Armadillo: Thursday's six-pack
ACC basketball has been re-configured for four years; here are cumulative standings:
Virginia 56-16 conference games, 7-4 NCAA games
North Carolina 52-20, 14-3
Duke 50-22, 9-3
Louisville 48-18, 4-2 (only 3 years)
Notre Dame 43-29, 7-3
Syracuse 42-30, 5-2
Miami 40-32, 2-2
Florida State 37-35, 1-1
Clemson 34-38, 0-0
Pittsburgh 32-40, 1-2
NC State 28-44, 3-2
Georgia Tech 25-47, 0-0
Virginia Tech 24-48, 0-1
Wake Forest 22-50, 0-1
Boston College 10-62, 0-0
**********
Armadillo: Thursday's List of 13: Nobody asked me, but………
13) Sometimes there are no good options, something I’m sure OKC Thunder coach Billy Donovan is thinking about now that his team was eliminated from the NBA Playoffs by the Houston Rockets in five very interesting games.
Fact #1: In the five games, Oklahoma City was +15 with Russell Westbrook on the floor, -58 when he was off the floor. Donovan tried very hard to find spots to rest Westbrook, but when he did, the team suffered.
Know-it-alls like myself suggested that Westbrook never come out of the game, but in the series, (Fact #2) Westbrook shot 14-49 in the 4th quarter- thats 28.6%, which is dismal.
He needed rest, he needed better teammates, and in the end, without those, they just were not gonna beat Houston, no matter what strategy Donovan used.
12) I’m not always crazy about TNT’s Reggie Miller as an analyst, but thought he did an excellent job on the Game 5 Houston-OKC telecast— he stated a definitive opinion about playing/sitting Westbrook, said why he thought that way and then let the game unfold. Well done.
11) Trea Turner hit for the cycle in Denver Tuesday nite, had seven RBI; he is the first player since Troy Tulowitzki in 2009 to hit for the cycle and also knock in 7+ runs in that game.
10) I’m sure the organizers at the Zurich Classic are thrilled that Jordan Spieth is playing in their event in New Orleans this week; I’m not sure they’re thrilled that word got out that the reason that Spieth is playing is because he lost a bet with partner Ryan Palmer’s caddy.
9) Miami Marlins are playing the Phillies this week, but the NFL bought up all the hotel rooms to Philly this week for their Draft, so the Marlins are staying in Wilmington, Delaware, which according to MapQuest, is 32.6 miles away.
8) Michigan Wolverines are having spring football practice in Italy; I’m not sure why, but that has to be pretty expensive.
7) Odd college basketball stat: over the last three years, Hofstra is 5-22 vs spread in CAA home games, which is awful; during same time, they’re 17-9-1 vs spread on CAA road, 9-1-1 as road underdogs the last two seasons.
6) Kansas City Chiefs haven’t drafted a QB in the first round since Todd Blackledge in 1983.
5) Big week for UNLV’s basketball program; they’ve bagged three excellent recruits, including a 5-star center, Brandon McCoy. Rebels will be back near the top of the Mountain West next winter, helped by Steve Fisher retiring as coach at San Diego State.
4) A’s get good news; Kendall Graveman will be activated and pitch for Oakland Thursday in Anaheim against the Angels.
3) Sounds like a group of 5+ investors, which includes Jeb Bush/Derek Jeter, are going to buy the Miami Marlins for $1.3B from hideous Jeffrey Loria, who won’t be missed.
Sounds like Jeb Bush won by losing; I’d rather own the Marlins than be President.
2) NBA fined Houston Rockets’ owner Les Alexander $100,000 after he left his court side seat during live game action to yell at referee Bill Kennedy during Game 5 Tuesday nite.
When you look at how close fans are to the action in NBA games, it really is surprising that stuff like this doesn’t happen more often.
1— ESPN fired around 100 people this week, many of them people we’ve seen on TV for several years- tough day in the TV industry.
My question is this: How did they decide who they kept, and who they told to take a hike?
For the foreseeable future, every time I watch ESPN, I’ll be wondering why they kept the person on my TV screen instead of someone they fired. Human nature, I guess.
ACC basketball has been re-configured for four years; here are cumulative standings:
Virginia 56-16 conference games, 7-4 NCAA games
North Carolina 52-20, 14-3
Duke 50-22, 9-3
Louisville 48-18, 4-2 (only 3 years)
Notre Dame 43-29, 7-3
Syracuse 42-30, 5-2
Miami 40-32, 2-2
Florida State 37-35, 1-1
Clemson 34-38, 0-0
Pittsburgh 32-40, 1-2
NC State 28-44, 3-2
Georgia Tech 25-47, 0-0
Virginia Tech 24-48, 0-1
Wake Forest 22-50, 0-1
Boston College 10-62, 0-0
**********
Armadillo: Thursday's List of 13: Nobody asked me, but………
13) Sometimes there are no good options, something I’m sure OKC Thunder coach Billy Donovan is thinking about now that his team was eliminated from the NBA Playoffs by the Houston Rockets in five very interesting games.
Fact #1: In the five games, Oklahoma City was +15 with Russell Westbrook on the floor, -58 when he was off the floor. Donovan tried very hard to find spots to rest Westbrook, but when he did, the team suffered.
Know-it-alls like myself suggested that Westbrook never come out of the game, but in the series, (Fact #2) Westbrook shot 14-49 in the 4th quarter- thats 28.6%, which is dismal.
He needed rest, he needed better teammates, and in the end, without those, they just were not gonna beat Houston, no matter what strategy Donovan used.
12) I’m not always crazy about TNT’s Reggie Miller as an analyst, but thought he did an excellent job on the Game 5 Houston-OKC telecast— he stated a definitive opinion about playing/sitting Westbrook, said why he thought that way and then let the game unfold. Well done.
11) Trea Turner hit for the cycle in Denver Tuesday nite, had seven RBI; he is the first player since Troy Tulowitzki in 2009 to hit for the cycle and also knock in 7+ runs in that game.
10) I’m sure the organizers at the Zurich Classic are thrilled that Jordan Spieth is playing in their event in New Orleans this week; I’m not sure they’re thrilled that word got out that the reason that Spieth is playing is because he lost a bet with partner Ryan Palmer’s caddy.
9) Miami Marlins are playing the Phillies this week, but the NFL bought up all the hotel rooms to Philly this week for their Draft, so the Marlins are staying in Wilmington, Delaware, which according to MapQuest, is 32.6 miles away.
8) Michigan Wolverines are having spring football practice in Italy; I’m not sure why, but that has to be pretty expensive.
7) Odd college basketball stat: over the last three years, Hofstra is 5-22 vs spread in CAA home games, which is awful; during same time, they’re 17-9-1 vs spread on CAA road, 9-1-1 as road underdogs the last two seasons.
6) Kansas City Chiefs haven’t drafted a QB in the first round since Todd Blackledge in 1983.
5) Big week for UNLV’s basketball program; they’ve bagged three excellent recruits, including a 5-star center, Brandon McCoy. Rebels will be back near the top of the Mountain West next winter, helped by Steve Fisher retiring as coach at San Diego State.
4) A’s get good news; Kendall Graveman will be activated and pitch for Oakland Thursday in Anaheim against the Angels.
3) Sounds like a group of 5+ investors, which includes Jeb Bush/Derek Jeter, are going to buy the Miami Marlins for $1.3B from hideous Jeffrey Loria, who won’t be missed.
Sounds like Jeb Bush won by losing; I’d rather own the Marlins than be President.
2) NBA fined Houston Rockets’ owner Les Alexander $100,000 after he left his court side seat during live game action to yell at referee Bill Kennedy during Game 5 Tuesday nite.
When you look at how close fans are to the action in NBA games, it really is surprising that stuff like this doesn’t happen more often.
1— ESPN fired around 100 people this week, many of them people we’ve seen on TV for several years- tough day in the TV industry.
My question is this: How did they decide who they kept, and who they told to take a hike?
For the foreseeable future, every time I watch ESPN, I’ll be wondering why they kept the person on my TV screen instead of someone they fired. Human nature, I guess.