Tag Archives: la-lakers

4 red hot bets for Moonee Valley races on 29 January 2022 and the Professor’s Parlay

With the rain overnight, it’s a bit of a lottery with the tips today. The Moonee Valley track is currently rated a Soft 6 with the rail in the true position for the entire circuit. The rating could be downgraded with futher rain during the day.

Don’t forget to back the tips each way!

Moonee Valley

Professor’s tips

Race 3 Horse 2 – Stay Gold (for the ladies at the Tennis club)

Race 6 Horse 10 – Delightful Journey (also for the ladies at the Tennis club)

Gelding’s tips

Race 5 Horse 1 – Finance Tycoon

Race 7 Horse 10 – Marabi

Professor’s Parlay

Race 5 Horse 1 – Finance Tycoon into Brisbane Lions to beat Geelong Cats (AFLW) into Charlotte Hornets to beat Los Angeles Lakers (NBA).

You can see the latest episode of That’s Racing!! here.

The Professor and the panel of Coutta, the Judge and the Gelding will be talking sport on the Sportzfan Radio YouTube channel from 12.00pm AEDT tomorrow. Ash Barty and the Australian Open in the news so expect that to play a big part of the show.

Good luck and good punting!

The Professor

Australia’s McCarron has NBA trial

Feb 27 2011 054He might just be the best Australian basketball player that you haven’t heard of yet, but Australian guard Mitch McCarron has a very bright future ahead for himself after completing his first NBA workouts with the Denver Nuggets, Los Angeles Lakers and Golden State Warriors.

As the basketball public get over the 2015 NBA Finals that featured two Australians, Andrew Bogut and Matthew Dellavedova, competing against each other for the first time in a championship series, the teams around the league have already well kickstarted their campaigns for next season with waves of player workouts.

“I think it went really well,” explained McCarron after his first experience on court with the Nuggets. “I’m not going into these workouts expecting anything to come from them, rather I just want to go in and give it everything I have and hopefully I get another opportunity to impress. I got some great feedback from the coachesmitch-mccarron about how to make the most out of my future workouts and my future playing career.”McCarron, a 6’3″ guard, just finished his college career at Metro State University and was the 2015 Division II National Player of The Year after an outstanding season in which he averaged 20.2 points, 6 rebounds and 4.5 assists per game as a Senior.

On top of his outstanding year on the basketball court, McCarron had a very impressive 3.8 grade point average in the classroom.

Playing college basketball in Denver, McCarron did not have to venture far for his first pro-workout with an NBA team and the young kid from Brisbane believes he didn’t disappoint in front of the Nuggets hierarchy. “I did pretty well,” noted McCarron of his time on the floor with the Nuggets coaching staff, “I could have been a lot more vocal, and I still need to work on some aspects of my game but overall I thought I did a good job.”

The Nuggets have the 7th and 57th pick in the upcoming NBA Draft and McCarron will be a candidate for the Nuggets with their second round selection, although the Nuggets kept their cards close to their chest.”I didn’t get any indication from them about future plans, they just gave some immediate feedback on what to work on and asked questions about my future plans,” said McCarron.”I would love the opportunity to play with any NBA team, that’s been a dream since I was a child. I don’t know what a lot of the other cities are like but having lived here for the past four years, I know Denver would be a very enjoyable place to stay long-term.”

By Daniel Eade

Sportzfan Radio show #238.2

@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!11 March 2012 238.2 – The second hour starts off with the Dr Leslie CSA. John O’Callaghan comes on the show to talk about the press release for the Lingerie League that is coming to Australia. He thinks it is a bad thing being the wrong message for sport and the wrong message for women. He believes if Sally Pearson was a man she would be front page news every day. John also wants to get rid of the title Sports Minister from the cabinet as it is just a “Minister for Good Times” position. He says Australia is obsessed with winning medals at the Olympics and the money being fed into winning medals should be put into grass roots sport. Daniel talks basketball and looks at the NBA with rookie Ricky Rubio from the Timberwolves tearing an ACL and missing not only the rest of the NBA season but also the Olympics. He also can’t understand why Australians would be begging Kyrie Irving to play for Australia. If he wants to play for the Boomers, it’s an honour. He only lived here for three months so he has a tenuous link with Australia at best. The New York Knicks are struggling and Linsanity seems to be wearing off. Daniel then looks at the possible trades before the trade deadline including Andrew Bogut, Dwight Howard, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. He also looks at the NBL and all the right things the New Zealand Breakers are doing. They have also re-signed Darryl Corletto for a further two years. Daniel looks at the run towards the finals with five teams in the running for four spots. Paul Dalligan talks NRL and tries to explain how the Rabbitohs lost last Monday night’s game and he called it an horrific loss. He reviews the round two results and makes predictions for the games remaining. Daniel finishes the show talking about the move Troy and Brad Pitt. He asks Sportzfan Stan for advice about the achilles heel as he says Stan must have been alive back in 1AD.

Sportzfan Radio show #237.2

@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!4 March 2012 237.2 – In the  second hour of the show, the Professor asked Daniel what had happened to the NBL season as it seemed to have disappeared with the playoffs beginning soon and the AFL and NRL overshadowing basketball in the news.  Sportzfan Stan’s view was that the league’s management needed professional help to increase interest in teams, awareness of games and boost revenues. His feelings were shared by the rest of the panel with discussions centering on the NBL’s lack of promotion of the game and a remedy involving a shared venue with other sports such as netball leading to increased awareness.  Daniel reviewed the NBA giving his opinion on the teams, their standings and whether Clipper Darrell had been harshly treated . He also looked at the Twitter tag #BlameLebron. The NRL report from Paul Dalligan included highlights of St. George’s win over the Tinkler Knights. The win surprised Dalligan as the favoured Knights played well. The Professor thought the Raiders v Storm match was the game of the round so far with Billy Slater’s brilliant late try winner being a feature. Dalligan congratulated The Professor on his Bulldogs pulling out a win after overcoming a 14 point deficit. The Panel also discussed Essendon’s no-show for their match on Saturday with St. Kilda in Wangaratta and the AFL originally splitting the game points between the two teams with all in agreement that St. Kilda should receive all four points. Last moment thoughts from the Professor had the Panel discussing the Grand Prix and Bernie Ecclestone’s annual threat of axing the race.

Sportzfan Radio – show #232.2

@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!15 January 2012 232.2 Mark Fiorenti goes on to talk about the sacking of Melbourne Victory coach Mehmet Durakovic and the appointment of Jim Magilton. He thinks the Victory could still slip into the top four. Mark also talks about the Melbourne Heart and says they are clearly the best side in Melbourne. He discusses the A League initiatives of Big Wednesday concept with five games being played on the one day and the coach of Gold Coast being miked up during the game. Daniel says if he owned the team he wouldn’t have allowed it. Mark finally looks at Arsenal signing Thierry Henry for the next few months and Eric Cantona vying for the French presidency. The Panel talk cricket and the test series against India. The Gelding says that Craig McDermott is doing a great job as bowling coach. Paul Dalligan comes on to talk both NRL and NFL especially his beloved Denver Broncos. He thinks Billy Slater will be fit to start the NRL season and that Canterbury Bankstown are a special for the coming season. Tennis is the next topic of discussion and the Professor quizes the Panel about how many Australian men and women are in the Australian Open draw. The Professor also queries whether Ian Thorpe should have come back after a fifth place in the Victorian championships. Daniel likens it to the embarassing comeback of Tony Lockett. Daniel also talks both NBL and NBA looking at the LA Clippers, Melbourne Tigers and Patty Mills.

Would 11 Championships save a coach from the axe?

We all joke on Sportzfan Radio about resident panelist Sportzfan Stan being quick to suggest sports coaches, administrators, teams & players being sacked. Most recently he called for the sacking of Melbourne Football Club coach Dean Bailey (podcast #200.1). This despite the Demons being in the top eight and with the best start to a season for many seasons. By the way the Demons have since beaten Adelaide by more than 90 points!

My feeling is that we are too quick to pull the trigger in today’s sporting world.  Even having excellent records in the recent past is not enough to save a coach or player. One only needs to look at the way the Melbourne Tigers behaved after their season didn’t turn out the way they thought it should. Two NBL Championships and four trips to the playoffs in as many seasons couldn’t save long time servant and coach of the club, Al Westover. On our show, Daniel Eade urged restraint and argued a case for Westover’s retention. History tells us that Al was sacked mid season. If one compares Westover’s coaching record to that of Lindsay Gaze, Westover had more success in a much shorter time but even that comparison couldn’t save him.

It seems that today’s ‘must have now’ phenomenon pervades all areas of sport. Being in the USA now and with the NBA finals series in full flight, I am amazed at the reaction of the media to the LA Lakers whitewash at the hands of the Dallas Mavericks. Let’s remember that the Lakers were the two time defending champion and have been one of the most successful franchises of all time with 11 championships (5 since 2000 and runners-up twice). Yet today, we are greeted with the media saying the Lakers are a ‘train wreck’…’the locker room needs massive repair’…’fractured franchise’. There have been calls to trade anyone but Kobe…meaning one of last season’s best players, Pau Gasol is on the block because the Lakers failed to win for a third time in a row. Reality check – the NBA is one of the most competitive competitions in all of sport and the Lakers have been to the big dance in each of the last three seasons. Is there really a need for ‘massive’ change?

Memo to the sports media of the world….have some patience. I find support for this proposition in the example provided by my fellow Sportzfan Radio panelist, Mark Fiorenti when he spoke recently of Sir Alex Ferguson of Manchester United fame. Early on in his tenure and with not much success, the media and fans were calling for his sacking (a la Sportzfan Stan). The club, to their credit, and eternal satisfaction, stayed the executioner’s hand and one only needs to look at the stellar record since, that has put United at the forefront of soccer in not only Europe, but the world. They are in line this season for the Premier League/Champions League double.

One lucky person is the former coach of the Lakers, Phil Jackson. His retirement after the Lakers last loss at least means we won’t have calls for him to be sacked by all and sundry including Sportzfan Stan. Goodness knows his 11 NBA championships may not have saved him in this ‘need it now’ world.

Restraint is what I will be preaching on Sportzfan Radio from now on!

Sportzfan Radio #198.1

@SportzfanRadio now available on iTunes!17 April 2011 198.1 – Sportzfan Stan leads off the show suggesting that the Australian Cricket Board should be sacked and appoint an independent Board with no parochial interests to improve cricket in Australia. Dan Butterly returns to the show to talk US sport including college basketball finals. He previews the NBA finals and thinks it is out of Chicago and Miami in the East and the Lakers are the team to beat in the West. In NHL action he feels the Canucks from the West and the Capitals from the East look good to advance to the Stanley Cup final. Dan reviews the first weeks of competition in MLB and says it is early days yet but the Mariners are looking at another 100 loss season. The Mets could also be a 100 loss team. Jackie Robinson is remembered on the 64th anniversary of him breaking the colour bar in major league baseball. The Professor queries whether Brett Favre will be back for a shortened NFL season. The Gelding reviews the racing at Flemington and Randwick with a much better performance this week on the punt. The Sydney Colt was not quite as successful.

Sportzfan Radio 158.1

13 June 2010 158.1 – Stan opens up on AFL losing Brownlow votes… Catchup with John Rillie talking NBL, NBA Finals & where NBA free agents may head… Sean starts the discussion of superstitions in sports from NHL Beards to Daniel‘s no high-five rule… The Gelding gets a few winners and lays down the challenge to the Sydney Colt…

Thanks for in-show tweets @Susan_Shan, @SydneyColt, @lisahayes4, @GayleESaunders, @the_dos & @Smileyj14

Sportzfan Radio 157.1

6 June 2010 – Part 1 – Thundering start to the show with Dalligan fired up ranting on the AFL poaching NRL players.  US reporter Dan Butterly thinks the Lakers will beat the Celtics in NBA and Blackhawks will lift the Stanley Cup after game 7.  The Gelding although picking two winners at Flemington says he would have been more successful but for some “interesting” rides by certain jockeys.  Long time Fitzroy supporter, Stan has some observations on the career of AFL Legend Kevin Murray.