Tag Archives: basketball

NBA Update: Rounding up Big Trades

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By Carlos Lopez

As the NBA regular season comes to a close, with only a few games left before its conclusion, I’ll go over some of the ‘blockbuster’ trades that happened throughout this season.

Suns-Nets-Bucks-Pacers Trade (KD to the Suns)

Starting with one-half of what was arguably THE trade this season, Kevin Durant went to the Suns. The entire trade package was huge, and included:

Suns Receive:          

Kevin Durant, TJ Warren

Nets Receive:

Mikal Bridges, Cameron Johnson, Juan Pablo Vaulet, 2023 first-round pick (from Phoenix) , 2025 first-round pick (from Phoenix) , 2027 first-round pick (from Phoenix), 2028 first-round pick swap (from Phoenix), 2028 second-round pick (from Milwaukee), 2029 first-round pick (from Phoenix), 2029 second-round pick (from Milwaukee)

Bucks Receive:

Jae Crowder

Pacers Receive:

George Hill, Serge Ibaka, Jordan Nwora, three future second-round picks (from Milwaukee), cash considerations (from Brooklyn)

This trade (along with the Kyrie Irving trade) has shaken the NBA to its core. With the introduction of KD and Kyrie to the Western Conference, the playoffs now seem to have taken a twist.

Mavericks-Nets Trade (Kyrie to the Nets)

I mentioned this trade earlier when I discussed the KD trade, as they were both traded from Brooklyn. This trade wasn’t as impactful as the KD trade since this trade only involved the Mavericks and the Nets. The trade included:

Mavericks Receive:

Kyrie Irving, Markieff Morris

Nets Receive:

Spencer Dinwiddie, Dorian Finney-Smith, 2027 second-round pick, 2029 first-round pick (unprotected), 2029 second-round pick

While this trade had no immediate effect on the league besides for the Mavs and Nets, I believe there will be some consequences (either positive or negative) later on in the playoffs.

Lakers-Timberwolves-Jazz Trade

And last but not least, I’ll be talking about the 3-team trade that most notably led to the departure of Russell Westbrook from the Lakers. It went as follows:

Lakers Receive:

D’Angelo Russell, Malik Beasley, Jarred Vanderbilt

Timberwolves Receive:

Mike Conley, Nickeil Alexander-Walker, 2024 second-round pick (from Lakers), 2025 second-round pick (from Jazz), 2026 2nd round pick (from Jazz)

Jazz Receive:

Russell Westbrook, Juan Toscano-Anderson, Damian Jones 2027, 1st-round pick (from Lakers)

This trade seems to have helped the Lakers slightly since it added more depth to their roster. The elephant in the room, however, is Russell Westbrook. He had a brief stay in Utah as they eventually agreed to a buyout. Afterwards he signed with the Clippers, where he seemed to have settled rather nicely (good for him).

JGHS Sports Roundup: Winter and Spring Sports

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By Jason Leyva

How has John Glenn done in sports recently? I’ve gathered spring sports to highlight, as well as a recap of Eagles basketball.

Our first sport highlight is softball. How is varsity softball doing this season? Softball is doing a great job! As of today (March 27) softball is 6-0-1. Some big games include wins against Hawthorne Math and Science Academy 17-0, Avalon 20-1, Leuzinger 6-1, Firebaugh 12-0, and finally a win over Bishop Conaty Loretto 7-1.

In the first 605-League game of the season, the girls easily beat Oxford Academy behind strong pitching from Carissa Galvan and a balanced offensive attack that scored 9 runs in the 3rd inning to put the game away, winning by a final score of 13-3.

The 2-2 tie against the Wiseburn-Da Vinci Wolves was also a memorable game for the team, as the Wolves were a tough preseason matchup and Glenn more than held their own.

Pictures courtesy JGHS Softball Instagram

Our next sport is baseball. The varsity baseball team is off and running this season. As of March 27, baseball is currently 2-5 this season. The team has won against Firebaugh 5-0 and against Bell Gardens 15-3 in preseason games, and in 605-League play they are 0-2 after back-to-back losses to Oxford Academy.

Rain has been a problem for both baseball and softball in the early going, but hopefully the rest of the season will play out as scheduled.

Upcoming home games for softball that you should go to are the “Senior Night” game on Thursday, 3/30, plus games against Artesia HS on 4/4, a non-league game against Bell Gardens on 4/11, followed by back-to-back home games against Cerritos (4/18), and Pioneer (4/21). The 605-League schedule ends with a road game against Artesia on 4/25.

Upcoming baseball games to check out include Glenn against Cerritos on 4/4 (road) and 4/6 (home), some non-league games against Hawthorne Math and Science Academy (4/12), Lynwood (4/14), and Santa Ana Valley (4/15), followed by a return to 605-League play against Pioneer on 4/18 (road) and 4/21 (home); and finally, two games against Artesia on 4/25 (home) and 4/27 (road).

Recapping winter sports with basketball, how did the Eagles do this season? The varsity boys finished with an 11-16 record this season, and at 3-7 in the 605-League, ending in a tie for 4th place. Some of our team’s most impressive games were against Saddleback, Montebello, and Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary. The Eagles won 76-45 against Montebello, 77-54 against Cantwell-Sacred Heart of Mary, and finally a very impressive 76-26 rout over Saddleback.

The girls basketball team finished at 3-18, and 0-10 in the 605-League, but they had fun and learned some valuable teamwork and basketball fundamentals along the way. A season highlight was the back-to-back wins on December 12-13, including a thrilling 21-20 home victory over Blair High School.

JGHS Lady Eagles on Instagram

Glenn Boys Basketball off to a Great Start

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By Carlos Lopez

As teams in the NBA season continue to dominate, our JGHS boys’ varsity basketball team has also been brewing up a storm of their own.

As of today (December 9), Glenn has gone 2-5 during their pre-season campaign (not counting many successful tournament games) starting with their season-opening win versus Bassett High by a score of 66-43. Armando Arreola was the leading scorer with an impressive 29-point performance accompanied by Sebastian Figueroa’s notable all-around performance.

I had a chance to talk with the team’s head coach, Sam Abebe, after their first win. The following is our Q&A session:

Q: How do you feel about tonight’s game?

A: “Obviously I’m glad we got the win. But as a coach who wants excellence and wants perfection, I thought that we struggled a little bit: not understanding what we needed to do to break that zone that they played all night. But at the end of the day, I have to understand that we got a win and move on and come back tomorrow and just get ready to work again tomorrow.”

Q: Who or what stood out to you the most?

A: Armando Arreola. The whole game he just played with high intensity; it’s just unfortunate that other guys couldn’t match his intensity. But for his first game here at John Glenn, for him to play that well and be able to score tonight and pretty much be the best offensive player for them all night, I thought he did a great job; he stood out to me the most and I’m proud of how he played.

Q: What should we expect for the rest of the season?

A: “I mean, on paper, this team is better than last year’s team–we’re deeper, we have more guys. But again, it’s a mental thing with this team; today felt like a loss even though we won but how are we going to come back tomorrow? Are our leaders going to step up and say something, or are we just going to keep letting the mediocrity fester? That’s the thing. But we’ll see; it’s early in the season obviously. I’m glad we got the win and we just got to move on now and look forward to Saturday.”

605-League play begins with a home game against Whitney on Wednesday, January 4.

NBA Preview: 2022-2023 Season

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By Carlos Lopez

As the start of the NBA season approaches, many teams, at this point, have gone through notable changes within their respective organizations. I will showcase my predictions on how each team will do during the season. I will also cover some NBA teams I believe will do well this season. 

PREDICTION:

The tables below include my predictions on how each team will do throughout the 22′-23’ NBA season. I simulated the entire season and created my predictions on playoffpredictors.com. These are the results that I ended up having.

Predicted Western Conference Standings
Predicted Eastern Conference Standings

WESTERN CONFERENCE:

Chris Paul (left), DeAndre Ayton (middle), and Devin Booker (right)

Prediction: Phoenix Suns remain as the 1-seed in the Western Conference: 

As the 1-seed in the Western Conference last year, I believe the Suns will repeat their standings and stay as the 1-seed. With Chris Paul leading the offense and Devin Booker having proven to be an excellent regular-season player, I am confident they will remain at the top of the Western Conference.  

EASTERN CONFERENCE:

Grayson Allen (left), Giannis Antetokounpo (middle), Pat Connaughton (right), and Jrue Holiday (back)

Prediction: Milwaukee Bucks move up to the 1-seed in the Eastern Conference:

With 6’11” PF Giannis Antetokounpo having been a dominant presence in the league, along with the help of Jrue Holiday and Khris Middleton last season, they had quite a good year. I believe they will be the best team in the Eastern Conference by quite a sizable margin this upcoming season.

Playoff Predictions:

As for the playoffs, I believe that the Warriors will win another championship this season with the help of superstars Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. It would be Curry’s 5th ring, adding to his already prestigious career and increasing his case for being a top-10 or even top-5 all-time player. I have the Bucks making it to the NBA Finals for the same reason why I have them winning the 1-seed. But I believe that in the end, the Warriors will outperform the Bucks with the help of key players like Andrew Wiggins and Jordan Poole.

Playoff Bracket Prediction

LOS ANGELES LAKERS OUTLOOK:

LeBron James (left) and Anthony Davis (right)

Now onto our local coverage, let’s take a look at the Lakers. While I have them as the 5-seed, this is under the condition that the Lakers can stay healthy for at least 4/5ths of the whole 82-game NBA season. However, if this is not the case, then I believe they might stay around the 7th or 8th seed, if not lower.

My main qualm with the Lakers is that they are just old. LeBron James, as great a player as he is, is not getting any younger. LeBron is entering his 20th season, and I do not doubt that he will start showing his age, especially toward the end of the season. My worry about Anthony Davis is he will be the same injury-prone player he was last season. People have even started to call him Anthony “day-to-day” Davis, which shows how bad it got.

And we cannot forget about Russell Westbrook, yikes. Look, I like Russ; he once was one of my favorite players to watch back when he played with the Oklahoma City Thunder. He even had a pretty good stint with the Washington Wizards during the ‘20-21 season. But I was irritated with how he played this last season. I was expecting so much more from him. I would argue that he worsened in every aspect of his game. His free throw shooting was terrible, with a 66.7% free throw shooting percentage. He averaged only 18.5 points per game last season as well. The last time he averaged less than 20 points per game was back in 2009-10 during his 2nd season, when he averaged 16.1 points per game.

Some may argue that since playing with LeBron, he has had to take a step back and become more of a role player. I understand the logic behind this, but I only somewhat agree. For the amount of money that Westbrook earned last season ($41,358,814) and the amount that he will make this upcoming season ($47,063,478), he should be playing at a much higher level. I will say that I disagreed with the decision last season to have him play alongside LeBron. But if he is willing to come off the bench to go against second units, then I am sure we will see his stats go up again while also contributing to the team. If the Lakers can figure all this out, then they just might have a chance to make it far this season.

Eagles Basketball Recap

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Successful Season Complete as Boys Get Deep into CIF Playoffs

By Pedro Torres

The John Glenn boys varsity basketball team qualified for the CIF playoffs this season and had a deep run to cap a successful journey. Finishing the season with a record of 14-13.

With a 50-44 win over Pioneer on January 31st, 2022, the boys finished in 3rd place in the 605 League. This was the first time in 22 years that the team had automatically qualified for the playoffs due to league placement (the last time the team went to the playoffs was in 2014 with an at-large bid.)

In the first round of the playoffs, the Eagles defeated River Springs Charter from Hemet 55-24 on February 11, 2022. This is the first time Glenn’s varsity basketball team has won in the playoffs in over 20 years. 

The Eagles made even more school history in round two when they advanced to the quarter finals on Friday, February 15, 2022, with a 61-58 win over Hawthorne MSA here at JGHS. It was such a great game! Thank you to all our staff who attended the game. Our students really had a great time cheering on our team.

In the final playoff game against Fontana, the Eagles’ playoff run came to an end with a 48-40 defeat on February 18th, 2022. In that final game, there were lots of turnovers. Despite the fact that we lost, there were two key 3-pointers by Seyharmony Somchan to get the Eagles back in the game. Yet it was not enough to secure a win. The Eagles trailed just 28-26 at halftime, yet the game got away in the third quarter, as the Eagles were outscored 12-2.

Although the season ended in defeat, Eagles basketball should be proud of a good playoff run with only having 6 players for the season. Next year, the Eagles hope to build another program that can make the playoffs and make some noise.

pictures courtesy Natanael Jacobo (seated, right)

Clippers vs Lakers

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By Cencere Waller

The L.A. Clippers are being a little sloppy so far. They are 11-11 and are doing well but I think they have to pick up the pace. Erik Bledsoe, who had recently joined the team, is doing well. 

On Thursday night, November 18, the Clippers and the Memphis Grizzlies played a pretty close game but in the end the Grizzlies took care of business with the score of 120-108. Ja Morant and Paul George were going at it, with Paul George having 23 points and Ja Morant scoring 28.

On the other side of Staples Center, the Lakers have also had a messy year but they are not giving up and are pushing forward, so far they are 12-11 but are not doing that bad, despite losing LeBron James for a good portion of the season.

The Clippers and Lakers play each other tonight at 7:00pm at Staples Center (soon to be renamed Crypto.com Arena), with the Lakers as the home team.

Recaps:

In the craziest game of the season so far against the Pistons, LeBron James had an incident where he hit Isaiah Stewart, which caused him to leak blood from his top right eyebrow and almost caused a brawl. LeBron got a one game suspension and a fine of $284,004 out of his game check. As for Isaiah Stewart, he received a two-game suspension and will miss out on $45,201 in game checks for his role. LeBron James (the GOAT) has since tested positive for Covid and will miss out on several games (probably up to 10 days).

The Live TV shot of the beginning of the scuffle
Players separate Detroit Pistons center Isaiah Stewart from Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James, not in frame, during the second half of an NBA basketball game, Sunday, Nov. 21, 2021, in Detroit. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio)

The Clippers and the Kings played Wednesday, with the Clippers dropping a game with Paul George on the bench by a final score of 124-115.

NBA Round-Up:

In the West, the Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors sit atop tied for the #1 seed with records of 18-3. Phoenix has won an amazing 17 games in a row. The Eastern Conference finds the Brooklyn Nets in first place with a 15-6 record.

The team with the lowest record in the Western Conference right now are the Rockets who are just 5-16, while in the east the Detroit Pistons are 4-17. They are having a pretty tough year so far with a new rookie, Jalen Green, who came from the NBA G league and is now playing with the Rockets and doing pretty well.

NBA All-Stars Reluctantly Put on a Show

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By Issac Rangel

At the beginning of the NBA season, many people and also players were really convinced that this year’s NBA season was not going to have an All-Star Game due to Covid-19 and the restrictions. The NBA had even mentioned at the beginning of the season that there was no interest in having an All-Star Game. A lot of players felt that the whole point of the All-Star Weekend is for it to be a very entertaining weekend with a sold out arena and fans seeing the best players in the world go at it. However, with Covid-19 there would be only a very limited number of fans that would be able to attend the event, which kind of defeats the purpose of All-Star Weekend.

Furthermore, teams like the Lakers and Heat–who were the last two teams standing in the bubble–felt that they deserved that little break and should not have to play in an extra game. Even after all that, the NBA decided to have an All-Star Game anyways. Players like LeBron James, Giannis Antetokounmpo, and De’Aaron Fox shared their thoughts on the NBA deciding after all to have one, and they did not like the idea of it.

LeBron James claimed that the All-Star Game being confirmed was, “A slap in the face.” Giannis also had something to say, which was, “I don’t care about the All-Star Game.” And De’Aaron Fox also shared his thoughts saying, “To be brutally honest, I think it’s stupid.”

Still, all that passed by, and NBA All-Star Weekend was finally happening. This year’s All-Star Weekend was very entertaining as it mostly always is, however it wasn’t the usual weekend that fans were used to. There were some big changes into how the schedule would be. This time it wasn’t an actual whole weekend where each day had different events, like the celebrity game, the rising stars game, the dunk contest, the 3-point contest, the skills competition, and then the actual All-Star Game. This year they did not do the celebrity game or the rising stars game, but they did do the 3-point contest, dunk contest, and skills competition.

They decided to do it all in one day though this time, with the skills competition and the 3-point contest being before the game, and the dunk contest being held during halftime. The winners for each event were, Domantas Sabonis for the skills competition, Steph Curry for the 3-point contest, and Anfernee Simons for the dunk contest.

Rosters for the 2021 All-Star Game

Lastly was the All-Star Game itself. It was Team LeBron vs Team Durant. Team LeBron’s players were Giannis, Steph Curry, Luka Doncic, Nikola Jokic for the starting five. Team Lebron’s reserves were Jaylen Brown, Paul George, Rudy Gobert, Damian Lillard, Chris Paul, Domantas Sabonis, and Ben Simmons. Team Durant’s starting lineup did not include himself due to injury, but his starting lineup was Bradley Beal, Joel Embid, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, and Jayson Tatum. His reserves were Devin Booker, James Harden, Zach Lavine, Donovan Mitchell, Julias Randle, Nikola Vucevic, and Zion Williamson.

The game went pretty well, and it was very entertaining watching Steph Curry and Damian Lillard drain threes from all over the place. Team LeBron ended up dominating and winning by a score of 170-150. Giannis Antetokounmpo won All-Star game MVP, finishing with 35 points, 3 assists, 7 rebounds, and shooting a perfect 16 for 16.

Giannis Antetokounmpo holds his All-Star MVP trophy | Dale Zanine USA TODAY Sports

Tracking the NBA Offseason Moves: Draft, Trades, and Free Agency

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By Issac Rangel

During this NBA offseason many things have happened so far, starting off with the NBA draft and a flurry of trades.

Although a lot of sports analysts and fans around the NBA had said that in this year’s draft there weren’t many players that can be considered “franchise changing players” or “generational talents,” there were some pretty big names in the draft. One of them being LaMelo Ball, whom a lot of people consider to be the player with the highest potential in this draft. The other two big names were James Wiseman and Anthony Edwards. All three of them were drafted in the top 3, with Anthony Edwards going number 1 to the Minnesota Timberwolves, James Wiseman going 2nd to the Golden State Warriors, and Lamelo Ball going 3rd to the Charlotte Hornets.

This offseason there have also been a lot of trades–some big ones–and also some free agent signings. Arguably the biggest trade this off-season was the Houston Rockets trading Russell Westbrook to the Wizards for John Wall and a protected 2023 first-round pick.

Another big trade was Chris Paul being traded to the Phoenix Suns from the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Suns picked up Chris Paul and Abdel Nader, with OKC getting Kelly Oubre Jr, Ricky Rubio, Ty Jeromre, Jalen Lecque and a 2022 first-round pick in return.

The Thunder stayed busy, as another major trade involved the Lakers, who acquired guard Dennis Schroder, with OKC picking up Danny Green and a 2020 first-round draft pick in return. Green didn’t last long in OKC, as he found himself flipped to Philadelphia when the Sixers sent Al Horford and some first-round picks to OKC for Green and Terrance Ferguson.

Speaking of the Lakers, arguably the biggest signing this offseason was the Lakers signing free agent Montrezl Harrell (pictured) from their crosstown rivals, the Clippers.

The Sixers also traded for Seth Curry, which sent Josh Richardson and a 2020 second-round pick to the Dallas Mavericks. Kelly Oubre’s time as an OKC player didn’t last long either, as he was then traded to the Golden State Warriors in an attempt to fill in for Klay Thompson’s roster spot (following his devastating season-ending injury).

With all of the movement, especially in the Western Conference, the Lakers still remain in good shape to compete for a title for years to come. In addition to picking up Schroder and Harrell, the Lakers secured long-term deals for superstars LeBron James and Anthony Davis.

The Lakers Are 2020 World Champions!

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By Issac Rangel

The Los Angeles Lakers are the NBA Champions once again, after a 10 year wait. The long and rough 2019-20 NBA season is officially over, and for the Lakers, it ended in the best way possible–earning their 17th NBA title to tie it up with their rivals from the east, the Boston Celtics, with the most championships in NBA history.

After finishing with the second best record in the NBA, and the best record in the Western Conference, the Lakers had looked forward to the playoffs in a bubble in Orlando, which they knew were going to be very competitive and different, especially with no home crowd advantage.

The “NBA Bubble” court in Orlando, FL (source: LA Times)

Their first playoff series after 7 years of not reaching them, was against a very motivated and strong Portland Trail Blazers team. A lot of analysts and people were saying that the Blazers might be the best ever 8th seed in NBA history after winning most of their seeding games to climb up to clinch a playoff spot, and having Damian Lillard (pictured at left, courtesy Yahoo Sports) playing some of his best basketball ever. However, the Lakers managed to take them out in five games.

Next up was James Harden’s Houston Rockets. And once again, the Lakers won the series in five games and LeBron and AD proved to be too dominant for the short Rockets team.

Next, the Lakers were in the Western Conference finals, waiting for the long awaited and hyped up match up with their city rivals, the Clippers. Things didn’t turn out as expected at all, however, as the Clippers ended up blowing a 3-1 lead to the Denver Nuggets in the second round, and had the NBA world shocked. So, it was the Nuggets and the Lakers in the Western Conference Finals, and the dominant duo of LeBron James and Anthony Davis were yet again too powerful, eliminating the Nuggets in five games also.

The Clippers react to one of the worst collapses in NBA history (source: CBS Sports)

Finally, the Lakers advanced to the NBA Finals, after 10 years of not making it that far. Their opponent was a bit of a shocker once again–a young, talented, and gritty Miami Heat squad, led by Jimmy Butler. This was the Lakers toughest series yet. Even though the Lakers won the first two games by double digit margins, making game 1 look too easy in a blowout for the Lakers, The Miami Heat never backed down. They ended up winning game 3 with a historic performance by Jimmy Butler (a 40-point triple-double). In game 4, however, the Lakers and LeBron James knew it was a must win to go up 3-1 and feel more comfortable, and they did just that.

However, like I said, the Heat did not back down–they won game 5 and gave the Lakers their first ever loss in the Mamba Jerseys, which had everyone shocked and Lakers fans feeling a bit nervous.

Game 6 had arrived, and the Lakers came out very strong, taking a big lead in the 2nd quarter and never looking back. They ended up blowing out the Heat by a score of 106-93, and winning their long-awaited 17th NBA championship (celebration at right; source: Getty Images).

LeBron James won his 4th finals MVP after putting up a 28-10-14 triple-double in game 6. The Lakers, of course were emotional, and very happy, to dedicate this championship to the late, great Kobe Bryant and his daughter Gianna Bryant who passed away earlier this year. The team ended up doing it for the city of Los Angeles, Lakers fans, but most importantly for Kobe and his daughter Gianna, who helped motivate them to get past each and every challenge that was in their way. As Kobe would have said, “THE JOB IS FINISHED!”