I've had a lot on my plate (in both literal and figurative senses). I did graduate from Bowling Green State University earlier this month! I had to move out of my house in BG and pack my stuff up and move back to Northwood. I'll be on the move again soon but I'll get to that in a bit.
I gotta say I've been pretty intrigued by this years NBA playoffs. I am very aware of some of the bad quality of games. That being said I don't think basketball is the worst its ever been. Sorry, Charles.
Do I think teams on the whole shoot too many threes? Well yeah. Just like there was a wildcat trend in the NFL the trend in the NBA has gone away from the basket and and gone to the three point line. It has happened because of a perfect storm of a lack of quality low post scores and the league becoming a league with ball dominating point guards. When the first team All-NBA center is DeAndre Jordan it's time to reevaluate how the balloting is done. Jordan can't score on offense unless it's a dunk/layup, and don't even get me started on his free throw numbers. Boogie is awesome but he missed a nice chunk of games, fought constantly with his coach, and what do you know they have another head coach. I wouldn't reward that either. Andre Drummond is really a worse version of DeAndre. Bottom line, I think the NBA needs to change the balloting to be on par with how they made the All Star Game balloting. There's no center on that ballot so why should there be one on the All-NBA ballot? Until there's more centers that can command a double team and can score in the low post consistently the league will continue with the trend of not needing a center.
Now let's get to the Finals Preview. For reference, last year in picked Golden State in five.
Let's do this by the primary match ups that we are going to see.
Steph vs Kyrie
Steph has won back-to-back, MVPs. Kyrie is a really good point guard that can score with the best of them. I think there's a game or two where Kyrie will really shine but Steph will out-play him. Also it'll be tougher for Kyrie because we will more likely than not see Klay on him more than Steph.
Advantage: Warriors
Klay vs JR
Klay absolutely went off the last few games against the Thunder. JR has had some nice moments this postseason and is averaging 12 PPG. JR will have a game where he will make six or seven threes but he will also have a game or two where he will go two for thirteen and frustrate every Cav fan I know.
Advantage: Warriors
Barnes vs LeBron
Just like last year I will not waste my time.
Big Advantage: Cavs
K-Love vs Draymond
Another intriguing match up. We didn't get to see this last year because of the injury Love suffered at the hands of this loser:
Draymond made 2nd team All-NBA and finished second in Defensive Player of the Year voting behind Kawhi Leonard, again. Love started to find his groove at different times throughout the year. He just hasn't been the guy he was in Minnesota. Part of that is being option #3 instead of #1 and some of that is just not being able to put his mark on the game because he's stuck in the corner. I think Love can have a big impact but he will have trouble staying on the floor when Golden State goes to the 'death' lineup.
Advantage: Warriors
Bogut vs Thompson
Now I'll keep this section down just because I'm not so sure we see this match up too often. Bogut hasn't quite been himself this playoffs. His D is down a tad and his offense remains limited. Thompson also has limited offense but his rebounding on both ends of the floor helps make up for that deficit.
Advantage: Cavs
Benches
Warriors: Iggy, Livingston, Mo Buckets, Ezeli, Barbosa, and Varejao
For the Warriors I'm sure Iggy will make an impact on defense. Livingston has been great in the playoffs whenever he has been on the floor. Speights will have some home games where he comes on and gets six or seven points. Ezeli has to make an impact when he's out there especially on the defensive end. He can't make free throws and teams have implemented the hack-a strategy at times on him. I think it's kind of funny the Cavs got rid of Varejao and he ends up on the Warriors. Expect to see him on the floor just enough times to make Cav fans upset.
As a Magic fan I knew Frye would look better on a team as good as the Cavs are and he has been good enough to force Love on the bench in important stretches in big games. Jefferson seems to always be on the floor long enough to have a couple buckets. If you know me you know my thoughts on Delly. He won't be able to have a game like he did in last years finals if for no other reason than he won't get enough minutes. Mozgov has been buried on the bench for a lot of the playoffs and Shump hasn't had the impact he did last year.
Advantage: Warriors
Kerr vs Lue
Not only is this a big plus for the Warriors I would also say the second best coach is on the Warriors side as well in Luke Walton. Lue hasn't been bad most of the year but he had some big mistakes in the Toronto series. For his sake he should hope he got those slip ups out of his system. I just wonder at what point Kerr will have to make line up changes of his own.
Advantage: Warriors
Well the only advantages in my eyes the Cavs have are LeBron and Thompson over Barnes and Bogut, respectfully. LeBron isn't going to let his team lose four straight but unless they shoot like they did against the Hawks the night they made 20+ threes it'll be a tough series for them to win.
Like last season I am going with the Warriors in five. Sorry, Cleveland.
In addition to what I write on here I will be broadcasting baseball this summer. I will be making the trek out to Alaska to broadcast for the prestigious Alaska Baseball League. I head out on June 5th and will arrive back in the Continental 48 sometime in early August. I will be with the Chugiak-Eagle River Chinooks. You can listen/watch every game from out YouTube/Google account here. Those games will also be available in its entirety on YouTube about 15 minutes after the game is over. It will be myself and my good friend Phil Holtz bringing you every game all summer long. You can follow the Chinooks on Twitter: @CERChinooks.
As always thanks for reading!
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I can be found on all of those places @TheLanceMorris
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