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#pounditThursday, March 28, 2024

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Brad Stevens appreciates 76ers piping in this specific crowd noise chant

Brad Stevens

The Boston Celtics and Philadelphia 76ers have a rivalry that spans back many decades, and arena workers at the Wells Fargo Center weren’t about to let the pandemic spoil that on Tuesday night.

While there were no fans in attendance for the preseason game between the Celtics and Sixers, the visiting team still had to deal with “you suck!” chants. Boston coach Brad Stevens spoke after the game about the feel of playing in an empty arena, and he applauded the 76ers for piping in some very specific crowd noise that gave the game an authentic feel.

The Celtics swept the Sixers in the playoffs this past season and beat them 4-1 back in 2018, so the rivalry has been fairly lopsided in recent years. It has still given us some entertaining moments, however, so kudos to Philly for trying to keep that going during an unprecedented time.

Watching teams play in empty or mostly empty arenas is going to be strange, but players should be accustomed to it by now. Mark Cuban recently revealed how much money teams stand to lose without fans, so hopefully things return to normal before the end of the season.

Video: Kevin Harlan calls preseason NBA game from his basement

Kevin Harlan

Kevin Harlan’s voice on the call for NBA games was a welcome sign for many fans on Tuesday night, even if Harlan was calling the game from his basement — literally.

Harlan’s daughter Olivia shared a video on Twitter Tuesday night of her dad calling the Sacramento Kings-Golden State Warriors preseason game. Harlan had a makeshift studio setup in his basement, complete with the NBA on TNT background.

The audio quality for the call did not sound good at first, leading some to ask whether Harlan was calling the game from a submarine.

No, it wasn’t from a submarine. Just his basement.

As Olivia pointed out, this was Harlan’s third game in three days. He called the Texans-Bears game for CBS on Sunday, and the Monday Night Football game for Westwood One on the radio. He’s a busy man and willing to work from any environment.

How does his setup compare to this ESPN announcer’s apartment setup?

Tim Brando rips College Football Playoff as ‘sham’

Tim Brando

College football announcer Tim Brando is among those displeased with the College Football Playoff rankings that were released on Tuesday.

Brando, 64, calls college football games for FOX Sports. He was also a longtime national sports radio host and is no stranger to sharing his opinions.

Brando on Tuesday voiced his frustration over Twitter, calling the CFP a “farce” and “sham” for its rankings. Brando felt that 8-0 Cincinnati was disrespected by the committee.

Brando also said that Iowa State receiving the No. 6 ranking was indefensible. He couldn’t believe that Florida only dropped one spot following its home loss to LSU.

Many of Brando’s same gripes are ones we pointed out in the questions we wanted the committee to answer.

The committee showed unreasonable favoritism to the SEC, with four of their schools in the top eight. Schools deserving of much higher rankings based on their accomplishments, like Cincinnati and Coastal Carolina, were much lower than they should be. Many of the rankings just don’t make sense.

This photo of James Harden is going viral

James Harden

A photo of James Harden from the Houston Rockets’ preseason game against the San Antonio Spurs on Tuesday is going viral.

The photo shows Harden in his warmups and appearing to look heavier than usual.

The photo of Harden strongly resembled Kendrick Perkins, which was not lost on folks on social media. They had plenty of jokes.

Considering Perkins was listed at 6-foot-10 and 270 pounds when he played, resembling him is not a good sign for Harden.

Harden has been viewed by some as “overweight,” though that seems to be more the product of deception than anything else. You don’t consistently average a league-high 38.1 minutes per game as Harden did during his career without being in fantastic shape. But Harden has been doing some partying lately, so he may not be in his best shape as of yet.

Steph Curry shows off new braids hairstyle for NBA season

Steph Curry

It’s a new NBA season, and Steph Curry has a new hairstyle.

Curry showed off a new look for a national TV audience during his Golden State Warriors’ preseason game against the Sacramento Kings on Tuesday night. Curry has braids and a tightly-shaved head below the braids.

Curry’s braids were visible for the Warriors’ preseason game on Saturday against the Denver Nuggets. But for that game, Curry had a headband on as well.

Curry initially showed off a braids hairstyle in August. This looks appears to be sharper.

The 32-year-old is looking to put together a big season after only playing in five games last season.

Photo: Cyrus Saatsaz/Wikimedia via CC-BY-SA 4.0

Dwight Howard being sued over alleged unpaid wages

Dwight Howard

Dwight Howard is being sued by two women who claim the NBA player owes them unpaid wages for personal services.

TMZ Sports reported the news about the lawsuit and says the women claim they were hired by Howard in Dec. 2018 to provide personal management services. The women thought they would be helping Howard with business and administrative tasks but ended up doing much more after he fired his gardener, butler and maid.

The women even had to look after Howard’s snake collection as part of their new duties. One of the women says she helped Howard get his Lakers contract last year.

The women were fired in January though and say Howard owes them $50,000 in unpaid wages.

Howard is now a member of the Philadelphia 76ers after a deal with the Lakers did not materialize, to Howard’s surprise. The 35-year-old won his first career championship last season with the Lakers. This isn’t the first time recently that he has faced some damaging accusations.

Video: Lane Kiffin does funny Nick Saban impression

Lane Kiffin

Lane Kiffin loves to have fun with Nick Saban, and he did that on Monday.

Kiffin’s name has been linked to the Auburn job since the Tigers fired Gus Malzahn. Kiffin, who is in his first season at Ole Miss, was asked on Monday about the Auburn rumors.

Kiffin said he has not had talks about replacing Malzahn. Then he pulled out the Saban impression, repeating exactly what Saban said in 2006. Saban was the coach of the Miami Dolphins at the time and denied that he was taking the Alabama job.

Of course, we all know that Saban ended up going to Alabama after the Tide came back with an offer he couldn’t refuse.

If Kiffin really is following Saban, that means he will end up at Auburn. Then he would be able to troll Saban all day long before losing once a year to him.

Ole Miss fans! It’s time to jump aboard the Lane Train! This Lane Train shirt is a perfect gift for you or a friend – you can buy it here.

Giannis Antetokounmpo on track to set NBA record for career earnings

Giannis Antetokounmpo

Giannis Antetokounmpo just locked up a monster contract extension with the Milwaukee Bucks, and this may only be the start of huge earnings coming his way.

Giannis on Tuesday agreed to a 5-year, $228.2 million contract with the Bucks, beating the deadline by less than a week.

Antetokounmpo has already earned over $81 million in the NBA. He is making $27.5 million in the upcoming season, giving him $108.5 million. Then add the $228 million on top of that, and he’s at over $336 million.

As Jared Weiss pointed out, Antetokounmpo is in position to sign yet another big contract. Antetokounmpo would be 31/32 when he is eligible for a new deal in 2026-2027. Stack another possible $200-plus million deal on top of what he’s already made, and Giannis would be at over half a billion in career earnings. None of that counts his off-court earnings.

When you think about what Antetokounmpo came from, those kinds of career earning figures are wild. He already has two MVP awards and is only 26, so he still has plenty of room to grow.

Three pressing questions for the College Football Playoff committee

Luke Fickell

The latest College Football Playoff rankings were released on Tuesday, and they have left many pressing questions.

This year is unlike any other we have seen, which is why the job of ranking teams is so difficult for the committee. The ACC, SEC and Big 12 aimed to play full conference schedules, while the Pac-12 and Big Ten started late and then endured multiple cancellations. Among Group of 5 teams, some conferences played full schedules.

All the cancellations and postponements, plus the relative lack of non-conference games, has made it even more difficult than usual to compare teams.

But that doesn’t mean we don’t have some serious questions for the committee we would like answered.

1) Why did Cincinnati drop in the rankings?

The Bearcats are 8-0 and have not played since Nov. 21. Their last two games were canceled, but they are scheduled to play Tulsa in the American Athletic Conference Championship Game on Saturday. So why would they drop if their resume did not get weaker? Georgia moved ahead of them because they went from 6-2 to 7-2 with a win over Missouri. The way I see it, Cincinnati hasn’t lost this year, and they’ve looked good. You can’t convince me that Georgia, Florida or Iowa State — all with two losses — are better. Yet all three of those two-loss teams are ranked ahead of the Bearcats.

2) Why isn’t Coastal Carolina higher?

The Chanticleers are 11-0. They’ve played a full schedule and won every game. They played a legit BYU team in a game scheduled at the last second, and they won. They won at Louisiana, and the Ragin’ Cajuns beat No. 6 Iowa State. In a year when so many Power 5 schools have hardly played games, and when so many school have lost games, a team that has played 11 and won all 11 should be rewarded even more. There is zero excuse not to have Coastal Carolina in the top 10 at minimum.

3) What’s the infatuation with Iowa State?

Iowa State at No. 6 is a joke. The Cyclones have lost to Louisiana and Oklahoma State. If they were that good, they’d be 10-0. Maybe Iowa State loses in the Big 12 Championship to Oklahoma and drops down and this becomes moot. But I wouldn’t have them this high for now. They should be lower, and Coastal and Cincinnati should be above them.

This is not a question for the committee but an observation we all know: there is a heavy SEC bias from the committee. They have the SEC with four of their top eight teams. Alabama deserves to be No. 1. Texas A&M at 7-1 has some solid wins but proved they don’t belong on the field with Bama. And then you have Florida and Georgia each with two losses but still in the top eight. Florida just lost to a mediocre LSU team at home. What’s so impressive about that?

Photo: Paula Lively/Wikimedia via CC-BY 2.0

ESPN’s Domonique Foxworth wants Josh Allen to fail because his fans are pro-America

Domonique Foxworth

ESPN analyst Domonique Foxworth admitted that he enjoys it when Josh Allen fails because he doesn’t like Allen’s fans.

Foxworth was a guest on ESPN podcast “The Right Time with Bomani Jones” and talked about his feelings on Allen. Foxworth said does not want Allen to fail, but he does enjoy it sometimes because Allen’s fans like America and dogs.

“I am fully aware that I have biases. And my biases are not based on Josh Allen. It’s based on the people that are defending Josh Allen. I would be 100 percent lying if I said that when Josh does something dumb, a little part of me doesn’t get happy. And it’s not because I don’t want Josh to succeed,” Foxworth said.

“It’s because the people who are telling me that Josh is the second coming and Josh is better than everybody are people with American flags and dogs and skulls and crossbones. … If you go just take a dip into their tweet history, it’s some really concerning retweets and likes. … It’s not about Josh,” he concluded.

Sheesh, Domonique, what do you have against the American flag and dogs? Those are two things generally regarded as pretty awesome.

Foxworth, 37, played college ball at Maryland and was an NFL cornerback from 2005-2011. And he doesn’t seem to like dogs or the American flag.

H/T OutKick