Author: jeremy2878

Warriors blast distracted Clips

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By Jeremy Harness

The Los Angeles Clippers dropped their warm-up jerseys onto the center of the court before the game. The Warriors, on the other hand, dropped jumpers into the net and did not stop until they were 18-97 winners in Game 4 at Oracle Arena Sunday.

The victory evened up the best-of-seven series at two games apiece and sends the series back to Staples Center.

The Clippers found it reasonably difficult to focus on Sunday’s game, given what had transpired with their owner. Donald Sterling, or someone believed to be him, made offensive remarks regarding African-Americans, telling his girlfriend to “not bring them to my games.”

As a sign of protest, the Clipper players came together as a team and shed their warm-up gear at center court in a public display while also turning their shooting T-shirts inside out.

The Warriors, particularly Stephen Curry, jumped on them right away. Curry made his first five 3-point attempts and finished with 33 points, seven rebounds and seven assists.

The Warriors opened up a double-digit lead early on and maintained that throughout the entire game.

Warriors come up just short in Game 3

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By Jeremy Harness

On one hand, the Warriors nearly came back from an 18-point deficit but came up painfully short in Game 3 of this best-of-seven series.

On the other, however, the Los Angeles Clippers appeared to have gotten away with a pair of fouls that went the other way and made the biggest difference as the Warriors fell 98-96 at Oracle Arena Thursday night.

The Warriors struggled shooting the ball for most of the night, but they somehow managed to string together a run late in the fourth quarter to give themselves a great chance to pull out the win.

Stephen Curry hit a pair of highly-contested 3-pointers to bring the Warriors to within a point with 11 seconds left, and when Clippers guard Chris Paul made one of two from the free-throw line, the opportunity was there.

Curry, who scored 16 points to go along with 15 assists while the Clippers were bent on making him a passer, got a slight look at another 3-ball, and Paul shoved his forearm into Curry’s hip as he was in mid-air, which was not called and appeared to play greatly in the shot falling short and sending the Warriors to a 2-1 deficit in the series.

The Clippers also appeared to get away with another foul about 20 seconds earlier, as Blake Griffin, who had 32 points on Thursday on 15-of-25 shooting, drew a foul on Draymond Green, which turned out to be Green’s sixth.

Although Green was clearly moving his feet at the point of contact, Griffin pushed off to knock Green to the floor and draw the whistle.

Early on in the second half, however, it didn’t appear that this kind of finish was possible. The Warriors found themselves down by only three at halftime despite going 1-for-12 from 3-point territory in the first half.

As the Warriors continued to sputter on offense in the second half, the Clippers distanced themselves and eventually grew the lead to 18 points before the home team slowly began to make their charge.

Sanchez slams Giants past Rockies

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By Jeremy Harness

The Giants had been in a serious funk ever since taking two of three from the Dodgers last week at AT&T Park.

Hector Sanchez made sure that cold snap did not extend into Wednesday.

With the winds swirling around Coors Field, bringing back memories of Candlestick Park, Sanchez uncorked a grand slam in the 11th inning off Colorado reliever Chad Bettis to bring the Giants to victory over the Rockies.

However, the Giants still managed to make things interesting in the bottom half. Closer Sergio Romo entered the game and gave up a two-run homer to Justin Morneau and then surrendered a one-out walk to Drew Stubbs.

But as the “oh-no” feelings started to rise up again, Romo came up with a big pitch that got the Giants the win, a grounder off the bat of Brandon Barnes that led to a double play.

Sanchez’s slam could not have come at a better time, as the Giants were on the verge of being swept in the three-game series in a ballpark that has always created problems for the Giants, regardless of how good the two teams are at given time.

Bullpen saves day as Giants take series

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By Jeremy Harness

 

SAN FRANCISCO – This one wasn’t nearly as long, but it was every bit as dramatic. It’s the sort of thing you would expect when the Giants and Dodgers hook up.

 

The first two contests of this three-game series at AT&T Park has had a strong postseason feel to it, with each game being decided by a single run and being played between two eternal rivals. Thus far in this young season, the Giants have seized control, as they followed up a 12-inning victory by again turning away the Dodgers, 2-1, Wednesday night.

 

Pablo Sandoval, who entered the game hitting only .164, broke a 1-1 tie in the seventh inning by singling off Dodgers reliever J.P Howell. However, it was the bullpen that saved the Giants’ bacon to give Sandoval a chance to be the offensive hero.

 

The Giants were backed into a corner in the top of that inning, as starter Ryan Vogelsong hit Hanley Ramirez and gave up a single to Adrian Gonzalez to start the inning before being chased from the game.

 

Vogelsong went six-plus innings and gave up only a run on four hits, walking two and striking out another two.

 

Enter Jean Machi, who has been sensational this season, to right the ship. He started off by striking out Kemp but then surrendered an infield hit to Andre Ethier to load the bases. He then forced Juan Uribe into a grounder right back to him. He got the first out at home before Buster Posey threw to first in time to get Uribe and keep the game tied and bring much of the crowd at AT&T Park to its feet.

 

That set the stage for the bottom half of the inning, as Sandoval lined a two-out single up the middle. Joaquin Arias, who walked to lead off the inning, motored home from second to give the Giants a 2-1 lead.

 

From there, Santiago Casilla, Javier Lopez and closer Sergio Romo combined to shut down the Dodgers’ vaunted lineup, as Romo struck out both Adrian Gonzalez and Matt Kemp – who had a game to forget – to seal this series for the Giants.

 

Defensively, the teams showed up on opposite ends of the spectrum in the first inning. On one side, Arias made a beautiful stop of a hot grounder by Ramirez while second baseman Brandon Hicks fired to first to finish off an inning-ending double play.

 

Meanwhile, Kemp wasn’t quite as skillful in center field. He hauled in a fly ball at the warning track by Hunter Pence, only to have it pop out of his glove as he looked up at the sky. Pence wound up at second on the play, but the Giants were unable to advance him.

 

Kemp’s woes then shifted to the basepaths. After drawing a two-out walk in the second, he was quickly picked off by Vogelsong. The Dodgers challenged the play, but after nearly five minutes of review, the call was upheld.

 

The Giants got on the board in the third, as Buster Posey’s single brought Pence home from second.

 

Vogelsong, who had been cruising right along for five innings, was just about out of the sixth until he gave up a two-out walk to Paul Maholm, his pitching counterpart, and that ended up costing the Giants in a big way.

 

The next batter, second baseman Dee Gordon, lined one over Pence’s head in right center for a triple that scored Maholm and tied the game.

 

Notes: Ramirez was hit on the left hald, which forced him to leave the game for a pinch runner. X-rays taken on the injured hand were negative, according to the Dodgers.

Lincecum gets knocked around

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By Jeremy Harness

 

SAN FRANCISCO – With the exception of the no-hitter, the beginning of Tim Lincecum’s 2014 season has looked a lot like his 2013, which is certainly something to be concerned about.

 

After getting away with a no-decision in his first outing of the year April 3, he – along with the Giants -was just about doomed from the outset Wednesday night. The right-hander was ripped for seven runs, from which the Giants could not recover in a 7-3 loss to the Arizona Diamondbacks.

 

Lincecum was off his mark right from the jump, and it showed in his giving up a leadoff triple to Gerardo Parra while not being able to find the strike zone at all in walking the next batter, Martin Prado.

 

He did, however, throw a nice, straight strike to Paul Goldschmidt, and the first baseman repaid him by sending it…

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Stanford’s unlikely run comes to an end

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By Jeremy Harness

Those who have watched Stanford’s basketball team throughout the season did not see this coming. Sure, they would have some notable wins early on, such as the road win at Connecticut, but the Cardinal surely would have just fallen back into the middle of the pack and not be heard from again for the rest of the year.

Then came the magical run through the NCAA Tournament, during which Stanford upended heavily-favored Kansas in the second round to get to the Sweet 16. However, Dayton put the brakes on the Cardinal on Thursday night, 82-72, in Memphis’ FedEx Forum.

Even though Stanford was not able to maintain its NCAA run, it most likely saved its basketball coach’s job. At the start of this season, many believed that Johnny Dawkins was on the hot seat and was in possible danger of being relieved of his duties.

However, that has all seemed to change.

Dayton, meanwhile, is moving on and will take on Florida in the Elite Eight. The Flyers did it by wearing down the Cardinal, using 12 players in the first half to set the tone for what was to come.

Stanford got quality play from their starters – Chasson Randle scored 21 points to lead the Cardinal while Dwight Powell had 17 and Stefan Nastic added 15. Problem was, Stanford could not stay out of foul trouble, as Nastic actually fouled out with more than five minutes remaining in the game.

The other issue was that Stanford got next to nothing from its bench. Dayton’s bench outscored Stanford’s by a 34-2 margin.

Stanford squeaks by WSU

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By Jeremy Harness

 

It wasn’t a huge blowout like the game played earlier this season at Maples Pavilion, but the Stanford basketball team is still moving on in the Pac-12 tournament nonetheless.

 

The Cardinal began their push to attempt to get into the NCAA Tournament Wednesday night, as they used a big second half to ward off Washington State, 74-63, at the MGM Grand Arena in Las Vegas.

 

Even though the score a little tighter than when these two teams last met, but the script was pretty much the same. Stanford had much more balanced scoring than did the Cougars, who again mainly relied on two players to keep them close.

 

For Stanford, Chasson Randle led with 22 points while Dwight Powell chipped in with 16. Meanwhile, Anthony Brown and Josh Huestis each added 12 points to help the Cardinal move to the second round, during which they will face Arizona State Thursday night.

 

DaVonte’ Lacy led all scorers with 25 for Washington State, while D.J Shelton had 15 points while pulling down 11 rebounds.

 

Both teams started each half shooting the ball very well, but the difference was that Stanford was able to sustain the attack while the Cougars were not.

 

The Cardinal split their season series with Arizona State, winning at Maples Pavilion while faltering when they made their annual trip to Arizona two weeks ago.

 

Obviously, the work isn’t close to being done for the Cardinal. Having lost three of their last four games of the regular season, they need to make a big run in the Pac-12 tournament to get a serious look at an NCAA berth.

 

If Stanford beats Arizona State Thursday night, the No. 3 seed would likely draw No. 2 UCLA, a team that they have also beaten at Maples this season before they have a chance of a rematch with Arizona in the tournament final.

Cardinal bounces back

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By Jeremy Harness

 

Three days after nearly pulling off a monstrous upset, the Stanford men’s basketball team came back to beat a very good Arizona State team, using a dominant second half to come away with a 76-70 win at Maples Pavilion Saturday afternoon.

 

Dwight Powell scored 28 points on 8-of-19 shooting to lead the Cardinal, while Chasson Randle added 21 and made eight of his 14 shots from the field. 

 

The Cardinal came within a couple of possessions of knocking off top-ranked Arizona Wednesday night before faltering in the final minute, but there would be no second-half letdown this time around. They trailed by one at halftime on Saturday, but they took charge almost as soon as the second half got under way.

 

They went on a 12-3 run in the first five minutes of the second stanza and led by as many as 13  points. However, the Sun Devils, who squeaked by Cal Wednesday night, kept hanging around and proceeded to cut the lead down.

 

Arizona State managed to get the lead trimmed to three with 1:09 to play when Jermaine Marshall hit a 3-pointer, but they could not get any closer, as the 3’s stopped falling.

 

Meanwhile, Stanford knocked down their free throws when Arizona State was forced to foul in order to keep the game close.

 

Jahii Carson, the Sun Devils’ dynamic point guard, scored 24 points on Saturday while Marshall chipped in with 22 and made six of his eight 3-point attempts.

Stanford blows away Washington St

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By Jeremy Harness

 

STANFORD – The tail end of Wednesday night’s game proved one critical fact that in big-time college basketball, you don’t have a chance of winning when only two players score almost all of your points.

 

Washington State found this out the hard way against a much more balanced Stanford team that was coming off a big win at No. 13 Oregon on Sunday. After a pitched battle in the first half, the Cardinal raced away and never looked back in a 80-48 win at Maples Pavilion.

 

Stanford (11-5, 2-2 Pac-12) pretty much got whatever they wanted on offense, shooting 58 percent from the floor, which included 40 percent from 3-point range. Washington State, on the other hand, shot just 37 percent after going 44 percent in the first half.

 

Anthony Brown and Josh Huestis, who recently trimmed his trademark mini-Afro and sported the look for the first time Wednesday, each led the Cardinal with 15 points while two others, Dwight Powell and Marcus Allen, also scored in double figures.

 

Meanwhile, only two Cougars hit double figures, with Que Johnson putting up 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting while Royce Woolridge had 13 and made six of his 13 shots.

 

That was good enough for Washington State (8-9, 1-4 Pac-12) to hang around in the first half, as Stanford could not contain Johnson at all in the first half. The redshirt freshman diced up the Cardinal in the 15 minutes that he played in the opening stanza, scoring 15 points and connecting on all but one of his seven shots, including his draining each of his three 3-point attempts.

 

Stanford and Washington State traded baskets – and the lead – while Johnson was on the floor. After he took a seat at the 3:57 mark of the first half with Stanford holding a two-point lead, the Cardinal began to distance themselves from the Cougars to take a 40-29 halftime lead.

 

To say the least, the scoring was much more balanced for the Cardinal than it was for Washington State. Seven different guys scored for Stanford, with Anthony Brown leading the way with 12. Meanwhile, Royce Woolridge had 11 first-half points, but besides he and Johnson, Dexter Kernich-Drew was the only other Cougar to score with three.

 

The onslaught only increased for the Cardinal, as their lead swelled to 25 points by the midway point of the second half.

 

Washington State did not get its first bench points of the game until the midway point of the second half, when Ike Iroegbu made a layup to narrow Stanford’s lead to 27.

 

Stanford will host Washington Saturday night before heading down to Southern California to face USC and UCLA.

It’s game time. And I got to play, too!!

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By Jeremy Harness

PASADENA – Now this is what I signed up for.

On Wednesday afternoon, I witnessed the Rose Bowl Game for the first time, and I will say this: It was much more than I expected it to be for many reasons. After Montsy, Angelita and I stayed up eating take-out pizza until 2:30 am the night before, New Year’s Day started a tad earlier than the previous day.

After quickly wolfing down a few eggs and some bacon at the hotel, I board the 9 am shuttle to the Rose Bowl stadium, a shuttle which is led by a police escort. This certainly made me feel like a celebrity, as if I didn’t feel like one since the moment I checked into the hotel here in SoCal.

After cranking out a pre-game breakdown piece for this site, it was time for me and my newfound partner in crime, ESPN Radio 100.9 FM’s Chance McBride, to take care of some unfinished business. Since both of us now had the needed game-day credentials and had allotted ourselves enough time to take in the atmosphere, we could now get on the field and snap some pictures.

For instances such as this, thank goodness for modern technology, particularly Facebook and Instagram. In a related note, I’ll be hard-pressed to find a period of time that I have used social media as frequently as these past four days.

At the end of the game, which Michigan State came out on top by a 24-20 score, the most encouraging thing that I saw was when the Stanford band played in the corner of the end zone. Yes, there were a good deal of otherwise-downtrodden Cardinal fans, but there were also a few Michigan State fans who were enjoying the band’s performance.

Not that watching this fierce matchup in my first-ever Rose Bowl wasn’t great, but the fun was about to pick up. After my post-game work was done, Chance mentioned that he needed to get out of the press box and grab some fresh air, and I saw an opportunity of a lifetime, even more so than watching the Rose Bowl in person.

See, ever since I was a kid growing up playing football up until the present day, I’ve had dreams of returning a kickoff or an interception down the sideline into the end zone. Since I had seen other folks running around on the field after it had cleared out following the post-game celebration by Michigan State, this was a chance that I simply could not walk – in this case, run – away from.

All that was needed was the permission from the security still remaining on the field level to go back onto the field, which was granted.

Lights. Camera. Action.

Standing two yards deep in my own end zone, using my cell phone and my wallet as a makeshift football, I gently toss them in the air simultaneously as in to field a kickoff. I make one cut to the right toward the middle of the field at around the 10-yard line before dashing back to the left toward the sideline at the 30 and then straighten out as I near the left sideline at midfield.

This is where I start to run away from the coverage guys, so I kick it into high gear with the end zone – and sure glory – in plain sight, and only slow down as I get inside the 10. As I get to about the 2-yard line, I somersault over the goal line and into the end zone, a la 49ers linebacker NaVorro Bowman’s game-winning, playoff berth-clinching pick-six against Atlanta two weeks ago.

Before I have a chance to celebrate, however, an official in the form of a TV reporter working on his own post-game report, had a ruling on the field.

“You stepped out right here,” he said, pointing to the opposing 41-yard line. This meant that a re-do was effectively in order.

Fielding my second imaginary kickoff two yards deep in the end zone, I make the same cuts that I made on the first one but make absolutely sure that I stay inbounds this time – which was ruled that I did – and then make the same dive into the end zone before getting up and slapping hands with imaginary fans in the back of the end zone.

Mission accomplished. That is, until I hear something approximately 50 yards away.

“Do it again!”

Big-time athletes don’t check out when they’re tired – my legs were definitely feeling the weight, most likely due to the fact that I hadn’t worked out since Christmas Eve and had not even stretched before my own kickoff – and I wasn’t about to, either.

So I make the identical pattern for my third return – hey, if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? – and upon my somersault into the end zone, I decide to stay put in that end zone, flat on my back and not in a huge hurry to get back up. Now, my destination has been reached, and all parties present for this journey were satisfied.

Meanwhile, Chance was taking a panoramic picture in the middle of the field with his fancy smart phone – which is now on my wish list for that very purpose – and just so happened to take a picture of Jeremy Harness, the kick returner.

No worries, though, as neither I nor Stanford head coach David Shaw have any immediate plans of my replacing Ty Montgomery on kickoff returns.

I thought this was the best possible ending to this Rose Bowl night, but I was wrong. Chance had found a leftover rose from the long-vacated interview room, which still had several such roses that were otherwise going to be thrown out. With that in mind, I grabbed three of them for Montsy, Bertha and Angelita.

As I returned to the hotel with flowers in hand, each of them were greatly appreciative and made this the perfect finish to this night as well as this journey.