FIRST BIG VICTORY FOR “COACH HOP”
Mike Hopkins left mentor Jim Boeheim’s coaching staff at Syracuse after 22 seasons because he “wanted to build (his) own legacy.”
Hopkins had been Boeheim’s “heir apparent” since 2010 and “basketball coach-designate” since 2015, but there was no timetable for Boeheim to retire. Perhaps the 48-year-old Hopkins figured that he might retire before the 73-year-old Boeheim.
Hopkins is 7-2 in his first season as coach at Washington after his Huskies shocked second-ranked Kansas 74-65 Wednesday night in Kansas City, Mo.
Hopkins watched Kansas beat Syracuse 76-60 in Miami December 2 and decided to use a stretch version of Boeheim’s signature 2-3 zone to make it tougher on the Jayhawks’ three-point shooters. It worked as the Jayhawks were only 5-of-20 from long range.
On March 15, 2017,
Washington fired 15-year coach Lorenzo Romar. His Huskies were 9-22 last season, including 2-16 in the PAC-12. Hopkins was hired four days later.
The Huskies start a four-game home stand Saturday against 12th-ranked Gonzaga. There should be an appreciative crowd on hand at Alaska Airlines Arena at Hec Edmundson Pavilion (Hec Ed to us). Hopkins will miss the huge crowds from his days at Syracuse. Hec Ed’s capacity is listed at 10,000 and home crowds for this season’s six home games ranged from 4,858 to 6,428.
NFL WEEK 14 “BEST BET”: CHIEFS OVER RAIDERS
The disappointing Kansas City Chiefs are 1-6 since starting this season 5-0. But they have a few things going for them in Sunday’s game against Oakland.
The Chiefs will be starting a three-game home stand and are due for a top effort for their loyal fans.
The Raiders won 31-30 at home earlier this season so the Chiefs own the revenge factor.
The Chiefs have to be happy they won’t be facing a team from New York state. They lost their last three games to the Giants, Bills and Jets by a total of 16 points.
This week’s “Best Bet”: KANSAS CITY (-4) 24, Oakland 15.
Sunday’s other games
(home teams in CAPS)
BUFFALO (-2) 27, Indianapolis 15 – The Bills aren’t much good but the Colts are worse. Buffalo is 15-4-1 against the point spread (ATS) at home in this series. I couldn’t find a betting line on this game anywhere, as if Tyrod Taylor/Nathan Peterman should be such a huge variable – so I made one up. Buffalo is at home and Peterman (I assume he’ll start) has to perform better than he did in his disastrous starting debut at the Los Angeles Chargers.
TAMPA BAY (-1) 24, Detroit 13 – Detroit QB Matthew Stafford’s throwing hand is a huge question mark. How effective will he be?
Dallas (-4 ½) 28, NEW YORK GIANTS 17 – The Cowpokes don’t need suspended Ezekiel Elliott to steamroll an awful rush defense.
CINCINNATI (-6 ½) 27, Chicago 14 – The Bengals have more playmakers and more to play for.
San Francisco (+2 ½) 22, HOUSTON 13 – Jimmy Garoppolo gives the 49ers a decisive edge at QB over Tom Savage.
Green Bay 24, CLEVELAND (+3) 15 – QB Brett Hundley is improving for the Packers and the Browns are closing in on 0-16.
Minnesota 23, CAROLINA (+2 ½) 17 – The Vikings bring their stingy defense every week and QB Case Keenum is bidding for his first Pro Bowl nod. Minnesota loves playing in December: 17-5 ATS in their last 22 games.
LOS ANGELES CHARGERS (-6) 30, Washington 20 – The confident Chargers are healthier and 6-2 since their 0-4 start this season.
New York Jets 24, DENVER (+1) 17 – These are two of the NFL’s surprise teams – the Jets for being good and the Broncos for being lousy.
Tennessee 20, ARIZONA (+3) 13 – The Titans are 6-1 in their last 7 games and have much more to play for.
Philadelphia 33, LOS ANGELES RAMS (-2) 24 – Look for the Eagles to bounce back from a disappointing 24-10 loss at Seattle.
JACKSONVILLE (-2 ½) 24, Seattle 17 – The banged-up Seahawks usually play better at home than on the road.
PITTSBURGH (-4 ½) 28, Baltimore 14 – The Steelers have a big advantage in firepower, are tough to beat at Heinz Field and are 7-1 outright and 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games on Sunday night.
Monday night
New England (-11) 24, Miami 10 – Patriots QB Tom Brady will miss suspended tight end Rob Gronkowski but he usually finds a way and his team is playing for home-field advantage throughout the AFC playoffs. The Dolphins are 0-8 ATS in their last eight games on Monday night.
CAN ARMY UPSET NAVY TWICE IN A ROW?
The annual Army-Navy game is Saturday, 3 p.m., in Philadelphia. The Midshipmen are favored by 3 points and I don’t know why.
Army had lost 14 straight in the series before3 a 21-17 victory last year. The Black Kmights hasn’t won consecutive games over Navy since taking five straight from 1992 through 1996.
Army is 8-3 and Navy is 6-5.
They’ve played three common opponents this season:
Air Force – Army won 21-0 on the road...Navy won 48-45 at home
Temple – Army won 31-26 (at) at home...Navy lost 34-26 on the road
Tulane – Army lost 21-17 on the road...Navy won 23-21 at home.
Army lost 38-7 at Ohio State. Navy lost 30-27 at Memphis and 24-17 at Notre Dame.
What to expect:
Lots of running and few passes...Army has 649 rushes (averaging 6.2 yards) and 60 passes (18-of-60 with 5 INTs) this season. Navy has 700 rushes and 99 pass attempts (with 10 INTs).
Few penalty flags – These teams always are disciplined. Army averages 4.45 penalties for 37.73 yards (eighth-fewest among 129 FBS teams). Navy averages 4.18 penalties (11th fewest) for 43.45 yards.
Top stars – The two almost-always run quarterbacks. Army’s Ahmad Bradshaw has 189 carries for 1,472 yards (7.8-yard average) and 11 TDs. He is 12-of-39 passing with 1 TD pass and 2 INTs. Navy’s Zack Abey has 278 runs for 1,322 yards (4.8-yard average) and 14 TDs. He is 30-of-70 passing with 7 TD passes and 7 INTs.
Bob’s guess: Navy, for a change, has the revenge factor in its favor. But it should be a tight game and my pick is Army with the generous 3-point spot. Navy 21, Army 20.
A FEW MORE REASONS WHY TOM BRADY IS SO SPECIAL
Here are the won-lost record of active NFL quarterbacks with at least 80 victories:
Tom Brady – 218 wins-63 losses (.776)...Home 124-23...Road 94-40
Ben Roethlisberger – 146-69 (.679)...80-66...66-43
Drew Brees – 145-109 (.573)...80-47...66-62
Eli Manning – 118-104 (.532)...59-49...59-55
Philip Rivers – 107-90 (.543)...61-37...46-53
Aaron Rodgers – 103-54 (.656)...60-16...43-38
Joe Flacco – 100-65 (.606)...59-18...41-47
Matt Ryan – 95-67...54-28...41-39
Carson Palmer – 93-91-1...54-38-1...39-53
Alex Smith – 87-66-1 (.568)...48-26-1...39-40-0.
Brady has the best (by far) total won-lost record, home record and (by very far) road record.
So is Brady great because he has played his entire NFL career with New England? Of has New England been dominant because it has Brady? Obviously, a lot of both.
HOW MUCH LONGER WILL THE AMERKS HAVE ULLMARK?
The Rochester Americans have many things going for them so far this season. Balanced scoring, Depth on the blue line. And – maybe most all – goaltender Linus Ullmark.
There is speculation in Buffalo that the struggling Sabres might trade a goalie soon – Robin Lehner or Chad Johnson – and promote Ullmark to the NHL, probably permanently.
The Amerks appear to be a playoff-caliber team, but they’re probably wouldn’t be a Calder Cup contender minus Ullmark.
TWINS SIGN TWO USEFUL PLAYERS FOR 2018 RED WINGS
The parent Minnesota Twins have added three veteran six-year minor-league free agents in the last week. At least two of them figure to play prominent roles for the 2018 Rochester Red Wings.
Third baseman Leonardo Reginatto, 27, had a solid 2016 for the Red Wings: 86 games; .303 batting average (84-of-277); 15 doubles; 3 HRs; 38 RBI. He finished fast last season and figures to be the team’s regular third baseman in 2018.
Left-handed hitting first baseman Brock Stassi, 28, comes over from the Philadelphia Phillies organization. He was the 2015 Eastern League Most Valuable Player at Reading: .300 (140-of-466), 32 doubles, 15 HRs, 90 RBI. Last season, at Lehigh Valley (International League), in 50 games, he hit .249 with 4 HRs and 22 RBI
Gregorio Petit, is a journeyman utility infielder who doesn’t hit much at any position. Last season with Buffalo (IL), he batted .253 with 4 HRs and 30 RBI in 73 games. In 20 games with the 2015 New York Yankees, he hit .167 (7-of-42) with 0 HRs and 5 RBI. If he starts for the 2018 Red Wings, it might not be a good thing.
SHORT SHOTS
Syracuse and Wisconsin have canceled their 2020 (at Wisconsin) and 2021 (at Syracuse) home-and-home football series. That’s probably a good things for the Orange.
Don’t be surprised if 27-year-old right-handed pitcher Tyler Chatwood wins at least 15 games for the 2018 Chicago Cubs. He was 8-15, 4.68 ERA last season for the Colorado Rockies, but pitched much better on the road (5-7, 3.49 ERA) than at Coors Field (3-8, 6.01 ERA). He was 12-9, 3.87 ERA with Colorado in 2016. The free agent signed a three-year deal worth $30 million with the Cubs. He was a prime target of several other teams this offseason.
The Rochester Knighthawks open the 2018 National Lacrosse League season against the Calgary Roughnecks Saturday, 7:30 p.m., at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial. It will be tougher to win a championship starting in 2019 when the nine-team league expands to 11 teams (San Diego Seals and Philadelphia Wings).
The Seattle Mariners probably don’t have enough pitching depth to win the AL West in 2018, but you have to like their lineup: CF Dee Gordon...SS Jean Segura...2B Robinson Cano...DH Nelson Cruz...3B Kyle Seager...1B Ryan Healy...LF Ben Gamel...C Mike Zunino...RF Mitch Haniger. They’re going to score some runs.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...
Friday, December 8
Amir Khan (31)...Enzo Amore (31)...Josh Donaldson (32)...Dwight Howard (32)...Philip Rivers (36)...Vernon Wells (39)...Ryan Newman (40)...Kevin Harvick (42)...Mike Mussina (49)...Jeff George (50)...Steve Elkington (55)...George Rogers (59)...Roy Firestone (64). Nicki Minaj (35) and Kim Basinger (64) are invited to the birthday party.
Saturday, December 9Kelly Oubre Jr. (22)...Eric Bledsoe (28)...Leon Hall (33)...Mardy Fish (36)...David Akers (43)...Petr Nedved (46)...Kurt Angle (49)...Juan Samuel (57)...Jim Haslett (62)...World B. Free (64)...Tom Kite (68)...Dick Butkus (75)...Deacon Jones (79). Donny Osmond (60), John Malkovich (64), Judi Dench (83) and Kirk Douglas (101) are invited to the birthday party.
Sunday, December 10
Dion Waiters (26)...Wil Myers (27)...Mat Latos (30)...Matt Forte (32)...D’Brickasahw Ferguson (34)...Bryant Stith (47)...Rob Blake (48)...Luis Polonia (53)...Mark Aguirre (58)...Doc Medich (69)...Darold Knowles (76). Bobby Flay (53) is invited to the birthday party.