Basketball from a fans perspective

Game four
The night prior to Game four, the Cavs are at home while the Warriors relax in their hotel.  Both teams are attempting to avoid stressing about the pending game.  Once the game started it was evident the Warriors had no intention to return to California for Game five.  In addition, the Cavs and LeBron James played a spirited game although the Warriors led at half-time 61-53.  The 3^rd quarter once again played a role in the undoing of the Cavs in this game and the series. 

The Cavs downfall was a porous defense and poor shot selection at times.  LeBron sat down with four  minutes remaining conceding the win to the Warriors.  I believed the Splash Brothers would not have two bad games in a row, well ½ of them did.  Klay Thompson only scored 10 points his backcourt mate Curry tossed in 37 points.  Kevin Durant scored 20 points but didn’t shoot particularly well.  LeBron led the way for the Cavs with 23 points but got little help from his teammates.  Final score Warriors 108 Cavs 85, Warriors 2018 NBA champions.    

The importance of recruiting
How important is recruiting to the college game…. pretty doggone important.  It's probably even more    important if your name is not Duke, Kansas or Kentucky maybe UCLA.  Several programs “self-recruit”, they attract players due to their name or in most instances the head coach.  I can point to Mizzou as evidence of the recruiting process, there is likely slight difference between offensive/defensive schemes between Division I and Division II.  It’s the talent you can attract to your program, Rivals 2019 prospect list contains several players with Mizzou offers.  By no means does this entail the school is successful in recruiting these prospects but the name is out there. 

Cuonzo Martin and staff are out their scouting prospects and making offers.  The previous coach was unable for a variety of reasons to attract talent that’s key as to why the program was in the toilet under his tenure.  The talk is often college coaches moving into the NBA, how about the other way around?  After playing in and coaching at the NBA level Avery Johnson has seemly made the adjustment to recruiting and coaching at the collegiate level.  Terry Porter too enjoyed a career first as an NBA player and later NBA coach.  He now serves as head coach for the University of Portland.  There are several former NBA players who never coached in the NBA but are coaches in the college game.  The results have been a mixed bag, some success and some failures.   

Basketball movies
Just a theory on my part, the speed of the game has either not lent itself successfully to the movie camera or maybe the problem is technical.  Until recently football and baseball movies have been able to provide a superior quality of realism.  With that said I will provide my Top 5 best and Top 5 worst, they are not in any order.

The best
Hoosiers
Coach Carter
He Got Game
White Men Can’t Jump
Blue Chips (Shaq, Penny Hardaway, Larry Bird and a host of cameos by college players & coaches)

The worst
The Fish that Saved Pittsburg (despite Dr. J. in the cast)
Semi-Pro

          Air Bud

Fast Break
*Teen Wolf

Technically Teen Wolf was not a basketball movie although the culmination had a basketball game key to the story.  Just in case some of the titles might be unfamiliar to you research them, see them if you can, formulate your own Best-Worst list.  A number missed the cut either The Best or The Worst.   

Bits n Pieces
Free-agent Kevin Durant confirmed on Thursday he will re-sign with the Warriors, I bet that really shocks us.  This is written prior to Game four so I don’t know the outcome of the game.  Regardless of that Durant indicates he’s ready to return for the 2018-19 season in a Warriors jersey. 

Speculation reigns supreme on the ultimate destination for LeBron James next season.  He won’t have one player as a teammate if he makes this choice.  "I think if LeBron James went to the Golden State Warriors then there would be a high possibility I won't be here” says Draymond Green.  You can draw your own conclusions from the story, I have my thoughts, but they might not be the same as yours. 

Maybe some of the best moves are those that never occur that’s my view here.  I’m reading a report indicating the Colangelo’s father, Jerry and son Bryan didn’t want Brett Brown as Sixer coach.  They wanted Mike D’Antoni, but he’d taken the Rockets job, their next choice Jay Wright of Villanova.  A couple of points, I’m not a D’Antoni fan, his teams are competitive but never advance to championship level as for Wright that might be a different story.  Wright might have made the leap from college to the NBA successfully, we’ll never know at least for now.

Kevin Love and Klay Thompson are on opposite sides in these NBA finals, but it’s not always been that way.  Love and Thompson were teammates on a little league baseball team growing up in Oregon.  They are also sons of former NBA players.  Kevin’s dad Stan played for the Baltimore Bullets, Lakers and Spurs back in the early to mid ‘70’s.  Klay’s dad Mychal played for the Blazers, Spurs and Lakers from 1978-1991.