Author: Matt Zemek

Andy Enfield’s big offseason mistake at USC is becoming apparent

Andy Enfield made one big mistake USC is paying for right now.

The USC men’s basketball team is falling far short of its hopes and expectations. The Trojans already have three losses after being handled rather easily by Gonzaga on Saturday night in Las Vegas. We can all see what’s wrong: The Trojans aren’t stacking up free throw attempts. They are still taking and missing too many 3-pointers. It’s still hard for this team to score, and the defense is nowhere close to being good enough to compensate.

A talented backcourt is getting little help from the frontcourt. Opponents can focus on defending the USC guards because they don’t respect the bigs. The guards are trying to carry the team instead of improve the team. There’s a difference. The guards aren’t making the bigs better. USC’s offense isn’t functioning in ways which magnify and elevate everyone on the floor.

The pieces are not fitting for Andy Enfield, which brings us to the big mistake he made in the offseason.

Enfield knew, at the end of last season, that Vince Iwuchukwu was going to have a medical procedure on his back that would prevent him from having a full offseason of practice and conditioning work. We didn’t know this, but Enfield did. We didn’t learn about Iwuchukwu’s medical procedure until late September, but behind the scenes it was known that the big man had to recuperate from his back problems before getting back onto the court.

Because of this knowledge, Enfield should have put two and two together. He should have made it an absolute priority to get a ready-to-play portal big man who could be solid at both ends of the floor. USC did not get a serviceable two-way big who could blend in with the roster. The best Enfield could do was bring in D.J. Rodman as a 3-and-D player as an undersized four.

Josh Morgan and Kijani Wright simply haven’t been good enough with Iwuchukwu trying to play catch-up and gain full strength. USC needed a much better piece in its frontcourt. Enfield, who — ironically — has been good at recruiting big men to USC, has been caught shorthanded in what has normally been an area of strength for him.

The Trojans are paying the price for this lack of portal reinforcement in the offseason.

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Expert picks for Cardinals vs. Steelers in Week 13

Everyone is picking the Steelers to win.

The Arizona Cardinals will face the Pittsburgh Steelers Sunday a 1 p.m. ET (11 a.m. Arizona time) at Acrisure Stadium in Pittsburgh. The Cardinals are road underdogs again.

They are coming off a blowout loss at home to the Los Angeles Rams, while the Steelers picked up a 16-10 win over the Cincinnati Bengals, gaining more than 400 yards of offense since 2021.

Who will win this game?

All the experts are picking the Steelers.

Below are the picks from Cards Wire, Steelers Wire, my cohost on the podcast and NFL Network’s panel of experts.

Listen to the latest from Cards Wire’s Jess Root on his podcast, Rise Up, See Red. Subscribe on Apple podcasts or Spotify.

 

Bobby Green brushes off brutal KO loss to Jalin Turner after UFC on ESPN 52: ‘I ain’t going nowhere’

Bobby Green was in good spirits after taking a brutal loss at the hands of Jalin Turner at UFC Austin.

[autotag]Bobby Green[/autotag] was in good spirits after he took a brutal loss at the hands of Jalin Turner at UFC on ESPN 52.

Green (31-15-1 MMA, 12-10-1 UFC) was dropped by Turner (14-7 MMA, 7-4 UFC) early in the first round of their lightweight co-headliner on Saturday at Moody Center in Austin, Texas. What followed was a prolonged series of ground shots while he was already badly hurt, which caused outrage across the MMA community toward referee Kerry Hatley, who eventually stepped in.

UFC CEO Dana White called the stoppage “one of the worst I’ve ever seen,” and Turner agreed it was probably a failure by the referee.

Green, however, directed no ire toward Hatley in his first statement after the loss. In fact, he praised Turner for his efforts.

“You win some, you lose some, I guess,” Green said on his Instagram Stories. “I just want to show people that you’ve got to keep it ‘G’ when you win, and you’ve got to keep it ‘G’ when you lose. Shout out to Jalin. You did your thing, brother. I’m so happy for you. It means the world that you stepped up on short notice and you’re having your success. So shout out
to you.”

At 37, Green came into UFC on ESPN 52 on a late career surge, having won his past two fights against Tony Ferguson and Grant Dawson. The loss to Turner was a difficult setback, but he made it clear this is by no means the end of him.

“Just another step in the thing – another step in the career,” Green said. “There’s ups. There’s downs. I’m going to keep it going. I ain’t going nowhere.”

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For more on the card, visit MMA Junkie’s event hub for UFC on ESPN 52.

How to watch and stream the Broncos’ game against the Texans

The Texans are set to host the Broncos in an AFC showdown with big playoff implications.

The Denver Broncos (6-5) are set to go on the road to face the Houston Texans (6-5) in Week 13 of the 2023 NFL season at NRG Stadium on Sunday, Dec. 3. This game could have big playoff implications in the AFC.

Kickoff for the in-conference matchup is scheduled for 11:00 a.m. MT. The Broncos-Texans showdown will be regionally televised on select CBS networks and in-market fans can stream the game on fuboTV (try it free).

Ian Eagle (play-by-play) and Charles Davis (analyst) will call the game for CBS with Evan Washburn reporting from the sideline.

On the radio, the game will be locally broadcast on KOA 850 AM/94.1 FM.

Fans in the red areas on the map below will get the Broncos-Texans game on their local CBS channel, according to 506sports.com.

(506sports.com)

The Broncos lead the all-time series against the Texans 6-3, including a 16-9 victory in the most recent meeting at home in 2022. Denver also won the most recent showdown in Houston, claiming a 38-24 victory on the road in 2019.

Depending on the results of other games across the league, the winner of the Broncos-Texans matchup could jump into a playoff spot in the AFC. Houston is considered a slight betting favorite at home this week.

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Jets expected to have Breece Hall, Dalvin Cook vs. Falcons

The Jets are expected to have running backs Breece Hall and Dalvin Cook Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

The Jets are expected to have running backs Breece Hall and Dalvin Cook Sunday against the Atlanta Falcons, per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport.

Both backs were listed as questionable — Hall with a hamstring; Cook with a shoulder — but both improved their practice status Friday — Cook went from limited to full; Cook from no practice to limited — suggesting a positive direction.

The Jets (4-7) face a Falcons defense that is allowing over 110 rushing yards per game, so having their top two backs will be key. Israel Abanikanda (illness) was also listed as questionable but did practice in a limited capacity Friday.

Pac-12 closes with highest-rated game in conference history with Oregon vs. Washington

Pac-12 closes with highest-rated game in conference history with Oregon vs. Washington

With numbers like these, it’s still a wonder why this conference couldn’t find a television deal in order to keep the lights on.

ABC announced Saturday morning that it drew an average of 9.2 million viewers for the Pac-12 championship game where Washington defeated Oregon 34-31. It was the largest rating for the game since its inception.

The rating is 47 percent more than last year’s game where Utah beat USC 47-24, a game that was televised by Fox. At its peak in the middle of the second half, 11.1 million viewers were tuning into the last-ever Pac-12 football contest.

Unfortunately, it really was the last Pac-12 game as the conference couldn’t get any network to buy into the league. Ironically, this might have been the Pac-12’s finest season with two playoff contenders, two Heisman contenders and it was perhaps the deepest league in the country, even better than the mighty SEC.

For a finale, the Ducks and Huskies put on a good show where the game went down to the wire.

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How to watch, stream, listen to Cardinals-Steelers in Week 13

All the information you need to watch, listen to or stream the Cardinals’ game in Week 13 against the Steelers.

The Arizona Cardinals have one final game before their bye week and it is in Week 13 against the Pittsburgh Steelers on the road. The Steelers are 7-4 and in the mix of the AFC playoff race.

The Cardinals, at 2-10, are trying to find positives with their season. They are 1-2 since Kyler Murray’s return.

They will face the Steelers without two top cornerbacks and without rookie receiver Michael Wilson.

They have not beaten the Steelers since 2007 and have not won in Pittsburgh since 1969.

Are you planning on watching or listening to the game?

Below is the information you need to do that.

HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour hits halfway

The eighth running of the Historic Sportscar Racing Classic Sebring 12 Hour, Pistons and Props, presented by the Alan Jay Automotive Network, hit the halfway mark early Saturday evening as darkness fell on Sebring International Raceway. Each of the …

The eighth running of the Historic Sportscar Racing Classic Sebring 12 Hour, Pistons and Props, presented by the Alan Jay Automotive Network, hit the halfway mark early Saturday evening as darkness fell on Sebring International Raceway.

Each of the four competing Run Groups have completed the first two of their four race segments that will be run over the course of Saturday and Sunday, and a mixed group of potential first time winners and previous HSR Classic 12 Hour champions has emerged as the race leaders at the halfway point.

In Group C, Pierce Marshall and Eric Foss carried the momentum of Friday’s B.R.M. Endurance Challenge overall race victory in the HSR Sebring Historics straight into the HSR Classic 12 in pursuit of their first “HSR Classics” overall win. With the first two segments in the books, Marshall and Foss have co-driven the Matador Motorsports 2017 No. 02 Cadillac DPi to a more than one minute overall lead in Group C. While the lead margin looks somewhat comfortable on paper, the Matador team is being kept honest by Stuart Wiltshire who crossed the line first in Group C race two in his No. 10 Acura ARX-05 DPi.

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Group B is emerging as a feel-good family affair with Kyle Collins leading at halfway in the GMT Racing 1972 No. 8 Chevron B21. Collins is driving the same Chevron raced to a 2020 Classic 12 Run Group victory by his grandfather John Delane, who this year has a radio on and is coaching his young protege from the pits.

Former Sebring and Daytona HSR Classics winner Toni Seiler is halfway home to another B.R.M. Chronographes watch as the mid-race leader in Run Group A. Seiler is driving the same 1969 No. 17 Lola T165 in which he scored a close second place Classic Daytona 24 Run Group finish last month.

Another entry in line for a first-time HSR Classics win is Patrick Womack who is co-driving his FedEx 2014 No. 11 Toyota Camry with NASCAR ace Joe Nemechek. Taking a page from last June’s Garage 56 NASCAR stock car effort at Le Mans, the Nemechek team has equipped the Camry with full headlights, taillights and brake lights in pursuit of a endurance race win in Run Group D. After the first two rounds, Womack and Nemechek led by nearly 30 seconds.

Sunday’s final day of competition at the HSR Classic 12 begins at noon Eastern when all four Run Groups will compete in their final rounds in succession to determine the winners of this year’s Sebring Classic.

Social media reacts to Texas winning the Big 12 Championship

The Texas Longhorns have won the Big 12 Championship, their fourth overall and first since 2009.

The Texas Longhorns emerged victorious as conference champions on Saturday for the first time since 2009. The team’s performance was nothing short of dominant, as they secured a 49-21 win over the Oklahoma State Cowboys.

Texas quarterback Quinn Ewers was absolutely dialed in. He not only achieved a career-best in passing yards but also surpassed the previous record of passing yards held by Sam Bradford. Steve Sarkisian also had an amazing game as far as playcalling, with Texas surpassing over 660 total yards.

The defense held the Big 12 Offensive Player of the Year, Ollie Gordon, to just 34 yards rushing and 2.6 yards per carry. The Longhorns also had two takeaways and stopped the Cowboys seven times on third down.

The Texas Longhorns now await the College Football Playoff committee’s decision on whether Texas is a top-four team and is deserving of a playoff spot.

Look: Bengals QB Joe Burrow attends latest UFC event

Joe Burrow at a UFC event with massive cast on his wrist.

Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow, known UFC-enjoyer, was at Saturday night’s event in Austin.

Burrow was near the Octagon for the night’s big fights, which included a main event of Arman Tsarukyan taking down Beneil Dariush via KO in the first round.

In some of the pictures making the rounds on social media, Burrow’s seen sporting a massive protective wrap on his wrist. And some cool shades, of course. He underwent surgery the previous Monday to repair torn ligaments, a season-ending injury that isn’t expected to have any long-term setbacks.

A look at a few of the pictures from the event:

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