First Call: Diamondbacks bask in Starling Marte trade; Montana's advice for Brady; big games for Pitt and Duquesne

In Tuesday’s “First Call,” Arizona is celebrating the Starling Marte trade in a way we might not like. Joe Montana has advice for Tom Brady. LeSean McCoy talks about his reduced role. Jeff Capel’s return to Duke. And stunning numbers for Duquesne’s big game Wednesday.

Hey! You can’t do that!

The Arizona Diamondbacks just nabbed Starling Marte from the Pirates for two guys who won’t be in the Major Leagues for another two or three years.

At best.

So they are basking in the afterglow of that trade, as you may expect.

We got ourselves a Star. ?

Welcome to Arizona, @Starlingmart! #RattleOn pic.twitter.com/qfmsw01K35

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) January 27, 2020

We added a stud to our lineup today. #RattleOn pic.twitter.com/EHi5PyVrXr

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) January 28, 2020

That’s one thing. But now, they are even stealing one of Greg Brown’s signature Pittsburgh play-by-play lines.

This year we're throwing a Marte

(•_•)
( •_•)>⌐■-■
(⌐■_■)

PART-AY pic.twitter.com/PrZ27zib4H

— Arizona Diamondbacks (@Dbacks) January 27, 2020

OK, that’s going too far.

Ketel Marte was splitting his time between second base and center field. Now he can play infield exclusively.

Advice from a legend

Patriots quarterback Tom Brady will be a free agent. Some think he may be interested in leaving New England after winning six Super Bowls there.

Joe Montana knows what it is like to be a Super Bowl legend in one place.

And end your career in another.

The Ringgold graduate won four Super Bowls over 13 years in San Francisco, and then he went to Kansas City for two seasons to close out his career.

“Don’t if you don’t have to,” Montana said on the NFL Network. “I mean, it’s a process to go through it and it takes time to get used to the team. If they let him have his own offense there, yeah, that makes it a little bit easier.

“It’s not easy to go to another team and get accepted, no matter how much success you’ve had and how many years you’ve played. They still want to see you come in and be the same player and be that loyal to them as you were to the other team you just left. So, it’s not easy (for) guys looking at that change, especially at the quarterback position.”

That’s coming from a guy who went 17-8 and made the playoffs twice with his new team.

Down to Duke

Duke alum and former Blue Devils assistant Jeff Capel returns to Cameron Indoor Stadium with his Panthers Tuesday night at 9 p.m.

It’ll be his first time coaching there as the Panthers bench boss. Duke won against the Panthers at the Petersen Events Center last year, 79-64.

Capel’s club is coming off a 69-61 loss to Syracuse on Saturday. The ninth-ranked Blue Devils (16-3) have been off for a week. Duke smoked a beat-up Miami team 89-59 last Tuesday. They had lost their previous two contests to Louisville and Clemson.

Pitt will need to contain Duke’s inside-out game. Freshman Vernon Carey (6’10”, 270) leads the team with 16.9 points per game and 8.3 rebounds.

Meanwhile, guard Tre Jones is averaging 16.8 points per contest over his last five conference games.

Duke is fourth in the country in scoring at 82.9 points per game.

Pitt’s Justin Champagnie is the ACC Freshman of the Week.

It’s been … how long?

Check out some of these numbers surrounding Duquesne’s next home game.

Dayton is coming to town Wednesday at 7 p.m. at PPG Paints Arena. The Flyers are ranked seventh in the AP college basketball poll. They have the third-best scoring offense in the country at 83.2 points per game.

According to Duquesne’s sports information department, Dayton (18-2, 7-0) is the highest ranked team to play at Duquesne since No. 1 UMass on Jan. 20, 1996.

UMass won that game 93-89 en route to the Final Four.

Dayton, one of four Division I teams without a road loss, is the first top-10 team to visit the Dukes since No. 9 Xavier on Feb. 7, 2009.

Ron Everhart’s team won that contest 72-68 at the Palumbo Center. That’s the Xavier team that lost to Pitt in the Sweet 16 that season.

Shady sitting?

Pitt running back LeSean “Shady” McCoy is at Super Bowl week with the Kansas City Chiefs.

Will he be playing, though? That’s unclear.

McCoy was inactive for the AFC Championship Game, and he only played one snap in the divisional round win over the Texans.

But at the Super Bowl Media Night festivities he said all the right things.

“The other backs stepped up and played really, really good, so my role kinda backtracked a little bit,” McCoy said via ProFootballTalk.com. “To be honest, whenever my name is called, I’m out there giving 110 percent.”

McCoy hasn’t had a carry since Dec. 15. But he told NFL.com he is not ready to retire yet.