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There are several types of sports stories which have caught my eye this week. Let’s cover a few of them today.
“Luka-the-Laker” dumps Dallas in first meeting since trade
Former Dallas Mavericks NBA star Luka Doncic was surprisingly traded a few weeks ago to the Los Angeles Lakers.
In return, the Lakers sent 10-year veteran All-Star center Anthony Davis and two other players to the Mavericks.
As we covered on the day after the trade, my opinion at the time (and still is) that the Mavericks egotistical point guard Kyrie Irving just didn’t like having to share the basketball with Luka.
Both players need the ball in their hands to be feel effective. Alas, there is just one basketball in use on the court.
On Tuesday night in Los Angeles, the Dallas Mavericks (without their now-injured new center Anthony Davis) rolled into town for the first game since this seismic trade was completed.
Luka Doncic scored 19 points, snagged 15 rebounds and handed-out 12 assists in leading the Lakers to a 107-99 win over his former team from Dallas.
With a triple double against Dallas, Luka Doncic joined Lakers teammate LeBron James and Denver’s Russell Westbrook as the only three players in NBA history to have achieved that milestone against all 30 of the league’s teams.
Meanwhile, the most hated sports figure in Dallas remains Mavericks General Manager Nico Harrison.
DFW Metroplex fans are still hot about why the Mavericks’ future Hall-of-Famer (Luka Doncic) was traded for a talented but aging center with a history of injuries (Anthony Davis).
Nico Harrison actually traveled with his Dallas Mavericks team to Los Angeles for the game. Noticeably, Luka Doncic kept his distance and didn’t approach his former boss before, during, or after Tuesday night’s encounter.
Afterwards, the Lakers’ new 25-year old NBA star was relieved to get this game completed.
“It was just a lot of emotions and not much sleep,” said Doncic. “I’m just glad it’s over, honestly!”
Round One goes to Luka’s Lakers.
Point shaving concerns are expanding within men’s college basketball
Last weekend, I read about the Fresno State men’s basketball team suspending two of its top three scorers as part of an investigation into possible point shaving surrounding the Bulldogs.
Here’s how it works.
Fresno State’s men’s team was already having a record season – in losses, that is. Losers of ten games in a row, the Bulldogs from central California are a pitiful 1-16 in Mountain West Conference games and just 5-23 overall.
When basketball players suit-up to play in a game where the professional bettors have established their team as a large underdog, it’s easy to see how some players could be persuaded to lose by a little larger margin than the betting line.
When your team stinks and turns the ball over a few more times, misses a few more three pointers, or clanks a couple of free throws, it is very difficult to detect any change from a losing team’s normal performance.
Let’s add another possible factor.
A smaller conference basketball team such as Fresno State doesn’t spend as much in terms of NIL (Name, Image, and Likeness) funding to acquire players for the squad.
Now, let’s include a mysterious and cleverly hidden chain of evil-doers working behind the scenes.
Perhaps someone may have approached a few key players on a losing college basketball team with a secretive offer to provide some cash in return for a worse-than-average performance by the team on certain special occasions.
After all, who would care if Fresno lost by 25 points on night instead of the betting line of 20?
From what I’ve read, most national betting services will only allow wagering on point spreads for the results in the first half of games now. It was considered too easy for basketball teams to “tank” during the second half of a blow-out loss.
What if a few key players playing on a perpetual losing team intentionally have a very poor first half?
Those same players could go into the locker room at halftime, wink at each other, and return to the court in the second half to (perhaps) rally and make the final score look more respectable. That seems quite plausible.
Say it ain’t so! Not UNO!
In the past several days, similar issues are under investigation at 14-14 Eastern Michigan (Mid-American Conference), 3-25 Mississippi Valley State (SWAC), and 7-22 North Carolina A&T (Coastal Atlantic Conference).
Today, the University of New Orleans (UNO) of the Southland Conference became yet another men’s basketball team being investigated for possible point shaving in certain games this season.
The Privateers announced a suspension of four of its five men’s starters from a team which is just 2-16 in the Southland Conference and only 4-25 overall.
UNO has lost eleven games in a row.
All joking aside, don’t “bet” against the Privateers dropping their 12th straight game this Saturday at UT-Rio Grande.
Ratings soared for the NHL’s new version of Fight Night!
The National Hockey League squeezed a lemon and came up with lemonade last week.
Faced with declining television ratings and interest for its annual NHL All-Star game, the hockey league came up with a terrific concept to replace its former snoozer of an All-Star week.
Four teams comprised of top NHL players from the US, Canada, Finland, and Sweden were selected to play in a week-long series of Olympic-styled games instead of the league’s annual All-Star event.
The initial NHL “Four Nations” competition quickly became a rousing success with sports fans.
As tensions have increased recently between Canada and the United States, a game played in Montreal featured local fans lustily booing the US national anthem.
Within seconds of the game’s opening puck drop, a few “gloves-off” fights occurred a few players on the two squads.
As the referees stood by (as usual), those spirited fights caught the attention of US and Canadian television viewers, too. Once the chippiness settled down, the US won the game on Canadian ice 3-1.
Last Thursday, more than nine million people turned on their television to watch a championship rematch of US vs. Canada being played in Boston Garden.
Aside from some minor booing from Beantown fans during the Canadian anthem, the game was well played and ended with Canada claiming a 4-3 overtime win.
The NHL has now resumed its regular season games this week.
Unfortunately, this week’s TV ratings have fallen by nearly 90% from last Thursday’s big US/Canada rematch.
Perhaps those fickle hockey fight fans might return if June’s Stanley Cup finals should come down to one team from a Canadian city against a US-based NHL team.
Will the NFL finally ban the “Tush Push” before next season?
If you haven’t seen this football oddly named NFL play, a few linemen will line-up in the offensive backfield behind the quarterback. Upon the snap, the big guys will, uh, push their quarterback forward into the defensive line attempting to convert a first down or, perhaps, a short yardage touchdown.
The current NFL champion Philadelphia Eagles started using this play a few years ago. Originally dubbed “The Tush Push”, Philly fans now refer to the play as “The Brotherly Shove”.
Call it what you will. It has been extremely effective for Philadelphia in recent years.
The Eagles have converted about 75% of these short yardage attempts into first downs to sustain drives and score short touchdowns.
For the past couple of seasons, the NFL has considered the play to be legal under the current rules.
That might change soon.
The no-fun Green Bay Packers want to end Philly’s gadget play for good.
Packers CEO Mark Murphy publicly stated that he wants to return to a more traditional quarterback sneak play. He wants to end the signal caller being used like a nail being pounded forward by a hefty hammer of offensive players pushing behind him.
The NFL has been gathering statistics and medical data to see if shoving a 200-pound quarterback into a line of oncoming defenders is too dangerous.
It will take 2/3 of the NFL’s 32 owners to make this play disappear this fall.
Last year, a similar move to remove the “Tush Push” failed.
If the play isn’t banned before this fall’s opening games, you should expect to see 31 copycat teams employing their own version of the same play.
No ifs, ands, or “butts” about it!