WSD Sports Page: Jeff Van Gundy's thoughts on LeBron James foul history

Jeff Van Gundy says something we were all thinking, Texas A&M gets more distractions, and Rory McIlroy's ugly details come out in today's sports page.

The Lede: Blackhawks 5, Kings 4 (2OT) instant classic

MLB: Giants 5, Cubs 0

It was a shaky start for Tim Lincecum, be he overcame a 30+ pitch first inning and completed five innings of hitless baseball. San Francisco held Chicago hittless through the first 19 outs of the game. Pablo Sandoval continues another hitting streak, now up to eight, after his 10-game streak ended over a week ago. The Giants held the Cubs scoreless in the last 20 innings of the series.

NL West roundup: The worst two teams in the division had an interesting series finale last night as the Diamondbacks went up 8-0 after the first inning. Even better, the Giants are up 5.5 games in the division after the Rockies lost on a home run walk-off by Ryan Howard of the Phillies and the Reds edged the Dodgers 3-2.

That's a good thing, as the Giants are heading into one of their toughest challenges of the season -- a four-game jaunt in St. Louis this weekend.


NBA: Jeff Van Gundy thought LeBron James' foul history was "interesting"

The Pacers won 93-90 over the Heat last night to force Game 6 in the Eastern Conference Finals, but the best pat of that train wreck of a game was when Mike Breen was listing off the history of how James rarely fouls out of the game, including five straight seasons where he never fouled out. Van Gundy chimed in after clarifying that he heard "five years" that the King was never fouled out, and had a simple one-word thought that every one of us was also thinking.

Interesting.

• GOLF: Tiger Woods confirms he will not be at the US Open -- Hasn't every golf expert expected him to be out for the year? By now Woods announcing he'll miss a tournament is barely news, for now the only time Tiger will be mentioned again if there's significant information on his injury or if he is finally going to appear at a tournament.
• CFB: Top QB prospect headed to Texas A&M -- Johnny Football 2 is coming to rock the Aggies again. Kyler Murray, the 14th-ranked overall prospect according to ESPN will be headed to The House that Johnny Built, except his name can't really be changed properly to match up with "football." I don't know how fans will cope.
• NBA: Lance Stephenson gets told off by Ray Allen -- Stephenson was shown blowing in James' ear during the game last night, Ron Artest Metta World Peace-esque move that actually got a clever response from James after the fact. But Allen called it "buffoonery," which is not as good of a word as "jackassery."
• NFL: Malcolm Glazer dies -- Owner of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and the most popular soccer club in the world, Manchester United, died yesterday at the age of 85.
• MLB: Johnny Damon gets 10-year revenge on Manny Ramirez -- Back in 2004, Ramirez cut off Damon's throw when the Red Sox played the Orioles. Finally, Damon cut off Ramirez on the first pitch of the game when the 2004 championship team was celebrated before the game. Grudges are a hell of a thing.
• WHAT: Former high school wrestler assaults five people with beach cart -- Lukas Iorio of New Jersey is facing 13 charges against him after stealing a bike cart and assaulting people with it at a beach.
• NFL: Johnny Manziel says trip to Las Vegas is a non-story -- You're right, Johnny Football, this is noting. For everyone else that goes to Vegas, but everything you do is a story because you're you. It won't die down until ESPN jumps the shark and celebrates your birthday on the air a la Tim Tebow or everyone finally sees that the NFL isn't for you.
• GOLF: Rory McIlroy apparently ended it with Caroline Wozniacki over the phone -- She apparently thought the phone call was a joke.

Today's Slate

(Central times listed)

TENNIS

French Open - Now on Tennis Channel and online on ESPN3

GOLF

The Memorial (Rd 1) - Now on LIVE@, 1:30 GOLF

Spieth - 12:05, McIlroy - 12:16

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS - ROUND 3

Canadiens at Rangers (NYR 3-2) - 7:00 NBCS

NBA PLAYOFFS - CONF FINALS

Thunder at Spurs (Tied 2-2) - 8:00 TNT

MLB

-Giants at Cardinals - 7:15 CSBA/FSMW

Reds at D'backs - 8:40 FSOH/FSAZ

Pirates at Dodgers - 9:10 RSPT/SNLA

WSD Sports Page: Cavaliers win the NBA Draft Lottery, so it's not rigged

Cleveland wins the NBA Draft Lottery again, an awful attempt at trolling Charles Barkley, and somebody during a Minor League Baseball game bit off a portion of a LA Dodgers' prospect's ear. All in today's sports page.

Photo via Flickr

Going into the NBA Draft Lottery last night, plenty of people poached on their soapbox and declared on Twitter, "Well that NBA wants the Lakers or Celtics to thrive again, so if they win the lottery this thing is rigged!!!!111!!1!"

Turns out something even worse happened. The Cleveland Cavaliers won it for the second straight year, so it's not rigged.

Anthony Bennett has been a trainwreck coming into the league. That's even factoring in the injuries he's dealt with. Sure, he could improve, but let's say he ends up being the bust he's projected to be. The Cavaliers essentially received a do-over if Bennett tanks.

Cleveland. In the bottom half of the league in terms of the NBA's smallest 15 cities. So for those that like to claim rigged activities are going on, you're saying that the NBA wants Cleveland to thrive. Sure.

No. Like that lucky person you know in your life (we all got a friend/acquaintance), the Cavaliers just seem to hit in the lottery while Boston gets sixth and the purple LA team got seventh.

So it's not rigged. But it still should make you upset. ESPN will horndogging the story of "Can the Cavaliers lure LeBron back in!?" on top of the Johnny Manziel mess.

Oh, Cleveland. The sports city that can't win anything will be hated by America after ESPN gets done with you this calendar year. It just never goes well, does it?

And the Cavaliers can take their next bust while the Philadelphia 76ers swoop in and take a traditionally better second overall pick.


Other Headlines

NBA: Heat even ECF with Pacers

Despite everybody saying that Miami needed this win, I trended the other way. Indiana really needed it, but they couldn't close the deal. The Heat overcame a surge by Lance Stephenson (25 points) and Roy Hibbert's all-around productive night (12 points, 13 boards). Miami's dynamic duo, especially Dwyane Wade down the stretch, got a big road win.

MLB: Romo blows second save in Giants' loss to Rockies

It's a big early-season series against the top two teams in the NL West. Colorado pulled the rug from under San Fran in the opener, coming back from a one-run deficit in the bottom of the 9th with a walk-off home run. Closer Sergio Romo brought none of the heat and was hanging up sliders for the Rockies to tee off on.

Madison Bumgarner left the game with a no-decision and wasn't his dominant self, but still got out of multiple jams -- Colorado went 2-of-12 with runners in scoring position. Pablo Sandoval's nine-game hitting streak was snapped as he went 0-for-4.

NBA: Morning zoo show tries to troll Charles Barkley, fails miserably

What a disaster this is. A local zoo crew from San Antonio's rock station tries to confront Barkley at his hotel and brought up the whole fat women in SA thing two weeks ago. Barkley simply shut them up and put them in their place breaking out the media totem pole, which is so Barkley. This whole bit could have been funny when done properly, but it just looked painfully awkward for the host and his sidekick was just muttering Barkley lines horribly.


But hey, the host was happy with it and high-fived his crew while they walked out the hotel. Now they can find something to talk about amongst giving girls free boob jobs, talking about how much they drank last night, and more on boobs in the actual 30 minutes of content they provide every morning.

MiLB: Dodgers prospect Alex Guerrero has ear bitten by teammate

Guerrero and Miguel Olivo got into it after Olivo was all pissed off that a base was stolen. They got into it during a pitching change and again while heading into the dugout, and that's wear the Mike Tyson incident occurred. Olivo, a 35-year-old man, bites the ear of a prospect. And you won't hear from him again.


Today's Slate
(Central times listed)

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS - ROUND 3
-Kings at Blackhawks (CHI 1-0) - 7:00 NBCS

NBA PLAYOFFS - CONF FINALS
Thunder at Spurs (SA 1-0) - 8:00 TNT

MLB
Dodgers at Mets - 6:10 ESPN
D'backs at Cardinals - 7:15 FSMW
-Giants at Rockies - 7:40 MLBTV
Twins at Padres - 8:10 FSNO

CBB - BIG 12 TOURNEY
Kansas vs West Virginia - 9:00a FSSW+/FCS
TCU vs Baylor - 12:30 FSSW+/FCS
Oklahoma St vs Oklahoma - 4:00 FSSW+/FCS
-Texas Tech at Texas - 7:30 FSSW+/FCS

WSD Sports Page: Pacers beat Heat at free throw line in ECF opener

After cruising through the NBA playoffs winning eight of their first nine games, the Miami Heat take a backseat in Indiana as the Pacers throttle them from the perimeter and at free throw line to take Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade combine for 52 of the team's 96 points, and outside of Chris Anderson and Ray Allen hitting the double-digit mark and be efficient from the field, no one else showed up on the Heat. Nobody was able to hit from the perimeter, the team hitting a cold 6-of-23 including Chris Bosh's 0-for-5 and just 4-for-12 from the field overall.

While the Heat were making free throws, they just weren't getting there enough. The Pacers took 22 more attempts. That's an incredibly rare deficit for Miami considering their superstars generally get the bulk of the calls.

If Indiana ends up winning Game 2 of this series, you can bet that there's going to be a definite swing in momentum when it comes to fouls being called in Miami. There is no conspiracy in NBA game fixing -- at least, not that we know of -- but we all know that these foul calls will balance out.

There's simply no way the Pacers are going to waltz into Miami and attempt nearly 40 free throws in a game, and they have to go into the game knowing that.

What they can control is shooting, and three of their starters -- Lance Stephenson, Paul George, and David West -- combined for 23-of-36 on field goals, a whopping 63.8 percent. That and rebounds (+9 from Game 1) are something they can control, which is where they match up the best against Miami and why we all considered Indiana to be the Heat killers from opening tip of the season.

Ever since "Boat Trip," the Pacers seem to have righted the ship. Now we'll just see how far it goes and how they respond to adversity in the following games.

NHL: Blackhawks take Game 1 against the Kings

Chicago's defense tightened up in the third period, allowing just four shots on goal by Los Angeles as they cruise to the series-opening victory. Despite having six more shot attempts, only getting 15.3% of them in the final stretch down a goal isn't acceptable. Tyler Toffoli had his fourth goal in the postseason.

MLB: Giants avoid three-game skid against Marlins

San Francisco's Ryan Vogelsong shut down the all-of-a-sudden hot Miami offense, giving up only five hits and one walk. A 3-run jolt to start the game in the first inning along with Pablo Sandoval's solo shot in the fifth inning (extending his nine-game hitting streak) was all they needed to win, but things got a bit dicey in the eighth inning when the Marlins had runners in the corners.

However, the fish aren't the 2-out scorers like the Giants are, who scored eight of their 15 total runs on two outs and leads MLB with 86 2-out RBIs.

LAX: Johns Hopkins falls to Duke

The Blue Devils began the game with a 6-0 run and finished scoring seven of the last eight goals, holding their lead to head to the NCAA semifinals. They only scored three goals in the first 21 minutes of play in the first half, but the Blue Jays never felt like a threat on offense. Duke dominated ball control with a 37-19 advantage in ground balls and held JHU to just two shots in the final period. JHU going 3-3 in EMOs in the first half were the only thing that kept them in the game.

Today's Slate
(Central times listed)

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS - ROUND 3
Rangers at Canadiens (NYR 1-0) - 7:00 NBCS

NBA PLAYOFFS - CONF FINALS
Thunder at Spurs (Game 1) - 8:00 TNT

WSD Daily Sports Page (4-23-14): Should Frank Vogel be fired if the Indiana Pacers don't advance?

Will Indiana's Frank Vogel get fired if the Pacers don't advance to the next round? "Stone Cold" Steve Austin gives his thoughts on gay marriage and says it exactly how we thought he would say it, and your daily recaps of NBA and NHL action -- including Drake's lint roller -- all today in the sports page.

The Lede



It's crazy, but Frank Vogel should be coaching for his job

Despite achieving a 56-26 record and being the first seed in the Eastern Conference, Indiana Pacers head coach Frank Vogel is apparently coaching to keep his job.

ESPN's Marc Stein reports that sources close to the Pacers believe that if Indiana underwhelms in the playoffs, Vogel will likely get the axe. That sounds pretty severe considering everything Vogel has done for the Pacers during his tenure, but there's been a clear drop off by Indiana that's lasted since February.

Clearly, it's not just Indiana coming back to Earth. They're a really great team filled with superstars, but team chemistry must be on the same page. Otherwise, it doesn't matter who is on the team. This is why many teams that are filled with nothing but superstars end up disappointing -- it's incredibly hard to get those egos together.

Team chemistry is completely collapsing with the Pacers, and a lot of it reportedly is from Lance Stephenson beginning in late March. Yahoo! Sports reported on a fight between Stephenson and Evan Turner during practice right before their first game against the Atlanta Hawks. Stephenson had a scuffle with George Hill on March 31st, and Roy Hibbert calling out "some selfish dudes" was likely referring to Stephenson.

Perhaps Stephenson has big head on his shoulders after becoming one of the most improved players in the NBA this season. The problem for Vogel is that he can't pin it on Stephenson. In fact, president Larry Bird is on Stephenson's side and criticized Vogel in March for his disappointment in how the team is prepared.

It's truly unfortunate for Vogel. Since taking over during the 2010-11 season, the Pacers haven't missed the playoffs, haven't finished lower than second in the Central division, and the team is 167-97 in the regular season. Despite just an 18-17 playoff record, they've improved every season and were looking to finally break through into The Finals this year.

There's still time to get that done, but Miami is the clear favorite right now in the East. And perhaps Frank won't get another chance if he doesn't even make it to the Heat.


Top Five Stories that Matter to Me

1. NHL: Los Angeles drops to 0-3 hole against San Jose. There's nothing more pivotal than a Game 3 when a team holds a 2-0 lead. Now the Kings will have to win four straight games
2. NFL: The regular season schedule is officially released tonight. This is the only sport that devotes a 3-hour show for a freaking schedule. Yet it will probably score higher ratings than every baseball game, all the NHL games, and even the Spurs-Mavs game on NBATV.
3. WWE: "Stone Cold" Steve Austin gives vulgar rant about gay marriage. He focuses on religion, and it really "chaps [his] ass." But hey, he gets the point across.
4. NFL: LaMarr Woodley believes the Oakland Raiders will make the postseason. For those that don't know who Woodley is (that's a lot of you) the linebacker spent his first seven seasons with the Pittsburgh Steelers. It good to have goals, no matter how unrealistic they are.
5. NBA: Aubrey Drake Graham uses a lint roller during the Nets-Raptors game. Real Instagram comment: "habibiz lint roller on deck"

Yesterday's Favorites

MLB: Rockies 2, Giants 1

The hits finally came for San Francisco, but they were unable to bring in the runs scoring just once on a solo home run by Hunter Pence. They were able to get baserunners against Colorado starting pitcher Franklin Morales, but all nine runners in scoring position were stranded. Madison Bumgarner gave up nine hits but recorded six strikeouts in a complete effort that went eight innings.

NCAA Baseball: Texas 5, UT-Pan American 4

It was a bit closer than the Longhorns wanted it, but they finally break a 3-game losing streak after getting bulldozed by TCU over the weekend. Mark Payton hit a go-ahead RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to give Texas their first lead of the night and they held on to finish off UTPA in the ninth. Ben Johnson hit a solo home run in the sixth inning to tie the game up.


Stanley Cup Playoffs

• Canadiens 4, Lightning 3 (MON 4-0)
• Bruins 3, Red Wings 0 (BOS 2-1)
• Rangers 4, Flyers 1 (NYR 2-1)
• Sharks 4, Kings 3 (F/OT) (SJ 3-0)

After coming back in the 3rd period down two goals, Montreal smacked in the game winner with under one minute left.

Boston is also starting to flex their muscles. After getting zero goals in the first game, they've outscored Detroit 7-1 in the last two games with seven different players.

NBA Playoffs

• Pacers 101, Hawks 85 (Tied 1-1)
• Raptors 100, Nets 95 (Tied 1-1)
• Wizards 101, Bulls 99 (F/OT) (WSH 2-0)

Great night in The Association. The Pacers pulled away in the 3rd quarter outscoring the Hawks 31-13. Toronto outrebounded Brooklyn 52-30 to overcome shooting just 12.5 percent from downtown and turning the ball over 10 more times to even the series. Chicago loses another heartbreaker at home and will have to find answers in Washington.

Today's Slate

UEFA CHAMPIONS LEAGUE - SEMIFINALS
Bayern Munich at Real Madrid (Leg 1) - 1:45 FS1

STANLEY CUP PLAYOFFS - ROUND 1
Penguins at Blue Jackets (PIT 2-1) - 6:00 NBCS
Ducks at Stars (ANA 2-1) - 7:00 CNBC
Blues at Blackhawks (STL 2-1) - 8:30 NBCS

NBA PLAYOFFS - ROUND 1
Bobcats at Heat (MIA 1-0) - 6:00 TNT
Mavericks at Spurs (SA 1-0) - 7:00 NBATV
Blazers at Rockets (POR 1-0) - 8:30 TNT

MLB (NL West)
D'backs at Cubs - 1:20 WGN
-Giants at Rockies - 2:10 CSBA/RSRM
Padres at Brewers - 7:10 FSSD/FSMW
Phillies at Dodgers - 9:10 CSPH/SNLA

LAX
-Villanova at Johns Hopkins - 6:00 ESPNU

CBB (Big 12)
Missouri State at Kansas - 6:00 ESPN3
Baylor at Texas State - 6:30 ESPN3