By Greg Crawford---- COO of Kiyokawa Crawford Sports Management, on twitter @wchoops @kcsportsmgmt @crawssportsbiz
NBA Playoffs----I know I am pushing my good fortune here, after correctly picking 7 out 8 first round playoff series correctly, but here we go with the second round, much tougher choices. My lone first round mistake, taking Portland over Memphis.
Chicago wins in 6 game over Cleveland, Chicago is a very underrated team and without Kevin Love, the Cavs will be hurting.
Houston wins in 6 over the Clippers, two really good teams, but my pick on April 19th to win the NBA Championship right before the playoffs started was the Houston Rockets and sticking with it.
Atlanta over Washington in 7 games. Toughest series to pick, once again the reason they are here is that they are both really solid teams, well coached.
Golden State over Memphis in 7 games. Should go the distance, as Memphis is much better than most people think they are and will give Golden State a battle.
Max Deals----More than likely, with all the free agents up this year, there will not be that many max deals, especially with the new TV deal kicking in one year from now and the fact that there will more than likely be a lockout, perhaps a long one in 2017. So if Love and Aldridge do leave their respective teams, which there is a great chance of happening, they will probably opt for a two year deal with their new clubs.
Popovich---Resting all those players and cheating the fans of seeing stars often, did not work this year. The Spurs often looked sluggish and Popovich was out coached in the series with the Clippers, just like he was outcaoched two years past by Erik Spoelstra in the NBA Finals.
more of Gregory blogs--- http://crawfordsgolfdaily.blogspot.com (golf and sports biz combo)
Sunday, May 3, 2015
Sunday, April 19, 2015
Greg Crawford On Basketball, For April 19th, 2015
By Gregory Crawford--- on twitter @wchoops @kcsportsmgmt @crawssportsbiz
NBA Attendance---- The final attendance figures are in for the 2014-15 NBA regular season and it was a record setting year.
21,926,548 fans attended games during the regular season, which broke the previous all time high attendance mark of 21,841,488 set in the 2006-07 season. This year's attendance was up 2.4 percent from the 2013-14 season.
There were 700 sellouts in the regular season, breaking also the old high sellout mark, which was surprisingly set in the 1994-95 season when 626 games sold out.
Average attendance for all league games this year was 17,826, which is close to 94 percent of capacity. The Thunder, Rockets, Spurs, Clippers, Warriors, Heat, Knicks, Cavs, Mavericks and Bulls were the teams which sold out every game. The Bulls led the league in attendance with an average of 21,343 and the 76ers finished last in NBA attendance with an average of 13,940 fans attending each game. The biggest draw on the road this season were of course the Cavaliers, at 18,915.
Notre Dame----This week Notre Dame made history, when their women's basketball coaching position was the first women coacning job in the country to become endowed, thanks to a generous $5 million donation from Karen and Kevin Keyes. Karen played for Notre Dame, under present coach Muffet McGraw.
Earlier this year Notre Dame's athletic department encouraged donors and alumni to support endowments for all coaching positions at the school. For the record, the current tuition at Notre Dame is just over $45,000.
more of Gregory's blogs--- http://crawfordsgolfdaily.blogspot.com (golf and sports biz combo)
NBA Attendance---- The final attendance figures are in for the 2014-15 NBA regular season and it was a record setting year.
21,926,548 fans attended games during the regular season, which broke the previous all time high attendance mark of 21,841,488 set in the 2006-07 season. This year's attendance was up 2.4 percent from the 2013-14 season.
There were 700 sellouts in the regular season, breaking also the old high sellout mark, which was surprisingly set in the 1994-95 season when 626 games sold out.
Average attendance for all league games this year was 17,826, which is close to 94 percent of capacity. The Thunder, Rockets, Spurs, Clippers, Warriors, Heat, Knicks, Cavs, Mavericks and Bulls were the teams which sold out every game. The Bulls led the league in attendance with an average of 21,343 and the 76ers finished last in NBA attendance with an average of 13,940 fans attending each game. The biggest draw on the road this season were of course the Cavaliers, at 18,915.
Notre Dame----This week Notre Dame made history, when their women's basketball coaching position was the first women coacning job in the country to become endowed, thanks to a generous $5 million donation from Karen and Kevin Keyes. Karen played for Notre Dame, under present coach Muffet McGraw.
Earlier this year Notre Dame's athletic department encouraged donors and alumni to support endowments for all coaching positions at the school. For the record, the current tuition at Notre Dame is just over $45,000.
more of Gregory's blogs--- http://crawfordsgolfdaily.blogspot.com (golf and sports biz combo)
Saturday, April 18, 2015
Greg Crawford On Basketball, For April 18th, 2015
By Gregory Crawford--- on twitter @wchoops @crawssportsbiz @kcsportsmgmt
Crawford's NBA Power Rankings----- Before the great start of the playoffs, here is my final NBA power rankings for the 2014-15 season. We will be back next year with our now world famous power rankings and always keep in mind, we do things in 9s, out of the great respect for the game of golf.
9. Dallas
8. Chicago
7. San Antonio
6. Memphis
5. Houston
4. Clippers
3. Atlanta
2. Cleveland
1. Golden State
Crawford's NBA Playoff Predictions-----It will be an interesting playoffs this year in the NBA, with what in my mind, no clear favorite to win the title. When the season started, I predicted that Chicago would beat Portland in the NBA Finals. I was obviously wrong on that one, it is not going to happen. But not backing off, how about this, my finals prediction is that Houston will beat Cleveland in 7 games. Now it is your turn to make your choices. Here is my opening round picks, which also have a chance to be special.
Golden State beats New Orleand, in 5 games
Houston wins over Dallas, in 6 games
Clippers beat the Spurs in 6 games
Portland upsets Memphis in 6 games
Atlanta wins over Brooklyn in 5 games
Cleveland beats Boston in 5 games
Chicago wins over Milwaukee in 6 games
Washington upsets Toronto in 7 games
Kevin Love---- As I reported on Rip City Radio 620 earlier this week, with breaking news, there is pretty much zero chance that Kevin Love will return to Cleveland next year. Top to contenders for him to join in order, Boston, followed by the Lakers.
Note: We are back with Greg Crawford On Basketball, for hopefully a long time to come, as technical issues prevented us from posting the past couple of weeks. So follow us everyday but Monday, as we cover the great world of college basketball on all levels, the NBA, D-League and NBA Draft.
more of Gregory's blogs---- http://crawfordsgolfdaily.blogspot.com (golf and sports biz combo)
Crawford's NBA Power Rankings----- Before the great start of the playoffs, here is my final NBA power rankings for the 2014-15 season. We will be back next year with our now world famous power rankings and always keep in mind, we do things in 9s, out of the great respect for the game of golf.
9. Dallas
8. Chicago
7. San Antonio
6. Memphis
5. Houston
4. Clippers
3. Atlanta
2. Cleveland
1. Golden State
Crawford's NBA Playoff Predictions-----It will be an interesting playoffs this year in the NBA, with what in my mind, no clear favorite to win the title. When the season started, I predicted that Chicago would beat Portland in the NBA Finals. I was obviously wrong on that one, it is not going to happen. But not backing off, how about this, my finals prediction is that Houston will beat Cleveland in 7 games. Now it is your turn to make your choices. Here is my opening round picks, which also have a chance to be special.
Golden State beats New Orleand, in 5 games
Houston wins over Dallas, in 6 games
Clippers beat the Spurs in 6 games
Portland upsets Memphis in 6 games
Atlanta wins over Brooklyn in 5 games
Cleveland beats Boston in 5 games
Chicago wins over Milwaukee in 6 games
Washington upsets Toronto in 7 games
Kevin Love---- As I reported on Rip City Radio 620 earlier this week, with breaking news, there is pretty much zero chance that Kevin Love will return to Cleveland next year. Top to contenders for him to join in order, Boston, followed by the Lakers.
Note: We are back with Greg Crawford On Basketball, for hopefully a long time to come, as technical issues prevented us from posting the past couple of weeks. So follow us everyday but Monday, as we cover the great world of college basketball on all levels, the NBA, D-League and NBA Draft.
more of Gregory's blogs---- http://crawfordsgolfdaily.blogspot.com (golf and sports biz combo)
Sunday, March 29, 2015
Greg Crawford On Basketball, For March 29th, 2015
By Gregory Crawford--- Radio, TV and Print Basketball Analyst---- on twitter @wchoops @kcsportsmgmt @crawssportsbiz
Hot Topics-----Time for a few hot topics in the world of basketball.
Calipari----If Kentucky wins the national championship, there is lots of talk that John Calipari will head back to the pros. The last time he was not successful, but what is interesting is this time he seems to be interested in going and is not denying his interest. There will be plenty of places for him to go, my take is he would be a great fit with the Denver Nuggets. I think that he is for sure a much better basketball coach than he was the last time around in the NBA. What do you think?
Notre Dame----One of the sad things each year is that often the second best team in the NCAA tournament, never gets a chance to prove it. Notre Dame is in no way a 3 seed and they proved it during the year and in the tournament. Not even because they played great and easily could have beaten Kentucky with a break, but Notre Dame is gone and they probably are the second best team in the country at present. What do you think?
Texas---- Texas AD, Steve Patterson has a tough choice in selecting a replacement for Rick Barnes as the new men's basketball coach at Texas. The early choices are always the same, Gregg Marshall and Shaka Smart, who are always on everyone's short list. Keep in mind however that Patterson is an NBA guy of many years and he might very well look to the NBA for his next choice. It would never happen, but I have always thought it would be great to see Erik Spoelstra coaching in college. He would be an awesome recruiter for sure and we already know how good he is at Xs and Os. What do you think?
Announcing---- There is no question in my mind that this team should be advancing. The announcing team of Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller and Dan Bonner were without question the best announcing team in the NCAA tournament. Kind of shame they will not be doing the championship game, instead of who will, Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery and Grant Hill. What do you think?
Sunday Scores---Here we go with score predictions for Sunday, did not have a good Saturday going 1-1, which does not cut it these days.
Michigan State 68 Louisville 67
Duke 90 Gonzaga 80
more of Gregory's blogs---- http://crawfordsgolfdaily.blogspot.com (golf and sports biz combo)
Hot Topics-----Time for a few hot topics in the world of basketball.
Calipari----If Kentucky wins the national championship, there is lots of talk that John Calipari will head back to the pros. The last time he was not successful, but what is interesting is this time he seems to be interested in going and is not denying his interest. There will be plenty of places for him to go, my take is he would be a great fit with the Denver Nuggets. I think that he is for sure a much better basketball coach than he was the last time around in the NBA. What do you think?
Notre Dame----One of the sad things each year is that often the second best team in the NCAA tournament, never gets a chance to prove it. Notre Dame is in no way a 3 seed and they proved it during the year and in the tournament. Not even because they played great and easily could have beaten Kentucky with a break, but Notre Dame is gone and they probably are the second best team in the country at present. What do you think?
Texas---- Texas AD, Steve Patterson has a tough choice in selecting a replacement for Rick Barnes as the new men's basketball coach at Texas. The early choices are always the same, Gregg Marshall and Shaka Smart, who are always on everyone's short list. Keep in mind however that Patterson is an NBA guy of many years and he might very well look to the NBA for his next choice. It would never happen, but I have always thought it would be great to see Erik Spoelstra coaching in college. He would be an awesome recruiter for sure and we already know how good he is at Xs and Os. What do you think?
Announcing---- There is no question in my mind that this team should be advancing. The announcing team of Kevin Harlan, Reggie Miller and Dan Bonner were without question the best announcing team in the NCAA tournament. Kind of shame they will not be doing the championship game, instead of who will, Jim Nantz, Bill Raftery and Grant Hill. What do you think?
Sunday Scores---Here we go with score predictions for Sunday, did not have a good Saturday going 1-1, which does not cut it these days.
Michigan State 68 Louisville 67
Duke 90 Gonzaga 80
more of Gregory's blogs---- http://crawfordsgolfdaily.blogspot.com (golf and sports biz combo)
Saturday, March 28, 2015
Greg Crawford On Basketball, For March 28th, 2015
By Gregory Crawford--- Print, Radio and TV Basketball Analyst--- on twitter @wchoops @crawssportsbiz @kcsportsmgmt
Crawford's NBA power rankings---It is Saturday, so once again time for the most recent edition of Crawford's NBA power rankings. Per usual, we do everything in 9s, out of respect for the great game of golf.
9. Memphis
8. San Antonio
7. Chicago
6. Portland
5. Houston
4. Atlanta
3. Clippers
2. Cleveland
1. Golden State
Northern Arizona---- Congrats to Northern Arizona on winning their 22 game of the season last night, as they advance in the CIT tournament.
It has been a great year for the Lumberjacks, as well as it was a great year for the Big Sky Conferecne of which they are a member. You had to think NAU was pretty good this year, when in December they went into St. Mary's and beat the Gaels on their home floor.
Hot Rod Hundley---- As someone who has followed the NBA closely for 6 decades, it is always sad to hear of the passing of one of the league's greatest broadcasters of all time.
Hot Rod Hundley was not only a good player in the NBA in the early 60s, but he was an even better broadcaster on TV and Radio.
His most famous time came with the New Orleans and Utah Jazz, where he broadcasted at a high level from 1974-2009, calling 3,051 games.
A very funny guy and wonderful to listen too as well. Thank you for great memories, Hot Rod Hundley.
Scores----Ok, here we go with my NCAA tournament predictions for today.
Arizona 66 Wisconsin 65
Kentucky 68 Notre Dame 53
more of Gregory's blogs--- http://crawfordsgolfdaily.blogspot.com (golf and sports biz combo)
Crawford's NBA power rankings---It is Saturday, so once again time for the most recent edition of Crawford's NBA power rankings. Per usual, we do everything in 9s, out of respect for the great game of golf.
9. Memphis
8. San Antonio
7. Chicago
6. Portland
5. Houston
4. Atlanta
3. Clippers
2. Cleveland
1. Golden State
Northern Arizona---- Congrats to Northern Arizona on winning their 22 game of the season last night, as they advance in the CIT tournament.
It has been a great year for the Lumberjacks, as well as it was a great year for the Big Sky Conferecne of which they are a member. You had to think NAU was pretty good this year, when in December they went into St. Mary's and beat the Gaels on their home floor.
Hot Rod Hundley---- As someone who has followed the NBA closely for 6 decades, it is always sad to hear of the passing of one of the league's greatest broadcasters of all time.
Hot Rod Hundley was not only a good player in the NBA in the early 60s, but he was an even better broadcaster on TV and Radio.
His most famous time came with the New Orleans and Utah Jazz, where he broadcasted at a high level from 1974-2009, calling 3,051 games.
A very funny guy and wonderful to listen too as well. Thank you for great memories, Hot Rod Hundley.
Scores----Ok, here we go with my NCAA tournament predictions for today.
Arizona 66 Wisconsin 65
Kentucky 68 Notre Dame 53
more of Gregory's blogs--- http://crawfordsgolfdaily.blogspot.com (golf and sports biz combo)
Thursday, March 26, 2015
Greg Crawford On Basketball, For March 26th, 2015
By Gregory Crawford--- on twitter @wchoops @crawssportsbiz @kcsportsmgmt
Coaching Changes--- Always a hot topic this time of year, who is going to get jobs in coaching that are open and who has already been hired.
Nevada---- The Wolf Pack have hired Eric Musselman, who was an associate coach at LSU, after being on the staff of Herb Sendek at Arizona State the previous two seasons.
Musselman's head coaching experience has been strictly in the pros, where he had success in the D-League, but no success in the NBA.
A puzzling hire here, with so many more talented coaches available, but only time will tell.
San Diego----It was really surprising that San Diego of the WCC let Billy Grier go after nine seasons. The job now is wide open, to me it is a great job, in a city that can be really crazy about basketball, especially if you win. The WCC also is such a good league. I might suggest the Toreros take a hard look at Jim Hayford at Eastern Washington, a total winner, who can take a program to a higher level in a hurry.
Arizona State--- The powers that be at Arizona State want their team in the NCAA tournament every year, lofty, but probably not possible. That was the major reason, Herb Sendek was let go. The job has been offered to Duke assistant Jeff Capel.
Not sure if that would be a choice I would make, but time will tell for sure.
Besides Hayford, another person these teams should look at to run their orogram is Bob Cantu, who did an outstanding job at USC, both as a head coach and lon time assistant and is one of the best recruiters in all of college basketball.
Coaching Changes--- Always a hot topic this time of year, who is going to get jobs in coaching that are open and who has already been hired.
Nevada---- The Wolf Pack have hired Eric Musselman, who was an associate coach at LSU, after being on the staff of Herb Sendek at Arizona State the previous two seasons.
Musselman's head coaching experience has been strictly in the pros, where he had success in the D-League, but no success in the NBA.
A puzzling hire here, with so many more talented coaches available, but only time will tell.
San Diego----It was really surprising that San Diego of the WCC let Billy Grier go after nine seasons. The job now is wide open, to me it is a great job, in a city that can be really crazy about basketball, especially if you win. The WCC also is such a good league. I might suggest the Toreros take a hard look at Jim Hayford at Eastern Washington, a total winner, who can take a program to a higher level in a hurry.
Arizona State--- The powers that be at Arizona State want their team in the NCAA tournament every year, lofty, but probably not possible. That was the major reason, Herb Sendek was let go. The job has been offered to Duke assistant Jeff Capel.
Not sure if that would be a choice I would make, but time will tell for sure.
Besides Hayford, another person these teams should look at to run their orogram is Bob Cantu, who did an outstanding job at USC, both as a head coach and lon time assistant and is one of the best recruiters in all of college basketball.
Sunday, March 22, 2015
Greg Crawford On Basketball, For March 22nd, 2014
By Gregory Crawford---TV, Radio and Print Basketball Analysis --- on twitter @wchoops @crawssportsbiz @kcsportsmgmt
Pac-12---- Going into Oregon's game tonight with Wisconsin, the Pac-12 is 7-0 so far in the NCAA tournament. Remarkable, considering it was down year for the league, with not that many good teams and some horrible games during the season.
Anything can happen once tournament time comes and it has for the Pac-12. Not only was it a poor basketball regular season for the Pac-12, but for the third year a row attendance declined overall. Oregon which has a great coach, an exciting up-tempo team, had their attendance dip nearly a 1,000 per game from the 2013-14 season, with an average this year of just over 6,200.
Portland, Oregon----Portland has a hosted an opening round weekend now for the third time in six years. This year attendance was down from 2012, surprising considering in the field were Arizona, Ohio State and Utah all who travel well and have for years. The field also included Eastern Washington, a five hour car trip to Portland from their home of Cheney, Washington.
Many in Portland are clamoring for a regional the next time around, but to have the 2nd and 3rd round games is not all that bad, as you get 8 teams as compared to 4 and two more games.
All indications from the powers that be are that Portland will continue to be in the rotation for NCAA tournament games and might very well be hosting a regional in 2019.
TV----Overall so far in the NCAA tournament, attendance is down slightly going into the round of Sunday games.
No one seems to mention it, but with actual TVs becoming so much more high tech, it gets easier and easier to stay home. Of course, nothing beats being at a sporting event live, but as the United States population ages and more people are living much longer, TV has become a great option.
Evidence of this is the record ratings which came in Thursday from the tournament games, overall up 16 percent from last year and the 9:00-1:30 PDT time frame being up 24 percent from 2014 and the highest number of viewers in 25 years.
NBA Attendance----Always interesting to follow the NBA attendance figures. The largest arena in the league is in Chicago, seating 21, 244. The Bulls have sold out every game this year, as have Cleveland, Dallas, Knicks, Miami, Warriors, Clippers, San Antonio, Houston and Oklahoma City.
No NBA team has played to full capacity this year on the road, as expected the Cavaliers being the highest percentage of 99 percent of capacity.
At home, the Detroit Pistons have the lowest percentage, playing before 68.7 capacity this year. Really surprising, as these teams are having great seasons, but do not even come close to capacity at home are Washington (89 percent), Atlanta (91 percent) and Memphis (95 percent).
The question once again begs with Atlanta being for sale, having a great year on the court and playing to less than capacity, does the team deserve to stay in Atlanta?
more of Gregory's blogs--- http://crawfordsgolfdaily.blogspot.com
Pac-12---- Going into Oregon's game tonight with Wisconsin, the Pac-12 is 7-0 so far in the NCAA tournament. Remarkable, considering it was down year for the league, with not that many good teams and some horrible games during the season.
Anything can happen once tournament time comes and it has for the Pac-12. Not only was it a poor basketball regular season for the Pac-12, but for the third year a row attendance declined overall. Oregon which has a great coach, an exciting up-tempo team, had their attendance dip nearly a 1,000 per game from the 2013-14 season, with an average this year of just over 6,200.
Portland, Oregon----Portland has a hosted an opening round weekend now for the third time in six years. This year attendance was down from 2012, surprising considering in the field were Arizona, Ohio State and Utah all who travel well and have for years. The field also included Eastern Washington, a five hour car trip to Portland from their home of Cheney, Washington.
Many in Portland are clamoring for a regional the next time around, but to have the 2nd and 3rd round games is not all that bad, as you get 8 teams as compared to 4 and two more games.
All indications from the powers that be are that Portland will continue to be in the rotation for NCAA tournament games and might very well be hosting a regional in 2019.
TV----Overall so far in the NCAA tournament, attendance is down slightly going into the round of Sunday games.
No one seems to mention it, but with actual TVs becoming so much more high tech, it gets easier and easier to stay home. Of course, nothing beats being at a sporting event live, but as the United States population ages and more people are living much longer, TV has become a great option.
Evidence of this is the record ratings which came in Thursday from the tournament games, overall up 16 percent from last year and the 9:00-1:30 PDT time frame being up 24 percent from 2014 and the highest number of viewers in 25 years.
NBA Attendance----Always interesting to follow the NBA attendance figures. The largest arena in the league is in Chicago, seating 21, 244. The Bulls have sold out every game this year, as have Cleveland, Dallas, Knicks, Miami, Warriors, Clippers, San Antonio, Houston and Oklahoma City.
No NBA team has played to full capacity this year on the road, as expected the Cavaliers being the highest percentage of 99 percent of capacity.
At home, the Detroit Pistons have the lowest percentage, playing before 68.7 capacity this year. Really surprising, as these teams are having great seasons, but do not even come close to capacity at home are Washington (89 percent), Atlanta (91 percent) and Memphis (95 percent).
The question once again begs with Atlanta being for sale, having a great year on the court and playing to less than capacity, does the team deserve to stay in Atlanta?
more of Gregory's blogs--- http://crawfordsgolfdaily.blogspot.com
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