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The Sports Report: Andy Enfield hopes his numbers are up this season

USC Coach Andy Enfield
USC Coach Andy Enfield
(Lawrence K. Ho / Los Angeles Times)
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Hello everyone. My name is Houston Mitchell and let’s get right to the news.

USC basketball

Let’s turn away from the Lakers soap opera and turn toward another local basketball team, the USC Trojans men’s team. As USC beat writer J. Brady McCollough (no relation to J. Edgar Hoover or Jaye P. Morgan) writes,

“Two months after USC’s season ended in the Pac-12 tournament quarterfinals against Washington, coach Andy Enfield sat for an interview in his Galen Center office last week and projected the confidence one would expect from a guy heading into Year 7 with a deep roster that includes the most intriguing freshman class he’s ever coached.

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“I’m sure our practices will be a lot of fun this summer and in the fall,” Enfield said, almost knowingly. “There is a professionalism on our team now. It’s one thing to have talented players coming in, but if you look at the winning cultures that they’ve come from, it’s because of what they did. They were a part of that, and they helped establish that in their high school and AAU programs. I think freshmen are a huge part of any culture, and we expect them to be a big part of ours.”

“College basketball lore is stocked with stories of freshman classes that changed the culture and whipped upperclassmen into shape. USC, which returns just four scholarship players from last season and no proven alpha dogs, should hope for such a scenario to unfold from the moment in June when Isaiah Mobley, Onyeka Okongwu, Max Agbonkpolo, Kyle Sturdivant and Ethan Anderson step foot on campus.”

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Here’s how the Trojans have fared since Enfield took over as coach before the 2013-14 season:

2013-14: 11-21 (2-16 in Pac-12)

2014-15: 12-20 (3-15)

2015-16: 21-13 (9-9), lost to Providence in first round of NCAA tournament, 70-69.

2016-17: 26-10 (10-8), defeated SMU in first round of NCAA tournament, 66-65, lost to Baylor in second round, 82-78

2017-18: 24-12 (12-6), defeated UNC Asheville in first round of NIT, 103-98, lost to Western Kentucky in second round, 79-75.

2018-19: 16-17 (8-10)

Total: 110-93 (44-64)

As far as career wins for the Trojans, Enfield is one of only seven men’s basketball coaches with at least 100 with USC:

Sam Barry (1929-41, 1945-50), 260

Forrest Twogood (1950-66), 252

Bob Boyd (1966-79), 216

Henry Bibby (1996-2004), 132

George Raveling (1986-94), 115

Andy Enfield (2013-present), 110

Stan Morrison (1979-86), 103

Dodgers

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The Dodgers left Tampa with a split of their brief two-game series with the Rays after losing to Tampa Bay, 8-1. And, stop me if you’ve heard this before, but you can pin this loss on the bullpen.

After Rich Hill gave up one run in six innings, Dylan Floro came in and gave up four runs without getting anyone out. Caleb Ferguson gave up three runs in one inning and that was that.

“I’m just disappointed I let my team down,” Floro said. “I mean, I come in these and they look for me to put up a zero there….. “It’s part of the game. It’s going to happen. Just got to learn from it and move on.”

Boxing

Keith Thurman says he will knock Manny Pacquiao into retirement when the two face off on July 20. Pacquiao disagrees.

“He’s saying things before we fight, but I will send a message to him in the ring about exactly who he’s fighting; he will come to know that,” Pacquiao said Wednesday as he and Thurman stopped at the Beverly Hills Hotel to promote their bout. “No man can dictate when I’m going to retire.

“I’ve been in this sport two decades. Nobody intimidates me. Thurman should respect his elders, especially this elder.”

Thurman: “If you understand boxing history, you know that times change. Boxing is in a new era. Come July 20, Pacquiao will disappear. He’ll always be remembered in the sport, but I’m doing to Pacquiao what he did to Oscar De La Hoya. I’m excited to be the guy who shows Manny Pacquiao where the exit is.”

Pacquiao: “I love being an underdog because I’ve been an underdog my entire life. It’s great motivation and it encourages me to train hard. Fighting an undefeated fighter is a thrill because I enjoy taking that record away from them. I promise that the best is yet to come, and I assure you Keith Thurman doesn’t scare me. He inspires me.”

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If this was pro wrestling, this would be a Falls Count Anywhere, Loser Leave Town match.

NBA playoffs

Western Conference Finals

All times Pacific

at Golden State 116, Portland 94

at Golden State 114, Portland 111

Golden State 110, at Portland 99

Golden State 119, at Portland 117 (OT)

Eastern Conference Finals

All times Pacific

at Milwaukee 108, Toronto 100

at Milwaukee 125, Toronto 103

at Toronto 112, Milwaukee 108 (2 OT)

at Toronto 120, Milwaukee 102

Tonight, 5:30 p.m., Toronto at Milwaukee, TNT

Saturday, 5:30 p.m., Milwaukee at Toronto, TNT

*Monday, 5:30 p.m., Toronto at Milwaukee, TNT

*-if necessary

NHL playoffs

Stanley Cup Finals

All times Pacific

Monday, 5 p.m., St. Louis at Boston, NBC

Wednesday, 5 p.m., St. Louis at Boston, NBC

Sat., June 1, 5 p.m., Boston at St. Louis, NBCSN

Mon., June 3, 5 p.m., Boston at St. Louis, NBC

*Thur., June 6, 5 p.m., St. Louis at Boston, NBC

*Sun., June 9, 5 p.m., Boston at St. Louis, NBC

*Wed. June 12, 5 p.m., St. Louis at Boston, NBC

*-if necessary

Other newsletters

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We also have five other newsletters you can subscribe to for free. They are emailed to you and we don’t sell your name to other companies, so no spam from us. They are:

Our Dodgers newsletter, written by me. Subscribe here.

Lakers newsletter, written by Tania Ganguli. Subscribe here.

Horse racing newsletter, written by John Cherwa. Subscribe here.

Boxing/MMA newsletter, written by Lance Pugmire. Subscribe here.

Soccer newsletter, written by Kevin Baxter. Subscribe here.

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Odds and ends

The Angels-Twins game was rained out and will be made up today…. No surgery for Angels’ Andrelton Simmons, who is ‘hoping for a miracle‘…. Prosecutors seek six to 12 months in prison for former USC assistant Tony Bland…. Superior bench depth to give Warriors an advantage in NBA Finals…. NASCAR to gain control of 13 tracks in merger with ISC….

Today’s local major sports schedule

(All times Pacific)

Minnesota at Angels, 1 p.m., FSW, KLAA 830

Born on this date

1888: Baseball player Zack Wheat

1944: Tennis player John Newcombe

1951: Chess champion Anatoly Karpov

1952: Boxer Marvin Hagler

1961: NHL player Dave Babych

Died on this date

2002: Golfer Sam Snead, 89

And finally

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Marvin Hagler vs. Thomas Hearns. “The War.” Watch it here.

That concludes the newsletter for today. If you have any feedback, ideas for improvement or things you’d like to see, please email us here. If you want to subscribe, click here.

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