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Sunday’s six-pack
— If I’m an NFL team interested in drafting Deshaun Watson, I’d want to know why the Clemson QB was in a bar in Alabama. His choice, but I’d just like to know why.
— Bill Self, Tracy McGrady and George McGinnis were among 11 basketball greats elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame Saturday.
— Bruins 5, Florida 2— Boston has a 4-point lead for the last Wild Card spot in the East.
— Clippers 115, Lakers 104— Clippers ran out to a 17-0 lead, then trailed 32-31.
— Portland 130, Phoenix 117— Trailblazers even their record at 38-38.
— At some point, Phil Mickelson paid off a $2M gambling debt. I’d seriously be curious to see how that debt was accumulated; what games over what period of time? I’m a curious guy.
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Sunday’s List of 13: Wrapping up Final Four Saturday
13) Gonzaga 77, South Carolina 73— Were you not entertained? Not often a team goes on a 16-0 run and loses; Gamecocks fought their hearts out, but their bench was outscored 22-14 and Bulldogs advance to play for their first national title Monday night.
12) North Carolina 77, Oregon 76— Ducks shot under 30% from arc in four of their six losses this year; this 7-26 performance was their worst since November losses to Baylor/Georgetown. Oregon held UNC to 36.2% inside the arc, but couldn’t rebound two missed foul shots when it mattered most, and now their great season is over.
11) Charles Barkley predicted Gonzaga to win Monday night before the second game last night was over. I’m predicting the game will get excellent TV ratings.
10) Other than Kentucky/Duke, is recruiting one/done players a good idea? Here are some recent one/done’s and how their coaches made out:
— Dennis Smith, NC State— Mark Gottfried got fired this year.
— Ben Simmons, LSU— Johnny Jones got fired this year, a year after Simmons left.
— Markelle Fultz, Washington— Lorenzo Romar got fired this year.
— Stephen Zimmerman, UNLV- Dave Rice was fired during the season last year.
9) Former VCU/Alabama coach Anthony Grant is the new coach at Dayton; he had been with the Oklahoma City Thunder as an assistant under Billy Donovan.
8) Quote of the Day, Part II: “Players, if anything, need a mental break sometimes. And sorry, they’re human. They go through so much every single day. There are so many obligations off the court that you don’t know about. … It might not be a physical break, it might just be a reset mentally, and I get that.”
Kevin Durant
This made me want to puke, seriously. The regular season is six months long, playoffs run another 6-7 weeks, for the really good teams. You mean to tell me you need a break from playing three games a week for six months a year, but not for physical reasons, but MENTAL ones?
Good God almighty.
7) The key word in all of that is “obligations”. I’d be curious to know what Durant considers his “obligations” to be, and what makes them so demanding that he needs to take games off.
6) Final Four drew 77,612 fans in the Cardinals’ domed stadium last night. They drew 39,380 in San Francisco for an A’s-Giants exhibition game Thursday night. Sports are popular.
5) If NCAA wanted to, they could have the entire March Madness in Las Vegas, with regional games in UNLV’s arena, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand and T-Mobile Arena. The Final Four could be in the Raiders’ new domed stadium, when it gets built.
4) New Mexico fired basketball coach Craig Neal, which was kind of expected after his point guard son Cullen bolted the Lobos for Ole Miss after last season.
3) Grant Hill is throwing out the first ball at the Diamondbacks’ season opener today. There are three games on the baseball schedule. AmericA’S team (the A’s) open on Monday night.
2) One thing about sitting in a Las Vegas casino and I’ll have a lot more on this tomorrow; this is a very diverse set of bettors here in Las Vegas. You meet all kinds of people, you bond over sports and food and you realize that we’re a lot more alike that some people want to admit.
1— Early line for Monday night’s game: UNC -2, total of 154 (getting bet up as we speak).
— If I’m an NFL team interested in drafting Deshaun Watson, I’d want to know why the Clemson QB was in a bar in Alabama. His choice, but I’d just like to know why.
— Bill Self, Tracy McGrady and George McGinnis were among 11 basketball greats elected to the Naismith Hall of Fame Saturday.
— Bruins 5, Florida 2— Boston has a 4-point lead for the last Wild Card spot in the East.
— Clippers 115, Lakers 104— Clippers ran out to a 17-0 lead, then trailed 32-31.
— Portland 130, Phoenix 117— Trailblazers even their record at 38-38.
— At some point, Phil Mickelson paid off a $2M gambling debt. I’d seriously be curious to see how that debt was accumulated; what games over what period of time? I’m a curious guy.
********************
Sunday’s List of 13: Wrapping up Final Four Saturday
13) Gonzaga 77, South Carolina 73— Were you not entertained? Not often a team goes on a 16-0 run and loses; Gamecocks fought their hearts out, but their bench was outscored 22-14 and Bulldogs advance to play for their first national title Monday night.
12) North Carolina 77, Oregon 76— Ducks shot under 30% from arc in four of their six losses this year; this 7-26 performance was their worst since November losses to Baylor/Georgetown. Oregon held UNC to 36.2% inside the arc, but couldn’t rebound two missed foul shots when it mattered most, and now their great season is over.
11) Charles Barkley predicted Gonzaga to win Monday night before the second game last night was over. I’m predicting the game will get excellent TV ratings.
10) Other than Kentucky/Duke, is recruiting one/done players a good idea? Here are some recent one/done’s and how their coaches made out:
— Dennis Smith, NC State— Mark Gottfried got fired this year.
— Ben Simmons, LSU— Johnny Jones got fired this year, a year after Simmons left.
— Markelle Fultz, Washington— Lorenzo Romar got fired this year.
— Stephen Zimmerman, UNLV- Dave Rice was fired during the season last year.
9) Former VCU/Alabama coach Anthony Grant is the new coach at Dayton; he had been with the Oklahoma City Thunder as an assistant under Billy Donovan.
8) Quote of the Day, Part II: “Players, if anything, need a mental break sometimes. And sorry, they’re human. They go through so much every single day. There are so many obligations off the court that you don’t know about. … It might not be a physical break, it might just be a reset mentally, and I get that.”
Kevin Durant
This made me want to puke, seriously. The regular season is six months long, playoffs run another 6-7 weeks, for the really good teams. You mean to tell me you need a break from playing three games a week for six months a year, but not for physical reasons, but MENTAL ones?
Good God almighty.
7) The key word in all of that is “obligations”. I’d be curious to know what Durant considers his “obligations” to be, and what makes them so demanding that he needs to take games off.
6) Final Four drew 77,612 fans in the Cardinals’ domed stadium last night. They drew 39,380 in San Francisco for an A’s-Giants exhibition game Thursday night. Sports are popular.
5) If NCAA wanted to, they could have the entire March Madness in Las Vegas, with regional games in UNLV’s arena, Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand and T-Mobile Arena. The Final Four could be in the Raiders’ new domed stadium, when it gets built.
4) New Mexico fired basketball coach Craig Neal, which was kind of expected after his point guard son Cullen bolted the Lobos for Ole Miss after last season.
3) Grant Hill is throwing out the first ball at the Diamondbacks’ season opener today. There are three games on the baseball schedule. AmericA’S team (the A’s) open on Monday night.
2) One thing about sitting in a Las Vegas casino and I’ll have a lot more on this tomorrow; this is a very diverse set of bettors here in Las Vegas. You meet all kinds of people, you bond over sports and food and you realize that we’re a lot more alike that some people want to admit.
1— Early line for Monday night’s game: UNC -2, total of 154 (getting bet up as we speak).
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