NOW, let’s get down to business.
Is it Golden State versus Cleveland in the NBA Finals starting this Friday (Philippine time)? Yes.
Is it Stephen Curry versus LeBron James? Yes.
That just about wraps it up, fellers?
Hey, wait, just a second there.
Isn’t it also between Steve Kerr and David Blatt? Yes.
Kerr of Golden State and Blatt of Cleveland are both rookie coaches, their clash becoming also grist for copy for us angle-hungry sportswriters.
Under Kerr, Golden State did a fairly good job when it dished out a 4-1 ousting of powerhouse Houston in the Western Conference Finals.
Houston was tough, overhauling a 1-3 deficit and posting a spectacular 4-3 win over the cursed Clipper crew of Doc Rivers from Los Angeles.
For Golden State to have beaten Houston that easily was simply one for the books.
But then, how about Blatt’s 4-0 blasting of Atlanta, the No. 1 team in the regular season but which Cleveland sent crashing down the gutter embarrassingly in their Eastern Conference showdown?
With those seemingly brilliant feats achieved by Kerr and Blatt, which team then between the two finalists is better equipped to win the 2015 NBA crown?
The odds-makers say Golden State. I don’t know why they say that.
Curry is the reigning MVP, maybe?
But James is a four-time MVP.
And while Curry has yet to win a ring, James owns two NBA rings already. A third ring, this time in his own backyard, is what he corrigibly covets.
Golden State had the better regular season win-loss card than Cleveland, maybe?
But the Cavs swept their Conference Finals foes and the Warriors did not.
And the Cavs did it with just James jamming the opposition’s cause despite the absence of his chief ally, Kevin Love, and his fellow guard Kyrie Irving not 100-percent healthy during the Eastern playoffs.
Likewise, James will be in his fifth straight NBA Finals against Curry, who is a mere Finals rookie.
So, experience-wise, the 2007 losing finalist Cleveland is miles ahead of Golden State, whose last Finals appearance was 40 years ago in 1975, when Curry wasn’t even on conception stage yet; he is 26 years old.
Still, Golden State is favored because Kerr was the teammate of Michael Jordan, the greatest ever to play the game with six NBA rings to his name?
What Kerr learned from Jordan is absolutely priceless—not to mention Kerr played in Chicago under Phil Jackson, one of the best coaches of all time.
So, maybe, that’s where Golden State is miles ahead of Cleveland?
Not really.
With his return to Cleveland, James would also blossom as the team’s second coach—many say, he is the real coach and Blatt the coach only in name.
Cruel, but Blatt blames no one and he even accepts the impolite appellation approvingly.
In short, James has now reached the stage in the same way when Jordan ruled Chicago.
By that, James has become a double-barreled threat—the point-maker and play-maker all at the same time. In short, he makes points and makes the plays for the team. And Blatt blankly blah-blahs to James’ coaching incursions—only too happily. He knows fully well that all superstars are licensed trespassers, anyway.
And Kerr couldn’t care less.
THAT’S IT. That P20,000 fine slapped Rico Maierhofer for using his shoe to block a basketball shot was in accordance with rules. What is funny isn’t funny after all. But who said so, in the first place?…Happy birthday to Coach Dayong of San Miguel Beer: From Mayo, Dada, Migel, Mayasoh and Ikap.