the third quarter, the Chiefs lead went from 10-6 to 31-6 and the Chiefs defeated the Raiders 31-13 at Arrowhead Stadium.

DeAnthony Thomas got the Chiefs on the board in the first quarter, as he took a Marquette King punt and returned it 81 yards for a touchdown.

Cairo Santos gave the Chiefs a 10-0 lead, but Sebastian Janikowski cut the lead down to 10-3 at the half, as he nailed a 53-yarder with no time remaining in the second quarter.

After a Janikowski field goal, the Chiefs began to turn it on following the 33-yarder by the 15-year veteran.

Knile Davis scored from three yards out, then Alex Smith found Travis Kelce from 20 yards just 54 seconds later after a Derek Carr fumbled the snap.

Davis pit the finishing touches on the scoring for the Chiefs, as he took a Smith pass and took 70 yards for the touchdown.

James Jones caught a one-yard pass from Carr with 34 seconds left for the final margin in the 18-point defeat.

On the afternoon, Carr ended up going 27-of-56 for 222 yards and a touchdown.

The Raiders have lost 10 straight road games, and have not won back-to-back games since weeks seven and eight of the 2012 season.

In their two games in the State of Missouri this season against the Chiefs and the St. Louis Rams, the Raiders were out scored 83-13.

Warriors extend winning streak to 16, defeat New Orleans in OT

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AP Photo/Jonathan Bachman)

By Robert Steward

NEW ORLEANS–

It was anything but easy in the Big Easy. The Golden State Warriors had quite the battle on their hands with the New Orleans Pelicans, needing overtime to win their 16th in a row, 128-122, to run their NBA-best record to 21-2. It was a battle of backcourts, as the Warriors’ Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson went head-to-head with the opposing backcourt of Tyreke Evans and Jrue Holiday. The Warriors were without starting center Andrew Bogut, who missed his third straight game with tendinitis in his right knee. The Pelicans were also without their leading scorer, Anthony Davis, and his 24 points and 10 rebounds per game average.

Golden State opened the first quarter by shooting 55% from the floor, but New Orleans actually shot better at 61%.  The Warriors led 21-14 with 5:37 to go in the first before New Orleans went on an 8-0 run to go up, 22-21. The combination of Holiday, who had 10 points, along with Evans, who added 9, offset the hot hand of the Warriors’ Curry, who scored 13 on 5 for 7 from the floor, including 3 for 4 from 3-point range. However, the Warriors turned it over often and New Orleans converted those turnovers into points and led 31-28 when the quarter ended.

With 10:29 left in the second quarter, Golden State’s Harrison Barnes took an elbow to the mouth, following an aggressive pivot move by the Pelicans’ Dante Cunningham. Barnes was forced to leave the game and did not return for the rest of the first half. Two stitches were required to close the wound, and Coach Steve Kerr said in postgame remarks that Barnes will be visiting the dentist tomorrow. The injury to Barnes did not affect the Warriors, however, as Andre Iguodala came off the bench to spark the Warriors, hitting his first six shots, which included a strong dunk over the Pelicans’ Luke Babbitt on a long outlet pass from Draymond Green. Following a 12-2 run, Golden State led 48-41 with 4:13 left in the half. At the break, they had their biggest lead of the half, at 60-51, outscoring New Orleans, 32-20, in the second quarter. Despite the turnovers, the Warriors were strong on the boards, out-rebounding New Orleans, 18-8, in the quarter. Golden State’s bench was also a key factor, outscoring the Pelicans, 30-11, at the break.

In the third quarter, both teams mainly traded baskets, with the Warriors’ lead fluctuating between 7-10 points until 5:22 left in the quarter, with Golden State leading, 82-74. At this point in the game both teams’ backcourts were locked in quite a battle. The Warriors’ combo of Curry/Thompson had 40 points on 15 of 24 from the floor, including 6 for 10 from long range. The Pelicans were equal to the task with their combo of Evans/Holiday, who had 39 points on 17 of 27 shooting. Following a New Orleans timeout, the Warriors then played sloppy, turning the ball over three times, while missing two shots. New Orleans made the most of the opportunity and converted the mistakes into points, finishing an 11-0 run to take the lead at 83-82, forcing Golden State to call a timeout with 3:16 left in the quarter. But even with the timeout the Warriors still turned it over twice more, which New Orleans converted into more points, extending the run to 13 unanswered points before Golden State’s Shaun Livingston ended the streak by hitting a jumper to make it 85-84, New Orleans. When the quarter ended, the Warriors had been torched for 38 points, which was the most they had given up in any single quarter all year. Of course, when the team turns it over 7 times in a single quarter that doesn’t help. Both teams were tied at 89-89 heading into the 4th.

Although the Warriors took better care of the ball to start the 4th, it was the Pelicans who began to take control of the game behind the scoring of Evans, who had 8 of his team’s first 18 points of the quarter as New Orleans grabbed their biggest lead of the game at 107-99 with 4:16 left in the game. But with that much time and the shooting of the Warriors’ backcourt, it was more than enough for the Warriors to come back. Following a Pelican miss, Iguodala hit a 3 to finish a 7-0 run for Golden State, cutting the lead to 107-106 at the 3:10 mark. After Cunningham hit a jumper for New Orleans and Curry hit 2 free throws for Golden State to make it 109-108, New Orleans, Curry then drew a charge on Cunningham, which nullified a shot that would have extended the Pelicans’ lead. At the other end Curry airballed a short, off-balanced jumper that Marreese Speights grabbed out of the air and laid it off the glass all in one move to give Golden State the lead at 110-109 with 1:34 left.

Two free throws by Evans gave New Orleans the lead again at 111-110 with 1:22 left. On the Warriors’ next possession Curry made a bad pass, turning it over to the Pelicans but Evans missed a jumper with 49 seconds left. Iguodala missed a 3-pointer but Speights came up with a big offensive rebound and was fouled. He converted 1 of 2 for a 111-111 tie with 43 seconds to go. At the other end, Golden State’s Draymond Green came up with two big blocks on a layup by Evans and a long jumper by the Pelicans’ Ryan Anderson. Thompson missed a 20-foot jumper with 2 seconds left and both teams went into overtime tied at 111.

In the extra period, Curry took over, hitting 3 of 4 from the floor, including 2 from long range, scoring 8 points total. The Pelicans, on the other hand, went cold from the floor, missing 15 of their last 19 shots as the Warriors opened up an 11-point lead at 125-114 before the Pelicans made a brief 8-1 run to close the gap at 126-122. Two free throws from Thompson with 15 seconds left completed the scoring. Curry led the Warriors with 34, followed by Thompson with 29. Iguodala finished with a season-high 20 points, while Draymond Green had a double-double with 11 points and 13 rebounds, to go with 5 assists and 4 blocks, all the while logging 48 minutes of playing time. Golden State finished at 51% shooting, including 11 for 24 from 3-point range. They were also solid from the free throw line, converting 29 of 35. The Pelicans were led by Evans, who tied Curry with 34, and Holiday, not far behind with 30 points of his own. Anderson chipped in with 15 and Cunningham came off the bench to score 13 on 6 of 7 shooting. New Orleans also converted 19 Warrior turnovers into 23 points. New Orleans is now 11-12 on the season.

Golden State will look to extend its winning streak to 17 as they complete their 3-game road trip with a visit to Memphis to take on the Grizzlies on Tuesday night. Memphis is also one of the hottest teams in the league with a record of 19-4, good for first place in the Southwest Division. The Warriors are the ninth team in NBA history to begin a season at 21-2. The last team to accomplish that feat was Boston in 2008-09.

 

 

NCAA commentary: Ducks Moriota gets Heisman shoots for Rose Bowl, Navy coach sets win record; Notre Dame women wear “I can’t breath” shirts

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by Michelle Richardson

Mariota’s next goal to win the Rose Bowl: Congratulations to Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota for picking up the Heisman Trophy this past weekend. He was the landslide winner this is well deserved he’s played hard. He would have got the Heisman last season but he got hurt. Moriota got the award for the best player in college football, they did a good job in giving him the publicity.

Moriota got justice because of the whole west coast bias thing he got elected for the award and he did a great job and he’ll represent really well. He has a shot to win the Rose Bowl if you look at Florida State and Oregon their pretty even. The ACC and the Pac 12 aren’t seen being very different as far as competition they’re pretty even as far as a level of competition.

The Pac 12 was not strong the stronger teams besides Oregon was Arizona and UCLA, when you look at the ACC FSU, North Carolina, Duke, Georgia Tech, and Navy are strong teams. So really out of the whole conference three teams in general were kind of strong neither came out of a very strong conference. FSU barely won some of the games, yeah but they won, that’s the bottom line they managed to make something out of nothing.

Navy head coach Ken Niumatalolo sets record for most wins: The game between Navy and Army is the Super Bowl for these two teams for all of these players who all go and serve their country after they graduate. Very few will come after their service and play in the NFL. So this is really their big game which Navy won 17-10 to hand Navy head coach Ken Miumatalolo the lead for most wins by a Navy coach at 56-35. Miumatalolo passes former Navy head coach George Welsh who held the record.

The game started off with a block punt and a defensive touchdown this game was what it was suppose to be those young men took all of everything from it. For Navy in passing quarterback Keenan Reynolds went six for eight passing for 77 yards, was sacked once but threw for a touchdown. Army’s quarterback A.J. Schurr no Christmas for him in this game, he didn’t do as well going 1-3 for 20 yards was sacked twice and no touchdowns.

Reynolds also had 26 carries for 100 yards where he ran one in for a touchdown, Navy running back Chris Swain had nine carries for 47 yards. With Army you had running back Larry Dixon carrying 14 times for 90 yards but he didn’t score either. For Navy Jamir Tillman caught two passes for 48 yards and one touchdown and for Navy Dixon went one for 20 for no touchdowns.

Notre Dame women wear “I can’t breath” shirts during warm ups: I was really surprised that Notre Dame came out and wore the “I can’t breath” T-shirts to honor the late Eric Garner the New York resident who was choked to death by New York City policeman Daniel Pantaleo. The first college team to wear the t-shirts were the Georgetown men who did it earlier this week. I can understand Georgetown because it’s in Washington D.C. very close to New York City where those players are coming from.

I can fully understand why Notre Dame and Georgetown did it, Georgetown has a legacy from their former coach John Thompson who walked off the court to protest Prop 49. I was very proud of what Notre Dame did and I just am surprised that the Notre Dame women did that. The young ladies went to coach Muffet McGraw and talked to her about wearing the shirts in pre game warm ups and they got the okay.

McGraw has players that are from those areas and she is very close to being from Ferguson Missouri being from Lafayette Indiana. This resonated with all of her players I want to applaud the women at Notre Dame for taking that stand and it kept growing and growing. The fact that the collegiates really let you know the magnitude of this movement.

Michelle Richardson does NCAA commentary each week on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Lacob maybe sorry about Jackson remarks but Kerr is taking dubs to the bank

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

SAN JOSE–So far Golden State Warriors head coach Steve Kerr has that team winning as they’ve won 15 in a row and their 20-2. They’re playing great basketball, the Warriors are the best team in the NBA. Owner Joe Lacob who recently criticized former Warrior coach Mark Jackson about his performance and later apologized for it. Jackson was instrumental in building this current Warriors team.

It wasn’t for Jackson’s coaching that he was fired from the Warriors but there were many personality issues involved. He had issues with Warrior executive Jerry West last season who tried to give coaching tips to the players during practice and Jackson ended up asking West to leave a practice. He also had an assistant coach fired from the team and one of the top reasons that bothered Lacob and that Jackson was in full control of the team.Jackson had a house in L.A. and moonlighted he was a preacher when he wasn’t working traveled to the Southland to preach during last season another issue the Warriors had a problem with.

It was more personality than anything else because Jackson took the team to the playoffs last season he did a good job as head coach and the players liked him too. It would be interesting to know what he’s thinking now with the current success of the team, he’s probably thinking “wow that’s the same team that I had last year that’s now 20-2.”

Jackson now is doing analysis for ESPN for NBA games and it’s a different job doing TV you can criticize anybody when you are coaching your team, your the face of the franchise and good for him I hope that Jackson is successful in broadcasting.

Oakland A’s transition updates: What A’s general manager Billy Beane is doing is incredible, he does a lot of trading in the winter meetings but basically going into spring training 2015 he has a new team, except for Coco Crisp, Josh Reddick, and Derrick Norris. You basically have a new infield. The A’s are going to use Brett Lawrie at third base and the best pitcher the A’s currently have at least as of today Sonny Gray.

The A’s recently let go of Jeff Samardzija who went to the White Sox he was a very good pitcher, it never ceases to amaze me what Beane does and he has a couple of trades left. Were going to have to wait as spring training is still a couple of months away Beane. Is Beane going to trade away some more players. Reddick on the same day when Beane traded former A’s third baseman Josh Donaldson to Toronto for Lawrie was wondering too and the A’s are rebuilding, You think?

Even the players wouldn’t be surprised if they traded Reddick and the players are questioning who their going to have, will they have enough to compete? You have to feel sorry for the A’s fans the people who the spend money to go and see these guys and now their gone. Right now they can’t identify with any player who has played at the A’s for more than three years and it’s very tough to have a following when you have so much changes of personnel every year.

San Jose Sharks update: The Sharks (17-11-4) third in the Pacific and who have won six of their last seven games and who won their third in a row on Saturday night against the Nashville Predators (19-8-2). Despite their recent success they have not been selling out their games at SAP Center but none the less are winning in streaks. The Sharks are a solid team after struggling for stretch earlier this season when they won only two in seven games back in November.

The Sharks have improved so much this month their getting great support to protect their goalie that they got great goaltending from Antti Niemi who stopped all 29 shots for San Jose for the 2-0 shutout Saturday. The Sharks improved to 17-11 are tied with Vancouver with 38 points and are 11 points behind first place Anaheim. The Sharks got goals from Tomas Hertl (7) at 5:01 in the first period and Joe Thornton (8) at 18:26 of the third period.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez does News and Commentary each week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cal outsmarts Princeton in the second half to capture sixth straight win

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By Morris Phillips

There’s not just one blue-and-gold clad basketball team living in the East Bay, there’s two, and just like the NBA Warriors, the Cal Bears are building confidence and winning games.

The Bears fashioned a big second half on Saturday night, overcoming a double-digit deficit against Princeton, and winning 67-57, their sixth straight win under new coach Cuonzo Martin.

Princeton’s trademark patience, backdoor cuts and outside shooting gave Cal fits for the first 30 minutes of the game in which the Tigers led by as many as 11 points in the first half, and still led by eight with 15 minutes remaining.  Hans Brase, Spencer Weisz and Clay Wilson combined to hit eight of Princeton’s 10 made 3-pointers as the Tigers jumped out quick making their first eight shot attempts of the game.

“When you deny the wings, they go backdoor on you and they will send two guys backdoor,” Martin said of the Princeton attack.  “We were on our heels in the first half and we allowed the ball to move side-to-side.  When that happens against a team that shoots the way Princeton shoots, it can be a long night.”

But once Cal got acclimated to what Princeton was doing offensively and defensively, they fashioned a big comeback with leading scorer Tyrone Wallace doing the heavy lifting.

Wallace scored 20 of his team-best 23 points in the second half as Cal figured it out, especially what the Tigers were doing in their 1-3-1 zone that took Cal out of most of its traditional offensive sets.

With 15 minutes remaining, and immediately after Brase hit his fourth 3-pointer of the night, Cal clamped down defensively, holding Princeton scoreless for almost 10 minutes.  The streak of stingy defense was just what Cal needed as the Tigers are known for milking leads of five to 10 points as if they were much bigger leads.  After hitting eight threes in the first half, Cal limited Princeton to just two after the break.

“The looks we were getting were different than what we were seeing in the first half.  That takes a little bit of your confidence when the first few don’t go down compared to the first half,” Princeton assistant coach Marcus Jenkins said.

“We did a better job in the second half of settling down, getting those guys off the line and containing the dribble,” Martin said.

Cal starters Jordan Mathews (12 points) and David Kravish (11) each aided the Cal attack with the senior post the key by flashing into the lane, surveying the defense and making good decisions to pass or shoot.  Christian Behrens continued to make strides with 12 points, equaling his career-best scoring total from the previous game against Wyoming.

“Christian has made huge strides,” Kravish said of Behrens.  “I came in with him as a freshman and he’s been fighting off that ACL and he had another one a couple years ago.  That was tough, but I think he’s finally healthy and we’re all glad.  He’s comfortable.  It’s good to see him just finally be able to play basketball.  Coach is demanding a lot from him and Christian is really rising to the challenge.”

The Bears 9-1 start is their best since 2002, and they are in the midst of a seven-game home stand that will take them through the start of Pac-12 conference play.

Sharks Shut Out Predators 2-0

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AP Photo/Ben Margot

By Mary Walsh

SAN JOSE– Saturday, the San Jose Sharks defeated the Nashville Predators by a score of 2-0. A goal from Tomas Hertl gave the Sharks the lead midway through the first period and they never gave it back. In the final minutes, Joe Thornton added the insurance goal. Antti Niemi made 29 saves for the shutout win. Nashville’s Pekka Rinne made 32 saves on 33 shots to keep his team in the game.

This season’s Predators are a turbo-charged version of the Nashville teams the Sharks have faced for several seasons now. Always defensively formidable, this year’s Preds have just enough extra offense to increase their goal scoring without taking anything away from their defensive play. They are a model for anyone wondering how important defense is to offense.

Saturday, those turbo engines misfired. Not only did the Predators fail to score or take many shots, they also took an uncharacteristic number of penalties, and there were times when the Sharks ran their defense ragged.

The Sharks were in rare form. They blocked almost as many shots as the Predators took, and won 46 of 72 faceoffs. They outshot the Predators 34-29, but through the first two periods that count was 29-11. After the game, Joe Thornton talked about the Sharks’ good start: “You try to get off to a good start every night but just sometimes it happens better than other nights for whatever reason. Tonight was one of those nights when we started fast and it won the game for us probably.”

Oddly, this year’s Predators have a habit of giving up the first goal of the game. It is a peculiar pattern, considering they entered Saturday’s contest second in the very tough Central Division.

They gave up that first goal again Saturday, when Joe Thornton picked up a dump in from Scott Hannan. He passed it to Joe Pavelski, who shot it, creating a rebound that Tomas Hertl could pick up as he came acorss in front of the crease. It was Hertl’s seventh goal of the season.

The Predators are not in the habit of taking penalties. They had the fewest overall in the NHL, before Saturday. Their average penalty minutes per game was 7.1. On Saturday they had 11 penalty minutes before the second period was over. The Sharks had the same number but their average has been higher at 10.5 per game.
The Sharks took the first penalty of the game at 6:04 of the first, a hooking call on Chris Tierney.

By the midpoint of the first period, the shot count was 11-3 Sharks.

The Sharks also took the second penalty, a slashing call to Barclay Goodrow. That call came at 17:13 of the period. Before that was over, Tommy Wingels and James Neal had a bout, which earned each the usual five minutes, with an additional two minutes for Neal for cross-checking.

The period ended with the Sharks up 1-0 and ahead in shots 18-7.

The Sharks started the second period with a little over a minute of power play time. They had a few good passes but they did not register a shot.

The Sharks’ next power play opportunity came at at 7:54 of the second, a hooking call on Nashville defenseman Seth Jones. That power play started very well, with the Predators getting in the way of some good chances for the Sharks, without being able to push the Sharks out of the zone. The second minute of the penalty was less noteworthy, with the second power play unit unable to get set up. The first unit took over again for the last half minute or so but the scrore remained unchanged at 1-0 Sharks.

Mike Fisher took the next penalty for the Predators, two minutes for high sticking. At the same time, James Sheppard was called for holding the stick. The resulting four on four started out in the Sharks’ zone but the Preds were pushed out without getting any shots on net. The Sharks spent their time in the Nashville end a little more productively, getting credit for three shots.

Through the course of the second period, the Predators only got four shots on net to the Sharks’ eleven.

At 4:25 of the third, Justin Braun was called for holding in an encounter that put Ryan Ellis on his posterior right in front of Antti Niemi. Braun was not happy about the call but it did eliminate a scoring chance. The Sharks penalty killers outdid themselves keeping the Predators from ever sustaining pressure on the power play, though they did add a few shots to their count.

At 12:28 of the period, James Sheppard and Shea Webber took turns throwing cross checks. Sheppard cross checked Craig Smith, and Weber cross-checked Sheppard.  They went to their respective boxes for two minutes. Neither team scored.

The Predators could not score with their goalie pulled either, and at 18:26 Joe Thornton took advantage of the absent netminder to score the empty netter.

The period came to a close in a flurry of whistles and penalties. At 19:39, James Neal was called for embellishment, Ryan Ellis was given a 10 minute misconduct, Barclay Goodrow got one of those as well and a two minute slashing penalty.

Joe Pavelski led the Sharks in shots with seven. Tommy Wingels led the team with six hits and Marc-Edouard Vlasic blocked a team high of five shots.

The Sharks next play at 7:30 PT on Thursday the 18th, when they will host the Edmonton Oilers again at SAP Center.