Month: January 2016

Sommer Remains One Short of AHL Wins Record With ‘Cuda Loss

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By: Ben Leonard

photo credit: San Jose Barracuda: SJ Barracuda drop a close one in overtime in Iowa to the Wild Saturday night

All season long, we’ve been watching San Jose Barracuda (18-10-4-3) head coach Roy Sommer’s win total to see when he’d reach the all-time AHL record for coaching wins — 636 set by Fred “Bun” Cook. He almost tied Cook’s record, until a quick Iowa Wild  (10-25-2-3) goal in overtime kept him just one win short in a 2-1 loss — 635 will just have to do for now.

The Barracuda still haven’t suffered a regulation loss in its list nine contests, and appear poised to help Sommer tie and pass Cook in the very near future. The ‘Cuda take on the Bakersfield Condors on Monday, and the Ontario Reign on Friday.

“Cuda right winger Trevor Parkes scored first for both squads, breaking the scoreless game two minutes into the second period with his seventh goal of the season. Parkes was assisted by Gus Young and Bryan Lerg on a difficult quick shot, helping the Barracuda take a 1-0 lead into the third period. ‘Cuda goalie Aaron Dell had saved 31 shots in those first two periods — until the Wild struck back.

Center Jordan Schroeder picked up his ninth goal of the season, beating Dell on a very close shot after several rebounds to tie the game with just over fifteen minutes left to play in the contest. Dell would go on to save the rest of the shots, giving him 44 in regulation — until overtime came around.

The first chance the Wild had, it cashed in — Gustav Olofsson took the team’s first shot in regulation, and kept Sommer waiting by beating Dell in the top of the net with his first goal of the season.

Sacramento Kings Saturday game recap: Kings Clip 10 game win streak of Clippers with 110-103 victory

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by Jessica Kwong

photo credit: LA Times–Sac Kings Rajon Rondo feeds pass while being defended by the LA Clips Chris Paul on Saturday at Staples Center

LOS ANGELES — The Sacramento Kings snapped the Los Angeles Clippers’ 10-game winning streak – the longest active in the NBA tied with the San Antonio Spurs – with a 110-103 victory Saturday night at Staples Center that they made look pretty easy.

“It’s a big win for us – they’ve been on a winning streak and are probably one of the top teams in the league right now. To come into their house and get a win like this is good for us,” said DeMarcus Cousins, who lead Sacramento in scoring with 19 points.

Kings coach George Karl noted that the Clippers were without their star forward Blake Griffin, out with a partially torn tendon in his left quadriceps, but still called his team’s win “one of the more satisfying” ones of the season.

The Clippers, who were also without DeAndre Jordan recovering from pneumonia, took an early lead, but the Kings overtook them and closed the half 64-60. Sacramento maintained a steady lead over Los Angeles and finished the third quarter up 82-79.

“We felt that we had the advantage going into the game, especially with their big men (Griffin and Jordan) out,” Kings guard Rajon Rondo said. “We wanted to take advantage of that and get the ball into the paint.”

The Kings led the Clippers by as many as 9 points in the fourth quarter, but Los Angeles rallied at the end of the fourth quarter, coming within 2 points when Cole Aldrich made a layup with 13.1 seconds remaining.

Darren Collison, fouled by J.J. Redick, made both at the free throw line to bump the Kings’ lead to 107-103. Rondo, fouled by Chris Paul who picked up his fifth personal, also made both.

“We knew J.J. and Chris Paul were their go-to guys and we let J.J. get loose, but I thought we did a pretty good job on Chris by getting him into foul trouble,” Rondo said.

Willie Cauley-Stein, fouled by Jamal Crawford, went one-for-two from the line to give Sacramento the 110-103 win.

Karl said his team “got big contributions in a balanced way” with six players in the double figures. Cousins passed the ball well and Ben McLemore had his moments offensively and defensively, the coach said.

“I thought we competed very physically and I just think it’s one of our better team wins and one of our better defensive wins of the year,” Karl said.

Nine victories of the Clippers’ 10-game winning streak came without Griffin, but nine of the games were also against teams below .500.

The Kings, who improved to 17-23, play their next game on Wednesday at Staples Center against the Los Angeles Lakers, who are 9-33 after Saturday night’s loss to the Utah Jazz.

 

    

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Sharks Beat Stars 4-3, Home Win Streak at 3

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By Mary Walsh

photo credit: San Jose Sharks facebook page: Sharks Tomas Hertl scores and celebrates the game winner over the Dallas Stars on Saturday

SAN JOSE- The San Jose Sharks defeated the Dallas Stars 4-3 Saturday, in overtime. The Sharks finally came back to win after giving up the first goal, on home ice. The Sharks’ record when giving up the first goal on home ice was 0-18-1 going into Saturday’s game. The Sharks now have a three-game winning streak on home ice. It is possible that the 2015-16 Sharks have found their groove at last. Their power play got perfect results, as did their penalty kill.

Sharks defenseman Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored two goals Saturday, while Tomas Hertl scored the overtime game winner and Chris Tierney gave the team its first lead by scoring a power play goal in the second period. The Sharks’ two power play goals broke another recent pattern of icing a feeble power play. Joe Thornton earned his 926th assist, tying him with Stan Mikita for 17th place on the NHL’s all-time assists list.

The Sharks and the Stars played an almost perfectly balanced game. In shots, faceoffs, blocked shots, and goals, the Sharks and the Stars stayed neck and neck from start to finish. The teams traded one-goal leads, their shot counts were very close, and where one led in the second period, the other team led in the third. the Sharks led in hits and takeaways, but

The game started with plenty of offense. The teams stayed neck and neck on the shot clock until past the eleven minute mark, when an unfortunate bounce gave the Stars that critical shot: the first goal. Dylan DeMelo was trying to clear the puck out along the boards but instead it bounced out into the slot, where Ales Hemsky waited to put it past Martin Jones. Assists went to Mattias Janmark and Antoine Roussel. It was Dallas’ tenth shot of the game, where the Sharks had nine.

With 3:19 left in the first, the Sharks took the first penalty of the game, a goaltender interference call to Joonas Donskoi. It was an odd incident. Donskoi lost his balance just enough so that the lightest push from a Dallas defender caused him to fall over Antti Niemi. The Sharks killed it off, and by the end of the period the teams were still close in shots, with the Sharks leading 15-13. Many of those shots went off the post, on good chances, but the score was still 1-0 Dallas.

The teams started the second with the same energy as they started the first, keeping the goalies busy and everyone’s feet moving. It was on the Sharks’ 17th shot of the game that Marc-Edouard Vlasic scored on a nice rush from Tomas Hertl and Joe Thornton. Hertl caught up to the puck just as it came into the Dallas zone, protect the puck long enough to find Thornton on his way to the slot. Instead of taking a shot, Thornton made a pass to Vlasic, who was coming down the left side. Vlasic wasted no time as the puck came to him and put it under Niemi’s left pad. It was Vlasic’s sixth goal of the season, with assists to Thornton and Hertl.

Near the midpoint of the game, Alex Goligoski was called for interference on Tomas Hertl, giving the Sharks their first power play of the game. The power play was as anemic as it has been lately, including one very confident pass to an empty corner. Seconds before the penalty expired, Matt Nieto skated into the Stars zone, avoiding defenders with some nifty stick handling. He got the puck to Tommy Wingels, who handed it off to Chris Tierney. Tierney did not dawdle and put it over Niemi’s shoulder. It was Tierney’s of the season. Assists went to Wingels and Nieto.

The second period ended with the Sharks leading 2-1 and 30-21 in shots.

One of those leads evaporated in the first minute of the third period. 37 seconds into the period, Tyler Seguin caught the puck in his skates on a failed clear by the Sharks, then beat Martin Jones from the slot. Assist to Jamie Benn.

The Stars kept coming after that, and had the Sharks in such a fluster that they took a too many men on the ice penalty at 1:49. They killed the penalty off, despite a pretty well-orchestrated power play from Dallas. Martin Jones was especially sharp.

The Sharks took another lead at 7:51 of the period. Jamie Benn went to the box for interference on Joe Pavelski. Vlasic, on the second power play unit, put the puck over Niemi’s arm during the second minute of the penalty. Assists went to Dylan DeMelo and Joonas Donskoi.

The goal was challenged by Stars coach Lindy Ruff, for a missed offside call. The goal stood up and 12 seconds after the announcement, Jason Spezza tied it back up with a spin-o-rama off a pass from Jamie Benn. Assists went to Benn and Seguin.

The teams continued tied up until overtime, when the Sharks’ second three-man unit ended the game. Overtime was probably the only time in the game when one team dominated the other, but it only lasted one minute and 12 seconds, so perhaps it did not break pattern. The goal came after Vlasic made a try for a hat trick, shooting into Niemi’s pads from near the goal line. The shot was well-timed and placed, because he was able to collect his own rebound and take it around behind the net for another try. But it was not to be, as Tomas Hertl scored the game-winner, bringing an end to the “score first or lose” home ice curse that has haunted the Sharks since the start of the season. Assists went to Vlasic and Logan Couture.

The Sharks will finish this home stand on Monday, against the visiting Ottawa Senators at 7:30 PT.

Warriors Start Road Trip Off With Sluggish Loss To Pistons.

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By Shawn Whelchel

AP photo: Golden State’s Klay Thompson couldn’t encourage the Warriors enough to get over the hump with the Pistons on Saturday night

The Golden State Warriors continued to look less and less like the once dominant offensive NBA team that they were at the beginning of the season, as a cold shooting night handed them their second loss in the last three games.

After posting an impressive 30-point first quarter, the Detroit Pistons defense hunkered down on the reigning NBA champions, holding them to just 95 total points on 38 percent shooting on the night, handing them just their fourth loss of the season in a 113-95 loss for the visitors.

The Warriors night was filled with unremarkable moments from the usually solid team. From anyone not named Steph Curry or Klay Thompson struggling to find the basket, to frustrations spilling over in the form of multiple technical fouls called on Golden State, Saturday night’s effort was a forgettable affair amidst a historic season.

Curry did his part to keep his team in the game, netting 38 points on 13-of-26 shooting from the field, including seven makes from beyond the arc. Thompson trailed behind him with 24 of his own points in 32 minutes.

But beyond the splash brothers, no other Golden State starter cracked double digits in points, with the rest of the starting squad-including a healthy Harrison Barnes- combining for just 16 points on the night. Curry and Thompson dominated the touches, taking 44 of the total 67 shots from the starting unit. Festus Ezeli saved a sluggish bench performance as well, being the only other Warrior aside from Curry and Thompson to score in double digits with 10 points.

Golden State lost in nearly every major statistical category, going on to yield less rebounds, steals, blocks, assists, points in the paint and giving up more turnovers than the Pistons did on the night, effectively sinking their chances to gain momentum at the start of their road trip.

Meanwhile, the normally solid Warriors defensive effort was just as absent as their scoring, with all five starters scoring in double-digits for Detroit. Reggie Jackson and Kentavious Caldwell-Pope led the Pistons with 20 points a piece. Aron Baynes had a solid night for Detroit down low, as the center put in 12 points on a perfect 6-of-6 shooting to lead the Pistons’ reserves.

The night was a tough start to a three-game road stretch for the Warriors. In a rematch of the NBA finals, the Warriors will have to defeat the Cleveland Cavaliers at Quicken Loans Arena on Monday in order to avoid their first two-game losing streak of the season. The team will then follow that up with a meeting with the 23-16 Chicago Bulls.

Stanford Cardinal basketball podcast with Ben Leonard: Cardinal got pumped for Cal last Thurs inflated offensive numbers

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by Ben Leonard

photo credit: USA Today Stanford’s Rosco Allen trots behind Stanford head coach Johnny Dawkins Thursday vs. Cal

PALO ALTO–On the podcast the Stanford Cardinal success with their free throws and rebounding against the Cal Bears last Thursday night at Maples Pavilion in Palo Alto helped set a climate of staying ahead of a Cal team that’s starting to sputter after having huge success in mainly non conference games and the Cardinal after their tour of duty in the state of Oregon are feeling good about using Cal as a test dummy for improving their game average numbers for rebounds, free throws, and scoring.

Rosco Allen the Cardinal ace hardly could contain himself likewise for Cal they had trouble containing Allen all night. It was Allen who reached deep down in his basketball soul to help contribute towards Stanford’s six point lead over the Bears for the 77-71 win. Rosco finished the night with a team leading 22 points, 11 rebounds, and the Cardinal out rebounded the Bears 38-28.

The Cardinal gear up for their next opponent next Thursday night at Maples against an offensive Arizona Wild Cats team. The Cardinal hope to work that same magic they had on Thursday night on the Wild Cats that they did for Cal as they broke out of their 67% free throw average and tallied for one of their best free throw nights of the season.

Ben Leonard is filling in for Matt Harrington on the Cardinal basketball podcast listen for Matt next week right here at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Sommer moves closer to history in Barracuda win

Published on by Eric HeLeave a comment

By: Eric He

photo credit: SJ Barracuda: SJ Barracuda get head coach Roy Sommer his 635th career win over the Rockford Ice Hogs on Friday night

The San Jose Barracuda notched a decisive 5-2 win over the Rockford IceHogs on Friday night and Roy Sommer moved closer to history by recording his 635rd career win.

While Rockford scored the first goal, but San Jose scored the next two with goals from Petter Emanuelsson and Bryan Lerg. The IceHogs responded on a one-timer by Mark McNeill to even the score, but Trevor Parkes answered for the Barracuda to give San Jose the lead again.

Up a goal in the third period, the Barracuda put the game away with two scores in the final frame.

The Barracuda have recorded points in their last eight games. Their road trip continues tomorrow in Des Moines against the Wild.

NFL Divisional Playoffs Preview: Patriots, Cards, Panthers, and Broncos move on

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

After a 4-0 record last weekend in the wild card round, I can pat myself on the back for accurately picking that Kansas City, Pittsburgh, Seattle and Green Bay would win, but the divisional round is a whole different animal.

Oh yeah, it was the first time in NFL history that all four road teams won in the wild card round.

With three of the four games rematches from the regular season, there is a chance that all four games are going to come down to the wire. The teams that can execute in crunch time, limit the bone-head mistakes, and penalties will have the greatest chances of playing in next week’s conference championship games.

In the divisional round this weekend, it will be the home teams that will protect their turf with impressive victories and move one step closer to Santa Clara and Super Bowl 50.

Kansas City Chiefs (11-5); 5th seed at New England (12-4); 2nd seed –  Saturday 4:35 p.m. ET/1:35 p.m. PT – CBS

The divisional round is kicked off with Kansas City again, but this time the Chiefs are flying to Foxborough to take on a Patriots team fresh off a bye week.

Kansas City has been the hottest team in football, winners of 11 straight after destroying the Texans 30-0 in Houston last Saturday’s AFC wild card game. It was Kansas City’s first playoff victory in 22 years.

Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce was a difficult cover for the Texans, finishing the game with eight catches for 128 and provided quarterback Alex Smith with a reliable receiver.

Smith’s top playmaker, wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, is dealing with a high-ankle sprain and is a game time decision. Should Maclin play, he will draw the attention of Patriots cornerback Malcolm Butler, who was voted to his first Pro Bowl team this season.

Kansas City does have a solid running game with Charcandrick West and Spencer Ware, who racked up 67 rushing yards. Those two will be heavily involved in the game plan as the weather in Foxborough calls for rain, which makes Kansas City’s running game that much vital if they have a chance to knockoff New England. Ware is dealing with an ankle injury as well, but should be ready to go.

The last time Kansas City played New England, the Chiefs thumped the Patriots 41-14 at Arrowhead last season, prompting talks that Patriots quarterback Tom Brady was old and it was time for him to retire.

Brady, who finished the regular season with 36 touchdowns and a 102.2 passer rating (his best numbers in four seasons), should have his full compliment of targets in tight end Rob Gronkowski, and wide receivers Danny Amendola, and Julian Edelman at his disposal.

All three players missed time during the regular season, but New England continued to find ways to win games, but are entering the playoffs with a 2-4 record, the worst six-game record under head coach Bill Belichick to end the season.

Brady was sacked 38 times in the regular season, third-worst in his career. Kansas City has one of the best pass rushes in the league, finishing with 47 sacks, which was two behind New England’s defensive unit.

Kansas will have to provide pressure on Brady and force him to be uncomfortable in the pocket. If you allow Brady to have time to survey the field, he will find the open man and will hurt you.

“Any time you can get to the quarterback and put pressure on him, or make him uncomfortable in the pocket, you can create turnovers,” said Kansas City linebacker Justin Houston this week. “Every week that’s our plan, that’s our goal: Dominate every snap.”

Kansas City forced 29 turnovers this season after just mustering 13 last season. Rookie cornerback Marcus Peters finished tied in the NFL with Bengals safety Reggie Nelson with eight interceptions.

The player to watch for New England is defensive end Chandler Jones, who was hospitalized last Sunday for a “medical emergency.” Jones did apologize to his teammates and coaches Thursday for what he termed as a “stupid mistake” on his part.

Jones recorded 12.5 sacks this season, which was fifth in the league.

The Chiefs look to snap a five-game losing streak in New England, but it’s really tough to pick against Belichick and the Patriots when they’ve had two weeks to prepare.

Chiefs 21 – Patriots 30

Green Bay (10-6); 5th seed at Arizona Cardinals (13-3); 2nd seed –  Saturday 8:15 p.m. ET/5:15 p.m. PT – NBC

In Week 16, Arizona hammered Green Bay 38-8, in which the Cardinals registered nine sacks. The game got out of hand very quickly as the Cardinals held the Packers to just 178 yards of total offense, which was their second-worst offensive output this season.

In addition to the nine sacks, Arizona’s defense scored two touchdowns as Green Bay’s offensive line had no chance at protecting quarterback Aaron Rodgers.

Green Bay found themselves down 11-0 in a NFC wild card game last week to Washington, before waking up and pulling away from the Redskins 35-18.

One player who really wanted to get another shot at the Cardinals is Rodgers, who was sacked eight times on Dec. 27.

“We kind of felt like this was a possibility to be able to go back after that loss,” said Rodgers per the Packers’ official website. “We’re coming off, obviously, a big win, and in (the Cardinals’) last game they got beat by a lot. So it’s going to be a more competitive game, I bet.”

Arizona got ran out of its own building by NFC West rival Seattle 36-6 in Week 17 to close out the regular season.

Carson Palmer, Arizona’s 36-year-old signal-caller, will attempt to win his first career playoff game for the third time. Palmer set franchise records for a quarterback in passing yards (4,671) and touchdown passes (35). The 13-year veteran leads a Cardinals’ offense that finished first in the league in total yards per game (408.3) and second in points per game (30.6).

In the Dec. 27 meeting, Palmer finished 18 of 27 for 265 yards, two touchdowns, one interception and was sacked twice.

Green Bay’s defense harassed Washington’s quarterback Kirk Cousins, sacking him six times.

Cousins is definitely not Palmer, but Green Bay’s defensive coordinator Dom Capers will need to neutralize Palmer and prevent him from getting the ball to wide receivers Larry Fitzgerald (109 catches, 1,215 yards, 9 TDs), John Brown (65 catches, 1,003 yards, 7 TDs), and Michael Floyd (52 catches, 849 yards, 6 TDs).

Rookie running back David Johnson, who has stepped in nicely for injured starting running back Chris Johnson (no relation), combined for 127 yards receiving and rushing and a touchdown against the Packers this season. Johnson finished the season with 13 total touchdowns and could prove to be the difference maker for Arizona.

The game will be closer than it was in Week 16, but the Cardinals are tough at the University of Phoenix Stadium this season (7-1) in what could be a Saturday night spectacular.

In their previous playoff meeting in 2009, Rodgers threw for 423 yards, four touchdowns, and one interception, but it was the forced fumble and recovery by then-Cardinals linebacker Karlos Dansby for the game winning score that prove to be the difference in Arizona’s 51-45 overtime victory.

That was Rodgers’ first playoff start.

Packers 27 – Cardinals 33

Seattle (10-6); 6th seed at Carolina Panthers (15-1); 1st seed –  Sunday 1:05 p.m. ET/10:05 a.m. PT – FOX

This is the marquee game of the weekend in my eyes. Two teams that are so evenly matched with two outstanding quarterbacks and defenses that will hit you in the mouth.

In all honesty, Seattle has no business even playing this weekend.

The Seahawks’ season were brought back from the dead after Minnesota’s kicker Blair Walsh missed a 27-yard field goal that would’ve won the game, but held on to a 10-9 victory on the road in Minnesota in last Sunday’s NFC wild card game. Seattle is looking to advance to the NFC Championship game for the third straight year, but will need to put up a herculean effort if they are going to get passed Carolina.

Let’s not forget it was Carolina who went to Seattle last year in the divisional round and lost to the Seahawks 31-17, en route to Seattle’s second straight Super Bowl appearance.

This season, Carolina enacted a bit of revenge when they traveled to Seattle again in Week 6 and beat the Seahawks in a gritty, 27-23, come-from-behind victory. Panthers quarterback Cam Newton threw two first-half interceptions before leading Carolina back from a 13-point deficit in the second half, and hitting his favorite target in tight end Greg Olsen for a 26-yard touchdown catch down the middle of the field with 32 seconds remaining in the game.

Newton, who is one of the favorites to win the league’s MVP award, especially with being the only quarterback in NFL history to throw for 30 touchdowns and rushing for 10 touchdowns, completed 20 of 36 passes for 269 yards. Newton also racked up 30 yards rushing and a touchdown.

After the game, Panthers head coach Ron Rivera said that game was “one of the bigger victories we’ve had since I’ve been here.”

Panthers safety Roman Harper recently said that Carolina is “the better team.” “We need to go out and show confidence in who we are and the things we have done all year – and don’t shy away from the pressure.”

“After we played them, (in Week 6), we said “We’ll see you again in the playoffs,” Josh Norman, the Panthers’ Pro Bowl cornerback told Carolina’s official website.

Boy, I can’t wait for this game!

Carolina would make a huge statement in knocking off Seattle. Carolina hasn’t been to the NFC Championship game since 2005, where they lost at Seattle 34-14.  Many believe Seattle are peaking at the right time.

Dealing in the frigid conditions of Minnesota where the temperature was below-zero, Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson completed 13 of 26 passes for 142, one touchdown and one interception.

Wide receiver Doug Baldwin caught five passes for 52 yards and a touchdown. Baldwin had a breakout season, finishing with 78 catches for 1,069 yards and 14 touchdowns. Seattle’s top receiver should see a lot of Norman, who can get under a wide receiver’s skin with his trash talking and suffocating-like cover skills.

Running back Marshawn Lynch is expected to play this week after not making the trip to Minnesota last week. Lynch should provide Seattle with a much needed running game to take a little of the pressure off of Wilson.

Seattle’s top-ranked run defense (81.5 yards per game)was on full display last week, holding NFL rushing champion Adrian Peterson to 45 yards on 23 carries.

One thing is for certain, there will be a streak that will come to an end Sunday, either Carolina’s 11 game home winning streak, or Seattle’s franchise record six game road playoff win streak – which includes last week’s victory in Minnesota.

Its a toss up, but Carolina looks like the time is now for them to take the next step.

Seahawks 17 – Panthers 20

Pittsburgh (10-6); 6th seed at Denver (12-4); 1st seed –  Sunday 4:40 p.m. ET/1:40 p.m. PT – CBS

With quarterback Ben Roethlisberger hampered by a shoulder injury and will be limited Sunday and wide receiver Antonio Brown out with a concussion, there is no way that Pittsburgh is going to travel to Denver and take out the Broncos Sunday to close out the divisional round.

Denver’s secondary is much healthier now than it was on Dec. 20 where Roethlisberger completed 40 of 55 passes for 380 yards and three touchdowns, and Brown caught 16 passes for 189 yards and two touchdowns, all season-highs for any opponent against Denver’s tough defense.

Denver did record two interceptions and three sacks off of Roethlisberger in the Week 15 encounter.

Roethlisberger is the only quarterback to throw over 300 yards against Denver this season.

“We got lucky the first time,” said Roethlisberger via the Pittsburgh Post Gazette. “We made plays, they had guys injured, we were at home. It’s not going to be that easy (again).”

Pittsburgh slipped by AFC North rival Cincinnati 18-16 last Saturday in an AFC wild card match up. The Steelers were aided by back-to-back Cincinnati penalties in the fourth quarter that setup kicker Chris Boswell’s 35-yard game winning field goal in the closing seconds of the game.

Denver will start quarterback Peyton Manning in Sunday’s contest. Backup quarterback Brock Osweiler completed 21 of 44 passes for 296 yards and three touchdowns, but this will be Manning’s show.

Wide receivers Demaryius Thomas and Emmanuel Sanders combined for 15 catches, 242 yards and three touchdowns on Dec. 20, gives Manning the necessary targets to exploit a Steelers’ defense that ranks 30th in the NFL in passing defense yielding 271.9 yards per game this season.

Denver has won eight of their last 11 meetings against Pittsburgh at Mile High, including a 29-23 overtime thriller in a AFC wild card game on Jan 8, 2012 behind a Tim Tebow 80-yard touchdown pass to Thomas.

Steelers 21 – Broncos 35

Stats provided by Elias Sports Bureau, NFL.com,  and STATS LLC.

 

These days Cal can’t score in the paint or beat Stanford

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

By Morris Phillips

PALO ALTO–Strategically, this was not the Cal Bears’ night.

Looking to lean heavily on their size and skill to end a three-game losing streak to archrival Stanford, the Bears instead were reduced to shooting jump shots and left to the mercy of the referee’s whistles.

While Cal’s star freshman, 6’11” Ivan Rabb took just five shots and fouled out, Stanford’s 6’3” Marcus Allen took 16 foul shots, and as much as any player on the floor for either team, had his way.

Not the way Cal drew it up, and consequently, the results were not kind. The Bears dropped their third straight road game, losing 77-71 to Stanford, and in the process, draining every last drop of momentum the Bears had built in an impressive 2-0 start in Pac-12 play.

A brief, six-point lead for the Bears 10 minutes in proved to be the high point for Cal on a night in which 30 of their 60 shots from the field came from behind the 3-point arc. Throughout, Stanford stubbornly sat in a 2-3 zone and battled the Bears tooth and nail every time they ventured in the paint. Meanwhile, Cal did little to shake the familiar scouting report that says don’t let the Bears play inside out, drive and kick.

“Yeah, we have to get to the basket a little more, but we’ll figure it out,” Jaylen Brown said. “I give credit to Stanford. They did a good job of closing off the lanes.”

The Bears did change things up a little, playing their two point guards, Tyrone Wallace and Sam Singer, together in hopes of better ball movement, but even that was done out of necessity, after Brown drew two quick fouls and sat for 18 of the first 20 minutes of the game. Brown hit the floor running in the second half, but missed a couple of free throws late, right after being whistled for a phantom foul on Allen, who was cruising in for a layup in transition.

Rabb’s night was drab, missing the game’s final five minutes after fouling out within two minutes of returning to the floor with 7:34 remaining, and Cal hoping to make a final push, down six.

Of the 30 attempts from distance, almost all were good looks, but came in the absence of the Bears forcing the issue in the paint. Cal made a respectable 12 of those 30, and Jabari Bird’s back-to-back threes midway through the second half got Cal even for the last time. But with Cal losing the rebounding battle, allowing Stanford to shoot 50 percent from the field before halftime, along with gifting the Cardinal with 38 free throw attempts (of which they made 30), the shots from distance stood out as a game plan gone astray, although Coach Cuonzo Martin didn’t necessarily see it that way.

“If they’re going in, 40 percent from the 3-point line isn’t bad,” Martin said. “If they’re good shots, we’re ready to catch and shoot.”

Stanford did its part to keep Cal within hailing distance, missing three free throws down the stretch along with a turnover. But the Bears never seized the offer, committing a critical five second penalty, trying to inbound the ball right in front of their own bench with less than a minute to go, down 72-69.

While Cal struggled, Allen did not.  In the final five plus minutes, he marched to the line repeatedly, scoring 10 of his 16 points at the foul stripe.  Emboldened by Coach Johnny Dawkins, Allen kept driving and probing.  The referees did the rest.

The Bears return home next Thursday to face Arizona State, and then see pre-season conference favorite Arizona on Saturday. The Sun Devils and new head coach Bobby Hurley earned their first Pac-12 win on Thursday night, beating Washington State at home. ASU had been the conference’s only winless team coming into the night’s action.

 

DMC and Gay lead Kings to victory, 103-101, over Jazz

Published on by Michael MartinezLeave a comment

by Michael Martinez

Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Image

SACRAMENTO- Heading into Thursday night’s game the Sacramento Kings were 2 games back behind their opponent, the Utah Jazz. Sacramento, 5-12 on the road, looked to come back from a bad loss the night before against the Pelicans. The Kings found a way to hold their opponent to a low shooting percentage, at least for three quarters, with tough perimeter defense while getting the ball inside to DeMarcus Cousins who had a tremendous game. The Kings shot the ball well and were able to just hold on to pick up the win against the Jazz, 103-101, at Vivint Smart Home Arena.

As the game got underway the Kings looked like the better team all the way. The team’s defense was tremendous and Utah could not make any shots. Willie Cauley-Stein got off to a great start putting up six quick points while playing tremendous defense. Cauley-Stein’s quickness as a big man has benefitted the Kings and his hustle does not go unnoticed.

Cousins did not do a ton of scoring in the first quarter, six points, but did a good job of moving the ball around for his teammates while picking up eight early rebounds. The Kings shot the ball well, while holding the Jazz to a 16.7% shooting percentage. The Kings did a great job of continuing their run as Utah went about eight minutes without a field goal. Gordon Hayward bricked a lot of shots and found a couple buckets at the charity stripe. Sacramento held the Jazz to 12 points, the lowest of any Kings’ opponent this season, giving them a 1st quarter lead 26-12.

The Jazz looked to have a better second quarter, but the Kings held them in check again. In full, Utah went nine minutes and 19 seconds without a field goal before Trevor Booker got a put back dunk for a field goal. After struggling all season with perimeter defense, the Kings were much improved in the first half, although there were a lot of fouls, 17 in the first two quarters for the Kings. The quarter consisted of a lot of free throws, 12-18 for Sacramento, and 9-13 for the Jazz.

Boogie came out stronger in the second quarter, totaling 18 points and 13 rebounds in the half, his sixth consecutive double-double. With DMC’s scoring ability the Kings were able to hang on to the lead although the Jazz outscored them 33-30 after shooting the ball much better. Trey Lyles and Raul Neto totaled 10 points for a team high as the Kings held the lead 56-45 heading into the locker room on 54.3% shooting. Utah shot 1/16 from 3 point range, much improved for Sacramento’s perimeter defense. The Kings scored a field goal with 1.6 seconds on the clock as Rajon Rondo passed the ball all the way up court to Darren Collison who missed the lay-up but Boogie cleaned it up with a dunk as the red lights lit up the backboard.

After the half time break, Hayward finally made a field goal after going 0-9. Cousins answered right back with his tremendous scoring ability. Rondo kept showing off his vision and passing ability with a pass on a very tight window to Rudy Gay for an alley-oop. Cousins continued his scoring ability with his first three pointer in the ball game in the third quarter. And Rondo once again got Gay the ball for another alley-oop later in the quarter. Both teams shot well and both Gay and Cousins showed off their scoring abilities. Gay scored eight in the quarter while Cousins scored 10, both shooting 3-5 from the field. The Kings got to the line 10 times and converted eight free throws. Hayward had a much better quarter, scoring nine points on 3-6 shooting.

Cousins produced the game high in three quarters with 28 points and Gay had 16 for the second highest point total. The Kings shot the ball well once again with a 54% percentage through three quarters, which is something they have done well all season. Through three quarters the Kings totaled 42 points in the paint and got the ball inside to Boogie a lot. Boogie has scored 15.7 points in the paint per game in the month of January as the Kings continue to dominate their opponents close to the rim. Their dominance allowed them to hang on to the lead although Hayward hit a buzzer beater heading into the fourth. Sacramento led the Jazz 82-71 with 12 minutes remaining.

To open up the final quarter, Omri Casspi knocked down a three pointer, something he has done well all season. Down 85-71 the Jazz found a rhythm and went on a 9-0 run in a minute and 50 seconds. The run consisted of a Casspi foul and technical, which gave Utah three easy points as Trey Burke connected on the free throw. Cauley-Stein stopped the bleeding with a put back dunk, but Utah kept hanging around. Gay struggled from three but Cousins was able to hit a big 3 pointer of his own to put the Kings back up by 10. Utah maintained a way to stick around with the Kings who could not find a way to put the Jazz out.

With two minutes and 55 seconds left the Kings held a six point lead over the Jazz and Cauley-Stein helped maintain that lead with a big rejection, showing off his athletic ability. But Gay fouled Rodney Hood behind the arc, which led to three shots from the charity stripe. Hood connected on all three cutting the lead to five. The Kings started to struggle and went three minutes and 16 seconds without a make but Cousins then proceeded to score. Rondo fouled Burke, which set up a three point play as the Jazz kept scrapping.

As time wound down, Hood hit a second chance three pointer to cut the lead to five one again. With 33 seconds left, Gay got to the foul line and made one of the two free throws. In just under four seconds, Hayward took the ball down the court, got fouled and made a circus shot to get the and one. Hayward made the bucket and forced the Kings to called a timeout, up 101-98 with 29.2 seconds remaining.

Out of the time out, Rondo took the shot and missed it, as the Jazz gained possession with 8.5 seconds remaining. Utah’s Joe Ingles took the three point shot and made it to tie the game at 101. Sacramento took a 20 second time out with 4.8 seconds remaining and drew up a play for Gay who scored well all night. Gay got the ball and hit a mid-range jumped that was good with 0.6 seconds left. Utah heaved up a miracle shot that had no chance and the Kings picked up a rare victory on back to back games especially on the road. The final score, 103-101, as the Kings just barely pulled out a W.

Amongst rumors of a proposed trade for Pelican’s forward, Ryan Anderson, Gay played an awesome game. Number eight finished the night with 24 points, 9-17 from the field, adding nine rebounds and three steals while knocking down the game winner.

DMC was once again unstoppable, finished with 36 points, 10-21 shooting, and adding 14 free throws on 21 attempts. Boogie also added 17 boards. Cousins has led the NBA in points in the month of January with 32.3 points per game. Cousins showed off his scoring ability once again with his inside dominance as Utah had no big man to cover him with Derrick Favors out. And Rondo continued to dish the ball out adding 13 assists, while adding 6 points and 6 rebounds.

Overall, Sacramento got careless with the ball, 16 turnovers but still shot well. Their defense looked good for three quarters but really let up towards the end although they were much improved. The team also dominated the rebounding category, 54-38. Cauley-Stein was a great spark for the Kings who looked better tonight as they continued to chase the Jazz for the eight seed.

On Saturday, the Kings will take on the Clippers in Los Angeles and will need Cousins to continue his hot start in the new year. The whole Kings crew is going to have to come together as the team is finally healthy and looks to beat a team in their conference and division. The Kings have struggled against really good teams so Saturday night will be a big test.

Allen gives Cardinal boost over Cal at free throw line

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By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, January 14, 2016

photo credit: gostanford.com Allen’s are all in as Stanford’s Rosco Allen (25) congratulates Marcus Allen (15) in home floor victory Wednesday night

PALO ALTO–Stanford needed a boost to maintain it’s six-point halftime lead, and it came from veteran Rosco Allen in the Cardinal’s 77-71 Pac-12 men’s basketball triumph over California at Maples Pavilion.

Allen finished with 22 points, 11 rebounds and one assist, as the Cardinal held a decisive 38-28 rebounding edge.

Meanwhile, Marcus Allen did considerable damage at the free throw line, hitting 12 of 16 from the stripe as he finished with 16 points. It was needed, as Cal drained 12 3-pointers while keeping pace with Stanford throughout the second half.

Allen, in fact, scored 10 of his 16 points in the final 5 ½ minutes – all of them at the line.

Free-throw shooting and rebounding turned out to be keys to the Cardinal win, as Stanford hit 30 of 38 at the line. Dorian Pickens and Marcus Sheffield finished with 14 and 11 points, respectively for the victorious Cardinal.

This was a remarkable performance at the charity stripe for Stanford, which came into the game shooting only 67 percent on its free throws this season.

The win didn’t come without a bit of last-second anxiety. Cal surged ahead early in the second half, Later, Stanford was nursing a three-point lead with 28 seconds remaining. But the Cardinal defense prevented Cal from inbounding the ball, and Michael Humphrey blocked an attempted layup by the Bears’ Tyrone Wallace to help secure the win.

Stanford improved to 10-6 overall and 3-2 in the Pac-12 South. The Cardinal return to action on Jan. 21 when they host Arizona.