HISTORY SAYS HOUSTON ASTROS WON’T REPEAT
CAN YANKEES TOP 100 WINS?
Pitchers and catchers this week reported to Major League Baseball training camps – a sure sign that spring is on the way.
The Houston Astros won the 2017 World Series and deserve to be tabbed as the team to beat. But history suggests it won’t be easy.
The last team to repeat as World Series champions was the New York Yankees in 1998-1999-2000. Time is confirming what a great team that was.
Twelve different teams have won the 17 World Series since, but there were no repeaters: Boston (3 times) and San Francisco (3 times), St. Louis (2 times) and nine one-time champions (Arizona, Anaheim, Florida, Chicago White Sox, Philadelphia, New York Yankees, Kansas City, Chicago Cubs and Houston).
A surprising number of quality free agents have yet to sign but that hasn’t stopped Nevada legal sports book from posting odds and accepting wagers on over/under win numbers for each team.
Here are the over/under win numbers from CG Technology and a few reactions from me:
Houston 96.5 – A terrific team in nearly every way. Will be very tough to beat. I won’t be surprised if the Astros win at least 100 games but multi-tier playoffs make it much more difficult to go all the way.
LA Dodgers 95.5 – Several Dodgers had best-of-career seasons last year. I’d go “under”.
Chicago Cubs 93.5 – The 2016 world champions Played like fat cats too often last season. Probably learned a lesson. “Over”.
Cleveland 93.5
NY Yankees 93.5 – “Over” with 100-win potential. Aaron Boone is a lucky man. Not many first-year managers have had a top-to-bottom roster this talented.
Boston 91.5 – Don’t the Red Sox have to sign free-agent slugger J.D. Martinez? The Green Monster was made for him (well, not actually).
Washington 91.5 – Figure to dominate the NL East and go “over”.
Arizona 86.5
LA Angels 84.5 – Should be an easy “over”.
St. Louis 84.5 – “Under”. Not your typical Cardinals.
Colorado 82.5
Minnesota 82.5 – Impressive young lineup but poor pitching = “under”.
Milwaukee 81.5
San Francisco 81.5 – I expect the additions of Andrew McCutchen and Evan Longoria to spark a bounce-back “over” season.
Seattle 81.5 – I’m tired of being disappointed with this underachieving team. “Under”.
Toronto 81.5
NY Mets 80.5 – The offense probably is underrated and the pitching probably is overrated.
Texas 78.5
Baltimore 77.5 – A team on the decline. “Under”.
Kansas City 76.5 – Ditto.
Pittsburgh 76.5
Tampa Bay 76.5
Oakland 74.5
Philadelphia 74.5 – On the upgrade. A lukewarm “over”.
Atlanta 73.5
Cincinnati 71.5
San Diego 69.5
Chicago White Sox 68.5 – Should go slightly “over”.
Detroit 68.5
Miami 64.5 – Put me in the “does Derek Jeter have a clue?” camp. The Marlins look like a cinch for 100-plus losses. “Under”.
FRANK HOWARD IS A VERY GOOD PLAYER FOR SU...BUT HE IS NOT A POINT GUARD
Syracuse U. lost a big game to visiting North Carolina State Wednesday night, 74-70, and as expected, the Wolfpack’s depth and clutch shooting from the outside were contributing factors.
Barring a hoops miracle – like back-to-back upset victories next week over North Carolina and Duke – the Orange won’t be making the NCAA tournament.
But next season figures to be a blast. SU should be loaded -- and deep.
Lack of depth is the main reason SU is one of the slowest-paced teams in the nation this season. Coach Jim Boeheim had no choice. The tedious, plodding style of play is not always player- or fan-friendly.
SU has three of the top nine players in minutes per game in NCAA Division I this season: 1st-Tyus Battle 38.4...5th-Frank Howard 38.0...9th-Oshae Brissett 37.5.
But next season’s team figures to be at least 10 quality players deep. The Orange will be run-and-gun-and-let’s-have-some-fun for players and the fans.
Among the things I’d like to see – shift Frank Howard to shooting guard.
Howard is a vastly improved player this season but he has played point guard virtually every minute of every game out of necessity. Coach Jim Boeheim had no options at the position – particularly after seldom-used sub Howard Washington suffered a season-ending knee injury.
Howard is a terrific offensive player. He has good size (6-foot-5 ½) and strength. He can shoot outside and he can drive to the basket. But he is not a great dibbler or playmaker. He has been the point guard all season because teammate and NBA prospect Tyus Battle is the shooting guard.
SU will have a talented frosh class next season, including highly-regarded point guard Jalen Casey, who has the talent to start immediately. The two other incoming potential stars are multi-talented forward Darius Bazley and deadeye outside shooter Buddy Boeheim.
Assuming Battle opts for this spring’s NBA draft, and my hunch is that he will, Howard would likely start at shooting guard and have a solid senior season for an up-tempo, run-and-gun-let’s have-some-fun NCAA Tournament-caliber team.
K-HAWKS HOST NATIONAL LACROSSE LEAGUE-BEST SASKATCHEWAN
The Rochester Knighthawks face a tough challenge when they host the National Lacrosse League-leading Saskatchewan Rush Saturday, 7:30 p.m., at Blue Cross Arena at the War Memorial.
The Rush are 6-0 on the road and 8-1 overall. They’ve outscored opponents 139-97 (+42) and lead the nine-team NLL in scoring (15.44 goals per game). The Knighthawks rank fourth in scoring (12.78).
Rochester is 3-6 coming off a timely 17-10 victory last Sunday at the Georgia Swarm. The Knighthawks have outscored opponents 115-106 (+9).
Special teams figures to be a major factor in this game. Saskatchewan has the NLL’s best power play (69.2 percent; 27-for-39; Robert Church, Mark Matthews and Ben McIntosh are tough to stop) and Rochester is tops at penalty killing (62.2 percent; 23-for-37).
The Knighthawks are No. 2 on the power play (58.1 percent; 18-for-31) and the Rush are No. 3 in penalty killing (54.1 percent; 20-for-37).
One advantage for Rochester figures to be faceoffs. Rookie Jake Withers (Ohio State) leads the NLL in faceoff percentage (.667).
It will be Native American Night and the game will be carried live on CW Rochester (16).
Rochester ranks 6th in the NLL in average home attendance (6,613 for five openings).
TYUS BATTLE FINALIST FOR JERRY WEST AWARD...JAYLON ADAMS IS NOT
Syracuse U. guard Tyus Battle is among the 10 finalists for the Jerry West Award. It goes to the “best shooting guard” in major college basketball.
The three previous winners were D’Angelo Russell (Ohio State) in 2015, Buddy Hield (Oklahoma) in 2016 and Malik Monk in 2017.
Battle won’t win the award this year because his shooting stats rank in the lower half of the 10 finalists. He hasn’t been even the best-shooting guard college guard in New York State this season.
St. Bonaventure’s Jaylen Adams is not a finalist – but he probably deserves to be.
The Bonnies host 10th-ranked Rhode Island Friday (7 p.m., ESPN2). A victory by 2-point underdog St. Bonaventure (19-6 record including 9-4 in the Atlantic-10) over the Rams (21-3, 13-0 in the A-10) would be a big boost to the Bonnies’ NCAA Tournament hopes.
Here’s how Battle and Adams measure up this season:
Field-goal percentage – Battle .426 (170-for-413) in 26 games...Adams .475 (114-for-240) in 19 games.
3-Point field-goal percentage – Battle .323 (54-for-167)...Adams .508 (62-for-122), Adams in No. 2 in Division I, behind only Connor Burchfield (.523; 74-for-141) of William & Mary. Burchfield is not a Jerry West Award finalist.
Free-throw percentage – Battle .825 (118-for-143)...Adams .826 (100-for-121).
Scoring average – Battle 20.2 points per game...Adams 20.5 points per game.
The Jerry West winner will be announced April 6 during the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show.
SHORT SHOTS
Today is the 85th birthday of Buffalo Bills Wall of Famer Elbert “Golden Wheels” Dubenion. He was an original Bill in 1960 and had a spectacular 1964 AFL season: 42 catches for 1,139 yards (27.1 yards per catch) and 10 TDs.
The Rochester Amerks have cooled off after a hot start this season. The team is in a scoring slump”
Games 1 through 10 – 39 goals
Games 11 through 20 – 37 goals
Gamers 21 through 30 – 31 goals
Games 31 through 40 – 22 goals
Games 41 through 50 – 24 goals.
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...
Friday, February 16
Tommy Milone (31)...Ahman Green (41)...Eric Byrnes (42)...Jerome Bettis (46)...former Amerk Keith Gretzky (51)...John McEnroe (59)...Kelly Tripucka (59)...Herb Williams (60)...Lanny McDonald (65)...George Martin (65)...Terry Crowley (71)...Elbert “Golden Wheels” Dubenion (85)...former Rochester Royals guard Fran “Pep” Saul (94).
Saturday, February 17
Case Keenum (30)...Marcin Gortat (34)...Al Harrington (38)...Josh Willingham (39)...Frank Sanders (45)...Tommy Noe (48)...Levon Kirkland (49)...David Klingler (49)...Bryan Cox (50)...Luc Robitaille (52)...Buster Olney (54)...Michael Jordan (55)...Lindy Ruff (58)...Danny Ainge (59)...Neil Lomax (59)...former Red Wings 33-inning game pitcher Jim Umbarger (65)...Jim Brown (82). Paris Hilton (37), Denise Richards (47) and Larry the Cable Guy (55) are invited to the birthday party.
Sunday, February 18
Kentavious Caldwell-Pope (25)...Le’Veon Bell (26)...Didi Gregorious (28)...Andrei Kirilenko (37)...Alex Rios (37)...Brian Waters (41)...George Teague (47)...Alexander Mogilny (49)...Igor Lirionov (49)...Andy Moog (58)...Dwayne Woodruff (61)...Juli Rankin (73). Molly Ringwold (50), Dr. Dre (53), Matt Dillon (54), Vanna White (61), John Travolta (64) and Yoko Ono (85) are invited to the birthday party.