The way the current baseball and basketball seasons are going, I have just one request: get me to June. That’s the sweet spot of the Bay Area sports year. A date with destiny awaits.
I have fewer doubts than ever about that. Remember at the end of the regular season, all the pearl-clutching about the Warriors without Kevin Durant, or the Cavaliers and their defense? Yeah … no.
I’ve voiced this opinion on the air several times and nothing I’ve seen so far has changed that: the Warriors and Cavaliers are on course for a trilogy in the NBA Finals.
Cavaliers vaporize the Pacers and Raptors? The Warriors say “hold my beer.” They dismantle the Trail Blazers and Jazz. They only trailed for a few minutes in the entire series vs. Utah. The conference finals will be slightly more enticing but I don’t see anything that alters the path of two locomotives.
I had no doubt that both the Cavs and Warriors would turn things up a notch in the postseason. Concerns about the Cavs’ defense were overblown. The Warriors had no such concerns, and they do possess better team defense than the Cavs (which, by the way, I think will be the difference in the finals.)
Aside from injuries, the one small X-factor is the Warriors’ coaching situation. Steve Kerr is out indefinitely, and people should just stop asking when he returns. Co-owner Joe Lacob let it be known that Kerr had another procedure to deal with a leak of spinal fluid following back surgery a couple of weeks ago.
I’m not sure if Kerr wanted that publicized, and General Manager Bob Myers had to go in front of reporters Sunday in Salt Lake City to let everyone know that Kerr is indeed “on the path to recovery” but that doctors are uncertain of recovery time.
Just leave it at that for now. Let Kerr recuperate and hopefully he feels better. That’s the main thing. The rest is secondary. In the meantime, the Warriors have a capable stand-in with Mike Brown.
Brown had no problem letting people know that Kerr’s game plan is being implemented, especially after Kevin Durant’s incendiary Game 3, when he rang up 38 points with the help of many screens and pick-and-roll action involving Jazz rim protector Rudy Gobert.
By the way, that’s the problem with Gobert. He doesn’t stray much out of the paint. I don’t blame him after Steph Curry went spin-o-rama on him in Game 1. You can also drive on him and get a body on him to draw fouls. That’s one reason I think he should lose out to Draymond Green for Defensive Player of the Year. Green can guard anyone, anywhere on the court, including bigger men in the paint.
Brown has fit in well, personality-wise and scheme-wise. It’s a group that harbor egos — everyone on the coaching staff is quick to give others credit, and Kerr has set the tone on that. After the Game 4 gut-stomping of Utah, Brown made sure to mention Kerr’s name several times.
Kerr has been through hell in the last couple of years. You know how badly he must hurt, when he is unable to be on the sideline and be part of something he loves. Being away has to be painful, too, but that takes a back seat to the real physical pain he has experienced. I’m sorry, I don’t have words to describe what that pain is like because I don’t think anyone can truly know.
Maybe he makes a grand re-entrance for the Finals. That would be great. Maybe he doesn’t, but eventually heals. That would be equally great. In the meantime, the Warriors are in capable hands. In addition, they’re healthy and guys know their roles, in the starting lineup and off the bench.
So, get me in a time machine and transport me to June. Gotta be careful to have the setting correct. Don’t want to go too far ahead. That could be Dystopia, and all I want is basketball Utopia.