GUESTS:
STEVE KERR
TIM RYAN
TOPICS:
-PHILLY OR BOSTON THE FUTURE IN EAST?
-PHLLY SATURDAY
BOX
WHAT WE LEARNED
WARRIORS LOSE TO BOSTON ---FINALS PREVIEW? 92-88
-CURRY SAYS HE HEARS BOSTON IS NICE IN JUNE
"It's very, very likely, right?" Curry said. "They're playing the best right now in the East and obviously until they beat Cleveland, who's done it three years in a row -- so we'll see, but I hear the weather is great here in June."
SWITCHING CELTICS:
I'm not sure even Boston's coaches and front-office folks realized how huge this team is on the wing until they saw everyone play together in preseason. Jaylen Brown is a 6-foot-7 starting 2-guard with a 7-foot wingspan. That is obscene. When the Celtics have any three of Brown, Jayson Tatum, Marcus Morris, and Marcus Smart on the floor (and, hell, throw in Semi Ojeleye) with Al Horford at center, they can switch seamlessly across four positions.
It was all on display in their win over Golden State. They switched a ton, and when they didn't -- when they put two on the ball -- the guys behind the play took up so much space when they spread their arms, they could almost guard two people at once. Brown and Horford dissuaded several passes just by making themselves big away from the ball. And when they fall behind chasing shooters around picks, they make up ground so fast, they interfere with the shot anyway.
Skeptics imagined rookie-year Tatum as a defensive liability who would indulge in too many Carmelo Anthony-style midrangers. Nope. Tatum has been adequate on defense, and about 70 percent of his shots have come either at the rim or from 3-point range. He is one of those guys who moves really fast along the horizontal plane. He's a glider. He finishes smoothly in traffic with either hand, and navigates with the confidence of a five-year veteran.
Meanwhile, Markelle Fultz is shooting left-handed, Jimmy Butler isn't shooting much at all, Jae Crowder looks like he aged five years over the summer, and Irving is playing unselfishly (by his standards). Danny Ainge and Brad Stevens might be warlocks.
WARRIORS NOT HAPPY W CALLS LATE
IRVING: He got to the free throw line a lot. That was it. He didn't make no shots," Draymond Green said after the game. "He got to the free throw line. Whether they were fouls or not is another discussion." (4-16 FG, 7-7 FTS IN 4TH)
ut the most controversial call occurred with 14 seconds left with the score tied at 88. Green switched onto Irving at the top of the key. Irving crossed Green over a bit, penetrated and attacked two Warriors' defenders in the paint. Green recovered, also challenging the circus layup attempt from behind as Irving spilled awkwardly to the floor. The ball clanked off the rim, but Green was hit with a foul.
This time, all five of the Warriors' players reacted to the call. Head coach Steve Kerr was irate.
"I just watched the tape. There was no foul. Tough call," Kerr said following the game.
Thompson was whistled for three fourth-quarter fouls, all of them while defending Irving.
"I guess, I can't foul," he said sarcastically. "I have to give him more space when he drives, I guess. That's what I'll do next time."
Durant provided a glimpse of his frustration level with the free throw disparity, but he kept his emotions in check.
"At the end of the game, they shot six free throws," he said. "I thought it was great defense. ... It's hard to play like that. But on the other end, I think we got to execute better on the offensive end."
KYRIE MADE RIGHT CHOICE
THE NUMBERS:
-BOSTON 19-0 RUN
-WARRIORS LOST 17 POINT LEAD
FT MADE: 33-12 BOSTON
FG % BOSTON 32.9 / GS 40.2
HORFORD 7-11 / REST: 19-72
CURRY/THOMPSON 8-32 / 5-20
BOSTON 18-5 2ND CHANCE
BREAK 20-13 WARRIORS (ONLY 6 IN 2ND HALF)
The Warriors went without a point from Durant's 20-foot pull-up with 4:49 left in the third quarter until Omri Casspi's floater with 34.5 left tied it at 68 - a 19-2 Celtics' run.
Curry, Durant and Thompson were just 7 of 26 combined from the field in the first half. But the Warriors were able to maintain their lead thanks to 14 fast-break points.
Durant was the only one of the three to score during a 12-0 Warriors run late in the second quarter.
Boston trailed by just 47-42 at the half, closing the quarter with a 13-2 spurt.
BARNETT TROLLS LONZO BALL'S SHOOTING
WORSE THAN YOU THINK
-BROWN INSPIRED
PER DREW SHILLER:
Draymond Green tonight vs Celtics: - Contested 16 shots (was averaging 8.4) - Contested 8 3-pointers (was averaging 3) - 5 loose balls recovered (had 11 combined in first 14 games)
NBA:
ROCKETS SCORE 90 IN A HALF
-NBA GOING TO LOOK AT ONE AND DONE RULE --LET HS KIDS BACK IN ....OR MAKE IT TWO YEARS
49ERS: BYE WEEK BUT
-LEAD LEAGUE IN ROOKIE SNAP COUNT ---GOOD FOR THE FUTURE
FOSTER, COLBERT, S. THOMAS (SHOULD HAVE TAKEN LATTIMORE), DJ JONES, KITTLE, BETHARD, BOURNE,
HOW HAS LYNCH DONE AS A FOOTBALL GUY?
-LIT ALL COMES DOWN TO LYNCH --GRADING FIRST DRAFT --THOMAS LIKELY WASN'T THE BEST PICK MARSHON LATTIMORE NWOULD HAVE BEEN BETTER --TANK MAKES THOMAS REDUNDANT
-THE JIMMY TRADE WAS GOOD
NFL:
-DID JAMEIS WINSTON GROPE A UBER DRIVER'S CROTCH?
JERRY VS. ROGER HOW DOES THIS END ---JERRY IS MORE POWERFUL
DEADSPIN
According to ESPN's Don Van Natta Jr. and Seth Wickersham, Jones said the following to Goodell during a conference call: "I'm gonna come after you with everything I have."
Jones reportedly then made mention of the New England Patriots' Deflategate situation and added, "If you think [Patriots owner] Bob Kraft came after you hard, Bob Kraft is a p---y compared to what I'm going to do."
Per Ken Belson of the New York Times, NFL owners rejected Jones' request for a special meeting to discuss the Goodell situation.
On Sunday, Pro Football Talk's Mike Florio reported that some NFL owners have discussed the possibility of threatening to force Jones to forfeit the Cowboys franchise due to "conduct detrimental to the welfare of the League or professional football."
Jones went on to call that idea "laughable" and "ridiculous" during an interview with 105.3 The Fan (h/t Roy White III of Shan and RJ).
Elliott served the first game of his six-game suspension last week after an NFL investigation determined there was enough evidence to conclude he physically assaulted then-girlfriend Tiffany Thompson last year.
LEAGUE TURMOIL NOT HANDLED WELL: POROTESTS, DEFLATEGATE, ELLIOTT, CONCUSSIONS, HEAD INJURIES , DECLINING RATINGS
As the league's TV ratings and favorability polls have drifted downward this autumn, a growing number of owners have expressed their dissatisfaction with Goodell's stewardship: He has not held many executives accountable despite a long line of mishandled crises; even with tens of millions of dollars invested in new executives and consultants, Goodell still has not managed to resolve high-profile cases of player discipline without embarrassing legal battles; behind closed doors, even perfunctory policy decisions, like the posting of game highlights on Twitter, have become bitter showdowns among owners and executives. At the same time, the league has been exposed to unprecedented pressure over player protests during the national anthem that have polarized fans and players while angering sponsors and TV network partners. Even more, throughout the past few months, the war for the future of the NFL has played out uncomfortably and publicly, often through competing leaks between owners, all of which has distracted fans from the actual games.
It is a turmoil that seems new but actually began years ago in a shadow war waged inside the cloistered world of NFL offices, owners' suites, private meetings and conference calls, rooted in very different visions, mostly by Jerry Jones and Roger Goodell, about what the NFL's future should be.
TOO MUCH POWER, TOO MANY LEAGUE EXECUTIVES
Jones, though, was conditioned in the spirit of Raiders owner and mentor Al Davis to never allow the league office to amass too much power. And in recent years, Jones felt that owners were being relegated to the role of mere "suggesters." One of the first times his anger over that power shift spilled out into plain view came during a league meeting in October 2015 in Manhattan. The owners were frustrated. The movie "Concussion" was about to be released, and they conceded that years of inaction and denials about football-related brain injuries had damaged the league. But more recently, owners had approved rule changes that they believed made the game safer. Some owners complained, "Why aren't we perceived as being part of the solution?"
In his deep Arkansas drawl, Jones argued that everyone was overreacting, both about the film and the fallout over head injuries.
"This is a pimple on a baby's ass," Jones said, drawing an awkward silence from the room.
The frustration of Jones and other owners continued over issues big and small. Last year, TV ratings declined and anxiety mounted. Many owners concluded that former Pepsi executive Dawn Hudson, whom Goodell hired as the league's chief marketing officer, was providing analysis that was too o FIRM) ptimistic. At an October 2016 league meeting in Houston, Hudson and Lockhart presented a slide that showed different variables measuring the popularity of the major sports leagues. At the top was the NFL. Various others, including Major League Soccer, were labeled "up-and-coming." At the bottom, under the category of "eroding," was the NBA, which had just signed a $24 billion TV deal with ESPN and TNT and was coming off its most watched Finals since 1998.
DON'T WANT TO BE IN THE PLAYER INVESTIGATION BUSINESS (OUTSIDE FIRM)
During one meeting, Jones reminded Goodell of his impatience with the ongoing Elliott inquiry. Behind closed doors, Jones repeated to other owners that the NFL shouldn't be in the "investigative business." Jones knew many owners agreed; Bob Kraft, for example, has complained for years that the league "wastes" money on seemingly endless player discipline investigations, including a reported $22.5 million on Deflategate. Jones also challenged Goodell's practice of punishing players who are not charged with crimes, let alone convicted.
Jones didn't mention Elliott by name, but he didn't need to.
During an executive session, Goodell left the conference room, and the topic turned to his contract, which expires in March 2019. An extension seemed like a formality; even owners who weren't pleased with Goodell's performance wanted him to lead negotiations against the union when the collective bargaining agreement expires in 2021. Jones, though, complained to fellow owners about the power vested in the six-member compensation committee that would negotiate the terms of Goodell's contract with him. Jones, who was not a committee member, said that for Goodell's next contract, all 32 owners should be kept apprised of all the negotiations' key developments and be given the opportunity to approve the contract's final terms.
The unspoken issue, again, was Elliott.
When Goodell returned to New York from the Biltmore, he told his deputies that he wanted the Elliott case closed by June to avoid having yet another disciplinary case against one of the NFL's stars hanging over the start of the season. Elliott's accuser and ex-girlfriend was interviewed by Kia Roberts, the NFL's newly hired director of investigations, a total of six times -- twice in person and four more times on the phone. By the spring, Roberts had concluded that the accuser was not a credible witness, an opinion she conveyed to Friel.
In May, Jones asked Goodell by phone for a status update on the Elliott investigation. Jones later told several people that he came away from their conversation with an assurance that there would be no suspension for Elliott and that Goodell felt the running back should enter counseling and perhaps issue a statement showing contrition for his behavior. Jones replied that Elliott wouldn't be contrite about domestic violence because he hadn't committed it. "[Jones] told me, 'Roger told me there was nothing to worry about -- the evidence just isn't there,'" says a high-level source briefed on the call. "Jerry ... was damn sure that Zeke was free and clear."
Lockhart, the NFL spokesman, disputes that account: "Absolutely no assurances were given to Jerry by the commissioner that there would be no discipline, at any point in the process."
THE VERDICT:
On Aug. 11, Goodell announced the six-game suspension of Elliott. Jones saw it as a "complete betrayal," a source now says. "An overcorrection" by Goodell, Jones later called it publicly. Privately, Jones seethed to confidants that Goodell hadn't studied the case's many details, and he considered suing the NFL to get the suspension overturned. "Roger blew off his own investigator's conclusion -- it's just patently unfair," Jones told a confidant, a charge that a league source denies. Jones had turned on Goodell, perhaps for good. An ESPN report in mid-September detailed that Jones was impeding progress on Goodell's contract extension. And then, at league meetings a month later, Jones took over a meeting about Goodell's contract, irritating his colleagues by calling himself, more than once, the "ranking owner" and adding, "I'm going to be a pain in the ass" to committee members.
Lockhart has insisted that Roberts' recommendation that she did not believe Elliott should be suspended had been communicated to Goodell. But on Oct. 30, at another hearing over Elliott's suspension before U.S. District Judge Katherine Polk Failla, NFL lawyer Paul Clement suggested that it didn't matter because of the broad authority Goodell has over player discipline. Failla asked, "Would it not have assisted [Goodell] in determining whether punishment were appropriate to hear from the very person that had been tasked with interviewing this very key witness?"
"I don't know that it would," Clement replied.
To Jones and to Elliott's lawyers, Clement's position was proof that Goodell had failed to obtain a critical fact before handing down punishment -- permissible under the CBA but fundamentally unfair to Elliott. It didn't matter: On Nov. 9, Elliott's six-game suspension was upheld by a federal appeals court, sending him to the sideline, after more than two months of appeals, and escalating the anger and determination of the league's most powerful owner.
JONES WANTS THE FIGHT:
A LONG-HELD assumption has been that Goodell wants another long-term deal. Those who have discussed the contract situation with him have described him as "furious" and "emboldened" at the notion of accepting a deep pay cut after making the owners a lot of money over the years, watching their teams' valuations skyrocket and taking many bullets for them. ESPN has reported that he asked in August for a compensation package of about $49 million a year, if every incentive is met, plus use of a private jet for life and health care for life for his family. But most owners expect him to land in the range of $40 million a year. If owners decide to squeeze him too hard, he might walk away. He knows that there's no clear successor, which is both a failing on his part and a source of leverage.
The owners, though, have considered other successors. A confidant of one owner reached out to gauge whether Adam Silver, the NBA commissioner, would be interested in running the NFL, to which Silver immediately said no. Owners have also considered looking to the International Olympic Committee for someone with global experience to grow the game -- or even installing the 76-year-old Tagliabue for a year while a committee searched for the ideal successor. Jones has told confidants that he has his own candidate in mind, which Jones has publicly denied. Few owners are interested in allowing Jones to essentially handpick the next commissioner. Even so, Jones has vowed, sources say, to make Goodell's life miserable. "Jerry's message to Roger was 'I run this league. You better get with it,'" a senior league executive says. "This is about power and control, not the contract. That's all white noise."
RAIDERS IN MEXICO CTIY --IF YOU RANKED THE BEST FRANCHISES WHO WOULD BE TOP 10:
-WARRIORS
-PATS
-SPURS
-DODGERS
-YANKEES
-ALABAMA FOOTBALL
-DUKE
MLB HOT STOVE:
OHTANI IS THE GUY THE GIANTS NEED - LF AND A STARTER AND HE'S YOUNG AND A JAPANEESE STAR
HE'S IN LIMBO
-STANTON TO LA VIA HIS GIRLFRIEND?
Lexy Panterra Wants Giancarlo Stanton In L.A. ... Dodgers' Secret Weapon? 1 11/16/2017 8:57 AM PST L.A. fans might just have an ace in the hole to get Giancarlo Stanton in Dodger Blue -- his rumored GF, singer Lexy Panterra. There are big-time rumors that the Dodgers are eyeing Stanton via trade, and when we got Panterra out at Warwick we asked her what she thought of the idea of the slugger in Tinseltown. "I think that'd be a great idea. He'd be closer!!!" Remember, it was just last week Panterra performed at Stanton's surprise B-day party at Hyde -- and just a couple of months ago the duo did a super sexy damn-near-naked music video together. So it's clear what the Dodgers need to do to get
CFB:
-ROSEN OR DARNOLD?
-THE BIG GAME -- HOW BIG IS IT?
-PAC 12 DISSAPOINTING YEAR WITH ALL THESE GREAT QBS
OTHER:
SHOCKER - RON JEREMY ACCUSED OF SEXUAL ASSAULT
-THE STORY OF THE FORMER FOOTBALL PLAYER STILL STUCK IN CHINEESE PRISON
-GENE SIMMONS IS BANNED FROM FOX NEWS
-THANKS GIVING CHIPS?
-CASKET MIX UP
-WE NO LONGER HAVE THE BEST IMAGE
-CAR CHASES ON BACK TO BACK DAYS
-SOUTH CAROLINA WOMEN TURN DOWN INVITE
-BEST BAY AREA BURGER
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