Saturday, September 28, 2019

one foul shot

According to Zach Lowe, the NBA developmental league is experimenting with a new rule this season that could take some time off games when it comes to free throws.

Rather than having a player shoot two or three free throws, the league will instead allow players to shoot only a single free throw when fouled. That free throw will count for all of the points a player could have scored on the foul. If a player is fouled on a two-pointer, he would take one free throw for two points. These rules will be in place for most of each game but will revert back to traditional rules for the last two minutes and overtime of each game.

Thursday, September 26, 2019

NBA player's heights to officially change

Marc Stein: “NBA teams were notified this week that they must certify and submit precise height and age for every play within the first week of training camp league sources tell New York Times Sports… For years some players have been listed as taller –– and some shorter –– than they really are. The league clearly wants to change that. Height will be measured with players’ shoes OFF, I’m told. Player weight will not be sought because that number fluctuates so often.”

Notable NBA insider Marc Stein, formerly of ESPN and now with the New York Times is reporting the NBA is implementing sweeping changes with how teams present the height of their players in media guides and websites, as the actual height of players has long been a running joke around the sport.

Most NBA fans believe the height listed on websites is the exact height of the player but those measurements are actually the height of the player with shoes ON and rounded up.

The age-old hoodwink has obviously been around pro and amateur sports for years, with players often getting one or two inches and 10-15 pounds tacked onto their build. The NBA is now looking to stop the often laughable deception.

With the average age of the league decreasing every year, you’re bound to see a handful of teenage players experiencing growth spurts as their bodies mature in the league, but some players have notably been displaying inaccurate heights for years.

Kevin Durant has been listed at 6’9” his entire career, but even Durant admits that he’s actually 7’0” tall and was using the shorter listing to not be stereotyped as a typical slow-footed and unathletic seven-foot big man.

Dallas Mavericks point guard J.J. Barea is billed at 6’0” on every media guide and website, yet Barea confessed that he’s actually 5’10”.

Allen Iverson has always been listed at 6’0” as well, even though people have argued for years that he was well under six feet tall.

Look for plenty of players to be exposed when rosters are finalized in the coming weeks before the season’s late October premiere.

NBA top players 2019-2020

ESPN's list

20.  Donovan Mitchell
19.  Bradley Beal
18.  Karl-Anthony Towns
17.  Kemba Walker
16.  Luca Doncic
15.  Ben Simmons
14.  Rudy Gobert
13.  C.J. McCollum
12.  Russell Westbrook
11.  Kyrie Irving
10.  Paul George
9.  Damian Lillard
8.  Joel Embiid
7.  Nikola Jokic
6.  Stephen Curry
5.  Anthony Davis
4.  James Harden
3.  LeBron James

Which leaves Giannis and Kawhi

SI's list

20.  Kemba Walker
19.  Blake Griffin
18.  Al Horford
17.  Draymond Green
16.  LaMarcus Aldridge
15.  Kyrie Irving
14.  Rudy Gobert
13.  Karl-Anthony Towns
12.  Russell Westbrook
11.  Jimmy Butler
10.  Damian Lillard
9.  Paul George
8.  Nikola Jokic
7.  Joel Embiid
6.  Anthony Davis
5.  James Harden
4.  Stephen Curry
3.  LeBron James
2.  Kawhi Leonard
1.  Giannis Antetokounmpo

Tuesday, September 24, 2019

Hugh Yoshida and Bob Nash named to Circle of Honor

HONOLULU – The Class of 2019 of the University of Hawai'i Sports Circle of Honor was officially enshrined at the third annual Green & White Celebration, Sunday at the Stan Sheriff Center. The 37th class included national champion diver Emma Friesen, basketball great Bob Nash, former Athletics Director Hugh Yoshida, and longtime booster Carolyn Berry Wilson.

The plaques of this year's four inductees are among the 123 individuals and 12 teams anchored on the inner walls surrounding the main concourse of the Stan Sheriff Center. Friesen is only the second diver to be enshrined while Nash is the 13th basketball player but the only one to have played and coached for the Rainbow Warriors. Yoshida is the ninth Athletics Director to be inducted.

Attendees sampled food from various restaurants including 12th Avenue Grill, Da Spot, Holoholo Grill, Liliha Bakery, Sodexo, Karai Crab, Tikis Grill & Bar, and Town Kaimuki. In addition a silent auction featured trips, memorabilia, and gift certificates.

The event raised money for UH student-athlete success initiatives including cost of attendance, summer school and nutrition.

Brief biographies of the Circle of Honor Class of 2019 inductees are listed below:

Carolyn Berry Wilson is a successful philanthropist and passionate fan for UH men's basketball. She was instrumental in organizing UH Athletics' first $1 million endowment campaign to support men's basketball undergraduate and graduate scholarships and became a member of the University's Founder Club through her generous giving. The 2008 Charlie Ushijima Award winner also served on the board of 'Ahahui Koa Ānuenue, the school's primary fundraising organization, the UH Men's Basketball Booster Club and the UH Mānoa Chancellor's Advisory Council. In addition, the West Virginia native is also heavily involved in the local community serving on numerous boards including the Honolulu Symphony, Diamond Head Theater, and Chaminade University to name a few.

Emma Friesen won the 2008 NCAA Championship in the 1-meter diving event and was a four-time All-American, arguably the most decorated diver in program history She was also a six-time NCAA qualifier and four-time Western Athletic Conference champion in the 1-meters and two-time champion in the 3-meters. The Canadian was a two-time recipient of the Joe Kearney Award (2008 & 2011), given to the top female athlete in the WAC, and two-time WAC Diver of the Year. In 2008, she was one of three NCAA Diver of the Year recipients. The 2011 Jack Bonham Award winner is the UH record holder in the 1-meter event.

Hugh Yoshida became the first Athletics Director of Japanese-American descent in Division I athletics and spent nearly a decade as AD from 1993-2002. During his tenure, he was responsible for expanding the number of sports programs from 16 to 19; doubling the department's operating budget to $17 million; and spearheading the development of a six-year gender equity plan. In addition, he was instrumental in the funding of the Nagatani Academic Center while outsourcing the department's academic services to the College of Arts and Sciences, both of which saw the immediate rise in academic success of UH's student-athletes. His vision to expand the University's reach through television and radio resulted in the school's first million-dollar radio contract and expansive TV coverage throughout the country. Numerous facility upgrades were completed under his supervision including the completion of the Stan Sheriff Center and Rainbow Wahine Softball Stadium.

Bob Nash dedicated 31 years of his life to the Hawai'i men's basketball program, including two as a member of the famed "Fabulous Five" of the 1970s. He was named to numerous All-American teams and helped lead UH to its first NIT (1971) and NCAA Tournament (1972) appearances. Following his career, he was selected ninth overall in the 1972 NBA Draft, the highest UH draft pick in program history at the time. He held school records for rebounds in a game (30) and in a season (361) and averaged a double-double for his career (16.8 ppg and 13.6 rpg). Following his professional playing career, he spent 26 years as an assistant to coaches Larry Little, Frank Arnold, and Riley Wallace and three years as head coach (2007-10).

Thursday, September 12, 2019

the New Aloha Stadium

[9/12/19]  Having the new Aloha Stadium ready for a 2023 football season opening is “eminently do-able, sensible and economical,” said the head of the company overseeing the project for the state.

In his first public comments on the planning for the facility, Stacey Jones, owner and a senior principal of Kansas City-based Crawford Architects, said, “What we’re allowing is a design and construction period of somewhere a little less than three years which, in our experience, is ample time to deliver the stadium plus whatever constitutes the first phase of development …”

Jones said, “I mean, there is an imperative, right, to get out of this old stadium as quickly as possible without being hasty about it. It doesn’t exactly fulfill the customer satisfaction requirements it did when it was built back in (1975). It has ongoing deferred maintenance problems and issues that are expensive to address and is getting more expensive. The longer it takes to build the new stadium the more expensive it becomes because of inflation and other demands.”

Aloha Stadium opened in 1975 but the price tag on remediation of rust and other issues has run several times the initial $37 million cost.

[9/9/19] Three preliminary options for the new Aloha Stadium

Saturday, September 07, 2019

NFL deals 2019

9/17/19 - Giants replacing Eli Manning with rookie Daniel Jones as starter
9/7/19 - Antonio Brown signs with Patriots after being cut by Raiders
8/24/19 - Andrew Luck retires
4/27/19 - After drafting Kyler Murray, Arizona trades Josh Rosen to Miami for fiftth round pick
3/29/19 - Bears trade Jordan Howard to Eagles
3/19/19 - Bortles to sign with Rams
3/18/19 - Miami signs Ryan Fitzpatrick for two years, $11 million plus incentives (after trading Tannehill to Tennessee)
3/13/19 - Le'Veon Bell signs with Jets for four years, $52.5 million
3/13/19 - Jacksonville releases Bortles after signing Foles for four years, $88 million
3/12/19 - Giants trade Odell Beckham Jr. to Cleveland for first round pick, third round pick, and Jabrill Peppers
3/10/19 - Pittsburgh trades Antonio Brown to Oakland for third round and fifth round picks
3/7/19 - Denver trading Case Keenum to Washington
2/15/19 - Kaepernick and Reid reach settlement with NFL
2/14/19 - Kyler Murray draft projections
2/13/19 - Baltimore to trade Flacco to Denver for fourth round pick
2/11/19 - Browns sign Kareem Hunt
2/11/19 - Kyler Murray picking NFL over baseball
2/5/19 - Bengals hire Zac Taylor (Rams QB coach) as head coach
2/4/19 - Dolphins expected to announce Brian Flores (New England LB coach) as head coach
1/9/19 - Jets to hire Adam Gase as head coach
1/9/19 - Broncos hire Vic Fangio as new head coach
1/9/19 - Browns hire Freddie Kitchens as new head coach
1/8/19 - Bruce Arians comes out or retirement to coach Tampa Bay (replacing Dirk Koetter)
1/8/19 - Arizona hires Kliff Kingsbury as head coach (replacing Steve Wilks)

Thursday, September 05, 2019

Michael Lorenzen and Babe Ruth

There have been two players in Major League Baseball history to hit a home run, play center field and earn the win as a pitcher in the same game. Babe Ruth was the first on June 13, 1921.

The Cincinnati Reds' Michael Lorenzen added his name to the list Wednesday, 98 years after Ruth set the standard for two-way players.

Lorenzen smacked his first homer of the season on a first-pitch cutter from Philadelphia Phillies reliever Blake Parker in the eighth inning, a two-run blast that sealed an 8-5 win at Great American Ball Park.

"It’s a fun stat," Lorenzen said. "I’ll have to ask, see what kind of contract Babe Ruth would’ve gotten in today’s game and take that to the Reds."

BJ Penn won't fight again (in the UFC)

UFC president Dana White told ESPN today that former two-division world champion and UFC Hall of Famer B.J. Penn will not compete again in the UFC.

White had previously agreed to let Penn, who is on a seven-fight losing streak, face Nik Lentz at an event later this year, but that is no longer happening.

“He won’t fight again, that’s it,” White told ESPN. “After what I saw in that video, BJ needs to, you know, he needs to focus on his personal life before he thinks about fighting.”

White is referring to recent video posted by TMZ in which Penn is shown getting into a street fight on the Big Island and getting knocked out.

Penn has also been caught on video fighting outside of a strip club on Oahu recently.