Tag: Madison Square Garden

Pat Connaughton NBA Tracker: Dec. 6-12

Pat had a decent week.

Pat Connaughton has cooled off a bit from the hot streak he was on not long ago. However, the Milwaukee Bucks have taken over the lead in the Central Division, and they’re threatening to take the top spot in the Eastern Conference. All the while, Connaughton remains a key contributor in the rotation.

Connaughton’s week began with 12 points, including three 3-pointers, in a Dec. 6 home game against the Cleveland Cavaliers. In the opening of a road trip that will continue this week, he had only six points, his lowest scoring output in a month, against the Miami Heat on Dec. 8. Things got better in a Dec. 10 meeting with the Houston Rockets as he scored 16 points, including four 3-pointers, to go with six rebounds, three steals and a season-high two blocks. He wrapped up the week with 10 points when the Bucks met the New York Knicks on Dec. 12 at Madison Square Garden.

For the week, Connaughton averaged 11.0 points, 3.3 rebounds and 1.5 steals a game while shooting 53.6 percent from the field. Oh, and he found time to be among the many tweeting about Notre Dame’s win over Kentucky.

Watch: Pat Connaughton’s huge night at the Garden

Planet Pat becomes the latest guest to take over “The Garden”

Like Jim Phillips and Northwestern football deserve credit for their marketing campaign declaring the Wildcats to be “Chicago’s Big Ten Team” the same credit needs to go the way of whoever started marketing New York’s Madison Square Garden as “The World’s Most Famous Arena”.

We’re approaching 50 years since the New York Knicks have won an NBA title and almost 30 since the Rangers won a Stanley Cup. It might be a famous arena, but it’s only so famous because it’s importance is significantly overblown, just like almost everything based in New York.  When something special is accomplished there it seemingly comes from a guest of the building roughly 90% of the time (very scientific research backed this statistic up, I promise).

  • Billy Joel and Elton John both have banners in the rafters honoring the times both have sold out the Garden.
  • Marilyn Monroe’s infamously sang “Happy Birthday, Mr. President” to Jack Kennedy there in 1962.
  • Michael Jordan officially announced his return to the NBA with his double-nickel game (55 points) in 1995.
  • Reggie Miller owned this building despite only ever playing for the Indiana Pacers.
  • LeBron James put up 52 points while earning a triple-double in a game there in 2009.

Those are just some of the guests who have put on shows at the Garden.

Wednesday night’s performance by former Notre Dame star and current Milwaukee Buck, Pat Connaughton, might not be remembered for as long or by nearly as many people, but was another instance of a guest taking over the Garden.

Connaughton scored 23 points, one shy of his career high, with seven three-pointers as the Bucks survived a Knicks comeback to win 112-100 and move back to .500 on the young season.

Three of Connaughton’s seven three-pointers came in succession, taking the Bucks from a one to a 10 point lead.  Watch them below:

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Notre Dame quarterback has a message for Dick Vitale

Pat Connaughton NBA tracker for first week of November

 

The packed Madison Square Garden crowd was so fired up to be at a Knicks playoff game

Knicks fans were ready.

In addition to the tragic loss of life, the global coronavirus pandemic of the past 16 months has taken away so much from daily life. Sunday was a major step towards normalcy in the sports world.

Thanks to the continued vaccine rollout and dropping number of COVID cases, Sunday’s Game 1 of the NBA playoffs between the Atlanta Hawks and New York Knicks was played in front of 15,000 fans — nearly all vaccinated — at Madison Square Garden. Ten of the 16 playoff teams in all are allowing 10,000-plus fans into arenas.

The Knicks hadn’t reached the playoffs since 2013. And when you add that to a year of watching sports in empty stadiums with piped-in noise, it was incredible to see the fired-up crowd at the Garden.

It’s great to have that atmosphere back.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=76sOqayzJ3A&feature=share

Noie: Notre Dame likely to play Kentucky at home for 2021-22 season

During the past season, Notre Dame and Kentucky played each other the first of three consecutive years.

During the past season, Notre Dame and Kentucky played each other the first of three consecutive years. The Irish barely hung to win after dominating most of the game. It’s possible that this game being played on the road had something to do with it. Regardless, that might not be a problem for the upcoming season because Tom Noie of the South Bend Tribune is reporting that the next game appears headed for Purcell Pavilion:

While it would be nice to have two teams with great expectations play at Madison Square Garden this year, maybe it’s better to end the current series on the big stage. Of course, there’s no telling how good either team actually will be this coming season, let alone the next one. That’s just a gamble they’ll have to take.

The Irish trail the all-time series with the Wildcats, 43-20. These programs last played in South Bend as part of the Big East/SEC Challenge on November 29, 2012. The Irish won that game, 64-50, behind 16 points from Eric Atkins, 13 points from Jerian Grant and a double-double of 13 points and 11 rebounds from Jack Cooley.

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Pat Connaughton NBA Tracker: Dec. 23-27

Pat Connaughton started the first week of his sixth NBA season fine, but he didn’t end it how he would have liked.

Pat Connaughton started the first week of his sixth NBA season fine, but he didn’t end it how he would have liked. In 23 minutes of the Milwaukee Bucks’ first game, a heartbreaking loss to the Boston Celtics, he shot 2 of 3 from 3-point range to give him his only six points of the game and his scoring high for the week. During the Bucks’ blowout win over the Golden State Warriors on Christmas, he grabbed seven rebounds and dished out two assists but scored only two points. He then missed all five 3-point attempts in a four-point, three-rebound performance as the New York Knicks dealt the Bucks a 20-point loss at Madison Square Garden.

Connaughton is averaging 4.0 points, 3.7 rebounds and 1.3 assists while shooting 35.7 percent from the field on the young season. All of his baskets have come either very close to the rim or from straightaway 3-point range. He has attempted four 3-pointers from the right wing and three from the corner and always come up empty. Those are areas from which he has struggled to score over the past few years, so he’s better off going to his bread and butter of close shots.

New York Knicks owner James Dolan …

New York Knicks owner James Dolan explained the team’s lack of a public statement about George Floyd, telling Madison Square Garden employees in an e-mail, “As companies in the business of sports and entertainment, however, we are not any more qualified than anyone else to offer our opinion on social matters.” Dolan started the internal message: “We know that some of you have asked about whether our company is going to make a public statement about the killing of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer. I want you to know, I realize the importance of this issue. Therefore, I want you to understand our internal position. “This a turbulent time in our country. The coronavirus and civil unrest have taken their toll on our way of life. We at Madison Square Garden stand by our values of a respectful and peaceful workplace. We always will.”

A comedian shared a great story about a scam he and his dad used to meet Michael Jordan at MSG

This scam would never work these days.

Sunday’s night’s episodes of “The Last Dance” were awesome, especially the part that showed Michael Jordan wearing the original Jordan 1’s in his final game at Madison Square Garden as a member of the Chicago Bulls.

All this talk about Jordan’s Bulls have led to some incredible stories, including Jordan gambling with a legendary security guard before games.

But here’s another great story that is kind of about Jordan, but more about a comedian whose dad pulled off an amazing scam back in the 1990s and got him and his son into the biggest events at Madison Square Garden, including Jordan’s 55-point game in his first time back at MSG after his brief baseball career came to an end.

Comedian Gary Vider shared his story on Monday, saying his dad would tell MSG that his son was a reporter for Sports Illustrated for Kids (he wasn’t) and that he was a photographer (he wasn’t). They then got credentialed for all the big events and got all the access that reporters got, including interviews with Jordan and the Bulls. These interviews didn’t go anywhere because Vider wasn’t a reporter but he got to talk to Michale Jordan as a young kid, which must have been awesome.

At one point they even met the real Sports Illustrated for Kids reporter, who was an adult, but they didn’t that reporter who they were or how they got into MSG.

Check out these photos he posted:

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From 1993-1997 My father and I ran a scam saying I was a reporter for Sports Illustrated for Kids and he was a photographer. My dad would smooth talk our way into games at Madison Square Garden and Nassau Coliseum without a ticket and get us access into the locker rooms. When we would get in the locker room I would (fake) interview the players, take pictures, and get autographs. One of the closest calls we ever had was Michael Jordan’s first game back at MSG after he took a year and half off to play baseball. We’d been to the Garden countless times before but this time an actual reporter and photographer for Sports Illustrated for Kids showed up. My dad made it a point for us to say hi to them, never telling them who we were. I remember thinking as a 10 year old this it we are going to jail. After watching MJ score 55 points my dad and I rushed to the locker room. Security was limiting how many people could get through, even press. We wound up getting in and the real Sports Illustrated for Kids didn’t. This pic is from my “interview” with Michael Jordan. #michaeljordan #scottiepippen #philjackson #billmurray #nba #lastdance #chicagobulls #basketball #scam

A post shared by Gary Vider (@garyvider) on

He said:

From 1993-1997 My father and I ran a scam saying I was a reporter for Sports Illustrated for Kids and he was a photographer.

My dad would smooth talk our way into games at Madison Square Garden and Nassau Coliseum without a ticket and get us access into the locker rooms.
When we would get in the locker room I would (fake) interview the players, take pictures, and get autographs.
One of the closest calls we ever had was Michael Jordan’s first game back at MSG after he took a year and half off to play baseball.
We’d been to the Garden countless times before but this time an actual reporter and photographer for Sports Illustrated for Kids showed up. My dad made it a point for us to say hi to them, never telling them who we were. I remember thinking as a 10 year old this it we are going to jail.
After watching MJ score 55 points my dad and I rushed to the locker room. Security was limiting how many people could get through, even press. We wound up getting in and the real Sports Illustrated for Kids didn’t.

This pic is from my “interview” with Michael Jordan.

I mean, what a brilliant move by his dad. A shady move, sure, putting your kid as risk of getting in some trouble, but still pretty brilliant/risky.

It’s something that could never happen today but back then, anything was possible, apparently.