End of 2018/19 NBA Season Approaching and etc

I don't mean to denigrate Pop's Spurs, but I'd like the Warriors to avoid facing the OKC in the first round. Granted the Thunder are not playing well. But mindsets change once playoffs begin, and OKC has some excellent players and are far more physical than the Spurs. Now that we have Bogut back with the Dubs, I'm less concerned about physicality in the paint and rim protecting, but it's my feeling they have the one time ability to pull off an upset. So, Of course who the Dubs play will be more determined by the team playing for the 7th spot, and how they are viewing their chances. Still, the Dubs need to win down the stretch and stay atop the Western Conference.

When there's talk of Coach of the Year, it appears to me the pundits are overlooking the job Steve Kerr has done this season. Ask all the coaches who've won consecutive NBA Championships how difficult it is, and Kerr has to be considered a strong contender.

It bears keeping in mind that Coach Kerr has had to be extremely creative putting together rotations for this season that were more predictable and more effective in the past. In addition, he's had to figure out how to integrated Boogie into a line-up in such a way as to maximize his positives and minimize his negatives, two of which are: he's not a rim protector and not a fierce rebounder. Note: I believe the first requirement for jumping is that your shoes must leave the court. Sorry, Boogie, I love parts of your game, but you have no hops.

If not Kerr for Coach of the Year, I vote for Pop. He's done wonders with a very incongruous group of players.

A respectful nod to Doc of the Clippers, or should I say Jerry West for breaking the team down and putting it back together better.

If not our Western Conference coaches, than Budennholser of the Bucks. Nifty job with his bench players.

So, what does the race for the NBA Championship look like from Meschery's view point?

The East first: The 76ers do not have the chemistry; the Celtics? Yeah, they can be extremely tough but seem to have too many lapses in concentration, plus I'm not that big a fan of Kyrie as a leader; the Bucks appears to have all the positions covered and bench strength at max at just the right tiime. That leaves Toronto. Can they win with Lowry as their leader? Neither a true point guard nor a pure shooting two guard.

The West: The Warriors and the Rockets. Watch out for the feisty Clippers. There is no question that the Rockets are tough. But whither goeth Hardin, so goeth the Rockets. The Warriors win because it's extremely difficult to beat them in a seven game series.

Now cometh the ETC like the Post Man:

Is anybody pissed at the split screen coverage of sporting events? And what's with the larger screen being the commercial and the weeny screen to the sport.  Rise up sports fans, we have nothing to lose but a few bad beer commercials and some lying Big Pharma promises.

I hate to say it, because I like Joe Biden, but he needs to drop out of the race for the presidency. This latest revelation, which is not really a revelation, that he pats and hugs and embraces women, not sexually, but certainly condescendingly, disqualifies him in the eyes of the modern generation of educated women voters the Dems need to beat the jerk we have in office now. It's time to pass the political baton to the youngsters.

Zion Williams is not the Second Coming of Lebron James. More of a Randle look-a-like inside/slashing power forward. Not a jump shooter, not with that sidewinder form. But I may eat my words as Lebron was not a shooter when he came into the league.

Pulling for U of Virginia just because - from loser last year to winner this year seems like justice.

I've never been much of a bowling fan, but clearly it requires great talent to play the sport well. So here's a bowling poem in honor of a sport I overlook and in honor of fathers and sons. .

Hook    by Floyd Skloot

My father limps on the leg that healed short.
His twice-broken right wrist, too weak to hold
a bowing ball palm up, is why he spins
a hook he cannot control. The ball rolls
slowly, as if limping while it wanders
from one gutter to the other and back.

We stand dead last in the Father and Son
League, not helped by my rocketing straight shots
that knock down nothing as often as they
knock down everything. He watches, giving
no advice. At thirteen, knowing there is 
nothing for me to say either. I wait

for the ball's return so I can heft it 
again and aim down the gleaming alley.