Good morning and greetings, NBA playoff fans. Yes, in the words of the Chambers Brothers, “The time has come today,” as it is wonderful to be alive and a pro basketball fan. The fabulously entertaining NBA regular season came to a stunning conclusion Wednesday night, and now it is on to the postseason, when the big boys lace up their sneakers and go for the gold-the NBA championship.
Last year’s first round of the playoffs were utterly fantastic, in which three out of the four western conference matchups went down to the final game of the series. In the other, a miraculous, last second, buzzer beating shot by Portland’s Damian Lillard stunned the Houston Rockets in the game six finale. My head was about to explode, but that’s what two frenzied weeks of wild finishes and wall to wall action will do to you.
Now for the long standing Warrior nation, this is your time to rise and shine. Golden State has been hands down, from start to finish, the best team in the NBA this season. It has been a miraculous run, as no one, including Stephen Curry’s barber, expected the Warriors to win 67 regular season games.
But there was some doubt heading into the new campaign. Former coach Mark Jackson, who had led the Warriors to a 51 win season the year before, was thrown out the door last May and replaced by TNT’s Stevie Kerr, who had as much NBA head coaching experience as my mother-in-law. This was a big gamble, as the team thrived under Jackson and were headed down the road to playoff prosperity.
So they awarded Steve Kerr with a 5 year, $25 million contract. Would this former reserve shooting guard, who once traded punches and received a black eye from then teammate Michael Jordan, be the man to lead the Warriors to the promised land?
Well, it appears that owner Joe Lacob got it right in replacing Jackson, who always said that the hand of God was guiding the Warrior team. Golden State got off to a tremendous start, stunning everyone around the league by winning 20 out of their first 22 games The dream was in motion and the fans were going wild.
But first let’s give credit to Mark Jackson for getting the ball rolling. As he said a few months back on his first return to Oracle Arena an ESPN commentator, “Steve Kerr’s done an outstanding job. He deserves a lot of credit. I think while giving him credit, there’s no need to take away credit from the past. You can’t disrespect the caterpillar and rave about the butterfly.”
Throughout the season, there were miraculous nightly performances by all-star guard Stephen Curry, with this ball handling, drives to the hoop and extraordinary clutch three point shooting, making him arguably the most exciting performer in the NBA today.
As he said after Wednesday night’s regular season finale, “We’re a resilient group, and we’re hungry to achieve the next level. Our record is great. I don’t think anyone could imagine 67 wins going into the season. We wanted to finish strong, look forward to the playoffs and bottle up all that mojo we established over these 82 games.”
It’s been a season beyond expectations. Curry’s partner in the backcourt, all-star Klay Thompson, scored 37, yes 37, points in one quarter earlier in the season, an unbelievable scoring performance. When he squares his shoulders to the basket when shooting, he’s an artist in motion.
Pastor Jackson said a while back that the combination of Curry and Thompson were “the best shooting backcourt ever, it’s not even close.” I almost choked on my Frosted Flakes when I heard this, but I have come around to the fact that it is true. They are the best, and the league logo, Jerry West, would agree.
They are joined in the starting lineup with my NBA’s Defensive Player of the Year, power forward Draymond Green. Now every team had a shot to select Green, who was picked in the second round of the draft, so he came in having a little something to prove, with a chip on his shoulder. As Jackson remarked, “What he does, you cannot put on paper.”
The other component in the mix is center Andrew Bogut, the 7 footer out of Australia, who’s a shot blocker and rim protector and a key part of the passing game and defensive scheme. Bogut missed the playoffs last year with a rib injury, but he is now smiling, healthy and ready to do battle.Now the second season is underway, and the number to focus on is 16, in that you have to beat four teams, four times to call yourself champions. The Warriors have what it takes to go all the way. Luck has been on their side, as they have been relatively healthy all year, while other teams have been decimated by injuries.
Of course, there are other obstacles looming in their path, but they caught a break when the defending NBA champs, the San Antonio Spurs, dropped from the # 2 seed to #6 on the last night of the season, meaning they’ll have to win out on the road. They take on Chris Paul and the L.A. Clippers, which are the two teams that have eliminated the Warriors from their last two playoff series.
The Warriors opened up on Saturday against the New Orleans Pelicans, and now have a 1-0 lead in the best of seven series, with game two on tap for tonight. The Pelicans are young and shouldn’t be much of a challenge.It’s the Warrior’s time. Everything is falling nicely into place. They know what their task is and the challenges that lie ahead
In the words of Coach Kerr, “The best thing the Warriors franchise did over the last few years was build a defensive unit. Everything that ‘s happened has prepared this team to play well in the postseason, because it’s all about defensive intensity, being able to string together four or five stops. Those are the teams that ultimately go deep and maybe win the whole thing, You got to be able to defend and we can count on our defense.”
It may not be raining in the Bay Area, but the championship drought may soon be over. We’ve got Curry and no worries. Let’s keep that mojo rolling.
So I heard through the grapevine that the last week’s flowers in the rain were a nice break from the morning sunrises. So I thought I would continue the theme of color by showcasing a parade of phalaenopsis orchids I had shot at various nurseries and farmers markets throughout the county.I have hundreds of beautiful orchid photos resting peacefully in my archives, as I went a little orchid crazy a while back. They are such an exotic and as my cousin Gina says, “erotic” looking flower, and their colors just drive my photographic eyes wild. So sit back and click on the photos to make them larger.
On to some late night humor. “Governor Chris Christie says if he’s president, he will crack down on the sale of marijuana. However, that was before he was told it also comes in a brownie. Hillary Clinton announced she’s running for president. Yesterday in Ohio, Hillary popped into a Chipotle and she ordered a burrito bowl with chips and salsa. And on her way out she said, “That locks down the Hispanic vote.” – Conan O’Brien
“Hillary Clinton is now in Iowa. She’s spending every waking minute of her day meeting ordinary people, and it’s to prepare her for a job in which she will never again meet an ordinary person. Hillary’s trying to appear downhome. Earlier today she was sitting on the front porch of a general store whittling a pantsuit.” – David Letterman
“Hillary Clinton is not the first woman to run for president. That title belongs to Victoria Woodhull, who ran for president in 1872. Her running mate was a young, scrappy John McCain. Jeb Bush welcomed his fourth grandchild. The new Bush grandchild is happy, healthy, and will be running for president in 2048.” – Conan O’Brien
So we’ll catch you have a record setting season and being the best player in the NBA not in the playoffs. Aloha, mahalo and later, Russell Westbrook fans.
