I'll get to the Warriors a little later, but first allow me to explain the title of the blog. Toward the end of the fourth quarter, as I recollect, LeBron James was taking over the game. Every Cavs possession began with the "king" at the top of the key looking for screeners. As the game wound down to the final seconds, Tyronn Lue, the young first year coach, called a crucial time-out and set up a play for Kyrie Irving whom the "king" had forgotten was having one of the best games of his career. With 53 ticks left on the clock, Kyrie sank a devastating dagger-shot three-ball from long range with Steph Curry in his face. Had Lue not made that decision, it is my humble opinion the Warriors would have won the game.
The Warriors would have won the game anyway, had Andrew Bogut been playing, and Andre Igudala not been suffering from a bad back. So we go into next season in the same position as the Cavs were a year ago,claiming their championship was thwarted by the absence of Kyrie Irving--who was out with a fractured knee. It appears that we are looking at a Best Two Games Out of Three, if these same two teams vie for the NBA Championship again. Wouldn't that be fun to see?
Like all the Warrior fans in the Bay Area and around the country, I'm so proud of the Dubs. I watched every game of the regular and post season. My dear wife, as avid a fan as I am, watched me and cheered our team and hexed the opponents. I've been writing my memoir in sync with the games of the Warrior season, allowing my memory to take me to my years in the NBA and beyond to my later careers. So this has been a special season. I never got a chance to play in a final Game 7, but did play in two NBA Championships, one in 1964, against the Boston Celtics, and another in 1967 against the Philadelphia 76ers. We lost both games, so I know how difficult it is to lose on the biggest stage the NBA offers. As Curry said in this morning's paper, it will haunt him for a while.
But only for a while. Eventually the 'haunting' turns to determination, and an entirely new mind-set rises out of the loss like the Phoenix: The Golden State Warriors of 2016-17.
Did I just mix my metaphors? Oh, well.
A special Goodby and Good Luck to Luke Walton - except when his Lakers play the Warriors - as he goes south to tackle a pretty daunting job, rebuilding the LA Lakers.
Lots of congrats to one of my favorite golfers, Dustin Johnson, for finally winning the US Open.
Haiku by Tom Meschery
Thinking of the loss
On the lake, a blue heron
standing on one leg.
