Saturday’s 6-pack:
NBA payrolls for this season:
$211,820,254— Warriors
$202,129,596— Clippers
$189,506,310— Bucks
$188,405,477— Suns
$185,232,476— Celtics
$181,922,992— Nuggets
Quote of the Day
“Certainly, the hire is important, and it needs to be somebody that understands the state of Texas, understands the history of Texas A&M and can communicate with young people and develop them. I think that’s where it starts. Strong leadership.”
Lions’ coach/Texas A&M alum Dan Campbell, after saying he wasn’t interested in becoming the Aggies’ next football coach
Saturday’s quiz
Which Las Vegas casino is shaped like a pyramid?
Friday’s quiz
In 1996, Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore and re-branded as the Ravens; Vinny Testaverde was the Ravens’ QB that first season in Baltimore.
Thursday’s quiz
In the Showtime series Ray Donovan, Jon Voight played Ray’s father.
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Long Beach State (+15) 94, Michigan 86
NC-Greensboro (+14.5) 78, Arkansas 72
Lindenwood (+9.5) 72, Neb-Omaha 70
Tenn-Martin (+8.5) 80, Eastern Kentucky 74
Notre Dame (+7.5) 66, Oklahoma State 64 OT
East Tennessee State (+6.5) 70, Davidson 68
— Myrtle Beach tournament:
Vermont 78, Saint Louis 68
Liberty 83, Wichita State 66
Sunday’s final is Vermont-Liberty, two solid mid-majors.
— Charleston Classic:
Dayton 88, St John’s 81
Houston 76, Utah 66
Sunday’s final is Dayton-Houston, which will feel like March.
— Bad Beat of the Night: Wm & Mary (+7.5) lost 80-71 in overtime to Air Force.
— Villanova 57, Maryland 40
Terps are off to a dismal 1-3 start, shooting 21.6% on the arc.
Villanova led this game 39-15 at halftime.
It is early in season, but Maryland is turning ball over 21.3% of time (#290).
— Statistical Oddity of the Day:
San Antonio Spurs lost 129-120 at home to Sacramento Friday, so obviously, they were minus-9 for the game.
When Zach Collins was on the floor, the Spurs were +19 (minus-28 without him)
When Victor Wembanyama was on the floor, the Spurs were minus-31 (+22 without him)
For two teammates to have a plus/minus 50 points different in the same game is really, really unusual.
— Word of the Day: continuity- something happening over a period of time without being changed or stopped.
Teams who have the same players over a period of time have an advantage over teams with a lot of new players, as long as the talent levels are similar.
On the college basketball page, I’ll mention continuity a lot; it is important in this era, where kids transfer at the drop of a hat.
— Bengals’ QB Joe Burrow tore ligaments in his thumb Thursday night, is out for the year, very bad news for 5-5 Cincinnati.
— Last three years, Rams are 0-9 in November; two years ago, they were 0-3 in November, then won the Super Bowl.
— NHL is playing some games in Sweden this week:
Ottawa 5, Detroit 4 OT- Senators blew a 4-0 lead, then won with 0:02 left in OT.
Toronto 3, Detroit 2- William Nylander has 25 points in Detroit’s 16 games.
They have two more games in Sweden this weekend.
— San Diego State 79, Saint Mary’s 54
Surprisingly one-sided game.
Aztecs led 34-33 at halftime.
Gaels also lost previous game, at home to Weber State; they were picked to win the WCC, but if they’re better than Gonzaga, WCC might be down a little this year, especially with BYU off to the Big X.
— Grand Canyon 76, San Francisco 72
Entertaining game between two good mid-majors.
— I’m watching the UNLV-Pepperdine game on ESPN+, and there is a commercial for a lawyer in Los Angeles, a younger guy who claims “I put the LIT in litigation!!!”
Very unusual commercial.
— UNLV 82, Pepperdine 68
UNLV has made at least one 3-point shot in their last 1,195 games, every game since the NCAA made the 3-point shot a real thing, 37 years ago. Princeton is the only other team to have a 3-pointer in every game since then; they’ve played fewer games than the Rebels.
NBA payrolls for this season:
$211,820,254— Warriors
$202,129,596— Clippers
$189,506,310— Bucks
$188,405,477— Suns
$185,232,476— Celtics
$181,922,992— Nuggets
Quote of the Day
“Certainly, the hire is important, and it needs to be somebody that understands the state of Texas, understands the history of Texas A&M and can communicate with young people and develop them. I think that’s where it starts. Strong leadership.”
Lions’ coach/Texas A&M alum Dan Campbell, after saying he wasn’t interested in becoming the Aggies’ next football coach
Saturday’s quiz
Which Las Vegas casino is shaped like a pyramid?
Friday’s quiz
In 1996, Cleveland Browns moved to Baltimore and re-branded as the Ravens; Vinny Testaverde was the Ravens’ QB that first season in Baltimore.
Thursday’s quiz
In the Showtime series Ray Donovan, Jon Voight played Ray’s father.
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Saturday’s Den: Wrapping up a busy Friday of basketball
— There were lot of upsets Friday:Long Beach State (+15) 94, Michigan 86
NC-Greensboro (+14.5) 78, Arkansas 72
Lindenwood (+9.5) 72, Neb-Omaha 70
Tenn-Martin (+8.5) 80, Eastern Kentucky 74
Notre Dame (+7.5) 66, Oklahoma State 64 OT
East Tennessee State (+6.5) 70, Davidson 68
— Myrtle Beach tournament:
Vermont 78, Saint Louis 68
Liberty 83, Wichita State 66
Sunday’s final is Vermont-Liberty, two solid mid-majors.
— Charleston Classic:
Dayton 88, St John’s 81
Houston 76, Utah 66
Sunday’s final is Dayton-Houston, which will feel like March.
— Bad Beat of the Night: Wm & Mary (+7.5) lost 80-71 in overtime to Air Force.
— Villanova 57, Maryland 40
Terps are off to a dismal 1-3 start, shooting 21.6% on the arc.
Villanova led this game 39-15 at halftime.
It is early in season, but Maryland is turning ball over 21.3% of time (#290).
— Statistical Oddity of the Day:
San Antonio Spurs lost 129-120 at home to Sacramento Friday, so obviously, they were minus-9 for the game.
When Zach Collins was on the floor, the Spurs were +19 (minus-28 without him)
When Victor Wembanyama was on the floor, the Spurs were minus-31 (+22 without him)
For two teammates to have a plus/minus 50 points different in the same game is really, really unusual.
— Word of the Day: continuity- something happening over a period of time without being changed or stopped.
Teams who have the same players over a period of time have an advantage over teams with a lot of new players, as long as the talent levels are similar.
On the college basketball page, I’ll mention continuity a lot; it is important in this era, where kids transfer at the drop of a hat.
— Bengals’ QB Joe Burrow tore ligaments in his thumb Thursday night, is out for the year, very bad news for 5-5 Cincinnati.
— Last three years, Rams are 0-9 in November; two years ago, they were 0-3 in November, then won the Super Bowl.
— NHL is playing some games in Sweden this week:
Ottawa 5, Detroit 4 OT- Senators blew a 4-0 lead, then won with 0:02 left in OT.
Toronto 3, Detroit 2- William Nylander has 25 points in Detroit’s 16 games.
They have two more games in Sweden this weekend.
— San Diego State 79, Saint Mary’s 54
Surprisingly one-sided game.
Aztecs led 34-33 at halftime.
Gaels also lost previous game, at home to Weber State; they were picked to win the WCC, but if they’re better than Gonzaga, WCC might be down a little this year, especially with BYU off to the Big X.
— Grand Canyon 76, San Francisco 72
Entertaining game between two good mid-majors.
— I’m watching the UNLV-Pepperdine game on ESPN+, and there is a commercial for a lawyer in Los Angeles, a younger guy who claims “I put the LIT in litigation!!!”
Very unusual commercial.
— UNLV 82, Pepperdine 68
UNLV has made at least one 3-point shot in their last 1,195 games, every game since the NCAA made the 3-point shot a real thing, 37 years ago. Princeton is the only other team to have a 3-pointer in every game since then; they’ve played fewer games than the Rebels.
