The city of champions minus the Celtics just keeps churning with the Red Sox and Tom Brady’s Patriots already holding championship trophies in their respective sports.
On Memorial Day evening in Boston the Bruins came back from a sluggish start and a 2-0 deficit to win Game 1 of the finals with an eventual 4-2 win over the surprising St. Louis Blues.
Game 2 will be in Boston as the Bruins attempt to take a 2-0 series lead in quest of a franchise seventh Stanley Cup championship. The Bruins last Cup came in 2011 and remarkably if the Bruins win three more games against a St. Louis team which had an NHL worst record on January 3rd it will mark the city of Boston holding three of the four major league sports crowns simultaneously.
This is not a marquee matchup. Nobody saw St. Louis back in the winter emerging as a Cup contender, yet they have a decent roster which jelled under Craig Berube after he became interim head coach.
Both teams are physical old school teams which generate scoring opportunities off the physicality of their forecheck.
With Boston I would think they’ll score goals from all four lines and will need goalie Tuukka Rask to continue his solid run of play in these playoffs.
If I had to handicap the series…I’d say Boston in five or six games.
In the NBA Finals…I’ll go with the Warriors in either five or six games. I actually hope Durant doesn’t play so we can see Kawhi guard Klay Thompson instead of Kevin Durant. Bottomline…even without Durant the Warriors have three all-stars and a former Finals MVP in Andre Iguodala.
Since we know how many of you are ‘true patriots’ this is for you as a Memorial Day afterthought for all the real patriots who have served our country and given all of us the chance to pursue individual freedoms. Free patriots work thru the bone spurs… just saying.
Real American patriots serve their country regardless of the marginal rate their CPA has worked them into and serve their country with honor.
Ask Bush 41, ask John McCain, ask former Senator Webb, ask Congressman Moulton. You people have become an embarrassment to America and our educational system. Turn off Fox and read a book every now and again.
Is it about genuine patriotism or the marginal rates? You’ll notice for the most part the same 1% or so still own most of the country’s assets. So how did it trickle down for you so far in relation to real fixed long term net asset gain?
The Stanley Cup Finals and the NBA Finals both get started this week and I wanted to have a special mailbox question for Memorial Day on my blog. I’d like to give thanks to all the brave men and women who have served our country and made the freedoms we all enjoy possible. Don’t ever take our Constitution or our freedoms for granted.
Thank you.
Unlike Donald Trump, who used every nuance of the deferment ruse to avoid serving his country–John McCain was a bona fide American war hero and my question on this Memorial Day Mailbox centers on John McCain.
Q: Gene from Reno, Nevada asks: Mike, I like the blog. You seem fair and not partisan to one ideology slant from the far left or far right. What do you think of Lindsey Graham’s behavior since the death of his ‘friend’ John McCain?
A: Gene, thank you for the excellent question. Oh, boy. What I think is Lindsey Graham has become a national embarrassment and is close to challenging Ted Cruz as the most unlikeable current member of the U.S. Senate.
His overt political alignment with Donald Trump is a disgrace to his friend John McCain. If I resided in South Carolina —he would not be a source of pride to me in any manner possible. He has become what I would describe as a pure political whore in the purest since. Hopefully–at some point we don’t see him on Fox kneeing in front of Trump with our president’s pants on the floor.
I hope my answer isn’t vague or ambiguous.
That’s what I think of Lindsey Graham and it’s sad for me because he used to be one of the GOP senators I actually thought was somewhat interesting.
For the fifth straight season the Golden State Warriors are the champions of the rugged Western Conference. In another week we’ll get to see if the Warriors are NBA champions for the fourth time in the past five years.
We are witnessing historic things from these Warriors. Things which remind one of the Boston Celtics during their dynasty years with Red Auerbach and Bill Russell.
Comparisons are being made suggesting Steve Kerr is a top ten coach of all-time. Steph Curry by some is being hailed as the greatest point guard since Magic Johnson. I’d tap the brakes on both of those statements, but by the same token let’s see what unfolds the next five years in San Francisco as the Warriors move into their new arena.
These Warriors have a chance to be historically elite with or without Kevin Durant. What if Kawhi replaced a departed Durant? What if Paul George joined the Warriors in a few years? What if a player like say Marcus Smart or Chris Middleton replaced Andre Iguodala? It should be easy for the Warriors to attract a quality piece even if Durant leaves for the Knicks or the Clippers.
Would it be too much to say the Splash Brothers plus Draymond Green are the NBA’s version of Tom Brady and Gronk?
I don’t worry about Durant. He’s a different cat. He is in fact like a cat in that he seems to keep on the move and not let his emotions dictate his decisions. Personally, if Jerry West won him over once what would make me think Jerry West won’t do it again only this time for the Clippers in Los Angeles.
If I’m a Warriors fan do I want Durant to play in the Finals? Of course I do in that Giannis will wear himself down defending Durant. Who else on the Warriors’ roster has the tools to test Giannis when he’s on defense. Not Green and not Iguodala. That would be Kevin Durant grinding down Giannis as he did LeBron these past two season.
And that’s why it was so smart for Bob Myer to lure Durant to Oakland. Because in Durant he has his closer when the Warriors are opposing an uber elite player such as LeBron or Giannis.
But ask yourself this if Durant leaves and is replaced by Kawhi wouldn’t it be fair to say the Warriors could win four out of the next championships as well.
Legacies and narratives will be a flow in the coming weeks. But I do know this —even without Kevin Durant the Warriors with Steph, Klay, Draymond and Andre will be the Vegas favorites to fourpeat if they beat the winner of the Bucks-Raptors series.
It’s like with Tom Brady. When I see somebody beat him/them–then I’ll pick someone else to win the NBA championship.
Here’s Steph after the overtime road win in Game 4 to close out the Warriors. Notice the professional questions and adult like answers.
For all practical purposes these Western Conference Finals are over and the Golden State Warriors have advanced to their fifth straight NBA Finals with a 110-99 road win in Portland in Game 3 on Saturday night.
Kevin Durant and DeMarcus Cousins did not play. Andre Iguodala only played 17 minutes in this game. This was the organic version of the Warriors which featured Steph Curry, Klay Thompson and a 2nd round draft pick from Michigan State named Draymond Green. Throw in an affordable bench which in this game scored 33 points and you still have a Warriors ball club which in all likelihood will beat Milwaukee or Toronto to complete their threepeat and hoist their fourth O’Brien Trophy in the last five years.
The Oklahoma City Thunder are still awaiting a return trip to the NBA Finals since their lone visit in 2012.
I heard Berry Tramel on the Sports Animal this week claim the championship window is still open in Oklahoma City for at least two more years. The only thing which could validate that comment would be the Warriors losing Draymond Green and Klay Thompson in free agency and around at least five other teams in the West losing key personnel.
What window is Berry Tramel alluding to? It was stunning to hear from the lone adult sports writer in the market. Jim Traber was on vacaction is all I can figure or else that never would have been allowed to go unchallenged. So.. I’m doing it for Traber on my rogue blog. Berry Tramel needs a vacation from the Thunder.
The real question is if the window in Oklahoma City has closed to winning a Northwest Division banner…the other goals beyond that goal are of a pipedream nature unless you see Russell Westbrook turning into Jason Kidd 2011 sometime in the next two years and someone coaching the team Westbrook would listen to when the games matter.
I don’t know what’s up with Tramel of late. It’s as if he’s writing soft content to make up for all the negative attention the Thunder received from those low class post game pressers between he and Westbrook. Quite frankly—he almost reads like something from a Nick Gallo piece of late. I hope it doesn’t continue. Be honest and allow the readers to get something honest from a local writer…Berry Tramel.
In this game, the Warriors fell behind by as many 18 points in the first half as Terry Stotts started Myers Leonard in place of Enes Kanter. And for a half it worked as the Blazers led 66-53 at the intermission break.
But then came the second half and it was a train wreck for Portland as the Warriors won the second half by a score of 57-33. In 24 minutes of play the Trailblazers scored 33 points in their most important second half of these playoffs…at home.
Draymond Green was superb with a clutch triple double of 20 points, 13 assists, and 12 assists Steph Curry was the NBA Finals MVP version with 36 points. Klay Thompson kicked in 19 points and the bench of no names assembled by Bob Myers were clutch with 33 points and quality minutes provided on the road in a high pressure situation.
Enes Kanter only played 7 minutes in this game so this was the adjustment Terry Stotts finally made and it wasn’t enough as even without Durant and Cousins the organic Warriors are still the best team in the NBA.
This ‘purported’ window which Sam Presti and now Berry Tramel claim still exists will have some miraculous work needing to be done if the Thunder in a sober state of mind think they belong in the same breath with a team which still has Steph Curry, Klay Thompson, Green and Iguodala.
And even if the Warriors are hurt in free agency there’s still Houston, Denver, Portland, Utah, the Clippers, LeBron perhaps paired with another star, and what should be a vastly improved Dallas team– and who knows what Minnesota and Sacramento could turn into next season .
It’s my favorite time of the week on my blog. I love getting to answer a question or two on the state of our union. Let’s go to the mailbox.
Q: Heather from Portland asks: ” I love the blog. Hope you dump the Thunder and start doing the Trailblazers next season. Do you have any take on how Donald Trump turned out to be such a miserable human being?
A: “Thanks. We’ll have to see about the Thunder. Ostensibly since the domain is okcthunderground.com you would think I would somewhat need to write about the Oklahoma City Thunder on here from time to time even though it pains me watching Russell Westbrook play basketball.
As far as to how Donald Trump turned out this way. I have no idea how a human becomes this much of a deplorable. I wonder if a dog would even curl up next to him on a couch. Dogs have a sense about them in this regard. I’m not Dr. Ruth…but if I had to guess…maybe both of his parents belittled him as he was growing up and all of this lying is Trump’s never ending quest to build himself up for their approval. Maybe his mother teased him about his penis. I don’t know, but he has issues for sure. But given the sick times we live in…he’ll probably be re-elected.”
Q: Chipper from New Orleans asks: “I’m a big Trump fan. Your observations are way off on mainstream America. Trump is the best thing to happen to this country since Teddy Roosevelt. Just look at the jobs reports and GDP growth.”
A: “We just recorded our first ever trillion dollar budget deficit. We just set the record for our largest ever trade deficit at $981 billion dollars. We have witnessed not one single tangible improvement to our health care system which eventually ties into everything economically in this country as we try to figure out our $22 trillion dollar debt. It means nothing to increase GDP growth to 3.2% if you can’t manage the budget. My question to you would be how much has the average American’s net worth increased in relation to their share of the debt.?”
Q: Joanie from Lawrence, Kansas asks: ” Do you think Tiger will win the PGA?”
A: “No. His game is not tailored for that course given the way Tiger has had to change his game. I would think Tiger’s best chances to win some additional majors will come at the Masters and perhaps at the British Open. Brooks Koepka is an animal—Tiger is fortunate he won the Masters.”
Q: Ben from Boston asks: ” I love the fact someone in Oklahoma loves the Bruins. Do you think they win the Cup?”
A: “I think they do win the Cup if Rask doesn’t come apart. The Bruins will score goals. I’m not concerned about their offense. It will be about Tuukka Rask in net.”
Thanks for the great questions. Let’s Go Boston Bruins!
I could not be a happier sports person right now. Russell Westbrook with his shitass diva bruh attitude and the Thunder season seem like two worlds ago for me. The Warriors and the Trailblazers are in the Western Conference Finals. Klay versus CJ. Steph versus Damian. I’ll be okay with either set of them advancing.
But in these Stanley Cup Playoffs my cup overfloweth. Don’t get me wrong—this is a good Boston Bruin hockey club, but I wouldn’t have picked them to win the East when this post season got started. Tampa as the No. 1 seed got swept in the first round and these Boston Bruins are now sitting in the Stanley Cup Finals with twelve wins already to their credit. Four more wins get them to the magic number of 16 wins and their names on the Cup.
Very poetic…the Bruins in Game 4 won the clinching game by a 4-0 count over the Cinderella Carolina Hurricanes.
To me, the Stanley Cup is the most prestigious trophy in team sports. It literally gives me goose bumps when the eventual champion parades the Cup around the arena after the championship is secured.Of my four favorite athletes of all-time…two of my four are Boston Bruin legendary offensive defensemen…Bobby Orr and Raymond Bourque. The two other athletes in my Pantheon of Four are Roberto Clemente and Barry Sanders. You’ll notice…no divas or hot dogs on my list
This season—Bruin netminder Tuukka Rask is finally silencing his critics. He has been the story for the Bruins. The Conn Smyth is there for his taking if he stays hot in net and the Bruins defeat the eventual winner between San Jose and St. Louis.
I don’t want to jinx him though by doing something for him on my blog when the job isn’t done yet.
I already featured the greatest hockey player of all-time in Bobby Orr from Parry Sound, Ontario—so this is my tribute to my second favorite Boston Bruin defensemen of all-time…Raymond Bourque.
Mark Jackson on the broadcast kept going on about the Portland pick and roll defense. I agree in that I’ve seen Enes Kanter up close as a Thunder fan with his defensive blemishes. Terry Stotts will have to adjust somewhat if you can adjust against the Warriors.
But Enes Kanter aside…nobody in the NBA is going to be beating these Golden State Warriors by putting up 94 points on the board.
115 points or so is usually the barrier a team needs to put on the board to hang with these iconic Warriors whether Cupcake is on the floor or not.
Did you really notice any significant difference without Durant on the floor?
What Kevin Durant is for Bob Myer is a hedge. A hedge in the sense he was there for the Warriors when LeBron was still relevant being on the Cavs playing in the NBA Finals. Relevant as in the next round Durant will come in handy when the opponent will either be lead by Giannis or Kawhi. But for this series—I really don’t think the Splash Brothers will need Kevin Durant and his moods of sulkiness and self-doubt littering the Western Conference Finals.
With all due respect to Mark Jackson–I feel through watching Durant from his days at Texas and with the Thunder … I have a much better feel on Durant than either he or Jeff van Gundy do from their national perch.
Kevin Durant is a hedge and he was a double hedge in reality. Bob Myer was smart enough to realize that the instant he removed Durant from Oklahoma City the Thunder would no longer be a viable rival to his Warriors in the West. Bob Myer is the guy I want handling trade deals with the Chinese…not Wilbur Ross.
Tell me with a straight face that didn’t work to perfection. Since the Cupcake exit to Oakland—the Thunder have become a Northwest Division also ran and a combined 4-12 in post season play. The question in Oklahoma City for next season isn’t if they’ll be a real contender…the real question will be if the NBA will still consider the Thunder viable enough to put on the Christmas Day schedule.
But for this Game 1 …it was really very simple and let me help Mark Jackson out and this might be why Steve Kerr is coaching his team right now:
Splash Brothers 62 – Damian & CJ 36.
There’s your storyline. Steph and Klay obliterated the Portland backcourt in this first game of the best of seven.
Harkless and Hood both had decent games with 17 points apiece, but combined–Damian and CJ went 11-31 from the field. No way do the Blazers win any games in this series with those two only attempting 31 shots and only making 12 of them.
No way.
Terry Stotts and his team have some things they need to talk about in the film room this afternoon if they want to make this series competitive whether Kevin Durant plays or not.
……………………
I didn’t write about Game 2 on my blog because I was basking in the Boston Bruins glorious Eastern Conference championship. Here’s Steve Kerr discussing Golden State’s 114-111 win in Game 2. Take note…114 points for Golden State in relation to the 115 point plateau.
Dell Curry is a former NBA Sixth Man of the Year and as a father he’ll be in rarified air starting tonight as he’s the first dad in NBA history to have two sons playing on different teams playing against each other in a conference final.
Dell Curry was a good NBA player. Not a star like son Steph, but a solid NBA player who was a good three point shooter back before the three point shot ruled the NBA game and how it is played today.
Anyone who knows anything about the current NBA knows of Steph Curry and his impact on the game. Kevin Durant is not the soul of the Warrior iconic dynasty…no way. He’s just a visitor who will reap some of the historic glory years from now.
Steph Curry along with fellow Splash Brother Klay is the dude who’s made this what it is in Oakland along with good ownership, great general managing, and a good coach.
Seth Curry by contrast has been an NBA journeyman so far in his NBA career. This year he averaged 18.9 minutes a game, 9 points a game and shot 45% from beyond the arc.
I wonder how Dell and his wife Sonya will handle this?
I would think it would be tough because I’m sure CJ McCollum’s father will be giving Dell Curry the evil eye if he sees Dell now cheering for the Warriors in the conference finals.
This will be tough for the Curry family, but what a nice dilemma to have with two sons both playing in the Western Conference Finals for two wonderful coaches like Terry Stotts and Steve Kerr.
I’m pulling for the Portland Trailblazers…so in this series I’m in the Seth Curry camp.
Kawhi’s shot was great, but that was at home in Toronto in a game in which I think most thought the Raptors would win.
To me, the storyline on Mother’s Day from an NBA viewpoint was CJ McCollum basically putting his Portland team on his back on the road against the favored Denver Nuggets and leading them with a 37 point performance in a Game 7 win by a 100-96 count.
Not many teams win on the road in Game 7’s, but this is one of those performances you can’t overlook especially after the way CJ toyed with the overpaid, overhyped, underachieving Oklahoma City Thunder in the first round.
Consider that Nurkic didn’t play, Lillard had a subpar scoring game with 13 points, and Rodney Hood left the game with a knee injury. The Fox broadcast for the Thunder would use those three excuses for explaining away why the Thunder haven’t won anything of note since Kevin Durant left. For the Michael Cages and Little Nick Gallos of the delusional Fox world that’s enough alibis for a decade let alone a season.
CJ McCollum apparently isn’t into excuses. He’s into winning in this post season. Consider this—in these first two rounds with eight playoff wins—these Blazers have doubled the Thunder’s total post season win total since Durant left for Oakland three years ago. Pretty sure that won’t be on a Little Nick Gallo Bolt or on a Low Energy Royce Young hot take anytime soon as in this is the time of year they need to be in full Thunder spin mode to help with Thunder season ticket sales.
Royce Young…I believe gets to continue covering the Blazers for ESPN in as his beat team the Thunder is off for the summer after exhausting themselves with another lightening quick choke-exit from the playoffs. This will be good for Royce Young and might help him grow up as a writer as he’ll get to witness real NBA players and a real NBA head coach up close and personal. I’m almost certain all the Portland players will answer his questions and not play the punk Marshawn Lynch bullshit game in the postgame pressers. Royce Young should invite Tramel to join him as well and maybe they’ll feel absolved from the Thunder season of abuse.
But, anyway, I can’t wait for the Western Conference Finals if for no other reason than to witness the two best backcourts in the NBA currently go at it with a trip to the NBA Finals at stake.
Not exactly sure what Cupcake’s status is and quite frankly I don’t care. Rodney Hood is another matter. Portland needs him and hopefully the MRI will turn out okay and he’ll be available for the real NBA head coach named Terry Stotts.
In closing, I have no idea if Sam Presti has ever happened upon my rogue Thunder blog, but in the event he ever does this is for him.Dear Sam Presti…this is what a real NBA head coach looks like after they’ve coached under Rick Carlisle on a NBA championship team
Let’s Go Blazers!
Bonus coverage. One of my readers in Florida sent me this from Mar a Largo today as he played in the group in front of Donald Trump on Mother’s Day.