Month: December 2018

Not Just the Shots: Cal beaten decisively at Fresno State, 95-73, as all goes south except their shooting

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By Morris Phillips

On Wednesday, the Cal Bears had 28 made baskets on 49 percent shooting, and their opponent, host Fresno State had 29 made baskets on 51 percent shooting.

Sounds like a close game with both teams dialed in on the offensive end, right?

Hardly, the Bears did little right with exception of shooting the basketball, and were beaten start to finish by the Bulldogs, 95-73. As the game approached halftime, the Bears grew stagnant offensively, and Fresno State took off, leading by as many as 25 points in the second half.

“At the end of the first half is when we stopped sharing the ball and that’s where they made their run,” said Cal coach Wyking Jones. “It is concerning because that’s how we played at the beginning of the season. I would think that we would have learned at this point that we have to move the ball to be good.”

The Bears did little right outside of three, quality performances offensively from Justice Sueing, Paris Austin and Andre Kelly. Fresno State drove to the basket at will against Cal, leading to their stellar shooting numbers as well as a whopping 38 free throw attempts, of which they converted 29. The Bulldogs also enjoyed a healthy advantage on the glass (36-27) while getting at least two made 3-pointers from three, different guys in their starting lineup.

Fresno State stayed hot, winning for the sixth, consecutive time despite two weeks of inactivity for study and final exams.

“We had six guys in double-figures and I think we had a low turnover rate until the end, we got a little bit sloppy at the end,” first-year head coach Justin Hutson said. “Cal is a 40% 3-point team and to go 3-for-15 and 20% was a big difference for us tonight.”

The Bears’ offense never gained traction, even as Cal battled evenly with Fresno State approaching halftime. Justice Sueing’s layup with 3:31 remaining brought Cal within 34-31, but the Bulldogs finished the half on a 10-1 run to seize control.

Grant Anticevich replaced the concussed Connor Vanover in the Bears’ starting lineup, but suffered his second straight below par game, missing four of his five shots.

New Williams scored 19 points to led Fresno State, he was one of six Bulldogs to score in double digits, including all five starters.

Fresno’s 95 points was the team’s high for the season, although they had scored at least 90 three times previously.

The Bears return home Friday to face San Jose State at 7 pm at Haas Pavilion.

Run Out Of Town: Thunder Rout Kings, 132-113 Despite Hield’s Career-Best Effort

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By Morris Phillips

SACRAMENTO — What would Paul Westhead think?

The former Lakers, Nuggets, Loyola Marymount and Oregon coach, the “Guru of Go” would have an acute appreciation for Wednesday’s Thunder and Kings game at Golden 1 Center. With the breakneck pace, running and shooting, the two teams attacked each other relentlessly in transition and in halfcourt situations for 48 minutes. Defense? Yeah, they played a little, not like the 79-year old coach’s 1990-91 Nuggets, still the NBA’s most porous outfit, that allowed 130.8 points per game.

So what advice would Westhead offer the two teams, already married to the run-and-gun game, and committed getting up a shot in half the duration of the 24 second clock?

Of course, Westhead would offer that less memorable but essential element: make the opponent uncomfortable. Sure, every team will accept an invitation to run, but on their terms. In order for the system to work as it came closest at LMU, the opposition must be made to feel uncomfortable–and out of breath. Sort of a careful-what-you-ask-for conundrum cooked up for the NBA hardwood.

On Wednesday, the resolute Thunder made the short-handed Kings feel uncomfortable, especially in the game’s decisive, second quarter.

Paul George had 15 of his game-best 43 points in the second quarter in which the Thunder saw their 3-point lead swell briefly to 20. George ended the first quarter complaining to the officials that he was fouled by the smaller De’Aaron Fox on a drive to the hoop. While the replay showed Fox dislodged the ball from George cleanly, and the non-call was correct, the 6’11” All-Star simply doubled down his efforts, scoring on similar drives three times in the opening moments of the second.

“One of the things we wanted to do is play closer to the rim,” Thunder coach Billy Donovan said after he sensed his club settled for too many 3-point shots in their October 21 loss at Sacramento. “I felt we needed to play closer to the basket.”

With George and Russell Westbrook attacking the basket, the Kings found themselves getting pushed around in the paint. The Kings allowed their fourth opponent in the last five games to score at least 130 points, and this time, the rebounding disparity was especially glaring.

“We’ve got to get better individually guarding the basketball, and we’ve got to get a little bit more active in our help,” coach Dave Joerger said of his Kings, who were outrebounded 66-43 by the Thunder.

The King trailed by 71-52 at the break, and only briefly reduced Oklahoma City’s margin to single digits in the second half. Down 88-80 with 3:47 remaining in the third, the Kings’ rally stalled. Then George opened the fourth with nine, consecutive points and the Thunder ran away, their eight win in the last 11 games.

The Kings played without Iman Shumpert, Bogdan Bogdanovic and William Bagley and briefly turned to seldom used Ben McLemore in the second to provide a spark defensively. Sacramento fell to 16-15, and into a tie for 10th place with Memphis in the jam-packed Western Conference.

The Kings were led by Buddy Hield, who scored a career-best 37 points in 35 minutes. Hield had seven made threes, but missed 14 of his 25 shot attempts. Fox added 28, and Willie Cauley-Stein had 13 points, seven rebounds.

The six players to see action off the Kings’ bench combined to miss 17 of their 21 shot attempts. Besides McLemore, Skal Labissiere and Frank Mason saw floor time in the absence of Shumpert, Bagley and Bogdanovic.

The Thunder got 19 points, 17 assists and 11 rebounds from Westbrook, a triple-double for the superstar that highlighted the evolving nature of his game.

The Kings look to avoid falling back to .500 on Friday night in a matchup with the Memphis Grizzlies at Golden 1 Center. Game time at 7:00 pm.

Jazz send the Warriors down to defeat, 108-103

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Photo credit: nba.com/warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors traveled to Salt Lake City to face the Utah Jazz at Vivint Smart Home Arena on Wednesday night. The Warriors knew they would have their work cut out for them if the Jazz would be able to play their style of game. The Jazz did that as they played a slow tempo, half-court game that featured them using as much of the 24-second clock before making a shot and, on defense, slowing down the Warriors’ fast-paced game.

The Jazz’ big man, Rudy Gobert, kept the Warriors from getting to the rim all night long. The Jazz hounded Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant, and Steph Curry. Curry, to his credit, was able to put points on the board as he led the team with 32 points. He made five three-point shots in nine attempts. Klay failed to make a three and Durant was made two threes in seven tries.  The Jazz hit 16 threes in 42 attempts. Kyle Korver made four, and Jae Crowder killed the Warriors as he made five treys to lead the Jazz to the win.

The game was close for three quarters. Utah won the first quarter 24-21. The Warriors made two threes in the first 12 minutes of play. Steph hit one, and Jonas Jerebko knocked down the other. The Warriors got the offense going in the second quarter as they outscored the Jazz 34-32 and trailed by one at the end of the first half 56-55. Curry led the Warriors with 21 and Durant added 12. Thompson was held to four. The Warriors’ bench added 8. Gobert led the Jazz with 11 points and 11 boards. Joe Ingles and Jae Crowder each had 9.

In the third quarter, the Jazz hit seven three-point shots. The Warriors defense shut down the Jazz near the basket, but they could not stop the outside shooting. Kyle Korver and Jae Crowder kept making three and the Warriors finished the third quarter trailing 84-80. The Warriors could not hit a bucket to start the fourth quarter. The Jazz increased the lead to 11, 98-87. The Warriors made a comeback at this point. They went on an 11-2 run to make it a 2-point game 100-98. The Jazz increased the lead to 106-100 with less than 1:50 left to play. Durant hit a three to make it 106-103 with 17 seconds left. The Warriors had the ball and had a chance to tie if they could make a three. They got the ball into Curry’s hands. Curry was going for a three when the ball was knocked out of his grip. The referees ruled it would be the Warriors’ ball with 2.8 seconds left. After a review of the play, the refs reversed the call, and the ball went over to the Jazz. The Warriors fouled Donovan Mitchell. Mitchell made both free throws and the game was over. The Jazz won 108-103.

Game Notes and Stats: With the loss the Warriors drop to 21-11. The Jazz’ record is now 15-17 for the season and has won four straight while at home.

Steph Curry led the Warriors with 32. Kevin Durant had 30. Klay Thompson finished with 12, and no other Warrior was in double figures. Draymond Green had 8 points and 12 rebounds. Kevon Looney had four. The Warriors’ bench tallied 17 points, and their output did not help the Warriors’ effort. The Jazz had six players in double figures. Joe Ingles led the jazz with 20. Gobert finished with 17 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists, and 4 blocked shots. Donovan Mitchell had 17, Jae Crowder 18. Korver 12, and Derrick Favors 12.

The stats showed how the Jazz stymied the Warriors’ offense. The Warriors recorded only 18 assists. This would indicate that they were not able to move the ball as well as they normally do. The Jazz had 30 for the night. The Jazz outrebounded the Warriors 52-48 The Warriors had 10 steals and 9 blocks on defense. The Jazz countered with 7 steals and 7 blocks. The Warriors committed 12 turnovers. The Jazz turned the ball over 16 times.

The loss was the first of the season for the Warriors when they held the opponent below 40% shooting.

Kevin Durant passed Gary Payton to move into 32nd place in scoring.

Up Next: The Warriors return home to face the Dallas Mavericks Saturday night at Oracle Arena. Game time will be at 5:30 pm.

Gulls dominate the Barracuda in 6-1 win

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

By Marko Ukalovic

New building name, still the same old house of horrors for the San Jose Barracuda. They were humiliated by the San Diego Gulls in a 6-1 defeat on Wednesday evening at Pachanga Arena. The loss snapped the Cuda’s 10-game point streak and have lost the last seven games they have played at the arena formerly known as the San Diego Sports Arena.

Joseph Blandisi drew first blood for San Diego in a first period dominated by the Anaheim Ducks affiliate. Blandisi from Sam Steel and raced his way into the Cuda zone, where he beat San Jose goalie Antoine Bibeau (6-3-3) with a backhander for his third goal of the season at the 18:09 mark. Luke Schenn received the secondary assist.

Sam Carrick doubled the lead for San Diego (10-11-1-2) when he scored a short-handed goal after punching home a rebound off an Adam Cracknell shot at the 6:52 mark of the second period. Carrick’s 12th goal of the season was also his third short-handed goal this season as well. It was the first short handed goal San Jose has given up on the season.

San Jose (16-4-1-3) redeemed themselves on their next power play opportunity. Kyle Wood entered the Gulls zone and fed a pass over to Nick DeSimone as he charged toward the high slot and snapped a wrist shot past Gulls goalie Kevin Boyle (7-5-0), who had been stone cold against the Cuda prior to that, for his sixth goal of the season at the 15:54 mark. Cuda point leader Francis Perron received the secondary assist.

In the third period, things unraveled for the Cuda. Matt Berry started the four unanswered goal barrage for San Diego early in the third period. Berry redirected a Jaycob Megna shot past Bibeau into the back of the net for his first goal of the season at the 4:00 mark. Chase De Leo received the secondary assist.

San Diego put the game away with a controversial goal halfway through the final frame. Deven Sideroff sent in a shot on net that created a mad scramble in front of the net. Berry crashed the net where the puck initially went in, but was waved off at first by referee Ryan Hersey. After a replay review, De Leo was credited with his sixth goal of the season at the 10:10 mark.

The Gulls put the nail in the coffin after a San Jose turnover. Giovanni Fiore centered a pass over to Troy Terry, who buried the puck past Bibeau for his ninth goal of the season at the 14:04 mark. Steel received the secondary assist.

Blandisi completed the scoring with his second goal of the night. He made a spin-o-rama move in front of the net that Bibeau poke-checked the puck off of Blandisi’s skate and slid underneath him for Blandisi’s fourth goal of the season at the 18:00 mark.

Boyle made 23 saves on 24 saves to earn the victory. Bibeau, who was under siege for most of the game, suffered the loss making 33 saves on 39 shots.

GAME NOTES: San Jose was 1/3 on the power play. It was the fourth consecutive game the Cuda have scored with the man advantage. San Diego was 0/3.

Defenseman Jacob Middleton missed the game with an upper body injury he suffered in the third period against Ontario on Sunday.

Evan Weinger was a healthy scratch for the first time this season. Jeremy Roy and Cavan Fitzgerald were back in the lineup for San Jose.

The announced attendance was 6,225.

UP NEXT: The Barracuda return home on Friday, Dec. 21 to start a weekend series with the Tuscon Roadrunners at 7:00 pm at SAP Center.

Raiders battle Broncos on Christmas Eve in home finale at the Coliseum

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Photo credit: broncoswire.usatoday.com

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

OAKLAND — The Raiders return to the Oakland-Alameda Coliseum in what will be the team’s home finale to a rough 2019 season. The Silver and Black will host the Denver Broncos on Christmas Eve in a AFC West matchup on Monday Night Football with the kickoff set for 5:15 p.m. PT on ESPN.

Oakland holds a 62-52-2 all-time record against the Broncos, with the Raiders looking to make it three in a row over Denver at home.

Last week, the Raiders (3-11) traveled to Cincinnati to take on the Bengals, but lost 30-16 at Paul Brown Stadium in Week 15.

Raiders quarterback Derek Carr continued to move up the franchise record book. Carr passed Rich Gannon for the most consecutive pass attempts without throwing an interception against the Bengals. Now sitting at 299 attempts, bested Gannon’s mark of 277 set back in 2001.

In fact, Carr hasn’t thrown an interception in nine-straight games after throwing for 263 yards on 21-of-38 passes and one touchdown. Through 14 games, Carr has 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions. Entering Monday night’s game with 3,697 passing yards, Carr is 303 yards shy from his first 4,000-yard passing season.

Wide receiver Jordy Nelson led the Raiders with six catches for 88 yards.

Lee Smith, who is better known for his blocking, has been more of a scorer in recent weeks, hauling in a touchdown for the third-straight game.

Defensively, safety Karl Joseph led the team with eight tackles (six solo) and his first sack of the season. Fellow safety Erik Harris recorded his first-career interception.

The Broncos (6-8) enter Week 16 losing to the Cleveland Browns 17-16 at home last Saturday. The slim loss eliminated Denver from playoff contention in the AFC, and puts them one loss away from back-to-back losing seasons. Denver finished 5-11 in 2017.

Denver is looking to complete the season sweep over Oakland, after defeating the Raiders 20-19 at Denver Stadium at Mile High in Week 2. The Broncos rallied from a 12-point second-half deficit, capped off by kicker Brandon McManus’ 36-yard game-winning field goal just inside the right upright with 6 seconds to play.

Broncos rookie running back Phillip Lindsay, who was named to the AFC Pro Bowl team on Tuesday, rushed for 107 yards on 14 carries against the Raiders in Week 2.

On the season, Lindsay has rushed for 991 yards to go along with nine touchdowns on 182 carries in 14 games (seven starts) for the Broncos.

Linebacker Von Miller continues to be a terror on defense. The former Defensive Player of the Year leads the the team with 14.5 sacks and four forced fumbles, and was voted to his eighth Pro Bowl team. Fellow linebacker Bradley Chubb is second on the Broncos with 12.0 sacks and was named an alternate to the Pro Bowl.

Chubb, the Broncos’ top pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, is 2.5 sacks away from tying Jevon Kearse’s (14.5) NFL record for rookies, set in 1999 with the Tennessee Titans.

San Jose State gets a bunch of work done on Early National Signing Day

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Photo credit: sjsuspartans.com

By: Ana Kieu

The San Jose State University football team added unprecedented firepower to its offense and passionate playmakers to its defense at the start of the early National Letter of Intent signing period for the 2019 season.

For the first time, SJSU signed a quarterback that passed for more than 100 touchdowns and 10,000 yards in a high school career, inked a running back prospect who rushed for more than 50 touchdowns as a junior and a senior, and added four players that averaged more than 20 yards a catch in their senior seasons. Two of those big play pass catchers are heading to the defensive side, according to Spartans head coach Brent Brennan.

“I was showing our players this week the highlight tapes of these players and they were blown away how good they are. This group of playmakers makes us all excited about what we’re doing for the future,” says Brennan, who is entering his third season as the Spartans’ head coach.

“We’re adding some great young men to our program. Part of our criteria is figuring out if they love football, how hard they work, digging and diving into their character. All the assistant coaches did a great job putting this group together. It’s got a nice mix of young playmakers on offense to balance out some of our skill positions that are currently manned by upperclassmen.”

“And we were able to add some good pieces in terms of the physical part of the game in the offensive line and linebacker.”

13 players signed to become a member of the SJSU program as early as the 2019 spring semester. Nine of them are slated for offensive positions, two are linebacker candidates, and two are ticketed to defensive back roles. Current tight end Derrick Deese, Jr., who redshirted the 2018 season, signed a SJSU scholarship offer.

Quarterback Alec Trujillo completed 66.2 percent of his passes for 11,671 yards and 116 touchdowns and ran for 19 touchdowns in one of the most productive high school careers in California’s Central Section first for Exeter High and then for San Joaquin Memorial of Fresno, which played in the 2018 CIF Division 2-A championship game. He threw 50 touchdown passes in his senior year alone.

“Alec has been an incredible player throughout his career and it’s exciting he’s chosen to be with us. We identified him early in the recruiting process. He throws a fantastic ball. He’s got good feet. He just lit it up throwing for San Joaquin Memorial,” said Brennan.

Running back Adi Anderson from McClymonds High in Oakland is one of two Spartan signees to return home with a 2018 CIF state championship. He averaged 10.8 yards per carry on just over eight carries a game and still rushed for 21 touchdowns as a senior. That was on top of the 31 rushing touchdowns he scored the year before playing for Hayward’s Moreau Catholic High.

Wide receivers Malikhi Miller of El Cerrito High, Isaiah Holiness of Redlands East Valley High and Jamar Simpson of Rancho Verde High, earned reputations as touchdown terrors to their opponents. Miller averaged nearly 29 yards a reception in his last two high school seasons and scored a touchdown about once every third time he caught a pass.

Holiness caught 163 passes for 2,293 yards and 18 touchdowns and was even more dangerous as a return specialist. He averaged 47.4 yards a kickoff return and 30.7 in three varsity seasons. As a senior, Simpson averaged 27.4 yards a catch and scored 13 times on just 36 receptions.

“You’re always looking for guys who can change a game when the ball is in their hands. At almost 11 yards a carry, obviously good things happen when Adi gets the ball. We’re hoping he can be a home run hitter for us. Jamar Simpson has great acceleration, great playmaking ability,” says Brennan.

“You watch Malikhi’s tape. He’s got this great young body and I think he can be that big body wideout who can control a game with. Isaiah Holiness is a slash type of player. He’s dynamic as a runner, receiver, and he’s returned kicks for touchdowns.”

“I’m excited there are so many guys who signed with us that played in (high school) state championship games. They come from winning programs. They know what it takes to win.”

Trujillo, Anderson, defensive back candidate Stan Livingstone, and offensive linemen Jelani Newman from Saguaro High, and first-team California Community College All-America Scott Breslin from Ventura College are incoming Spartans that played in a 2018 state championship game.

Offensive linemen Justin Scrempos from Milpitas High and graduate transfer Quinn Oseland from the University of Minnesota are two more signees to play on state championship teams. Scrempos was a force on the 2017 Vikings that won the CIF Division 4A Championship, averaging 41.1 points a game. Oseland played on two Sacred Heart Griffin High, Class 5A state championship teams.

Cameron Hanson from Southwestern College, a second-team All-Southern Conference selection and two-time bowl game winner, and Jordan Cobbs, credited with 26.0 tackles for loss his last two seasons at San Leandro High, are a pair of linebackers joining the Spartans.

Safety B.J. Johnson, the 2018 Redwood League Co-MVP from Montgomery High, rounds out SJSU’s signees on the first day of the current NIH signing period.

“The recruiting process has really changed with the early signing date. The coaching staff did a great job being organized at the end of the season. We spent a lot of time during the season recruiting, watching film, calling, texting and being on social media with recruits, writing letters, continuing to build relationships because the early signing day has been moved up six weeks,” concluded Brennan, who will have Livingstone and Oseland available to participate in 2019 spring practice set to begin on March 3.

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks rolling on five-game win streak, host Jets Thursday at SAP

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Photo credit: mercurynews.com

On the San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The Sharks rolled to their fifth straight win with a 4-0 win. The Sharks look like they can’t be stopped right now.

#2 The handy work of goalie Martin Jones saw him stop 26 shots for San Jose.

#3 The Sharks are 6-1 in their last seven games, averaging three goals a game.

#4 Guys who are going big: Logan Couture with a high plus three, Brett Burns has three goals rookie, Lukas Radil a goal and an assist also five points in ten games.

#5 The Sharks host the Winnipeg Jets. How do you see this matchup Thursday?

Listen to the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa each Thursday at http://www.sportsrasdioservice.com

 

San Jose State podcast with Ana Kieu: Thoughts on Early National Signing Day; Men’s basketball loses to Stanford on Tuesday night

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Photo credit: @SJSUSpartanFB and sjsuspartans.com

On the San Jose State podcast with Ana:

1. Early National Signing Day began this morning. Have any football players caught your undivided attention?

2. Location appears to important as SJSU has been dubbed the No. 1 underrated school in America in more ways than one on Forbes’ most recent list of underrated colleges and universities.

3. SJSU men’s basketball wrapped up its homestand vs. Northern Arizona last Saturday night.

4. SJSU played Stanford last night and will take on Cal on Friday.

Ana does the San Jose State podcasts each week for SportsRadioService.com

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: It’s raining goals! Cuda unstoppable as they host Tucson Friday

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 No mercy for the Ontario Reign. The San Jose Barracuda gave it to them with three unanswered goals on Sunday 5-2.

#2 Nick DeSimone, John Martin, and Jacob Middleton scored the three for San Jose. How much have they’ve been during this winning campaign?

#3 The Barracuda are getting the shots on goal against Ontario. They outshot them 11-8 in the first period.

#4 For San Jose, Dylan Gambrell and Francis Perron doubled down with insurance goals.

#5 The Barracuda get another shot at San Diego tonight after losing to the Gulls Saturday.

Marko does the Barracuda podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Oakland Raiders podcast with Tony Renteria: Raiders coming off tough loss in Cincinnati, prepare for Denver Monday night

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Photo credit: @Raiders

Tony Renteria does the Raiders podcasts at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

#1 The Raiders took it in the shorts in a tough loss to the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday 30-16. The Raiders just couldn’t contain the Bengals’ offense.

#2 Raiders quarterback Derek Carr went 21-38 for 263 yards and one touchdown. Carr broke ex-Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon’s record for pass attempts without an interception.

#3 The Bengals and Raiders game in Cincinnati drew the 19th smallest attendance in Bengals history with 44,568.

#4 The Bengals’ Joe Mixon ran 129 yards and two touchdowns to add onto the 30-16 lead.

#5 The Raiders host the Denver Broncos on Monday Night Football at the Oakland Coliseum. Tony takes a look at the game preview.

Tony does the Raiders podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com