Category: NBA

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary: Baseball demographics reflect the USA

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by Amaury Pi Gonzalez

photo credit: pintablecoluringpages.co.uk One of the very few African Americans in the majors Coco Crisp of the Oak A’s

In the world, only China and India have a larger population that the United States of America. Today, of over 323 million people live in our country, the largest minority is comprised of Hispanics.US government statistics as of 2014 list Hispanics are 17.4% and African-Americans 13.2% of the total US population. It was some time ago that Hispanics passed African-Americans as the largest minority in the United States. in Baseball, Hispanic player participation in the game is much higher than the 17.4% and it keeps growing each year. With the relaxing of relations with the country of Cuba, more Cuban players are coming into the United States and are signed by major league teams.Since the 1800’s Cuba’s #1 sport has been baseball and not even the Cold War could stop Cuban players from coming into the United States.

 While Hispanics continue to increase in the major leagues, the same cannot be said about African-Americans, unlike some of the other main professional sports leagues in the country, the NBA and the NFL, Major League Baseball has been struggling in recent decades making baseball more attractive to African-Americans, but not much success there. For example, right here in the Bay Area, the San Francisco Giants, recently signed outfielder Denard Span, and that makes him, the only African-American on their roster as today and the Oakland Athletics with Marcus Semien and Coco Crisp.
Asian players have also been coming to the major leagues, although not in the same numbers as Hispanics/Latinos. According to SABR(Society American Baseball Research)as of 2012 Hispanic/Latino players made 26.9 % of all players in the major leagues, African-Americans 7.2% and Asian players 1.9%. Most recent and according to SBN(Sports Business News)The percentage of Hispanic/Latino players increased from 28.4 percent in 2014 to 29.3 percent on 2015 opening day rosters.The percentage of Asian players decreased from two percent in 2014 to 1.2 percent in 2015.
Statistically speaking, baseball is changing in step with the United States That is only fitting, since baseball still likes to be called The National Pastime.
Amaury Pi Gonzalez is the vice president of the Major League Baseball Hispanic Heritage Museum and does News and Commentary at http://www.sportsradioservice.com
     

Kings Lose to Pelicans 109-97

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By Tony Renteria

photo credit: sacbee.com Sac Kings Kosta Koufos grabs rebound against NO Pelicans center Alexis Ajinca Wednesday night at Sleep Train Arena

SACRAMENTO–The Sacramento Kings are still fighting to shake off an identity of a team that continues to struggle as the host Sacramento Kings lost the visiting New Orleans Pelicans 109-97.  Sacramento faithfully has lost two games for every win this season and as the All Star break gets closer they proving that they are the team there record says they are as they sit 15-23.

The Pelicans sit in last place in the Southwest division but the Kings were not able to defend home court against a team they should be able to put away at home.

The Kings were by DeMarcus Cousins 32 points and 12 rebounds but the he was not able to keep the Kings close in this game, the score was not even as close as the game really was as the Pelicans we up by over 25 points at one point of the game in the third quarter.

The Kings look to bounce back as they head to Salt Lake to face the Jazz on Thursday and Pelicans return home to the Big Easy to face the Bobcats from Charlotte on Friday.

 

Draymond Green-Less Warriors Fall In Denver

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By Ben Leonard

photo credit: bleachereport.com Golden State’s Stephen Curry’s face says it all in the Warriors third loss of the season

Stephen Curry might be the reigning MVP, but Draymond Green might be nearly as valuable to Golden State. //

Without Draymond Green’s stifling defense, the Warriors (36-3) looked listless on defense in the high altitude at lowly Denver (15-24), falling 112-110 to snap a seven-game winning streak.

Interim head coach Luke Walton decided to rest Green. It made sense — he had been nursing a leg injury that had hobbled him. But it was evident that Golden State certainly missed Green’s athleticism and energy, yielding ten more points than their season average while allowing four Nuggets to score 18 or more points. 

Stephen Curry wouldn’t let his Warriors go down without a fight, dropping 38 points while draining 5 of his 12 three-point attempts. However, he might have been trying a little too hard to will his team to victory — he turned the ball over eight times, including a pivotal one with under 15 seconds left, with the Warriors down just two points. With a chance to be the hero, Curry lost his handle on the ball, allowing Denver to sink two foul shots to put the game on ice. 

Little-used power forward Jason Thompson took Green’s place in the starting lineup, but was relatively ineffective, scoring just four points in thirteen minutes on the floor. With that total, he almost doubled his minutes played this season, as he had seen the floor for just 18 minutes this season.

Danilo Gallinari led the way for Denver, dropping 28 points despite a poor effort from the field (5-14 FGA) — because he made 17 of 19 free throws. Will Barton also chipped in with 21 points for Denver.

 

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Kings barely hold on for Kobe’s last visit to Sacramento

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by Charlie O Mallonee

photo credit: capitalradio.org the Lakers Kobe Bryant puts the defense on the Sac Kings Rudy Gay in Thu Jan 7th’s game at Sleep Train Arena

SACRAMENTO–Kings fans at Sleep Train Arena who got caught up in all the hoopla with the return of LA Lakers star Kobe Bryant. Kobe promised to travel to Sacramento but no one was sure he was going to be able to play. Well Kobe got here on game day and said “I’m playing.”

Not only did he play he played for almost 31 minutes and scored 28 points he went 10-18 from the field he did well on the charity stripe and this guy had a great game. The Kings got out to a lead matter of fact their biggest lead the Lakers had in this game was two points.

The Kings got out into the third quarter and had a 27 point lead so you say, fall in, all done, all through, right? Salute Kobe and say goodbye, hugs and kisses get out of town. Well no, the Kings go through this tremendous let down they don’t shoot particularly well, they’re defense such as it is falls completely apart and they let the Lakers back into this game to the point where the game was in question.

At the end of the game the final comes out 118-115 Kings now were talking about the Lakers the 8-29 Lakers arguably if not the worst the second worst team in the NBA. Just behind the Philadelphia 76ers and the King just barely held onto win the game.

Charlie O is a beat writer covering the Sac Kings for http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to his podcast below

 

Steph’s 31 points leads Warriors over Heat

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By Joe Hawkes-Beamon

OAKLAND — Stephen Curry scored 31 points to lead the  Golden State Warriors to their 36th consecutive home win at Oracle Arena with a 111-103 over the visiting Miami Heat on Monday night.

Draymond Green dropped 22 points and 12 rebounds, while Klay Thompson added 17 points for a Warriors team who improved to an NBA-best (36-2) on the season.

Golden State overcame a cold shooting night by Curry from 3-point range, who missed seven of his first nine 3-point but got plenty of help as the Warriors tied the Philadelphia 76ers (1966-67) for the fourth longest regular-season home win streak in NBA history. Chicago holds the record of 44 set in 1996-97.

Dwyane Wade scored 20 points, while Chris Bosh and Gerald Green each scored 15 points for Miami (22-16), who entered Oakland winners of eight of their past 11 games at Oracle Arena.

Luol Deng finished with 14 points and 10 rebounds for Miami.

Andrew Bogut scored eight points to go along with nine rebounds for a Warriors team, that has won seven of their last eight games.

Golden State travels to Denver Wednesday to take on the Nuggets, while Miami heads to Los Angeles to take on the Clippers on Wednesday.

Warriors Use Three-Ball To Down Kings In Season Sweep.

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By Shawn Whelchel

USA Today photo Warriors Stephen Curry and Kings DeMarcus meet for Saturday’s battle at Sleep Train Arena

Sacramento refused to rollover easily against the Warriors on Saturday night, but sharp shooting down the stretch from Steph Curry secured Golden State’s fourth win of the season over the Kings with a 128-116 victory at Sleep Train Arena.

Scoring 14 of his game-high 38 points in the fourth quarter, Curry’s sharpshooting skills from downtown helped to squash any notion of a late-game comeback from Sacramento, who trailed by just two at the half.

Curry-who dished out 11 assists while hauling in six rebounds to compliment his 38 points- had an impressive stroke from beyond the arc all night, putting through 8-of-14 attempts throughout the game.

But Curry wasn’t the only Warrior with the hot hand from downtown. Draymond Green earned 15 of his total 25 points from beyond the arc with a video game like line of 5-of-6 shooting from three-point range. Brandon Rush and Klay Thompson also scored in double-digits for the Warriors starting corp, putting through a combined 26 points between the two of them.

DeMarcus Cousins continues to solidify himself as one of the league’s top-big men, posting 33 points and 10 rebounds in 30-minutes of play. Rudy Gay had himself a solid showing as well, earning 23-points on 9-of-16 shooting. But the rest of Sacramento’s starters couldn’t match the pair’s offensive prowess, combining for just 19 points across the remaining starting unit.

Sacramento’s ability to score was on display tonight with an impressive 116 point total, but their defense continues to hamstring them, as the Warriors were able to shoot 56.3 percent from the field on the night, including 51.4 percent from beyond the arc for 57 of their total points.

After sweeping the season series, Golden State improved their record to 35-2, while Sacramento fell to 15-22 on the season, good for third in the Pacific Division. Next up for the Warriors is a matchup against the Miami Heat at Oracle Arena on Monday.

Kings defeat Lakers, 118-115, in Kobe’s Sacramento Farewell

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by Michael Martinez

picture credit Google Images

SACRAMENTO- Nostalgia was in the air at Sleep Train Arena tonight. The Lakers and Kings played a game that brought everyone back to the memories of what was once the NBA’s best rivalry. Kobe Bryant was vintage, taking us back into a time machine as well in his final game in Sacramento. The crowd got loud, the Beat LA chants surfaced and the game came down to the wire. But that same nostalgia should have never been as the Kings let a 27-point lead dwindle in a matter of minutes. Luckily for the Kings their lead was just enough as the team sent off Bryant with a loss in his final game in Sacramento, 118-115, in a tale of two halves.

The Kings came out of the gate with great ball movement and shot the ball with precision while playing with great tempo. The team was able to get off to a hot start, going on a 19-4 run before the Lakers took a timeout to try and stop the bleeding. The Kings pushed the ball up court well, totaling 11 fast break points. The ball was continuously moved throughout the quarter and the Kings dropped 11 assists while turning the ball over just 2 times. The Kings biggest lead of the quarter was 21 when they went up 25-4 over Los Angeles. The Lakers tried to find some sort of offense, but the Kings looked better on defense only allowing the Lakers to shoot 40% from the field. The Kings shot 60% from the field, 15-25. DeMarcus Cousins continued his recent dominance with 12 points, 3-6 from the field, with 2 of those field goals coming from behind the arc. Cousins also grabbed 5 rebounds while going 4-4 from the charity stripe. Rajon Rondo finished the quarter with 5 dimes and Quincy Acy was a nice spark with 7 points as he started the game for the Kings. Ben McLemore did a nice job of getting to the hoop as he finished with 8 points. Great overall team play put the Kings on top of the Lakers, 38-21, after the first quarter.

The second quarter featured much of the same for Sacramento, although the Lakers played a bit better cutting the Kings lead to 14 early in the quarter. The Kings found a way to answer right back, however, as the team was able to sustain. Cousins was an efficient scorer, adding 10 more points in the second, 3-3 from the field and 4-5 from the free throw line. Cousins totaled 22 points for the game high, adding 6 boards. The Kings shot the ball 59.1% for the half while only turning the ball over 3 times in the quarter, for a total of 5 at the half. Bryant made his presence felt with 18 points in the half on 7-12 shooting. The Kings used their dominance in the paint to keep the lead after 2 quarters, 69-48.

Up by 21 heading into the 3rd, the game was the Kings to lose. The team still found a way to hold a big lead through half of the 3rd quarter, going up by 27 at one point. Rondo still found a way to dish the ball out and Acy benefitted from it.  Rondo also had a break out pass to Rudy Gay for a big hammer dunk in the quarter. But Cousins picked up a 5th with 5:48 remaining and that really hurt the Kings. The Lakers slowly cut down the Kings lead, Bryant totaled 10 points in the quarter, and finished the night with 28 points. Acy scored 11 points in the quarter and finished the 3rd with 18 points. D’Angelo Russell had a good quarter and finished with 16 points through 3. The Kings were still able to keep their shooting percentage up high at 58.6% and held the lead, 102-86.

The 4th quarter went as horrible as the Kings could possibly imagine. The young Lakers team played without Bryant for the 4th and they attacked the Kings defense. D’Angelo Russell scored 11 points and Jordan Clarkson added 12. The two young guards tore up the Kings defense while the Kings could not find a way to score. The Kings watched their lead completely disappear, as the Lakers went on a 24-3 run to take the lead, 109-108. The game soon became back and forth, with Sleep Train getting extremely loud. Gay took an alley oop from Rondo to put the Kings up late, but the Lakers came right back. The Lakers tried to foul rondo, who split a pair of free throws. Then Cousins was fouled and split a pair of free throws, the Lakers were up 115-114. . The Kings took the lead with 21.7 seconds remaining on a tear drop lay-up from Rondo. On the next passion, Cousins caused Clarkson to turn the ball over as the Kings were up by 1 and then drew a foul. Cousins made both free throws. As the Kings were up 118-115, Lou Williams took a 3 pointer in the final seconds and missed it. The crowd breathed a sigh of relief as the Kings were outscored 29-16 in the quarter, but pulled out the victory.

The Lakers shot the ball 55% for the quarter and finished shooting 54.7%. In the 4th, the Kings shot the ball at 40%. Cousins finished with 29 points, 10 rebounds and 7 assists. Rondo finished with 9 points and 12 assists. Acy was a great spark for the Kings, finishing the night with 18 points. The Kings finished the game in sloppy fashion and ended the night with 15 turnovers. Their dominance in the paint did prevail, 64 points on the night. The Kings are now 10-3 when shooting over 50% with a 55.3 shooting percentage on the night. Russell scored 27 for the Lakers as he looks to be the new Kings killer and Williams added 20. The Kings barely squeaked out a win and Coach George Karl was not too pleased with his team afterwards.

After answering a few questions, Karl walked out of the media room.

After the game, Bryant reminisced on his time in Sacramento and about the applause from the fans.

“It was great. It’s a sign of respect, even though we’ve been enemies for years…” said Bryant.

Bryant also had high praise for Cousins who finished 1 point shy of 30. Cousins would have finished his fourth consecutive game with 30+ plus points had he made one more free throw or field goal.

Although the Kings won, there was little satisfaction.

Coach Karl said “Dallas was a good loss, tonight was a bad win..”

Boogie agreed.  “I feel the loss against Dallas was better than this win against the Lakers,” said Cousins.

The Kings almost gave away a huge lead and need to find a way to close out games while not playing to the level of opponents who are much worse than them. The Kings will take on the Warriors at home this Saturday and if the team hopes to stand a chance, they will need to play like they did in the first half, while closing out the second half.

Golden State Warriors podcast with David Zizmor: The Warriors on the fringes of finishing the season with the best record ever

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by David Zizmor

OAKLAND–This Golden State Warriors team is phenomenal this season and verging on the historically great this isn’t a thing to be taken lightly. This team if they continue to go they way they’ve been going your talking about a team out there that ranks up there among the greatest of all time.

The Chicago Bulls in the mid nineties are the only team to have won 65 games in back to back seasons and the Warriors are now on pace to do that. They’ve won 67 last year and they’re on pace to win 65. The only danger is as always injuries and this team isn’t complacent.

The Warriors aren’t taking anything for granted their coming out playing hard every single night. Even with the state of injuries they’ve had they still manage to win most of their games. They lost the one game to Dallas last week when Curry was out with that shin injury he’s nursing.

David Zizmor does the Warriors podcast each week at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Golden State Warriors Tuesday game recap: Curry gets kicked in the shins W’s kick Lakers out of court

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by Jessica Kwong

LOS ANGELES – If the Golden State Warriors didn’t go into Los Angeles with a sure win on Tuesday night, it became all but guaranteed a couple hours before tipoff, when the Lakers announced that Kobe Bryant would not play due to a sore right shoulder.

As expected, the Warriors claimed a 109-88 victory over the Lakers – who since the New Year were on a three-game winning streak, impressive for their standards. The biggest concern for Golden State during the lopsided match was that their star Stephen Curry kept getting kicked in the same bruised spot on his lower left shin, and kept going in and out of the game until he did not return.

Afterward, Curry called his injured shin, “a magnet, but I’ll be alright.”

“Yes it’s frustrating and annoying and there are a lot of adjectives you want throw in there,” he said. “Long-term, it’s not something that I have to worry about, it’s just playing through an injury that’s there. It doesn’t get worse if I play on it, unless I get kicked, and that’s happened three times since I did it. Hopefully it won’t keep happening again.”

Curry added that he’s been “trying all sorts of pads and stuff,” but he’s not worried about it when he’s out on the floor and that’s his goal.

Warriors’ Interim Coach Luke Walton said he didn’t take the game out of Curry’s hands when he wanted to play – despite Golden State’s double-digit lead throughout – because trainers said Curry could be out on the floor.

“I played with a guy like that,” Walton said, drawing a comparison. “Kobe wouldn’t sit out for anything. Most of the time, he was still able to play at a level that made us a better team. Occasionally, he was shooting left-handed three pointers because he couldn’t lift his right shoulder and Phil (Jackson) had to take him out.”

“But you give players of that caliber the benefit of the doubt – unless the staff says he shouldn’t be there and then we’ll pull him out.”

The game at Staples Center started off competitive, with both teams tied at 12 points, but that only lasted about half of the first quarter. The Warriors took the lead but the Lakers – also without D’Angelo Russell due to a sore throat, kept within about 10 points of the defending champions through the second quarter.

By the second half, the Warriors’ lead snowballed, reaching some 30 points, and dipping down into the 20’s occasionally as the Lakers attempted to fight back. Golden State’s Draymond Green said his team could have shut out Los Angeles at the start of the third quarter, and finally did so by the end of the quarter.

“I think we played ok. I think we played good,” Green said. “I just think, for a while there we could of put them away and we didn’t. And we kind of kept letting them stick around. Other than that, I think we played really well.”

Klay Thompson, the Warriors’ leading scorer with 36 points, called their 33-2 record “surreal.”

“It feels like we’re a good team, but this good” was hard to believe for him. He attributed it to depth and his teammates making sacrifices.

Green came short of a fourth consecutive triple-double.

“Y’all were expecting that. I was just out there trying to do what I do, but it didn’t happen, oh well, I really don’t care,” Green said. “Good game, I didn’t play a good game but we did, so I’m cool with that.”

The Warriors face the Trail Blazers in Portland on Friday.

     

Kings Lose in Double OT on Williams Buzzer Beater

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

The Dallas Mavericks needed all 58 minutes Tuesday night to beat the Sacramento Kings 117-116. No, that’s not a typo. Deron Williams hit a three-pointer as time expired in a second overtime period to give the Mavs the win at the buzzer.

The Kings (14-21) looked like they’d pull out the win after leading by 7 in the closing minutes of the game. Dallas (20-15) scored the final 8 points of the contest to spoil Sacramento’s night and instead pile upon the game-winner Williams.

Sacramento was trailing Dallas 78-70 heading into the fourth quarter but outscored the Mavericks 28-20 to force the tie. Each team was held to only 6 points in the first overtime to end the extra session tied at 104.

DeMarcus Cousins played nearly 49 minutes, producing a game-high 35 points on 15 of 30 from the field. The Kings center hauled in 14 rebounds for the double-double. Rudy Gay added 31 points in the defeat. Rajon Rondo did not play in his return to the team he played for last season before being unceremoniously benched. Starting guard Darren Collison, another former Mav, also picked up a double-double with 14 points and a game-best 12 assists.

Williams led all Mavs in scoring with 25 points while Dirk Nowitzki produced 23 despite going 8-for-19 from the field. JaVale McGee produced the double-double coming off the bench with 13 points and 11 points.

The Kings will be happy to leave Dallas considering they haven’t won there in 22-straight games. They’ll head back to the Capitol to host the lowly Los Angeles Lakers fresh of a drubbing by the Warriors.