Niners get to where they used to be — the Super Bowl

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SANTA CLARA,Calif. — And so they are back, if not to the top of the mountain, then at least close enough, to once more be a part of the NFL elite, a team and a franchise that, through reputation and resilience, is nothing less than a champion.

The journey for the 49ers was at times confusing and at other times disappointing as they lost games and, a few years ago, seemingly lost their way.

But a young quarterback, a young coach and a relatively young general manager helped restore the greatness.

They remain one brick short of a load, another Super Bowl victory to go with the five wins that made them the team of the '80s. The opportunity for that was achieved Sunday in the NFC Championship game at Levi’s Stadium, where a boisterous crowd made it a home field in more than just name. The Niners, aggressive, obsessive, overwhelming, built up a 27-0 halftime lead and whipped the Green Bay Packers, 37-20.

They still have one more step to go, and a tough one it will be against a Chiefs team that stomped the Tennessee Titans, 35-24, in the AFC title game. Yet considering how the Niners got to where they are, logic and forecasts are best ignored.

Everything was going south until Kyle Shanahan was hired from Atlanta to be head coach and John Lynch, a onetime All-Pro defensive back left broadcasting to join him as GM. Then the Niners traded for Jimmy Garoppolo, who was backing up Tom Brady with the Patriots.

In 2017, the first year of the new regime, the Niners lost their first nine games. In 2018 they were 4-12, when in the third game Garoppolo was lost for the season with an injury.

But in 2019, with the QB returning, with a rookie defensive end named Nick Bosa and with a determination to play knock-'em-down football, the Niners turned back the clock and now boast a 15-3 record for the season.

If there’s one person who would seem to represent the 49ers perserverance, it is running back Raheem Mostert. He was not drafted, then from 2015 to 2016 was with five different teams.

On Sunday, needing to replace the ailing Tevin Coleman, he set an NFL record by becoming the first player ever to rush for at least 200 yards (he had 220) and score four touchdowns in a playoff game.

“I never gave up,” said Mostert, who grew up in Florida — where Super Bowl LIV will be held on February 2 — and then went north to play at Purdue. In the pros, he bounced between the Dolphins, Ravens, Browns, Jets and Bears in a year and a half.  

Then, fortunately for both, came the 49ers.

“It’s hard to believe after all this I’m not only going to the Super Bowl," Mostert said, “but it is in my home state.”

The Niners, as they did in the divisional win over Minnesota, just kept running the ball. They had 42 rushes compared to only eight passes. Stone Age football, perhaps, but obviously successful football.

Said Niners receiver Debo Samuels of Mostert, “Man, it was crazy. It seemed like every run that he did, he was about to score. I was just out there going crazy.”

While Mostert, who carried 29 times and averaged 7.6 yards a run, was going wild.                                                                                                      

”I did have a lot of doubters and naysayers,” said Mostert. “But this is surreal. I can’t believe I’m in the position I’m in and did the things I did tonight. The journey’s been crazy.”

For Shanahan, it’s been the result of hard work. “These guys are a bunch of fighters,” he said of his team’s intensity.

Then, considering Mostert, he could have added, “and runners.”

Kerr on another Warriors loss: ‘I thought our guys were great’

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By Art Spander

SAN FRANCISCO — They did what they could, what they were capable of, which pleased their coach, Steve Kerr, if not the fans. It was another loss for the Warriors, the 10th in a row, their longest winless streak in 17 years.

And yet not just another loss.

This season is going nowhere. We knew it the night Steph Curry broke his hand, the fourth game of the schedule, against Phoenix here at Chase Center. And we know it now, two and a half months later.

You can’t lose your stars, in a league where stars control the game, and not expect to lose games.

After that, with Kevin Durant gone and with Klay Thompson in rehab, the question was what the kids on the court could do, the young kids like Eric Paschall and Jordan Poole, the older kids like Willie Cauley-Stein and D’Angelo Russell.

They could stumble and bumble and look awful, as they did a couple of nights back against Dallas. Or they could perform as well as possible against a team acknowledgably superior, take the lead, be there at the end and then fail in overtime, as the Dubs did, 134-131, on Thursday night against Denver.

It’s a familiar story, if a sad one. The other team is better, and even though the Nuggets were without key players, Jamal Murray and Paul Millsap, even though they had played the previous night, even though they trailed by 19 points in the first quarter, they won.

A year ago, two, three, four, five years ago, the Warriors would have won. But this is now. This isn’t then. And Kerr seemed less concerned with the defeat — hey, they have the worst winning percentage in the NBA — then the undeniable fact his team was wonderfully competitive.

“I thought our guys were great tonight,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr. They were.

Not great, compared to the Warriors who had the Splash Brothers, who had the settling influences of Andre Iguodala and Shaun Livingston, who had the unstoppable Durant and the fiery Draymond Green.

But great for what they provided.

Great for giving the Warriors insight to what they can do — and what they can’t.

The Nuggets came in with a 28-12 record, the Warriors 9-33. What happened was hardly a surprise. Denver outscored the Warriors by 12 points, 40-28, in the fourth quarter. Good teams find a way. So do teams that aren’t good.

“They were going to (Nikola) Jokic, who might be the best center in the league,” said Kerr. Jokic had 23 points, 10 in the fourth quarter, 12 rebounds and two blocked shots.

“One of the best offensive teams in the league,” Kerr said of Denver, “and they are a tough team to guard. So the key in the fourth quarter, any time you are trying to close the game, you want to execute and not turn the ball over. We had a couple of turnovers that really hurt us.”

A couple turnovers that maybe don't happen with more experience and a teammate or two, in addition to Draymond Green, who will seem less flustered when under pressure.

“Defensively,” said Kerr, “we battled, and we were trying. But (Denver) got going. They are capable of doing that. I’m proud of our guys. I feel bad for them because they played well enough to win and just couldn’t do it.”

There’s a painful reminder of the Warriors of years past. They would take the lead, hang in and then fade.

“I mean 18 turnovers didn’t help,” said Damion Lee, “and their shooters got going. Of course we could have played better, but you’ve got to give them credit.”

Lee, who had been on one of those stressful two-way contracts (up and back between San Francisco and Santa Cruz), was playing his first game after signing a three-year contract with the Warriors. He had 21 points (Alec Burks led the Dubs with 25) and six assists, one of which enabled Eric Paschall to score with two seconds left in regulation.

“The ball tends to find energy,” said Lee. “As long as everybody’s touching it, make the easy play and get back on defense.”

This season, no play is easy for the Warriors.

For Niners coach, Warriors are Golden State standard

SANTA CLARA, Calif.—The Warriors, always the Warriors. Inevitably the Warriors.  They have become the Golden State standard of sporting success in Northern Cal.

   Even in a year they’re not successful. Even for the man whose current team held that exalted position as king of the Nob Hill --and may once again, Kyle Shanahan of the 49ers.

  Wednesday, four days away from undeniably the biggest game of Shanahan’s brief career as an NFL head coach.

  The NFC Championship figuratively on the table as the familiar helmets of the competing teams, the 49ers and Green Bay Packers literally were on a small table adjacent to where Shanahan and others spoke.

  “A dog and pony show, Shanahan called the display.

    There are numerous subplots to this game, albeit none involving dogs or ponies.

 Quarterbacking the Packers is Aaron Rodgers, the Cal kid, who when San Francisco held the No, 1 pick in the 2005 draft the Niners could have taken—should have taken.

  Shanahan has the opportunity to reach the Super Bowl his third year as a Niners coach, the way Bill Walsh the season of 1981 did his third year as Niners coach.

  The Niners started 0-9 in Shanahan’s first year; they went 2-14 Walsh’s first year, 981

  Joe Montana, a third-round pick became the star of those 1980s champion Niners; Jimmy Garoppolo was a second-round pick by New England, where he was supposed to be the next Tom Brady. Instead he has the chance to be the next Montana.

  And as Shanahan mentioned do not forget the Warriors, who were in the NBA finals the previous five years and captured the hearts of Bay Area fans—including the heart of Kyle Shanahan.

  ‘I have always been a fan of theirs, even before I got here,” said Shanahan who arrived in February 2017, well into Dubs’ half-decade of dominance.

    “Just watching how they play, I remember saying in Atlanta (he was the Falcons offensive coordinator) I wanted our receiver group to be similar to the Warriors to where who knows who the starter is; they can all play; Andre Iguodala, things like that. He wasn’t a starter, and he’s the NBA championship MVP.”

   If the sports aren’t comparable, pro football being more specialized, Shanahan’s thinking is understood. He wants athletes who are more concerned with the team’s success than their own.

  “”You’ve got a defensive player,” Shanahan said of Iguodala. “Guys who seem really not to care how it gets done.”

   Niners players tell you Garoppolo fits the template. His last game, he barely threw the ball, San Francisco running 47 times in the divisional win over Minnesota.

      “As long as we win,” Garoppolo affirmed. “I’m pretty happy when we win.”

    He’s been quite happy of late, and in command, part of a group Shanahan insists is as mature as any he’s been around, respectful of teammates, attentive to coaches.

  Veteran tackle Joe Staley said the team has a different vibe. There are no factions, no finger-pointing. Instead of looking for blame, said Shanahan, the players have looked for ways to improve. “You got the right guys,” said Shanahan, “they won’t stop working.”

   The Niners had the right guys in the 1980s and early ‘90s, Montana, Dwight Clark, Ronnie Lott, Roger Craig, Steve Young, Jerry Rice, and even though he was young—born in 1979—Shanahan knows the history. His dad was a Niners assistant coach in ’94.

  “I think being around, even at a young age, I knew how special the Super Bowl was,” said Shanahan “I think people of my generation, when they think of teams, big-time teams, it was the Niners, the Cowboys. You’ve got baseball; you got the Yankees and the Red Sox.  Growing up for me in basketball (he was from Chicago) it was always the Bulls.

  “We knew we had to build this team up and get back. But we knew how good the organization is.”

   Is it good enough to get the Niners where they used to be--or where the Warriors were? We’ll learn quickly enough.

 

 

Shanahan, the fan, knows how uplifting a win can be

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By Art Spander

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — It was a television reporter who asked Kyle Shanahan, the 49ers coach, the question nobody who regularly covers the team would have asked, to wit:

Did Shanahan get a sense of regional uplifting that a win such as the one over the Vikings can do for the Bay Area?

There are football people who would have dismissed the idea out of hand, telling us their job is about what happens on the field, not in the stands. But that’s not Shanahan.

“That stuff does it for me too,” Shanahan said Monday at Niners headquarters, responding to the question. “Not just as a coach, but as a fan. I love sport.

“When I watched the Warriors do good here for the two years I was here prior to this year, that uplifts me, and I love what sports does for people.”

What the 49ers have done this season is call down some recent echoes. They are in the NFC Championship game Sunday night against Green Bay at Levi’s Stadium. Suddenly, it’s the 1980s once again.

This isn’t Charlotte where, when a major golf tournament, the PGA Championship, was played there, a local reporter asked the golfers what they thought of the city. Not the course, the city, the restaurants, the stores.

We know what people think of San Francisco, of Oakland, of San Jose. Who cares if the Niners play in Santa Clara? Not TV, which during games offers shots of the Bay Bridge, when it isn’t showing us the Golden Gate.

Kyle Shanahan has been around and part of winners: offensive coordinator on the Falcons, who went to the Super Bowl three years ago; an intern with his dad’s Broncos, Super Bowl champions in 1997 and 1998.

“Anytime you have a team that has a chance to be in the situation we’re in,” Kyle Shanahan said, “where the Warriors have been a lot, sports are great. It gives everyone a break from stuff. You always want to support your home team, and I’m glad we’re giving something to be proud of this year.”

True, Northern Cal has had its share of titles, every pro team other than the Sharks taking a championship. When the Niners finally won, in the 1981 season, it was, dare we use the word, a virtual earthquake — the team that was here first, after seasons of disappointment, coming in first last.

The Bay Area, California, the entire west, had only college sports and minor league baseball until 1946. Then the Cleveland Rams moved to Los Angeles. Then the 49ers were formed in San Francisco.

No Giants until 1958. No Raiders until 1960. No Warriors until 1962. No A’s until 1968. No Sharks until 1991 (although the California Golden Seals were around from 1967-76).

The Niners were the original, the attraction and, for 35 years without any sort of playoff win, eternal frustration. So when Dwight Clark made “The Catch” in January 1982 against Dallas (after a divisional victory over the New York Giants), the elation was understandable. And, for a long while, unstoppable.

Bill Walsh was the coach who broke the spell. “You can stop writing we can’t win the big one,” he told me maybe an hour after Clark’s catch. Since then, there have been numerous big ones.

Another is Sunday. Will this be a return to greatness, to the Super Bowl, a game that in the 1980s and early ‘90s almost seemed part of the Niners’ regular schedule? Or will this be only a letdown?

In the glory years, the Niners won their championships while playing at deteriorating Candlestick Park — then-owner Eddie DeBartolo called the stadium “a dump.” But it was full and loud. But now the home games, as this coming Sunday's game will be, are at Levi’s, which was mostly empty and very quiet. Until last weekend.

“The fan noise,” said Shanahan of the last game, “is as big of a difference as probably our team is. They’ve gotten a lot louder as we’ve gotten better. It was just unbelievable Saturday.

“All I saw in the stands were red jerseys. It gave us a special feeling.”   

Just as winning teams invariably give their communities.

 

 

 

 

 

Niners running toward the Super Bowl

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By Art Spander

SANTA CLARA, Calif. — This was back in the 1980s, when another 49ers team of another era — a very good one at that — hit the road and got hit, 17-3, in a playoff game by the New York Giants.

The Niners were unable to move the ball against the defense and the weather.

That was when the New York coach, Bill Parcells, sneered at the system of Niners coach Bill Walsh, giving it a name, contending in so many words, “Back here when it gets cold and windy, that West Coast offense doesn’t work. You’ve got to be able to run the ball.”

It doesn’t really matter what the conditions are. A team always needs to run the ball. Maybe not as emphatically as the Niners, the 2020 Niners, did Saturday, defeating the Minnesota Vikings, 27-10, in their NFC Divisional playoff win, but run frequently and consistently.

For all the talk about how the NFL has morphed into a passing league, the run remains the essence of football. You take the ball and virtually shove it through the other team. Then do it again. And again, building your momentum and wearing down the opposition.

Never mind balance, this is battering. The Niners ran the ball 47 times. In one third-quarter-sequence, they ran it eight plays in a row and scored.

It was football out of the 50s, the old Woody Hayes game at Ohio State, three yards and a cloud of dust. It was boring. It was beautiful. It was successful.

It also helped keep the ball from the Vikings; the time of possession was a highly disproportionate 38 minutes and 27 seconds for the Niners compared to 21 minutes and 33 seconds for Minnesota.

“I think 47 rushes is pretty good, right?” was Niners tight end George Kittle’s assessment. “I personally feel we don’t run the ball enough every single week.”

They’ll have another chance Sunday in the NFC Championship game against either Seattle or Green Bay, each of which the 14-3 Niners defeated during the regular season.

San Francisco was the No. 1 NFC seed in the postseason, so it didn’t have to be cute — why take chances when you’re favored? — only dominant.

“We’ve been playing good football all year,” said Kittle. “People keep telling us we’re not very good.”

What they can say now is the Niners are one game away from the Super Bowl.

And one reason is the young quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo, who obviously passed infrequently (the Niners throwing a mere 19 times, completing 11 for 131 yards).

But on this afternoon when Levi’s Stadium hosted its first postseason game, and when the seats at last were packed with fans, many chanting “Defense, defense,” Garoppolo showed a skill unknown for many quarterbacks.

On one of the 47 runs, a run by Debo Samuel, Garoppolo was a blocker.

“I saw an opportunity,” said Garoppolo. “He was a little off balance. Had to get a pancake.” That’s the term for flattening a potential tackler.

On the other side, Niners cornerback Richard Sherman figuratively flattened all Vikings hopes with an interception, which led to the repetitive runs that resulted in the third-period touchdown.

“It’s that complementary football,” said Garoppolo, linking the defense to the offense and the offense to the defense.

And having the crowd linked to everything. It’s been a while since the Niners created so much excitement in Northern California. Since the last Super Bowl victory, the Warriors became the best team in the NBA and the Giants won three World Series. Now we've got the Niners renaissance.

“I was pumped up with the defense,” said Niners coach Kyle Shanahan, who then spoke of the offense.

“We had a pre-game goal,” said Shanahan. “We thought the team that got over 30 runs would win this game.”

It did, easily.

“We knew coming into the season we had a chance to compete in every game,” said Shanahan. “Now I can’t wait to watch these games Sunday to find out who we’re playing.”

Last-place Warriors back on their treadmill

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By Art Spander

SAN FRANCISCO — ESPN has an ulterior motive, if a very understandable one.

The network wants us to watch. So on the screen for a game that, except for one great player, Giannis Antetokounmpo, was of no national interest, it kept listing his team, Milwaukee, as having the best record in the NBA East.

The other team, the Warriors, the opponent, were “No. 15 in the West.” Impressive. Until you realize there are only 15 teams.

Indeed the Dubs are last.

This isn’t, as they used to say, man-bites-dog news, but nearly half way through this very predictable and yet still very distressing season there was a hope the Dubs would be off the treadmill.

However, they’re still going nowhere, at least in terms of results. Well, actually they’ve returned to going nowhere.

There was a four-game win streak a few days back, but the 107-98 loss Wednesday night at Chase Center was their sixth in a row.

At least the Warriors didn’t anger coach Steve Kerr with listless play, as they did two nights earlier at Sacramento when he screamed obscenities at the officials and earned an ejection and a $25,000 fine.

Against the Bucks, Kerr liked the effort, which when a team isn’t any good is about all anyone can wish. The Dubs kept falling behind, as was expected, and then kept battling back, which wasn’t expected.

The Warriors climbed to within five points with a minute, six seconds remaining. Not bad, in relative terms, if you’re not going to win.

The Warriors' games this season, with Steph Curry and Klay Thompson out because of injuries, are comparable to those of the bad old days. The only reason to go — assuming you didn’t put down a king’s ransom for season tickets at the billion-and-a-half-dollar Chase — is to watch the visiting team.

It was like that over the years, first with Bill Russell and the Celtics, then Michael Jordan and the Bulls, then Shaq O’Neal and Kobe Bryant of the Lakers. I skipped Kareem and Magic, but how much pain can one absorb?

Anyway, the star was there but he was on the wrong team, beating the Warriors. The 7-foot Antetokounmpo was last season’s MVP and dreamers think a future Warrior.

Giannis didn’t have his best game, but 30 points, 12 rebounds and four assists isn’t terrible, either.

“Even when he doesn’t shoot well,” said Kerr (Antetokounmpo was 10 for 21, 1 for 7 on 3-pointers), “he has a huge impact. We tried to make him work. We did a good job, but we just couldn’t hang in there.

“We played great defense in the first half against the best team in the league.”

Does that count for something, especially to the home crowd? The people come, but they aren’t very enthusiastic. That the Warriors change uniforms and the court (both read “San Francisco” on Wednesday) doesn’t seem to mean much to fans who watched their team win a record 73 games one year and reach the NBA finals five straight seasons.

They’re spoiled. And they should be. Going back in time doesn’t work. Alec Burks, a journeyman in the most positive sense of the word, did score 19 for the Warriors, and the great hope of the future, Alen Smailagic, had 10 (8 in the first half when he led everyone). Still, there wasn’t a chance the Warriors were going to win.

The Bay Area is sport’s Broadway, not the bushes. The crowd is paying for greatness. It got its money’s worth with Milwaukee. The Warriors? They’re No. 15 in the West. And there only are 15 teams.

Wisconsin couldn’t overcome itself or Justin Herbert

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By Art Spander

PASADENA, Calif. — He didn’t even make the top 10 in the Heisman Trophy voting, a comedown for Justin Herbert after a cover story in Sports Illustrated. The other guys — the winner, Joe Burrow of LSU, and Jalen Hurts of Oklahoma — had more yards and more attention.

The NFL scouts remained high on Herbert, however. He could throw the ball, which was expected of a top quarterback. And as he proved once more, on a beautiful blue-sky New Year’s Day in the 106th Rose Bowl game, he also could run with it.

Herbert rushed for three touchdowns, the most by a quarterback in a Rose Bowl in 13 years, and carried the University of Oregon to a 28-27 win over Wisconsin — which gave Herbert and Oregon the opportunity by losing three fumbles and throwing an interception.

“We didn’t overcome ourselves,” a downhearted Paul Chryst, the Wisconsin coach, said of the four turnovers.

But Herbert, a 6-foot-6, 235-pound senior who grew up near the Oregon campus in Eugene, overcame his failures and disappointment against Arizona State — a loss that knocked the Ducks out of the chance to play for the national championship but in a way may have been advantageous.

Oregon instead of Oklahoma would have faced LSU in one of the semifinals last weekend. The Sooners were battered, 63-20. Instead, Oregon goes to the Rose Bowl the first day of 2020, gets a thrilling victory on Herbert’s 30-yard run in the fourth quarter and may get a spot as high as No. 5 in the final rankings.

Wisconsin, which appeared to have the majority of the usual sellout crowd of 90,462 on its side — if you lived in the Midwest, wouldn’t you head for California in winter? — also for a long, long while seemed to have the game.

There was a six-play sequence in the first quarter that included a 95-yard touchdown kickoff return by Wisconsin’s Aron Cruickshank, a Herbert interception and another Badger TD, which gave Wisconsin a 10-7 lead.

And Oregon was virtually offensive on offense, their combined passing and running yards total of 204 was the fewest in a Rose Bowl game in 41 years.

But you can’t keep giving the other team the ball. Eventually, you give it the game.

“We would have liked to finish it differently,” said Chryst. Wisconsin finished it, the season, 10-4, Oregon 12-2.

Not surprisingly, Oregon coach Mario Cristobal called Herbert the best college quarterback in the land.

“He can beat you in so many ways,” said Cristobal after a game in which Herbert basically beat the Badgers on the ground, running four yards for a TD in the first quarter, five for one in the second and then the big 30-yarder with 7:41 left in the game.

“You see the legs,” said Cristobal, “you see the arms. But what you don’t see is the leadership and the heart.  And in the end, that was the biggest difference, in my opinion.”

Herbert said of his winning TD dash, “It’s a rare opportunity. It’s something I haven’t experienced very often. But it was great.”

Oregon wasn’t great, but it was effective. The school’s athletic program (Nike U?) is on a roll. The basketball team, No. 5 in the rankings, very well could be better than the football team.

“We go hard now,” said Cristobal, an implication that the team was soft the previous year. “What we do is not kind and cuddly, and it’s certainly not for everybody. We stuck to a blueprint that is as demanding as it gets.”

A blueprint and a quarterback who runs and, most importantly, wins.

Kerr after beating Houston; ‘Probably not going to play bigger game’

SAN FRANCISCO—Kids start by shooting a ball into a hoop. That’s the essence of basketball, scoring. The numbers part, the fun part.

   But in time we learn that keeping the other guy from scoring, defense, while less glamorous, is the winning part.

   There were two wonderful examples Christmas Day, in person at Chase Center, where the Warriors did a masterful job of defending the NBA’s leading scorer. James Harden of Houston  

  Then a couple hours later on TV where Patrick Beverley of the Clippers knocked away the attempt by the Lakers LeBron James for a tying shot.

  That Clippers-Lakers game, the Clips winning, 111-106 after trailing by 15 was all that was predicted.

   That Warriors game, the Dubs taking it, 111-106, was all no one dared imagine.

  Until assistant coach Jarron Collins came up with a plan to limit Harden--borrowing the much-repeated advice, “You can’t stop him you can only hope to contain him”—and placed the burden on others.

    Who failed to carry it.

   Harden, averaging 38.6, did score 30, but where he usually has other teams in foul trouble, and gets a ton of foul shots, took only one free throw. And missed it.

  The Warriors, the kids, the few vets, may have figured it out. Hound the ball. Switch quickly. Try not to leave anyone open.

  “We’re probably not going to play a bigger game all year,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr.

   Three wins in a row now, and finally one over a team with a winning record. Einstein said insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Now the Warriors are doing something different.

  “I think our defense has really picked up,” said Draymond Green. He would know. He was the guy who preached defense and played it in the championship years.

  “We’re doing a better job of following the game plan,” Green said. “It’s been a tough year. We had Jarron take over the defense under tough circumstances. We’re a super young team. He’s been doing a great job. That game plan was phenomenal. It doesn’t get much better than this.”

   Kerr reminded that the championship Warrior s teams of the previous five years were composed of players who understood defense, Andre Iguodala, Shawn Livingston, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and played it beautifully.

   But even they struggled to halt Harden, who would keep them off balance and grabbing when he stepped back to shoot those three-pointers.

  “Harden has basically forced the whole league to reconsider how to defend him in particular,” said Kerr. “But even how to guard pick-and-roll with the amount of three-point shooters people have, I have seen a lot of innovative stuff out there.

  “The best thing we did was not foul him. We didn’t foul (Russell) Westbrook either. That kept the game going and allowed us to play in open space, because their (Rockets) defense is really good in the half court. The tempo was right for us.”

  The idea and execution is not new for the Warriors, albeit many of the players are. Keep the other team from making shots, grab the rebounds and move the ball to the other end before the opposition gets there was the stuff of Steph, Klay and Kevin. Christmas day it was the stuff of Draymond, Damion Lee and D’Angelo Russell.

 “A national TV game against the Rockets,” Kerr said. “We’ve played Houston more times in the last five years because we have seen them in the playoffs so often.”

   They won’t this year. The Warriors are thinking about where they’ll be in the draft not the post-season. Still, they showed Christmas Day they can defeat a contender,

 Just a great win,” affirmed Kerr. “I’m happy for the players. I’m happy for the fans. I think the great thing about this season is the fans can feel our players’ effort.”

  But the enthusiasm was tempered when Kerr was asked if this was the best win of the season.

  “Yeah,” he confessed, “but there haven’t been many to choose from.”

    

Kerr after beating Houston; ‘Probably not going to play bigger game’

SAN FRANCISCO—Kids start by shooting a ball into a hoop. That’s the essence of basketball, scoring. The numbers part, the fun part.

   But in time we learn that keeping the other guy from scoring, defense, while less glamorous, is the winning part.

   There were two wonderful examples Christmas Day, in person at Chase Center, where the Warriors did a masterful job of defending the NBA’s leading scorer. James Harden of Houston  

  Then a couple hours later on TV where Randy Beverley of the Clippers knocked away the attempt by the Lakers LeBron James for a tying shot.

  That Clippers-Lakers game, the Clips winning, 111-106 after trailing by 15 was all that was predicted.

   That Warriors game, the Dubs taking it, 111-106, was all no one dared imagine.

  Until assistant coach Jarron Collins came up with a plan to limit Harden--borrowing the much-repeated advice, “You can’t stop him you can only hope to contain him”—and placed the burden on others.

    Who failed to carry it.

   Harden, averaging 38.6, did score 30, but where he usually has other teams in foul trouble, and gets a ton of foul shots, took only one free throw. And missed it.

  The Warriors, the kids, the few vets, may have figured it out. Hound the ball. Switch quickly. Try not to leave anyone open.

  “We’re probably not going to play a bigger game all year,” said Warriors coach Steve Kerr.

   Three wins in a row now, and finally one over a team with a winning record. Einstein said insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results. Now the Warriors are doing something different.

  “I think our defense has really picked up,” said Draymond Green. He would know. He was the guy who preached defense and played it in the championship years.

  “We’re doing a better job of following the game plan,” Green said. “It’s been a tough year. We had Jarron take over the defense under tough circumstances. We’re a super young team. He’s been doing a great job. That game plan was phenomenal. It doesn’t get much better than this.”

   Kerr reminded that the championship Warrior s teams of the previous five years were composed of players who understood defense, Andre Iguodala, Shawn Livingston, Kevin Durant, Klay Thompson, and played it beautifully.

   But even they struggled to halt Harden, who would keep them off balance and grabbing when he stepped back to shoot those three-pointers.

  “Harden has basically forced the whole league to reconsider how to defend him in particular,” said Kerr. “But even how to guard pick-and-roll with the amount of three-point shooters people have, I have seen a lot of innovative stuff out there.

  “The best thing we did was not foul him. We didn’t foul (Russell) Westbrook either. That kept the game going and allowed us to play in open space, because their (Rockets) defense is really good in the half court. The tempo was right for us.”

  The idea and execution is not new for the Warriors, albeit many of the players are. Keep the other team from making shots, grab the rebounds and move the ball to the other end before the opposition gets there was the stuff of Steph, Klay and Kevin. Christmas day it was the stuff of Draymond, Damion Lee and D’Angelo Russell.

 “A national TV game against the Rockets,” Kerr said. “We’ve played Houston more times in the last five years because we have seen them in the playoffs so often.”

   They won’t this year. The Warriors are thinking about where they’ll be in the draft not the post-season. Still, they showed Christmas Day they can defeat a contender,

 Just a great win,” affirmed Kerr. “I’m happy for the players. I’m happy for the fans. I think the great thing about this season is the fans can feel our players’ effort.”

  But the enthusiasm was tempered when Kerr was asked if this was the best win of the season.

  “Yeah,” he confessed, “but there haven’t been many to choose from.”

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Then Draymond came back in

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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

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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

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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?

Warriors-Knicks: Bad teams but a good game

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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

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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.

Warriors experiencing richness of the ‘taste of defeat

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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.”

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2019, The Maven 

Giants’ new pilot Kapler: ‘I’m not the popular hire’

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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.

Read the full story here.

Copyright 2019, The Maven