New Album & The Beginning of Basketball Season

[Steve Williams]

as an aside , my wife and daughter were watching a documentary last night about Tyler Henry , the Hollywood medium who has become all the rage here. In last night's episode he had a meting with Jeannie and Tyler was able to communicate with her dead father Jerry. I can't watch that crap but if indeed Tyler was able to summon up Jerry he would have looked at Jeannie and said "wtf have you done" and then would turn to Pelinka and say "you're fired" Gosh I miss those years of Laker greatness when Jerry sat in his private box at the forum (before Staples) and was surrounded by a swarm of very young beautiful women. There was no smoking in the Forum, but Jerry was always there in his box behind the net lighting up one cigarette after another. Jerry was also part of the "showtime" which he created for the Lakers . Man that was Lakers roundball at it's finest. Jeannie has just gone silent this year as if she has given total control to Pelinka who IMO has destroyed all Lakers chances for the next 5-10 year. By that time Bronny will not only be in the league but Le Bron will be sitting home baby sitting his grand chilldren as he recounts his legacy to anyone who will listen

 

[Steve Williams]

Finally, I was impressed as to how Pat Beverly has become the floor leader of the Wolves as he still has the ability to play with the heads of his opponents. When the Wolves eliminated the Clippers, Beverly became animated to the crowd as he stood on the scorekeepers table pounding his chest t the crowd and threw his jersey into the stands and walked off

early this year I commented that the Wolves could be the Cinderella tea in the West and Cleveland in the east. Well Cleveland sadly faded at the end and with e rise of Memphis my focus shifted to the Grizz as the Cinderella team in the west who I felt could beat the Suns in thee playoffs. Yesterday the Wolves came out firing on all cylinders and went buzzer to buzzer fr the win. The Wolves have a solid future and I was stunned how they took it to there Grizz yesterday. Both are young teams and one with the player who will be the future of the NBA and as good as Ja was yesterday the Wolves had an answer for everything Memphis though at them. The Wolves hidden advantage is the 4 point shot. They were making them from everywhere yesterday

 

[Steve Williams]

In the absence of the Lakers I have always cozied up to the GSW's who I truly enjoy watching. When they are clicking and healthy as a team, they can give any team a run in a 7 game series but I just don't think they can get by the Grizz or the Suns. They are well coached and you just never now how I will go. The Suns look invincible, more so even than last year. It's exciting that the crappy season is over and finally some excitement in the games, and I have no pony in the game

 

[Steve Williams]

Golden State Warriors give 'scary' glimpse at new 'death lineup' in Game 1 win​

a great read.....

Kendra Andrews ESPN

SAN FRANCISCO -- The Golden State Warriors have a long-standing history of small-ball lineups. During the first championship run of their dynastic era, their small lineup was so lethal it was dubbed the "death lineup."

It has gone through a few different renditions since then, but as the Warriors embark on their first playoff run in three years, it appears they have the newest version.



Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Jordan Poole, Draymond Green and Andrew Wiggins played just five minutes together in Game 1 of their first-round series against the Denver Nuggets, but in those minutes, they outscored the Nuggets by 14 points. And it was those five minutes that shifted the momentum to the Warriors going into halftime of their eventual 123-107 win on Saturday night.


"It's a scary sight when we really get going," Thompson said. "This is really only our first time really playing together."

Said Poole of the lineup: "It's pretty lethal."

Poole has been peppering his veteran teammates with questions about the playoffs for the past three years. He wanted to be ready whenever his chance to perform on the NBA's biggest stage came. But according to Warriors coach Steve Kerr, it's not just his questions that prepared the third-year guard. Their two play-in games last year gave Poole a taste of the pressure he'd face during their run this season.

"He's not afraid of the moment," Kerr said of Poole. "He's looking forward to it."

Curry singled out a play that occurred with about three minutes left in the first half, when Poole came in transition and cut back and forth through the key for a layup.

"He doesn't lack confidence," Curry said. "That play embodied it. Because you just have the creativity and confidence in yourself to make that play. You don't second-guess yourself. You kind of live with the results and we've done it for years, and he's stepping into that now. It's fun to see."

Poole finished the night with a game-high 30 points on 9-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-7 from 3. Only one player in Warriors history scored more points in his playoff debut: Wilt Chamberlain (35 points).

On Friday, Nuggets coach Michael Malone said not to check Poole's statistics against Denver during the regular season because "they were just off the charts." In the three games he played against the Nuggets, Poole averaged 22.7 points, 58% shooting from the field and 61% shooting from the 3-point line.

Curry said that Poole's play as of late -- he has hit a league-best 78 3-pointers since March -- is a reason he is comfortable easing his way back into his own play more slowly.

Saturday's outing was the first time Curry had played a game since March 16, and he came in off the bench.

It was Curry's decision not to start. He said that watching Thompson come back from his injuries -- particularly the way the Warriors would allow Thompson to get 45 minutes of rest in real time before he returned to the floor -- gave Curry insight into how to manage his minutes restriction. But it also gave the Warriors the flexibility they wanted within the limits of Curry's minute restriction.

Curry played 22 minutes total, finishing with 16 points on 5-of-13 shooting, including 3-of-6 from 3-point range.

"I thought he looked great," Thompson said. "His shot was short in the first half, but that's to be expected when you come off a long layoff. But he's still Steph Curry. ... Just his gravity and the threat of him being out there is the best. It makes us a championship team."

As Thompson said, Curry's biggest impact on the game was simply his presence on the court. It forced the Nuggets to decide if they wanted to leave him in single coverage -- which could have allowed him to catch fire -- or throw multiple defenders his way, leaving another capable shooter wide open.

"It's really hard to guard us," Thompson said. "Technically, I guess, we are undersized, but you have to bring a defensive force and effort and energy."

As Curry added, "Seeing [Poole] be able to make plays in the pick-and-roll with me and Klay spaced and Draymond setting and Wiggs splashing, it checks a lot of boxes on the list of like what would you want for a potent offense."

The spacing Curry created was especially apparent playing in the Warriors' three-guard lineup with Poole and Thompson. Thompson finished with 19 points on 7-of-15 shooting, including five 3-pointers.

Of course, the "death lineup 3.0" was brought together by Green, as it has been since the 2014-15 season.

Green did not play in any of the four regular-season matchups against Denver, and Malone cited that as a reason the Nuggets went 3-1 in the series.

The Nuggets shot just 5-of-19 from the floor on Saturday when Green was the primary defender. Nikola Jokic went 3-of-12. On offense, the Warriors finished 9-of-14 on field goals off Green's passes, including 5-of-6 on uncontested shots.

"You need tough and smart, and that's Draymond," Kerr said.

Poole agreed.


"He stepped it up a notch," Poole said of Green. "Him being our leader, we feed off his energy and being able to see head honcho go out there, be aggressive, knock down huge stops against the MVP, we feed off that. Being able to have the force that he is back there, and the way he controls our offense helps a lot."

The Warriors only got a five-minute glimpse of their potential closing lineup. But in those five minutes, Golden State could finally see the lineup it has been talking about since Curry went down in March with injuries to his left foot. It's been in their playbook for longer -- for nearly a decade.

Golden State has seen players rotate out, such as Harrison Barnes and Kevin Durant, but at the end of the day, it will always be a key for the Warriors in the playoffs.

As for a new nickname for it?

"No," Curry said. "See, it's hard to keep doing it over and over again. Hard stuff we all must do."

 

[Steve Williams]

some interesting predictions....

NBA playoffs 2022: Experts' picks for every first-round series​

NBA experts' picks for Nets-Celtics, Pelicans-Suns and every first-round series

Which teams will advance? Which stars won't make it out of the first round? Our NBA experts share their predictions.

www.espn.com

 

[Steve Williams]

Miami looked really strong as they go buzzer to buzzer to crush the Hawks

 

[jadis]

Woke up to see a 1 point win by the Celtics in the box scores. Have to watch the game later.

 

[Steve Williams]

Great game Phil. Celtics are playing with a 4 leaf clover.

 

[Steve Williams]

Close game at Milwaukee as the Bulls were in it until the last minute. The teams match up well. I’d like to see the Bulls win the next to snag home court advantage
Final Bucks win 93-86

 

[Steve Williams]

And at Phoenix this could be a sweep

28-16 Suns end of 1

 

[christoph]

Woke up to see a 1 point win by the Celtics in the box scores. Have to watch the game later.

Congrats

 

[jadis]

Congrats

Thanks Christoph. It's going to be a long, tough series.

 

[Steve Williams]

Phil

If the Heat go out, then the playoffs in the East go through Boston as they were the #2 seed

I think you're selling them short. At the start of the season I didn't see any chance as they seemed in disarray and you weren't too pleased. They fell into the playin series and then began to peak and finished strong. So it's a lot of nail biting but what an upset that would be to see the Celtics emerge out of the East

 

[jadis]

Phil

If the Heat go out, then the playoffs in the East go through Boston as they were the #2 seed

I think you're selling them short. At the start of the season I didn't see any chance as they seemed in disarray and you weren't too pleased. They fell into the playin series and then began to peak and finished strong. So it's a lot of nail biting but what an upset that would be to see the Celtics emerge out of the East

I'm encouraged by your grading of the Celtics, Steve, but I take the tandem of KD and Kyrie very seriously as both are capable of exploding for 40 or more points in a game, each. This series reminds me of the matchup a few years ago with the Spurs and the Clippers, like a 1 vs 8 thing and the Clippers, with that acrobatic flip conversion of Chris Paul in Game 7, too the series and many felt that that was like the Western Finals itself. So this series could be something like that, and if the Heat falls as you mentioned. I get very tense when the C's are in a 'tight' playoff as against being a heavy underdog because as an underdog, they're already written off. But, being ranked 2nd, they are held in high esteem now by the analytics in computers, I read, and the pressure is on them to perform. I would like to see Jaylen Brown come out big in the coming games, he missed the entire playoffs last year to the Nets. And I'm glad to see the Celtics passing a lot more and rebounding more, as I was shocked to hear they outrebounded the Nets 43-29 when the Nets have the giant Andre Drummond in the paint.

 

[jadis]

Amazing performance by Jordan Poole as starter for the Warriors. Checking his salary earning around $2m this season. That's a bargain.

 

[Steve Williams]

Easy win by the Warriors. Yes Jordan Poole as a starter proved terrific.
Warriors up 2-0

 

[jadis]

Smart wins the DPOY award. Well deserved.

 

[Steve Williams]

Did I say sweep a few days ago. Pels cone back and okayed a heck of a game to beat the Suns at home and steal home court from the Suns

Final Pels 125-114 !!!!!

 

[jadis]

Did I say sweep a few days ago. Pels cone back and okayed a heck of a game to best the Suns at home and steal home court from the Suns

Final Pels 125-114 !!!!!

Amazing. Ingram is fantastic. And having McCallum is a big thing.

 

[Steve Williams]

Ex Lakers Brandon Ingram one assist shy of a triple double