Sports Radio Service

Sacramento Kings podcast with Jeremiah Salmonson: Giannis and the Bucks match up with Kings Monday night at Golden 1

Published on March 10, 2023 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Milwaukee Bucks forward Giannis Anteokoumpo (34) will pay the Sacramento Kings a visit this Mon Mar 13, 2023 at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento (AP News file)

On the Kings podcast with Jeremiah:

#1 On Tuesday, the New York Knicks (39-29) traveled to Sacramento to take on the Kings (39-26). In addition, the game was broadcast on TNT for the whole nation to watch. On Thursday, the Kings beat the Knicks 122-117.

#2 The Kings scored 30 points in the first quarter to jump out to a quick seven-point lead. The Knicks scored 23 points in the first quarter. Domantas Sabonis started the game hot, getting whatever shot he wanted in the first quarter with 11 points.

#3 In the second quarter, the Kings went on a run. The Kings put up a massive second quarter scoring 39 points. On the other hand, the Knicks didn’t have an awful quarter, as they scored 30 points.

#4 The Kings were outscored by the Knicks 33-31 in the final quarter. However, it wasn’t enough to overcome the lead the Kings had built during the game.

#5 Jeremiah the Kings are rolling having won eight of their last ten games. The Kings host the Milwaukee Bucks (48-18) and who occupy first place in the Eastern Conference. The Bucks have won nine of their last ten games. How do you see this match up Monday night in Sacramento.

Join Jeremiah for the Kings podcasts each Friday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Stanford Cardinal podcast with Daniel Dullum: Head coach Jerod Haase to return for 2023-24 season

Published on March 10, 2023 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Stanford Cardinal head coach Jerod Haase will return next season after Athletic Director Bernard Muir reupped Haase for another year (AP file photo)

On the Stanford Cardinal podcast:

#1 Second-seed Arizona had its hands full with stubborn Stanford, but in the end, the No.8-ranked Wildcats held on and eliminated the Cardinal 95-84 Thursday in the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament quarterfinals at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

#2 The win avenged the Cardinal’s 88-79 victory over U of A on Feb. 11.

#3 Oumar Ballo led the Wildcats (26-6) with 24 points, followed by Cedric Henderson Jr. with 23, Azuolas Tubelis with 20 and Courtney Ramey with 15.

#4 Spencer Jones topped the Cardinal (14-19) with 22 points and six rebounds, Brandon Angel was next with 19 points and seven rebounds, Michael Jones had 13 points and Harrison Ingram added 12 points and five assists. Michael O’Connell had eight points, two steals and four assists.

#5 Stanford Athletic Director Bernard Muir announced that head coach Jerod Haase will return for next season. Haase lead the team to a overall 14-9 record, 7-13 in the Pac 12, this was the fifth consecutive season the Cardinal failed to finish above .500. Muir said after the 2021-22 season that he would bring Haase back for 2022-23 after the team had finished under .500 and Haase gets the nod for next season from Muir once again.

Join Daniel for the Cardinal podcasts each Friday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

World Baseball Classic: How rule changes impact the WBC

Published on March 10, 2023 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Part of the new rule changes include the larger base shown with the former smaller base (photo by spectrumnews1.com)

Fri Mar 10, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

If you thought the new MLB rules were hard to digest, you were right, but you’ll still have to process a few more in order to understand what’s happening in this year’s World Baseball Classic.

We’ve already looked at the rules for team grouping and seeding as well as those governing player eligibility, so we can skip them. We also can skip the rules concerning the makeup of roster, MLB vetoes of player participation, and the various types of leaves players can be granted. We should note, however, the importance of team rankings in the determination of home and away teams.

The first seed will play three games as the home team and one as the visitors. • The second, third, and fourth seeds will be the home team for two games each. • The fifth seed will be the home team for one game and the visitors to all the others.

Ties in the standings will be broken based on the following criteria, in this order of priority: • The tied teams won-lost record against each other. In case more than two teams are tied and one of them beat all the others, that team will be placed above them. Likewise, a team that lost to all the others would be placed at the bottom of the list. • The teams will be ranked according to the ratio of runs and defensive outs between the tied teams during the round. Needless to say, the team with the lowest ratio goes to the top of the list. • This criterion is the same as the previous one, except that the ratio will be earned runs per defensive out. • Team batting average in the round against the teams that still are tied. • Drawing of lots.

The games will be played according to the 2022 rules–the statement released on MLB.com doesn’t say whose 2022 rules– with a few of what MLB calls “supplements.” They are: • The three batter or to the end of the inning minimum for relief pitchers will be enforced. • Mound visits won’t be limited. • The DH rule will be in effect. • MLB’s replay rule will be followed unless the WBC decides otherwise and gives the teams prior notice of the change. One change, announced a few paragraphs after this declaration, is that two replay challenges per game will be allowed in the championship round and one per game in all the other rounds.

The new rules on pitching time limits, the size of bases, and the positioning of infielders will not be applied. • If a pitcher has thrown 50 or more pitches, he won’t be allowed to pitch for at least the next four days. • For 30 or more pitches, he must wait a day before his next appearance on the mound. • A pitcher cannot work for more than two consecutive dalys. • The pitch limit per game in the first round is 65. It goes up to 80 and 95 in the following two rounds. Pitchers will be allowed to exceed those limits if it’s necessary to complete a batter’s plate appearance. • Pitches thrown in “for the purpose of effectuating an intentional walk” don’t count. What ever happened to the 2022 rule on declared intentional walks? • The zombie runner rules for extra innings will be in effect. • The official scorer will determine who is the winning pitcher.

Got that?

Kings Sabonis 24 pts helps defeat Knicks 122-117

Published on March 9, 2023 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

By Jeremiah Salmonson

SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Kings were back in action on Thursday night in Sacramento. The Kings last played on Monday night when the New Orleans Pelicans came to town. It was an important game for the Kings, who took care of business and beat the Pelicans 123-108. On Tuesday, the New York Knicks traveled to Sacramento to take on the Kings at 7 PM PST. In addition, the game was broadcast on TNT for the whole nation to watch. On Thursday, the Kings beat the Knicks 122-117.

In the first quarter, the Kings came out of the gate strong. The Kings played solid defense in the first as the Knicks were struggling to find the bottom of the net. The Kings scored 30 points in the first quarter to jump out to a quick seven-point lead. The Knicks scored 23 points in the first quarter. Domantas Sabonis started the game hot, getting whatever shot he wanted in the first quarter with 11 points.

In the second quarter, the Kings went on a run. The Kings put up a massive second quarter scoring 39 points. On the other hand, the Knicks didn’t have an awful quarter, as they scored 30 points. However, the power of the Kings offense was too much to handle as they went into halftime with a 69-53 lead over the Knicks. If the Knicks wanted to keep the game within reach, they would need to slow down the Kings offense in the second half.

In the third quarter, the Kings took their foot off the gas. They allowed the Knicks to get right back into the ballgame. The Kings were outscored by the Knicks 31-22 in the quarter as the offense went silent for the Kings. The Knicks did well with a sustained offensive attack in the quarter to close the deficit.

The Kings would go into the fourth quarter with a 91-84 lead over the Knicks. However, the Knicks had all the momentum over the Kings. Another important note was De’Aaron Fox had four fouls, and Sabonis had three going into the final quarter.

In the fourth quarter, it was a typical fourth quarter this year in Sacramento. The fans were absolutely insane, and the game came down to the wire. The Kings were outscored by the Knicks 33-31 in the final quarter. However, it wasn’t enough to overcome the lead the Kings had built during the game. The Kings won the game 122-117 against the New York Knicks.

It was a wild game at Golden One Center, with every fan on their feet in the last minutes. Fox took over the game in the fourth to lead the Kings to victory. The Kings were led in scoring by Sabonis, who had 24 points. In defeat, the Knicks were led by R.J. Barrett, who had 25 points in the game.

Up Next: The Kings stay home to take on the Milwaukee Bucks on Monday at 7 PM PST.

No, 8 Arizona sends Cardinal packing from Pac-12 tournament with 95-84 win

Published on March 9, 2023March 10, 2023 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Arizona Wildcats Cedric Henderson (45) drives on the Stanford Cardinal at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas at the Pac 12 Tournament on Thu Mar 9, 2023 (USA Today photo)

By Daniel Dullum
Thursday, March 9, 2023

Second-seed Arizona had its hands full with stubborn Stanford, but in the end, the No.8-ranked Wildcats held on and eliminated the Cardinal 95-84 Thursday in the Pac-12 men’s basketball tournament quarterfinals at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The win avenged the Cardinal’s 88-79 victory over U of A on Feb. 11.

Oumar Ballo led the Wildcats (26-6) with 24 points, followed by Cedric Henderson Jr. with 23, Azuolas Tubelis with 20 and Courtney Ramey with 15. Tubelis also had eight rebounds and four assists, Plle Larsson had seven rebounds and five assists, and Ballo grabbed six boards. Henderson added three assists and three steals.

Spencer Jones topped the Cardinal (14-19) with 22 points and six rebounds, Brandon Angel was next with 19 points and seven rebounds, Michael Jones had 13 points and Harrison Ingram added 12 points and five assists. Michael O’Connell had eight points, two steals and four assists.

Stanford connected on 14 of 29 from 3-point range with Spencer Jones, Michael Jones and Angel each hitting three from behind the arc.

The Wildcats led 47-43 at the half. Stanford took a 57-56 lead four minutes into the second half on a O’Connell 3 and extended that lead to 59-56 on an Ingram jumper. Arizona responded with a layup by Ballo and surged ahead 62-61 on a short jumper by Tubelis at 14:26.

Arizona used a six-point run to pull away 68-63. The Wildcats’ biggest lead was 95-81 with 34 seconds to play.

The Wildcats move on the tournament semifinals.

Grizzlies Pound Golden State 131-110

Published on March 9, 2023March 9, 2023 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Golden State Warriors guard Stephen Curry (30) handles the ball against Memphis Grizzlies forward Dillon Brooks (24) in the first half in Memphis on Thu Mar 9, 2023 (AP News photo)

Grizzlies Pound Golden State 131-110

By Barbara Mason

Thursday night the Golden State Warriors (34-33) took on the Memphis Grizzlies (39-26) in Game three of their most recent road trip in a continuing effort to figure out how to win on the road. It has been an ongoing nightmare and they have not been able to figure out jut what is going so terribly wrong. The just couldn’t figure it out again dropping their

The Grizzlies were without Ja Morant, out for at least six games. This could prove to be a golden opportunity for the Warriors to win a third game over the Grizzlies this season

The first quarter of this game was more of the same with Memphis all over the Warriors scoring 48 points their highest opening quarter of this season. They won the quarter 48-28. Again the Warriors trailed by double digits as they have done in every game on this road trip.

The Warriors made a move in the second quarter pulling to within four points 57-53 with just over four minutes left in the first half. The Grizzles swallowed up the Warriors bid thanks in part to some horrific defense from Golden State. Numerous sloppy turnovers did nothing for the Warrior’s cause. They had four in a row in the final minutes of the half giving Memphis a 20-6 run. Memphis led at the half 77-59.

Memphis had more rebounds, more shots from downtown and shot at 56% from the field compared to the Warriors 44.4%. The Grizzlies had outplayed the Warriors at every turn. Head Coach Steve Kerr was visibly upset with what he saw on the court from the Warriors defensively.

Golden State continued to hang around and with 4:19 left in the third quarter had pulled to within five points 89-84. Every time the Warriors challenged, Memphis answered continuing to extend their lead. With 4:15 left in the third the Grizzlies led 92-84. Despite winning the third quarter 33-22 the Warriors continued to trail 99-92 going into the fourth quarter.

With 6:39 left in the game the Grizzlies continued to surge leading 115-100. The final was 131-103 in favor of the Grizzlies. WIth the Western Conference so bunched up in second all the way through tenth place, every game is critical and Golden State is just not playing like it’s critical.

What does a coach do? This brand of defense is totally deserving of ranting and raving but to what end? It just seems that this lack of defense on the road is so deeply imbedded in the players heads that nothing short of surgery is going to fix it.

Stephen Curry finished with the high shooting for 29 points. Jordan Poole had 22 points with Draymond Green and Klay Thompson both in double digits. It was just the lack of defense that decided this game.

Saturday night the Warriors will take on the Milwaukee Bucks at Chase Center. They will be looking to get back on the winning track. Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 PM.

NHL podcast with Len Shapiro: Flyers DeAngelo suspended two games for spearing; Oilers Kane back tonight in Boston; plus more news

Published on March 9, 2023March 9, 2023 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Edmonton Oilers Evander Kane returned to the Oilers line up tonight against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden in Boston. Kane is made his first appearance after missing nine games. (file photo from nhl.com

On the NHL podcast with Len Shapiro:

#1 Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Tony DeAngelo was hit with a two game suspension for spearing Tampa Bay Lightning Corey Perry in Tampa Bay on Tue Mar 7. The penalty was assessed at 17:20 of the third period a major penalty and a misconduct for spearing.

#2 Edmonton Oilers star Evander Kane has finally returned to the line up after missing nine games he played in tonight’s game against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden. Kane had got his wrist cut by a skate on Feb 17th returned on line changes with Connor McDavid and Zach Hyman.

#3 Len, the Carolina Hurricanes recalled goaltender Pyotr Kochetkov AHL affiliate Chicago on Wednesday. Kochetkov will replace Antti Raanta who suffered a groin injury on Tuesday in a Hurricanes 4-3 overtime shootout win against the Montreal Canadiens. Hurricanes coach Rod Brind’Amour said that Raanta tweeted his groin and hoped that it’s not too serious.

#4 The Oilers and Bruins game was nationally televised in order to highlight Oilers superstar Connor McDavid and the Boston Bruins David Pastrnak. The Oilers and Bruins are favorites to represent in the NHL Finals for the post season.

#5 San Jose Sharks head coach David Quinn has been fined $25,000 for demeaning officials on Sat Mar 4th at SAP Center in San Jose in a game against the Washington Capitals. Quinn blew his top after on ice official Gord Dwyer had called Kevin LaBanc for hooking in the third period. Quinn was seen using colorful language and got the boot for a game misconduct abuse on an official.

Join Len Shapiro for the NHL podcasts Thursday nights on http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cal Bears report: Fox out as head coach; It was matter of time after team went 3-29

Published on March 9, 2023March 9, 2023 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Cal Bears head coach Mark Fox has some comments to make after a call during the second half of an NCAA college basketball game against Oregon State in Corvallis, Ore., Sat Mar 4, 2023 (AP News file photo)

By Morris Phillips and Michael Duca

Cal Bears head coach Mark Fox was the butt end of memes during Cal home games that showed the swirling Fire Fox logo during this season. The inevitable happened on Thursday afternoon when Cal Athletic Director Jim Knowlton announced that indeed Fox was fired from the flagging basketball team who went 3-29.

“This was a difficult decision and one that I do not take lightly,” Knowlton said. “After deliberately and holistically evaluating all aspects of our program, I felt a change was needed at this time.” Fox took over the reigns of head coach in 2019. Fox gave the Golden Bears some hope when he took the club to a 14-18 season, the Bears that season went 7-11 in non conference games.

It was the last three years that Fox just couldn’t recover Cal basketball with losing seasons that landed him and the Cal MBB program in last place in 2021 and 2023. Cal had a 10-50 overall record in those last three seasons. Previous to Fox coming to Cal head coach Wyking Jones coached the Bears for two seasons going 8-24 in 2017-18 and 8-23 in 2018-19.

Fox leaves Cal with a 38-87 overall record and going 17-61 in four regular seasons. When Fox first took over in 2019-20 he was able to win seven conference games. Fox was unable to win over five games in each of the following three seasons as Cal head coach. Also the Cal program had lost over 20 games in three consecutive seasons with Cal finishing in last place in two seasons under Fox.

Before coaching at Cal Fox coached at the Georgia Bulldogs for nine seasons and led Georgia to two NCAA Tournament appearances. Fox at Georgia finished above .500 in his last five years. As head coach in Reno for the Nevada Wolfpack Fox won three NCAA Tournaments and won at least 21 games in his five seasons in Nevada.

World Baseball Classic: First time since 2006 WBC will not be hosted in California

Published on March 9, 2023 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

March 9: Shugo Maki of Japan celebrates after hitting a home run from Su Changlong of China in the 8th inning. EUGENE HOSHIKO, AP

March 8, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

For the first time since its inception in 2006, the World Baseball Classic will not stage its semi-final and final games in California. San Diego hosted the first championship round, followed by Los Angeles in 2009, San Francisco in 2013, and then it was back to Dodger Stadium in 2017. This year the closest Bay Area fans will get to the action will be Phoenix, one of the four venues for the first round.

Teams representing the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Canada, and Great Britain will duke it out in Chase Field. This quintet has been designated as Group C. The teams with the two best won-lost records in this round will advance to the quarter finals, AKA round 2, where they’ll face the two top finishers of Groups A,B, and D.

Now, let’s take a look at those groups.

Group A, consisting of the Netherlands, Cuba, Italy, Panama and what the organizers refer to as Chinese Taipei opened the action when the Netherlands beat Cuba 4-0 in Taichung Intercontinental Baseball Stadium on what was March 7 here, but the afternoon of March 8 in Taiwan. In what was the nightcap in Asia, visiting Panama pummelled the host team, 12-5, but outhit them by only one run, 14-13.

No other scores were in for either of the Asian venues when I took a break for packing my bags for Phoenix to write this. Group A’s next round, AKA the quarter finals, will be played in Taichung, with the sole surviving squad moving on to Miami for the championship round, i.e., the semi-final and final series.

Japan, Korea, Australia, China, and the Czech Republic make up Group B. Their first game is scheduled to start in the Tokyo Dome at 4:00 pm here on a west coast Wednesday afternoon, about two hours from now, and will feature Australia and Korea. The advancing teams will remain in Tokyo for the quarter-finals and then go to Miami for the semi-final and final rounds.

Group D consists of Puerto Rico, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Israel, and Nicaragua. They’ll play their games in Miami, starting with the Puerto Rico-Nicaragua match up at 9:00, Pacific time, on March 11. The team that wins this Group D first round at Loan Depot Park in Miami will continue to play there as long as they remain in the running.

All of the above invites a few questions. Among them are how does a team qualify, what is the basis on which a qualifying team is assigned to one group rather than another, how are teams ranked with their pools?

There are three criteria for qualification. They are

• The host country automatically qualifies. As with sausages, it’s best not to inquire about what goes into making the decision of which country that will be.

• Any team that reached the 2017 semi-finals makes it into the first round in 2023 and will be the top seed in its group.

• This point is delicate. MLB, the WBC’s parent organization, describes it this way: “… the remaining teams will be assigned based on December 31, 2021, WBSC [World Baseball Softball Confederation] rankings in order to guaranteed [sic] competitive balance. Commercial, geographic and geopolitical considerations may also be applied to this process.”

Let that last sentence sink in. When you’ve done, you can clear your mind by glancing at MLB.com’s ranking of the top ten teams. They are

1) The Dominican Republic

2) The USA

3) Japan

4) Puerto Rico

5) Mexico

6) Venezuela

7) Cuba

8) Canada

9) Italy

10) Korea.

I chose this source because I couldn’t find the final 2021 WSBC ratings and, in any case, 2022 was not a good year for lower level baseball and softball. I don’t know how accurate this MLB.com table is, but I suspect that it’s relevant that, of the four previous WBC titles, Japan has won two and the Dominican Republic and the United States have won the two remaining crowns. Cuba, the Netherlands, and Korea also have had notable success in the tournament.

In my next article, I’ll discuss, among other things, some thorny “geographic and geopolitical considerations” that could affect the inclusion and group placement of a country as well as individual players’ eligibility to play for any given team. After that, I plan to send two more dispatches before I begin reporting on the games of the Phoenix round on March 11. They will deal with other tournament rules and with the representation of players from bay area teams in the WBA.

Lewis Rubman is covering the World Baseball Classic for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

World Baseball Classic: Packing for Phoenix

Published on March 9, 2023March 9, 2023 by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

World Baseball Classic logo (mlb.com image)

Packing for Phoenix

March 9, 2023

By Lewis Rubman

This year the closest Bay Area fans will get to the action will be Phoenix, one of the four venues for the first round. Teams representing the United States, Mexico, Colombia, Canada, and Great Britain will duke it out in Chase Field. This quintet has been designated as Group C. The teams with the two best won-lost records in this round will advance to the quarter finals, AKA round 2, where they’ll face the two top finishers of Groups A,B, and D.

Now, let’s take a look at those groups.

In what was the nightcap in Asia, visiting Panama pummelled the host team, 12-5, but outhit them by only one run, 14-13. No other scores were in for either of the Asian venues when I took a break for packing my bags for Phoenix to write this. Group A’s next round, AKA the quarter finals, will be played in Taichung, with the sole surviving squad moving on to Miami for the championship round, i.e., the semi-final and final series.

Group D consists of Puerto Rico, Venezuela, the Dominican Republic, Israel, and Nicaragua. They’ll play their games in Miami, starting with the Puerto Rico-Nicaragua match up at 9:00, Pacific time, on March 11. The team that wins this Group D first round at loanDepot Park will continue to play there as long as they remain in the running.

There are three criteria for qualification. They are

The host country automatically qualifies. As with sausages, it’s best not to inquire about what goes into making the decision of which country that will be. • Any team that reached the 2017 semi-finals makes it into the first round in 2023 and will be the top seed in its group. • This point is delicate. MLB, the WBC’s parent organization, describes it this way: “… the remaining teams will be assigned based on December 31, 2021, WBSC [World Baseball Softball Confederation] rankings in order to guaranteed [sic] competitive balance. Commercial, geographic and geopolitical considerations may also be applied to this process.”

Let that last sentence sink in. When you’ve done, you can clear your mind by glancing at MLB.com’s ranking of the top ten teams. They are

1) The Dominican Republic 2) The USA 3) Japan 4) Puerto Rico 5) Mexico 6) Venezuela 7) Cuba 8) Canada 9) Italy 10) Korea.