Kerr after beating Houston; ‘Probably not going to play bigger game’
Then Draymond came back in
SAN FRANCISCO — Then Draymond came back in. Alec Burks said it. An All-Star is supposed to make a difference, right? And Draymond Green, All-Star, emotional leader, has made a difference, in games that have become so much a part of the Warriors’ legacy.
Or, as on Monday night, in a game less consequential, other than it was responsible for the first two-game win streak of a season now finding itself.
Yes, two in a row, which compared to those glory days a few seasons past, the 24 straight victories early in the 2015 season, seems almost unworthy of being mentioned.
But that was then, and this is now, the tumult and frustration without the departed (and hurt) Kevin Durant and the still present but equally injured Klay Thompson and Steph Curry.
No Kevin, no Steph, no play. But plenty of Draymond. And with the 113-104 triumph over the Minnesota Timberwolves, a second win in a row.
Which most likely is as far as it goes, since next under the tree is the Houston Rockets on Christmas Day.
“We need this regardless of what is coming next,” said Steve Kerr, the Warriors’ coach. “We just needed to win a couple games in a row to get a little momentum and feel good.”
It was the mediocre Timberwolves, having cut a 24-point third-quarter deficit to six points with six minutes to go in the fourth quarter, who had the “mo.”
“Then,” said Burks, “Draymond came back in and got D-Lo (D’Angelo Russell) a shot. We were just playing out of character, and they went on a couple of runs, which allowed them to come back.”
But only so far.
Burks, a guy who’s been tossed around the league — the Warriors are his fourth teams in eight seasons — has been making his points, literally (25 Monday night) and symbolically (his observations). He talks quickly and softly, but his words, like his shots, hit the mark.
“I think my teammates are putting me in the right position,” he said about his ability to score, “and Steve (Kerr) is trusting me to have the ball in my hand and make plays for myself and others.”
One of those others is Russell, who had 30 points. People knew D-Lo could score and, finally healthy, he is proving people correct. The question now is how D-Lo and Curry, who is supposed to be back in late February, will pair together. Maybe not the Splash Brothers redux, but perhaps there will be a lot of water flying and baskets dropping.
Curry, his left hand in that cast, and Thompson, recovering from the torn anterior cruciate ligament in his left leg, both were at Chase Center with their teammates Monday night, although unable to play.
“Just having their presence, especially for the young guys,” Green said of the contributions from Curry and Thompson at games or practice.
“Those (young) guys haven’t been around as much. I’ve always said when you’re hurt, you’re just not a part of the team. These young guys look up to them. They are legends, superstars, heroes to some of these young guys.”
So too is Green. At the moment, Andre Iguodala, Shawn Livingston and Durant gone, Curry and Thompson rehabbing, Draymond is the only player on the Warriors still active from the teams in five straight NBA finals.
He hectors teammates, yells at officials and keeps believing.
“I think our younger guys are getting some experience,” Green said about the improved defense. “Starting to figure out rotations, and that makes a difference.”
Green was enthusiastic about the inside play of center Willie Cauley-Stein, who had three blocked shots Monday night. “He made several plays tonight at the rim,” Green said of Cauley-Stein, “giving us the spark (on defense) he also gives us on offense. The way he runs the runs the floor, like the play he got the block and then sprinted out and got the dunk.”
So Draymond, how does it feel to win two in a row? “It feels bleeping amazing,” he all but shouted. “I never thought I’d be so excited for two regular season wins in my life.”
Niners defy third-and-16 percentage — and win
By Art Spander
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — Third and 16. That’s not field position, that’s an impossibility. Especially on your own 19 with just under two minutes left in a tie game.
“They’re less than 10 percent,” Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers coach, said of going for it on third and 16. “I know that. In the league this year, you watch and it’s like one out of 20.
“Usually you just try and survive the down and get half (the yardage) and punt. But we were in a situation that we didn’t have that, and I think we struggled on third downs most of the day.”
This time Shanahan didn’t play the percentages, he played the opposition. He played to get the victory and what might be looming, a top seed in the playoffs.
According to one numbers man, Josh Dubow of the Associated Press, the 49ers had failed the previous 15 times trying to convert on third and 16.
So naturally in this suspenseful and magical season of 2019, they made it, kept the ball on an 18-yard completion to Kendrick Bourne and kept alive a drive that ended with 0:00 on the clock at Levi’s Stadium, Saturday night.
Another one of those waiting-to-exhale results, beating the Los Angeles Rams 34-31 on Robbie Gould’s 33-yard field goal.
Such an emotional and tragic day, the Niners receiving word around 3 a.m. that the younger brother of backup quarterback C.J. Beathard had been fatally stabbed in a bar fight in Nashville. Players were notified before the game. That the Niners quickly fell behind was no surprise.
“How horrible it is,” said Shanahan.
That the Niners, trailing 14-3 in the second quarter, rallied to win and raise their season record to 12-3 wasn’t a surprise either.
The Niners are what teams must be in pro football: resilient. First the awful news about a teammate’s sibling; then the Rams, desperate because a defeat would eliminate them from the playoffs, striking quickly; then Niners quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo getting sacked six times; then the Rams regaining the lead, 28-24, in the third quarter.
But winners have something special. Back in Foxboro, Brady brought the Patriots from behind to take the AFC title for a 11th straight year. Then a few hours later out here on the other coast, Garoppolo, who was the Patriots starter-in-waiting behind Brady — and if the Niners hadn’t traded for him he still would be waiting — brought San Francisco from behind.
Next Sunday the Niners face the Seahawks in Seattle, the winner getting home field advantage and the first-round playoff bye.
Which is a perfect place to mention Richard Sherman, the defensive back who as part of the “Legion of Boom” helped the Seahawks win their only Super Bowl and now would hope to help the Niners win their sixth.
“This is a special team,” Sherman said of the 49ers. “Guys care about each other. Guys care about winning. Guys go out there and execute... It’s not always how you draw it up but if you got guys willing to fight to the last play.”
Four Niners games this season have come down to that last play, and the Niners have won two of them and, of course, lost the other two.
They won this one in part because at halftime San Francisco made changes in its defense. Set up to stop the run, mainly Todd Gurley II, it gave up yards and touchdowns on passes by Jared Goff, the onetime Cal star who was the No. 1 pick three years ago.
Goff got the Rams to the Super Bowl last season. Garoppolo might be able to get the Niners there this year.
“Usually,” said Shanahan about his quarterback, “you’re not feeling great in those (third and very long) situations. He had two this game. Play calling, offense defense, everything was up and down this game. But each individual kept coming back.”
Raiders' home finale: A loss on the board, boos in the stands
By Art Spander
OAKLAND — So it is over now. The Raiders are done in Oakland. Finished. They walked off the Coliseum field Sunday with a defeat on the scoreboard and booing in the stands.
We’re told that love never ends happily, and certainly the affair between the city and the team it held so dear is yet another example.
A last dance, a time to mourn as much as to celebrate, a day the music — the soul beat and the salsa that flood the pregame tailgates — died. There will be silence in the parking lots in Oakland before future Raider home games.
The team is moving. To Nevada, to become the Las Vegas Raiders, shifting away from the aging, weathered half-century-old Coliseum to a $2 billion stadium in a city that may not care about pro football but has the wherewithal to grab a team from a town that cares too much.
Maybe it was appropriate on a bittersweet afternoon that the Raiders would allow two touchdowns in the last 5 minutes 15 seconds to the sad-sack Jacksonville Jaguars and lose 20-16.
Or maybe the game meant little. Other than it was a last hurrah, another kick in the gut, one more reminder that the sports we watch and support and agonize over, in fact, belong to the wealthy.
To those who are willing and able to build expensive palaces for their teams, the new Vegas stadium, the under-construction $5 billion stadium down in Inglewood, or to pay Gerrit Cole $324 million to pitch for the Yankees.
Yes, it’s history, irreversible. Owners get the arenas and stadiums they demand. Fans get the shaft — and some weak apologies.
You want the football? The Raiders couldn’t find a way to hold a 13-point second-quarter lead. For a second straight game, the Raiders couldn’t score in the second half. The Raiders dropped to 6-8 and out of playoff contention.
That’s the way this era ends, with neither a bang or a whimper but a lot of could-haves and should-haves.
“I’d like to say we could have sent the Raider fans off with a lot better finish than that,” agreed head coach Jon Gruden. “I think importantly, before we talk about the game, I’d like to thank the fans. I’d like to thank city of Oakland for supporting the Raiders and being faithful in all kinds of seasons. I’ll miss them.”
It’s not Gruden’s fault the Raiders are getting the heck out of town. He coached them 20 years ago, was traded — for draft picks, no less — to Tampa Bay by the late Oakland owner Al Davis, went to work for ESPN and then a year ago returned to the Raiders.
You believe he’s genuinely understanding and compassionate about what is known as Raider Nation. He’s been seen to plunge into that most aggressive and loyal group, the Black Hole, exchanging handshakes and joy.
Not Sunday, of course. The fans were angry and vocal, the immediate disgust with the result — losing the game — coupled with the residual frustration of losing the franchise.
“It’s not really the result today,” Gruden said, trying to deal with the big picture, “it’s the results of the Raiders over the years. It’s the Oakland Raiders. It’s the appreciation, the loyalty that these fans have had for the Raiders, We’re going to miss them.”
Hey Jon, we know you’re not to blame, but it’s the Raiders who are hitting the road, not those loyal fans.
Raiders management did its best to put a happy face on an unhappy occasion, bringing back many of the heroes of old — Jim Otto read a line from “Autumn Wind,” the team’s manifesto; Tim Brown ignited the memorial flame to Al Davis.
A ton of nostalgia, a spate of memories, and the undeniable fact that the team that put Oakland into the datelines, if not on the map, is being taken away.
Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (he was 22 of 36 for 267 yards, 1 TD, sacked 4 times) went over to the Black Hole before heading to the locker room.
“I saw a couple of people, a little kid, I’ve seen over the years,” said Carr. “I just said thanks. When I’m done playing, they can get mad as somebody else. That’s the quarterback. You know what I mean?
“There are too many fun memories I’ve had with especially those certain people. It’s our last time there. Such a cool moment to say thank you.”
Why don’t we let it go at that?
We’re told that love never ends happily, and certainly the affair between the city and the team it held so dear is yet another example.
A last dance, a time to mourn as much as to celebrate, a day the music — the soul beat and the salsa that flood the pregame tailgates — died. There will be silence in the parking lots in Oakland before future Raider home games.
The team is moving. To Nevada, to become the Las Vegas Raiders, shifting away from the aging, weathered half-century-old Coliseum to a $2 billion stadium in a city that may not care about pro football but has the wherewithal to grab a team from a town that cares too much.
Maybe it was appropriate on a bittersweet afternoon that the Raiders would allow two touchdowns in the last 5 minutes 15 seconds to the sad-sack Jacksonville Jaguars and lose 20-16.
Or maybe the game meant little. Other than it was a last hurrah, another kick in the gut, one more reminder that the sports we watch and support and agonize over, in fact, belong to the wealthy.
To those who are willing and able to build expensive palaces for their teams, the new Vegas stadium, the under-construction $5 billion stadium down in Inglewood, or to pay Gerrit Cole $324 million to pitch for the Yankees.
Yes, it’s history, irreversible. Owners get the arenas and stadiums they demand. Fans get the shaft — and some weak apologies.
You want the football? The Raiders couldn’t find a way to hold a 13-point second-quarter lead. For a second straight game, the Raiders couldn’t score in the second half. The Raiders dropped to 6-8 and out of playoff contention.
That’s the way this era ends, with neither a bang or a whimper but a lot of could-haves and should-haves.
“I’d like to say we could have sent the Raider fans off with a lot better finish than that,” agreed head coach Jon Gruden. “I think importantly, before we talk about the game, I’d like to thank the fans. I’d like to thank city of Oakland for supporting the Raiders and being faithful in all kinds of seasons. I’ll miss them.”
It’s not Gruden’s fault the Raiders are getting the heck out of town. He coached them 20 years ago, was traded — for draft picks, no less — to Tampa Bay by the late Oakland owner Al Davis, went to work for ESPN and then a year ago returned to the Raiders.
You believe he’s genuinely understanding and compassionate about what is known as Raider Nation. He’s been seen to plunge into that most aggressive and loyal group, the Black Hole, exchanging handshakes and joy.
Not Sunday, of course. The fans were angry and vocal, the immediate disgust with the result — losing the game — coupled with the residual frustration of losing the franchise.
“It’s not really the result today,” Gruden said, trying to deal with the big picture, “it’s the results of the Raiders over the years. It’s the Oakland Raiders. It’s the appreciation, the loyalty that these fans have had for the Raiders, We’re going to miss them.”
Hey Jon, we know you’re not to blame, but it’s the Raiders who are hitting the road, not those loyal fans.
Raiders management did its best to put a happy face on an unhappy occasion, bringing back many of the heroes of old — Jim Otto read a line from “Autumn Wind,” the team’s manifesto; Tim Brown ignited the memorial flame to Al Davis.
A ton of nostalgia, a spate of memories, and the undeniable fact that the team that put Oakland into the datelines, if not on the map, is being taken away.
Raiders quarterback Derek Carr (he was 22 of 36 for 267 yards, 1 TD, sacked 4 times) went over to the Black Hole before heading to the locker room.
“I saw a couple of people, a little kid, I’ve seen over the years,” said Carr. “I just said thanks. When I’m done playing, they can get mad as somebody else. That’s the quarterback. You know what I mean?
“There are too many fun memories I’ve had with especially those certain people. It’s our last time there. Such a cool moment to say thank you.”
Why don’t we let it go at that?
Warriors-Knicks: Bad teams but a good game
SAN FRANCISCO — This is what keeps us interested, even when there’s no reason to be. Two bad teams playing a game that was very good, perhaps not technically but very much so emotionally.
The eternal line in sport is “you never know.” You never know when the last-place Knicks, who had lost 10 in a row, and the next-to-last place Warriors would compete as they did Wednesday night and play a game that makes you say, “I wish I was there.”
Especially if you owned one of those high-price Chase Center season tickets and weren’t there.
Yes, it was another Warriors loss, the Knicks winning 124-122, and now Golden State at 5-21 has replaced the 5-20 Knicks as the team with the worst record in the NBA.
So if you were looking for something that might be showing up on ESPN, this wasn’t it.
But for one game out of the 82-game schedule, for a night’s entertainment, it was terrific — the Warriors, looking unenthusiastic, down by 22 points just before half, tying the game on a seemingly impossible, virtually on the sidelines 3-pointer by D’Angelo Russell with 5.5 seconds left in regulation and then losing.
It was so terrible that just before intermission the fans booed, even though they should know, as Warriors coach Steve Kerr reminded that, with Klay Thompson and Steph Curry injured and a ton of kids on the roster, this will be a learning season.
With Russell, 32 points, showing why the Warriors took him in a sign-and-swap deal with the Brooklyn Nets for Kevin Durant, fans were celebrating after the fourth-quarter heroics.
The Knicks have been awful for the longest time, weeks, months, years, and only a few days ago in the usual desperation move by an organization that is caught between panic and ineptitude, New York fired head coach David Fizdale. On Wednesday night the new guy, interim coach Mike Miller, got his first win.
“We know there are tough stretches,” was Miller’s analysis of getting off the schneid, “but we are playing the right way, and we are putting ourselves in position to win.”
The Warriors are putting themselves in position to promote. The tenet in advertising is to sell the sizzle if you don’t have the steak. It was Star Wars night Wednesday at Chase. The Force wasn’t with the Dubs.
The Warriors switch uniforms from game to game; among the half dozen is the one that says “The Town,” supposedly honoring the community the Warriors fled after some 70 years to come to Chase. There’s also San Francisco, which was in use before Franklin Mieuli, the late owner, decided to switch to “The City.”
This is the marketing era, but one surmises that if Klay, Steph, Durant and Draymond Green could show up healthy, white T-shirts would be perfect attire.
The thinking was Curry and Russell would provide the offense this season, but Steph is out with that broken hand, and Russell has been limited by a thumb injury, missing numerous games.
But he was there against the Knicks, and if nothing else his 3-pointer will become part of Warriors history in a quite unhistorical season.
Asked how he created space for the shot, pinched between a defender and the sideline, Russell said, “Honestly, I feel like if I dribbled I would be helping him guard me. I was just trying to be as crafty as I can and get a shot up.”
Kerr was asked what if anything the Warriors learned from the game in this learning season.
“I think they learned it’s a long game," he said, "and there is lots of time to comeback. At halftime we were down 18, and we were sort of lifeless. We got back into the game petty quickly in the third quarter. That’s a good lesson for young players.”
The lesson for everyone is that any game can turn out to be a memorable one.
Struggling Warriors are the poster kids for Raiders’ Jon Gruden
By Art Spander
SAN FRANCISCO — They have become the poster kids. For another sport.
Whenever Jon Gruden wants to make a comparison of all the ills that have beset his Raiders football team, as he did the other night, he refers to the Warriors basketball team.
Not that in anything beyond misery there are any true comparisons between an NBA franchise that was on top of the sporting world and, for one reason or another has tumbled to the bottom, and an NFL team still trying to get out of its own way.
The Raiders have been overwhelmed by injuries, needing to rely on new players. ”The Warriors,” said Gruden, “have been going through the same processes.”
What the Raiders went through Sunday at the Oakland Coliseum was a 42-21 pummeling by the Tennessee Titans. Then a few miles and a few hours away, at Chase Center, the Warriors were defeated 110-102 on Monday night by another team from Tennessee, the Grizzlies.
Tough times. Maybe everywhere, except in the 49er camp. Tom Brady, of all people, was booed at home. Who cares about what a man or team did last season or over the many seasons? What have you done lately?
And why have you done it?
“It’s just the nature of sports,” said Steve Kerr, the Warriors' coach. “People expect that if you’ve won, you’re going to win forever. It doesn’t work that way. A team tries to do its best, set realistic goals and tries to avoid the expectations and outside noise.”
Which, of course, is impossible.
That noise, the ranting on TV and radio, the grumbling of the fans, the complaints of a tormented coach, is what sports is all about. Always has been what sports were about.
Even limited success, then, should be cherished. Washington won the World Series. After years in the wilderness that should be enough, but it won’t. More, more, more.
What the Patriots are dealing with, what the Raiders are dealing with, what the Warriors are dealing with, what the New York Giants — who Monday night lost their ninth in a row — are dealing with is losing.
Look what the Warriors had. And what they have. For five seasons, they were playing for championships. This season, they’re playing to get better so maybe someday in the future, with the big guys back, again they’ll be playing for championships.
“We faced an unprecedented situation,” reminded Kerr, who rarely reviews the damage. “Losing two All-Stars (the now departed Kevin Durant and Klay Thompson) to season-ending injuries within two games of the NBA finals. Something that’s never happened before.
“Then this season starts and whatever, it was, three, four games, Steph (Curry) goes down with a broken hand, and your team is decimated by injury. It changed the outlook of the entire season.”
From being a contender to being ignored.
A year ago, the Warriors were never off TV. Now they’re never on, at least on the national networks. Already two Warriors games have been pulled from prime time.
One day you’re famous, the next you’re virtually nonexistent. Like the line about a tree falling in the forest, does an NBA game count if nobody knows it was played?
Tickets are expensive, especially in new arenas like Chase. As Kerr pointed out, expectations are big, even when that’s unrealistic. After the loss to a bad Memphis team Monday night, the Warriors are 5-20, the worst record in the league.
Will a fan base accustomed to winning and having purchased season tickets that run into the thousands be willing to support a lot of kids still learning pro basketball? It’s sort of like going to a Broadway show and getting a cast of backups.
Kerr has implied it was acceptable. Until Monday night.
“This was a disappointing game,” said Kerr. “I thought the energy was pretty good early, but the execution was really poor. Often it was carelessness... We have such great fans, and they are dying to cheer for us. We’ve had games here this year where the fans have loved the effort. Tonight, I didn’t think we responded well enough.”
At least there were no boos.
Raiders fans won’t have much more time to boo
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
OAKLAND, Calif. — Fans booed the Raiders late in the game Sunday. So? Fans in Foxboro booed the Patriots, and the Pats have been the best team in the NFL for a decade.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
Garbers gets the call, and Cal gets the Big Game
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
STANFORD, Calif. — The football cliché is that quarterbacks get too much credit for a victory or too much blame for a defeat, that what they contribute to a team is overrated.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
Memories of the ’80s: Garoppolo, Niners find a way
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It’s football, the NFL. Not ice skating or diving.
There are no points for style, only for touchdowns or field goals. The only thing that counts is the final score.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
Warriors experiencing richness of the ‘taste of defeat
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
SAN FRANCISCO — Bill Bradley knew about winning. He played for the championship Knicks, then was a U.S. Senator. And about losing, failing in bids to become a candidate for president.
”The taste of defeat,” Bradley wrote of his career, “has a richness of experience all its own.”
Copyright 2019, The Maven
Giants’ new pilot Kapler: ‘I’m not the popular hire’
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
SAN FRANCISCO — It was not the normal introduction. Nobody cared what Gabe Kapler would do as the new Giants manager. Only about what he failed to do when he was director of player development for the Dodgers, and some of his players were accused of sexual assault.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
Shanahan on first loss: “You’re always disappointed”
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
SANTA CLARA, Calif. — They let it get away. The game. You can’t turn over the ball the way the Niners did, two fumbles and an interception, and expect to win.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
Smart call, great run and Gruden celebrates in the Black Hole
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
OAKLAND, Calif. — Jon Gruden looked like he had played, not merely coached, as if the word merely ever is an appropriate word for anything that happens in an NFL game.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
Chris Mullin knew all about Warrior rookie Paschall
SAN FRANCISCO — Chris Mullin knew all about Eric Paschall. “He used to kick our fanny,” said Mullin. That was when Mullin was coach at St. John’s and Paschall was a starter for rival Villanova.
Now Mullin is working as TV analyst for the his old NBA team, the Warriors, and Paschall is making an impact for his new NBA team, the Warriors, that not many other than Mullin knew was possible.
On Monday night, Paschall, a rookie, the 41st overall pick in this summer’s draft, had 34 points and 11 rebounds, and the Warriors — exhale, please — finally escaped the Curse of the Chase, defeating Portland 127-118, the first win in their new building.
It was going to come some night. After all, nobody goes 0-41 on their home court. But the Dubs had been without a victory in their previous four games at Chase Center, so there was a bit of anxiety.
Without Klay Thompson, injured knee, cheering from the bench, and Steph Curry, watching on TV at home, his broken left hand in a cast, the Warriors are not going to be a playoff team.
Yet with Paschall and another rookie, Kyle Bowman, playing well, the Dubs won. And that was despite Draymond Green missing the game because of a sprained injured finger.
These Warriors are not your father’s Warriors. Or even those of your brother, who would boast of those five straight finals appearances. These Warriors are a lot of guys who won’t get much attention from ESPN but are figuring out what the pro game is all about.
And keeping coach Steve Kerr as satisfied as anyone could be with a 2-5 overall record. He’s looking for hustle, for improvement, for basketball smarts. And slowly, progressively, he’s getting it.
And so are the suddenly alert sellout crowds, the fans Monday night responding vocally when, glorioski, they realized they were about to witness a small slice of history, the first Warriors victory at Chase.
Also a large slice of Paschall, a 6-foot-6, 255-pound forward who started his undergraduate career at Fordham, sat out a year and then transferred to Villanova, where he helped win the 2018 NCAA Championship.
“We really liked Eric because of his strength and his power,” said Kerr. “He was undersized, but these days, at that four position (strong forward), as long as you are really strong with that wingspan — well, we’ve seen it the last few years with Draymond.
“We felt Eric had a chance to have a similar impact, somebody you plug in and play particularly because he played four years (actually three) in a great college program. He didn’t look like a rookie at all from the first day of practice.”
He looked like a star Monday night on his 23rd birthday, scoring 17 points in the first quarter.
Apropos of nothing but pertinent to everything is the observation-joke about Michael Jordan’s career at North Carolina where he was restricted by the system, that the only person who could hold Jordan under 30 points a game was Dean Smith, his coach.
So Monday night Kerr alluded to that, substituting Villanova coach Jay Wright for Smith. Asked if he thought Paschall could hit the 30-point mark, Kerr answered, “Yes. I told Eric the only guy who could hold him under 30 points was Jay Wright. Jay’s my guy. I just wanted to say that.”
What Paschall, a humble sort, said was that confidence is behind his success. He believes in himself. And Kerr and Paschall’s teammates seem very much to share that belief.
“My teammates just find me and allow me to make plays,” said Paschall. “We have a great young group that just wants to play together, and we play hard. I felt like tonight we had fun.”
If getting that first win at home isn’t fun, they’re in the wrong business.
Raiders' return a reminder of what will be missed
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
OAKLAND — This Sunday, the first after the end of daylight savings time, with the weather beautiful and the sun low, was a bittersweet reminder of what will be missed.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
For Curry, a broken hand; for the Warriors, a busted season
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
SAN FRANCISCO — A broken hand. A busted season. The man who was going to carry the team, who was supposed to be a candidate for another MVP award, went crashing to the floor.
Copyright 2019, The Maven
Bosa’s big day makes it a huge day for the Niners
SANTA CLARA, Calif.---He can hit you with a quick tackle or a long explanation. If Richard Sherman didn’t create the phrase “Legion of Boom,” to describe the defensive backfield, including himself, of the Seattle Seahawks championship teams he certainly made good use of it.
Yes. Sherman has his opinions. Why not? He’s been there, done that. And now, in his second year with the 49ers, he’s doing it again, on the field in the interview room.
The Niners won again Sunday, crushed the Carolina Panthers, 51-13, at Levi’s Stadium, kept the sometimes apathetic fans cheering and chanting—like the good, old days you might say. Of course, these very likely are the good, new days. As acknowledged by that sort-of-old guy, 31-year-old Richard Sherman.
The Niners have a defense. Defense wins. The rookie defensive end, Nick Bosa, the No. 2 overall selection in this year’s draft, had three sacks and an interception.
The Niners have an offense. Offense excites. Tevin Coleman scored four touchdowns, the most since a guy named Jerry Rice—talk about the good, old days—did it twice in the 1990s. Sharing that record is Bill Kilmer, from the 1960’s.
And the 49ers are 7-0, which keeps them, along with the Patriots, one of the two unbeaten teams as the NFL is about to reach November.
This Bosa kid (he’s only 22) has Sherman and the other teammates enthralled.
“He deserves player of the week,” Sherman said of Bosa, “defensive player of the year. From the first day in camp he’s showed his pedigree. He never stops working.”
The Niners, working beautifully, stopped a competent Panthers team (now 4-3) quite decisively, only 230 yards total offense and sacking quarterback Kyle Allen seven times.
“That was a goal of ours,” said Niners defensive lineman Arik Armstead, “first to shut down the run, always, and then put some pressure on him and try to rattle him.”
Whether or not Allen was rattled, he certainly was pummeled. “Their defensive line did a really good job of rushing,” was Allen’s accurate summation.
A passer under duress is a passer who prefers not to scan the post-game statistics. Allen, again replacing the injured Cam Newton, was under such duress that Bosa, a lineman, picked off one of his passes and then like a running back sped through and around would-be tacklers for awhile.
“They had been cutting us a little bit on the pass,” Bosa said of the Panthers’ blocking style. “He got me on a play before. Really cut me good. So I just played the cut that time and saw the quarterback’s eyes and just jumped. And it went right into my hands.”
The way this delightful season seems to be falling into the 49ers hands. They’ll probably lose one here or there along the way—only the 1972 Miami Dolphins finished unbeaten in the Super Bowl era, and that was a 14-game regular season. And Thursday night the Niners have to play at Phoenix.
Still, this isn’t golf. You don’t lose what you’ve gained. There are no bogies in football. Just mistakes, although to this point the Niners haven’t made too many.
“In the NFL you never expect to blow someone out like that,” Kyle Shanahan, the Niners third-year coach said of the big win. “Especially as good a team as that.”
But he did expect Bosa to be the player he is.
Asked his impression of Bosa’s day, Shanahan said, “Probably the same as you guys. It was pretty damn impressive. I’m sure when I watch the tape it will be even better The play that he made the interception on was one of the more impressive plays I’ve seen from a defensive lineman.
“He’s just very confident. The more he plays, the better he’ll get as long as he can stay healthy. He’s a special player.”
As is Richard Sherman.
Bosa’s big day makes it huge day for the Niners
SANTA CLARA, Calif.---He can hit you with a quick tackle or a long explanation. If Richard Sherman didn’t create the phrase “Legion of Boom,” to describe the defensive backfield, including himself, of the Seattle Seahawks championship teams he certainly made good use of it.
Yes. Sherman has his opinions. Why not? He’s been there, done that. And now, in his second year with the 49ers, he’s doing it again, on the field in the interview room.
The Niners won again Sunday, crushed the Carolina Panthers, 51-13, at Levi’s Stadium, kept the sometimes apathetic fans cheering and chanting—like the good, old days you might say. Of course, these very likely are the good, new days. As acknowledged by that sort-of-old guy, 31-year-old Richard Sherman.
The Niners have a defense. Defense wins. The rookie defensive end, Nick Bosa, the No. 2 overall selection in this year’s draft, had three sacks and an interception.
The Niners have an offense. Offense excites. Tevin Coleman scored four touchdowns, the most since a guy named Jerry Rice—talk about the good, old days—did it twice in the 1990s. Sharing that record is Bill Kilmer, from the 1960’s.
And the 49ers are 7-0, which keeps them, along with the Patriots, one of the two unbeaten teams as the NFL is about to reach November.
This Bosa kid (he’s only 22) has Sherman and the other teammates enthralled.
“He deserves player of the week,” Sherman said of Bosa, “defensive player of the year. From the first day in camp he’s showed his pedigree. He never stops working.”
The Niners, working beautifully, stopped a competent Panthers team (now 4-3) quite decisively, only 230 yards total offense and sacking quarterback Kyle Allen seven times.
“That was a goal of ours,” said Niners defensive lineman Arik Armstead, “first to shut down the run, always, and then put some pressure on him and try to rattle him.”
Whether or not Allen was rattled, he certainly was pummeled. “Their defensive line did a really good job of rushing,” was Allen’s accurate summation.
A passer under duress is a passer who prefers not to scan the post-game statistics. Allen, again replacing the injured Cam Newton, was under such duress that Bosa, a lineman, picked off one of his passes and then like a running back sped through and around would-be tacklers for awhile.
“They had been cutting us a little bit on the pass,” Bosa said of the Panthers’ blocking style. “He got me on a play before. Really cut me good. So I just played the cut that time and saw the quarterback’s eyes and just jumped. And it went right into my hands.”
The way this delightful season seems to be falling into the 49ers hands. They’ll probably lose one here or there along the way—only the 1972 Miami Dolphins finished unbeaten in the Super Bowl era, and that was a 14-game regular season. And Thursday night the Niners have to play at Phoenix.
Still, this isn’t golf. You don’t lose what you’ve gained. There are no bogies in football. Just mistakes, although to this point the Niners haven’t made too many.
“In the NFL you never expect to blow someone out like that,” Kyle Shanahan, the Niners third-year coach said of the big win. “Especially as good a team as that.”
But he did expect Bosa to be the player he is.
Asked his impression of Bosa’s day, Shanahan said, “Probably the same as you guys. It was pretty damn impressive. I’m sure when I watch the tape it will be even better The play that he made the interception on was one of the more impressive plays I’ve seen from a defensive lineman.
“He’s just very confident. The more he plays, the better he’ll get as long as he can stay healthy. He’s a special player.”
As is Richard Sherman.
For Warriors, it’s wait ’til last year
By Art Spander
For Maven Sports
SAN FRANCISCO — Wait ’til last year.
The times have changed for the Warriors. So, too, has their place of business, but that move is only about 15 miles.
Copyright 2019, The Maven