Friday?s 6-pack
Odds for first round NBA playoff series:
? Clippers +$10,000 vs Golden State -$50,000
? San Antonio +$170 vs Denver -$200
? Oklahoma City -$150 vs Portland +$130
? Utah +$300 vs Houston -$400
? Detroit +$2,000 vs Milwaukee -$10,000
? Orlando +$800 vs Toronto -$1,400
? Brooklyn +$550 vs Philadelphia -$800
? Indiana +$500 vs Boston -$700
Quote of the Day
?Not this toxic, no. Not that affected two teams. And two guys. One (GM) lost his job and the other one resigned from his job. So no, in 31 years I hadn?t had anything that would equal this kind of fallout. No, I haven?t.?
Pelicans coach Alvin Gentry, talking about the Anthony Davis/Lakers situation
Friday?s quiz
Which major league ballpark has a swimming pool behind the fence in right-center field?
Thursday?s quiz
Last time a Canadian franchise won the Stanley Cup was when Montreal won in 1993.
Wednesday?s quiz
Mike D?Antoni was the Lakers? coach the last time they made the playoffs, in 2013.
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Friday?s List of 13: Random stuff with weekend here??
13) Baseball season is only 15 days old, and San Diego Padres have already had three starting pitchers (Paddack, Margevicius, Avila) make their major league debuts. None of the three ever pitched at the AAA level, which is very unusual- the three combined to make only eight starts at the AA level, which is revolutionary thinking.
12) Teams/players have exit interviews after each season; if HBO wants to do a good reality show along the lines of Hard Knocks, these interviews would be fun to watch.
No matter what team it is, there are always unhappy players at the end of a season; some of these teams don?t have many happy players. Must be some interesting conversation going on, moreso in basketball/baseball, teams with smaller rosters.
11) I mean, Sacramento Kings just finished a 39-43 season, their best season in 13 years, yet they fired their coach. How do you think that exit interview went?
Lot of politics in NBA coaching circles; the coach tried to win games, people in the front office wanted him to play the younger players more, which would?ve resulted in fewer wins, but maybe more longterm success if the younger players developed faster.
Maybe there?s a reason Sacramento hasn?t had a winning season in over a decade.
10) Southern Miss recently hired a new athletic director, and Thursday basketball coach Doc Sadler quit, probably to become an assistant to Fred Hoiberg at Nebraska.
Sadler was at USM for five years, re-buillding a program that was ravaged by NCAA sanctions. Golden Eagles went 20-13 this year, their best season under Sadler- they started three seniors, so the new coach will have some recruiting to do.
Whats slightly odd is that Sadler was Nebraska?s head coach from 2006-12, when the Huskers moved from the Big X to the Big 14. He was making $360,000 at Southern Miss, will take a pay cut to become an assistant, but probably not a big one.
Just catches your attention when a pretty good head coach quits to become an assistant.
9) If I ran major league baseball, I?d end all blackout policies, would let people use all the highlights from major/minor league games. In short, I?d give the game maximum exposure so that the casual fan/non-fans can see how excellent it is and they?ll develop an interest.
Baseball does the opposite, and I?m guessing there is a financial reason why, but over the long haul, getting younger people invested in the game seems like a smarter business plan.
8) Not really sure why, but ESPN doesn?t have Baseball Tonight anymore, but they have an hour-long NBA show during the day year-round. Baseball needs more exposure.
7) Coaching contract:
? Nevada signed Steve Alford to replace Eric Musselman as coach.
6) Every returning Nevada player has entered the transfer portal, except for two guys who transferred there last year, and aren?t eligible until 2nd semester next season. Alford is going to have to do quick work re-recruiting the returnees, or he?ll have to recruit a whole new team.
Similar thing at LSU, where five players have declared for the NBA Draft; if they fire Will Wade, and it seems likely they will, the new coach is going to be handed a depleted roster.
5) In the bottom of the 5th inning Wednesday night, Mets had seven consecutive batters reach base against Minnesota, without ever hitting a fair ball- six walks and a hit batter, against three different pitchers. All in all, Mets scored six runs in the inning, with two singles.
4) Cubs? pitcher Jon Lester started his big league career 0-66 at the plate, but since then he?s hit .130 (27-207) to raise his career batting average to .099.
3) Patrick Reed shot a 73 at The Masters Thursday; each of the last eight rounds at The Masters by that year?s defending champ have been over par.
2) Red Sox 7, Blue Jays 6? Last season, Nathan Eovaldi allowed 14 homers in 111 IP. He?s allowed six homers this season in 15 IP. Boston scored twice in 9th for the comeback win; both teams are now 4-9 this season.
1) On February 12, 2016, Milwaukee traded Khris Davis to the A?s, for Jacob Nottingham and Bubba Derby.
Since that trade, Davis has homered 142 times for Oakland. Nottingham is 4-20 in nine major league games, Derby has a 4.16 ERA in 103 minor league games. Pretty good trade for the A?s.
