Category: Uncategorized

Shorthanded Kings Come Away with a Victory over the Suns

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

AP Photo/Rich Pedroncelli

By Jeff Hall

SACRAMENTO–

The Kings came away with a nail biter in the fourth quarter thanks to DeMarcus Cousins who scored two big baskets in the final seconds of the game  His first one tied the game and his second fell into the basket as time expired and the Kings came away with an 85-83 victory over the Suns in front of 17, 013 fans.

The Kings win was surprising mainly because the Kings were shorthanded hosting the Suns at Sleep Train Arena without Rudy Gay and Darren Collison in the lineup.

A good start for The Kings who were without the play of their strong offensive player Rudy Gay played well on both ends of the floor in the first quarter and held the Suns to just 28.6 percent shooting. The Kings shot 68.8 percent in the first. DeMarcus Cousins had 10 points and four rebounds in the first. The Kings turned the ball over seven times in the first that resulted to just four points for the Suns.

It was a full team effort by the Kings and excellent production from the Kings bench,  Ben McLemore scored 13 points. including a great play by McLemore in the first after the Kings turned the ball over McLemore outran Suns guard Goran Dragic and blocked his layup attempt. McLemore added some additional flare by quickly sinking a long 24 foot 3-point jump shot

Cousins gave the Kings what they scoring 28 points, with 12 rebounds and 2 blocked shots.

Former Kings player and fan favorite Isaiah Thomas led the Suns in scoring with 26 points

The Suns who lead the NBA in fourth quarter scoring made a game of it outscoring the Kings 24-12 in the fourth.

Cousins picked up his  fifth technical foul of the season walking to the bench during a timeout. Cousins is now tied for 6th most in NBA w/6 other players including the Kings Rudy Gay

After the game DeMarcus Cousins surprised the media with his comments

“The city done put me through so much. I stayed loyal….I just want to know how you’re going to stop God’s plan.” Said cousins who seemed fed up. Cousins has been receiving the blame for the Kings potential coaching decisions since Michael Malone was fired by the team in December.

Up next The Kings will head Chicago to face the Bulls on Tuesday night.

Notes: Kings signed Quincy Miller to a second 10-day contract.

AT&T Pebble Beach PGA Tournament commentary: Billy Casper winner of 51 PGA Tours passes at age 83

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Jeff Hall & Jeremy Harness

After passing out at the PGA Masters last year golf great Billy Casper’s son Bob knew that it was the start for his father to get the medical help he needed and later a rehab program for his heart condition. Through all their hard efforts to get Casper back to health again Casper passed away on Saturday at the age of 83 at his home in Utah. Casper in his golf hey day was overshadowed by the “Big three” Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Gary Player. Casper was rehabbing from heart problems and pneumonia and recovered by Thanksgiving. Bob said he started feeling bad this past week, Casper was married for 62 years to his wife Shirley who was at his side when he passed.

Casper’s career in golf would have put him in the headlines in today’s game he was among legends in the game and his numbers proved it winning 51 PGA Tours putting Casper at number seven on the all time winning list behind such greats as Sam Snead (82), Tiger Woods (79), Jack Nicklaus (73), Ben Hogan (64), Arnold Palmer (62), Byron Nelson (52), and Casper at 51.

Casper had three major wins to his career and he had a great comeback in his career in 1966 he won the U.S.Open. Casper was down seven holes at the Olympic Club and came back to win it after tying Palmer and won it in a 18 hole playoff. His other two majors that he won was at Winged Foot in 1959 and at the 1970 Masters. Casper went into the Golf Hall of Fame eight years later in 1978.

Casper didn’t get much credit for his hard work, accomplishments, and his place on the all time winningest list but today Nicklaus said that Casper deserves that recognition, “Billy was one of the greatest family men be it inside the game of golf or out. I have had the fortunate blessing to meet. He had such a wonderful balance to his life. Golf was never the most important thing in Billy’s life–family was. There was always much more to Billy Casper than golf. But as a golfer, Billy was a fantastic player and I don’t think he gets enough credit for being one. I have said many times during my career, when I looked up at the leaderboard, I wasn’t just looking to see where a Palmer, or a Player, or a Trevino was. I was also checking to see where Billy Casper was” Nicklaus wrote on Facebook.

Jeff Hall and Jeremy Harness are covering the AT&T Pebble Beach PGA Tournament for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Kerr Picks Up Win in MSG Debut

Published on by bentleonard181 Comment

AP Photo/Frank Franklin II

By: Ben Leonard

Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr nearly signed with the New York Knicks during the offseason. The decision to spurn the Knicks certainly has proven to be a shrewd one, as Kerr’s Warriors took a 106-92 win in his coaching debut at Madison Square Garden on Saturday.

A day after falling in a tightly contested battle to the NBA-best Hawks, the level of competition dropped significantly for Kerr’s squad. The lowly Knicks fell to an atrocious 10-41, while the Warriors moved to 40-9. Nearing the All-Star Break, the two squads already have a thirty win differential, with both heading in completely different trajectories. Draymond Green lead the way for Golden State, dropping 20 points for the squad with title aspirations against the team with its sights set on the #1 pick.

Green trailed only Stephen Curry’s game-high 22 point effort in the game, and pulled down 13 rebounds. His physical presence helped the Warriors in their effort against a ‘Melo-less Knicks team, and even blocked two shots. Without Anthony, the Knicks were even more listless than usual, making just 40.2% of their field goal attempts.

Kerr’s Warriors set the tone early, jumping out to a 32-19 lead at the end of the first quarter. Golden State went on to romp New York, holding a sizeable 89-63 advantage with just over three minutes left in the game. However, the Warriors seemingly became complacent after taking a nearly insurmountable lead, up just 95-90 with just over four minutes left to play. An ensuing 6-0 run sealed the victory for Golden State, capped by Curry’s trey with just under three minutes remaining.

Curry dropped 54 points in the Garden just two years ago, but had a relatively modest game by his standards. Although he did have a game-high total for points, he turned the ball over three times and made just 1 of 3 free throw attempts. Clearly, this is not reason for concern, but it is still worth noting.

Point guard Langston Galloway lead the way for New York with 15 points in a losing effort, grabbing four boards and dishing out three assists. Former superstar Amar’e Stoudemire also chipped in off the bench with 13 points of his own.

Golden State will continue its East Coast road trip, traveling to Philadelphia to play the ’76ers at the Wells Fargo Center on Monday night.

Stats and info courtesy of ESPN

Stanford Can’t Hang On; Loses Late to Arizona State

Published on by joelamiLeave a comment

By: Joe Lami

After a nine-point first half deficit, the No. 10 Arizona State Sun Devils surged in the second half to come back and beat No. 12 Stanford 53-52 on Friday night. It’s the second time this season Arizona State has beaten the Cardinal this season, as it ends a four-game winning streak the Cardinal had going. The last loss for the Cardinal came on January 19th to the Sun Devils.

Quinn Dornstauder was the difference maker, as she scored a career high 22 points off the bench. Kelsey Moos was the only other Sun Devil to reach double digits, finishing with 12.

Both teams shot incredibly poor, shooting under 40%. Neither team was able to score in the final 4:35 of the game.

Stanford had a chance to win the game, but fell short. They had the ball with 20 seconds left, deciding to hold for a last shot. The game fell into the hands of Briana Roberson, but she was unable to hit the 15-foot jump shot with a second remaining.

Amber Orrange led the way for the Cardinal with 15 points. Lili Thompson shot 33% to finish the night with 11 points.

The Sun Devils are now in the driver’s seat to winning the Pac-12 regular season championship, as they are tied with Oregon State. Each team has one loss, with just seven games remaining before the tournament in Seattle. Friday night’s loss puts Stanford in unfamiliar territory, as they sit in third place with just a few games remaining. They hope to get back on the right track with a trip to southern Arizona to take on the Wildcats.

AT&T Pebble Beach PGA Tournament commentary & podcast preview: With Tiger’s back out of whack how much more can he take?; also a look at Pebble Beach

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Jeremy Harness & Jeff Hall

PEBBLE BEACH–It’s just simply hard to believe that after three tournaments Golf’s top star Tiger Woods had to reach up for help with a bad back and had to leave the Farmers Insurance Open at Torrey Pines just 11 holes into the tournament on Thursday before calling it a night as Woods left with lower back pain.

Woods who is a 14 time tournament winner left the event with back spasms and talk show host and golf reporter Jeremy Harness can speak from experience that he has had a bad back for five years now and that was from playing golf. The thing with Tiger with the lower back it’s a common thing especially with the PGA Tour players. They say you could play golf with a bad back that’s the way it works.

Tiger has had a bad back for quite a few years and he’s had to withdraw from quite a few tournaments but keep in mind that in 2013 after he first had his back issues he was the number one player in the game and matter of fact he was the number one PGA player of the year. One of the things that Tiger was doing was hitting the ball that put a lot more stress on the back that much harder.

The swing has effected his back as opposed to an arm, leg, or a shoulder injury the back injury is a different animal. The back requires a lot more treatment and a lot more caution it’s not something you just can’t quickly rebound from in a day or two. The recovery is a long process this is what Tiger is up against.

In the Phoenix Open Tiger had back issues during the tournament there and he shot an 82 but he missed the cut by 12 strokes so there’s a lot going on and he’s struggled with a lot of issues getting back to 2014 in chipping and short putting out of the green. Tiger has lost quite a lot of weight to ease up his back. When you lose weight you take a lot of pressure off your back, the more weight you put on the more your going to feel it.

Tiger at this point has to do what he has to do to treat his back and it had a lot to do with chipping too and a lot of that has to do with technique. He has to work on his chipping and short game whereas in 2013 it wasn’t an issue at all because he didn’t have the back issues and he was on the same page with the other golfers. He was very comfortable with chipping and doing all the things he had to do to be a successful golfer.

Jeff Hall and Jeremy Harness are covering the AT&T Pebble Beach PGA Tournament for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Kings Fall Again 101-78

Published on by tonyrenteriaLeave a comment

By Tony Renteria

This game was the epitome of the Sacramento Kings (17-30) season, a strong start and early departure of that success as they fell to the Dallas Mavericks (33-18) 101-78.

The Kings had started the second quarter tied 23 up but gave up 37 points to the Mavericks, Dallas Coach Rick Carlisle kept future memebr of the Hall of Fame, Dirk Nowitzki out of the game hoping rest would help him out.

Kings All Star DeMarcus Cousins continues to put up MVP type stats in losing causes as he scored 23 points with eleven rounds, with ten of them of the defensive end.

The Mavericks pulled away early behind game leading scorer Monta Ellis, who was 9 for 16 and 3 for 6 behind the arc as he led the visiting team with 21 points.

The Kings dropped their home record to 10-17 as they lost the second game in a row.  Dallas was a tough a 18-10 on th road before tonight’s game.

The Mavericks head back to Texas to host the Portland Trailblazers on Saturday as the Kings need to fix things on the road as the head into Utah to take on the Jazz the same day.

AT&T Pebble Beach PGA Tournament preview & podcast: No Tiger or Mickelson no problem ticket sales get a bump up with athletes and celebrities coming

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Jeff Hall & Jeremy Harness

On the pro side of the AT&T Pebble Beach Tournament not having Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson being absent will add a damper on the pro golf side of things but if your into sports Pebble Beach will be a great place to be you’ll see a lot of ex athletes like the San Francisco Giants Buster Posey and Matt Cain who be at the tournament. A lot of sports guys are going to be showing up Wayne Gretzky former NHL great Hall of Famer will be there.

Then there are the standards the guys who come to the AT&T every year entertainers and athletes Michael Bolton, Andy Garcia, Huey Lewis, Craig T Nelson, Ray Ramono, former 49ers quarterback Alex Smith. You might remember Smith was a caddy for former 49ers head coach Jim Harbaugh at one of the first 49ers-Giants events at Pebble Beach. Everybody at that event said “look at the friendship developing between Smith and Harbaugh” next thing you know Smith is out at the 49ers and 49er quarterback Colin Kaepernick is in.

There’s some strange things happening because you never know what your going to see at Pebble Beach and with Posey coming sales really took off on tickets and he’s now the main attraction. You know what he can do on a baseball field but it’s yet to be seen what he could do on a golf course. Then you look ten feet away and you see a pro golfer and Posey might think “I’m not so good after all.” Celebrities and athletes are what the draw is and you get to see these guys in real life.

Posey is a good drawing card but the biggest draw at this event is actor and comedian Bill Murray, Murray has been there for years and you never know what he’s going to do and that’s what makes it so exciting. The guy that will be missing from the event is Tiger and he’s aging and he’s not getting any younger. He’s been struggling with his game, he’s played a lot of golf and he’s been down awhile with an injury and that’s the way golf is.

Tiger was so great he was one of those guys that was practicing all the time and when your missing a lot of golf no matter who you are, golf is one of those games you got to keep working on no matter who you are. Tiger knows that but when you’ve been out as long as he’s been. Were seeing a different Tiger Woods we’ve never seen before. Were seeing a guy not only is he not making the cut he not close to making the cut.For Tiger that’s the kind of thing that blows the minds of a lot of people that are not used to seeing Tiger.

Going back to the AT&T is going to exciting for us as we’ve covered the event before and it’s a great place to cover at Pebble Beach and Pebble Beach is gorgeous as you know it’s located right on the coast and it’s greatest course land and sea. Your talking about one of the most beautiful golf courses in the world. That’s what draws a lot of the pros unlike Tiger whose played here in the past and he doesn’t care for the celebrity events. This is one of the events where the celebrities are golfing with the pros on all four rounds.

Jeff Hall and Jermey Harness are covering the AT&T Pebble Beach Tournament all week for http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to Jeff’s podcast below on the AT&T

AT&T Pebble Beach Tournament preview & news: First black golfer Charlie Sifford dies at 92

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Jeff Hall and Jeremy Harness

Charlie Sifford who was the PGA’s first black golfer and broke the color bearer of the sport in 1961 at the age of 38 passed away on Wednesday at the age of 92 the Professional Golfers Association announced. Former Brooklyn Dodger Jackie Robinson who himself broke the baseball color bearer told Sifford to approach the game smoothly in his way to fight the integration battle, “which I think is the way he went through his struggles, smooth quietz” said Craig Sifford Sifford’s son as told to CNN News.

Sifford’s love of the game was uncanny and he approached it with his smooth swing and it made him notable during his time in the PGA “His love of golf despite many bearers in his path, strengthened him as he became a beacon for diversity in our game. By his courage, Dr.Sifford inspired others to follow their dreams. Golf was fortunate to have had this exceptional American in their midst.” said PGA President Derek Sprauge.

Tiger Woods paid tribute to Sifford referring to Sifford as his grandfather saying it was a terrible loss today, “terrible loss for golf and me personally. My grandfather is gone and we lost a brave, decent honorable man, I’ll miss you Charlie” tweeted Woods. Jack Nicklaus said that he played his first two rounds of golf with Sifford when he first broke in, Nicklaus said he will never forget Sifford for being kind and generous.

“Charlie led by example, handling himself with class and dignity inside and outside the ropes. We can’t underestimate the impact that Charlie’s career has had on the face of golf today. Charlie was a leader and an inspiration” said Nicklaus. Even President Obama honored Sifford at the White House recognizing one of golf’s great pioneers “Charlie was sometimes banned from clubhouse restaurants. Folks threatened him, shouted slurs from the gallery, kicked his ball into the rough. Charlie is laughing about that-my ball is always in the rough” said the President.

Pebble Beach has announced it’s tournament schedule: Mon Feb 9 will be practice rounds with spectator viewing available at the Pebble Beach golf links and Spyglass Hill Golf Course. Tue Feb 10: practice rounds all three golf courses. Also all eight world trophies will be on display at the front entrance, Cheveron presents a shootout at the Pebble Beach golf links 1st tee.

Wed Feb 11: Practice rounds all three courses. 11 AM celebrity 3M Challenge Pebble Beach Golf holes 1, 2, 3, 17 & 18.

Thu Feb 12: Let the games begin 8 AM first round all three courses. Fri Feb 13: 8:00AM second round all three courses, Sat Feb 14: third round all three courses and Sun Feb 15: 7:30 AM Final round Pebble Beach Golf Links 60 low pros and 25 low teams.

Jeremy Harness and Jeff Hall are covering this year’s PGA AT&T Tournament at Pebble Beach keep it right here for the exclusive coverage.

That’s Amaury’s News, Commentary & Podcast: Preview AT&T Pebble Beach PGA Tournament starts next week

Published on by lleonardbwLeave a comment

by Daniel Dullum

The PGA AT&T Pebble Beach Tournament is coming next week but two luminaries will be missing in attendance Tiger Woods and Phil Mickelson. Keep in the mind their both aging and also neither one are at the top of their game anymore. Woods at the Phoenix Open last week he just didn’t miss the cut he missed the cut by 12 strokes that’s very unTigerlike.

Mickelson it’s practically the home course for him at Scottsdale he played golf collegiately there at Arizona State and he didn’t fair much better. It’s a rare sight and you lose a little star power and at this stage of their careers and that course at Pebble Beach is a tough one and if you don’t feel like your not on the top of your game if there is one game they want to skip that might be it.

This event as a golfer is something that you earn and they both have and they have been both at the top of the PGA Tour off and on for the last 15 years or better and you reach a point where if there’s one you want to skip here and there of course you can’t skip too many. To remain on the tour there’s a minimum number of tournaments that you have to play in. Aside from an injury it’s not like you just come back but Tiger and Mickelson have earned the right to choose which events that they’ll play in and you’ll see them pop up again down the road but you can’t skip them all.

The Tournament will feature such players as K.J.Choi, John Daly, Ernie Els, and another golfer named Bill Murray. That’s brings me back to the days when the tournament was called the Bing Crosby Pro Am. It was set up very similar to the Bob Hope Desert Classic where the first two days they would bring in their Hollywood friends and maybe some athletes from other sports and they would go out and have some fun for a couple of days.

Then the final days they would get down to business with the real golfers so that’s a tradition that goes back to the Bing Crosby. If your going to the tournament just go and have some fun and enjoy it and see these shank one into the rough like they do. The AT&T has been a top flight event for years and years and even years ago when Bing was still around he would bring his friends in and it was always a great weekend for the sport of golf.

Pebble Beach has always been a top stop on the tour a and it’s one of those tournaments that the players really enjoy and the fans do as well. Since Tiger and Mickelson will not be there there is a chance that there might be some vacancy at some of the hotels in Monterey or Carmel because the fans want to see them. That doesn’t mean that the rest of the field is so bad, you got a lot of these young up and comers guys like Ernie Els in his prime and you have the show biz aspects.

Daniel Dullum is filling in Amaury Pi Gonzalez this week for News and Commentary on http://www.sportsradioservice.com listen to the rest of the podcast below

Cardinal Extend Winning Streak to Four With Win Over Huskies

Published on by joelamiLeave a comment

By: Joe Lami

The last two weeks, the Stanford Cardinal have been cruising, as they won their fourth straight over Washington 82-69 on Monday night.

The Cardinal pummeled the Huskies in the first half, as they went into the break leading 45-29. Washington would be resilient however in trying to comeback as they cut the lead to as low as six with just over nine minutes remaining, but Stanford wouldn’t let them get any closer. Washington did win the second half battle 40-37, but it wouldn’t be nearly enough, as Stanford won by 13.

Stanford’s scorers are starting to light it up, as five different players got into double digits. Bonnie Samuelson led the way with 17 points, include two three-pointers, and a perfect nine for nine from the foul line. Briana Roberson got the start once again, and used to her advantage finishing with 15 points. Amber Orrange added 14, and Kaylee Johnson contributed 11. Johnson also brought down an astonishing 17 rebounds for the double-double.  Karlie Samuelson was the only bench player to score ten points. Lili Thompson was Stanford’s only starter not to get into double figures, finishing with seven points.

Stanford’s play has been in question of late, but their scorers are finally having back-to-back games where they are finding the bucket. This is especially important heading into the last month of the regular season, with only seven regular season games before the Pac-12 tournament in Seattle. Stanford has another challenge in front of them, as they travel to Tempe to take on the #10 ranked Sun Devils, who defeated the Cardinal for the first time ever at Maples Pavilion just a few weeks ago. The Cardinal seek their revenge on Friday.