Month: March 2018

Stanford Cardinal Podcast with Jerry Feitelberg: Stanford dominates Cal 76-58 Pac-12 Tournament; face UCLA this afternoon

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On the Stanford Cardinal Podcast with Jerry:

1 Turning to Stanford (17-14) men’s basketball, they played Cal (8-23) last night in Las Vegas for the Pac-12 Tournament. The Cardinal dominated all game long.

2 The Cardinal were beaten last time these two teams met and they made sure they weren’t going to lose this time.

3 The Cardinal’s usual offensive core came through with Dorian Pickens, Michael Humphrey, and Reid Travis.

4  Jerod Haase says he believes that Stanford is an NCAA Tournament team.

Jerry Feitelberg does the Stanford Cardinal basketball podcast each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.co

 

 

 

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Venezuela in a Huge Crisis That Also Affects Baseball

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By: Amaury Pi-Gonzalez

On March 8, 2018, ABC News said that as Venezuela’s economic crisis worsens, rising numbers are fleeing in a burgeoning refugee crisis that is drawing alarm across Latin America. Independent groups estimate that as many as three million to four million Venezuelans have abandoned their homeland in recent years, with several hundred thousand departing in 2017 alone.

Many of those migrants are arriving by foot in Colombia and landing in the Andean nation’s emergency rooms with urgent medical conditions that Venezuelan hospitals can no longer treat.

After the Dominican Republic, Venezuela has the most foreign-born players in the Major Leagues. In the past, I have spoken with players from Venezuela that told me how hard is to really concentrate on a game of baseball, which is their job and what they do, because of what has been happening in their motherland. The majority of them are disgusted, and some if you said you want to talk about it, they roll their eyes and tell you, we better not, because it is not pretty.

For years now, the Venezuelan government has followed the mold of that of Cuba. When Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Fidel Castro of Cuba were alive, they were great friends and allies. Castro would visit Venezuela and Chavez would visit Cuba. The same political philosophy is shared by both governments.

According to the Colombian Red Cross, about 35,000 Venezuelans enter the country at the Simon Bolivar International Bridge each day.  Most of those dozens of thousands are entering by foot, and most of them to find food and work, The Colombian Red Cross also revealed that many arrive into their country after fainting on the journey, because they had nothing to eat.

News from Latin America usually does not make headline news here in the United States, but the current situation in Venezuela is getting into the alarming stages, and soon I am sure you will see and read more of that situation. Extremely sad what has happened in Venezuela.

Venezuelan oil production is collapsing, as the country sinks deeper into debt. For a long time, Venezuela was not only the biggest petroleum producers in Latin America, but also one of the top producers in the world.

I feel for all the Venezuelan players in Spring Training right now. During the last few years, I met a few that have sold their homes in Venezuela and moved to the United States. Can you blame them?

I hope and pray that some solution can come to the country and the good people of Venezuela whom right now are in a spiral. Maracaibo, where the great Luis Aparicio (Hall of Fame shortstop) was born, is one of the richest oil producing areas in the world.

Lake Maracaibo is one of the world’s richest and most centrally located petroleum-producing regions.

A recent report by Reuters said that Venezuelans reporting losing on average 11 kilograms (24 lbs) during the year 2017. We have seen in photographs and on Spanish-speaking television channels that people in Caracas go into trash cans searching for food. Caracas used to be one of the great cities in Latin America with a population of two million.

Stanford routs Bears 75-58, moves on to face UCLA in Pac-12 Tournament

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gostanford.com photo: Stanford’s Travis Reid throws down against the Cal Bears on Wednesday afternoon at the T-Mobile Center in Las Vegas in the Cardinal’s first win in the Pac 12 Tournament

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Wednesday, March 7, 2018

Reid Travis helped No. 5-seed Stanford get off to a rolling start against No. 12 California in the opening round of the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament in Las Vegas.

Travis led the Cardinal (18-14) with 19 points and 13 rebounds on 7 of 11 field goal shooting in Stanford’s 76-58 defeat of the Golden Bears. Dorian Pickens was next on the Cardinal scoring list with 16 points. “We’re certainly excited to be able to move on,” said Stanford head coach Jerod Haase “I think in tournament situations, you do build momentum once you’re in the tournament. So we feel like we have some momentum moving forward. We were able to catch Cal on a cold night. They didn’t shoot the ball great, but I thought our defense was for the most part active. We executed the game plan how we wanted.” Haase told gostanford.com.

Josh Sharma and Daejon Davis each scored 12 points for the Cardinal, and Oscar da Silva added nine points and eight boards. Stanford held a 51-41 rebounding edge.

By winning the rubber game of their season series, Stanford ousted Cal from the tournament. The Bears beat Stanford in their first meeting at The Farm for one of Cal’s two Pac-12 wins. The Cardinal won the rematch in Berkeley.

Stanford dominated the Bears at both ends of the floor. The Cardinal defense held Cal to 28 percent shooting while maintaining a 30-18 advantage on points in the paint.”A big emphasis for me is playing with the motor and just trying to get us started the right way when we start the game,” Travis said. ”So the more I can do that, the more guys got to start helping down and trying to make the right reads, the right passes.”

Travis had the hot hand early, scoring 11 points in the opening 10 minutes as the Cardinal built a 12-point lead. As a team, Stanford connected on 16 of 29 shots in the first half and led 29-28 at halftime.

In the second half, the Cardinal led by as many as 24 (63-39). Though, Stanford isn’t quite on the bubble for the NCAA tournament, the possibility remains alive after defeating Cal. But the Cardinal must defeat No. 4-seed UCLA in the second round.

Kings fall to Pelicans 114-101; New Orleans now on a 10-game winning streak

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By Alexandra Evans

SACRAMENTO — The Sacramento Kings (10-31) and the New Orleans Pelicans (20-19) tipped off at the Golden 1 Center on Wednesday, March 7, to whom they fell 114-101.

In the first quarter, the Kings’ greatest lead over the Pelicans was two points, compared to the Pelicans’ 11-point lead at the end. Beginning at the halfway point of the quarter, their lead over the Kings gradually increased from one point to 11 through the end of the stanza. The score was 32-21 after 12 minutes of play.

In the first two minutes of the second quarter, the Pelicans upped their score by seven and the Kings by four; they still trailed the Pelicans by more than 10 points. Cheick Diallo managed to bring the Pelicans’ score into the 40s while the Kings remained in the 20s.

Then, with 7:20 remaining, Ian Clark made a jump shot to bring the Pelicans’ lead to 20 (49-29). Buddy Hield then made two free throws to break the 20-point lead, and then a three-pointer assisted by Jackson, an impressive move by Hield which immediately followed the two free throws.

Though, the Kings had a long way to go regardless. After the first half, the Kings trailed the Pelicans by 18; the score was 62-44.

At halftime, Randolph still exceeded the Kings with 11 points; Buddy Hield led the team in three-pointers with five. Nikola Mirotic led the Pelicans in points (13) and three-point shots (3).

Randolph opened the third quarter with two baskets to make the score 62-46. Anthony Davis responded, making sure the Pelicans kept a double-digit lead over the home team with a three-pointer, followed by a jump shot and then an alley-oop shot to bring the score to 71-48. The 20-point lead was temporarily broken after Garrett Temple and Jackson both got driving layups. Davis responded yet again with a three-pointer for the Pelicans, and Emeka Okafor added another two points with a jump shot.

For the remaining four minutes, the Pelicans tried to keep their 20 point lead, while the Kings made an effort to break it. After 36 minutes, the Kings trailed the Pelicans by 18 points once again (85-67).

The final quarter opened with a layup from Hield for the Kings, one from Moore for the Pelicans, and then a jump shot from Skal Labissiere for the Kings. Two consecutive free throws from Hield and JaKarr Sampson cut the Kings’ trail to 11 points, then, with 3:48 remaining, Labissiere got a layup to put the Kings behind by only 10 points, the smallest deficit since the first half.

The lead was briefly cut to the single digits when Hield made a jump shot with 3:12 left, but quickly shot back up to double digits when Mirotic made a three-point jump shot.

Hield finished first in points for the Kings with 20, which included 11 three-point shots, another team-high. Mirotic exceeded the Pelicans with 26 points and six three-pointers.

The Pelicans had a nine-game winning streak prior to the match, earning their 10th against the Kings.

“It would be nice to be the team that breaks [an opponent’s winning streak],” Kings Head Coach Dave Joerger said in a post-game conference. “But we don’t ask them to try harder for that purpose.”

Sampson added, “When you’re on a win streak, you’re comfortable… the flow is good, the energy is good, so [we want to] disrupt the energy. Tonight, we kind of waited too long to do that, but that is part of growing as a young team.”

The Kings will take on the Orlando Magic this Friday, March 9, at 7:00 p.m. PST at Golden 1 Center.

Welage and Hillsman put on a show, but San Jose State falls 74-61 to Wyoming in first round of Mountain West Tournament

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Photo credit: @SJSUMBB

By: Ana Kieu

The San Jose State Spartans were looking to get a win in any way possible against the Wyoming Cowboys in the first round of the Mountain West Tournament at the Thomas & Mack Center on Wednesday, but that win never came.

The Spartans found themselves in a similar hole as they suffered a huge blowout loss of 90-64 to the Utah State Aggies in the first round of the MW Tournament on March 8, 2017. San Jose State was hoping to turn things around, but Wyoming guard Justin James dropped 24 points on a perfect shooting night with a record of 9-9 FG, 3-3 3FG, 3-3 FT.

These two teams went back-and-forth after Spartan junior Jaycee Hillsman drained a 3-pointer in the first few minutes of the first half.

Then, Spartan freshman Caleb Simmons took the lead and the Spartan bench got fired up midway through the half.

Hillsman continued to pour in the points and led all Spartans with 16 points at the half. Welage scored 14 points. Yet, SJSU trailed Wyoming 40-30 at the half. Spartan head coach Jean Prioleau then shared his thoughts on his team during the intermission.

Hillsman stayed hot in the second half and even picked up a new career-high 22 points, but the Spartans were down by 20 with 7:48 to go in the half.

The Spartans never got their groove back and accepted a 74-61 loss from the Cowboys. Ryan Welage led all scorers with 25 points and Hillsman came in a close second with 24 points. SJSU’s disastrous season ended with a first-round Mountain West Tournament exit. Meanwhile, Wyoming advanced to the quarterfinals against the New Mexico Lobos at 6:30 pm PT on Thursday night.

San Jose State men’s basketball podcast with Ana Kieu: SJSU unable to complete comeback at Air Force; Spartans will play for nothing but pride in Mountain West Tournament

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By: Ana Kieu

On the San Jose State men’s basketball podcast with Ana Kieu:

1. San Jose State ended the regular season at Air Force. The team was hoping to make it two wins in a row after pulling off an upset of Utah State 64-62 on Wednesday night in the Event Center. What went wrong in the Spartans’ 83-61 loss to the Falcons on Saturday afternoon?

2. It was senior day for the Falcons, who cruised to a blowout win over the Spartans. How did Air Force coach Dave Pilipovich react towards SJSU coach Jean Prioleau after the lopsided final score?

3. Prioleau has a lot of work to do this offseason as he’ll enter his second season as a head coach at SJSU. What are a few things he must do in order to keep his job?

4. Spartans star forward Ryan Welage will become a senior next year. Just how hard would it be to find someone else like him following the 2018-19 season?

5. What are your three keys to San Jose State’s game vs. Wyoming in the opening round of the Mountain West Tournament?

6. Give us a quick update on the SJSU football program as of right now.

Ana Kieu does the San Jose State men’s basketball podcast each week for www.sportsradioservice.com.

San Jose Sharks Podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks look to improve on the power play face off with Blues Thursday

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On the San Jose Sharks Podcast with Mary Lisa:

1 How bad is the Sharks power play they were 0-28 and hoping to get a power play goal  against the St Louis Blues at SAP Center Thurday

2 Former Shark Jonathan Cheechoo, aged 37, is hanging up the sweater after skating in Russia’s Kontinental Hockey League for the last four years. During his Sharks days, Cheechoo led the NHL in scoring in 2005-06 with 56 goals. It’s almost like yesterday when Cheechoo was skating for the Sharks.

3 After beating the Edmonton Oilers and Chicago Blackhawks last week, the Sharks took a tough loss at the SAP Center on Sunday night 4-2 to the Columbus Blue Jackets in a game that Mary Lisa covered.

4 The Jackets’ Artemi Panarin scored twice and was the difference for the Blue Jackets in the win.

5 It’s the St. Louis Blues Thursday night at the SAP Center and Mary Lisa tells you how she see these two teams matching up.

Mary Lisa Walsh covers Sharks hockey each Friday, Saturday and Sunday games at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Barracuda look to extend two-game win streak with two-game series against Cleveland Monsters Friday

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On the San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko:

1 Two-game win streak for the San Jose Barracuda after getting by the Bakersfield Condors on Friday and the Ontario Reign on Sunday. Both games were at the SAP Center. The Cuda are trying to improve on losing two two-game series, going 0-4 in February in back-to-back games.

2 The Cuda have had shootout problems, but were able to overcome them on Sunday as the Cuda’s Michael Brodzenski scored the only goal in the shootout.

3 In the shootout, Cuda goalie Antoine Bibeau stopped all three of the Reign’s shots.

4 The Reign scored early at 12:46 in the first period on Oscar Fratenberg’s shot from the point that created a scrum in front of the net. The Reign’s Andrew Crescenzi scored past Bibeau for the Reign’s only goal of the night.

5 In the second period, the Cuda’s Radim Simek intercepted a clearing attempt and shot from the left circle for his fifth goal of the season at 18:38 for the tie.

6 The Barracuda host the Cleveland Monsters for two games in a back-to-back starting on Friday night at 7:00 pm at SAP Center in San Jose, Calif.

Marko Ukalovic is the San Jose Barracuda beat writer at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Curry drops 34 points to lead Warriors to a 114-101 win over Nets

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By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors won their sixth game in a row Tuesday night as they defeated the Nets 114-101 at the Oracle Arena. The Warriors needed a win to keep pace with the Houston Rockets as the Rockets downed the Oklahoma City Thunder earlier this evening. The Warriors remain half a game behind the Rockets in the race for the best record in the NBA.

The Warriors, who have been trying to get off to good starts in the first quarter, seemed to have forgotten how to do it. They fell behind early with a 12-6 deficit before they went on a sensational 29-2 run to take a 35-16 lead just before the end of the first quarter. In fact, at one point in the run, they went 25-0 for the first time in team history.

The Nets hit a three just before the buzzer to make it 35-19.

The second quarter was a nightmare for Steve Kerr and the Warriors. They did everything wrong. They scored just four points in the first 5:44 of the quarter. They failed to play defense, and turned the ball over eight times in the quarter.

The Nets took advantage of the Warriors’ miscues as they went on a 13-2 run to grab a five-point lead of 36-31. The Warriors regained the lead 42-39 when Curry nailed a 3-pointer. Brooklyn kept coming back and led 53-48 at the end of the first half.

The Warriors scored just 13 points in the second 12 minutes of action. It was the fewest points in any quarter this season. They committed 12 turnovers in the half, and they are 12-9 when they commit 16 or more turnovers in a game.

JaVale McGee gave the team some energy when he tallied eight points early in the third quarter. Brooklyn matched the Warriors shot-for-shot until late in the quarter. Curry came back about halfway through the period, and he took charge of the offense. He made two consecutive 3-pointers, and the Warriors outscored the Nets 38-27 to finish the third quarter with a six-point lead of 86-80.

The Warriors increased the lead to 95-81 to complete a 22-5 run. Klay Thompson found his shot and Andre Iguodala made two key buckets to put the Warriors up 101-85. The Nets were finished as the Warriors were relentless on defense and they were able to pound the visiting team 114-101.

Game Notes and Stats: With the win, the Warriors won their 50th game of the season. The Warriors have won 50 or more for five straight seasons. In the first 67 years of existence of the franchise, the team had won 50 or more game just four times.

The Warriors are now 50-14 for the year, and the Nets are 20-45. The Nets have lost four in a row and 12 of the last 13.

Scoring leaders for Brooklyn were D’Angelo Russell with 22, DeMarre Carroll 19, Spencer Dinwiddie 13, and Caris LeVert 10.

The Nets’ bench outscored the Warriors 34-15.

Steph Curry led the Warriors with 34. Klay Thompson had 18, Kevin Durant, 19, JaVale McGee 12, Draymond Green 16. The Warriors committed 17 turnovers and improved to 13-9 in games in which they have made 16 or more turnovers.

Jordan Bell had to leave the game when he re-injured his right ankle. X-Rays were taken and turned out to be negative.

The Warriors are 10-0 when JaVale McGee starts the game at center.

“Nothing is set in stone at that position,” head coach Steve Kerr said. “JaVale has done a good job. We kind of played center by committee here for a while now and there is no telling how the rotations will work. It’s based on matchups and based on how things are going, but I will definitely lean on all those guys at some point.”

They are 23-3 vs. the Eastern Conference and 10-2 at home.

David West, Zaza Pachulia, and Omri Casspi did not play.

Up Next: The Warriors host the San Antonio Spurs Thursday night at 7:30 pm PT.

 

That’s Amaury’s Podcast, News, and Commentary: Texans and Dolphins won’t kick out players who didn’t stand for anthem; D-Backs bring back the golf cart; A’s Maxwell–How will he cope?

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That’s Amaury’s Podcast (where you get all the latest):

1 Houston Texans had said according to the players agents that players who refused to stand for the anthem last season will not be signed for this season, the Texans later said the agents got it all wrong and that what they said was “false and without merit.” The Miami Dolphins owner Stephen Ross won’t make players stand for the anthem. Ross had said during a Jackie Robinson event honoring the former Brooklyn Dodger that the players have to stand for the anthem this season as he told the NY Daily News. Ross later said he never told the NY Daily News that the players had to stand for the anthem.

2 The Arizona Diamondbacks are bringing back the golf cart. Do you believe bringing pitchers in from the bullpen by cart will really speed up the game and make that much up in time?

3 Thing aren’t going well for Oakland Athletics’ catcher Bruce Maxwell during February 23’s Cactus League opener. He took a back swing by the Angels’ Jerry Marte after less than a week he got back into the lineup.

4 A’s need to stay healthy. How key will it be for the A’s to come into spring had some injuries with Matt Chapman, Jorge Mateo, Grant Holmes, Rento Nunez, and Sean Manea, who were day-to-day at some point this spring?

5 The A’s released 34-year-old Brandon Moss, who said he would consider retiring if a big league club wouldn’t sign him.

Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the Spanish radio talent for the Oakland A’s and does News and Commentary each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com