Oakland Raiders podcast with Tony Renteria: Carr put out a great effort against Chiefs, will try to get team a win Sunday vs. Steelers

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Photo credit: @Forbes

On the Oakland Raiders podcast with Tony Renteria:

#1 Talk about Raiders quarterback Derek Carr and his efforts against the Kansas City Chiefs. He showed a lot of fight against one of the best teams in the NFL.

#2 Carr passed former Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon on the all-time passing list.

#3 Carr has been rumored not to be coming back in 2019. Carr has three years left on his contract. Does Tony see that happening?

#4 Carr and the Raiders fought hard in last Sunday’s game to come back. How much did it take out of them?

#5 The Raiders host the Pittsburgh Steelers next Sunday at the Oakland Coliseum.

Tony does the Raiders podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

San Jose Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa Walsh: Sharks find their offense again with a four-goal win over Carolina

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Photo credit newsobserver.com: San Jose Sharks center Tomas Hertl, from the Czech Republic, right, scores a goal past Carolina Hurricanes goaltender Curtis McElhinney (35) during the first period of an NHL hockey game at SAP Center in San Jose Wednesday night

On the Sharks podcast with Mary Lisa:

#1 The San Jose Sharks won their second straight game against the Carolina Hurricanes at SAP Center on Wednesday night with a four-goal win.

#2 This was a demonstration of their healthy offense coming back as opposed to some of the four tough loses they had on their last road trip.

#3 The Sharks Joe Thornton and Timo Meier each had three points against the Canes and Radim Simek picked up his first career NHL goal.

#4 The Sharks goaltender Martin Jones stopped 39 out of 40 shots and faced a lot of offense from the Canes, but stood on his head for the win.

#5 Up next, the Sharks are back on the road to face the Dallas Stars on Friday and Arizona on Saturday.

Mary Lisa does the Sharks podcasts each Thursday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

USF shoots past Cal, 79-60, beats Bears for the first time since 1997

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_DSC0813

Photo of USF’s Frankie Ferrari courtesy of Eric Taylor/1st String Sports

By Morris Phillips

BERKELEY — Losses of this magnitude don’t disappear from the consciousness easily. Normal losses linger, and this one was far from normal.

After the Dons’ 79-60 win at Haas Pavilion, the Cal Bears find themselves at the crossroads. At 2-6, they’ve had too many lopsided results, with Wednesday’s loss at home arguably their worst showing. The Dons led for 35 of the 40 minutes, and by as much as 29 before a late rally by the Bears in the game’s final minutes.

Haas Pavilion never warmed up, the crowd never got involved with the 10,000 seat building barely half full. And Coach Wyking Jones looked sullen postgame, claiming his team lacked competitiveness.

“We got beat by a veteran team that wanted it more than us,” Jones recounted. “It’s indicative of 14 offensive rebounds. They had more of a fight and Frankie [Ferrari] is a great point guard and did a great job of running the floor and leading the team. We are young and they are an experienced team and I saw that they [USF] wanted it more. I saw toughness.”

Under Jones, the Bears have lost 30 of their 40 games to date. The loss to USF was Cal’s fourth by double-digits at home to a non-conference opponent. Can Cal–with challenging non-conference opponents San Diego State and Fresno State to come, followed by Pac-12 competition–pull it together?

Of course, but more and more, it appears it will require a complete turn of fortunes. The first step: keeping a team together that’s having difficulties grasping and maintaining confidence.

“When you don’t see the ball go through the rim, the urgency to score builds. We start to panic a bit and that’s when you see silly fouls, not boxing out and losing focus,” Jones said. “We had some good looks that we would normally knock down, it just compounded on the defensive end and guys got more anxious to get a stop.”

Given, the Bears lack of size and physicality, offensive improvement will be easier to attain  than will defensive cohesion. But the Bears assist-to-turnover ratio must improve with the team having 82 turnovers and only 70 assists after 12 of each in Wednesday.

The Bears botched their final possession of the opening half, failing to get off a shot. Prior to that, a pass rolled through freshman Andre Kelly’s legs than out of bounds, another sailed over Justice Sueing’s head and ricocheted off the USF bench.

Meanwhile, USF looked confident, and built on their season start, at 8-1, their best in two decades. Moreover, the Dons showed little jet lag from a weekend in Ireland, where they narrowly suffered their first defeat, 85-81 to No. 21 Buffalo.

“I was curious to see how we were going to come out and start the game, and where our energy was going to be. We were coming back to play against a Pac-12 team,” said Charles Mindlend who paced the Dons with 17 points. “I was really happy with how we played.”

Center Jimbo Lull added 14 points, and sharpshooter Jordan Ratinho added 12 on four of nine shooting from three. The Dons enjoyed a 36-22 advantage with points in the paint.

Cal got 17 from Kelly, and 16 points from Darius McNeill. Last year’s leading scorer Sueing finished with four points. The sophmore forward has missed 44 of 68 shots taken this season.

Top reserve Juhwan Harris-Dyson played just two minutes before a previously diagnosed hand injury flared up.

The Bears welcome San Diego State to Haas Pavilion on Saturday for a 7:30 pm tipoff.

Jones Saves 39, Sharks Top Canes 5-1; That’s two straight wins for Sharks

Published on by Matthew HarringtonLeave a comment

photo from nhl.nbcsports.com: San Jose’s Joe Pavelski goes for the victory skate in front of the Sharks bench after scoring his season’s 18th goal as the Sharks defeated the Carolina Hurricanes at SAP Center on Wednesday night

By Matthew Harrington

SAN JOSE — The San Jose Sharks won on the road for the second-straight game, shelling the Carolina Hurricanes 5-1 at SAP Center on Wednesday night. Well, not quite. Despite the Sharks wearing the road whites and feeling the parts of weary travelers, they were actually the home team.

Joe Thornton and Timo Meier each had three points for San Jose, Martin Jones made 39 saves and Radim Simek picked up his first career NHL point in just his second game. Joe Pavelski scored his team-leading 18th goal and Meier, Marcus Sorensen, Tomas Hertl and Barclay Goodrow all scored for Team Teal. Lucas Wallmark scored the lone goal for the Canes.

The Sharks returned from a six-game road swing Sunday night, playing their first home game since November 23rd, but their bags really never had a chance to be unpacked, with San Jose off to Dallas for a Friday night contest before a trip to the Desert for a Saturday showdown with the Coyotes.

Both teams entered play 1-2 in high-danger scoring chances, so offensive fireworks were expected. The fact that they were completely one-sided came as a bit of a surprise though. Goodrow opened the scoring taking a Kevin Labanc feed and going top shelf just 3:44 into the game for his fourth goal of the year. Tomas Hertl scored a power play strike after Logan Couture’s cross-ice pass to Labanc pulled NHL journeyman Curtis McElhinney to his left. Labanc connected with Hertl just to the right of the netminder in the crease for the easy redirect and a 2-0 lead halfway through the first period. The Canes would pepper Jones with 17 shots in the frame but he stood tall to hold down the shutout after 20 minutes.

Timo Meier continued to blossom as San Jose’s best power forward since Owen Nolan, buzzing McElhinney right as Simek ripped a point shot. The naked eye gave Simek his first career goal, but by the grace of video review, Timo Meier was awarded his 14th goal. Simek had to settle for an assist for his first NHL point and a 3-0 Sharks lead 8:42 into the second. Thornton would pick up his first of three assists, notching the secondary helper on the final three San Jose goals.

Joe Pavelski scored what has to be the most fortuitous goal of his season, attempting to flip a puck on McElhinney that looked like it would be harmless. Instead the puck glanced off Jordan Staal and redirected into the Canes net for a 4-0 Sharks edge.

Carolina would finally crack Jones in the waning minute and a half of the middle stanza with Wallmark beating Jones glove side on the power play to score on the Hurricanes 26th shot of the contest. Marcus Sorensen got the goal pack after Meier threaded a pack hand pass that allowed the Swede to rip a shot past McElhinney with just 4:17 left in regulation.

San Jose has now collected a point in three-straight home games and is on a two-game win streak after a five-game skid. They’re off to the Big D for a showdown with Tyler Seguin and the Stars next.

Warriors crush the Cavs 129-105 in Cleveland on Wednesday night

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment
GSW final
Graphic: @Warriors

By Charlie O. Mallonee

In every sport, there are certain teams that every other team wants to play because they know the chances of coming away with a “W” is so great that they can taste victory before the game begins. When “King James” ruled the city by the lake, that was not the case. Going to play in the “Q” was something to be feared.

Now that LeBron has taken his “talents” to SoCal and the Lakers, playing in the “Q” has become a place for teams to get healthy. The Cavs best player Kevin Love is unavailable due to left foot surgery, and no one would be surprised if Love does not demand to be traded to a competitive team.

Things are so bad in Cleveland that the Cavaliers were the first team in the NBA to fire their head coach. Tyronn Lue who coached the Cavs to an NBA Championship in 2016 was fired after Cleveland started the season 0-6 with LeBron James in “Lakerland” and Kevin Love ailing.

The Warriors entered the game on Wednesday night with a record of 16-9 to do battle with a Cleveland squad that had recorded a record of 5-18.

Tough Road Trip
This was game four of a five-game road trip for the Warriors. They entered the contest 1-2 on the trip. The W’s had lost games in Toronto and Detroit but had bounced back into the win column in the ATL on Monday night. A victory in Cleveland was really mandatory if this was to be a successful road trip for Golden State.

GSW Thompson to hoop
Thompson to the basket Photo: @Warriors

First Half Battle
The Cavs served notice in the first half that they were not going to just roll over and die because they were facing the defending NBA Champion Golden State Warriors. GSW held a six-point at the end of the first quarter, but Cleveland turned it up a notch in the second period.

Cleveland shot 68.2-percent from the floor (15/22) in the second quarter and hit seven 3-point baskets. The Cavs outscored the Warriors 39-27 for the period behind the scoring of Cedi Osman (8 pts), Jordan Clarkson (8 pts) and Larry Nance Jr. (7 pts). The Cavs also outscored the Warriors on 2nd Chance Points 8-0 in the quarter.

At the half, Cleveland held a 64-58 lead over the Golden State Warriors.

Time to go to school
The Warriors came out of the locker room after halftime fired up and ready to play. Kevin Durant led the charge for the “W’s” as he scored 15 points, grabbed five rebounds and dished out two assists in the period. Durant hit 6-of-9 shots – three of which were 3-point baskets.

GSW outscored the Cavs 12-2 on the Fast Break in the quarter.

At the end of three quarters, Golden State was leading Cleveland 95-86.

Turn Out the Lights
The Cavs’ final demise came in the fourth period when Stephen Curry came alive and scored 12-points shooting 2-for-4 from the floor (both 3-point baskets) and converted 6-for-6 in opportunities from the free throw line.

Klay Thompson and Quinn Cook also added eight points apiece in the final period as the Warriors outscored the Cavaliers 34-19 in last 12 minutes of the contest.

When the final buzzer sounded, the Golden State Warriors (17-9) had defeated the Cleveland Cavaliers (5-19) 129-105. For the Warriors, it was their second consecutive win.

Top Performers

GSW Prime Logo

Golden State

  • Leading scorer: Steph Curry 42 points (also game high) to go with nine rebounds
  • Double-double: Kevin Durant 25 points and 10 rebounds (9 assists)
  • FG% 52.9 (45/85)  3FG% 52.9 (18/34)  29 Assists 9 Turnovers (17 CLE pts)

Cleveland

  • Leading scorer: Colin Sexton 21 points (7/14 shooting)
  • Double-double: Tristan Thompson 14 points and 19 rebounds
  • Wow: George Hill 25:13 on the floor 0 points and 3 assists

Steve Kerr on Curry
“It’s pretty rare, but Steph is rare in general in everything he does. We’ve seen it before where Steph was out with an injury and comes back and starts lighting it up right away,” said Kerr. “The guy keeps himself in amazing shape – which allows him to come back pretty quickly if there is an injury.”

Up Next
The Warriors wrap up this five-game road trip on Friday night in Milwaukee versus the very tough Bucks in a nationally televised game. The game tips off at 4:00 PM PST.

The Cavs will also be in action on Friday night when they will host the upstart Sacramento Kings at the “Q”.

Raiders welcome the Steelers to the Black Hole Sunday

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Photo credit: @mohurstjr

By Joe Hawkes-Beamon
SRS Contributor

OAKLAND, Calif. — In a game that was originally set for NBC’s Sunday Night Football, the Raiders will complete their two-game homestand when they will take on the visiting Pittsburgh Steelers at the Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum this Sunday in a classic AFC tilt. Kickoff is set for 1:25 p.m. PT on FOX.

The Steelers are making their first trip to Oakland since 2013, where they lost the Raiders 21-18. Oakland holds a slim 12-10 record over Pittsburgh all-time in 22 meetings, and are riding a three-game winning streak over the Steelers at home.

Oakland (2-10) lost to their bitter AFC West rival, the Kansas City Chiefs in a 40-33 shootout last Sunday at home in Week 13. The Raiders’ offense was humming, with big performances by quarterback Derek Carr, tight end Jared Cook, wide receiver Jordy Nelson, and running back Jalen Richard.

Carr threw for 285 yards on 29-of-38 passes with three touchdowns and no interceptions. With his 14th completion of the day, Carr moved into second place in NFL history for most completions (1,655) through a player’s first five years, trailing only Peyton Manning (1,749) with four games remaining this season per the Elias Sports Bureau. Carr also moved into second place on the all-time passing list for the franchise with 17,802 yards, passing Rich Gannon.

Cook hauled in his sixth touchdown catch of the season, establishing a new career-high. The tight end finished with seven catches for 100 yards. Nelson tied a team season-high 10 catches in the game, six of them going for first downs.

Richard showed great versatility against the Chiefs, finishing with 126 yards from scrimmage, including a career-high 95 yards on the ground on six carries for a 15.8 yards per carry average for the game.

But it wasn’t all great for Oakland offensively, as the team fumbled the ball four times (losing three), all coming from Richard and fellow running backs Doug Martin and DeAndre Washington.

The addition of running back C.J. Anderson, whom the team signed on Wednesday for depth, will be interesting to watch down the home stretch of the regular season.

Anderson, a six-year veteran who is just 27-years-old, was most recently with the Carolina Panthers this season appearing in just nine games with just 24 carries for 104 yards. Anderson signed with Carolina in the offseason after being released by the Denver Broncos.

In his first five seasons with the Denver Broncos from 2013-17, Anderson rushed for 3,051 yards and 20 touchdowns on 693 carries while earning a Super Bowl ring in 2015. During his final season in Denver, Anderson rushed for a career-high 1,007 yards and three touchdowns on 245 carries while starting all 16 games.

Pittsburgh enters Sunday’s contest losers of their last two games, the most recent to the visiting Los Angeles Chargers 33-30 at Heinz Field on Sunday Night Football. The Steelers (7-4-1) sit atop the AFC North heading into the final month of the regular season.

Steelers quarterback Ben Roethlisberger leads an offense that ranks fourth in the NFL in scoring, averaging 28.8 points per game. Through 12 games this season, Roethlisberger leads the NFL in passing yards (3,945) to go along with 26 touchdowns, but his 13 interceptions are second-most behind Jets rookie quarterback Sam Darnold’s 14 for most in the league.

The bulk of the Steelers’ areal attack is highlighted by their explosive wide receivers in Antonio Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster.

The duo has combined for 164 catches (Smith-Schuster leads the team with 83 to Brown’s 81), for 2,132 yards (Smith-Schuster leads the team with 1,104 to Brown’s 1,028), and 16 touchdowns (Brown has 12 to Smith-Schuster’s 4).

Second-year running back James Connor has filled the shoes of dynamic running back Le’Veon Bell nicely this season. While Bell has sat out the entire season in a contract dispute with the organization, Connor is seventh in the NFL in rushing with 909 yards and 12 touchdowns on 201 carries.

Connor is third on the team with 52 catches.

Connor will miss Sunday’s game after suffering an ankle injury in Week 13 to the Chargers.

Following Sunday’s game, the Raiders will travel to Cincinnati to clash with the Bengals in Week 15 to round out the AFC North portion of their schedule for 2018. Oakland will return home to face the Broncos on Christmas Eve in Week 16.

Pittsburgh will return home for a big AFC showdown with the New England Patriots in Week 15 before heading down to New Orleans to face off the Saints in Week 16.

San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko Ukalovic: With a four-game win streak, the Barrcuda have all the confidence going into Bakersfield Saturday

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Photo credit: @sjbarracuda

On the San Jose Barracuda podcast with Marko:

#1 The Barracuda didn’t waste any time scoring two quick unanswered goals in the first period and three in the third period good enough to beat the San Diego Gulls on Monday night at SAP Center.

#2 Cuda are the hot team with three straight wins and in first place in the Pacific with 29 points.

#3 The Cuda’s Kyle Wood scored the game-winning goal at the 6:45 mark of the third period when Francis Perron led him with a pass into the San Diego zone.

#4 Wood said it took him some 18 to 19 games to find the back of the net, but was very relieved to get that goal.

#5 The Barracuda face off next in Bakersfield against the Condors. San Jose brings a very confident win streak into Bakersfield the team is pretty confident right now.

Marko does the Barracuda podcasts each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioradioservice.com

San Jose State podcast with Ana Kieu: Football receives early Christmas present; Men’s basketball can’t afford to lose any more games

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Photo credit: sjsu.blogs.edu and kansas.com 

On the San Jose State podcast with Ana: 

1. San Jose State football received an early Christmas present of a $2 million gift commitment, thanks to SJSU alumnus John Hopkirk and his wife Anne Murphy. 

2. The San Jose State football coaching staff has been holding meetings with high school football players, mostly from the state of California. 

3. San Jose State men’s basketball enters Thursday’s game vs. Bethune-Cookman Wildcats with six straight losses. How important is this game and what do the Spartans need to do to pick up a win? 

Ana does the San Jose State podcasts each week for SportsRadioService.com 

Headline Sports with Tony Renteria: Kings’ Hield helps lead with 20 points in win; Can Sharks bounce back after losing road trip?; Is the Giants’ Bum untouchable?; plus more

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Photo credit: @NBA

On Headline Sports with Tony Renteria filling in for London Marq:

#1 For the Sacramento Kings’ Buddy Hield 20 points, five rebounds and one assist to lead the Kings to their second straight win in a row beating the Phoenix Suns 122-105.

#2 Tony has seen the Kings over the course of this season and points out what the Kings have done to win games.

#3 The San Jose Sharks are coming off a long road trip of losing four of their last five games. They got a win in their final game on the road in Montreal but losing still hurts.

#4 The San Francisco Giants have been getting plenty of inquiries regarding pitcher Madison Bumgarner. Tony talks about Bumgarner if he’s untouchable or is he on the table too?

#5 Looking at the Oakland Raiders last loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at the Oakland Coliseum, was this more of a game that was half full? The Raiders played some close ball with the Chiefs, but in the end lost 40-33.

Tony Renteria filled in for London Marq who does the Headline Sports each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O: Suns missing two key scorers; Kings’ Bagley was a maybe, but he can help with offense

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sactownroyalty photo: The Phoenix Suns DeAndre Ayton (22) and the Sacramento Kings Marvin Bagley III (35) faced each other Tuesday night in Phoenix

Sacramento Kings podcast with Charlie O:

#1 Despite having a 4-20 record the Phoenix Suns have home floor and the Kings come in with a shaky defense after the game with Indiana a 111-110 win for the Kings Saturday. Then got the win over the Suns 122-105 Tuesday night.

#2 The Suns are absent a lot of help so much so that they have holes in their line up that could leave them in the Arizona desert of winning for awhile, out Devin Booker, T.J. Warren is day to day.

#3 The Kings last played Saturday giving them two days off and with the rest they should win this game with the Suns two best scorers out of the line up.

#4 How did you like that match up between centers of the Kings Marvin Bagley and the Suns DeAndre Ayton. Bagley was listed a game time decision Bagley has been suffering from back spasms. Bagley and Ayton went to school together.

#5 The Kings head to Cleveland for a December 7th at 4:30PM. No more LeBron how does Charlie see the Kings going up against the Cavs at Quicken Loans Arena.

Today’s podcast is sponsored by Hana Zen at San Francisco’s Pier 39 for fine Japanese Cuisine don’t miss the great sushi and fine Japanese food at Hana Zen.

Charlie O does the Kings podcasts each Tuesday night at http://www.sportsradioservice.com