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Archives for January 30, 2019

Brady In Super, Pre-Game Form

January 30, 2019 by Digital Sports Desk

ATLANTA — Tom Brady, preparing to start his record-stretching ninth Super Bowl on Sunday, knows positive signs when they appear and after two nights of sleep at his team hotel in Atlanta, the 41-year-old quarterback loves what he sees from the New England Patriots.

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It started Monday night, when tight end Rob Gronkowski broke into spontaneous dance moves during Opening Night introductions at State Farm Arena. Brady said Gronkowski’s gyrations should give everyone associated with the Patriots “a good feeling.”

“I was standing right next to him and he was having a good time, which tells me a lot of good things,” Brady said of Gronkowski, who was not available to media Tuesday afternoon. “It means he’s feeling good, and he’s excited. I think we should all be happy about that.

“The next sign Brady needs to see: execution at practice. The Patriots will be on the field Wednesday at Georgia Tech University.”Having a good practice gives you confidence — all of those things are going come up on Sunday,” he said.

Brady is well-practiced when it comes to the Super Bowl. While the Patriots are playing for a Lombardi Trophy for the third consecutive season, the experience is still novel for a handful of players on the roster. Brady is sharing his advice in-house.

“It’s a long game, a lot of timeouts, a lot of breaks,” Brady said, adding he will encourage players to spend Saturday searching out rest and reminding families on hand the one remaining day of the season is by far the most critical.

For Brady, weekend distractions are not an issue.His family will arrive Thursday, when the Patriots host a family meal and help players set priorities for the two remaining days of preparation: a Friday practice and Saturday walkthrough.

“I know what I need to prioritize,” Brady said. “Nothing really gets in the way of that. I’m not really going out at night.”

Patriots offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels said the reason Brady is still playing at a high level is no one expects more from Brady than Brady himself. Practice and game day are not dramatically different in terms of Brady’s level of intensity.

When asked to identify the best things about the season the Patriots will close the book on this week, Brady didn’t discuss the dramatic overtime win at Kansas City or any other victory.

“It was nice this season with no injuries to be a full-go at practice,” he said.McDaniels was willing to point out Brady is one of the best “in the history of the game” at getting rid of the ball quickly. Brady said he will be mindful of getting the ball out of his hand Sunday against likely NFL Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald and his sidekick at defensive tackle, Ndamukong Suh.

“This is a really unique defense,” Brady said, with a wry grin. “It’s going to take our best game.”Patriots fans are beyond looking for positive signs in Brady. His 5-3 record in the Super Bowl includes wins in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2015 and 2017. The losses, to the New York Giants (twice) and last year against the Philadelphia Eagles, provide “mental scar tissue,” the type of endemic Brady uses as fuel.

But if New England fans needed a morsel of optimism on Tuesday, it could be found in a wide-open and relaxed Brady sharing stories about snapping a golf club, punching a hole in the wall and smashing a video game controller in what turned into a spontaneous Ask Me Anything style session with a couple hundred members of the media and cameramen.

“Must be a big game,” he said to start the festivities.

However, Brady, trained under tight-lipped head coach Bill Belichick, wanted no part of the “GOAT” questions again Tuesday.”Football is a team sport,” he said.

Even so, a win over the Rams would put New England, Brady and Belichick on a plane all their own, peerless and unparalleled by the most legendary winners in the sport

“He’s a great quarterback,” Belichick said of Brady. “I’d certainly put him up there against anybody. I don’t think it’s my job to rate anyone. His record is unmatched and I’m glad that he’s my quarterback.”

–By Jeff Reynolds, Field Level Media

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Filed Under: Boston Sports, New England Patriots, NFL, NFL Playoffs, Super Bowl LI Tagged With: NFL, Super Bowl LIII, SuperBowl

Guilty …

January 30, 2019 by Digital Sports Desk

NEW YORK – Former South Carolina and Oklahoma State assistant coach Lamont Evans plead guilty to a conspiracy to commit bribery charge Wednesday.

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Evans became the third former coach — Tony Bland (USC) and Emanuel “Book” Richardson (Arizona) were the others — to plead guilty in a corruption scandal that rocked college basketball.

Evans was accused of taking $22,000 in bribes to steer South Carolina and Oklahoma State basketball players toward certain financial advisers and business managers when they turned pro.

He agreed to pay back $22,000 and could face up to two years in prison at sentencing, which was scheduled for May 10.

Evans was arrested in September 2017 as one of four assistant coaches caught on FBI wiretaps. The other three arrested were former Auburn assistant Chuck Person, Richardson and Bland.

Person’s trial is expected to be held in June.

The corruption scandal led to the firing of Louisville coach Rick Pitino, and court testimony last fall placed schools such as Kansas and North Carolina State under scrutiny.

Former Adidas executive James Gatto, former agent runner Christian Dawkins and former Adidas consultant Merl Code were found guilty of conspiracy to commit wire fraud in October after a trial in New York. Code and Dawkins face a separate trial for the bribery charges in April.

The three men are slated to be sentenced on March 5.

–Field Level Media

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Filed Under: NCAA, NCAA Basketball, SPORTS BIZ Tagged With: NCAAB

Celtics Game Scout

January 30, 2019 by Digital Sports Desk

Charlotte Hornets at Boston Celtics

When: 7:30 PM ET, Wednesday, January 30, 2019
Where: TD Garden, Boston
Preview for Digital Sports Desk by Gracenote

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BOSTON – The Boston Celtics are winners of six of their last seven games and are deep enough to thrive even when All-Star point guard Kyrie Irving sits out. The Celtics could be without Irving again when they wrap up a five-game homestand by hosting the Charlotte Hornets.

Irving (hip) sat out two of the last three games – appearing long enough to drop 32 points and 10 assists on the defending champion Golden State Warriors during a 115-111 setback on Saturday – and could miss one more as Boston tries to keep its star healthy for the stretch run. The Celtics were just fine without Irving on Monday, when Marcus Smart and Jaylen Brown scored 21 points apiece to pace a 112-104 win over the Brooklyn Nets that improved the team’s home record to 20-6. The Hornets eased past the lowly New York Knicks 101-92 on Monday at home but own a 7-17 record on the road. Charlotte’s All-Star point guard, Kemba Walker, is healthy but struggling and went 8-of-28 from the floor over the last two games, including 3-of-11 from beyond the arc.

TV: 7:30 p.m. ET, FS Southeast (Charlotte), NBCS Boston

ABOUT THE HORNETS (24-25): Reserve shooting guard Malik Monk finished with 14 points on 5-of-12 shooting in 22 minutes on Monday but did the bulk of his damage in a key stretch in the fourth quarter, scoring 12 points during a 17-1 run that put Charlotte ahead for good. “Monk was special in the fourth,” Hornets coach James Borrego told reporters. “That’s what he can do. Kemba found him a couple of times and he was ready to fire. He’s been working on his game. He’s been ready for this moment. Give him a lot of credit.” Monk was one of four reserves to score in double figures on Monday as the bench carried the load with 53 points and 25 rebounds.

ABOUT THE CELTICS (31-19): Boston survived the loss of Irving on Monday thanks to its depth on offense and a tenacious defensive effort that resulted in a franchise record-tying 16 blocks. “They just keep on going to the basket,” center Al Horford, who led the way with six blocks, told reporters. “That’s just what they do. We knew coming in that they attack the paint and our guys did a good job of waiting until the last second to impact the ball. We had some success with that.” Horford added 14 points and 11 rebounds in the win for his third straight double-double.

BUZZER BEATERS

1. Hornets C Willy Hernangomez recorded 11 points and 11 rebounds on Monday for his third double-double of the season.

2. Celtics PG Terry Rozier is averaging 14.7 points on 46.8 percent shooting in seven games starting in place of Irving.

3. The teams split the first two meetings, with Boston earning a 119-103 home win on Dec. 23 behind 25 points from Irving.

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Filed Under: Boston Celtics, Boston Sports, NBA Tagged With: Boston Celtics, NBA

PGA Tour: At a Glance

January 30, 2019 by Digital Sports Desk

PGA TOUR
LAST TOURNAMENT: Farmers Insurance Open (Justin Rose)
THIS WEEK: Waste Management Open, Jan. 31-Feb. 3
TPC Scottsdale, Scottsdale, Ariz. (Par 71, 7,261 yards)
Purse: $7.1 million (Winner: $1.278M and 500 FedEx Cup points)
Defending champion: Gary Woodland
Current FedEx Cup Leader: Xander Schauffele
Television: Thursday-Friday, 3-7 p.m. (Golf Channel); Saturday-Sunday, 1-3 p.m. (Golf Channel), 3-6 p.m. (NBC Sports).

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SCOTTSDALE – Commentator Johnny Miller will be in the booth for the final time Saturday, with replacement Paul Azinger taking over for Sunday’s final round. … The top three players in the FedEx Cup standings are in the field: Schauffele, Matt Kuchar and Woodland. … Gary Woodland won last year’s event with a par on the first sudden death playoff hole against Chez Reavie. … Jon Rahm, a four-time All-American at nearby Arizona State University, enters with three top-10 finishes in five starts this season and will be making his third consecutive start on the “West Coast Swing.” … Fellow former ASU star Phil Mickelson is a three-time winner at TPC Scottsdale and will be making his record 30th start in the event, breaking a tie with Gene Littler, Jim Ferrier and Jerry Barber. … The event has finished in a playoff each of the past three years, with Japan’s Hideki Matsuyama proving victorious in the first two. He withdrew with a wrist injury after the first round last year.
NEXT WEEK: AT&T Pebble Beach Pro-Am, Pebble Beach, Calif.

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Big East Update

January 30, 2019 by Digital Sports Desk

INDIANAPOLIS – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – Three of the four games on Wednesday are in-season rematches where the home team won the first meeting.

Tonight’s first tipoff is 6:30 p.m. ET on FS1 when No. 10 travels to Butler.  This is the only game of the night that is a first meeting of the season.  After losing its league opener, Marquette has won seven BIG EAST games in a row, its longest streak since 2011-12.  The longest run as a BIG EAST member was a nine-game streak to open the 2008-09 season.  The Golden Eagles are 18-3 overall and 7-1 in the league.  Butler, in the logjam of teams below Villanova and Marquette, is 3-5 in the league and 12-9 overall.  The Bulldogs have won the last five games in the series against the Golden Eagles.

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No. 14 Villanova plays at DePaul at 8 p.m. on CBS Sports Network.  In the first meeting between the two teams on Jan. 2, the Blue Demons led for 31 minutes before the Wildcats rallied for a 73-68 win at Finneran Pavilion.  Villanova is 16-4 overall and 7-0 in the BIG EAST, while DePaul is 11-8 and 3-5.  The Wildcats have won eight in a row.  DePaul has outrebounded its opponent in every victory this season and leads the league in rebounding margin at 6.3.

Seton Hall wants to turn the tables on Providence when the teams meet at Prudential Center at 7 p.m. on FSN.  The Friars beat the Pirates 72-63 on Jan. 15.  David Duke led PC with 18 points.  In Sunday’s win over DePaul, Providence welcomed back freshman A.J. Reeves from a foot injury.  He scored 11 points in 11 minutes.  The Pirates are trying to end a four-game losing streak.  They play four of their next six games at home.

On Jan. 16, St. John’s defeated Creighton 81-66 at Carnesecca Arena.  The two teams meet at CHI Health Center in Omaha at 8:30 p.m. on FS1.  Since the first meeting, the Bluejays are 2-0 while the Johnnies are 0-2.  Shamorie Ponds led St. John’s in the first meeting with 22 points.  Creighton’s Ty-Shon Alexander, the reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week, is averaging 17.6 points overall and 18.1 in conference play. 

After Sunday’s results, home teams hold only a 21-17 edge in conference play with 18 of the 38 conference games decided by six points or less.

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Filed Under: Big East, NCAA, NCAA Basketball Tagged With: Big East

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