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03/27/2017

What a Weekend

[Posted Sunday p.m.]

NBA / College Hoops Quiz: This isn’t easy except for one or two.  Name the school that each of the following NBA Hall of Famers attended. Zelmo Beaty, Jo Jo White, Mitch Richmond, Chet Walker, Gus Johnson, and Joe Dumars.  Answer below.

March Madness...and Then There Were Four....

Next Saturday....

7 South Carolina vs. 1 Gonzaga; 3 Oregon vs. 1 North Carolina

This is going to be fun...as spelled out below.

But first, what a Sweet Sixteen...four terrific games out of eight is pretty darn good and in one of the others, we had the formal coming out party of De’Aaron Fox on the national stage.

Thursday....

11-seed Xavier shocked 2 Arizona 73-71, the Wildcats up 8 with four minutes to go, only to see the Musketeers outscore them 9-0 down the stretch.  Arizona coach Sean Miller admitted after he was outcoached by his former assistant, Xavier’s Chris Mack.

So once again, Arizona failed to get to a Final Four, which it hasn’t reached since 2001, only this was going to be the year, with the games to be played in their home state, in Glendale, AZ.

Miller’s Arizona teams have now reached the regionals 4 of the last 5 years, and three times Miller has lost in the regional final. He also lost in a regional final with Xavier, so 0-4.

1 Kansas totally dismantled 4 Purdue 98-66, as the Jayhawks hit 15 of 28 from three, Frank Mason Jr. with 27 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists.

1Gonzaga also edged 4 West Virginia, 61-58, in a hard-fought, albeit at times ugly, contest where the Mountaineers hit just 16 of 60 field goals, 5 of 23 from three; the Zags winning on a Jordan Mathews three-pointer.

Except Mathews’ shot made it 60-58 with a full 50 seconds to go and West Virginia just couldn’t get it done.  After Gonzaga made 1 of 2 free throws to make it 61-58, 38 seconds to go, the Mountaineers’ star, Jevon Carter missed two threes and then, inexplicably, just dribbled the ball around the top of the key, in traffic, finally passed it off, but there was no time left for a desperation shot.

Earlier, with West Virginia up 58-57, prior to the Mathews three, Daxter Miles Jr. had missed two free throws, with Nathan Adrian denied on a put back of the second miss.

So Bob Huggins boys had more than their share of opportunities.  They just didn’t get it done.

And in another terrific game, 7 Michigan saw its dream run end, 69-68 to 3 Oregon, as Jordan Bell had 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Tyler Dorsey dropped 20 on the Wolverines, including the late-decider, though Michigan, which had a 68-65 lead before Bell put back a missed free throw and Dorsey had his layup, had ample chances, only to have Derrick Walton Jr. miss a long jumper at the buzzer.

Friday....

In 7-seed South Carolina’s shockingly easy 70-50 win over 3 Baylor, the Bears had taken a 15-13 early lead with almost 10 minutes left in the half, when they suddenly stopped scoring.  Baylor missed 11 straight shots as the Gamecocks scored 18 unanswered and led 37-22 at halftime.  Game over.

So earlier in the tournament, not only had South Carolina won a game in the NCAAs for the first time since 1973, they are on the verge of the Final Four.

Also Friday, 1 North Carolina cruised over 4 Butler 92-80 behind Justin Jackson’s 24.

And in a true thriller (yes, I stayed up for it), 4 Florida beat 8 Wisconsin 84-83 in overtime, a game for the ages.

Wisconsin’s Zak Showalter hit a three with two seconds left in regulation sending the game into OT, but when he looked into the stands for Aaron Rodgers and did the discount double-check, I thought, ‘Oh no, don’t do that...you just jinxed yourself.’

Sure enough, in overtime, the Gators’ Chris Chiozza, with no timeouts and Florida down 83-81, raced down the court in the final four seconds and launched a three from just behind the arc that swished in at the buzzer for the 84-83 stunner.

Lastly, Friday, 2 Kentucky beat 3 UCLA 86-75.  Kentucky’s freshman sensation De’Aaron Fox schooled the Bruins’ fantastic frosh Lonzo Ball.

--Steve Serby / New York Post

“The kid had been something to behold. He had shown himself to be a man among boys even though he still was only a boy.

“UCLA turned its lonely eyes to fabulous freshman facilitator Lonzo Ball, as graceful in his sport as Joe DiMaggio was in center field, and asked him to carry it past John Calipari and Kentucky, to the South region’s Elite eight against North Carolina.

“The way it has worked in and around Westwood these days is Ball’s father, LaVar, talks the talk, and the son walks the walk, a walk he will be making soon to the NBA.  The Bruins hadn’t had a Wizard of Westwood like this since John Wooden left after beating Kentucky in the 1975 NCAA title game.

“The magnificent game within this magnificent game featured Lonzo Ball versus De’Aaron Fox, a skinny whippet of a point guard who is faster than a speeding bullet to the rim and also a freshman who will be some lucky NBA franchise’s point guard next season.  Think Magic Johnson, who happened to be an interested spectator at FedExForum (sic), versus Allen Iverson.  Or John Wall.

“Ball let the game come to him.  To a fault.  Fox took it.

He owned the night. He owned Ball....

“ ‘It definitely motivated me,’ said Fox.  ‘If it’s Lonzo or anybody like that.  As a competitor you’re gonna be ready for this.’...

“It was Ball-Or-Nothing for UCLA.

“It was Nothing.

“Ball over for UCLA, an 86-75 loser....

Fox had reduced the hype over Lonzo Ball to a whisper.  And possibly did the impossible: shut LaVar Ball up.”

Bill Plaschke / Los Angeles Times

It ended as it has ended every spring for the last 22 years.

“College basketball’s greatest dynasty pushed around, shoved down, run over, knocked out.

UCLA basketball put to sleep early, 11 national titles dusted over quickly, a world of promise ended suddenly in a faraway gym amid boos and jeers.

This is getting old.  This is really tired.  And on Friday night at FedExForum, this was truly awful, a UCLA team with Final Four hopes battered beyond recognition and sent to a place where its heart will be dismantled.

“Gone, the Bruins’ national title hopes with an 86-75 loss to Kentucky....

“Gone, the Bruins’ attempt to reach the Elite Eight for the first time in nine years, and win their first national title since 1995.

“Gone, too, will be the soul of a team that had grown so strong together in a 31-win season before being strangely outfought by the tougher Wildcats.

“When it ended, Coach Steve Alford waited at the end of the court to pat the backs of each of his dazed players as they staggered into the tunnel, many of them saying goodbye not only to the season, but also to UCLA.

“Lonzo Ball, gone. TJ Leaf, gone.  Bryce Alford, gone. Isaac Hamilton, gone.”

When asked if he was leaving, Alford said: “I am not going to Indiana; I love it here at UCLA,” he told The Times.  “I am happy here. We have a great class coming in and a brand-new practice facility almost ready to open. I am 100% committed to UCLA. I am staying a Bruin.”

UCLA does have two McDonald’s All-Americans in Jaylen Hands and Kris Wilkes and they will apparently be so loaded that Lonzo Ball’s brother, LiAngelo, will be fighting for playing time.

“This is a pretty special place,” said Alford.

But as for Lonzo, Bill Plaschke writes:

He’s gone to the NBA. He’s’ so gone, in fact, that he even announced it in the UCLA locker room while some of his teammates were sobbing around him.

“Even in this awkward age of the one-and-dones, it was a strikingly unfeeling moment, as poorly timed as his father LaVar’s recent public braggadocio.

“ ‘This is my final game at UCLA, I appreciate all the fans,’ said Ball as if reading from a script.

“When asked whether it was disappointing to end his brief career like this, he quickly answered, ‘This is not a disappointment.  This was a good year.  Tonight I didn’t make enough plays for my team, and that’s on me.’

“Then there was Leaf, their other top freshman who is also surely gone to the NBA.  Like Ball, he was bullied by the Wildcats, scoring just four points in the second half, taking only three  shots. But unlike Ball, he said he was too upset over the game to even discuss his future.

“ ‘I have no clue what I’m doing, I have not made a decision yet,’ he said, fighting back tears.  ‘I’m still thinking about tonight.’”

Lonzo sure ain’t...he be gone!

As for LaVar Ball, who opted to stay back in California to tend to his ailing wife instead of going to Memphis to watch his son choke against Kentucky, he told ESPN he’s glad Steve Alford is staying at UCLA to coach his younger sons.  There had been major speculation Alford was going to his alma mater, Indiana, but Alford said after Friday night’s game that he wasn’t going to talk to IU about the vacancy that would be filled hours later by Dayton’s Archie Miller (see below).

On to the Elite Eight....

Saturday....

Oregon shocked the No.1 seeded Kansas Jayhawks 74-60 to advance to their first Final Four in 78 years, since the very first NCAA championship that Oregon won!  As Phil W. wrote me, guess it’s time to resurrect my Duckwear from the bottom of the losers (due to their football program recently) sports drawer. 

I’m assuming most of you saw the game, but watching Oregon’s Jordan Bell was a thing of beauty. Seldom has a player with just 11 points so dominated a game as he added 13 rebounds and 8 blocked shots in a performance for the ages given the import. [And Oregon is playing without key interior player Chris Boucher, who went down with an injury before the tournament started and all he did was lead the Pac-12 in blocked shots.] 

Tyler Dorsey, “Mr. March,” scored 27 for the Ducks, who shut down Kansas star Frank Mason Jr. in the second half (just 4 of his 21 after the intermission) and Mason’s backcourt mate, Devonte Graham, had the kind of nightmare shooting performance that, unfortunately, will be remembered for a while by Jayhawks fans, 0 for 7 from the field; 0 for 6 from three.

The game will also be remembered for super-frosh Josh Jackson’s two early fouls in the first 2 ½ minutes that hampered Kansas bigtime and allowed Oregon to pull out to a 44-33 halftime lead.

And Kansas will long bemoan the missed rebound with two minutes to play after the Jayhawks had cut the lead to 66-60.  It went through the hands of two Kansas players and Tyler Dorsey promptly drained a three, 69-60, game over.

This was a Kansas team that had thundered through its first three rounds; 100-62, 90-70, and 98-66.  Saturday, they were 5 of 25 from three.

So Oregon is the first Pac-12 Conference team to reach the Final Four since UCLA in 2008.

Meanwhile, for the second consecutive season, Kansas was a No. 1 seed and lost in the Elite Eight.  Doubly embarrassing, this game was played in Kansas City, essentially a home game.

While Kansas has won 13 straight Big 12 regular season titles, it has underachieved greatly in the NCAA tournament.  KU has been a No. 1 seed seven times in the Bill Self era, but has turned that into just one Final Four.

Speaking of Final Four futility, Gonzaga is going to its first in school history after schooling 11-seed Xavier 83-59 in the West Region finals.  Nigel Williams-Goss and Jonathan Williams led the way with 23 and 19 points, respectively.

But what a great job by the Musketeers and coach Chris Mack.  It’s easy to forget they have been playing without one of the better point guards in the country, Edmond Sumner.  We’ll see if Mack now stays put.  His stock is probably as high as it will ever get.

Sunday....

4 Florida took a 40-33 halftime lead over 7 South Carolina, as the Gators overcame 11 turnovers by hitting 7 of 12 from three-point land.

But in the second half, the Gamecocks tightened up their defense bigly and Florida was suddenly shut out from downtown, 0 for 14!  That’s really all you needed to know as South Carolina (which hit only 2 of 10 from three for the game themselves) rode the solid overall play of Sindarius Thornwell, 26 points (including a crucial 9 of 10 from the free throw line) along with 7 rebounds.  I don’t know if Thornwell will carve out a career in the NBA, but at the least, he can easily play in Europe for good dollars for years to come and that ain’t all bad.

For South Carolina, it’s their first Final Four ever, joining Gonzaga, and, if you take out 1939, Oregon.

In the nightcap, 1 North Carolina took on 2 Kentucky, the Tar Heels looking to defend the honor of the ACC, and it was 38-33 UNC at the half.

The real fun would come in the second, with Kentucky up 64-59 with 5:12 to play before North Carolina went on a 12-0 run to make it 71-64 Tar Heels with about a minute left.  It appeared the game was over.

But De’Aaron Fox made a three, Carolina turned it over, Malik Monk hit a three, 71-70 with 40 seconds to play, and you’re like (if you’re an ACC fan) ‘uh oh.’

Justin Jackson made a layup for UNC, though, and it was 73-70, 34 seconds remaining, but on a one-and-one with just 15 seconds left, Jackson missed, Fox rebounded for Kentucky, passed it up to Monk who drained a three, tie game!  73-73. 

But there were 10 seconds to go, Carolina rushed it up court and found an open Luke Maye for a side jumper to win it...75-73.

Maye, the sophomore out of Huntersville, N.C., has burst on the scene in just the last two games; 16 points against Butler, 17 today (6 of 9 from the field).  He is now the Tar Heels sixth man, and no longer secret weapon.  Great stuff.

[I do have to note North Carolina’s Kennedy Meeks had a huge game with 17 rebounds and 4 blocks.]

What an ending...what a weekend...I imagine the ratings for the second game were huge.

Separately....

--Indiana has a new basketball coach, the aforementioned Archie Miller of Dayton, reportedly inking a seven-year deal to replace Tom Crean, who was fired March 16 after nine seasons.

Miller, 38, guided the Flyers to a 24-8 record and the school’s first outright Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season title.  Miller was at Dayton six seasons and led them to the NCAA tournament in each of the last four years, going 139-63 overall.  His brother is Sean Miller.

--Georgetown did the inevitable, fire John Thompson III after back-to-back losing seasons.  It thus ends a real dynasty...40 of the last 45 years the Hoyas were either coached by John Thompson Jr. or his son (the other five years by a Thompson Jr. disciple, Craig Esherick).

Georgetown removed Thompson III with as much class as possible.  You have to picture that the father is still a constant presence on campus and at the games, so this wasn’t easy to do.

But the Hoyas hadn’t advanced beyond the first weekend of the NCAA tournament since 2007, the year Thompson III led them to the Final Four.  For the past 10 years, he had endured six NCAA tourney losses to double-digit seeds, two unimpressive NIT seasons and two losing campaigns.

There is some talk that Patrick Ewing could be named coach. Ewing has been an NBA assistant for the past 15 years and should have long been named coach of the Knicks, but he is not a fit to coach college ball. He has zero coaching experience at that level.

This program is in real trouble.  It won’t be easy to quickly turn it around, unless they somehow bring in a big name and that doesn’t seem likely.

--In a bizarre move, Pat Kelsey had gone to UMass to take the head coaching job there after some success at Winthrop, which seemed like a good opportunity.  But after two days, and after signing a contract, he walked into UMass athletic director Ryan Bamford’s office, 30 minutes before he was scheduled to be introduced in Amherst, and said for “personal reasons” he was returning to Winthrop, where he has coached the past five seasons.

Kelsey had even met with the players.  They must be going ‘WTF?!’

Winthrop announced that Kelsey would return to the same position, with Kelsey saying in a news release: “I realized that at this point in my career Winthrop and Rock Hill is the best place for my family and me.”

Kelsey is just 41 and was previously an assistant at Xavier and Wake Forest, where he worked with Skip Prosser.  I’m wondering if Kelsey thinks he’d get the Xavier job if Chris Mack left (haven’t seen this anywhere, but it kind of makes sense, even if it’s after next season).

Back in 2006, Gregg Marshall was about to leave Winthrop for College of Charleston.  He then went to Wichita State.

--In the NIT, Madison Square Garden has a nightmare Final Four in terms of ticket sales, but if I remember, I’ll catch some of it, because there is one cool story in particular...CSU Bakersfield.

First, in the quarterfinals, CSU Bakersfield defeated UT-Arlington 80-76; UCF defeated Illinois 68-58; TCU upended Richmond 86-68; and Georgia Tech beat Ole Miss 74-66.

So it’s CSU Bakersfield vs. Georgia Tech; TCU vs. UCF.

Yeah, I’m an ACC guy, and this year we could use this one...but Go Bakersfield!!!

NBA

--What a game for Phoenix’ Devin Booker on Friday night in Boston.  Booker, 20 years old and in his second season out of Kentucky, had 70 points, becoming just the sixth different player in league history to hit that level, the others being a rather august group...Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, David Thompson, David Robinson and Elgin Baylor.

Booker, averaging 21.6 points per game on the season, hit 21 of 40 from the field, including 4 of 11 from three, but also made 24 of 26 free throws.  And he had 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals.

51 of his 70 points were in the second half, including 28 in the final period as his teammates fed him the ball virtually every time down the court.  But the Suns lost to the Celtics 130-120.

Wilt, by the way, had 70 six times.

--The Knicks’ pathetic season got worse with the news maligned center Joakim Noah, he of the worst contract of the century, will be suspended 20 games by the NBA for violating the league’s anti-drug policy.

Noah, who signed an inexplicable four-year, $72 million deal in free agency last summer, has been out with a knee injury and reportedly will be suspended the remaining 10 games of this season and the first 10 of next season.

Again, this stiff is making $17 million this year and it gradually escalates to average $18m per over the course of the contract.

But there’s a saying around these parts when it comes to the Knicks... “Lose for Balls”...To wit....

Marc Berman / New York Post

“The Knicks’ western swing ended with another loss, an 0-4 record, but with a lot of ping pong balls gained.

“The mighty Spurs built a 19-point halftime lead and staved off a second-half surge by the Knicks to capture a 106-98 decision at the AT&T Center on Saturday.

“With Philadelphia moving ahead of the Knicks, a fifth straight loss dropped Phil Jackson’s reeling team into a tie for fourth-worst record in the NBA, gaining a lot of lottery momentum on the oh-fer trip. The magic number to fall officially into the lottery is down to 2 – mathematical playoff elimination will come with one more Knicks loss combined with a Miami win.  The Knicks’ record is 27-46, and they are on pace to finish with a worse record than last season’s 32-50 clip.”

Yesss!!!  C’mon, boys, you can do it!  We want more balls!  Maybe we get De’Aaron Fox!  Or Josh Jackson!

On the other hand, there is the immediate reality of it all.  And also understand that instead of attending the regional finals where he could have scouted Fox, Malik Monk and Lonzo Ball all in one game, team president Phil Jackson was in Los Angeles on Friday for the unveiling of a statue to Shaquille O’Neal.  He sent his assistant instead.

Mike Lupica / New York Daily News

“By the way?  You don’t just look at the bottom of the standings in the Eastern Conference to understand the Knicks’ current situation. You look at the top, where the Celtics came into the weekend just two games behind the Cavaliers.  You remember where the Celtics were when Danny Ainge, an actual top-flight, all-in NBA executive, hired Brad Stevens away from Butler to come coach the Celtics.

“The year before Stevens arrived in Boston, the Celtics were 41-40.  But they were an old team going nowhere after winning one championship with Doc Rivers as their coach and nearly winning another against Jackson’s Lakers. And Rivers was going, as well, on his way to the Los Angeles Clippers.

“That same year, under Mike Woodson, the Knicks were 54-28 and won the Atlantic Division.  In the four seasons since the Celtics, with Ainge picking the players and making the kind of deal he made with the Nets for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett – the gift that just keeps on giving – and Stevens coaching Ainge’s players, the Celtics have gone from 25-57 to 40-42 to 48-34 to the record they had after Friday night’s games, 47-26, only a half-game behind the Cavaliers for the top spot in the East.

“The Knicks have gone from 37-47 to 17-65 to 32-50 to 27-46 over the same period.  The Celtics, who are about to go get another high draft pick because of the Nets deal, maybe even the first overall pick in the draft, have become one of the ascendant teams in the league because of the firm of Ainge & Stevens; because Ainge hasn’t just made the kind of deal he made with the Nets, but has also put Isaiah Thomas, one of the stars of the league this season, in a Celtics’ uniform.

“The Knicks?  They have once again gone into reverse. And you want to know the kinds of deals Jackson has made?  He re-signed Carmelo Anthony for around $120 million, a guy whose game he clearly has come to hate – not a triangle guy!  Off with his headband! – and one of whom he has publicly attacked this season, a new level of weirdness even for the Garden.  Before that, you look at the very first decision he made after becoming Chief Operating Savior at the Garden: He got rid of Woodson, the only coach who has won anything for the Knicks in the past 16 years, and replaced him with Derek Fisher.

“Once there was a time when it felt as if baseball didn’t really start in New York until the Knicks played their last playoff game, even if they played it in June. Now you can’t wait for baseball to start next week as another dreary Knicks season mercifully ends.”

But we’re still playing for balls!

MLB

Hard to believe the season begins next Sunday.  I will have your EXCLUSIVE “Picks to Click,” bet the freakin’ ranch, selections next BC.

There’s nothing of substance to report on until the season starts, but I do have to note the U.S. defeated Puerto Rico in the final of the World Baseball Classic, behind Toronto Blue Jay hurler Marcus Stroman, who threw six-plus innings of one-hit ball on the way to Team USA’s 8-0 win.

Ian Kinsler hit a two-run homer off Puerto Rico’s (and the Mets’) Seth Lugo in the third and the U.S. was off and running.

This marked the first time the U.S. had won the W.B.C. in its four editions, not that I really care a whit. 

--According to CBS Miami, Alex Rodriguez talked openly about his past with University of Miami students the other day.  “I was just a really big jerk,” he said. “I made mistakes and then I doubled down and became a bigger jerk and then went on sports radio and made an ass of myself,” A-Rod said, mentioning the infamous 2013 interview with WFAN’s Mike Francesa in which he denied any wrongdoing.

Asked at the time if he was guilty of any of the charges during the scandal, A-Rod told the Sports Pope, “No, and I shouldn’t serve one inning.”  All of us from my area remember that interview.

A-Rod was asked by the Miami students if he would be upset if he isn’t voted into the Hall of Fame.

“Oh yeah, of course.  I think any kid would love and relish the opportunity to be in Cooperstown but I don’t have a vote,” he said.  “With the things that have happened, I think for me I want to make sure that I’m a Hall of Fame father and a Hall of Fame businessman.”

And right now, Alex, you have a Hall of Fame hot squeeze in J-Lo! 

A-Rod is making $21 million this year, the last year of his contract, as a special instructor.

If anyone out there wants to pay me $600,000 for being a special Coors Light instructor, just have your people talk to my people.

-Lastly, we note the passing of former Phillies, Yankees and Mets manager Dallas Green, 82.

Green, the hot-tempered former pitcher with a booming voice, managed the Phillies to their first World Series title in 1980, but he was a flop with the Yankees and Mets.

As Richard Sandomir wrote in the New York Times:

“When he took the 1980 Phillies to the championship with players like Steve Carlton, Mike Schmidt and Greg Luzinski, it was the franchise’s first World Series title. But he was not very popular for various reasons, among them his imposing rules and discipline that rankled veterans.

“ ‘We hated him,’ catcher Bob Boone said, according to Philly.com. ‘He was driving us crazy.  But it was a relationship that worked.’

“After leaving the Phillies, Green became the general manager of the Chicago Cubs and built the team that won the National League East title in 1984 but lost the league’s championship series to the San Diego Padres.”

In his later years, as Sandomir writes: “Green struggled to recover after the shooting death of his 9-year-old granddaughter, Christina-Taylor Green, who was one of six people killed in the failed assassination attempt on Representative Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson in 2011.”

Two years later, in his autobiography, Green conceded, “They say time heals.  Time, I don’t think, will ever heal that part of my life.”

Golf Balls

--In the WGC Match Play event in Austin (love this golf club), Dustin Johnson defeated Jon Rahm in the final, 1 up, for his 15th career PGA Tour triumph and third in a row.  Johnson, No. 1 in the world, now has six wins in the last two years and counting....

Rahm had defeated Bill Haas in the semis, 3 and 2, while Johnson beat Japan’s Hideto Tanihara 1 up.

Saturday, Haas had taken down Phil Mickelson in the quarters 2 and 1, Lefty continuing to play very well this year.

But D.J. is obviously on quite a roll and every single good golf fan in America brings his name up first.

--Meanwhile, there was a full-field PGA Tour event this weekend, the Puerto Rico Open, and D.A. Points, whose last three years have been miserable, captured the third win of his career.  Arnold Palmer’s grandson, Sam Saunders, finished T-5, and Andrew “Beef” Johnston had a solid T-10.

NFL

--Did you see where free agent running back Adrian Peterson thinks he’s worth $8 million to play in 2017?  Goodness gracious.  Instead, his old team, the Minnesota Vikings, signed Latavius Murray, 27 and five years younger than Peterson, to a deal averaging $5 million over the next three years.

Pittsburgh’s Le’Veon Bell, who currently bears a $12.1 million franchise tag, is the only back in the NFL scheduled to make more than $6.5 million in base salary in 2017.

Yoh Adrian....I don’t think so.

--One note in college ball...former Penn State University president Graham Spanier was convicted Friday of keeping a lid on the scandal surrounding notorious child-abusing coach Jerry Sandusky.

A jury in Harrisburg, Pa., found Spanier guilty of one count of child endangerment, due to Spanier’s handling of a complaint against Sandusky.  He was found not guilty of conspiracy and a second child endangerment count.  As a first-time offender, he could face anything from probation to a maximum of five years.

Soccer

--The United States finally returned to action in World Cup qualifying play after a lengthy absence and in his first as coach after replacing Jurgen Klinsmann, Bruce Arena had to be happy with the effort, a 6-0 win over Honduras in San Jose on Friday.  Clint Dempsey, appearing in his first national team game since last June (out with an irregular heartbeat), scored a hat trick.

In their last game in November, the U.S. had suffered a disheartening 4-0 loss in Costa Rica that cost Klinsmann his job and led to the rehiring of Arena.

The U.S. is in a six-team, 10-game final “Hexagonal” round of qualifying with the top three finishers automatically qualifying for Russia 2018.

Match 4 of 10 for the U.S. is Tuesday in Panama.

--Premier League was off this weekend for international break...World Cup qualifying.

Frozen Four

In the NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Tournament....

East regional final...Harvard defeated Air Force, 3-2.

West regional final...Minnesota-Duluth beat Boston University 3-2.

Midwest regional final...Denver over Penn State 6-3.

Northeast regional final...Notre Dame beat Massachusetts-Lowell 3-2

I got a note from Pete M. that in Saturday’s Midwest Region semifinal, Penn State defeated Union 10-3 on just 33 shots.  Our prayers to the Union goaltender, who no doubt won’t be sleeping well in the coming days.

Stuff

--So with South Carolina advancing to the NCAA Final Four, Dr. W. reminded me that his state is on quite a roll...Clemson winning the national title in football, Coastal Carolina in baseball, it’s the home of Dustin Johnson and now we have the Gamecocks.  As Ronald Reagan would have said, ‘Not bad, not bad at all.’

Plus Charleston is consistently rated the best small city in America, which I can personally vouch for.

--Kyle Larson captured his second career win in today’s NASCAR / Monster Energy event in Fontana, Calif.  Incredibly, Larson had finished second each of the previous three races. 

--I was reminded this weekend that for the first time in 26 years, the Detroit Red Wings will not be in the Stanley Cup playoffs...25 straight a record for a North American professional team.

--Brad K. passed along the following from the Daily Mail’s Kelly McLaughlin:

“A Chilean tourist who got lost in the Amazon rainforest for nine days says a group of monkeys helped him survive by dropping him food and leading him to shelter and water.

“Maykool Coroseco Acuna, 25, was camping in Bolivia’s Madidi National Park near the Tuichi River with tour company Max Adventures when he wandered off and got lost in the forest.

“The story behind the whirlwind nine days that saw Acuna being accused of disrespecting Mother Nature, shamans praying away evil spirits, and monkeys dropping pieces of fruit has been revealed in a report by National Geographic.”

Well, I’m not going to recount the whole tale, but Acuna disappeared one evening from his cabin in February, without leaving a trace behind.  Park rangers then spent several days looking for him, unsuccessfully.  After six days all they had found was a muddy sock lying on the ground in the forest.

When he was found, Acuna was covered with bites and cuts.  He had been screaming from a riverbank less than a mile from camp.

“Spiritual shamans were invited to the camp to take part in rituals in an attempt to locate Acuna.”

Acuna claimed he only stayed alive by following a pack of monkeys, who dropped fruit for him to eat and led him to shelter and water every day.  The guy clearly also went nuts. He’s lucky the monkeys didn’t rip his face off.

--From the Irish Independent:

Firefighters who spent 20 minutes performing resuscitation on a dog they rescued from a burning apartment have been hailed as heroes.

“The dog’s owner, 35-year-old Crystal Lamirande, had just returned to her Santa Monica apartment when a neighbor shouted that there was a fire.

“Ms. Lamirande said she frantically tried to save her dog, a 10-year-old Bichon Frise/Shit Tzu named Nalu.

“But the smoke was too thick, she said.  Moments later, as firefighters arrived, she told them about Nalu.  They quickly got the fire under control and pulled the lifeless dog from a bedroom.

Firefighter Andrew Klein spent 20 minutes bringing the dog back to life as her tearful owner watched.

“Ms. Lamirande said the dog spent the next 24 hours in an oxygen chamber and is doing well.”

For this heroic action, ‘Man’ moves up to 351 from 352 on the All-Species List.  ‘Dog’ is still No. 1.

--From Steve Marble / Los Angeles Times

“When Tom Amberry swished in his 2,750th consecutive free throw, there were all of 10 people watching history being made.  [Ed. this was 1973]

“For 12 hours in a small rec center gym in Orange County, the retired Long Beach podiatrist had rhythmically lobbed in shot after shot, stopping only when a janitor said it was time to turn off the lights and lock up.

“Nobody had ever done such a thing, at least not in the estimation of Guinness World Records, which keeps tabs on such feats.

“ ‘I could have made more – a lot more,” Amberry said.  ‘But they were closing the gym, so they kicked me out.’

“Amberry’s prowess at the free-throw line made him both a momentary celebrity and a commodity.

He appeared on David Letterman’s TV show – again flipping in one perfect shot after another – and was sought out by coaches hoping he could help otherwise solid basketball players fix the one glaring blemish in their game: The free throw.

Amberry died in Long Beach on March 18 at the age of 94. He had continued to shoot free throws as a hobby and a form of relaxation until late in life.”

Top 3 songs for the week 3/30/68: #1 “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay” (Otis Redding)  #2 “Love Is Blue” (Paul Mauriat)  #3 “Valleri” (The Monkees)...and...#4 “Simon Says” (1910 Fruitgum Co.)  #5 “(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You’ve Been Gone” (Aretha Franklin)  #6 “La-La-Means I Love You” (The Delfonics)  #7 “Young Girl” (The Union Gap featuring Gary Puckett)  #8 “The Ballad Of Bonnie And Clyde” (Georgie Fame)  #9 “Lady Madonna” (The Beatles)  #10 “(Theme From) Valley Of The Dolls” (Dionne Warwick)

NBA / College Hoops Quiz Answer: School these NBA HOFers went to: Zelmo Beaty (Prairie View), Jo Jo White (Kansas), Mitch Richmond (Kansas State), Chet Walker (Bradley), Gus Johnson (Idaho), Joe Dumars (McNeese State)

Next Bar Chat, Thursday.



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-03/27/2017-      
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Bar Chat

03/27/2017

What a Weekend

[Posted Sunday p.m.]

NBA / College Hoops Quiz: This isn’t easy except for one or two.  Name the school that each of the following NBA Hall of Famers attended. Zelmo Beaty, Jo Jo White, Mitch Richmond, Chet Walker, Gus Johnson, and Joe Dumars.  Answer below.

March Madness...and Then There Were Four....

Next Saturday....

7 South Carolina vs. 1 Gonzaga; 3 Oregon vs. 1 North Carolina

This is going to be fun...as spelled out below.

But first, what a Sweet Sixteen...four terrific games out of eight is pretty darn good and in one of the others, we had the formal coming out party of De’Aaron Fox on the national stage.

Thursday....

11-seed Xavier shocked 2 Arizona 73-71, the Wildcats up 8 with four minutes to go, only to see the Musketeers outscore them 9-0 down the stretch.  Arizona coach Sean Miller admitted after he was outcoached by his former assistant, Xavier’s Chris Mack.

So once again, Arizona failed to get to a Final Four, which it hasn’t reached since 2001, only this was going to be the year, with the games to be played in their home state, in Glendale, AZ.

Miller’s Arizona teams have now reached the regionals 4 of the last 5 years, and three times Miller has lost in the regional final. He also lost in a regional final with Xavier, so 0-4.

1 Kansas totally dismantled 4 Purdue 98-66, as the Jayhawks hit 15 of 28 from three, Frank Mason Jr. with 27 points, 7 rebounds and 7 assists.

1Gonzaga also edged 4 West Virginia, 61-58, in a hard-fought, albeit at times ugly, contest where the Mountaineers hit just 16 of 60 field goals, 5 of 23 from three; the Zags winning on a Jordan Mathews three-pointer.

Except Mathews’ shot made it 60-58 with a full 50 seconds to go and West Virginia just couldn’t get it done.  After Gonzaga made 1 of 2 free throws to make it 61-58, 38 seconds to go, the Mountaineers’ star, Jevon Carter missed two threes and then, inexplicably, just dribbled the ball around the top of the key, in traffic, finally passed it off, but there was no time left for a desperation shot.

Earlier, with West Virginia up 58-57, prior to the Mathews three, Daxter Miles Jr. had missed two free throws, with Nathan Adrian denied on a put back of the second miss.

So Bob Huggins boys had more than their share of opportunities.  They just didn’t get it done.

And in another terrific game, 7 Michigan saw its dream run end, 69-68 to 3 Oregon, as Jordan Bell had 16 points and 13 rebounds, while Tyler Dorsey dropped 20 on the Wolverines, including the late-decider, though Michigan, which had a 68-65 lead before Bell put back a missed free throw and Dorsey had his layup, had ample chances, only to have Derrick Walton Jr. miss a long jumper at the buzzer.

Friday....

In 7-seed South Carolina’s shockingly easy 70-50 win over 3 Baylor, the Bears had taken a 15-13 early lead with almost 10 minutes left in the half, when they suddenly stopped scoring.  Baylor missed 11 straight shots as the Gamecocks scored 18 unanswered and led 37-22 at halftime.  Game over.

So earlier in the tournament, not only had South Carolina won a game in the NCAAs for the first time since 1973, they are on the verge of the Final Four.

Also Friday, 1 North Carolina cruised over 4 Butler 92-80 behind Justin Jackson’s 24.

And in a true thriller (yes, I stayed up for it), 4 Florida beat 8 Wisconsin 84-83 in overtime, a game for the ages.

Wisconsin’s Zak Showalter hit a three with two seconds left in regulation sending the game into OT, but when he looked into the stands for Aaron Rodgers and did the discount double-check, I thought, ‘Oh no, don’t do that...you just jinxed yourself.’

Sure enough, in overtime, the Gators’ Chris Chiozza, with no timeouts and Florida down 83-81, raced down the court in the final four seconds and launched a three from just behind the arc that swished in at the buzzer for the 84-83 stunner.

Lastly, Friday, 2 Kentucky beat 3 UCLA 86-75.  Kentucky’s freshman sensation De’Aaron Fox schooled the Bruins’ fantastic frosh Lonzo Ball.

--Steve Serby / New York Post

“The kid had been something to behold. He had shown himself to be a man among boys even though he still was only a boy.

“UCLA turned its lonely eyes to fabulous freshman facilitator Lonzo Ball, as graceful in his sport as Joe DiMaggio was in center field, and asked him to carry it past John Calipari and Kentucky, to the South region’s Elite eight against North Carolina.

“The way it has worked in and around Westwood these days is Ball’s father, LaVar, talks the talk, and the son walks the walk, a walk he will be making soon to the NBA.  The Bruins hadn’t had a Wizard of Westwood like this since John Wooden left after beating Kentucky in the 1975 NCAA title game.

“The magnificent game within this magnificent game featured Lonzo Ball versus De’Aaron Fox, a skinny whippet of a point guard who is faster than a speeding bullet to the rim and also a freshman who will be some lucky NBA franchise’s point guard next season.  Think Magic Johnson, who happened to be an interested spectator at FedExForum (sic), versus Allen Iverson.  Or John Wall.

“Ball let the game come to him.  To a fault.  Fox took it.

He owned the night. He owned Ball....

“ ‘It definitely motivated me,’ said Fox.  ‘If it’s Lonzo or anybody like that.  As a competitor you’re gonna be ready for this.’...

“It was Ball-Or-Nothing for UCLA.

“It was Nothing.

“Ball over for UCLA, an 86-75 loser....

Fox had reduced the hype over Lonzo Ball to a whisper.  And possibly did the impossible: shut LaVar Ball up.”

Bill Plaschke / Los Angeles Times

It ended as it has ended every spring for the last 22 years.

“College basketball’s greatest dynasty pushed around, shoved down, run over, knocked out.

UCLA basketball put to sleep early, 11 national titles dusted over quickly, a world of promise ended suddenly in a faraway gym amid boos and jeers.

This is getting old.  This is really tired.  And on Friday night at FedExForum, this was truly awful, a UCLA team with Final Four hopes battered beyond recognition and sent to a place where its heart will be dismantled.

“Gone, the Bruins’ national title hopes with an 86-75 loss to Kentucky....

“Gone, the Bruins’ attempt to reach the Elite Eight for the first time in nine years, and win their first national title since 1995.

“Gone, too, will be the soul of a team that had grown so strong together in a 31-win season before being strangely outfought by the tougher Wildcats.

“When it ended, Coach Steve Alford waited at the end of the court to pat the backs of each of his dazed players as they staggered into the tunnel, many of them saying goodbye not only to the season, but also to UCLA.

“Lonzo Ball, gone. TJ Leaf, gone.  Bryce Alford, gone. Isaac Hamilton, gone.”

When asked if he was leaving, Alford said: “I am not going to Indiana; I love it here at UCLA,” he told The Times.  “I am happy here. We have a great class coming in and a brand-new practice facility almost ready to open. I am 100% committed to UCLA. I am staying a Bruin.”

UCLA does have two McDonald’s All-Americans in Jaylen Hands and Kris Wilkes and they will apparently be so loaded that Lonzo Ball’s brother, LiAngelo, will be fighting for playing time.

“This is a pretty special place,” said Alford.

But as for Lonzo, Bill Plaschke writes:

He’s gone to the NBA. He’s’ so gone, in fact, that he even announced it in the UCLA locker room while some of his teammates were sobbing around him.

“Even in this awkward age of the one-and-dones, it was a strikingly unfeeling moment, as poorly timed as his father LaVar’s recent public braggadocio.

“ ‘This is my final game at UCLA, I appreciate all the fans,’ said Ball as if reading from a script.

“When asked whether it was disappointing to end his brief career like this, he quickly answered, ‘This is not a disappointment.  This was a good year.  Tonight I didn’t make enough plays for my team, and that’s on me.’

“Then there was Leaf, their other top freshman who is also surely gone to the NBA.  Like Ball, he was bullied by the Wildcats, scoring just four points in the second half, taking only three  shots. But unlike Ball, he said he was too upset over the game to even discuss his future.

“ ‘I have no clue what I’m doing, I have not made a decision yet,’ he said, fighting back tears.  ‘I’m still thinking about tonight.’”

Lonzo sure ain’t...he be gone!

As for LaVar Ball, who opted to stay back in California to tend to his ailing wife instead of going to Memphis to watch his son choke against Kentucky, he told ESPN he’s glad Steve Alford is staying at UCLA to coach his younger sons.  There had been major speculation Alford was going to his alma mater, Indiana, but Alford said after Friday night’s game that he wasn’t going to talk to IU about the vacancy that would be filled hours later by Dayton’s Archie Miller (see below).

On to the Elite Eight....

Saturday....

Oregon shocked the No.1 seeded Kansas Jayhawks 74-60 to advance to their first Final Four in 78 years, since the very first NCAA championship that Oregon won!  As Phil W. wrote me, guess it’s time to resurrect my Duckwear from the bottom of the losers (due to their football program recently) sports drawer. 

I’m assuming most of you saw the game, but watching Oregon’s Jordan Bell was a thing of beauty. Seldom has a player with just 11 points so dominated a game as he added 13 rebounds and 8 blocked shots in a performance for the ages given the import. [And Oregon is playing without key interior player Chris Boucher, who went down with an injury before the tournament started and all he did was lead the Pac-12 in blocked shots.] 

Tyler Dorsey, “Mr. March,” scored 27 for the Ducks, who shut down Kansas star Frank Mason Jr. in the second half (just 4 of his 21 after the intermission) and Mason’s backcourt mate, Devonte Graham, had the kind of nightmare shooting performance that, unfortunately, will be remembered for a while by Jayhawks fans, 0 for 7 from the field; 0 for 6 from three.

The game will also be remembered for super-frosh Josh Jackson’s two early fouls in the first 2 ½ minutes that hampered Kansas bigtime and allowed Oregon to pull out to a 44-33 halftime lead.

And Kansas will long bemoan the missed rebound with two minutes to play after the Jayhawks had cut the lead to 66-60.  It went through the hands of two Kansas players and Tyler Dorsey promptly drained a three, 69-60, game over.

This was a Kansas team that had thundered through its first three rounds; 100-62, 90-70, and 98-66.  Saturday, they were 5 of 25 from three.

So Oregon is the first Pac-12 Conference team to reach the Final Four since UCLA in 2008.

Meanwhile, for the second consecutive season, Kansas was a No. 1 seed and lost in the Elite Eight.  Doubly embarrassing, this game was played in Kansas City, essentially a home game.

While Kansas has won 13 straight Big 12 regular season titles, it has underachieved greatly in the NCAA tournament.  KU has been a No. 1 seed seven times in the Bill Self era, but has turned that into just one Final Four.

Speaking of Final Four futility, Gonzaga is going to its first in school history after schooling 11-seed Xavier 83-59 in the West Region finals.  Nigel Williams-Goss and Jonathan Williams led the way with 23 and 19 points, respectively.

But what a great job by the Musketeers and coach Chris Mack.  It’s easy to forget they have been playing without one of the better point guards in the country, Edmond Sumner.  We’ll see if Mack now stays put.  His stock is probably as high as it will ever get.

Sunday....

4 Florida took a 40-33 halftime lead over 7 South Carolina, as the Gators overcame 11 turnovers by hitting 7 of 12 from three-point land.

But in the second half, the Gamecocks tightened up their defense bigly and Florida was suddenly shut out from downtown, 0 for 14!  That’s really all you needed to know as South Carolina (which hit only 2 of 10 from three for the game themselves) rode the solid overall play of Sindarius Thornwell, 26 points (including a crucial 9 of 10 from the free throw line) along with 7 rebounds.  I don’t know if Thornwell will carve out a career in the NBA, but at the least, he can easily play in Europe for good dollars for years to come and that ain’t all bad.

For South Carolina, it’s their first Final Four ever, joining Gonzaga, and, if you take out 1939, Oregon.

In the nightcap, 1 North Carolina took on 2 Kentucky, the Tar Heels looking to defend the honor of the ACC, and it was 38-33 UNC at the half.

The real fun would come in the second, with Kentucky up 64-59 with 5:12 to play before North Carolina went on a 12-0 run to make it 71-64 Tar Heels with about a minute left.  It appeared the game was over.

But De’Aaron Fox made a three, Carolina turned it over, Malik Monk hit a three, 71-70 with 40 seconds to play, and you’re like (if you’re an ACC fan) ‘uh oh.’

Justin Jackson made a layup for UNC, though, and it was 73-70, 34 seconds remaining, but on a one-and-one with just 15 seconds left, Jackson missed, Fox rebounded for Kentucky, passed it up to Monk who drained a three, tie game!  73-73. 

But there were 10 seconds to go, Carolina rushed it up court and found an open Luke Maye for a side jumper to win it...75-73.

Maye, the sophomore out of Huntersville, N.C., has burst on the scene in just the last two games; 16 points against Butler, 17 today (6 of 9 from the field).  He is now the Tar Heels sixth man, and no longer secret weapon.  Great stuff.

[I do have to note North Carolina’s Kennedy Meeks had a huge game with 17 rebounds and 4 blocks.]

What an ending...what a weekend...I imagine the ratings for the second game were huge.

Separately....

--Indiana has a new basketball coach, the aforementioned Archie Miller of Dayton, reportedly inking a seven-year deal to replace Tom Crean, who was fired March 16 after nine seasons.

Miller, 38, guided the Flyers to a 24-8 record and the school’s first outright Atlantic 10 Conference regular-season title.  Miller was at Dayton six seasons and led them to the NCAA tournament in each of the last four years, going 139-63 overall.  His brother is Sean Miller.

--Georgetown did the inevitable, fire John Thompson III after back-to-back losing seasons.  It thus ends a real dynasty...40 of the last 45 years the Hoyas were either coached by John Thompson Jr. or his son (the other five years by a Thompson Jr. disciple, Craig Esherick).

Georgetown removed Thompson III with as much class as possible.  You have to picture that the father is still a constant presence on campus and at the games, so this wasn’t easy to do.

But the Hoyas hadn’t advanced beyond the first weekend of the NCAA tournament since 2007, the year Thompson III led them to the Final Four.  For the past 10 years, he had endured six NCAA tourney losses to double-digit seeds, two unimpressive NIT seasons and two losing campaigns.

There is some talk that Patrick Ewing could be named coach. Ewing has been an NBA assistant for the past 15 years and should have long been named coach of the Knicks, but he is not a fit to coach college ball. He has zero coaching experience at that level.

This program is in real trouble.  It won’t be easy to quickly turn it around, unless they somehow bring in a big name and that doesn’t seem likely.

--In a bizarre move, Pat Kelsey had gone to UMass to take the head coaching job there after some success at Winthrop, which seemed like a good opportunity.  But after two days, and after signing a contract, he walked into UMass athletic director Ryan Bamford’s office, 30 minutes before he was scheduled to be introduced in Amherst, and said for “personal reasons” he was returning to Winthrop, where he has coached the past five seasons.

Kelsey had even met with the players.  They must be going ‘WTF?!’

Winthrop announced that Kelsey would return to the same position, with Kelsey saying in a news release: “I realized that at this point in my career Winthrop and Rock Hill is the best place for my family and me.”

Kelsey is just 41 and was previously an assistant at Xavier and Wake Forest, where he worked with Skip Prosser.  I’m wondering if Kelsey thinks he’d get the Xavier job if Chris Mack left (haven’t seen this anywhere, but it kind of makes sense, even if it’s after next season).

Back in 2006, Gregg Marshall was about to leave Winthrop for College of Charleston.  He then went to Wichita State.

--In the NIT, Madison Square Garden has a nightmare Final Four in terms of ticket sales, but if I remember, I’ll catch some of it, because there is one cool story in particular...CSU Bakersfield.

First, in the quarterfinals, CSU Bakersfield defeated UT-Arlington 80-76; UCF defeated Illinois 68-58; TCU upended Richmond 86-68; and Georgia Tech beat Ole Miss 74-66.

So it’s CSU Bakersfield vs. Georgia Tech; TCU vs. UCF.

Yeah, I’m an ACC guy, and this year we could use this one...but Go Bakersfield!!!

NBA

--What a game for Phoenix’ Devin Booker on Friday night in Boston.  Booker, 20 years old and in his second season out of Kentucky, had 70 points, becoming just the sixth different player in league history to hit that level, the others being a rather august group...Wilt Chamberlain, Kobe Bryant, David Thompson, David Robinson and Elgin Baylor.

Booker, averaging 21.6 points per game on the season, hit 21 of 40 from the field, including 4 of 11 from three, but also made 24 of 26 free throws.  And he had 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 steals.

51 of his 70 points were in the second half, including 28 in the final period as his teammates fed him the ball virtually every time down the court.  But the Suns lost to the Celtics 130-120.

Wilt, by the way, had 70 six times.

--The Knicks’ pathetic season got worse with the news maligned center Joakim Noah, he of the worst contract of the century, will be suspended 20 games by the NBA for violating the league’s anti-drug policy.

Noah, who signed an inexplicable four-year, $72 million deal in free agency last summer, has been out with a knee injury and reportedly will be suspended the remaining 10 games of this season and the first 10 of next season.

Again, this stiff is making $17 million this year and it gradually escalates to average $18m per over the course of the contract.

But there’s a saying around these parts when it comes to the Knicks... “Lose for Balls”...To wit....

Marc Berman / New York Post

“The Knicks’ western swing ended with another loss, an 0-4 record, but with a lot of ping pong balls gained.

“The mighty Spurs built a 19-point halftime lead and staved off a second-half surge by the Knicks to capture a 106-98 decision at the AT&T Center on Saturday.

“With Philadelphia moving ahead of the Knicks, a fifth straight loss dropped Phil Jackson’s reeling team into a tie for fourth-worst record in the NBA, gaining a lot of lottery momentum on the oh-fer trip. The magic number to fall officially into the lottery is down to 2 – mathematical playoff elimination will come with one more Knicks loss combined with a Miami win.  The Knicks’ record is 27-46, and they are on pace to finish with a worse record than last season’s 32-50 clip.”

Yesss!!!  C’mon, boys, you can do it!  We want more balls!  Maybe we get De’Aaron Fox!  Or Josh Jackson!

On the other hand, there is the immediate reality of it all.  And also understand that instead of attending the regional finals where he could have scouted Fox, Malik Monk and Lonzo Ball all in one game, team president Phil Jackson was in Los Angeles on Friday for the unveiling of a statue to Shaquille O’Neal.  He sent his assistant instead.

Mike Lupica / New York Daily News

“By the way?  You don’t just look at the bottom of the standings in the Eastern Conference to understand the Knicks’ current situation. You look at the top, where the Celtics came into the weekend just two games behind the Cavaliers.  You remember where the Celtics were when Danny Ainge, an actual top-flight, all-in NBA executive, hired Brad Stevens away from Butler to come coach the Celtics.

“The year before Stevens arrived in Boston, the Celtics were 41-40.  But they were an old team going nowhere after winning one championship with Doc Rivers as their coach and nearly winning another against Jackson’s Lakers. And Rivers was going, as well, on his way to the Los Angeles Clippers.

“That same year, under Mike Woodson, the Knicks were 54-28 and won the Atlantic Division.  In the four seasons since the Celtics, with Ainge picking the players and making the kind of deal he made with the Nets for Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett – the gift that just keeps on giving – and Stevens coaching Ainge’s players, the Celtics have gone from 25-57 to 40-42 to 48-34 to the record they had after Friday night’s games, 47-26, only a half-game behind the Cavaliers for the top spot in the East.

“The Knicks have gone from 37-47 to 17-65 to 32-50 to 27-46 over the same period.  The Celtics, who are about to go get another high draft pick because of the Nets deal, maybe even the first overall pick in the draft, have become one of the ascendant teams in the league because of the firm of Ainge & Stevens; because Ainge hasn’t just made the kind of deal he made with the Nets, but has also put Isaiah Thomas, one of the stars of the league this season, in a Celtics’ uniform.

“The Knicks?  They have once again gone into reverse. And you want to know the kinds of deals Jackson has made?  He re-signed Carmelo Anthony for around $120 million, a guy whose game he clearly has come to hate – not a triangle guy!  Off with his headband! – and one of whom he has publicly attacked this season, a new level of weirdness even for the Garden.  Before that, you look at the very first decision he made after becoming Chief Operating Savior at the Garden: He got rid of Woodson, the only coach who has won anything for the Knicks in the past 16 years, and replaced him with Derek Fisher.

“Once there was a time when it felt as if baseball didn’t really start in New York until the Knicks played their last playoff game, even if they played it in June. Now you can’t wait for baseball to start next week as another dreary Knicks season mercifully ends.”

But we’re still playing for balls!

MLB

Hard to believe the season begins next Sunday.  I will have your EXCLUSIVE “Picks to Click,” bet the freakin’ ranch, selections next BC.

There’s nothing of substance to report on until the season starts, but I do have to note the U.S. defeated Puerto Rico in the final of the World Baseball Classic, behind Toronto Blue Jay hurler Marcus Stroman, who threw six-plus innings of one-hit ball on the way to Team USA’s 8-0 win.

Ian Kinsler hit a two-run homer off Puerto Rico’s (and the Mets’) Seth Lugo in the third and the U.S. was off and running.

This marked the first time the U.S. had won the W.B.C. in its four editions, not that I really care a whit. 

--According to CBS Miami, Alex Rodriguez talked openly about his past with University of Miami students the other day.  “I was just a really big jerk,” he said. “I made mistakes and then I doubled down and became a bigger jerk and then went on sports radio and made an ass of myself,” A-Rod said, mentioning the infamous 2013 interview with WFAN’s Mike Francesa in which he denied any wrongdoing.

Asked at the time if he was guilty of any of the charges during the scandal, A-Rod told the Sports Pope, “No, and I shouldn’t serve one inning.”  All of us from my area remember that interview.

A-Rod was asked by the Miami students if he would be upset if he isn’t voted into the Hall of Fame.

“Oh yeah, of course.  I think any kid would love and relish the opportunity to be in Cooperstown but I don’t have a vote,” he said.  “With the things that have happened, I think for me I want to make sure that I’m a Hall of Fame father and a Hall of Fame businessman.”

And right now, Alex, you have a Hall of Fame hot squeeze in J-Lo! 

A-Rod is making $21 million this year, the last year of his contract, as a special instructor.

If anyone out there wants to pay me $600,000 for being a special Coors Light instructor, just have your people talk to my people.

-Lastly, we note the passing of former Phillies, Yankees and Mets manager Dallas Green, 82.

Green, the hot-tempered former pitcher with a booming voice, managed the Phillies to their first World Series title in 1980, but he was a flop with the Yankees and Mets.

As Richard Sandomir wrote in the New York Times:

“When he took the 1980 Phillies to the championship with players like Steve Carlton, Mike Schmidt and Greg Luzinski, it was the franchise’s first World Series title. But he was not very popular for various reasons, among them his imposing rules and discipline that rankled veterans.

“ ‘We hated him,’ catcher Bob Boone said, according to Philly.com. ‘He was driving us crazy.  But it was a relationship that worked.’

“After leaving the Phillies, Green became the general manager of the Chicago Cubs and built the team that won the National League East title in 1984 but lost the league’s championship series to the San Diego Padres.”

In his later years, as Sandomir writes: “Green struggled to recover after the shooting death of his 9-year-old granddaughter, Christina-Taylor Green, who was one of six people killed in the failed assassination attempt on Representative Gabrielle Giffords in Tucson in 2011.”

Two years later, in his autobiography, Green conceded, “They say time heals.  Time, I don’t think, will ever heal that part of my life.”

Golf Balls

--In the WGC Match Play event in Austin (love this golf club), Dustin Johnson defeated Jon Rahm in the final, 1 up, for his 15th career PGA Tour triumph and third in a row.  Johnson, No. 1 in the world, now has six wins in the last two years and counting....

Rahm had defeated Bill Haas in the semis, 3 and 2, while Johnson beat Japan’s Hideto Tanihara 1 up.

Saturday, Haas had taken down Phil Mickelson in the quarters 2 and 1, Lefty continuing to play very well this year.

But D.J. is obviously on quite a roll and every single good golf fan in America brings his name up first.

--Meanwhile, there was a full-field PGA Tour event this weekend, the Puerto Rico Open, and D.A. Points, whose last three years have been miserable, captured the third win of his career.  Arnold Palmer’s grandson, Sam Saunders, finished T-5, and Andrew “Beef” Johnston had a solid T-10.

NFL

--Did you see where free agent running back Adrian Peterson thinks he’s worth $8 million to play in 2017?  Goodness gracious.  Instead, his old team, the Minnesota Vikings, signed Latavius Murray, 27 and five years younger than Peterson, to a deal averaging $5 million over the next three years.

Pittsburgh’s Le’Veon Bell, who currently bears a $12.1 million franchise tag, is the only back in the NFL scheduled to make more than $6.5 million in base salary in 2017.

Yoh Adrian....I don’t think so.

--One note in college ball...former Penn State University president Graham Spanier was convicted Friday of keeping a lid on the scandal surrounding notorious child-abusing coach Jerry Sandusky.

A jury in Harrisburg, Pa., found Spanier guilty of one count of child endangerment, due to Spanier’s handling of a complaint against Sandusky.  He was found not guilty of conspiracy and a second child endangerment count.  As a first-time offender, he could face anything from probation to a maximum of five years.

Soccer

--The United States finally returned to action in World Cup qualifying play after a lengthy absence and in his first as coach after replacing Jurgen Klinsmann, Bruce Arena had to be happy with the effort, a 6-0 win over Honduras in San Jose on Friday.  Clint Dempsey, appearing in his first national team game since last June (out with an irregular heartbeat), scored a hat trick.

In their last game in November, the U.S. had suffered a disheartening 4-0 loss in Costa Rica that cost Klinsmann his job and led to the rehiring of Arena.

The U.S. is in a six-team, 10-game final “Hexagonal” round of qualifying with the top three finishers automatically qualifying for Russia 2018.

Match 4 of 10 for the U.S. is Tuesday in Panama.

--Premier League was off this weekend for international break...World Cup qualifying.

Frozen Four

In the NCAA Division I Men’s Hockey Tournament....

East regional final...Harvard defeated Air Force, 3-2.

West regional final...Minnesota-Duluth beat Boston University 3-2.

Midwest regional final...Denver over Penn State 6-3.

Northeast regional final...Notre Dame beat Massachusetts-Lowell 3-2

I got a note from Pete M. that in Saturday’s Midwest Region semifinal, Penn State defeated Union 10-3 on just 33 shots.  Our prayers to the Union goaltender, who no doubt won’t be sleeping well in the coming days.

Stuff

--So with South Carolina advancing to the NCAA Final Four, Dr. W. reminded me that his state is on quite a roll...Clemson winning the national title in football, Coastal Carolina in baseball, it’s the home of Dustin Johnson and now we have the Gamecocks.  As Ronald Reagan would have said, ‘Not bad, not bad at all.’

Plus Charleston is consistently rated the best small city in America, which I can personally vouch for.

--Kyle Larson captured his second career win in today’s NASCAR / Monster Energy event in Fontana, Calif.  Incredibly, Larson had finished second each of the previous three races. 

--I was reminded this weekend that for the first time in 26 years, the Detroit Red Wings will not be in the Stanley Cup playoffs...25 straight a record for a North American professional team.

--Brad K. passed along the following from the Daily Mail’s Kelly McLaughlin:

“A Chilean tourist who got lost in the Amazon rainforest for nine days says a group of monkeys helped him survive by dropping him food and leading him to shelter and water.

“Maykool Coroseco Acuna, 25, was camping in Bolivia’s Madidi National Park near the Tuichi River with tour company Max Adventures when he wandered off and got lost in the forest.

“The story behind the whirlwind nine days that saw Acuna being accused of disrespecting Mother Nature, shamans praying away evil spirits, and monkeys dropping pieces of fruit has been revealed in a report by National Geographic.”

Well, I’m not going to recount the whole tale, but Acuna disappeared one evening from his cabin in February, without leaving a trace behind.  Park rangers then spent several days looking for him, unsuccessfully.  After six days all they had found was a muddy sock lying on the ground in the forest.

When he was found, Acuna was covered with bites and cuts.  He had been screaming from a riverbank less than a mile from camp.

“Spiritual shamans were invited to the camp to take part in rituals in an attempt to locate Acuna.”

Acuna claimed he only stayed alive by following a pack of monkeys, who dropped fruit for him to eat and led him to shelter and water every day.  The guy clearly also went nuts. He’s lucky the monkeys didn’t rip his face off.

--From the Irish Independent:

Firefighters who spent 20 minutes performing resuscitation on a dog they rescued from a burning apartment have been hailed as heroes.

“The dog’s owner, 35-year-old Crystal Lamirande, had just returned to her Santa Monica apartment when a neighbor shouted that there was a fire.

“Ms. Lamirande said she frantically tried to save her dog, a 10-year-old Bichon Frise/Shit Tzu named Nalu.

“But the smoke was too thick, she said.  Moments later, as firefighters arrived, she told them about Nalu.  They quickly got the fire under control and pulled the lifeless dog from a bedroom.

Firefighter Andrew Klein spent 20 minutes bringing the dog back to life as her tearful owner watched.

“Ms. Lamirande said the dog spent the next 24 hours in an oxygen chamber and is doing well.”

For this heroic action, ‘Man’ moves up to 351 from 352 on the All-Species List.  ‘Dog’ is still No. 1.

--From Steve Marble / Los Angeles Times

“When Tom Amberry swished in his 2,750th consecutive free throw, there were all of 10 people watching history being made.  [Ed. this was 1973]

“For 12 hours in a small rec center gym in Orange County, the retired Long Beach podiatrist had rhythmically lobbed in shot after shot, stopping only when a janitor said it was time to turn off the lights and lock up.

“Nobody had ever done such a thing, at least not in the estimation of Guinness World Records, which keeps tabs on such feats.

“ ‘I could have made more – a lot more,” Amberry said.  ‘But they were closing the gym, so they kicked me out.’

“Amberry’s prowess at the free-throw line made him both a momentary celebrity and a commodity.

He appeared on David Letterman’s TV show – again flipping in one perfect shot after another – and was sought out by coaches hoping he could help otherwise solid basketball players fix the one glaring blemish in their game: The free throw.

Amberry died in Long Beach on March 18 at the age of 94. He had continued to shoot free throws as a hobby and a form of relaxation until late in life.”

Top 3 songs for the week 3/30/68: #1 “(Sittin’ On) The Dock Of The Bay” (Otis Redding)  #2 “Love Is Blue” (Paul Mauriat)  #3 “Valleri” (The Monkees)...and...#4 “Simon Says” (1910 Fruitgum Co.)  #5 “(Sweet Sweet Baby) Since You’ve Been Gone” (Aretha Franklin)  #6 “La-La-Means I Love You” (The Delfonics)  #7 “Young Girl” (The Union Gap featuring Gary Puckett)  #8 “The Ballad Of Bonnie And Clyde” (Georgie Fame)  #9 “Lady Madonna” (The Beatles)  #10 “(Theme From) Valley Of The Dolls” (Dionne Warwick)

NBA / College Hoops Quiz Answer: School these NBA HOFers went to: Zelmo Beaty (Prairie View), Jo Jo White (Kansas), Mitch Richmond (Kansas State), Chet Walker (Bradley), Gus Johnson (Idaho), Joe Dumars (McNeese State)

Next Bar Chat, Thursday.