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Jones burns out Flames

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~Photo credit: (Jeff McIntosh/The Canadian Press via AP)

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ The Calgary Flames burned strong against San Jose Sharks Monday, sending the game to overtime, but fell in the end, 2-1.

Sharks’ goalie Martin Jones had a career-high 47 saves, as he faced seven power plays. This performance came after a one-game hiatus. Before that, Jones had been in net for 10 straight games.

San Jose’s seven penalties equaled the amount they had last game against the Canucks on Saturday, but the difference was Jones.

In fact, the Sharks had more penalties by the end of the first against Calgary, then against Vancouver, but San Jose emerged with the lead as well.

Early goals ended up paying off for the Sharks in the game.

The first came at 1:56 of the game, as Brent Burns became the first defenseman in franchise history to have a four game goal streak. That was the first part of the Gordie Howe hat trick, which Burns got a day before his birthday.

During San Jose’s first penalty, Jones stopped Sean Monahan twice.

Jones was able to replicate his save success when the Sharks had two more penalties in the first period, causing a 5-on-3 for about 30 seconds.

The Flames’ Garnet Hathaway drew three of the first four penalties, and soon became involved in another one.

After drawing a hi sticking penalty from Burns, Hathaway got two minutes for instigating a fight and a 10 minute misconduct.  Besides an additional fighting penalty for both, Burns got a double minor for drawing blood. This was the second part of the Gordie Howe hat trick for Burns.

8 seconds after Calgary’s fifth power play expired, Flames goalie Joni Ortio got his first save in just a little bit more than a period’s worth of time. Ortio emulated Jones to stop Nieto at 10:11 of the second.

Calgary peppered Jones with 18 shots in the period. In contrast, San Jose only tested Ortio four times.

The Flames did not let up on Jones at all, adding an additional 18 shots in the third. Their persistence paid off with a 6-on-4 power play goal by Joe Colborne and Mark Giordano at 18:38, to earn a point. The power play was created by the lightest of the penalties of the night, a delay of game call and with an extra attacker seconds before the goal.

Overtime then ended as quickly as it started. 19 seconds in, Joe Pavelski scored his sixth on the road and ninth this season, game winning goal, to lead the NHL, according to Bret Hedican. Surprisingly, according to Darin Stephens @SharksStats, it was Pavelski’s first career overtime goal in the regular season. Pavelski was aided by Burns and Joe Thornton, the finale of the Gordie Howe hat trick for Burns. San Jose is now 15-0-0 with such a player accomplishment, Stephens mentioned.

Game notes: Burns now has eight total points in four straight games. Dougie Hamilton led with a game-high and at least a season-high eight shots. The Sharks will play the second of back-to-back games against the Oilers, Tuesday at 6pm.

 

No Place Like Home for Record-Breaking Warriors

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

By Matthew T.F. Harrington

The Golden State Warriors made historic Sunday by losing by the largest deficit as a first place team against a last place team in the Los Angeles Lakers. Monday night the historic books opened up for the Warriors in a far less dubious fashion. The fact that the record bests the 1995-96 Chicago Bulls, the team the Warriors are trying to unseat as owning the best regular season record ever, doesn’t hurt much for the Warrior faithful.

After a 119-113 win over the Orlando Magic Monday night at Oracle Arena, no team in NBA history can say they’ve defended home court as well as the Dubs. Stephen Curry dropped 41 points on the Magic to give the home team its 45th consecutive win at home, a new NBA record. The streak extends to last season with Golden State (56-6) on a 26-game unbeaten stretch this season.

Curry picked up the most unusual double-double of his career, notching double-digit points and rebounds. The point guard, not known for his prowess underneath the basket, hauled in 13 rebounds to go with 14 of 24 shooting. Klay Thompson netted 27 points while Draymond Green was limited to a single free throw made and only 3 missed field goals. Andre Iguodala missed a second consecutive contest.

The Magic’s leading scorers Monday night were starters Aaron Gordon and Evan Fournier as well as reserve Brandon Jennings. The trio netted 20 points apiece for struggling Orlando (27-35). Victor Olidipo put up 19 of his own. Gordon led the team with 16 rebounds for a double-double.

The Warriors struggled early in the 1st quarter, but wrapped the opening period up 31-18 then held a 59-46 edge at the half. Golden State outscored the Magic 35-31 in the 3rd to lead 94-77, but Orlando managed to claw the lead down to just two points at 111-109 with 1:13 left in the game. Despite outscoring the Warriors 36-25 in the 4th, the Magic would be outpaced 8-4 over the final minute plus to miss their chance to knock the Warriors off.

First place Golden State will get a crack at extending the streak Wednesday when the Dubs welcome the Utah Jazz to town.

 

 

Turnovers cost Kings in New Orleans

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by Michael Martinez

picture credit USATSI

SACRAMENTO-I’m just as confused as the next person who watched tonight’s game against the Pelicans. The Kings looked dominate early on and played great basketball, however the team could not find a way to close out.

Turnovers and lackluster defense hurt this team especially down the stretch. After leading for the majority of the game, the Kings let a 17 point lead in the third quarter completely vanish. And while the Kings kept holding onto their lead, they let the Pelicans come back late and win the game, 115-112.

Out of the gate, both teams scored very quickly. Offense came in a hurry and the Kings started with a fast paced tempo. This allowed Sacramento to take the lead for most of the quarter, but the Pelicans never quit.

Up 27-20 with 3:35 left in the first quarter, the Kings allowed New Orleans to go for a 10-0 run that ended after Omri Casspi put back a lay up for the Kings’ first field goal in two plus minutes.. The Pelicans held a 30-29 lead, but Casspi knocked a pair of free throws to regain the lead. The Pelicans would finish the quarter with the lead after Alonzo Gee made a layup and was fouled with .3 seconds in the quarter. Gee made the free throw to put the Kings at a disadvantage after one, 33-31.

DeMarcus Cousins and Norris Cole put on a scoring frenzy for their respective teams. Cousins finished with 13 points and Cole scored 14 for team highs. The Pelicans shot 56% from the field, but their seven turnovers allowed the Kings to keep it close. Rajon Rondo added five points and five assists with Rudy Gay scoring seven.

The second consisted of a lot of scoring runs. New Orleans started it off with a 6-0 run, 9-0 continuing from the first quarter. But the Kings were able to hit a 9-0 run of their own. Again, the Pelicans scored 5 straight to take a 44-40 lead.

Sacramento once again answered with an 11-0 run to lead 51-44. Jrue Holiday stopped the run with a lay up but the Kings kept their scoring up. The Pelicans turnovers really cost them. Their 15 first half turnovers led to 18 Kings’ points. The Kings largest lead in the quarter was 15 and Sacramento would hold a 63-50 lead heading into the locker room.

Cousins held a game high with 23 points in the first quarter and tallied nine rebounds. The Kings shot at 54.2% in the half as they dominate the second quarter with their uptempo offense.

The third quarter is where things changed. Pelicans’ head coach Alvin Gentry picked up a technical before the third started. Gay hit the free throw for a 14 point lead before any time came off the clock.

Anthony Davis was dominate and chipped away at the Kings’ early 17 point lead. Davis kept the Pelicans right in the game in the third and the score was 89-83 after three. Cousins was once again phenomenal but Sacramento had seven turnovers in the third, which led to eight Pelicans’ points. The turnovers allowed the Pelicans to hang around even after the Kings had been up by so much.

The Pelicans started the final quarter with a 6-0 run to tie it up at 89. The Kings answered right back with an 8-0 run to go back up, 97-89. Sacramento was unable to figure out a way to close out the resilient Pelicans. The turnovers cost Sacramento again as they gave the ball away seven more times in the fourth quarter.

Holiday was huge for the Pelicans with nine fourth quarter points. With a little under two and a half to play, the Kings had a 108-106 lead. Cousins knocked down a pair of shots at the charity stripe to go up 110-106. Davis had dunk to keep the game within two.

With a under a minute remaining, the Pelicans had the ball. The Kings left Dante Cunningham wide open for a three and the forward nailed the jumper. The Pelicans took the lead 111-110. Holiday came up big as he knocked down a shot after a Sacramento miss to put the lead up to three.

Out of the timeout with 12.8 to go, Gay was able to score a quick two. Cole was then fouled and made both free throws. Darren Collison rushed to bring the ball up court and lost it to Holiday who let time expire.

Cousins was his usual self, scoring 40 points and grabbing 16 boards. Rondo had a nice game with 18 points, 10 assists but the point guard had five turnovers. Gay added a double double as well with 18 points and 10 rebounds.

The Kings shot the ball at a great 49.4 shooting percentage from the field but 24 total turnovers led to 22 points for New Orleans. Davis had 31 points and 10 rebounds. The backcourt duo of Cole and Holiday was key to the Pelicans success. Cole totaled 23 points and Holiday scored 20 while adding 10 assists for the double double.

After looking to have a sure win, the Kings will need to regroup and figure out how to close out games. This is the Kings’ second consecutive loss after losing to San Antonio on Saturday.

The Kings will take on the LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers at 7 p.m. at Arco Arena.

Sharks avoid Lightning

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Photo credit: Mike Carlson AP Photo

~ By Pearl Allison Lo

~ After San Jose lost versus Tampa Bay last time, the Sharks returned the favor in a 4-2 win Tuesday.

It was all even strength goals this time around as San Jose evened the season series.

The Sharks kicked off their longest road trip of February with a second straight road win. This allowed them to gain ground on at least the Los Angeles Kings.

According to Darin Stephens, San Jose goalie Martin Jones when facing 30+ shots, is now 12-0-2 this season.

The only action of the first period came at 17:51. Lightning Andrej Sustr started the play from the other side and passed the puck to Alex Killorn, who was at the blue line. Killorn then found an open Ryan Callahan.

Things got a lot more active on the ice in the second.

Joel Ward tied the game through traffic 1:43 into the second period. The play started similarly to Tampa’s, as the puck moved quickly from Marc-Edouard Vlasic in the defensive zone, to Matt Nieto in the neutral zone before hitting Ward inside the blue line. Vlasic’s career high now reaches eight straight in points and assists.

The Sharks’ top line then made a 2-1 cash in at 6:34. Joe Pavelski actually started the play by getting the puck along the boards to Tomas Hertl. Hertl then sent the puck back that way past Pavelski to Joe Thornton, as Pavelski moved in front of net. With the attention on Thornton, he made the scoring pass as Pavelski slapped the puck past goalie Bishop. It was Pavelski’s first goal in February.

The Lightning re-tied the game at 8:46. J.T. Brown got the puck along the boards and passed to Cedric Paquette. As he did so, the puck hit Vlasic’s stick, Paquette created space from defender Justin Braun and scored through traffic from the faceoff circle.

The game winner 1:17 into the third was a different type of goal. Ward started it with a shot against the boards and in a speedy 2-on-1, Marleau passed to Nieto cross ice, who snuck the puck in between Bishop’s skate and the goal post. It was Nieto’s first multipoint game since October 13.

Tampa Bay had three penalties in the period, including a misconduct at the time San Jose scored their final goal.

Showing they were not content with the lead, the fourth and first line combined to score at 18:17. Thornton along the boards passed behind to Melker Karlsson, who scored for the first time in February too.

Game notes: Thornton now has a six game point streak. Burns had nine shots on goal. Lightning Braydon Coburn had five hits. The Sharks next play the Florida Panthers Thursday at 4:30pm.

the Dubs continue to amaze, Beat the Rockets

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by Jerry Feitelberg

Image result for golden state warriors
 photo courtesy of Google Images

 

The Golden State Warriors did it again. They continue to amaze their fans and the entire NBA as they beat a very determined Houston Rocket team 123-110 Tuesday at the Oracle Arena. The Dubs raced to a fifteen point lead in the first period. They outscored the Rockets 42-27 and it looked like the Dubs were in beast mode and were going to blow away the Rockets. The Rockets star, James Harden, said “not so fast.” Harden and the Rockets cut the deficit to three at the half, trailing 69-66. Harden, scoreless in the first period, scored eighteen as the Rockets decided that they were not going to rollover.

In the second half, the Rockets outscored the Dubs by three as the third period ended in a 93-93 tie. There were seven lead changes in the period, and the Dubs trailed by five before they righted the ship and tied the game late in the period. The Rockets, at this point, were playing with a lot of confidence and the Warriors were trying to get their mojo back as the fourth quarter was about to start. The Dubs decided that they wanted to win the game as they went on an 8-0 run to start the final period of play. Andre Iguodala (Iggy) hit a three. Harrison Barnes followed with a three and then a two-point bucket to put the Dubs up by eight The Rockets cut the lead to five, but Harrison Barnes had the hot hand as he scored seventeen points in the period. Andrew Bogut was a beast on defense, too. He blocked several shots as the Warriors were able to pull away for the win.The  Dubs outscored the Rockets 30-17 in the period. Golden State wins 123-110.

Game Note- Steph Curry led the Dubs with 35 points. Barnes had nineteen. Andrew Bogut knocked down thirteen and had six blocks. Mo Speights, coming off the bench, put in fifteen and Iggy added 12. James Harden was the man for Houston with thirty-seven. Trevor Ariza had nineteen and Dwight Howard finished the night with twelve. Marcus Thornton, also coming off the bench, pitched in with sixteen.

With the win, The Warriors improve to 47-4 for the season. They made NBA history for having the best record after 51 games. Houston’s record drops to 27-27. The Warriors improved their record at Oracle to 24-0 this season, and they have now won forty-two straight at Oracle. They have also won ten consecutive games in a row.

Backup center Festus Ezeli had arthroscopic surgery on his ailing left knee and will be out of action for about six weeks.

The Warriors travel to Phoenix to meet the Suns Wednesday night. Game time is 6 pm PT.

 

 

DMC and Gay lead Kings to victory, 103-101, over Jazz

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by Michael Martinez

Photo by Melissa Majchrzak/NBAE via Getty Image

SACRAMENTO- Heading into Thursday night’s game the Sacramento Kings were 2 games back behind their opponent, the Utah Jazz. Sacramento, 5-12 on the road, looked to come back from a bad loss the night before against the Pelicans. The Kings found a way to hold their opponent to a low shooting percentage, at least for three quarters, with tough perimeter defense while getting the ball inside to DeMarcus Cousins who had a tremendous game. The Kings shot the ball well and were able to just hold on to pick up the win against the Jazz, 103-101, at Vivint Smart Home Arena.

As the game got underway the Kings looked like the better team all the way. The team’s defense was tremendous and Utah could not make any shots. Willie Cauley-Stein got off to a great start putting up six quick points while playing tremendous defense. Cauley-Stein’s quickness as a big man has benefitted the Kings and his hustle does not go unnoticed.

Cousins did not do a ton of scoring in the first quarter, six points, but did a good job of moving the ball around for his teammates while picking up eight early rebounds. The Kings shot the ball well, while holding the Jazz to a 16.7% shooting percentage. The Kings did a great job of continuing their run as Utah went about eight minutes without a field goal. Gordon Hayward bricked a lot of shots and found a couple buckets at the charity stripe. Sacramento held the Jazz to 12 points, the lowest of any Kings’ opponent this season, giving them a 1st quarter lead 26-12.

The Jazz looked to have a better second quarter, but the Kings held them in check again. In full, Utah went nine minutes and 19 seconds without a field goal before Trevor Booker got a put back dunk for a field goal. After struggling all season with perimeter defense, the Kings were much improved in the first half, although there were a lot of fouls, 17 in the first two quarters for the Kings. The quarter consisted of a lot of free throws, 12-18 for Sacramento, and 9-13 for the Jazz.

Boogie came out stronger in the second quarter, totaling 18 points and 13 rebounds in the half, his sixth consecutive double-double. With DMC’s scoring ability the Kings were able to hang on to the lead although the Jazz outscored them 33-30 after shooting the ball much better. Trey Lyles and Raul Neto totaled 10 points for a team high as the Kings held the lead 56-45 heading into the locker room on 54.3% shooting. Utah shot 1/16 from 3 point range, much improved for Sacramento’s perimeter defense. The Kings scored a field goal with 1.6 seconds on the clock as Rajon Rondo passed the ball all the way up court to Darren Collison who missed the lay-up but Boogie cleaned it up with a dunk as the red lights lit up the backboard.

After the half time break, Hayward finally made a field goal after going 0-9. Cousins answered right back with his tremendous scoring ability. Rondo kept showing off his vision and passing ability with a pass on a very tight window to Rudy Gay for an alley-oop. Cousins continued his scoring ability with his first three pointer in the ball game in the third quarter. And Rondo once again got Gay the ball for another alley-oop later in the quarter. Both teams shot well and both Gay and Cousins showed off their scoring abilities. Gay scored eight in the quarter while Cousins scored 10, both shooting 3-5 from the field. The Kings got to the line 10 times and converted eight free throws. Hayward had a much better quarter, scoring nine points on 3-6 shooting.

Cousins produced the game high in three quarters with 28 points and Gay had 16 for the second highest point total. The Kings shot the ball well once again with a 54% percentage through three quarters, which is something they have done well all season. Through three quarters the Kings totaled 42 points in the paint and got the ball inside to Boogie a lot. Boogie has scored 15.7 points in the paint per game in the month of January as the Kings continue to dominate their opponents close to the rim. Their dominance allowed them to hang on to the lead although Hayward hit a buzzer beater heading into the fourth. Sacramento led the Jazz 82-71 with 12 minutes remaining.

To open up the final quarter, Omri Casspi knocked down a three pointer, something he has done well all season. Down 85-71 the Jazz found a rhythm and went on a 9-0 run in a minute and 50 seconds. The run consisted of a Casspi foul and technical, which gave Utah three easy points as Trey Burke connected on the free throw. Cauley-Stein stopped the bleeding with a put back dunk, but Utah kept hanging around. Gay struggled from three but Cousins was able to hit a big 3 pointer of his own to put the Kings back up by 10. Utah maintained a way to stick around with the Kings who could not find a way to put the Jazz out.

With two minutes and 55 seconds left the Kings held a six point lead over the Jazz and Cauley-Stein helped maintain that lead with a big rejection, showing off his athletic ability. But Gay fouled Rodney Hood behind the arc, which led to three shots from the charity stripe. Hood connected on all three cutting the lead to five. The Kings started to struggle and went three minutes and 16 seconds without a make but Cousins then proceeded to score. Rondo fouled Burke, which set up a three point play as the Jazz kept scrapping.

As time wound down, Hood hit a second chance three pointer to cut the lead to five one again. With 33 seconds left, Gay got to the foul line and made one of the two free throws. In just under four seconds, Hayward took the ball down the court, got fouled and made a circus shot to get the and one. Hayward made the bucket and forced the Kings to called a timeout, up 101-98 with 29.2 seconds remaining.

Out of the time out, Rondo took the shot and missed it, as the Jazz gained possession with 8.5 seconds remaining. Utah’s Joe Ingles took the three point shot and made it to tie the game at 101. Sacramento took a 20 second time out with 4.8 seconds remaining and drew up a play for Gay who scored well all night. Gay got the ball and hit a mid-range jumped that was good with 0.6 seconds left. Utah heaved up a miracle shot that had no chance and the Kings picked up a rare victory on back to back games especially on the road. The final score, 103-101, as the Kings just barely pulled out a W.

Amongst rumors of a proposed trade for Pelican’s forward, Ryan Anderson, Gay played an awesome game. Number eight finished the night with 24 points, 9-17 from the field, adding nine rebounds and three steals while knocking down the game winner.

DMC was once again unstoppable, finished with 36 points, 10-21 shooting, and adding 14 free throws on 21 attempts. Boogie also added 17 boards. Cousins has led the NBA in points in the month of January with 32.3 points per game. Cousins showed off his scoring ability once again with his inside dominance as Utah had no big man to cover him with Derrick Favors out. And Rondo continued to dish the ball out adding 13 assists, while adding 6 points and 6 rebounds.

Overall, Sacramento got careless with the ball, 16 turnovers but still shot well. Their defense looked good for three quarters but really let up towards the end although they were much improved. The team also dominated the rebounding category, 54-38. Cauley-Stein was a great spark for the Kings who looked better tonight as they continued to chase the Jazz for the eight seed.

On Saturday, the Kings will take on the Clippers in Los Angeles and will need Cousins to continue his hot start in the new year. The whole Kings crew is going to have to come together as the team is finally healthy and looks to beat a team in their conference and division. The Kings have struggled against really good teams so Saturday night will be a big test.

The Warriors win again at home, defeat the Lakers

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by Jerry Feitelberg

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The Golden State Warriors beat the Los Angeles Lakers 116-98 Thursday night at the Oracle Arena. The Lakers’ Kobe Bryant, retiring after the season, made his final appearance in Oakland. Bryant played about 28 minutes and left the game late in the fourth quarter. The fans, both Warrior and Laker fans, gave Bryant a standing ovation. The Lakers, who are rebuilding, fielded a very young lineup. They played the Dubs fairly even in the first half. Golden State did not shoot well from the floor as their field-goal percentage was just 35.6%. The Dubs led by one at the end of the first period and by three at the half 52-49. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson led the Dubs with nine each. Jordan Clarkson and D’Angelo Russell led the Lakers with ten each while Lou Williams pitched in with nine.

The Dubs were not successful extending the lead early in the third period.  They had a seven-point lead midway through the period but the Lakers would not quit. The Lakers kept coming back and closed the gap to three trailing 73-70. At this point, the Warriors went on a 12-2 run to take a ten-point lead with 1:26 left to play.  Dubs lead by fourteen 86-72 after three periods.  Steph Curry made two key three-point shots in the period. Steph, at this point, had made eight three-point shots good for 24 points. He made a dunk late in the period. It was his only two-point basket in the game. Steph finished with twenty-six points.

The Warriors bench extended the lead to twenty to start the fourth period. Shaun Livingstone and Leandro Barbosa were huge off the bench. The Lakers tried but could not catch up. They did cut the deficit a little bit but the Warriors refused to wilt and the Dubs won again at home by a final score of 116-98.

Game Notes- The Warriors are 19-0 at home this year and have won 37 consecutive games in a row at Oracle Arena. Their record for the season is now 37-3. Steph Curry led the Warriors in scoring with 26 points. Klay Thompson had twelve and Draymond Green added seven and had nine rebounds to his credit. Shaun Livingstone, Leandro Barbosa and Harrison Barnes scored seventeen, fifteen and twelve respectively. With the loss, the Lakers drop to 9-32 for the season. Jordan Clarkson scored twenty for LA. Lou Williams added eighteen while Julius Randle and D’Angelo Russell each had fourteen.  Kobe finished with eight.

The next three games will be on Saturday January 16th against the Detroit Pistons, Monday, January 18th against the Cleveland Cavaliers and Wednesday, January 20th against the Chicago Bulls.

Hawkeyes Faced With Task of Slowing Christian McCaffrey

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By: Ben Leonard

LOS ANGELES, Calif. —

Picture this: Heisman finalist and Stanford running back Christian McCaffrey could have been lining up on the opposite sideline for Friday’s 102nd Rose Bowl Game, donning Hawkeye gold and black.

That’s not an image many Stanford fans would like to think about — but it could have been a reality, although it would have been a big surprise. On Monday, McCaffrey said that he “knew” he wanted to go to Stanford when he visited in his sophomore year, but also visited Oregon, UCLA, and Duke, where his older brother, Max, plays.

Iowa also offered McCaffrey a scholarship, but they offered late in the process, so it was too little, too late. “Nothing against them at all — they just offered late,” McCaffrey said Monday.

Now that the Hawkeyes can’t have McCaffrey, all they can do is try to stop him. Good luck with that.

After playing limited time as a true freshman in 2014, McCaffrey ascended to have arguably had the best statistical season ever — breaking Barry Sanders’ vaunted all-purpose yards record with fewer touches than the Oklahoma State legend. He led his team with 504 receiving yards, was second in the nation with 1,847 rushing yards, and even amassed 1,042 kick return yards, an unmatched combination.

“What is Christian McCaffrey? The answer is a football player,” head coach David Shaw said. “It’s not a running back. It’s not a receiver. It’s not a returner. It’s a football player. You can say he had the best year in the history of college football.”

He’s also a great competitor on and off the field, and a humble one at that. Yes, that’s possible, but only if you’re Christian McCaffrey. Stanford linebacker and captain Blake Martinez spoke about McCaffrey’s humble fire on Tuesday:

“He’s a great competitor. I just remember during the off-season, me and him worked in the same internship this summer and every single day we played chess or certain games, and if either one of us lost, we were just going berserk in the offices. There’s another office right above us and they would be telling us to be quiet because we’re screaming at each other and we want to play another game. Just shows little things like that. We can be playing Tic-Tac-Toe, he’s getting mad if I X-out or make it a Tac game or something. He’s pretty funny.”

“There’s nothing that he can’t do well,” McCaffrey’s quarterback Kevin Hogan said Tuesday. “We kind of have a little beef going on right now, because he whipped my butt in ping pong and pool, and I’m pretty good at those. So I’m kind of upset that he’s been whupping me in everything, every kind of competition there. So I gotta find something, maybe a hobby or something that I can beat him in.But he’s the ultimate teammate. He’s a great guy, gets along with everyone and can do it all. So he’s a really special player, once-in-a-generation player, and in my opinion, I’ve seen a lot of players, and I think he’s the best player in college football.”

If anyone is to stop McCaffrey’s all-around game, the Hawkeyes are up to the task. Their ability to force turnovers (18 interceptions, 9th in the NCAA) and limit the passing game (tenth in the NCAA in pass efficiency defense) could help them make Stanford’s offense one-dimensional. If they can lock down Hogan’s passing attack, the Hawkeyes could more effectively hone in on McCaffrey and bottle him up.

Like many Big Ten teams, the Hawkeyes run a relatively simple 4-3 defense without many variations. But that doesn’t mean their no-frills defense is swiss cheese material — rather, the opposite, because the balanced Hawkeyes ‘ defense ranked in the top-15 against the run and top-ten against the pass. McCaffrey praised the Hawkeyes’ “physical” defense, one that doesn’t “do a whole lot because they’re so good at what they do.”

Even with all respect to Iowa’s elite defense, Hogan is not too convinced that McCaffrey can be shut down because of the player he is: “I don’t know what you can do to limit him, because it’s not like we’re just going to hand the ball off to him all game. We’re going to split him out wide, put him on their linebackers, on their safeties and present mismatches. If teams have to send out different personnel matchings to match ours, and when we go big tight end sets with Christian out there and split him out wide, it’s tough to cover him with linebackers and safeties. So I think we have a great game plan. If they try and limit us in one aspect, I think we’re very comfortable with all aspects of our offense.”

Like many Heisman voters, some Hawkeyes hadn’t heard much about McCaffrey until lately because Stanford had so many late games, with seven games starting later than 10 P.M. EST.

“I hadn’t heard too much about [McCaffrey],” said Iowa senior linebacker Cole Fisher. “I didn’t follow him in the Heisman race too much, and that was probably the first time I heard about him.”

But after watching the film, they realized what Stanford has in McCaffrey. What do they have to do to stop him? According to Iowa defensive back Jordan Lomax, “it’s gonna take all eleven people running to the ball.”

Just a wild guess: Iowa wishes they could have McCaffrey, not try to stop him.

Kings looking for answers after loss, 110-105, to NBA’s worst team

Published on by Michael MartinezLeave a comment

by Michael Martinez

Picture credit Michael Tipton, Flickr

SACRAMENTO- The Kings have put themselves in an tough position as they find themselves on a 3 game losing streak after tonight’s loss. To add insult to injury, the Kings lost to the NBA’s worst team, the Philadelphia 76ers, who are now 3-31 on the season. The Kings played painfully careless with the ball as everyone watched them turn the ball over 22 times. The team also forgot how to box out their opponents, allowing the Sixers to grab 16 offensive boards. Marco Belinelli was the only bright spot for the Kings tonight as he started to find his stroke, but missed free throws and missed opportunities cost the team. The Sixers out hustled and out played the Kings leading to another Sacramento loss, 110-105, at Sleep Train Arena.

The Kings set the tone for the game in the 1st quarter on their first possession with a turnover, 6 in the quarter. Their defense also looked pretty poor as they started the game, but DeMarcus Cousins scored 8 points early on and 11 in the quarter, shooting 4/6 from the field. Belinelli checked in and scored 4 quick points. Marco finished the quarter with 8 points, going 4/5 from the field. His shot looked good early and the Kings were setting good off ball screens to get him open. Rajon Rondo did a good job of dropping dimes with 7 assists in the quarter. The Kings shot 60% for the quarter, but allowed the Sixers to grab 7 offensive boards. With the 1st quarter in the books, the Kings held a one point lead over Philly, 31-30.

In the 2nd quarter, the Kings showed much of the same. The Sixers looked like they wanted to be out there, while the Kings did a bad job of getting back in transition on the defensive end. The Kings continued to forget how to box out their opponent as the Sixers grabbed 4 more offensive rebounds in the 2nd. Belinelli was still the only bright spot, scoring 8 points in the 2nd on 3-5 shooting, 2-3 from behind the arc. Belinelli finished the half with 16 points. No other Kings player scored more than 5 points in the 2nd and even though they shot the ball well again, the turnovers caught up to them. The team turned the ball over 6 more times in the 2nd. Nerlens Noel had a solid quarter for the Sixers with 8 points in the quarter and 14 for the half. Although the team shot 55%, the Kings gave up 36 points in the paint and let Philly have way too many easy buckets. The Kings only totaled 22 points in the paint, where they usually thrive. With the first half finished, the Kings and Sixers were tied up at 57.

As the Kings headed out to start the 2nd half, the team needed more intensity, but there was none. The Sixers came out on an 8-2 run and Sacramento continued to turn the ball over, 7 turnovers in the 3rd. Both teams shot at 40%, but the Sixers found their 3 point shot. Philadelphia went 5-10 from downtown. The Kings were able to find a couple 3’s of their own and found some offense. The team cut the Philly lead to 75-71 with 6:30 remaining in the quarter, but the Sixers found a way to keep up their offense. The Kings had terrible shot selection and seemed to forget to get the ball down low to Cousins. Jerami Grant put up 9 points for the Sixers in the quarter, 2-2 from behind the 3 point line, 3/4 from the charity stripe. As the 3rd quarter ended, the Kings found themselves down, 85-81, to a team that has lost as many games as the Kings have played.

The 4th quarter got started with a fast break pass up court from Darren Collison to Belinelli who got fouled but could not convert the 3 point play. Luckily, the Kings only turned the ball over 3 times in the quarter, but they could not find much offense. Belinelli once again found his stroke, 4-7 from the field, adding 12 points for a total of 28. The Kings free throw shooting caught up to them again, going 8-15 from the line in the 4th. The Kings went 25/41 from the line, an atrocious 61%. The Kings smaller line up really hurt them throughout, giving up 4 more offensive rebounds in the 4th. The Kings had little ball movement and a lot of players were trying to play through themselves. Noel had an easy alley-oop as the Sixers constantly found easy shots at the basket and around the perimeter. The holes in the Kings defense hurt them all night who allowed Philly to score 110 points while their season average is 92 points per game. The frustration of the team showed and Cousins eventually fouled out on a poor call by the refs. Cousins frustrations showed all night as he got pretty banged up, but he kept his composure to an extent.

George Karl said “My feeling is we have too many offensive players and not too many defensive players.”

The team needs to start playing with more togetherness, especially on transition defense. The Kings took a bad loss, 110-105, as boos showered the arena and fans took off early.

Tonight’s loss to the Sixers is a big blow for the Kings. After the win against Indiana, the Kings looked to be in the drivers seat, only a game out of the 8th seed. While the playoff seeding is not important at this time, the idea is a boost of confidence for a team looking to please its fans. But the Kings dropped another one at home to Portland and then lost to a Golden State team who can suck the life right out of you. The Kings looked not to take the young Sixers team seriously and were completely outplayed. Coach Karl’s frustration showed and the Kings need some sort of change. Belinelli was a great spark off the bench, scoring a season high of 28, but the team needs to play more together. A lot of players are looking to play through themselves and the lack of team chemistry is alarming. With 3 straight losses, 2 at home, the Kings might need to look to switch things up. The loss of Willie Cauley-Stein is catching up to the team who plays little defense and cannot get defensive boards.

Karl preached the importance of defense again when he said “We play best when we play defense.”

The Kings are 2 game out of the 8th seed, which just goes to show how open the last couple of seeds are. But the Kings need to worry less about the playoffs and focus on winning now. The Kings (12-19)  will take on the Phoenix Suns (12-22) this Saturday at Sleep Train Arena. Ironically, the Suns also added a victory to the Sixers record. Saturday will show if this team has the heart to move past this loss and get back to winning.

Pavelski leads “gutsy” comeback  

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By Pearl Allison Lo

(AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)

LOS ANGELES– San Jose Sharks’ Captain Joe Pavelski scored two power play goals in the third period to complete a 5-3 comeback against the Los Angeles Kings Tuesday.

The Sharks wrapped up the 3-2 road trip with a bow heading into the holidays.

Pavelski had two goals, the game winner in both games at Staples Center this season and both of those goals power plays.

DeBoer stated, “There’s a reason he’s the captain. He was just willing us to win.”

San Jose had five unanswered goals in Los Angeles’s home opener and four in this one.

Both Pavelski and Joe Thornton had three point nights.

The 36 shots faced (21 of them in the first, a season-high for the team for a period) and 33 saved were the second-highest total for Sharks goalie Martin Jones this season.

Outshooting, outhitting and outperforming the San Jose on the faceoff, the Kings took the first period early, but the Sharks managed a goal midway through the period.

Pavelski stated, “…every time they pulled ahead a little bit, we were able to get that goal to keep us in the game…”

It was a similar start to the teams’ season opener with an early goal against Jones.

On Los Angeles’s second shot of the game, Tyler Toffoli, the third player to touch the puck off the faceoff, scored through Justin Braun’s legs, as the puck went to the left side of Jones. Tanner Pearson and Jeff Carter got the assists at 1:40.

Then, less than three minutes later, almost right after another faceoff, this one to Jones’ left, Trevor Lewis deflected Dustin Brown’s shot in shortside on the Kings’ fifth shot of the game. Alec Martinez got the second assist at 4:32.

San Jose made it 2-1 on their fourth shot on goal. After Brendon Dillon’s shot, it went to Pavelski and then to Thornton at 12:12.

Less than a minute later, the Sharks’ Tommy Wingels got a double minor.

The second was the power play period with a pair of goals and a sideshow of glass.

San Jose had two power plays less than four minutes apart.

Then the Sharks committed two holding penalties, one for holding the stick.

During the first of those penalties, at 9:07, Los Angeles’s Brayden McNabb’s hit on Matt Nieto caused a section of glass above the boards to pop out.

The goals came at even strength.

San Jose’s Brent Burns lost the puck, which led to a goal as Tanner Pearson passed cross ice to Toffoli at 17:48.

Burns then redeemed himself less than a minute later, as Thornton found Burns along the boards and he scored through traffic from the blue line.

The Sharks’ Melker Karlsson had five blocked shots in the period.

With 14:47 left in the game, Karlsson had a breakaway chance against goalie Jonathan Quick, but was denied.

The two power play goals by Pavelski came as the Kings committed two penalties 39 seconds apart.

Pavelski tied the game 3-3 at 6:06 four seconds after the first penalty, tipping in Burns’ shot.

The second penalty, a slash on Burns by Milan Lucic, was the most controversial in the game. The uproar got louder when Pavelski converted midway into the man advantage. Thornton got the assist.

Regarding coming back to win and special teams play, Pavelski replied, “We know it’s a sixty-minute game…There’s a lot of parts to the power play that need to be well. Entries are one of them, face-offs, and all that type of stuff. We didn’t have it in the first couple [periods] but we stayed with it.”

Burns made it 5-3 on an empty netter with 1:10 left.

Game notes: San Jose now is five points behind Los Angeles. This was the closest game out of the three the teams have played so far this season. Regarding personnel, the Sharks were without Joel Ward again, Karlsson returned and Vlasic, a game-time decision, played a team-high 26:09. After the Winter Break, San Jose starts a five-game homestand, hosting the Colorado Avalanche Monday at 7:30pm.