I wanted to start off today’s post with a question. What is a Roval?
Here’s an official description I found. The Charlotte Roval is the first new track on the Monster Energy series since Kentucky Speedway joined the circuit in 2011. The Charlotte Motor Speedway Roval is a daunting, new 13 turn 2.4 mile road course incorporating part of the infield, but all 400 feet of Charlotte’s 1.5 mile oval on which drives will race 500 kilometers over 130 laps.
The race is the Bank of America 500 is it is the first road course race in the 58 year history of the Charlotte Motor Speedway. This race is also the final race in the first round of the Monster Energy NASCAR Series playoffs. This race is also the first road course in the 14 year history of the playoffs. This is also the first Monster Energy NASCAR race held I September at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
There have been some big time names to try out the track including the likes of Jeff Gordon, Mario Andretti, Max Papis, A.J. Allmendinger and Jeff Burton. It appears as though the track set up got positive reviews from those drives as they used terms like it could entertain fans and challenge the drivers and their crews.
NASCAR has updated the chicane penalties for Sunday’s race. These new penalties are more or less specific for turns 11 and 12 along with turns 15, 16 and 17 and address what NASCAR calls shortcuts. Here’s how NASCAR worded the new penalties.
Should a driver cut the course in the Turn 11-12 chicane, the penalty would require drivers to come to a full stop in the restart zone alongside Turns 15-17. If a driver cuts the Turns 15-17 chicane, they would be required to stop on the apron off the racing surface before the start-finish line.
Now after this race there will be four drivers eliminated from the playoffs. Clint Bowyer finds himself just 4 points out of the playoffs while 7-time series champion Jimmie Johnson finds himself 6 points away from advancing. Eric Jones and Denny Hamlin are the other two drivers out of the playoffs heading into tomorrow’s race. Jones is 21 points out while Hamlin is the farthest away from getting into the second round at 29 points out.
Kyle Busch and Brad Keslowski have won races in the first round of the playoffs and have automatically advanced into the second round. Martin Truex Jr. has also advanced as he has enough points to move forward. It also appears that Kevin Harvick will move into the second round as he is currently 57 points to the good. After that those other eight spots can go to any of the drivers who are still in the playoffs.
Will the Roval favor any of these drivers? Or is it going to be a learning experience to start with the race turning into a shoot out at the end.
The drivers are actually on the Roval right now practicing. Daniel Hemric has the best time so far, but championship contenders Johnson, Truex Jr, Kyle Busch, Joey Logano, Chase Elliott and Kyle Larson all right behind him. Johnson actually just ran the fastest time on the Roval on the updated practice times.
Do you have one of the four drivers that are currently out of the playoffs getting a win today and advancing? You know that Dan the Man is rooting for his driver Clint Bowyer to find a way to advance. Or do you see someone else getting a win at the Roval?
Kevin Durant is one of the best players in the NBA and there are people who have sad that he’s the best player in the league ahead of LeBron James. I think we’d all agree on Durant’s talents, but it’s when he starts to talk or tweet that seems to be his downfall.
Durant actually used the words “pure hate” as the reason he doesn’t win any regular season NBA awards.
Durant was appearing on Bay Area sports-radio station 95.7 The Game when he was asked whether he’d had a goal last season of being named the league’s defensive player of the year. He replied, “You know they’re not gonna give me anything. Even if it’s on the fence, I have to be clear-cut better than everybody, for me to even get a look.”
Remember that Durant is talking about regular season awards. He’s actually been named finals MVP theses last two seasons the Warriors won the championship. Durant has actually won three of the last four finals MVP as he won it four years ago when Golden State won the title then.
Durant is actually a solid defender and the his size and athletic ability he can guard every position on the floor. Of course the Warriors are known for their offense and you have to wonder if maybe that hurts Durant’s candidacy for Defensive Player of the Year.
Now I don’t watch a lot of NBA games and with the fact that the Warriors play on the west coast I don’t get to see a lot of their games. Now I have to tell you when I do get to see one of their games I’m not exactly watching Durant play defense. I can’t be the only one; can you honestly tell me that when you watch a Warriors game you’re watching Durant play defense.
Now there’s a lot that goes into being a great defender, but looking at some basic Durant stats he averaged 7.1 defensive rebounds per game, 1.19 blocks per game and 0.71 steals per game. While those are all very good numbers; none of them led of team. Last season DeAndre Jordan and Andre Drummond led with 10.9 defensive rebounds per game. Victor Oladipo was the league leader in steals with 2.36 per game. Paul George (2.04) and Eric Bledsoe (2.01) where the only other players in the NBA to average over 2 steals a game. As for blocks Anthony Davis was easily the league leader with 2.57 blocks per game. Davis was 0.72 blocks per game better than anyone else.
That’s kind of how the numbers line up, but like I mentioned there’s more that goes into playing defense than just numbers. Where do you rank Durant as a defensive player?
You can listen to the Sports Time Radio podcast live on BlogTalkRadio.com, but don’t forget that you can listen to the podcast any time you want at TuneIn.com.
You can also follow me on Twitter @Burketime
Sports Time Radio 