Armadillo: Thursday's six-pack
-- Notre Dame 77, Duke 73-- Blue Devils were 10-20 on foul line.
-- Cavaliers 99, Blazers 94-- Lebron didn't play; Irving scored 55.
-- Georgia Tech 70, Miami 50-- Jackets had been 0-7 in the ACC.
-- Hawks 113, Nets 102-- Atlanta has now won 17 games in row.
-- Purdue 83, Indiana 67-- Improved Boilers are now 5-3 in Big 14.
-- Creighton 77, St John's 74-- Bluejays had been 0-8 in the Big East.
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Armadillo: Thursday's List of 13: Doing some thinking out loud.......
13) NBA has a problem; their best players take too many games off. A new phrase is "recovery days" as in, they don't want their best guys playing back-to-back nights. When fans pay major money to see stars play, they're not going to be happy when the stars don't play. "Sprained wrist" is a poor excuse for Lebron James to sit out.
12) Watching Alabama play Tuesday night, they did a feature on the strength coach at Alabama, and how coach Anthony Grant approved of his players' "commitment to the weight room". How about a commitment to improving your skills with the ball?
Crimson Tide is turning ball over 22.4% of the time while playing the slowest tempo in the SEC. Four of their last five games were decided by two points. Little less time on the bench press, little more time in the gym. I'm just sayin'......
11) Wednesday will be a big day on ESPNU; National Signing Day for college football, with 11 hours (11 hours!!!) of coverage on ESPNU. National titles 3-5 years from now will in part be determined on Wednesday. Recruiting is an interesting subject.
10) Pete Carril's Princeton teams practiced different types of layups for eight minutes of every practice; you watch high Division I ball and guys struggle to finish plays around the rim. Its called skill development; you don't need a strength coach or a $1M weight room, but it helps you win a lot of games.
9) NBA teams who are playing at home for the second night in a row are only 3-10 against the spread this season.
8) CBS hired Frank Nobilo as its newest golf analyst, replacing Peter Oosterhuis, who retired. Nobilo has been working for the Golf Channel, is a good hire.
7) NFL head coaches in their second Super Bowl are 14-8.
6) North Carolina-Wake Forest will play non-conference football games in 2019 and 2021; both teams are in ACC, but in different divisions- they weren't scheduled to play each other in those years. Makes sense financially, if not artistically.
5) 49ers hired an offensive coordinator from within? How is Kaepernick supposed to be a better passer without better coaching?
4) Braves signed 25-year old Cuban OF Dian Toscano to a 4-year deal, on same day the White Sox designated Cuban OF Dayan Viciedo for assignment. Viciedo started a lot for the Pale Hose last season; curious to see where he winds up.
3) DePaul Blue Demons went 0-3 at a Christmas tournament in Hawai'i and looked dead; now they're 5-3 in the Big East and are showing life. Or maybe the Big East just isn't very good, thats possible too. .
2) Patriots have only one offensive player (Nate Solder) who was a first round draft pick; they've built their success via defense and shrewd trades.
1) Underrated storyline of this Super Bowl: when New England hired Belichick, they fired a coach who was 28-23 in Foxboro and who made the playoffs twice in three years and had an 8-8 season the third year. A coach named Pete Carroll.
-- Notre Dame 77, Duke 73-- Blue Devils were 10-20 on foul line.
-- Cavaliers 99, Blazers 94-- Lebron didn't play; Irving scored 55.
-- Georgia Tech 70, Miami 50-- Jackets had been 0-7 in the ACC.
-- Hawks 113, Nets 102-- Atlanta has now won 17 games in row.
-- Purdue 83, Indiana 67-- Improved Boilers are now 5-3 in Big 14.
-- Creighton 77, St John's 74-- Bluejays had been 0-8 in the Big East.
**********
Armadillo: Thursday's List of 13: Doing some thinking out loud.......
13) NBA has a problem; their best players take too many games off. A new phrase is "recovery days" as in, they don't want their best guys playing back-to-back nights. When fans pay major money to see stars play, they're not going to be happy when the stars don't play. "Sprained wrist" is a poor excuse for Lebron James to sit out.
12) Watching Alabama play Tuesday night, they did a feature on the strength coach at Alabama, and how coach Anthony Grant approved of his players' "commitment to the weight room". How about a commitment to improving your skills with the ball?
Crimson Tide is turning ball over 22.4% of the time while playing the slowest tempo in the SEC. Four of their last five games were decided by two points. Little less time on the bench press, little more time in the gym. I'm just sayin'......
11) Wednesday will be a big day on ESPNU; National Signing Day for college football, with 11 hours (11 hours!!!) of coverage on ESPNU. National titles 3-5 years from now will in part be determined on Wednesday. Recruiting is an interesting subject.
10) Pete Carril's Princeton teams practiced different types of layups for eight minutes of every practice; you watch high Division I ball and guys struggle to finish plays around the rim. Its called skill development; you don't need a strength coach or a $1M weight room, but it helps you win a lot of games.
9) NBA teams who are playing at home for the second night in a row are only 3-10 against the spread this season.
8) CBS hired Frank Nobilo as its newest golf analyst, replacing Peter Oosterhuis, who retired. Nobilo has been working for the Golf Channel, is a good hire.
7) NFL head coaches in their second Super Bowl are 14-8.
6) North Carolina-Wake Forest will play non-conference football games in 2019 and 2021; both teams are in ACC, but in different divisions- they weren't scheduled to play each other in those years. Makes sense financially, if not artistically.
5) 49ers hired an offensive coordinator from within? How is Kaepernick supposed to be a better passer without better coaching?
4) Braves signed 25-year old Cuban OF Dian Toscano to a 4-year deal, on same day the White Sox designated Cuban OF Dayan Viciedo for assignment. Viciedo started a lot for the Pale Hose last season; curious to see where he winds up.
3) DePaul Blue Demons went 0-3 at a Christmas tournament in Hawai'i and looked dead; now they're 5-3 in the Big East and are showing life. Or maybe the Big East just isn't very good, thats possible too. .
2) Patriots have only one offensive player (Nate Solder) who was a first round draft pick; they've built their success via defense and shrewd trades.
1) Underrated storyline of this Super Bowl: when New England hired Belichick, they fired a coach who was 28-23 in Foxboro and who made the playoffs twice in three years and had an 8-8 season the third year. A coach named Pete Carroll.