25 thoughts on “June 10, 2015: Another Work Week Down”
NBA last night. So many thoughts. I stayed up past 11:00 even though I had to get up before the birds and drive to ND.
I think Rudy Tomjanovich said it best. "Don't ever question the heart of a champion."
That was a phenomenal performance by the Cavs, once again dictating the pace and holding off a much more talented group of individuals. The Warriors starting front line has been completely rendered useless in this series. Did Harrison Barnes dress for that game? Is Andrew Bogut aware that this isn't the pre-season? Have we been sold a bill of goods on Draymond Green? David Lee came in and actually, you know, competed for the Warriors. These other guys... stinky. The other guy who really competed for GSW was Andre Iguodala. He was their best player all night long. He defended LeBron just about as well as could be expected and he contributed offensively. Curry did get hot in the fourth -- many times when Delly wasn't guarding him, but where in the hell was he the first three quarters when Cleveland was taking command of the game? This is the league MVP! You can't be invisible in the Finals!
The Best Player in the World once again completely dominated this game. GSW has made an enormous strategic blunder so far in this series. They've decided that they are going to make LeBron James, who is moving up in stature to the absolute pinnacle of NBA players, beat them. Guess what? He can do that! What's really damaging is that they've allowed LBJ to take the air out of the ball (figuratively) by holding and holding and holding. This is exactly what GSW shouldn't want. They have conceded pace to the Cavs. Huge, huge error. All LBJ needs in such a game is to have one guy have a game and he'll be good to go. At a faster pace, GSW would force more than one guy besides LBJ to get going. They need to double. They haven't. That's stupid. They have more talent! Cleveland has more heart and they seem to have a much better game plan.
Matthew Dellavedova spent the night in the hospital due to extreme cramping. What a game this man played. Again, he completely neutralized Curry for much of the game while scoring 20 points on his own. If the Curry/Dellavedova matchup is a draw and it most definitely was last night (if not actually in Delly's favor), GSW is in serious trouble.
Who knows if Delly can do it again? Shumpert hurt his shoulder, can he give them anything? Is LBJ even human or is he some cyborg from the future (are you Sarah Connor)? Make no mistake, this is shaping up to be the greatest Finals performance in the history of the league by a single player.
Game 4 Thursday night. I expect more of the same.
I watched the 4th quarter. What fun.
I don't see how the Cavs can win it in 6 or 7. But if they can keep the accelerator on for two more games…they could win it in 5!
What's really damaging is that they've allowed LBJ to take the air out of the ball (figuratively) by holding and holding and holding.
Man, this is a really critical point. Double him out on the floor and get the ball out of his hands. Make Cleveland move the ball earlier in the shot clock.
I agree that GSW seemed to get down on themselves, at least until Curry got it going.
I won't go so far as to put LBJ's performance at the top of the Pantheon just yet, but he's certainly knocking on the door. (Probably) The only NBA champion that has been as dependent on a single player was the Warriors in 1975. Rick Barry: 29.5/4.0/5.0 (leading in assists as well as scoring)and 43 min/g in a 4-game sweep (wins by 6, 1, 8 and 1). The next highest scorer on the team was Jamaal Wilkes at 11.5 ppg, and nobody else averaged 30 min/g (Clifford Ray was at 29.8 min/g).
In 1967, a 22-year old Rick Barry went for 40.8/8.8/3.3 in 43+ min/g in a losing effort for the Warriors vs the 76ers (who had Wilt as their FIFTH-leading scorer at 17.7 ppg, while also grabbing 28.5 reb/game. Seriously. 28.5. He was effectively neutralized by Nate Thurmond, who went for 26.7 reb/g). Barry scored 37 in a Game 1 loss, 30 in a Game 2 loss, 55 in a Game 3 win, 43 in a Game 4 loss, 36 in a Game 5 win, and 44 in a three-point loss in the clinching Game 6. Of course, those were different times, with high-scoring games and lousy shooting.
In the 1969 Finals, the Logo went for 53 (2-pt win), 41 (6-pt win), 24 (6-pt loss), 40 (1-pt loss), 39 (13-pt win), 26 (9-pt loss) and 42 (2-pt loss).
I didn't watch more than 5 minutes of basketball all season until the Finals. I've watched most of these three games and I've been very entertained.
I'm downright pissed that I've been in England this week during these finals, so I haven't been able to watch anything since game 1. Fortunately, I think it's going to go at least six games, so I'll be able to watch the later ones.
So this James guy for the Cavs is alright at basketball huh?
Kobe Bean Bryant summarizes the series in 140 characters:
GSW's performance has a form over substance feel. They better quit thinking that showing up is all they need to do. They are in a dog fight. Better start baring some teeth.
Random fact about another Cavs guy that I never knew: Kevin Love's uncle is Mike Love. Huh.
No (known) relation to Bob Love, however. 😉
What about Dude Love?
Sad news. The downtown St. Paul skyway is going to somehow get even worse as The Four Inns is closing on Friday. While it is nothing special, it filled a void by providing a place to actually sit and have a meal. I've enjoyed lunches there with CoC, Sean, yickit, and Philo the last few months.
What. That sucks.
In which Trueblood gets a bit philosofickle, and writes one of his best pieces ever. Especially that last paragraph.
I love Daugherty's view of statistics. If they disagree with his observations, they are worthless. If they agree with his observations, they are worthless.
Consistency!
O.M.G.
h/t to GreekHouse
My favorite might have been the tip-off at 0:15.
Sadly Sheenie just had to drop out of the MS150 because of some mysterious health issues the past week. Thankfully, they still needed volunteers so she will be doing so to still feel a part of the ride. She's definitely bummed.
Anyway, there is still time to donate to help raise funds to end MS.
She is in our prayers. Hope things turn out all right.
The '83 Sixers are the last team to win a title without having a player on the roster who was a once or future teammate of Shaq. Of those 32 teams, 31 of them had such a player on the roster during the Finals.
NBA last night. So many thoughts. I stayed up past 11:00 even though I had to get up before the birds and drive to ND.
I think Rudy Tomjanovich said it best. "Don't ever question the heart of a champion."
That was a phenomenal performance by the Cavs, once again dictating the pace and holding off a much more talented group of individuals. The Warriors starting front line has been completely rendered useless in this series. Did Harrison Barnes dress for that game? Is Andrew Bogut aware that this isn't the pre-season? Have we been sold a bill of goods on Draymond Green? David Lee came in and actually, you know, competed for the Warriors. These other guys... stinky. The other guy who really competed for GSW was Andre Iguodala. He was their best player all night long. He defended LeBron just about as well as could be expected and he contributed offensively. Curry did get hot in the fourth -- many times when Delly wasn't guarding him, but where in the hell was he the first three quarters when Cleveland was taking command of the game? This is the league MVP! You can't be invisible in the Finals!
The Best Player in the World once again completely dominated this game. GSW has made an enormous strategic blunder so far in this series. They've decided that they are going to make LeBron James, who is moving up in stature to the absolute pinnacle of NBA players, beat them. Guess what? He can do that! What's really damaging is that they've allowed LBJ to take the air out of the ball (figuratively) by holding and holding and holding. This is exactly what GSW shouldn't want. They have conceded pace to the Cavs. Huge, huge error. All LBJ needs in such a game is to have one guy have a game and he'll be good to go. At a faster pace, GSW would force more than one guy besides LBJ to get going. They need to double. They haven't. That's stupid. They have more talent! Cleveland has more heart and they seem to have a much better game plan.
Matthew Dellavedova spent the night in the hospital due to extreme cramping. What a game this man played. Again, he completely neutralized Curry for much of the game while scoring 20 points on his own. If the Curry/Dellavedova matchup is a draw and it most definitely was last night (if not actually in Delly's favor), GSW is in serious trouble.
Who knows if Delly can do it again? Shumpert hurt his shoulder, can he give them anything? Is LBJ even human or is he some cyborg from the future (are you Sarah Connor)? Make no mistake, this is shaping up to be the greatest Finals performance in the history of the league by a single player.
Game 4 Thursday night. I expect more of the same.
I watched the 4th quarter. What fun.
I don't see how the Cavs can win it in 6 or 7. But if they can keep the accelerator on for two more games…they could win it in 5!
Man, this is a really critical point. Double him out on the floor and get the ball out of his hands. Make Cleveland move the ball earlier in the shot clock.
I agree that GSW seemed to get down on themselves, at least until Curry got it going.
I won't go so far as to put LBJ's performance at the top of the Pantheon just yet, but he's certainly knocking on the door. (Probably) The only NBA champion that has been as dependent on a single player was the Warriors in 1975. Rick Barry: 29.5/4.0/5.0 (leading in assists as well as scoring)and 43 min/g in a 4-game sweep (wins by 6, 1, 8 and 1). The next highest scorer on the team was Jamaal Wilkes at 11.5 ppg, and nobody else averaged 30 min/g (Clifford Ray was at 29.8 min/g).
In 1967, a 22-year old Rick Barry went for 40.8/8.8/3.3 in 43+ min/g in a losing effort for the Warriors vs the 76ers (who had Wilt as their FIFTH-leading scorer at 17.7 ppg, while also grabbing 28.5 reb/game. Seriously. 28.5. He was effectively neutralized by Nate Thurmond, who went for 26.7 reb/g). Barry scored 37 in a Game 1 loss, 30 in a Game 2 loss, 55 in a Game 3 win, 43 in a Game 4 loss, 36 in a Game 5 win, and 44 in a three-point loss in the clinching Game 6. Of course, those were different times, with high-scoring games and lousy shooting.
In the 1969 Finals, the Logo went for 53 (2-pt win), 41 (6-pt win), 24 (6-pt loss), 40 (1-pt loss), 39 (13-pt win), 26 (9-pt loss) and 42 (2-pt loss).
I didn't watch more than 5 minutes of basketball all season until the Finals. I've watched most of these three games and I've been very entertained.
I'm downright pissed that I've been in England this week during these finals, so I haven't been able to watch anything since game 1. Fortunately, I think it's going to go at least six games, so I'll be able to watch the later ones.
So this James guy for the Cavs is alright at basketball huh?
Kobe Bean Bryant summarizes the series in 140 characters:
GSW's performance has a form over substance feel. They better quit thinking that showing up is all they need to do. They are in a dog fight. Better start baring some teeth.
Random fact about another Cavs guy that I never knew: Kevin Love's uncle is Mike Love. Huh.
No (known) relation to Bob Love, however. 😉
What about Dude Love?
Sad news. The downtown St. Paul skyway is going to somehow get even worse as The Four Inns is closing on Friday. While it is nothing special, it filled a void by providing a place to actually sit and have a meal. I've enjoyed lunches there with CoC, Sean, yickit, and Philo the last few months.
What. That sucks.
In which Trueblood gets a bit philosofickle, and writes one of his best pieces ever. Especially that last paragraph.
I love Daugherty's view of statistics. If they disagree with his observations, they are worthless. If they agree with his observations, they are worthless.
Consistency!
O.M.G.
h/t to GreekHouse
My favorite might have been the tip-off at 0:15.
Sadly Sheenie just had to drop out of the MS150 because of some mysterious health issues the past week. Thankfully, they still needed volunteers so she will be doing so to still feel a part of the ride. She's definitely bummed.
Anyway, there is still time to donate to help raise funds to end MS.
She is in our prayers. Hope things turn out all right.
The '83 Sixers are the last team to win a title without having a player on the roster who was a once or future teammate of Shaq. Of those 32 teams, 31 of them had such a player on the roster during the Finals.
Six Degrees of Shaq?
Yeah, nothing is ever as good without Bacon.
It's a real bad week for LeBron haters.
Huh. Cool story.
Anyone going, or thinking about going, to the Heartless Bastards with Craig Finn at First Ave on the 29th?