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49ers Look to Avenge Recent Loss to Seahawks

Published on December 10, 2014December 12, 2014 by bentleonard18Leave a comment

By: Ben Leonard

Less than two weeks ago, the vaunted Seahawks’ defense shut down Colin Kaepernick and the 49ers’ offense in a 19-3 shellacking at Levi’s Stadium. Star cornerback Richard Sherman and quarterback Russell Wilson celebrated the Thanksgiving victory by eating turkey on the 49ers’ logo at midfield, a move that many San Francisco fans did not appreciate. San Francisco has struggled with Seattle as of late, dropping four of their last five meetings with their divisional rivals. The game moves to Seattle’s CenturyLink Stadium for Sunday’s edition of the rivalry. Is there any reason to expect a different result this time around, with the Niners seeking revenge?

The Forty-Niners are fresh off of an abominable 24-13 loss to the Oakland Raiders last week, not exactly a beacon of future success. Kaepernick struggled right out of the gate, throwing an ugly interception on the first play of the game. The play was a microcosm of his recent struggles; the 49ers set up the play to help the struggling signal caller, yet he ignored the play-call. Instead of hitting his receiver in the flat for a five or six yard gain, as planned, Kaepernick scrambled around in the pocket to buy time. He forced a throw, resulting in a turnover on a play that should have been a solid gain. Kaepernick’s defiant style of play needs to be eradicated if San Francisco wants to have any chance of beating Seattle. Wilson outplayed Kaepernick in the last meeting, in which Kaepernick went just sixteen of twenty-nine for 121 yards with two interceptions. If the 49ers continue to distance themselves from their previously established identity as a power-running team, Kaepernick needs to step up, especially against a stout Seahawks secondary. He will need to be at his best against the NFL’s best pass defense, who has allowed just 190 yards per game through the air. He is 2-3 in his career against Seattle, but he has posted a measly 49.5 quarterback rating in those contests.

Strong play from the Niners’ shoddy offensive line would certainly make things easier for the fourth-year signal caller. San Francisco has used seven different starting lines this season, and none have been satisfactory. The unit has allowed the third-most sacks in the league, and allowed Seattle to sack Kaepernick four times in the last meeting. There is not much reason to expect marked improvement from such a downtrodden unit, especially so late in the season.Kaepernick will simply have to learn to overcome adversity and step up strong in the pocket. However, Seattle has been surprisingly weak in getting to the quarterback this season, ranked twenty-seventh in the NFL with just twenty three sacks on the season. This game could be a confidence booster against a relatively weak Seattle pass rush, if they can right the ship after the disaster in the last matchup.

Another key for San Francisco will be limiting Seattle’s rushing attack. In the last meeting, Marshawn Lynch had his way with the 49ers’ defense, rushing twenty times for 104 yards. Wilson also enjoyed a fair amount of success improvising with his legs in the last meeting, running seven times for thirty-five yards. The Niners should temper their expectations against the NFL’s best team rushing offense and focus on slowing their rushing attack, not shutting it down. If they can prevent Lynch from getting solid yardage on first and second downs, a lot of pressure will be taken off of the struggling offense. The defense would be able to key in on Wilson, and become much more effective as a unit. However, it is easier said that done against a team of this caliber. Ahmad Brooks, who was benched against Oakland for missing a team meeting, will return, and should help a defense that Derek Carr tore up last week.

In addition to revenge, the 49ers’ distant playoff hopes hinge on this game. The Jim Harbaugh era may be coming to a close after the season is over, but the Niners still have a shot, albeit miniscule. They need to win out, coupled with three consecutive losses by the Cardinals, to pass the Cardinals in the NFC West. The Niners can pass Seattle if they win out, and if Seattle loses two of three. If the Lions lose two out of three, the Niners could pass them based on a “strength of schedule” tiebreaker, given that they win out. Essentially, if San Francisco wants to make the playoffs for one last time under Harbaugh, they need to win out and get help. They face an uphill battle in both this game and in the playoff race, but don’t tell the Niners that. They will come out fired up and ready to play.

Stats courtesy of ESPN, NFL.com, and Football-Reference

Kaepernick, Futile Niners Offense Falter Again in 24-13 Loss to Raiders

Published on December 7, 2014December 7, 2014 by bentleonard181 Comment

AP Photo/Ben Margot

By: Ben Leonard

After a crushing 19-3 loss to the Seahawks on Thanksgiving Day, 49ers fans believed it was rock bottom for their team. They reached new lows in a demoralizing 24-13 loss to their dismal cross-bay rival Raiders on Sunday, effectively ending their playoff aspirations. The Raiders moved to 2-11 on the season with the win, a result that could eventually lose them the number one overall pick in the upcoming NFL Draft. Oakland is suddenly the winner of two out of three, even after an abominable 52-0 loss last Sunday to Saint Louis. The Raiders stood up to a physically superior San Francisco squad and controlled the game throughout.

The Raiders set the tone early, intercepting the first play from scrimmage. Safety Bradian Ross snatched an errant throw from Colin Kaepernick, intended for Michael Crabtree, and returned it to their own forty-nine yard line. After the early momentum swing, Oakland’s offense was firing on all cylinders, with quarterback Derek Carr leading the Raiders all the way to the 49ers’ twenty-eight yard line. However, an unnecessary roughness penalty on guard Austin Howard stalled their progress, and forced them to settle for a fifty-seven yard field goal from Sebastian Janikowski to give them an early 3-0 advantage.

Down 3-0 with just under six minutes to play in the first quarter, Kaepernick and the Niners broke through against Oakland’s defense, driving sixty yards on seven plays for a touchdown. Kaepernick connected with fullback Bruce Miller on an eight yard score to cap the drive, giving the Niners a 7-3 lead. After that drive, San Francisco never looked comfortable again on offense, settling for just two field goals in the remaining three quarters. They struggled to convert on third downs, successful on just three of their twelve attempts, and gained just 248 total yards to Oakland’s 330. They did take a 13-10 lead in the incipient stages of the second half, but quickly lost that advantage. The Raiders subsequently marched down the field, going eighty yards on just eight plays to take a 17-13 lead. Signal-caller Carr’s nine yard touchdown pass to fullback Marcel Reese capped the physical drive, the eventual nail in the coffin for San Francisco. Carr was brilliant on Sunday, completing twenty-two of his twenty-eight pass attempts for 254 yards, throwing three touchdowns and posting a 140.2 quarterback rating in the process.

Colin Kaepernick could not match Carr’s prolific play on Sunday, completing just eighteen of thirty-three throws for 174 yards, and getting sacked five times and throwing two interceptions. The Raiders flummoxed San Francisco’s offensive line, forcing them out of their comfort zone and preventing them from protecting Kaepernick. The Niners finally found an offensive rhythm late in the fourth, when they converted a key fourth and one play at Oakland’s forty-four yard line with eight minutes left. Kaepernick threw a short seven yard pass to receiver Michael Crabtree, and kept their hopes alive. He seemed to be in sync for the first time, but things changed quickly, with the Niners holding the ball at Oakland’s twenty-seven yard line down just 23-14. Suddenly, he started to lean on Crabtree, settling for short gains to connect with the receiver, and overthrew him mightily to set up third and long. Kaepernick was sacked by Antonio Smith on the ensuing play, forcing San Francisco to attempt a long forty-seven yard field goal. To make matters worse, rookie center Marcus Martin had to be helped off the field after the play with an apparent injury. Adding insult to injury, Phil Dawson missed wide left on his attempt from 47 yards, energizing the crowd at the O.co Coliseum. The Niners wasted five minutes and thirty six seconds on the drive, playing without a sense of urgency and letting the game, and their playoff hopes, slip away. The Niners’ second straight loss moved them to 7-6, and two games out of the NFC Wild Card race with just three games left to play. They are now in danger of missing the postseason for the first time under head coach Jim Harbaugh.

Stats and info courtesy of ESPN

Featured Image: By Au Kirk; cropped by Moe Epsilon [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Oladipo, Shooting Woes Nearly Come to Haunt Warriors in Win Over Magic

Published on December 2, 2014December 2, 2014 by bentleonard18Leave a comment

By: Ben Leonard

The Golden State Warriors came into Tuesday night cruising, winning their last nine games, including a win over the Thunder. They were also heavy favorites against the lowly Orlando Magic, who had just snapped their nineteen game losing streak against Western Conference teams on the road Sunday against the Phoenix Suns. Despite all this momentum swinging in the Warriors’ favor, the Magic almost handed Golden State just their third loss of the season. The Warriors struggled to make shots after a great second quarter, in which they made 79% of their shots. They needed a clutch, eventual game-winning three pointer from Stephen Curry to take a 98-97 victory over the Magic and move to 15-2. The Warriors are now just one win short of tying a franchise record of eleven straight victories.

It was not easy for Golden State in the early going, fueled mostly by hot shooting from Magic guard Victor Oladipo. He scored nine in the first quarter, leading Orlando to an early 15-8 lead with 6:16 to go in the first. After a timeout, the Warriors recuperated and gathered some momentum, cutting Orlando’s lead to 25-24. In a halftime interview on CSN Bay Area, Warriors’ assistant coach Alvin Gentry stressed the importance of doing “a better job on defense in keeping in front of [Oladipo].” Oladipo finished with twenty-seven points and four assists, but his individual performance was not enough to beat the Warriors.

The Warriors and small forward Draymound Green survived an early scare. Green sprained his thumb falling into photographer, and went to the locker room for treatment. He later returned to game, and made a good catch on half court pass and finished with a layup, drawing little reason for concern. Golden State pulled away in the second quarter, making an unsustainable seventy-nine percent of their shots to carry them to a 56-46 halftime lead. As as team, the Warriors had nineteen assists, and generally shared the ball well. They dominated the boards in the first half, grabbing twenty-seven rebounds to Orlando’s fourteen, including seven of the offensive variety. The Warriors failed to take advantage of poor three pointing shooting by the Magic (2-11 3-pt) in the first half, turning the ball over ten times. They allowed the Magic to score thirteen points off of these miscues.

The third quarter was similarly awful for the Warriors, who were outscored 29-17 in the period behind poor three point shooting. Golden State missed all of its five attempts from long-range, missing several open shots in the process. The Magic went on an 11-0 run from 9:19 until 6:20 left in the third, eventually turning a big 65-53 lead into a 71-69 deficit with 1:57 left in the third. Golden State went six for twenty-one from the field in the period, and likely felt relieved to finish the third down just 75-73.

Andre Iguodala set the tone early in the fourth, opening the half with a quick bucket to tie the game. Center Andrew Bogut blocked two shots on the ensuing possession, yet the Magic still hit a three to make it 77-75. The Warriors found themselves down 84-77 with around 7:40 left to play in the second half, and needed a catalyst. Despite a quiet night in the early going, Klay Thompson’s three pointer with 5:35 to go provided just that, cutting Orlando’s lead to 86-83 and getting the 19,596 in attendance at Oracle Arena back in the game. The three pointer started a furious rally for the Warriors, who went on an 11-2 run to tie the game at ninety-five apiece. Thompson ended up scoring twenty points on the night, despite a slow start, and gave the Warriors the boost that they had needed to get back in the game. Another star for Golden State was quiet in the first half: Stephen Curry. He made just two of five shots in the first half, scoring five points. He certainly made his presence known late in the game, hitting a game-winning three from the right wing with just 2.2 seconds to play. He shook off a poor shooting night, scoring eight points in the fourth quarter, including the decisive shot that gave the Warriors a 98-97 lead. In total, Curry scored twenty-two points to go along with five assists. After a timeout, the Magic had one last chance, but Draymound Green batted the inbounds pass away to end the game.

It was an uncharacteristically close game for the Warriors, who had not had a game decided by less than four points coming into Tuesday night. Last season, they had a whopping twenty-six of those games, a testament to the dominance that these Warriors have been accustomed to this season. Tuesday’s win marked their seventh this season against Eastern Conference foes in as many tries. Golden State will play the New Orleans Pelicans in their next game, this Thursday night at Oracle Arena.

Stats and info courtesy of ESPN

Featured Image: By Keith Allison (Flickr: Victor Oladipo) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Nastic Does His Best to Slow Okafor, Duke Still Wins 70-59

Published on November 22, 2014November 22, 2014 by bentleonard18Leave a comment

By: Ben Leonard

Duke had four players in double figures, including eighteen from Quinn Cook, leading them to a 70-59 victory over the Stanford Cardinal. Saturday’s game was played in Brooklyn, New York as the championship game of the Coaches Vs. Cancer Classic. Cook took home the tournament’s MVP award, as his presence as a leader led Duke to the victory. Chasson Randle led the Cardinal with twenty-two points in a losing effort. The Cardinal were down for almost the entire game, resulting in their first loss of the season. Stanford fell to 3-1 with the loss, and fourth-ranked Duke improved to 5-0. Duke played well as a team in capturing their second all-time tournament title, their first since 2008.

After taking a 7-4 lead on a three-pointer from Cook, Duke never looked back, as they didn’t surrender the lead for the remainder of the game. The contest was tight in the early going, with the Cardinal down just 9-8 five minutes into the game, but the Blue Devils proved to be too talented to lose. They passed well into the interior of the Cardinal’s zone defense, despite the best efforts of Stefan Nastic. The Canadian 6’11” senior frustrated McDonald’s All-American Jahlil Okafor in the post, holding him to just two points in the first half. Nastic gathered thirteen points and a career-high thirteen rebounds in a losing effort. Fellow McDonald’s All-American Reid Travis pulled down eleven rebounds of his own, marking the second time this season that Cardinal players have gotten double-digit rebounds in the same game. Nastic eventually fouled out, a testament to his physical play Saturday night.

Despite this solid play in the post, Stanford’s offense struggled to keep pace with Duke. Stanford was in foul trouble for much of the first half, recording eleven fouls in the first half alone. They gave the Blue Devils the advantage of a double bonus relatively early, and gave them opportunities at the line. However, Duke did not take full advantage of these chances, making just seventeen of twenty-nine attempts (58%) at the stripe. Despite these failures at the line, Duke’s talented freshman class gave Stanford fits offensively, as they missed eleven of their last thirteen shots going into halftime. According to Duke assistant coach Jeff Capel (halftime interview on TruTV), the Blue Devils defense took the Cardinal “out of the triangle offense” very effectively The reason Duke led 40-29 at halftime was the disparity in three point shooting; the Cardinal made just one of seven, while Duke made six of seventeen. When asked if his Cardinal team was playing below their size in a halftime interview on TruTV, Coach Dawkins said that they “settled for jump shots” instead of working their offense.

Duke picked up where they left off in the second half, holding leads of roughly ten points for most of the half, until breaking ahead to a commanding 61-45 lead with 5:31 left.With Nastic fouled out, Okafor took over, scoring eight points and grabbing six rebounds in the waning moments of the game. Duke won by limiting fouls, having just fifteen, compared to Stanford’s twenty-four. On a postgame interview on TruTV, Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski said he was “proud of the way [his] team responded” to playing “five games in eight days.” Krzyzewski said the win showed “resilien[ce]” and that they can “play defense.” Next for Duke will be Furman (1-1) on November 26, hailing from the Southern Conference, while Stanford will face Delaware (0-2) on November 25.

Stats and info courtesy of ESPN, CBS Sports

Cover Image: By Adam Glantzman (flickr user Adam Glanzman) [CC-BY-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)%5D, via Wikimedia Commons

Nastic Overpowers Wofford in Paint, Leads Cardinal to 74-59 Victory

Published on November 14, 2014December 2, 2014 by bentleonard18Leave a comment

By: Ben Leonard

–PALO ALTO, CA

In the season opener for both Stanford and Wofford, both squads were clearly full of anticipatory energy before and during the game. In the all-time first meeting between the two schools, the favored Cardinal prevailed 74-59 behind strong play in the post. Center Stefan Nastic led the way for the Cardinal, with twenty-six points and five rebounds. The media-poll favorite in the Southern Conference for 2014-15, Wofford finished 20-13 in the 2013-14 season, despite being the third smallest Division One School in terms of enrollment. On the other hand, Stanford went 23-13 in the superior Pac-12 Conference. Friday’s lightly-attended game was a part of the regional round of the 2014 Northwestern Mutual Coaches vs. Cancer® Classic, which will culminate in the Championship Rounds at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn.

The Terriers put up a strong fight early, taking an early 17-13 lead with 10:56 left to go in the first. This was due to several missed opportunities by the Cardinal, who struggled at the free-throw line in the incipient stages of the game. Stanford converted three of their first eight attempts, including an fruitless trip by center Reid Travis, missing both of his tries. Dawkins attributed these misses to inexperience and jitters, as the “guys who missed free-throws had limited experience” and were still “trying to find their way.” Dawkins appreciated their numerous trips to the line (28), but they simply “had to convert.”

Wofford’s strong three point shooting in part gave them the early advantage, as they converted on three of their first five attempts. In addition, their bench players took a vital role, scoring eleven points against the Cardinal’s two points off the bench with 7:57 left in the first. It was a very physical, hard-fought game early, with players fighting for rebounds and diving on the floor for loose balls.

After the first ten minutes, forward Stefan Nastic started to physically overpower an undersized Wofford squad down low. He led Stanford to an 18-7 run, starting with 9:07 left and stretching to halftime. The 6’11”, fifth-year senior bodied up Wofford players down low, and the Terriers simply had no answer for him. He dominated the glass, burning the Terriers’ zone defense for twenty-six points. As Dawkins put it, he “stepped outside and knocked down shots” like “one of the best centers out there.” Wofford’s lower three players in the zone were all of 6’1″, 6’4″, and 6’1″, creating an easy matchup for the Canadian center to exploit. Combining with the freshman forward Travis down low for forty points and nine rebounds, Nastic overcame his tendencies to fall into foul trouble and was able to play thirty-two minutes. Nastic praised Travis’ work ethic, a player who “brings it every day and works really hard.”

After taking a 36-27 halftime lead, Stanford continued its success into the second half, going on a 16-7 run to start the period and pulling away to take a 58-34 lead, effectively icing the game for the Cardinal. Despite an uncustomary off game from star guard Chasson Randle, Stanford found a way to come together and beat, as Dawkins put it, “a good team.” Randle had a poor shooting game, as he made just four of thirteen attempts and gathered just twelve points. Four starters were in double figures for the Cardinal, and their success was, as Nastic put it, because every player “knows what their role is.”

Wofford’s star player, Karl Cochran, also struggled, making four of his twelve attempts from the field and scoring just eleven points. He now needs just 179 points this season to enter Wofford’s all-time top ten scoring list. His struggles came mostly from behind the three-point arc, where he made just one of six attempts, despite being sixth on the school’s all-time list in three pointers made. While holding a big lead at the end of the game, Dawkins elected to rest his starters, clearly looking ahead to their next game this Sunday against North Dakota. The game will be aired on the Pac-12 Networks at 3 PST, a far cry from the 9 PST start in Friday’s game, the latest at Maples Pavillion since 1998.