Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: November 9, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in sports, Uncategorized
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The NFL season is hallway over as Week 9 just went into the books. Schaumburg Stu and Dan the Man tied for the lead in our picks going 9-4 for the week. Mr. Fantasy and I also tied, but we where a game behind at 8-5. Overall Schaumburg Stu is in the lead at 74-46. Dan the Man is in 2nd pace with a record of 70-50. Mr. Fantasy and I are even toed overall at 64-56. Here’s hoping things go well in Week 10 starting tomorrow night when the Baltimore Ravens host the Cleveland Browns.

Since we are at the halfway point of the NFL season let’s look and see who’s been a fantasy find and who’s been a bust for your team. Atlanta Falcons quarterback Matt Ryan was ranked 122nd at draft time. Ryan is the highest scoring quarterback in my league and would’ve been a steal for whoever got him. On the other side Russell Wilson of the Seattle Seahawks was the 36th ranked player at draft time. Wilson has been banged up most of the season and it’s shown in his drop to 115th overall in the current fantasy rankings. Melvin Gordon of the San Diego Chargers was ranked a #60 going into the draft. Gordon is the top running back heading into week 10. Another running back who’s back at the top of the board is DeMarco Murray of the Tennessee Titans. Murray was ranked 44th coming into the draft and he’s just 11 fantasy points behind Gordon for the top running back spot. I don’t ever hold injuries against players; so it took me a while to find an under performing running back. I finally came across Ryan Matthews of the Philadelphia Eagles. Matthews was ranked 59th overall going into the draft. Going into Week 10 Matthews is ranked 102nd. A couple of wide receivers who’ve played well are Terrelle Pryor Sr. of the Cleveland Browns. Pryor Sr. was ranked at #95 going into the draft. Heading into Week 10 Pryor Sr. is 8th ranked wide receiver and 39th overall. Rookie Michael Thomas of the New Orleans Saints was at #119 going into the draft. Thomas is now ranked 48th overall and 11th among wide receivers. Wide Receiver has turned into the marquee position in fantasy football and a lot of owners took DeAndre Hopkins of the Houston Texans in the 1st round. It’s understandable because Hopkins was ranked 7th overall heading into the draft. Hopkins is now ranked 106th overall and 34th among wide receivers. At tight end let’s give a little love to Jimmy Graham of the Seattle Seahawks. It seems to have taken a season for Graham to find his role in the Seahawks offense. That showed in Graham’s pre-draft ranking as he was #135. Going into Week 10 Graham is 90th overall, but is the 2nd highest scoring tight end behind only Greg Olsen of the Carolina Panthers. Jack Doyle of the Indianapolis Colts would’ve been quite a find for a fantasy owner at tight end. Doyle was ranked down at #213 overall going into the draft. Doyle took advantage of the injury to Dwayne Allen and has moved up to #116 overall and is the 4th highest scoring tight end this season. I own Zach Ertz of the Philadelphia Eagles in one of my leagues and let me tell you he’s a bust. Ertz was ranked #88 overall and was the 7th ranked tight end. Ertz is now ranked overall at #467 and is the 29th highest scoring tight end this season. It’s tough to draft a Defense/Special Teams because you just never know how things will go. The Carolina Panthers where projected as the 3rd best Defense/Special teams unit coming into the draft. Going into Week 10 the Panthers Defense/Special Teams unit is the 10th highest scoring this season. The Minnesota Vikings Defense/Special Teams unit was the one to have. The Vikings Defense/Special Teams unit was projected to be #8 going into the draft. As we head into Week 10 the Vikings Defense/Special Teams unit is the top scoring one in fantasy football. Kickers fall into that hit or miss category as well and I never understand why someone jumps up to take a Kicker. Adam Vinatieri of the Indianapolis Colts was ranked #4 going into the draft, but is the top scoring fantasy Kicker this season. Matt Bryant of the Atlanta Falcons was ranked #3 going into the draft and is just 1 point behind Vinatieri. Roberto Aguayo was the lowest ranked Kicker coming into the draft and he’s stayed there this season. The only Kickers Aguayo has outscored are Robbie Gould; who’s only played two games with the New York Giants and Patrick Murray who was cut by the Cleveland Browns early in the season.

Major League Baseball announced there nominees for the various post season awards, Here’s who was nominated for what award.

NL MVP: Kris Bryant of the Chicago Cubs, Daniel Murphy of the Washington Nationals and Corey Seager of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

AL MVP: Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim, Jose Altuve of the Houston Astros and Mookie Betts of the Boston Red Sox.

NL Cy Young: Kyle Hendricks of the Chicago, Jon Lester of the Chicago Cubs and Max Scherzer of the Washington Nationals.

AL Cy Young: Rick Porcello of the Boston Red Sox, Corey Kluber of the Cleveland Indians and Justin Verlander of the Detroit Tigers.

NL Rookie of the Year: Corey Seager of the Los Angeles Dodgers, Kenta Maeda of the Los Angeles Dodgers and Trea Turner of the Washington Nationals.

AL Rookie of the Year: Gary Sanchez of the New York Yankees, Tyler Naquin of the Cleveland Indians and Michael Fulmer of the Detroit Tigers.

NL Manager of the Year: Dusty Baker of the Washington Nationals, Dave Roberts of the Los Angeles Dodgers and joe Maddon of the Chicago Cubs.

AL Manager of the Year: Jeff Bannister of the Texas Rangers, Buck Showalter of the Baltimore Orioles and Terry Francona of the Cleveland Indians.

I’m sure there where names you expected to be on this list as I did that didn’t make it. It doesn’t appear they looked very hard in the National League as there are 4 Cubs, 4 Dodgers and 4 Nationals nominated. At least the American League nominees are a little spread out. There are 3 Indians, 2 Tigers, 2 Red Sox and 1 nominees each from the Astros, Orioles, Rangers, Yankees and Angels. Feel free to put your winners in the comments and we’ll see how you do against who they pick.

I have Bryant as NL MVP, Betts as AL MVP, Lester as NL Cy Young, Porcello as AL Cy Young, Seager as NL Rookie, Sanchez as AL Rookie, Roberts as NL Manager and Francona as AL manager.

You can listen to Sports Time Radio live on BlogTalkRadio.com and you can find the podcast any time you’d like at TuneIn.com

You can find me on Twitter @Burketime

Chicago Bulls 112 Orlando Magic 80

Posted: November 8, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Chicago Bulls ended there 3 game losing streak and got themselves back over .500 at 4-3 with a 32 points victory 112-80 over the Orlando Magic. The Magic came into the game on a 3 game winning streak. The loss also dropped Orlando a game under .500 at 3-4.

Orlando had the lead at 24-22 with just under 4 minutes left in the 1st quarter after a Nikola Vucevic jumper. The Bulls than ran off the next 13 points to end the 1st quarter and take a 37-24 lead. The teams played a pretty even 2nd quarter and in the end the Magic was able to knock 4 points off the Bulls lead by  outscoring them 28-24. Going into halftime the Bulls had a 9 point lead at 61-52. The Magic cut the lead to 5 points at 63-58 with about 10 minutes left in the 3rd quarter. The Bulls went on a 15-0 run to stretch the lead to 76-61. Orlando was only able to score 11 points in the 3rd quarter. The Bulls put up 27 points in the quarter and pulled away to a 88-63 lead. The 4th quarter went a little better for the Magic, but not much. Orlando scored 17 points in the 4th quarter and with the Bulls putting up 24 points in the quarter the Magic didn’t have much of a chance losing 112-80.

Jimmy Butler of the Bulls was the games high scorer with 20 points. Butler was a perfect 10 for 10 from the free throw line. Not only was Butler the leading scorer in the game he also handed out a game high 7 assists. Taj Gibson had a double-double as he scored 16 points and grabbed a game high 11 rebounds. Dwayne Wade also added 16 points while Doug McDermott scored 11 points off the bench and Isaiah Canaan also came off the bench to reach double figures with 10 points.

Aaron Gordon led the Magic in scoring with 15 points. Evan Fournier added 13 points and Nikola Vucevic had 11 points. Elfrid Payton led the Magic in assists with 6 while Serge Ibaka and Bismack Biyombo each grabbed 7 rebounds to lead Orlando.

 

The Bulls head to Atlanta on Wednesday night to take on the 4-2 Hawks. Orlando heads home to face the 1-4 Minnesota Timberwolves on Wednesday night.

Indiana Pacers 111 Chicago Bulls 94

Posted: November 5, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Indiana Pacers got there record back to .500 at 3-3 with a 111-94 win over the Chicago Bulls Saturday night. It was the Bulls 3rd loss in a row and put the Bulls at 3-3 also. It was also the Bulls second loss in as many days as they dropped a 117-104 game to the New York Knicks on Friday night. After getting out of the gate 3-0 the Bulls have now lost 3 straight games. The Bulls looked weary right from the start of the game as they managed just 15 1st quarter points and found themselves down by 16 points 31-15 at the end of that quarter. Indiana actually closed the 1st quarter on a 9-1 run to pull away. Indiana had another 31 point quarter in the 2nd, but the Bulls played better and managed to put up 28 points in the 2nd quarter. The Pacers went into halftime with a 62-43 point lead. Neither team played great in the 3rd quarter, but there was some excitement late in the quarter when Paul George of the Pacers kicked the basketball into the stands with 1:42 left in the 3rd quarter and was ejected. George appeared to be upset about a non-call on a Pacers offensive possession and then he was whistled for a foul on the Bulls next possession. The Pavers where up 20 points when George was ejected. Indiana added 5 points to it’s lead as they scored 26 points in the 3rd quarter to the Bulls 21. With a 24 point lead going into the 4th quarter at 88-64 and Pacers where able to rest there starters. With the Pacers starters out of the game the Bulls where able to shave 7 points off the Indiana lead, but never seriously threatened. The Bulls had a 30 point 4th quarter to the Pacers 23 point quarter, but that wasn’t enough as the game ended with the Pacers getting the 111-94 victory.

Jeff Teague was the high scorer in the game with 21 points for the Pacers. Myles Turner had 16 points, Paul George out up 13 points and a team high 7 rebounds before his ejection while Thaddeus Young had 12 points. The only Pacers starter to not score in double figures was Monta Ellis, but he handed out a game high 8 assists. C.J. Miles scored 20 points off the Pacers bench while former Bull Aaron Brooks also came off the Pacers bench to hit double digits with 10 points.

Jimmy Butler and Bobby Portis (off the bench) each had 16 points for the Bulls. Robin Lopez had 12 points while Doug McDermott came off the Bulls bench to score 12 points as well. Taj Gibson had a game high 12 rebounds and just missed a double-double with 9 points. After his 35 point effort last night Dwayne Wade played just 22 minutes against the Pacers. Wade went 1 for 9 from the field and scored 4 points.

The 3-3 Pacers head out on the road as they’ll face the 4-1 Charlotte Hornets on Monday. The 3-3 Bulls will get to head back to Chicago as they’ll host the 3-3 Orlando Magic on Monday.

 

How was your week

Posted: November 5, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in Minor League Baseball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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I’m sure by now you know that the Chicago Cubs won the World Series. They had there parade yesterday in Chicago and they’re estimating that 5 million people attended. When Theo Epstein took over the Cubs in October of 2011 he torn the team down and rebuilt it. I’m not sure how many people remember this, but the Houston Astros started their rebuilding process a season before the Cubs did. The Astros did make a playoff appearance in 2015. They beat the New York Yankees 3-0 in the wild card game and advanced to the ALDS. The Astros had a 2 games to 1 lead in that series, but eventually lost 3 games to 2 to the Kansas City Royals. The Astros stumbled a bit last season finishing 3rd in the AL West with a record of 84-78. Since both of these teams where on the same track I thought we’d take a look at how they ended up being built.

In the 2010 draft the Astros took Delino Deshields Jr. #8 overall. The Cubs who weren’t rebuilding yet took Hayden Simpson with the 16th pick. Deshields Jr. never played for the Astros as the Texas Rangers selected him in the 2014 Rule 5 draft. Simpson never pitched above high Class-A and was out of baseball after the 2013 season. The Cubs had the #9 pick in the 2011 draft and they took Javier Baez. This was not a Epstein draft pick as he didn’t take the team over until October. The Astros selected George Springer two picks after Baez at #11. Baez has had short stint with the Cubs in 2014 and 2015, but in 2016 he played in 142 games. He’s been called a super utility player by the Cubs as he played all 4 infield spot and 2 games in leftfield. Baez was also named the Co-MVP of the NLCS. Springer also debut in 2014 and finished 8th on Rookie of the Year voting. He lost time to injury in 2015, but came back to play in all 162 games last season. It looks like both teams found long term players in this draft. In 2012 the Astros had the 1st pick in the draft and they used it on shortstop Carlos Correa. With the 6th pick in the draft the Cubs selected Alberto Almora Jr. Correa is considered one of the if not the best young shortstop in baseball. He debuted in 2015 playing in 99 games and winning the Rookie of the Year award. Almora Jr. saw his first major league action in the 2016 season playing in 47 games. Almora Jr. was on the Cubs post season roster; so he’ll get a ring. Correa looks to be a star for a long time, but the book is still out on Almora Jr. In the 2013 draft the Astros had the 1st pick and the Cubs where right behind them at #2. The Astros used that 1st pick on pitcher Mark Appel while the Cubs went with Kris Bryant. Appel has yet to make it to the major league. In December of 2015 the Astros traded Appel to the Philadelphia Phillies as part of a 7-player deal that brought reliever Ken Giles back to Houston. Appel was injured last season making 8 starts for Lehigh Valley the Phillies Triple-A team. After the issues of when Bryant should be brought up ended he went on to play 15 games in 2015 and win the Rookie of the Year award. Bryant has been an All-Star in both of his major league season and has a chance to be named the 2016 MVP. The Astros where able to turn Appel into relief help that they needed, but when you pick a guy #1 you expect him to anchor your staff for years. Bryant on the other hand looks to be a long time fixture in the middle of the Cubs line up. In the 2014 draft the Astros again had the #1 pick in the draft and they went pitching again taking Brady Aiken. The Cubs selecting 4th in the draft surprised everyone with the selection of Kyle Schwarber. Aiken and the Astros where never able to agree to contract terms. There was some issues over Aiken’s arm and he did end up having Tommy John surgery. Aiken ended up re-entering the in 2015 where the Cleveland Indians picked him in the 1st round with the 17th pick. Schwarber spent about a year and a half in the minors before being brought up to DH in an inter-league series. He did so well that he never went back to the minors. Schwarber ended up playing in 69 games in 2015. He only played 2 regular season games in 2016 because of a knee injury, but he made it back to be the Cubs DH in the World Series. I understand that the Astros didn’t want to pay a injured pitcher top dollar, but why did they draft him with the 1st pick then. The Bottom line with Schwarber is he can hit. If the Cubs can find a position for him he can be a big time run producer for them. Since Houston was unable to sign Aiken they received a compensation at #2 and then had their own pick at #5. With the 2nd pick the Astros took Alex Bregman and then with the 5th pick they selected Kyle Tucker. The Cubs had the 9th pick in this draft and took Ian Happ. Bregman made his major league debut last season paying in 49 games. Tucker is still working his way through the Astros minor league system. He spent most of the season in Class-A, but was moved up to High Class-A at the end of the season. Happ is also working his way to the big leagues. Happ started last season in High Class-a, but was called up to Double-A. While the jury is still out on both Tucker and Happ; Bregman has shown that he can play at the major league level and it’s been reported that the Astros may try him as their everyday leftfielder next season. As the teams improve you’ll notice there draft positions get lower. In last seasons draft the Cubs didn’t have a 1st round pick as it went to the St. Louis Cardinals for the Cubs signing of John Lackey. The Astros where picking at #17 and they selected Forrest Whitley. Obviously Whitley’s career is just beginning as he’s pitched in just 8 Rookie League games. It will be a few years before we know how this draft pick worked out for Houston.

The first thing you’ll notice is that the Cubs didn’t select one pitcher with a 1st round pick. The Astros have taken three and two didn’t work out. Appel is now with the Phillies. Aiken never signed and is now with the Indians and Whitley was just drafted.

So how did the Cubs build their starting rotation? Jon Lester was signed as a free agent to a 6-year $155 million dollar deal with an option for a 7th year in 2014. Jake Arrieta was acquired from the Baltimore Orioles in a trade. John Lackey was signed as a free agent to a 2-year $32 million dollar deal before the 2016 season. Kyle Hendricks was acquired in a trade with the Texas Rangers and Jason Hammel was signed as a free agent to a 2-year $20 million dollar deal with an option for a 3rd year in 2014. Hammel has also factored in the Cubs success as he was part of the a trade that sent Hammel and Jeff Samardzjia to the Oakland A’s for Addison Russell, Billy McKinney and Dan Straily. McKinney ended up being part of the deal with the New York Yankees that brought Aroldis Chapman.

It appears as though the question is do you draft pitching or do you sign pitching. Both have there draw backs. If you miss on a draft pick you get nothing out of that player, Now if you miss on a free agent signing paying a player big money who you’re not getting anything out of them. As teams try to rebuild; the Cincinnati Reds and the Milwaukee Brewers started rebuilding this past season it will be interesting to see if they go the draft route with pitchers or if they’ll invest in free agents. Since most leagues are copycat leagues you have to expect that teams will look to sign starting pitching. Of course signing the right starting pitching will be the key to teams success.

You can listen to Sports Time Radio live on the BlogTalkRadio.co  website, but you can also listen to the podcast any time you’d like at TuneIn.com

I’m also on Twitter @Burketime

New York Knicks 117 Chicago Bulls 104

Posted: November 4, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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Joakim Noah and Derrick Rose both received warm receptions from there from home crowd as they where introduced although there where some boos mixed in for Rose. Rose who is a Chicago native was also booed every time he touch the basketball during the first couple minutes of the game. The Bulls played a tribute video to Rose and Noah during the first timeout of the game. Maybe all that inspired the former Bulls as their new team the New York Knicks jumped out to a 22-6 lead on there way to a 9-points 1st quarter lead at 32-23. It looked as though the Bulls might be in trouble, but they rallied in a big way in the 2nd quarter. The Bulls put up 34 2nd quarter points and held the Knicks to 24 2md quarter points. With that the Bulls went into halftime with a 1-point lead 57-56. The 3rd quarter stayed pretty even, but the Knicks did outscored the Bulls 28-24 in the 3rd quarter and took an 84-81 lead headed into the last quarter. The Knicks where able to break away from the Bulls by scoring 10 straight points to start the 4th quarter. The Knicks opened up a 15-point lead at 98-83, but this is the NBA and true to form the Bulls made a run. The Bulls went on a 19 to 5 run and cut the Knicks lead to 6 at 108-102 with just under two minutes to play. On the next Knicks possession Rose put an end to the Bulls comeback hopes as he completed a 3-point play. Carmelo Anthony added a 3 with .50 seconds left in the game and then the Knicks hit 3 of the 4 free throws they shot to get the game to it’s final score 117-104.

All 5 Knicks starters scored in double figures led by Kristaps Porzingis with 27 points. Carmelo Anthony had 25 points, Courtney Lee had 17 points while Derrick Rose scored 15 points and had a game high 11 assists. Joakim Noah also chipped in with 15 points and a team high 9 rebounds. Every Knicks starter played 33 minutes or more with Lee playing a game high 41 minutes.

Dwayne Wade led all scorers with 35 points and also led everyone in rebounds with 10. Jimmy Butler scored 26 points while Nikola Mirotic was the only other Bulls player in double figures coming off the bench to score 14 points. Rajon Rondo was the team leader in assists with 5, but had a terrible shooting night going 2 for 10 on the night.

With the win the Knicks improve to 2-3. They’ll head back to New York to take on the Utah Jazz on Sunday.

The Bulls suffered their 2nd consecutive loss and their first home loss. The Bulls fell to 3-2 with the loss and have to turn right around and play the Indiana Pacers in Indiana tomorrow night.

 

Boston Celtics 107 Chicago Bulls 100

Posted: November 3, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Boston Celtics avenged their only loss of the season and handed the Chicago Bulls there first loss of the season with a 107-100 win Wednesday night. Boston’s big off season acquisition Al Horford missed the game. Horford was placed in the concussion protocol Tuesday after exhibiting concussive symptoms during practice. With the game tied at 10 the Celtics went on a 26-15 run to end the 1st quarter and pull away to a 36-25 lead. The Bulls made a big run in the 2nd quarter outscoring the Celtics 27-19 in the quarter and went into halftime trailing by 3 at 55-52. The Bulls had there lowest offensive output in a quarter this season when they out up just 18 points in the 3rd quarter. Celtics forward Amir Johnson almost outscored the Bulls on his own as he put up 16 points in the quarter. Boston had a 26 point quarter and headed into the 4th quarter with an 11 point lead at 81-70. The Bulls made a run and a Jimmy Butler 3-pointer with just under 6 minutes left cut the Celtics lead to 3 at 94-91. The Bulls then managed to tie the game at 100 all with two Nikola Mirotic free throws. Of course those where the last points the Bulls would score as the Celtics scored the next 7 points to get the 107-100 victory. The Bulls actually outscored the Celtics 30-26 in the 4th quarter, but it wasn’t enough.

Amir Johnson and Isaiah Thomas each put up 23 points to lead Boston in scoring. All 5 Boston starters scored in double figures as Avery Bradley had 13 points, Tyler Zeller had 11 pints and Jae Crowder scored 10 points. Thomas had a game high 10 assists while Johnson tied with Jonas Jerebko grabbing a team high 6 rebounds. Johnson also set a career high in 3-pointers as he went 4 for 4 from the 3-point stripe.

The Bulls where led by Jimmy Butler who had 23 points. Dwayne Wade had 15 points while Rajon Rondo scored 12 points handed out a team high 5 assists and grabbed a game high 10 rebounds. Nikola Mirotic came off the Bulls bench to put up 17 points. The Bulls had some turnover issues in the game as they had a season high 19 in the game.

The Celtics improved to 3-1 with the win, but they have to turn right around and hit the road as they face the undefeated (4-0) Cleveland Cavaliers. Chicago is now 3-1 with the loss and they get to head home. On Friday the Bulls host the 1-3 New York Knicks and their former teammates Derrick Rose and Joakim Noah.

Let’s call it Wednesday

Posted: November 2, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, sports
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The Chicago Cubs offense got going last night and they cruised to a 9-3 victory in Game 6 of the World Series. The Cubs victory sets up a one game playoff for it all. It’s game 7 tonight in Cleveland.

Kris Bryant got the Cubs offense going in the top of the 1st as he hit a solo home run with 2 outs. Back to back singles by Anthony Rizzo and Ben Zobrist brought up Addison Russell with two on and two out. Russell hit a fly ball to right centerfield that looked like it would be the third out of the inning. Indians rightfielder Lonnie Chisenhall and centerfield Tyler Naquin had a miscommunication and the ball fell in for a double. Rizzo scored easily and it took a tough slide by Zobrist into Indians catcher Roberto Perez insured he’d score. Going to the mound with w 3-run lead helped Jake Arrieta relax and he struck out 4 Indians in the first two innings. With one swing of the bat in the top of the 3rd inning the Cubs blew the game open. Kyle Schwarber drew a walk and then after the first out was made Rizzo and Zobrist out together back to back singles again. That brought up Russell with the bases loaded. Russell hit a grand slam to centerfield to give the Cubs a 7-0 lead. The Indians had their best scoring chance in the bottom of the 4th inning. Jason Kipnis doubled and then after a strikeout of Francisco Lindor,  Mike Napoli singled to center to bring Kipnis home. A hit batsmen and a walk loaded the bases for Cleveland, but another strikeout by Arrieta ended the threat with just 1 run being scored. Kipnis struck again as he hit a solo home run in the botton of the 5th to make it a 7-2 game. A walk to Chisenhall started the panic by Cubs manager Joe Maddon as Arrieta was removed for Mike Montgomery who got out of the inning. Montgomery hit a rough spot in the bottom of the 7th inning and with runners on 1st and 2nd with two outs he was removed for Aroldis Chapman. While Chapman got out of the inning it was another panic move by Maddon to use your closer with a 5-run lead. After building a lead the Cubs bats had kind of went silent against the Indians bullpen until the top of the 9th. After two outs Bryant singled. Rizzo came up next and hit a 2-run home run to rightfield to out the game away for the Cubs. For some unknown reason Chapman actually cane out to start the 9th inning. After walking the lead off man Chapman was finally taken out of the game. Pedro Strop came in and got the first guy he faced to fly out. The Strop threw a wild pitch and then gave up a single and a run scored. Jason Heyward made an almost perfect throw to 2nd base to nail Perez who was trying to stretch his hit into a double. After a walk Strop was pulled and Travis Wood came into the game to get the hot hitting Kipnis to foul out to short to end the game.

The Cubs out up 13 hits in the game with the 3 though 6 spots in the order getting 11 of them. Bryant was 4 for 5, Rizzo was 3 for 5, Zobrist was 2 for 4 and Russell was 2 for 5 with 6 RBI’s. Schwarber and Javier Baez had the Cubs other two hits. Rizzo drove in 2 with his home run and it was Bryant who had the Cubs other RBI.

The Indians had 6 hits in the game and Kipnis had 3 of them. Mike Napoli, Jose Ramirez and Perez each had one hit for Cleveland. Kipnis along with Napoli and Perez each had an RBI for Cleveland.

Arrieta went 5 2/3rd innings to get the win. He gave up 2 runs in 3 hits while walking 3 and striking out 9. Montgomery worked an inning giving up a hit and a walk. Chapman pitched 1 1/3rd innings giving up a run, a hit, a walk while getting one strikeout. Strop worked 2/3rd of an inning giving up a hit and a walk. Then Wood pitched the final 1/3rd of an inning.

Josh Tomlin lasted just 2 1/3rd innings giving up 6 runs on 6 hits while walking 1 batter. Dan Otero was the fist of five relievers used by the Indians. He pitched 2/3rd of an inning giving up a run on a hit. Danny Salazar pitched 2 innings giving up a hit and striking out 4. Jeff Manship went 2/3rd of an inning and allowed 1 hit and recorded a strikeout. Zach McAllister pitched 1 1/3rd innings giving up 2 hits. Mike Clevenger worked the final 2 innings for Cleveland and gave up 2 runs on 2 hits while walking 2 and striking out 1.

So we’re headed to a Game 7 with Kyle Hendricks making the start for the Cubs and Corey Kluber coming back a 3 days rest again for Cleveland. Hendricks went 4 1/3rd innings in his only World Series start. He gave up 6 hits walked 2 and struck out 6 while not giving up a run. Kluber is 2-0 in his 2 World Series starts covering 12 innings. Kluber has giving up 9 hits, 1 unearned run, 1 walk and has struck out 15 batters. It’s a good pitching match up for a Game 7.

There will be a lot of questions for Game 7. How much does Kluber have left? How quickly will Maddon panic (again) and pull Hendricks? Will the Cubs offense show up against Kluber? Will someone else besides Kipnis for Cleveland? We didn’t see Bryan Shaw, Cody Allen or Andrew Miller in Game 6; so they’ve had some extra rest and I’m sure they’ll all make a Game 7 appearance. Who in the Cubs bullpen does Maddon trust? Terry Francona has completely out managed Maddon in this World Series and will see if this will cost the Cubs. The Cubs are the better team, but Francona has made the moves to keep his team in the series with a chance to win. Maddon is running scared and making panic moves right and left. This is an advantage for Cleveland, but the Cubs have better talent and should win out.

So who do you have getting the win tonight? The Cleveland Indians or the Chicago Cubs?

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Chicago Bulls 118 Brooklyn Nets 88

Posted: November 1, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Chicago Bulls picked up there 3rd win of this young NBA and there 1st road win as they cruised past the Brooklyn Nets by 30 points 118-88. The Bulls jumped out to a quick lead, but the Nets came back to tie the game at 7-7. From there the Bulls went on a 31 to 13 run and the Bulls found themselves ahead 38-20 at the end of the 1st quarter. The 2nd quarter played out much more evenly, but the Bulls did add 3 points to there lead as they outscored the Nets 27-24 and went into halftime with a 65-44 lead. After halftime the Bulls where able to add to there lead in both the 3rd quarter outscoring Brooklyn 28-22 and with the starters on the bench for most of it the Bulls outscored the Nets in the 4th quarter 25-22. This was the fourth time in a row the Bulls have won on the Nets home court.

Brooklyn had been the best 3-point shooting team early in the season as they where making 37.3% of the 3-point shots they took last night they made just 5 of 31 from behind the 3-point line or just 16%. For the game the Nets where 33 of 96 from the floor for a 34.4%. In comparison the Bulls shot 50.6% overall in the game going 45 for 89. From behind the 3-point line the Bulls shot 40.7% going 11 of 27.

Four of the five Bulls starters scored in double figures led by Jimmy Butler with 22 points. Taj Gibson had 14 points and a game high 11 rebounds. Dwayne Wade added 12 points while Rajon Rondo put up 10 points. Nikola Mirotic came off the Bulls bench to score 16 points and grab 10 rebounds while Isaiah Canaan 15 points and a game high 6 assists. Doug McDermott also got into double figures off the Bulls bench putting up 12 points.

Bulls guard Michael Carter-Williams went down in the first half with a knee injury. It was called a sprained knee, but Carter-Williams will have an MRI today to check it out.

Bojan Bogdanovic led the Nets on scoring with 15 points. Jeremy Lin had 14 points, a team high 4 assists and 4 steals. Brook Lopez had 13 points and Sean Kilpatrick came in off the Brooklyn bench to score 13 points. Trevor Booker and Luis Scola where the Nets leading rebounders in the game with 8 boards apiece.

With the win the Bulls improved to 3-0. The Bulls stay on the road as they head to Boston to take on the 2-1 Celtics on Wednesday. The game will be national televised on ESPN. The Nets fell to 1-3 and also play again Wednesday as they host the 2-1 Detroit Pistons.

 

Chicago Bulls 118 Indiana Pacers 101

Posted: October 29, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in basketball, sports, Sports Time Radio, Uncategorized
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The Chicago Bulls used a big 2nd quarter to pull away from the Indiana Pacers and improve to 2-0 early in the 2016-17 season. The made nine changes to their roster this off season with three of those changes being to the starting line up. With all those moves you might think the Bulls would struggle at the start of the season, but not so far. It’s just two games, but it’s two games and two wins against two teams that where predicted to make the Eastern Conference playoffs.

It was a tight 1st quarter with the teams being tied 8 different times before the Bulls where able to gain a four point advantage 24-20 at the end of the quarter. The Bulls had a 3-point lead with 9:52 left in the 2nd quarter and then went on a 16-point run to pull away from the Pacers. The Bulls outscored Indiana 38-21 and went into halftime with a 21-point lead 62 to 41. The 3rd quarter was pretty evenly matched, but the Bulls found a way to add 4 more points to their lead outscoring the Pacers 30-26. With the score 92-67 heading into the 4th quarter Jimmy Butler, Dwayne Wade and Rajon Rondo where given the 4th quarter off. With those three on the bench the Pacers manage to cut the lead to 11 points at 112-101, but there was just two minutes left in the game. The Pacers did outscore the Bulls in the 4th quarter 34-26, but the Bulls scored the final 6 points of the game to get to  the 118-101 final score.

Doug McDermott came off the Bulls bench and made five of the six 3-pointers he took as he led the Bulls in scoring with 23 points. Jimmy Butler had 16, points Dwayne Wade scored 14 points while Taj Gibson and Robin Lopez each added 12 points. Gibson also grabbed a game high 8 rebounds. While Rondo may have been the only Bulls starter to not score in double figures he did hand a game high 13 assists. Isaiah Canaan added 11 points off the bench as well for the Bulls.

The Pacers where led in scoring by Myles Turner and Paul George who each tallied 20 points. Joe Young and Glen Robinson III came off the Pacers bench to each score 11 points. Thaddeus Young also scored in double figures scoring 10 points and grabbing a team high 5 rebounds. Jeff Teague Had a rough night shooting the basketball going 0 for 7 in the game as well as missing the only 3-point shot he took. While Teague didn’t score in the game he did hand out 8 assists to lead the team in that category.

On Monday the 2-0 Bulls play there first road game of the season as they head to Brooklyn to take on the Nets. The Pacers who fell to 1-2 with the loss Head home to host the Los Angeles Lakers.

How was your week

Posted: October 29, 2016 by Sports Time Radio in baseball, basketball, sports
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Baseball is definitely a tough sport to predict. For the first time in 71 years there was a World Series game at Wrigley Field and the weather cooperated. It was in the 60’s; not bad for late October and the wind was blowing out. It sure looked like we’d see some offense last night, but Josh Tomlin and Kyle Hendricks had other ideas.

Hendricks gave up two singles in the Top of the 1st, but struck out Mike Napoli looking to end the threat. Tomlin went 1,2,3 in the bottom of the inning. Both teams managed singles in the 2nd inning, but didn’t threaten. A two out walk in the 3rd didn’t amount to anything for Cleveland while Tomlin worked another 1,2,3 inning. The Indians had the first real threat of the game in the Top of the 4th inning. A lead off single and then a one out single had runners on 2nd and 3rd. A fielder’s choice put moved a runner to 3rd with two outs, but Hendricks struck out Roberto Perez to end the inning. Tomlin walked the lead off man in the bottom of the inning, but went 1,2,3 after that to end the inning. The Indians put together another threat in the Top of the 5th. A single, a sacrifice by Tomlin, a walk and a hit by pitch loaded the bases and ended Hendricks night after 4 1/3rd. Justin Grimm came out of the Cubs bullpen and induced a double play ground ball out of the Indians hottest hitter Francisco Lindor to end the scoring threat. A lead off single and two ground outs pout a Cubs runner on 3rd with two outs and the pitchers spot up. Miguel Montero came up to pinch hit and Andrew Miller came out of the Indians bullpen to face him. Montero looked over matched early in the at bat, but managed to hit a solid line drive, but it was right at the rightfielder for the final out of the inning. That closed the book on Tomlin after 4/2/3rd innings. Carl Edwards Jr. entered the game in the Top of the 6th and worked a 1,2,3 inning. Miller did the same in the bottom of the inning and we’re still 0-0 going into the 7th; who would’ve thought. A single, a sacrifice and a wild pitch out pinch runner Michael Martinez on 3rd with one out and the Indians where threatening again. Rajai Davis walked and Coco Crisp came up to pinch hit for Miller. Crisp singled to rightfield to drive in the only run of the night and out the Indians up 1-0. On the play Jorge Soler threw Davis out at 3rd for the 2nd out of the inning. Mike Montgomery came in top relieve Edwards Jr. and got Jason Kipnis to ground out to end the inning. Bryan Shaw came in to pitch the bottom of the inning and got two ground outs to start. Soler hit a wind aided triple down the rightfield line and the Cubs had a chance. Jason Heyward came in to run for Soler, but Shaw got Javier Baez to ground out to end the inning. Montgomery got the first out of the 8th inning and then was replaced by Pedro Stop who retired the next two hitters. Shaw got the first two outs in the bottom of the inning, but a Dexter Fowler singled chased Shaw and Cody Allen came in to try to get the 4 out save. Allen struck out Kris Bryant to end the 8th inning. Aroldis Chapman entered to pitch the Top of the 9th. Chapman struck out the first two batters he faced and then got a ground out for a 1,2,3 inning. Anthony Rizzo singled to lead off the bottom of the 9th and was pinch ran for by Chris Coghlan. A strikeout and a ground out moved Coghlan to 2nd with two outs, Heyward got an infield single to move Coghlan to 3rd, Heyward stole second; so the Cubs had the winning run on the bases with Baez at the plate. Allen struck out Baez to end the game. You could’ve never convinced me that this would be a 1-0 game, but it was and the Indians got the win and have taken a 2 games to 1 lead in the series.

Miller picked up the win pitching 1 1/3rd innings with Allen getting the save. Edwards Jr. ended up being the tough luck loser in this one. The Indians had 8 hits in the game with Lindor and Jose Ramirez each getting two hits apiece. The Cubs had 5 hits in the game with Soler being the only player with more than one hit.

Cleveland will look to take a commanding lead in the series as their ace Corey Kluber takes the mound. Kluber was the Game 1 winner pitching 6 innings giving up 4 hits and striking out 9. Kluber has made 4 post season starts and is 3-1 with an ERA of 0.74. The Cubs turn to veteran John Lackey who is making his first start of this World Series. Lackey has made two post season starts and hasn’t had a decision, but his ERA is 5.63. Can Kluber pitch the Indians to a 3 games to 1 lead or will the veteran Lackey even the series for the Cubs?

Not that it’s anything new, but Russell Westbrook had a triple-double last night. The Oklahoma City Thunder beat the Phoenix Suns 113-110 in overtime with Westbrook leading the way. Westbrook put up 51 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists. It’s the first time since Kareem Abdul-Jabbar did it in 1975 that a player scored 50 or more points in a triple-double. Westbrook played 45 minutes in the game and took 44 shots while recording his 1st triple-double of the season and 39th of his career. Westbrook led the NBA in triple-doubles last season with 18. It was the second triple-double of the NBA season as LeBron James had one opening night against the New York Knicks.

Besides Westbrook’s big night Anthony Davis of the New Orleans Pelicans followed up his 50 point opening night by outing up 45 points last night against the Golden State Warriors. Davis has had double-doubles in both games as well. He had 17 rebounds ion the opening game and 15 last night. Davis is also playing a lot of minutes to start the season. He played 41 in the first game and 40 last night. Sadly his big numbers haven’t helped the Pelicans win a game. They lost opening night to the Denver Nuggets 107-102 and last night the Warriors beat them 122-114. The Pelicans will look for their first win of the season tonight in San Antonio as they face the 2-0 Spurs. How many points will Davis score tonight?

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