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Jerry West on Jeremy Lin: 'Dont Play The Blame Game' On W's Losing Lin

2012-02-15T20:09:09Z

Golden State Warriors consultant Jerry West has been in and around the NBA for quite some time now, and has seen his fare share of fads, streaks, and the like in his time. But when it comes to the rise of New York Knicks point guard and Palo Alto native Jeremy Lin, West wants to stay away from the 'blame game' that comes with his departure from the Warriors before the season.

West talked about Lin's relationship with Joe Lacob and his son back in their high school days on The Dan Patrick Show, speaking about the two's friendship from Palo Alto High was a large factor in Lacob's signing of Lin:

How Lin became a Warrior:
"He was a very good friend of the owner Joe Lacob and his son, and they played together. And they signed him. And they saw something there in him, and during the process of trying to sign DeAndre Jordan, there were certain players that had to be moved off the roster."

But when it came to losing Lin, West made it clear there really isn't a single person or group to blame:

No blame for losing Lin:
"To me, don't place blame. You give credit. The credit goes to Jeremy. A lot of things in sports are about blame. There's no blame here. It's just maybe some people didn't see what he had inside."

Here's a link the interview from The Dan Patrick Show.

For more on the Warriors head over to Golden State of Mind.

Linsanity Follows Mark Jackson Everywhere, Even To Starbucks

2012-02-15T17:05:22Z

Golden State Warriors head coach Mark Jackson was on 95.7 The GAME Tuesday evening discussing the W's recent success and their meeting with the Portland Trailblazers Wednesday night.

Jax was also asked about Jeremy Lin, again, and had nothing but good things to saw about the player he barely met, again. He did have a funny little anecdote about Lin and a local Starbucks though.

Make the jump for more.

On whether he's happy for Jeremy Lin:

I'm happy for him because at the end of the day we have a point guard in Steph[en] Curry. I was at Starbucks yesterday and a guy asked me about Jeremy Lin and Steph Curry ... I asked him ‘Who's a better player,' and he paused and because he took the pause I just told him ‘Thank you, have a great day, and enjoy your coffee!

Everybody is a critic, even the friggin barista. John Lund even found a little stat to tie Jax to the incomparable Lin:

On Mark Jackson playing at Jeremy Lin's level when he was an NBA player:

John Lund (Host): "Forty-One players since the '85-'86 season have had ... and Jeremy Lin's on this list now ... twenty points, six assists, and fifty percent in four consecutive games ... you're on that list."

Jackson: "You mean I played at Jeremy Lin's level?!"

Greg Papa (Host): (laughter) "See ... it could happen to anybody."

Jackson: "That's the best compliment I ever had!"

For more on the Warriors, head over to Golden State of Mind. For more Linsanity, check out Posting and Toasting.

K.C. Jones To Be Inducted Into 2012 WCC Hall Of Honor

2012-02-15T16:00:28Z

Naismith Hall-of-Famer and University of San Francisco basketball legend K.C. Jones will receive another honor this year for his stellar NCAA career. Jones will be inducted into the West Coast Conference Hall of Honor, joining eight other WCC legends to be inducted March 3 at the Orleans Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas. The ceremony will take place during the conference tournament, held at the same locale.

This year's class includes Jones, BYU's Elaine Michaelis (Volleyball/Administration), Gonzaga University's Blake Stepp (Men's Basketball), Loyola Marymount University's Billy Bean (Baseball), Pepperdine University's Dana Jones (Men's Basketball), University of Portland's Kasey Keller (Men's Soccer), Saint Mary's College's Tom Candiotti (Baseball), University of San Diego's Thomas Burke (Administration), and Santa Clara University's Kurt Rambis (Men's Basketball).

Jones was a member of USF's back-to-back national championship teams in 1954-55 and 1955-56 and was an Olympic gold medalist. He joins NBA Don and All-American Joe Ellis, Pro Football Hall-of-Famer Bob St. Clair and soccer legend and NSCAA Hall-of-Famer Steve Negoesco as WCC Hall of Honor inductees for the University of San Francisco.

A graduate of San Francisco's Commerce High School, Jones turned in an All-American career at USF under the tutelage of fellow Naismith Hall-of-Famer Phil Woolpert. In Jones' first year with the Dons in 1952-53, San Francisco posted a 10-11 record. After suffering a season-ending injury the following season, Jones paired with Naismith Hall-of-Famer Bill Russell to propel Dons to the top of the college basketball world. San Francisco won back-to-back NCAA Championships in 1954-55 and 1955-56. After falling to UCLA in the third game of the 1954-55 season, Jones and Russell would not lose another for the remainder of their collegiate careers, rolling to 55 consecutive victories.

After a two-year stint in the Army, Jones bypassed a potential NFL career to join Russell in Boston and played a key role in the Celtics dynasty, capturing eight rings in nine seasons under coaching legend Red Auerbach. Known as a tenacious defender and a fearless competitor, Jones averaged 7.4 points, 3.5 rebounds and 4.3 assists per game during his NBA career. Jones' No. 25 jersey was retired by the Celtics and his No. 4 jersey was retired by the Dons.

Following his playing career, Jones began his coaching career. He spent three seasons as a college head coach before joining the Los Angeles Lakers as an assistant coach in 1971-72. Jones' earned his first NBA head coaching job with the Washington Bullets where he spent three seasons, including a trip to the 1975 NBA Finals. Jones returned to the Celtics as an assistant coach and won another ring with the franchise in 1980-81.

Jones took the reigns in Boston in 1983 and coached multiple Naismith Hall-of-Famers - Larry Bird, Dennis Johnson, Kevin McHale, Robert Parrish and Bill Walton - to NBA Championships in 1984 and 1986. In 10 seasons as an NBA head coach, Jones compiled a 522-252 (.674) record with five trips to the NBA Finals. No individual in NBA history has collected more championship rings than Jones (12).

Thanks to the University of San Francisco for this detailed information about the extensive career of K.C. Jones, and congrats to Jones for yet another noteworthy accomplishment.

Jeremy Lin Mania Continues, Tim Tebow Comparisons Finally Arrive

2012-02-15T14:01:13Z

Jeremy Lin has already captured the hearts of just about every Knicks fan and is quickly taking the sports world by storm. Whether it be his game-winning shots, his stellar performance on national television against Kobe Bryant and the Lakers or his team-first attitude, there is a lot to like about the young and emerging point guard.

Does that remind you of a certain quarterback in Denver this past season?

Tim Tebow was the talk of the 2011 NFL season, whether it was deserved or not. And regardless of your stance on if he'll make it as a quarterback or not in the league, you have to admire his heart and courage, especially with the game on the line.

I was enjoying Tim Tebow as much as the next guy, but comparing Jeremy Lin to Tebow is an insult ... to Lin
— Gregg Doyel (@greggdoyelcbs) February 15, 2012

I have to say I'm inclined to agree. There is nothing fluky about Lin nor does it look like his production will slow anytime in the near future. Is he going to score 25 points a night? No, probably not, but he appears to be set with the Knicks for the long haul. As for Tim Tebow, even after a big winning streak and a playoff victory, there are still plenty of questions, most notably if he'll even have the starting job in a year or two.

The comparisons were inevitable and the two players are even comparable after a few games in their respective leagues, but make no mistake about it: Jeremy Lin is not even close to being the same player Tim Tebow is. He's a natural at the game of basketball.

Jeremy Lin 3, Spain 0 [PHOTO]

2012-02-15T12:30:04Z

You might not remember this racist photo from the 2008 Olympics in Beijing from the Spanish national team. But it was pretty bad. Click here to view it or you'll see an edited version of the photo after the jump.

Jeremy Lin, take your revenge on these Spaniards.

Lin has won his last three games with a Spaniard from that team featuring prominently on the roster.

Drops 38 on Pau Gasol and the Los Angeles Lakers Friday night at Madison Square Garden.
Hits the game-winning free throw on Ricky Rubio and the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Nails a game-winner against the Toronto Raptors, right over the outstretched hand of Jose Calderon. Calderon had been outplaying him most of the night, but Lin had the last laugh.

Cross them off the list!

All that's left to complete the NBA circles are two more players: Rudy Fernandez of the Denver Nuggets and Marc Gasol of the Memphis Grizzlies. Unfortunately New York has already played both of those teams sans Lin, so they'll miss out on those revenge games until 2012. Lin will have to sub that with two more matchups with Calderon.

To talk about Lin and the Knicks, head on over to Posting and Toasting.

Jeremy Lin Game Winning Shot Versus Raptors [VIDEO]

2012-02-15T03:17:12Z

Nine days into Linsanity, is there really anything that surprises anybody anymore when it comes to New York Knicks point guard Jeremy Lin? The Palo Alto native continued what has turned into an almost preposterous magical run and added his first game-winning field goal. Lin hit a three with 0.5 seconds left on the road against the struggling Toronto Raptors to cap a double digit comeback in a 90-87 Knicks win.

Head after the jump to view video of the game-winning three.

Jeremy Lin Game-Winner

Lin scored 27 points in the victory including the final six points to cap the comeback. In scoring 27 points, Lin passed Shaquille O'Neal for the most points scored through the first five starts of an NBA career. Although Lin played with the Golden State Warriors last season, he received limited time and no starts.

In his last six appearances, the last five of which were starts, Lin has scored at least 20 points in each game and been a pivotal part of the Knicks unexpected turnaround. New York has won all six of the games during the Lin explosion and now sit at 14-15 and six games back of the Philadelphia 76ers.

Kurt Rambis To Be Inducted Into 2012 WCC Hall Of Honor

2012-02-14T23:17:21Z

Kurt Rambis is renowned for being a great Laker, having funky goggles, and clothes-lining Kevin McHale. But before that Rambis was a big-time Santa Clara Bronco, and he did some great things there. More on why Rambis is getting inducted after the jump courtesy of this press release.

During his career at Santa Clara, Rambis scored a school-record 1,736 points from 1976-80. He was named the West Coast Conference Player of the Year in 1980 after being named the WCC Freshman of the Year in 1977. Thirty-two years later he is still in the top 10 of the following individual career records at SCU: No. 1 in scoring (1,736 points), No. 2 in field goals made (686) No. 3 in personal fouls (366), rebounds (1,037) and games started (107); No. 4 in free throws attempted (545); No. 5 in field goals attempted (1,316); No. 6 with points per game (16.1) and ; No. 8 in minutes played (3,240); and No. 10 in field goal percentage (.521) and free throws made (364). He is tied with John Bryant (22, vs. LMU, 1-29-09) for the Leavey Center record with 22 rebounds vs. Saint Mary's in the Broncos' 90-73 win over the Gaels on Feb. 5, 1977.

The rest of this class includes BYU's Elaine Michaelis (Volleyball/Administration), Gonzaga University's Blake Stepp (Men's Basketball), Loyola Marymount University's Billy Bean (Baseball), Pepperdine University's Dana Jones (Men's Basketball), University of Portland's Kasey Keller (Men's Soccer), Saint Mary's College's Tom Candiotti (Baseball), University of San Diego's Thomas Burke (Administration) and University of San Francisco's K.C. Jones (Men's Basketball).

Rambis will be inducted on Saturday, March 3 at the Orleans Hotel in Las Vegas, NV.

Alex Morgan And Natalie Coughlin Featured In Body Paint In SI Swimsuit Issue 2012 [PHOTOS]

2012-02-14T11:07:23Z

It's a pretty good day to be a Cal fan, as both soccer player Alex Morgan and Olympic swimmer Natalie Coughlin were featured in the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit issue. Morgan is fresh off a huge campaign with the US Women's National Team that nearly culminated in a World Cup victory. Coughlin is getting ready to compete for more medals in her third Olympic games in London, and Morgan should be joining her for the women's soccer team.

Morgan and Coughlin both got featured in body paint in the SI swimsuit issue. Here's a sample of some of their photos after the jump.

Alex Morgan/Body Paint
Photograph by Stewart Shining
Click here for more images.

Natalie Coughlin/Body Paint
Photograph by Kayt Jones
Click here for more images.

Not a bad day at all to be a California Golden Bear.

See more of Coughlin and Morgan in the SI Swimsuit 2012.

To talk about Morgan and Coughlin and their appearance in the SI Swimsuit Issue with Cal fans, head on over to the California Golden Blogs.