Okay, the Twins keep JR Smithing this, and it's getting kinda old.
26 thoughts on “June 1, 2018: The Kinda Comeback Kids”
Here's hoping for a different outcome on Sunday--I'll be there with the jalapeno and peperoncino! Anyone else planning to be there?
AMR, nice to see you. You made the right call; I didn't have anything to hand off. (Unless you wanted to return my library books for me.)
Likewise on the lack of things to hand off.
hj - that's a stone cold hilarious intro ... but 10:00 am the day after an instantly-unforgettable Game 1 of the NBA Finals - where's the Emeritus, bootsy and bS commentary!?!
They're passive aggressively fighting it out on Twitter.
If that image of LeBron and JR Smith doesn't become the greatest meme ever, then I will be disappointed.
Let the Wookie troll win. 🙂
No doubt.
If that image of LeBron and JR Smith doesn't become the greatest meme ever, then I will be disappointed.
oh man, it's certainly off to a good start. even the variations are perfect:
In twenty years, when we are discussing the GOAT, we won't be comparing ringz or stats, but crying Jordan to disappointed dad LeBron.
So much meme potential from LeBron's.
One of the downsides of hiring on with the RR after 23 years of consulting there is that now that the nest is empty and we can afford to take vacations, I don't have as much time off to take (because "new hire") as we'd like to. That said, Mrs. Runner had a good idea for our trip the the northlands for a wedding in October: instead of the 13+ hr power drive, short weekend w/wedding, and then the same drive home again, we've rented a lake home for a week that I can telecommute from. We can take our time getting up there, and we're ~2 hrs away so other family can hang out with us at the lake as well.
We've got a place reserved on Leech Lake near Walker the first week of October; we'll be spending a Saturday evening in Alexandria, if anyone knows of a place to eat around there 😉
sooooo, you're saying blowout kegger at rhu_ru's phat beach house? game on, man!
I'll bring the bug spray. Oh it's in October. I'll bring some extra blankets.
Keep me posted. If you haven't already booked a room for Saturday night, the Hampton Inn is across the street and is the nicest hotel in this town.
At some point I have been thinking of offering to host a caucus up here. If you think that could fit for your weekend, we could try to make it work. If not, no worries... I will pick another date sometime. (Don't want to horn in on your vacation time). Either way, it would great to officially meet you in person.
Thanks for the info!
I've been meaning to stop by at some point; I definitely had my Saturday supper location in mind. 😉
I had relatives in Brandon and Garfield back in the day, and was related to the family of Bud from Bud's Supervalu, so I know Alex a bit, but nowadays it's just a blur as we drive past.
I can't promise anything as far as caucus attendance, as I'll have a wife and daughter in tow, but I'll do what I can.
Padres broadcaster Ted Leitner has cancer and will leave the broadcast booth indefinitely. I don't know if anyone here but me ever tunes in to Padres radio broadcasts, but I've always enjoyed his work. May things go well for him and he have a speedy recovery.
Ok, I'll bite.
Last night, we saw Episode 19 of Superman vs. the Machine. It was an exciting, if unevenly played (and officiated) game. Regardless of what you may have read on teh Twitters, Cleveland lost because it had an effective FG percent of .495 and 11 turnovers against GSW's .583 and 7 turnovers.
Lebron continued his disabusing of every GOML argument about past greats by delivering his eighth 40+ point performance of these playoffs, racking up 51 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists while shooting 19-32 (3-7 on threes) from the floor and 10-11 from the line. That translated into an otherworldly 138 ORtg. Unfortunately for him, his teammates are his teammates. While Kevin Love had an excellent bounce-back game from his concussion against Boston (21 and 13), nobody else contributed all that much.
Meanwhile, GSW's big three contributed 79 points, 18 rebounds, and 16 assists, while shooting a combined 27-61 (and a pedestrian-for-them 11-28 on threes thanks to Durant's 1-7) from the floor and 14-15 from the FT line with 4 turnovers. The Dubs also got a typical stat-stuffing line from Draymond and solid contributions from a rotating cast of role players, including Shaun Livingston's 10 points on 4-4 FG and 2-2 FT, with 2 reb, 3 assists and a steal.
The game featured an ugly three-minute stretch in the 2nd quarter (from the 5:19 mark when Love hit a 15-footer to put Cleveland up 51-40). Cleveland went dark, missing four shots and committing three turnovers, while GS went 3-6 to pull within 51-48. The half ended tied 56-56.
Cleveland then started the third quarter by going 2-10 as GS went on a run, building up a seven point lead by mid-quarter. Lebron pulled his team back, scoring 12 of his team's 22 in the quarter, but was looking winded from carrying the entire team on his back throughout the playoffs and sat for the last two minutes of the quarter and the first minute of the 4th, as GS went back up by 6. The game see-sawed until, in a highly controversial call, Lebron was called for a blocking foul with 50 second remaining. Durant converted the free throws to tie the game, setting up the dramatics at the end of regulation. You all know what happened. George Hill missed the second of two free throws, which would have put Cleveland up by one with 4 seconds remaining, JR Smith grabbed the offensive rebound, then failed to shoot or call a time out. Kudos for a great offensive rebound, boos for not being aware of the situation.
Predictably, GS torched a gassed Cavs team in OT. Thus passing what was probably Cleveland's best chance to win this series.
Iguadola is expected back on Sunday for Game 2. Assuming Klay's knee is ok, that means that GS should be at full strength the rest of the way. Durant has not played well for several games; at some point, he is going to bust out. Cleveland lacks the athletes that Houston had to throw at GS defensively. As great as Lebron is, it is just asking too much of him to overcome GS's firepower, ball movement, and outstanding team defense, by himself. He needs at least as much as he got in this game from Love every game, and he needs a great shooting night from his perimeter guys just to expect to compete, because they are a weak defensive team.
So... NBA finals.
It's generally a given that Cleveland absolutely needs LeBron to be transcendent to have a chance. Last night, LeBron was transcendent. There can be little doubt but that he remains the best player in the world and I really believe he is as good as he's ever been. Maybe better! He now shares the record for most 30 point games in the playoffs with some dude from Wilmington, NC. He now has eight 40 point games in THIS post-season and he added his first 50 point post-season game last night. He got what he wanted down the stretch and he found guys who were open all night, including on the most crucial offensive possession for Cleveland of the game. If you watched this game and failed to realize just how much better he was than everyone else, well, then you are probably (a) some bay area knucklehead or (b) don't understand the game of basketball.
How were the Warriors, who don't have LeBron, able to win this game? Well, the number one thing that they had going for them was a great effort from Steph Curry. Curry had thirty and he hit a key three point play in the final minute with GSW trailing by two to set up The Insanity (no, not that Insanity, WGOMers). Durant scored some points and he "drew a key foul" down the stretch. He's no Curry, though, when the pressure's on.
Added to this was, how shall we say it? an enormously consequential call by the officials with about 35 seconds left. Durant drove the lane and LeBron met him well in front of the restricted area (at least two feet above the restricted area). Whistles blown, charge called. Then the officials called for a review. They can only review this call if there was some question as to whether the defender (LeBron) was outside of the restricted zone. That's the trigger. Not whether it's a questionable block/charge call, but whether LeBron was in the restricted area. Jesus, Phil Cuzzi was yelling man, that's not even close! Nevertheless, the officials defied NBA rules and decided to review the play. And they reversed the call. It would have been Cleveland's ball with :35 left and a two-point lead. Instead, they gifted Durant with two free throws, which to his credit, he made. LeBron scored again, Curry got his three point play and Cleveland gets the ball, trailing by one.
With about 5 seconds left, LeBron spots George Hill open under the basket. He fires a pass to Hill and Hill is fouled. He goes to the line and makes the first and misses the second. J.R. Smith outmuscles Durant for the rebound and has a point blank shot to give Cleveland a two-point lead. Instead, he dribbles away from the basket, fritters away most of the remaining time until he sees LeBron frantically waving him the other way. Smith tosses it to a guarded Hill, who throws up a desperation heave. Buzzer. OT.
GSW, buoyed by their seemingly impossible good luck and a massive assist by the men tasked with ensuring the game is played by the rules, score the first nine points of OT and salt the game away. With 2 seconds left, Tristan Thompson is assessed a Flagrant 2 on an extremely dubious call by one of those same dudes. And then he shoves the ball at resident a**hole Draymond Green and may face a suspension in game 2.
Sure, I want Cleveland to win, but more than that I want good basketball and I want to enjoy LeBron play. The game was tight most of the night and extremely entertaining. Cleveland very well could have won, had the officials not broken the rules and had JR Smith not lost his mind. That really sullied a great game. But, win or lose, it was a pleasure to see the King ply his craft. And I was amazed by Curry's ability to drive the GSW bus. Too bad that it had to end the way it did.
Despite last night's exciting game 1 causing me to drink a bit more bourbon than I had planned, today was a very productive day. The pleasures of working remote allowed me to get quite a bit of work done from my La-Z-Boy, got out to farm and fleet to get some wall anchors to hang the sound bar to go with the new TV I got for the bedroom (that was hung last night), hopped on the bike trainer for thirty minutes then weights, did dishes and started a chuck roast in the instant pot for French dip sammies.
This was all a way of saying I'm glad it's no longer a boiling hellscape here so I can relax on my deck and drink some beer.
Here's hoping for a different outcome on Sunday--I'll be there with the jalapeno and peperoncino! Anyone else planning to be there?
AMR, nice to see you. You made the right call; I didn't have anything to hand off. (Unless you wanted to return my library books for me.)
Likewise on the lack of things to hand off.
hj - that's a stone cold hilarious intro ... but 10:00 am the day after an instantly-unforgettable Game 1 of the NBA Finals - where's the Emeritus, bootsy and bS commentary!?!
They're passive aggressively fighting it out on Twitter.
If that image of LeBron and JR Smith doesn't become the greatest meme ever, then I will be disappointed.
Let the
Wookietroll win. 🙂No doubt.
If that image of LeBron and JR Smith doesn't become the greatest meme ever, then I will be disappointed.
oh man, it's certainly off to a good start. even the variations are perfect:
In twenty years, when we are discussing the GOAT, we won't be comparing ringz or stats, but crying Jordan to disappointed dad LeBron.
So much meme potential from LeBron's.
One of the downsides of hiring on with the RR after 23 years of consulting there is that now that the nest is empty and we can afford to take vacations, I don't have as much time off to take (because "new hire") as we'd like to. That said, Mrs. Runner had a good idea for our trip the the northlands for a wedding in October: instead of the 13+ hr power drive, short weekend w/wedding, and then the same drive home again, we've rented a lake home for a week that I can telecommute from. We can take our time getting up there, and we're ~2 hrs away so other family can hang out with us at the lake as well.
We've got a place reserved on Leech Lake near Walker the first week of October; we'll be spending a Saturday evening in Alexandria, if anyone knows of a place to eat around there 😉
sooooo, you're saying blowout kegger at rhu_ru's phat beach house? game on, man!
I'll bring the bug spray. Oh it's in October. I'll bring some extra blankets.
Keep me posted. If you haven't already booked a room for Saturday night, the Hampton Inn is across the street and is the nicest hotel in this town.
At some point I have been thinking of offering to host a caucus up here. If you think that could fit for your weekend, we could try to make it work. If not, no worries... I will pick another date sometime. (Don't want to horn in on your vacation time). Either way, it would great to officially meet you in person.
Thanks for the info!
I've been meaning to stop by at some point; I definitely had my Saturday supper location in mind. 😉
I had relatives in Brandon and Garfield back in the day, and was related to the family of Bud from Bud's Supervalu, so I know Alex a bit, but nowadays it's just a blur as we drive past.
I can't promise anything as far as caucus attendance, as I'll have a wife and daughter in tow, but I'll do what I can.
Padres broadcaster Ted Leitner has cancer and will leave the broadcast booth indefinitely. I don't know if anyone here but me ever tunes in to Padres radio broadcasts, but I've always enjoyed his work. May things go well for him and he have a speedy recovery.
Ok, I'll bite.
Last night, we saw Episode 19 of Superman vs. the Machine. It was an exciting, if unevenly played (and officiated) game. Regardless of what you may have read on teh Twitters, Cleveland lost because it had an effective FG percent of .495 and 11 turnovers against GSW's .583 and 7 turnovers.
Lebron continued his disabusing of every GOML argument about past greats by delivering his eighth 40+ point performance of these playoffs, racking up 51 points, 8 rebounds, and 8 assists while shooting 19-32 (3-7 on threes) from the floor and 10-11 from the line. That translated into an otherworldly 138 ORtg. Unfortunately for him, his teammates are his teammates. While Kevin Love had an excellent bounce-back game from his concussion against Boston (21 and 13), nobody else contributed all that much.
Meanwhile, GSW's big three contributed 79 points, 18 rebounds, and 16 assists, while shooting a combined 27-61 (and a pedestrian-for-them 11-28 on threes thanks to Durant's 1-7) from the floor and 14-15 from the FT line with 4 turnovers. The Dubs also got a typical stat-stuffing line from Draymond and solid contributions from a rotating cast of role players, including Shaun Livingston's 10 points on 4-4 FG and 2-2 FT, with 2 reb, 3 assists and a steal.
The game featured an ugly three-minute stretch in the 2nd quarter (from the 5:19 mark when Love hit a 15-footer to put Cleveland up 51-40). Cleveland went dark, missing four shots and committing three turnovers, while GS went 3-6 to pull within 51-48. The half ended tied 56-56.
Cleveland then started the third quarter by going 2-10 as GS went on a run, building up a seven point lead by mid-quarter. Lebron pulled his team back, scoring 12 of his team's 22 in the quarter, but was looking winded from carrying the entire team on his back throughout the playoffs and sat for the last two minutes of the quarter and the first minute of the 4th, as GS went back up by 6. The game see-sawed until, in a highly controversial call, Lebron was called for a blocking foul with 50 second remaining. Durant converted the free throws to tie the game, setting up the dramatics at the end of regulation. You all know what happened. George Hill missed the second of two free throws, which would have put Cleveland up by one with 4 seconds remaining, JR Smith grabbed the offensive rebound, then failed to shoot or call a time out. Kudos for a great offensive rebound, boos for not being aware of the situation.
Predictably, GS torched a gassed Cavs team in OT. Thus passing what was probably Cleveland's best chance to win this series.
Iguadola is expected back on Sunday for Game 2. Assuming Klay's knee is ok, that means that GS should be at full strength the rest of the way. Durant has not played well for several games; at some point, he is going to bust out. Cleveland lacks the athletes that Houston had to throw at GS defensively. As great as Lebron is, it is just asking too much of him to overcome GS's firepower, ball movement, and outstanding team defense, by himself. He needs at least as much as he got in this game from Love every game, and he needs a great shooting night from his perimeter guys just to expect to compete, because they are a weak defensive team.
So... NBA finals.
It's generally a given that Cleveland absolutely needs LeBron to be transcendent to have a chance. Last night, LeBron was transcendent. There can be little doubt but that he remains the best player in the world and I really believe he is as good as he's ever been. Maybe better! He now shares the record for most 30 point games in the playoffs with some dude from Wilmington, NC. He now has eight 40 point games in THIS post-season and he added his first 50 point post-season game last night. He got what he wanted down the stretch and he found guys who were open all night, including on the most crucial offensive possession for Cleveland of the game. If you watched this game and failed to realize just how much better he was than everyone else, well, then you are probably (a) some bay area knucklehead or (b) don't understand the game of basketball.
How were the Warriors, who don't have LeBron, able to win this game? Well, the number one thing that they had going for them was a great effort from Steph Curry. Curry had thirty and he hit a key three point play in the final minute with GSW trailing by two to set up The Insanity (no, not that Insanity, WGOMers). Durant scored some points and he "drew a key foul" down the stretch. He's no Curry, though, when the pressure's on.
Added to this was, how shall we say it? an enormously consequential call by the officials with about 35 seconds left. Durant drove the lane and LeBron met him well in front of the restricted area (at least two feet above the restricted area). Whistles blown, charge called. Then the officials called for a review. They can only review this call if there was some question as to whether the defender (LeBron) was outside of the restricted zone. That's the trigger. Not whether it's a questionable block/charge call, but whether LeBron was in the restricted area. Jesus, Phil Cuzzi was yelling man, that's not even close! Nevertheless, the officials defied NBA rules and decided to review the play. And they reversed the call. It would have been Cleveland's ball with :35 left and a two-point lead. Instead, they gifted Durant with two free throws, which to his credit, he made. LeBron scored again, Curry got his three point play and Cleveland gets the ball, trailing by one.
With about 5 seconds left, LeBron spots George Hill open under the basket. He fires a pass to Hill and Hill is fouled. He goes to the line and makes the first and misses the second. J.R. Smith outmuscles Durant for the rebound and has a point blank shot to give Cleveland a two-point lead. Instead, he dribbles away from the basket, fritters away most of the remaining time until he sees LeBron frantically waving him the other way. Smith tosses it to a guarded Hill, who throws up a desperation heave. Buzzer. OT.
GSW, buoyed by their seemingly impossible good luck and a massive assist by the men tasked with ensuring the game is played by the rules, score the first nine points of OT and salt the game away. With 2 seconds left, Tristan Thompson is assessed a Flagrant 2 on an extremely dubious call by one of those same dudes. And then he shoves the ball at resident a**hole Draymond Green and may face a suspension in game 2.
Sure, I want Cleveland to win, but more than that I want good basketball and I want to enjoy LeBron play. The game was tight most of the night and extremely entertaining. Cleveland very well could have won, had the officials not broken the rules and had JR Smith not lost his mind. That really sullied a great game. But, win or lose, it was a pleasure to see the King ply his craft. And I was amazed by Curry's ability to drive the GSW bus. Too bad that it had to end the way it did.
Despite last night's exciting game 1 causing me to drink a bit more bourbon than I had planned, today was a very productive day. The pleasures of working remote allowed me to get quite a bit of work done from my La-Z-Boy, got out to farm and fleet to get some wall anchors to hang the sound bar to go with the new TV I got for the bedroom (that was hung last night), hopped on the bike trainer for thirty minutes then weights, did dishes and started a chuck roast in the instant pot for French dip sammies.
This was all a way of saying I'm glad it's no longer a boiling hellscape here so I can relax on my deck and drink some beer.
#cantfinishkids
SBG bait.
https://twitter.com/balldontstop/status/1002646424943673344
That is an awful list.
“Best
everPost-1984”It's terrible even for that. I saw it earlier and I've been trying to figure out if it's real or trolling.
I don't know that much about basketball, and even I know that list is just god awful.
Carmelo Anthony, 10th best all time. That's a good one.