Stanford Cardinal Men’s Basketball Podcast with Matt Harrington: Cardinal looking to get back after loss in Utah: In Colorado tonight to conclude road trip

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University of Utah senior guard Justin Bibbins (1) drove the ball in an NCAA Men’s Basketball game vs. The Stanford Cardinals in Jon M. Huntsman Center in Salt Lake City, UT on Thursday, February 8, 2018. (Photo by Curtis Lin/ Daily Utah Chronicle)

On the Cardinal Podcast with Matt:

The Stanford Cardinal (13-12) and the Utah Utes (14-9) during last Thursday’s meeting in Utah was a game that look like it would be a close contest but the Utes got some offensive punch from Justin Bibbins who led Utah in scoring with 18 points. The Cardinal’s Reid Travis led with 15 points, it was a rough shooting night for the Cardinal. Utah is really a rough place to come in and play. The Utes really do pack that arena up with 15,000 plus so it was really tough for the Cardinal to get in there and seal a victory.

The Utes were really keying on the Cardinal the defense and getting key buckets and the confidence was going to the Utah offense and the Utes weren’t taking the foot off the gas. The Cardinal really struggled to generate any offense. That was something that Utah was keying in on and the Utes are the second best team in the Pac 12. The Cardinal won the game before the Utes game where they beat Oregon by double digits.

Matt Harrington does the Cardinal podcast each Saturday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

Lillard puts up 50 points to lead Trail Blazers past the Kings 118-100

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

IMG_2893

by Charlie O. Mallonee

Sacramento – NBA teams can be divided into tiers. Different reporters and analysts will use different systems and different numbers of tiers to breakdown the league. This reporter is a simple kind of guy, so I go with a 3-tier system:

  1. Tier One is for those teams that have a realistic chance to fight their way into the NBA Finals. In the Eastern Conference, that would include Toronto, Boston, Cleveland (if the new roster comes together) and Washington if everyone stays healthy. Western Conference tier one teams are the Warriors, Rockets and Spurs in my opinion.
  2. Tier Two is reserved for organizations that make the playoffs and some will make to the second-round, but they are still at least one star player away from jumping into tier one. In the East, that would be teams like the Bucks, Pacers, Heat, Sixers and maybe the Pistons. Western Conference teams that can claim tier two status are Minnesota, Portland, OKC, Clippers and Denver.
  3. Tier Three means welcome to Draft Lottery in June. Eastern Conference teams that occupy that status are Charlotte, New York, Chicago, Brooklyn, Orlando and Atlanta. Out West, tier three members are the Kings, Pelicans, Jazz, Lakers, Grizzlies, Suns and Mavericks.

On Friday night, the tier two Portland Trail Blazers – currently tied for fifth-place in the West – came to Sacramento to face the tier three Kings who are currently in the 14th slot in the conference. Sacramento is contending for the worst record in “the Association” and chance to have the number one selection in the 2018 NBA Draft.

The final outcome of the game was predictable given the talent and experience difference that exist between the two teams. Then, add a “lights out” 50 point game by Damian Lillard and the young Kings were doomed.

The contest was an entertaining “see-saw” battle until just under two minutes remained in the first half. The Blazers went on a scoring burst that allowed them to open up a 10 point – 62 to 52 – halftime lead and they would never trail in the game again. Lillard scored six points in those final two minutes.

Sacramento fought hard in the third quarter and eventually cut the Portland lead to just one point – 75 to 74 – with 4:25 remaining in the period. The Trail Blazers regained their motivation and went on a 17-0 run to end the quarter and for all practical purposes the was over. Lillard scored 15 of those 17 points in the run to finish the quarter with 22 points scored in the third.

Lillard did not play in the fourth quarter. The Kings did cut the Portland lead to 13 points midway through the period but the game never really became competitive again. The final was Portland 118 – Sacramento 100.

Coach Dave Joerger’s take on the game

Reporter’s note: True fans of the game – listen closely to his opening statement

Award winning performanceLillard 50A

Portland’s Damian Lillard gets his own top billing for his performance in this game. The veteran guard put up 50 points in just 29-plus minutes of playing time and he accomplished it in just three-quarters of the game. He became the third NBA player to score 50 or more in just three quarters this season. The other two players – James Harden and Lillard’s teammate CJ McCollum.

Lillard shot 16-for-23 from field and hit 8-of-13 from behind the 3-point line. He also converted 10 of 10 free throw opportunities. If scoring 50 points was not enough, Lillard also dished out six assists and made three steals in the game.

Top Performers

Kings

  • The Starting Five: all five of the Sacramento starters finished scoring in double-figures. Beyond the starting five, the Kings used nine players in the game and seven of them scored in double-digits.
  • Willie Cauley-Stein was the Kings top scorer with 19 points. He also recorded six rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and one steal in the contest.
  • The “old man” – Zach Randolph – put 17 points in the book playing just over 26 minutes in the game. Z-Bo also hauled in nine rebounds while going 2-for-2 from 3-point land.
  • De’Aaron Fox was the Kings only true point guard in the game with George Hill shipped off to Cleveland and Frank Mason III still out due to injury. Fox played almost 34-minutes scoring 13 points and distributing nine assists.

Trail Blazers

  • Maurice Harkless was the number two scorer for the Blazers with 15 points. Harkless shot 6-for-9 from the floor went 2-for-3 from behind the 3-point arc.
  • Shabazz Napier recorded 13 points coming off the bench. Napier shot a perfect 5-for-5 overall with three of those baskets coming from downtown.
  • CJ McCollum – one of the other players to score 50 points in three-quarters this season – was credited with 11 points shooting 5-for-13 from the floor.

Key Stats

Portland (31-25)

  • The Blazers shot 48.9-percent (43-for-88) overall in the game and hit 15-of-35 (42.9-percent) from 3-point range.
  • The Trail Blazers love the charity stripe. The converted 17-of-18 opportunities from the free throw line on Friday night.
  • Portland made 10 steals in the game. The Kings had a good night and they had five thefts.

Sacramento (17-37)

  • The Kings posted a 42.2-percent (38-for-90) field goal percentage versus Portland but hit only 9-of-23 attempts from long-range.
  • SAC went to the free throw line 21 times in the game and were successful 15 times (71.4-percent).
  • The Kings scored 20 second-chance points while Portland scored just two points when given an additional opportunity.

Up Next

Sacramento

The Kings will close the unofficial “first half” of the season off on the road. They will play their next game on Sunday in Minnesota versus the T-Wolves. Tip-off is scheduled for 4:00 PM PST.

Portland

The Trail Blazers will head back home and host the Utah Jazz on Sunday.

 

NHL Podcast with Joe Lami: North and South Korean mix on Women’s hockey a fantastic idea; plus all the latest in the NHL

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standard.net photo: Korea’s team preparing for women’s hockey competition in the 2018 PyeongChang Winter Olympics

On the NHL Podcast with Joe:

1 The Vegas Golden Knight s third period in Thursday night’s game at SAP Center in San Jose was one for the books tied 2-2 going into the third period the Knights who lead the Pacific Division scored three goals to take out the San Jose Sharks by two goals 5-3.

2 The Ottawa Senators Mike Hoffman scored his 100th career goal with a winning goal 4-3 on Thursday night a shot to help get past the Nashville Predators goalie Juuse Saros.

3 The Arizona Coyotes came back from a three goal deficit to overcome the Minnesota Wild 4-3

4 The Tampa Bay Lighting got a 5-2 win past the Vancouver Canucks. The Bolts Nikita Kucherov scored his 28th goal of the season snapping an 11 game drought.

5 The Ottawa Senators forward Alex Burrows started serving a ten game suspension for kneeing New Jersey forward Taylor Hall in the head on Tuesday night it was the worse display of unsportsmanship seen in recent memory the NHL

Joe Lami does the NHL and Olympics Podcast at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

 

 

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San Francisco 49ers Podcast with Joe Lami: Many believe Garoppolo can lead 49ers to next Super Bowl

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photo by: si.com

On the 49ers podcast with Joe:

1 49ers quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo who signed a NFL top salary of $137.5 million for five years on Thursday the deal includes a $74 million guarantee during the first three years. $90 million shy of the all time NFL all time three year cash total.

2 With Garoppolo signed that has to give the 49ers a lot of confidence and incentive on the field

3 Garoppolo was the New England Patriots back up to Tom Brady for three years before being traded to the 49ers and going 5-0 after taking over the starting job from CJ Beathard. You have to wonder if the Patriots knew what they had.

4 Garoppolo threw six touchdown passes, five interceptions and completed 67% for 1542 yards.

#5 Garoppolo was offered $17-18 million by the Patriots before leaving New England but turned it down and came to San Francisco knowing he might have a shot at more playing time. After Beathard got injured Garoppolo took over and commandeered the 49ers to a 5-0 record and thus ending up with this $27.5 million a year contract.

Joe Lami is the 49ers beat writer for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

 

Puerto Rico wins second straight Caribbean Series title with 9-4 victory over Dominican Republic

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Photo credit: @PostSumo15

Sports Radio Service is the Only Bay Area Outlet covering the Caribbean Series.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC: 4 | 7 | 0

PUERTO RICO: 9 | 9 | 2

By Lewis Rubman

February 9, 2018

Zapopan, Jalisco, Mexico — History repeated itself Thursday night in Charros Stadium. Puerto Rico’s Criollos de Caguas won their second consecutive Caribbean Series championship, and they managed to pull if off by overcoming a seemingly insurmountable deficit in the seventh inning for the second time in two days.

The Dominican Republic’s representative, the Aguilas Cibaeñas, were’t the only obstacle to Puerto Rico’s stunning victory. A strong rain began to pelt the ballpark in Zapopan about two hours before the scheduled game time of 8:00 pm, causing fear that the contest might be cancelled, but resulting in a only a half an hour’s delay before the first pitch was thrown.

That pitch was thrown by Criollos right hander, Adalberto Flores, Puerto Rico’s starting pitcher in their victory over Mexico on the Series opening night of February 2. That pitch resulted in a third to first  ground out by the Dominicans’ second baseman, Abiatal Avelino. Flores then got two quick strikes on second baseman Gustavo Núñez’s, and that’s when things started to go south on the Criollos. Flores walked Núñez, who stole second, and Junior Lake. A strike out of Edwin Espinal almost got Flores out of the jam, but DH Juan Carlos Pérez smacked a double to right center field that put the team from the Cibao up by two before the Puerto Ricans had had a chance at bat. When Lake doubled Núñez home from first in two innings later, the score stood at 3-0.

Rusney Castillo’s round tripper to left center with two outs in bottom of the third cut the Dominican lead to two runs.

Joe Colón replaced a clearly under performing Flores at the beginning of the fourth. At first, he looked effective, but his own lack of control and the poor play of his infield made a bad situation worse. After Ronny Rodríguez grounded out, Carlos Paulino walked and advanced to second on a wild pitch. The usually sure handed Irving Falú bobbled Héctor Gómez’s grounder to second, and Yefri Pérez, up next, benefited from third baseman David Vidal´s inability to handle his hard hit bouncing ball, reaching first on an error that brought Paulino in with the Aguilas’ fourth run.

Meanwhile, the Cibaeño starter, lefty Raúl Valdés kept mowing down the Puerto Rican batters, allowing them only two hits over six innings of play. The Dominicans’ 4-1 lead going into the seventh seemed just as safe as Cuba’s 4-0 seventh inning lead of the previous afternoon. It turned out to be exactly as save as that lead had been. Valdés walked Anthony García on a 3-1 pitch. Johnny Morrel’s fly ball out to left was deep enough to allow García to tag up and move to second. Valdés walked Vidal and then was removed by manager Lino Rivera,who replaced him on the mound with Ramón Ramírez.

This was not a successful move. A wild pitch to Gotay sent Vidal to second, and then Gotay’s single to right brought in García and Videl, putting Puerto Rico just a run behind the heretofore coasting team from Quisqueya. Dayron Varona’s single to right moved Gotay to second and Ramírez to the showers. In came Wilfrin Obispo, whose third pitch to Jonathan Morales ended up in the left center field bleachers. Puerto Rico finished the seventh inning on top of the Dominican Republic, 6-4.

The question in the top of the eighth was whether the Criollos could hold on to their lead. They could. In the bottom of the inning, the question was if they ever would stop scoring. They eventually did, but not until Jusmiel Valentín, García, and Johnny Morrel had crossed the plate.A walk by Yefri Pérez was all the offense the Aguilas could muster against Miguel Mejía, who came in to close out the win for the now two-time champions of Latin American baseball.In spite of the rain, which lasted until about 7:45, and the ungoing cold, it appeared that at least 90% of the 15,551 people who had bought tickets showed up.

Andrés Santiago, who relieved Colón at the start of the sixth was the winning pitcher, with Mejía getting the save, his second of the Caribbean Series.

The next game will probably take place on Feburary 2, 2019.

Vegas Still Top of Deck After Third Period Rally; Achieved 5-3 Win Over Sharks

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Photo credit: @SanJoseSharks

By Matthew Harrington

The Vegas Golden Knights continued their tear through the Pacific Division Thursday night, rallying from a 3-2 deficit in the third period to best the San Jose Sharks 5-3 at the SAP Center.

Vegas rode its trademarks that have them in first place in the Pacific Division in their inaugural season, receiving outstanding goaltending from a now healthy Marc-Andre Fleury and goals from five different players.

Joe Pavelski scored two goals for the Sharks and Timo Meier continued his breakout second half with his 13th goal of the season.

San Jose opened the game with a boost after Joe Pavelski netted his 11th goal of the season 4:40 into a near-perfect first period. The Sharks held Vegas shotless for the majority of the frame, but a blocked shot bounced back to Erik Haula who beat Martin Jones for his 21st goal of the season on Vegas’ first shot at the 14-minute mark of the first.

Karlsson scored just 37 seconds into the second period, but unfortunately for Sharks fans it was William, not Melker. Then came Meier’s 13th goal with Brent Burns pick up his second assist of the game, tying the score 2-2 at the 11:47 mark into the middle frame on the power play.

The man-advantage again struck, with Joe Pavelski tipping home his 12th goal of the campaign 7:45 into the third. Consecutive goals by Brayden McNabb, James Neal and a power play strike from Jonathan Marchessault doomed San Jose in the fateful final frame. In total, the Sharks threw 38 shots on net, while Martin Jones turned aside 28 Golden Knights shots.

Vegas now improves to 2-0 against the Sharks who are 2-4-1 during the absence of top line center Joe Thornton with a knee injury.

San Jose next squares off against wunderkind Connor McDavid and the Edmonton Oilers, once reeling but now hitting full stride thanks to their young superstar. The Sharks will have seek revenge for a first round playoff exit last season at the hands of the Western Canadian team.

Utes hand Pac-12 defeat to Stanford 75-60; Utah’s Bibbins leads with 18 points

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photo by: utahutes.com

By Daniel Dullum
Sports Radio Service
Thursday, February 8, 2018

Utah snapped a two-game losing streak Thursday, as the Utes led from start-to-finish in a 75-60 Pac-12 men’s basketball win over visiting Stanford.

Justin Bibbins led the Utes (14-9 overall, 6-6 Pac-12) with 18 points. Bibbins was 7-of-9 from the field, including 4-for-4 on 3-pointers. Sedrick Barefield netted 17 points and David Collette was next for Utah with 13 points.

Overall, the Utes shot 50 percent – their season best in conference play. Stanford had a 38-31 rebounding edge.

The Cardinal (13-12, 7-5) had their two-game winning streak snapped. Reid Travis led Stanford with 16 points and 10 rebounds, and Daejon Davis added 14 points.

Utah led 40-28 at halftime, as Bibbins and Collette combined for 20 points in the first half. A 14-0 second half run, capped by a Bibbins 3-pointer, put the Utes up 67-44.

Though the Cardinal started the night as the second-best shooting team in the Pac-12 at 49 percent, Utah held them to 30.8 percent in the first 20 minutes. Stanford finished the game hitting 35.8 percent from the field.

Utah won despite missing Donnie Tillman, their leading rebounder, who was on the bench in street clothes. Utes Coach Larry Krystkowiak said it was not a disciplinary action.

The loss didn’t help Stanford’s pursuit of a first-round bye in the Pac-12 tournament. Utah, meanwhile, improved its chances of a top-four seed.

Stanford travels to Boulder, Colo,, on Sunday to face Colorado.

Kings Press Row Podcast: Trade Deadline Edition

Published on by Charlie O. MalloneeLeave a comment

press row podcast

Hosts Charlie O and Jordan “Chape” Chapin

  • February 8th was the NBA trade deadline and it was a very active day for the Sacramento Kings

  • Point Guard George Hill did become a Cleveland Cavalier as it had been rumored for weeks but it happened in a three team team deal that surprised many observers

  • Hill goes to Cleveland while Iman Shumpert, Joe Johnson, a 2020 second-round draft pick and cash come to Sacramento

  • In a big surprise move – Georgios Papagiannis is wavied while Malachi Richardson is sent to Toronto for Bruno Caboclo

  • Look for Johnson to be bought out while there could still be additional roster moves to come

  • Charlie O and Chape also take a look at the Kings schedule up to the All-Star break

  • This is a fun 30-minute listen for Kings fans that will bring you up to date on all the latest happenings with your favorite team

After a slow start, Warriors regain their mojo and rout the Dallas Mavericks 121-103

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Photo credit: nba.com

By Jerry Feitelberg

The Warriors did not get off to a good start Thursday evening at Oracle Arena against the Dallas Mavericks as they were outscored 33-23 in the first quarter. They were not playing defense nor were they scoring on offense, and the Mavericks raced out to an early 10-point lead.

The Warriors could not gain ground as they trailed by nine, 44-35, at one point. Then, veteran center David West sparked a 10-2 run to cut the deficit to one, 46-45. The two teams traded leads the rest of the way, and the first half was tied at 60.

The Mavericks took nine more shots in the half, but were held to just 46% from the floor. The Warriors shot 57.5% from the floor but made only four three-pointers in 13 attempts.

Draymond Green and Klay Thompson each hit a three-pointer to start the third quarter, but the Mavericks went on a 10-0 run to take a 70-66 lead. The Warriors continued to commit a lot of turnovers, and at one point in the game, they had committed 11, which allowed Dallas to score 17 points.

About halfway through the quarter, the Warriors apparently decided to play quality basketball as their defense improved and their offense clicked. Steph Curry and Kevin Durant led the Warrior attack, and they were able to build an eight-point lead, 93-86, at the end of the third quarter.

In the fourth quarter, the Warriors’ bench led by Green, David West, Shaun Livingston and Andre Iguodala, shut down the Mavericks’ offense as they broke the game open. Curry and Durant sat out during the final moments of the game. Thompson made a couple of key buckets, but was taken out with less than six minutes to play.

The Warriors defeated the Mavericks by a score of 121-103.

Game notes and Stats: With the win, the Warriors improved to 42-13 and the Mavericks’ record dropped to 17-38.

Former Warrior, Harrison Barnes, did not play for Dallas as he is recovering from an ankle injury.

The Warriors’ Big Four were all in double figures.

Green had a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Durant led the team with 24. Curry had 20 points, eight assists, and seven rebounds. Thompson finished the night with 18, David West had 10, and the Warrior bench was productive with 39 points.

Mavericks veteran power forward Dirk Nowitzki is in his 20th season with Dallas and tallied 16 points. Former Stanford star, Dwight Powell, scored 18 points. Dennis Smith, Jr was impressive for the Mavericks with 22 points. Wesly Matthews added 17 points.

The Warriors stopped committing turnovers halfway through the third quarter and finished the night with 16. They are 31-4 when they commit 16 or fewer turnovers in a game.

The Warriors finished the night shooting 14-for-29 from the 3-point range. They also recorded 37 assists.

After the game, Warriors’ head coach Steve Kerr had quite a few things to say: “It took us a while to get going but I “liked the way we dug out.”

“Dallas controlled the first half but (I) didn’t feel we were in danger.”

“Liked the way Draymond fought. He was “just competing, but nothing was going down for him.”

” I think our talent took over in the third quarter. If we take care of the ball, we’re going to be in good shape.”

Up Next: The Warriors will be tested on Saturday as they welcome the San Antonio Spurs to Oracle Arena at 5:30 pm PT.

Sports Headlines Podcast with Tony Renteria: AT&T Pro Am expecting top notch weather through tournament; Will MLB players really boycott spring training over unsigned free agents?

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Photo credit: @SkySportsGolf

On the Sports Headlines with Tony Renteria:

1 The AT&T Pebble Beach Pro Am couldn’t have timed the tournament for a better week for perfect weather as there is no rain in the forecast. A great forecast at the AT&T for this week’s AT&T.

2 The favorite things about playing in the AT&T according to the players is the two different courses including Spy Glass Hill. The Tournament is set up in four  different classes of players, Team 1 Pros, Team 1 Amateur, Team 2 Pro, and Team 2 Amateur.

3 Rory McIlroy is amongst the favorites to win the tournament by the oddsmakers. McIlroy is making his first AT&T appearance and is considered a well known experienced player who no one would really be surprised to be on the top of the leaderboard this week.

4 MLB Players Association are rumored to be considering a boycott of spring training over baseball’s lack of signing free agents. According to Players Union Representative Tony Clark there is a record number of players who have not been signed going into this spring training. MLB clubs are going to see their revenue sharing shrink and clubs are now cutting back and working with less thus cutting expenses and even player salaries and that would free agents.

5 It’s been since 1994-95 that MLB has had a strike Tony takes a look at what a boycott would do to the game if the players walked out as there’s four more years left on the MLB Collective Bargaining Agreement.

Tony talks Sports Headlines each Wednesday at http://www.sportsradioservice.com

https://soundcloud.com/sports-radio-service/sports-headlines-with-tony-renteria-thu-feb-7-2018