Why I Like the Warriors to win the NBA Western Conference Championship, The 49ers and a few SO FARS.

 I watched the Golden State Warriors play the Denver Nuggets last night and worried through the first half that my belief that the Dubs would be the Dubs again this season was premature. You give up 80 points in a half and something is wrong. Right? Then came the second half and the Warriors almost came back to beat the Nuggets. That second half was the real Warriors, which must still be all about their vets. (that includes Divincenzo and JaMychal. That is, until the young players turn the corner and play like vets. 

Who are these youngsters? Wiseman, Moody and Poole (I have intentionally left Jonathan Kuminga out to be explained later) I need to explain about the addition of Jordan Poole. Poole is almost there. I say this knowing that people will refer me back to last season when Poole played like an All Star. Granted. But one season does not a Veteran make. To be aVet in the NBA, it's all about one's mental game. How to adjust on the fly. How you make your teammates better. How you innovate. How you balance D with O. And when to know which of the two is most important at the time of play. Real Vets know when to geive up their offense to become the best defenders on the court. Jordan has not learned this yet. He will. I have no doubt. But until then, I place him with the Warrior yougster. 

The rest of the youngsters have until All Star break to learn the basics of Veteranship. Wiseman is well on his way. I'm fine with him. Warrior fans will see many years of James Wisman. Moses Moody is also on his way. He's got a little longer path to travel than Wiseman. His growth will come with playing time and defense. The more he learns to be a stopper, the more playing time he'll get and the more playing time he'll get, the better his offense will be. Time will test him. 

Jonathan Kuminga. What about this young talent? I'm afraid JK is not on his way. It may be that he'll need another year of growth before he reaches his potential as an NBA vet. I will leave it to Kuminga to decide if he plans to grow or simply rely on his super athleticism for the rest of his career, in which case he will never achieve VET status. That said, if Poole, Wiseman and Moody become vets by the All Star break, the Warriors win the West. 

Here's why: Two teams stand in the way of the Warriors as I see it. The LA Clippers and the Denver Nuggets. In the case of the Clippers -  let's assume Kawhi and Paul George stay reasonably healthy - I'll take our young fresh legs off the bench over the Clips banch. I actuallly worry more about the Nuggets than the Clippers. But I like the Warriors off last night's second half performance over the Nuggets' first half. Last night, the Warriors would have won with points to spare if they'd played the first half the way they played the second. I was watching the body language of the Nuggets as the Warriors began their come back. Had they not had the 20 point head start to help them, Denver was a beaten team. 

So what about the Eastern Conference? I'll deal with that in a seperate blog. 

ETC: The 49ers trade beaucoup draft choices for running back, Christian McCaffrey. If McCaffrey stays healthy, terrific. However, here's the risk that has not been stated clearly so far that I've read. McCaffrey has been injured 23 out of 33 games he's played for his previous team the Carolina Panthers. He has had six disableing injuries since leaving college. The Injury Predictable Tool, whatever that may be, but it sounds official, states that McCaffrey has an 84% chance of being injured this season. Beign a 49er fand, I hope that's not true. 

SO FAR: McCaffery is paying off big time. A burst of speed guy, I haven't seen in the NFL for a long time.

ETC. Keegan Murry, the Kings prize rookie stretch power forward, was sorely missing by the Sacramento Kings that were beaten by one of the worst teams in the NBA, the Portland Trailblazers. They shouldn't have needed him. It's a worry I wasn't expecting. 

SO FAR: the Blazers are proving me wrong.

SO FAR: Moody and Wiseman are proving me right, and so is JK unfortunately proving me right. 

SO FAR: It's a tough call about Kuminga. He needs lots of game time and not in the G League, but more time on the court right now doesn't help the Warriors. The young man must learn in sceducled practices of which there are few once the season starts and on his own.

Snow in the Sierra yesterday and more on the way. Here's a poem for the skiers:

SKIER  by Robert Francis

He swings down like the flourish of a pen
signing a signature in white on white

The silence of his skies reciprocates
The silence of the world around him.

Wind is his one competitor
In the cool winding and unwinding down.

On incandescent feet he falls
Unfalling, trailing white foam, white fire. 

NBA 2022/23 Early Season Comments

 If you hear my wife, Melanie, groaning, it's because the NBA season is starting, and I am preping for long hours in front of my TV set watching the new season unfold. It's going to be a good one. The league as a whole will be more competitive. Okay, I said that last year, but I mean it this year. Teams like Orlando and the TWolves will join the ranks of possible playoff teams. A healthy brow automatically makes the Lakers better. Chi town is a question mark but will have enough to keep games close. The Cavs with the addition of Donovan Mitchell will give teams fits. The Pelican's with Z back. (I'm not talking about the great Hawk's HoF center Zelmo Beatty) will be much stronger. The Rockets' offense will make outscoring them difficult. Playing consitent D will be their problem. And, happily, the Sacramento Kings (HooWhah!) will be much improved. I will get to the Kings later. 

There will be bottom feeders: Th Jazz, (dumping) Hornets, Knicks, Pistons, Trailblazers, and Pacers, sux teams that have a good statistical chance of drafting French phenom Victor Wembayma. If you missed seeing him play recently on TV against the NBA G League Ignite, you misseda real treat A generational player, no doubt. Reminds me a lot of Jabbar in Milwaukee, only this kid can shoot threes. 

For the time being, consider that the Clippers will have a healthy Paul George and Kawhi Leonard this season and the Denver Nuggets will return Jamal Murry and Michael Porter J. back. My Dubs look strong again. Our young Big, James Wiseman, is healthy and playing well. I'm particularly excited by the addition of JaMychal Green (another of my favorite underappreciated players) and Donte DiVincenzo. I will leave a more detailed analysis of the Dubs for another Blog. The Phoenix Suns are a veteran winning team and well coached. If Ayton proves he deserves his max contract, the suns will be difficult to beat. The Bucks will be healthy. If they'd been healthy last season, they would have beaten the Celtics. The 76ers will be extremely strong again. Second best center in the league behind The Joker. I've never been a Hardin fan, so I don't think the 76ers, despite being a very dangerous, will get by the second round of the playoffs. Miami Heat will always be tough with Spoelstra coaching, Will Lowry be healthy? I think Jimmy Butler is overrated. (I'll take a few zinners for that.) Will there be help for BAM on the boards? That's going to be important for the Heat to compete. About the Mavs: Tim Hardaway Jr. will has returned from injury, and Javale Mcgee will help Doncic in ways that Jalen Brunson couldn't. I don't buy that Celtic Coach Idoka's suspension is going to drive the Cetlics into the tank. They are stonger at the point guard postion. I think getting Blake Griffin was a solid plus low post bench improvement. I'm going out on a limb to say I think the Rudy Gobbert experiment is going to work for the TWolves. And how about the Nets? Kyrie and Durant are a nightmare offense, but consider the return of 3 pt stretch D Joe Harris, and the addition of some D chops in O'Neale, Markieff Morris and a healthy Simmons. If Steve Kerr was coaching the Nets, they could win the NBA championship. Sorry Coach Nash. They could still win the East as long as they stay MENTALLY healthy. I'm not sure that's going to happen. Moving on, let's not forget the Hawks added Dejounte Murray, one of my favorite young players. That's going to be a very troublesome backcourt to defend. 

Back to the Sacramento Kings: Huge kudos for GM Monte McNair for assembling a roster that for the first time in a LONG time will be able to compete in a strong Western Conference. Starting with the Ox and the Fox; Demontus Sabonis and DeAaron Fox a pick and roll nightmare. And if they can play in a more free style Mike Brown offense, a double nightmare. McNair made three fantastic moves in the off season. He traded for Kevin Huerter and Malik Monk. Both players will be able to spread the court. Monk is an excellent defender. Heurter is above average on D and willing. When it came to the draft, McNair wisely chose for position and took 6'8" Keegan Murry who can play both the 3 and the 4, making Harrison Barnes a difficult match up problem for opposing coaches. Davion Mttchell will be improved (Got to love his toughness). With these additions, and otherrs, suddenly the King's bench looks better. The team as a whole  will have to improve on D. Keeping Matthew Dellavadova on their roster will help in that area, if only to provide veteran modeling in practics. Bazemore will help there too. Rashaun Holmes may wind up being one of the top two best back up centers in the NBA. The top back up center in the league is going to be James Wiseman of the Golden State Warriors, that is unitl perhaps, Kevon Looney becosme the best back up center in the league, if you get my meaning. 

I want to digress some and talk about the Pistons that don't appear to me to have much of a chance, but might surprise: With the rookie phenom, Jaden Ivey matching up with and Cade Cunningham at 1 & 2, that's a stong backcourt duo. The rest of the starters are solid: Saddiq Bey, whom I like a lot, Bojan Bogdonovich with Jalen Duren and Isaih Stewart, who knows, they might be the kind of team that will grow as the season progressive. Concerns about their bench curb my enthusiasm. We'll see where they're at after All Star break. 

Anyone who's ever played on outdoor courts in a big city knows about chain link nets. Here's poem of mine on the subject.

CHAIN     by Tom Meschery 

The ball rose into the air and fell
dead cener. Someone yelled, "Chain!"

We called him, Chain. He never missed.
Chain , someone yelled. His ball was in midflight.

Chain link nets, two links missing.
Charlie was a poet.
He said she had a hole in her skirt. 

Let's Get Real

Ime Idoka has been suspeded by the Boston Celtic's organization, that owns the team he coaches for one year for a consentual sexual relationship with a fellow female employee that breaks company policy. 

Deshaun Watson gets suspended for 11 games for inappropriate sexual misconduct with 20 (Let me repeat, 20) underpaidm poor possibly immigrant massage parlor women. So, he gets fined 5 mil and losses chump change for the 11 games he'll miss. No mention of his 44 million signing bonus. The Browns signed him to a massive $230 million deal.

I'm not condoning what Idoka did. It's lowbrow, particularly since he's in a long term relastionship with the mother of his child. 

Yeah, that's pretty putrid But hey, our recently past president was getting in on with a couple of woemn while his wife was pregnant with his baby. I think that takes the word putrid to another level of putridness. 

So let's get real.

Chnage of subjec. (thank goodness) Kansas State Wildcats upseting the Oklahoma Sooners was fun. I love underdog victories. 

More fun. Andre Igudala will be back playing for the Warriors for his 19th season. How about making it an even 20 seasons?

Susan Bird retires. One of the greatest basketball players in the history of the game. With great admiration. Now let's see the NBA begin figuring out how to pay the WNBA women so they don't have to go play in other countries to make a living playing hoops. The league just needs to take a long term approach about the women's league. Anyone who knows basketball will tell you the WNBA is looking more and more interesting and exciting with each season. Lots more athleticism going on. Except for the power dunking, and a touch more speed, the WNBA is looking a lot more like the male league. 

I'm not a baseball enthusiast, but Aaron Judge hitting 60 homeruns derseves an attaboy. 

Two more days to NBA training camp. HooWah!

A little self interest note: The first novel in my Brovelli Brothers Mysteries: The Case of the '61 Chevy Impals is being launched on October 11. Future Brobewlli Brothers Mysteries will follow every October from Epicenter/Camel Press You can preorder at your local bookstore or through Amazon. My website is tom meschery.com for information about my books of poetry and about the mystery series. 

Here's a short poem written in the voice of Walt Whitman in honor of baseball.

Walt Whitman from 4 Quatrains   by Tom Meschery

I mark'd, where, isolated
On a little mound of earth, he rubberd
The ball, tenderly, 'till he felt its worth
Between split fingers, launch'd it forth.

  

 

   

U.S. Open

 It's a surprisingly interesting new-look U.S. Open this year. Sernea was defeated by the Aussie, Tomjanivich; Nadal was defeated by Francis Taifoe. (I'll get to discussingTiafoe later). Medvedev and Rublev from Russia lost. Djokovic refused to get vaccinated, so he' was not playing. Probably he's somewhere pouting as most unvaccinated persons tend to be, pouters, even while decalaring themselves indvidualists. Give me a break! On the women's side, No Halep, no Azarenka. The only top ten ranked female tennis player left is Iga Swiatek from Poland. It appears that there is a changing of the guard. Lots of new faces. 

 Tonight, in the women's semifinals, I'll be cheering for the Tunisian, Ons Jabeur, even though I love France's Carolina Garcia's game. I just think that any woman from a Muslim country who achieves greatness while living in a society that does not value women except in their maternal roles deserves our support. And I'll be cheering for Swiateek against the Belarussian Sabalenka. I know it's not her fault she's from Belarus, but that country assisted and suported crazy Putin's invasion of Ukranine. 

That said, I think the U.S. Open is being fair allowing players from Russia and Belarus to play. The  solution is let the players play, but do not acknowledge their countries in any way. On TV where a player's names and scores are shown with the flags of their country, the players from Belarus and Russian have blank spaces. 

And now that the dust has settled from last night, if you out there did not witness five and a half hours of record breaking and brilliant tennis by two young men, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, shame on you. I condemn you to watching reruns of the recent LIV golf tournament for the rest of your lives. The 19 year old Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz finally won. But what a courageous battle by Sinner. At one point in a rally came one of the most astonishing returns in tennis I've ever seen. Acaraz, during a sustained rally, having over run the ball delivered by Sinner's crushing forehand, returned it by swinging his racquet behind his back for the return in play and the rally continued. The crowd went nuts.   

TENNIS TOURNENT IN CHINATOWN    by Tom Meschery

                      For Peter Sears

His first serve slices pencil thin,
over the net and drops like a broken elbow
skittering to the side out of my reach,
and after his next serve curves like a new moon
to my forehand, then changes direction
like scythe to my back-hand, I know
I'm in trouble. Forty love, the first game
his, won on a squirrelly shot that, were it not
a ball, might well have been a squirrel.

My service, a hard one with top spin

comes just in time to save me from disgrace,

or so I think, in the split second I see it

catch the corner, a certain winner, it returns

to me as a butterfly attaching itself to the silk

thread of the net, as delicate as a brushstroke

before fluttering off where I can't touch it.

I'm thinking this is not tennis but an ancient

form of art, disguised as tennis for the purpose

of torture, invented in the court of the Sung

Dynasty, and it is the sly Emperor Hui-Tang

himself on the other side of the net.

He is staring at me, crouched, his whites

gleaming in the sun, racquet spinning in his hand,

waiting for me to decide how to paint

the rising peacock. Will I paint the left leg

or he right leg first? Meanwhile, I've two balls

in my hand, confused, wondering which one

to serve and which one to place in my pocket. 

It's Not the Same as the ABA vs the NBA

 As far as I can remember, in 1967 no executive of the fledgling American Basketball Association ever had a member of the NBA assassinated and chopped into little pieces the way the leader of Saudia Arabia that sponsers the fledgling LIV golf tour did to fellow Arab, reporter Jamal Khashoggi. Nor did the ABA or people associated with the new ABA ever mistreat women, or financially support Islamist terrorists. Not there were any Islamist back then in the "70's to support. But you get my meaning. This is not about a competitive league. The ABA had every right under our country's laws to compete with the NBA. We are, for better or worse, a capitalist country. That means competition is encouraged, even while it often seems in 2022 that competion is dwindling and mega companies dominating the market. However, that is not my point. Competition is fair under the law in our country and most civilized countries. But if a start-up company is owned by criminaels it should NEVER be supported. The LIV is owned by Saudi Arabians living in Saudi Arabia (Read Saudi Government, a criminal organization, make no mistake about it.) The Arab government is a lawless state with great buckets of blood on its hands. Yet many of our top, even iconic, golfers like Phil Michelson and Dustin Johnston, have decided to play for them - the LIV. Now they too, by association, have blood on their hands. They and all the golfers signed up to play for the LIV should remember what happened to Lady McBeth. Blood can not be washed away. No amount of money will wash the stains away. 

On to a happier subjects. Word is out that the NBA is seriously discussing expanding to Seattle and Las Vegas in the near future. I've heard for the 2024/25 season The talking heads are saying Las Vegas will be owned by LeBron James. Good for LeBron. And, Seattle cerainainly deseerves their Sonics back they way the city was bamboozled by the owner of the Oklahoma Thunder who bought the Sonics and vowed he would not move the franchise. Two more real western teams in the West will allow the TWolves and the Memphis Griz both teams on the east side of the Mississippi to join the Eastern Conference. 

And, by the way, Go Seattle Storm. Win the WNBA!

The Sacramento Bee might be the worst newspaper in America. Let's have a contest. This mornings paper Monday the 29 of August read: Scheffler Takes 6-shot lead at Championship. Really, and what about Rory Mcllroy winning it, for a victory in a major he had not won since 2014, albeit he's one of the best golfers in the biz. Is a newspaper really a newspaper when it contains no up to date news? Why do my wife and I keep our subscription? Sentimental reasons, I guess. We both love to read real print. I like to feel the crackle of paper in my hands. My wife likes the funnies and Dearr Abby. But this is getting ridiculous. This city purports itself to be Big League. Not with a bush league newspaper. 

Got to get this gripe out of my system. How many people watching the PGA hate it on the split screen that the ads get the larger portion of the screen????Cameron Smith made a fabulous 45 foot putt, putt of the day on the smaller screen, while on the bigger screen I was treated to a Rolex ad for a watch I'll never be able to afford. Big screen for the sport, don't you think?

Back to the LIV. Sayonara LIV golfers. The young up-and-coming golfers along with some still youn stalworths, like Mcllroy, Speith, Thomas, Scotty, Rham, Om, Morikawa, Cantlay, Camernon Smith Young, Xander Shauffele, etc, are going to eclipse your memory in no time. You made t a pact with the devil, now you LIV guys must LIV with the devil. 

From my new collection of poetry, just out, from Random Lane Press, a poem called

CHAIN

The ball rose into the air and fell
dead center. Someone yelled, "Chain!"

"Chain," someone yelled, his shot in mid flight.
We called him, Chain. He never missed.

Chain link net, two links missing.
Charlie was a poet
He said she had a hole in her skirt