0 comments by Jovan Alford on 6/2/2016
The 2016 NBA Finals will reunite the Cleveland Cavaliers and the defending champions, the Golden State Warriors. The Cavaliers are four wins away from capturing their first NBA championship, and it would not have been possible if they did not make a coaching change earlier in the season. In January, general manager David Griffin decided […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 5/31/2016
If I had to identify the coach who performed better in the just-concluded Western Conference Finals, I would rate Billy Donovan higher than Steve Kerr. However, this hardly means Kerr performed poorly. Kerr’s lineup combinations were not as effective or transformative as Donovan’s roster manipulations, but the coach of the Golden State Warriors crafted a […]
OAKLAND, CA – MAY 30: Klay Thompson #11 of the Golden State Warriorsreacts after a three-point basket against the Oklahoma City Thunder in Game Seven of the Western Conference Finals during the 2016 NBA Playoffs at ORACLE Arena on May 30, 2016 in Oakland, California. (Photo by Ezra Shaw/Getty Images)
0 comments by John Cannon
The Golden State Warriors are back. I don’t mean back in the NBA Finals, although that is also true. I mean back on the planet. They had obviously been abducted, along with the Oklahoma City Thunder, and replaced with lookalike human forms that aliens thought would pass satisfactorily while they conducted experiments on the real players. For three […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
One of the most enduring debates in the NBA the past two seasons has involved the Golden State Warriors’ second- and third-best players, Draymond Green and Klay Thompson. You will note that Draymond is positioned first and Klay second. That’s because I firmly thought Draymond was the better — or if not better, more indispensable […]
May 26, 2016; Oakland, CA, USA; A general view of Oracle Arena after the Golden State Warriors win game five of the Western conference finals of the NBA Playoffs against the Oklahoma City Thunder. The Warriors won 120-111. Mandatory Credit: Kelley L Cox-USA TODAY Sports
0 comments by Matt Zemek
The NBA playoffs almost always reward resilience. Only in a few rare cases does a champion not have to deal with some degree of turbulence in the postseason. One example is the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers, who swept two series and won a third in five games after leading 3-0. The ’83 Sixers, however, represent the […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
“Strength In Numbers.” Like “ALL IN” or “WE BELIEVE,” the words can so easily represent a cheap slogan which can be appropriated by other teams. Strength In Numbers. Of course every team is a family, a group, a unit which is more than the sum of its parts. At least, a team better be more […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Greatness. You know it when you see it. Yet, counterintuitively, greatness transcends its most obvious manifestations. It is in the nature of greatness to transcend. Such is the reality of the Golden State Warriors on Tuesday morning after their Game 7 survival act against the Oklahoma City Thunder in a memorable Western Conference Finals. It’s […]
PHOENIX – MAY 20: Charles Barkley #34 of the Phoenix Suns walks with his head down during Game Seven of the 1995 NBA Western Conference semifinals against the Houston Rockets on May 20, 1995 at the American West Arena in Phoenix, Arizona. Houston defeated Phoenix 115-114 and won the series 4-3. NOTE TO USER: User expressly acknowledges that, by downloading and or using this photograph, User is consenting to the terms and conditions of the Getty Images License agreement. Mandatory Copyright Notice: Copyright 1995 NBAE (Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)
0 comments by John Cannon on 5/30/2016
I have been saying for a week that being down 3-1 in a seven-game series, while not a position to be desired, is not fatal to a very good basketball team. If that team is the defending NBA champion, there’s even less cause for panic. To support that position, I merely had to recount my […]
OKLAHOMA CITY, OK – MAY 22: Stephen Curry #30 of the Golden State Warriors covers his face in the fourth quarter against the Oklahoma City Thunder in game three of the Western Conference Finals during the 2016 NBA Playoffs at Chesapeake Energy Arena on May 22, 2016 in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
0 comments by Matt Zemek
It’s gameday — Game 7 day. The Oklahoma City Thunder and Golden State Warriors have captivated us for two whole weeks. The journey ends where it began, on a Monday inside Oracle Arena. Either way, the resolution of the Western Conference Finals will reverberate through the NBA. Either the Thunder arrest their slide and win […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Any Game 7 in a conference final carries its down dramatic and personal weight for the competitors involved, but Game 7 of the 2016 Western Conference Finals contains the added weight of history. So many historical twists and turns end Monday night in Oakland. The NBA will witness a rare occurrence in its 70th season […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek on 5/29/2016
One specific moment stood out in the final minutes of Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals… for the worst reasons. In the cover photo for this story, you can plainly see Draymond Green whacking Russell Westbrook’s arm, causing the ball to go out of bounds off Westbrook. No foul was called live, so when […]
Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant (35) reacts during Game 6 of the Western Conference finals in the NBA playoffs between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Golden State Warriors at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, Saturday, May 28, 2016. Photo by Sarah Phipps, The Oklahoman
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Kevin Durant experienced the best of times over the past three and a half weeks. He experienced the worst of times Saturday night in Game 6 of the Western Conference Finals. Durant’s defense, not his offense, has been one of the revelations of these playoffs. Billy Donovan has squeezed more and better defense out of […]
0 comments by John Cannon on 5/28/2016
So what’s the problem? Why do I feel that the Warriors are fighting an uphill battle tonight in Oklahoma City? Home court. I’ve seen a lot of teams lose on their home floor, so I don’t look at home-court advantage as the determining factor when analyzing a matchup. Usually. This year is strange, folks. Look […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
LeBron James is a terrible leader. You might be surprised to think this opinion can possess such a shelf life, given that LeBron has reached a sixth straight NBA Finals, the best display of uninterrupted annual consistency in this league since Bill Russell. However, the constant media circus surrounding No. 23, fed by national carnival […]
0 comments by Matt Zemek
Cleveland is starving for a world championship in professional sports, but on Friday night in Toronto, its Cavaliers once again found a place at the table in the NBA Finals. In an unprecedented basketball moment, a turn of events not seen in northeastern Ohio in over 50 years, a team from “Believeland” earned the right […]
