San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Red-hot Sharks doing it all in the home stretch

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

On the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The San Jose Sharks (43-19-8) got their sixth straight win with a win over the Winnipeg Jets, and at this juncture, they look like no one’s going to stop them now.

#2 It seems like Gustav Nyquist, Marcus Sorenson, Joe Pavelski, Marc-Edouard Vlasic are a wrecking crew who scored goals Tuesday night.

#3 After getting back-to-back wins on this road trip in tough places to play Minnesota and Winnipeg, the Sharks now look to open a three-game homestand against Florida, Nashville, and Vegas.

#4 Martin Jones saved 24 shots in getting in front of the puck for the shutout on Monday night, and on Tuesday night, Jones stopped 21 of 25 shots for the win.

#5 The Sharks host the Florida Panthers (30-27-12) Thursday night. On defense, both clubs are very close in goals per game, goals against per game, and saves.

Catch the Sharks podcasts each Wednesday with Mary Lisa at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Cal Goes Cold: Colorado advances to Pac-12 quarters with 56-51 win

Published on by moepeaLeave a comment

photo by sportsradioservice.com Shawn McCullough

By Morris Phillips

Defense had the Cal Bears sniffing an upset in Las Vegas Wednesday afternoon. But their ineffective offense couldn’t close the deal.

The Bears fell 56-51 to Colorado in the first round of the Pac-12 tournament ending their season, and a three-game win streak that created belief the last place club could keep it rolling. But 34 percent shooting was no way to support a spirited defensive effort that forced the Buffs into 23 turnovers.

“We forced them into 23 turnovers. A team that typically takes care of the ball,” said coach Wyking Jones. “We were very active, very active defensively. What really hurt us is giving up ten offensive rebounds, out-rebounded us. It’s hard to win a basketball game when you get out-rebounded by that margin.”

While Jones was encouraged–certainly with how his team responded after 16 consecutive losses–he and his Bears were going home early. Colorado’s Tad Boyle got his team to Thursday’s quarterfinals, but the veteran coach noted they’ll have to play better to survive.

“I’ll say this about Cal, they’re much more active in their zone,” said Boyle in anticipation of a matchup with Oregon State. “I think their zone has gotten better since we played them in Berkeley. They do shoot gaps. They get their hands on balls. They’re very active in the zone. We didn’t really react as well as we needed to. But hopefully that will help us tomorrow.”

While the Bears frenetic defense forced turnovers, Colorado’s defense and rebounding had a more lasting effect, starting with the Buffaloes 13-2 run in the first half that gained momentum through the Bears’ repeated missed shots. Dylan Kountz’ steal and a dunk put Colorado up 23-14 with 4:51 remaining. That run didn’t bury the Bears, but they never drew even after that, only managing to cut the lead to two on a couple of occasions early in the second half.

“I just felt like the drought affected us, even though we still held them to a decent percentage–(Colorado) only shot 43 percent from the field–but we didn’t have the same kind of energy that we would have if we hadn’t had those scoring droughts.”

The Bears will likely spend the off-season looking for offense on the recruiting trail, as that aspect again let them down. But their defensive inprovement–once ranked 310th nationally–was noticeable on Wednesday and during the modest three-game win streak.

Warriors, without Kevin Durant, win a thriller over the Rockets 106-104

Published on by rxsluggerLeave a comment

Photo credit: @warriors

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Golden State Warriors broke two streaks Wednesday night as they beat the red-hot Houston Rockets 106-104 in the Toyota Center. The first streak they snapped was the three-game winning streak Houston had over Golden State, and they snapped Houston’s nine-game winning streak. The Warriors had to figure out a way to do it without the services of Kevin Durant, who suffered a bone contusion on his ankle Sunday night in the loss to the Phoenix Suns. Warriors’ head coach, Steve Kerr, inserted Andre Iguodala into the starting lineup to replace Durant. The Warriors needed the Splash Brothers, Klay Thompson and Steph Curry, to be at their best to win. Thompson and Curry did well, and DeMarcus Cousins came through with a season-high 27 points and was able to contain the Rockets’ big man, Clint Capela.

The Warriors needed to get off to a good start in the first quarter. They outscored the Rockets 33-23 as Curry knocked down 13 points in the first 12 minutes. The Warriors had an early 15-7 lead, but the Rockets went on an 8-0 run to tie the game at 15. The Warriors responded with a 14-2 run to lead 29-17. Curry and Kevon Looney each made a two-point bucket to increase the lead to 33-23.

The Warriors’ second unit played well early in the second quarter. Quinn Cook, DeMarcus Cousins, and Klay Thompson upped the lead to 46-34. The Rockets, at this point in the game, came to life and charged back. They tied the game at 52 before Steph made a basket and the first half ended with Golden State leading 54-52. Thompson led the Warriors with 16. Curry had 15 and Cousins had 7. Boogie also had five boards and six assists. James Harden and Chris Paul led the Houston attack with 16 each. Capela had 8. The W’s bench outscored the Rockets’ bench 11-5.

In the third quarter, DeMarcus Cousins was a force. He, as mentioned earlier, put a lid on Clint Capela’s game. He scored ten points in the period to keep the Warriors ahead. Klay and Steph were on target, too. Kevon Looney was magnificent on defense in the quarter, and he made a key bucket late in the period. The Warriors outscored Houston 31-16 and finished with a seven-point advantage 85-78 after three-quarters of action.

The Warriors used the second unit with Cousins and Thompson to start the fourth quarter. Rockets’ coach, Mike D’Antoni also had his starter, James Harden, resting on the bench. Cousins knocked down another 10 points to give the Warriors the lead 102-89. Harden re-entered the game at this point. Houston refused to cave, and their defense stifled the Warriors as they climbed back into the game. They kept chipping away at the Warrior lead and outscored the Warriors 11-2 to make it 104-100 with 47 seconds left to play.  Houston connected on a three, and now it was a one-point game 104-103. Steph made a bucket to increase the lead to 106-103 with 8 seconds remaining to play. After a timeout, Kerr told his players to make to foul either Harden or Chris Paul and not let them attempt a three-point shot. The Warriors fouled Harden. He made the first free throw and intentionally missed the second in an attempt to get the rebound and make a basket to tie the game. The strategy failed, and the Warriors won 106-104.

Game Notes and Stats: Kevin Durant rested his ankle on Wednesday and the Warriors hope that he will return to action Saturday night when they play the Thunder in Oklahoma City.

With the win, the Warriors improve to 46-21. Houston falls to 42-26. If the teams were to meet in the playoffs, the Warriors would have the home-court advantage unless the teams end the season with the same record. In that case, the Rockets would have home court as they beat the Warriors 3-1 for the season.

Klay Thompson led the Warriors with 30 points. He made 5 three-point shots in 10 attempts. DeMarcus Cousins excelled on offense with a season-high 27 points. He had 8 rebounds and 7 assists in his best performance with Golden State. Curry had 24 points and connected on 3 threes in nine attempts. The Warriors bench kicked in with 20. James Harden led Houston with 29.  Harden connected on 2 threes in 12 attempts. Chris Paul had 24. Eric Gordon pitched in with 17, and he made 3 threes for the Rockets. Capela had a double-double with 13 points and 13 boards. The Houston bench added 18.

The Warriors shot 49.4% from the floor. The made 12 threes, They were 10-for-10 from the charity stripe. They outrebounded Houston 44-31. The Rockets had 13 more free throws as Harden, and Chris Paul know how to draw fouls as they drive to the basket.

Up Next: The Warriors play the OKC Thunder Saturday night in OKC. Game time is at 5:30 pm. Game three of the four-game road trip will be in San Antonio Monday night, and they finish with a back-to-back set against the Minnesota Timberwolves Tuesday night.

Stanford falls to UCLA 79-72 in first round of Pac-12 Tournament

Published on by psushawnLeave a comment

20190313 - Stanford 08


Photo credit: Shawn McCullough, Sports Radio Service

By Shawn McCullough

Stanford shot just 35.5% from the field as the UCLA Bruins beat the Cardinal 79-72 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas.

The Cardinal shooting woes continued from their last two games of the regular season in which they shot a combined 40% from the field.

“We’ve shown over the last, I guess, three games a pretty anemic shooting display”, said Stanford head coach Jerod Haase.  “And that was certainly a big part of not making shots and not just threes but around the rim.  And we struggled to score the basketball to that level.”

Senior Josh Sharma led the Cardinal with 18 points and 13 rebounds, while Marcus Sheffield came off the bench to add 18.

He’s a heck of a player and a heck of a person”, said Haase about Sharma.  “When I first got the job and wanted to play more minutes, and he was a fantastic ambassador to the program and the university. And this year he flourished.  Always tried to do what I asked him to do and did it at a high level.  And it will mean a lot not just for today but for a long time.”

“Obviously it was a disappointing year, especially the last couple of games”, said Sharma.  “But a lot to do with Coach Haase and the rest of the coaching staff, I think my confidence playing the game and my love for the game has never been greater.  And obviously still disappointed that we lost, and that hurts a lot.”

Stanford trailed the entire game, but rallied late in the second half to cut a 14 point halftime deficit to just seven points at the end of the game.

Sheffield on shots falling late in the game, “I think we just started getting a few stops, our energy increased. And once the shots started falling, they just started falling.  So, yeah, we just tried to compete to the end, really.”

With the loss, the Cardinal fell to 15-16 on the season.

“We’re certainly disappointed”, said Haase on the season.  “At this point, though, we’re probably looking back to the entire year and trying to find some of the positives and understand some of the negatives, as well.”

Game Notes:

  • Stanford is now 17-21 all time in the Pac-12 Tournament
  • Stanford lost to UCLA last season in the Pac-12 Tournament 88-77 in the quarterfinals
  • The Cardinal won their only Pac-12 Tournament championship with a 77-66 win over Washington on March 13, 2004

San Jose State suffers tough loss to Air Force 87-56 in MWC Tournament

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @AnaKieu

By: Ana Kieu

LAS VEGAS — Coming off an appalling season, 11th seed San Jose State played in their fifth Mountain West Tournament Wednesday as they opened play against 6-seed Air Force in the Thomas & Mack Center.

SJSU’s starting five featured Michael Steadman, Zach Chappell, Noah Baumann, Seneca Knight, and Ashtin Chastain.

SJSU opened the scoring with a 13-0 run, thanks to Knight, Baumann, and Chappell. Knight hit back-to-back 3s, Baumann hit a 3 and made a jumper, and Chappell made a jumper. Chris Joyce made a jumper in the paint and a free throw to end the Spartans’ run. Still, the Spartans led 13-3 at the 16:25 mark, and Baumann broke the school record for most 3-point baskets made in a season with 79.

From there, it was a back-and-forth affair between SJSU and Air Force. Chastain made a jumper in the paint to extend the Spartans’ lead to 15-3, but Joyce and Lavelle Scottie made back-to-back jumpers. Not only that, Scottie and Caleb Morris hit back-to-back 3s to bring the Falcons within 2 points at the 11:40 mark.

Shortly after, Ameka Akaya made a jumper to tie the game 15-15 at the 10:01 mark. Ryan Swan followed up with a 3 to give Air Force their first lead of the night, 18-15, with 8:57 left. Baumann made a jumper to bring SJSU within 1 just 54 seconds later. But the Falcons went on a 10-0 run to stump the Spartans, who trailed 28-17 with 5:44 left.

SJSU picked up the pace, thanks to Baumann, Steadman, and Knight, and cut the deficit to 32-23 with 2:43 left. Knight made a layup in the paint to trim the deficit to 8 just 62 seconds later. Chastain hit a 3 with only 3 seconds remaining. However, the Spartans were unable to recover the lead, so the efforts of the starting five were attention-grabbers, but not game-changers.

SJSU trailed 36-28 at the halftime break.

SJSU opened the second half with a 3 by Chappell, but the Air Force shooting was pretty hot. The Spartans never got re-energized like @SJSUMBB suggested at halftime and the Falcons used a 17-2 run to extend their lead to 22 points at the 11:34 mark. Joyce upped his point total to 17, which was a new career-high.

SJSU trailed 75-49 at the final timeout with 3:52 left. Air Force put on a dribbling exhibition for the final minutes of the game to close things out.

SJSU lost to Air Force 87-56. The Spartans were eliminated from the Mountain West Tournament, while the Falcons advanced to the quarterfinals against the Fresno State Bulldogs. The Falcons vs. Bulldogs game will be played Thursday at 8:30 pm PST on the CBS Sports Network.

Follow @AnaKieu on Twitter for SJSU football and men’s basketball coverage.

Headline Sports with London Marq: Improved Kings need wins in Philly and Boston

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

photo from nbcsports.com file: The Sacramento Kings and D3’Aaron Fox head to Boston and Philadelphia for games Thursday and Friday nights.

On Headline Sports with London:

#1 The Sacramento Kings dropped a tough game to the Washington Wizards 121-115. The Kings made it close losing by six.

#2 The Kings head to Philadelphia and Boston this Thursday and Friday. Can the Kings pick up some key wins after losing to Washington in their bid to try and make the postseason?

#3 De’Aaron Fox led the Kings in scoring. Talk about what he means for the club this season.

#4 In MLS action, the San Jose Earthquakes are headed to New York to face the NY Red Bulls. The Quakes are coming off two losses to the Montreal Impact and the Minnesota United FC. The later game was rough as they lost in a 3-0 shutout.

#5 After watching the 3-0 shutout, was this reminiscent of last year’s Quakes team or maybe more concerning than last year’s team?

London Marq does the Headline Sports podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com each Wednesday

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: Cuda looking for next win as Colorado comes in for two

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

sjbarracudapodcast.com file: San Jose Barracuda goaltender Antoine Bibeau (34) and the Cuda will host the Colorado Eagles this Saturday and Sunday at SAP Center in San Jose.

On the Barracuda podcast with Marko:

The way the game between the Stockton Heat and the San Jose Barracuda the Cuda looked like they were going to be on a five-game losing streak as they were able to snap the losing streak at four on Sunday 5-4 in a shootout.

It was one of those games where they were not playing good hockey. It was a game where the Heat scored the first two goals in the first period, and when you play catch up hockey like that, it’s not a good formula to win games.

Listen for more as Marko brings you analysis of San Jose Barracuda hockey each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

That’s Amaury’s News and Commentary with Barbara Mason: Canseco takes A-Rod up on boxing match over cheating accusations; plus more

Published on by Sports Radio ServiceLeave a comment

Photo credit: @TheLedgeSports

Barbara Mason is filling in for Amaury Pi Gonzalez:

#1 Former New York Yankee Jose Canseco said in a tweet that former New York Yankee Alex Rodriguez was cheating on his girlfriend , actress Jennifer Lopez. A-Rod then challenged Canseco to a boxing match via tweet and Canseco then challenged A-Rod to boxing match via Twitter. Canseco also said he would take a polygraph test and pass.

#2 US Olympic cyclist Kelly Catlin had it all–a gold medal, member of the US bicycle team, winner of three straight bicycle championships at the 2016 Olympics in Rio. Catlin died by suicide at age 23. This was a shock to her family and the Olympic community.

#3 The Stanford Cardinal Women (28-4) look prepared for March Madness. They’re coming off a 64-57 win over the Oregon Ducks Sunday. The Cardinal celebrated in the Pac-12 Tournament Title Game.

#4 Antonio Brown joins the Oakland Raiders over the weekend. The past six seasons for Brown, he has averaged 114 catches, 1524 receiving, and has had 15 touchdown catches in 2018 which is a career-high.

#5 Jesus Luzardo looks like he could get a shot in the rotation for the Oakland A’s. In just Sunday’s game, he gave up four hits, a walk, and one run against the San Francisco Giants in Mesa’s Hohokam Stadium against the Giants. He will not be going to Japan for the opening series against the Seattle Mariners.

Barbara Mason is doing That’s Amaury’s podcasts for Amaury Pi Gonzalez at http://www.sportsradioservice.com