Can the Cavaliers Win Game 2?

Good afternoon, all.

It has been a few months since I have written anything. I hope to change that in the near future, even as warmer weather lends to spending more time outside.

Anyway, without further adieu, let's get to the subject of today's post.

The Cleveland Cavaliers look to even the series at one apiece when they play the Golden State Warriors tonight, but it will not be easy. The Warriors have played like the team we all thought they were the last four games, and it appears they could very well be on their way to a second consecutive NBA championship.

In fact, upon closer examination it appears the Warriors have much more in common with the 1995-1996 Chicago Bulls than just 70+ wins. If Stephen Curry’s 30.4 points per game average during the regular season didn’t seem a bit Jordanesque, then maybe what he has done in the playoffs will equal His Airness. Fighting off a sprained knee, Curry has helped lead his team back to the finals and a 1-0 series lead on the heels of a four-game winning streak. That neither Curry nor Klay Thompson(GS’s version of Scottie Pippen) shot all that well for Golden State on Thursday night (only 8 for 27 from the field) doesn’t bode well for the Cavs heading into game 2.

The good news for Cleveland and its fans is that there is plenty of basketball left to be played. The Cavs need to dust themselves off, forget about Thursday night’s horrid performance, and ready themselves to even the score tonight in Oakland. All questions about Lebron James’ legacy aside, the Cavaliers will need a team effort to be Golden State. Not just tonight, but in the series overall as well. They cannot expect to turn the ball over even a dozen times a game (let alone the 15 turnovers they committed in game 1) and win this series. Nor does shooting 18 of 20 from the line mean all that much when you can’t even shoot above 40% from the field.

So while fans and the media alike contemplate whether this is the best chance for Cleveland to bring home an NBA title, let’s all hope that the players are focused nothing but winning game 2.  

Weekend Rant: Tiger Woods, Kobe Bryant, etc...

Tiger Woods is staying put this weekend at Augusta National.

He just might even win his fifth Masters tournament in the process.

As social media is abuzz regarding his controversial drop on the 15th hole, the game of golf needs him to be in contention on the final day. So of course they're going to create an exception for him.

Golf purists can argue all they want that Tiger should remove himself from the tournament, but he's not going to do that. Neither would they if they happened to be in his position. When you're chasing history, sometimes you bend the rules. And if the tournament officials allow it, then you say you're fine with it too.

Look, I really don't like Tiger myself that much. In all honesty, I'd rather see someone like Rory McIlroy, Rickie Fowler, or even Phil Mickelson(known by many as a big choker) put on the green jacket instead on Sunday afternoon. But the PGA understands the power of Tiger, and is willing to let bygones be bygones at this point. Doesn't mean it's right. Or even fair.

And to those who say that no golfer is above the rulebook, I say this: yeah right. From the moment he won his first major, there was already an unofficial rulebook created for one Eldrick 'Tiger' Woods. If you're just realizing that now, well shame on you.

So if Tiger goes on to win Sunday, historians can put an asterisk by his name if that makes them feel better. But it won't really change anything at this point.

...Kobe Bryant may have played his last game of professional basketball.

Well, not really, but even he is sensing the end is near after MRI's reveal that he suffered a tear in his achilles tendon the other night.

Many Lakers fans around the world are hoping that this isn't the end for Kobe.

As for me, while I hope he makes a full recovery, I hope that this indeed is the beginning of the end for no. 24 of purple and gold.

A man called by many the greatest Laker of all time, in my opinion he was merely a superior one-on-one player surrounded by other great players.

He won three titles with Shaq, two more with a list of All-Stars and a coach (Phil Jackson) that even LeBron would be envious of. Now, without Phil and with two of the supposed best players in the league (Steve Nash and Dwight Howard), they're barely making the playoffs.

History has already shown us that LeBron had success in Cleveland with a bunch of castoffs that no other team wants for very long. The proof is the fact that the Cavs haven't even made the playoffs without LBJ, despite the efforts of coach Byron Scott(who actually led the then New Jersey Nets to the NBA finals once upon a time).

And then there is the G.O.A.T., one Michael Jeffrey Jordan. Not only were Jordan's Bulls a contender before Phil, but Jordan also lifted the lowly Washington Wizards to near playoff status. At the age of 40. After he had been out of the game for several years mind you on his second retirement tour.

So Kobe is pissed that, at age 35, this might be the end of the road for him. Well, don't expect me to feel to sorry for him knowing that others have come back and still been successful under less than ideal circumstances.

LeBron better than Jordan? Hardly. Here's why King James will never be as great as "Air Jordan."

As the Dallas Mavericks put the finishing touches on last night's 112-103, taking a 3-2 lead in the best of seven series of the 2011 NBA Finals, a few things stood out to me.  First and foremost is that Dallas will not go away, and if they can keep up their hot shooting, there is a good possibility they can take at least one of the final two games in Miami, thus becoming NBA champions.  Then there was the play of Miami without Dwayne Wade, a team that at times looked worse than last year's LeBron James led Cleveland Cavaliers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals against the Boston Celtics. 

The story of the night, however, is that LeBron James is no Michael Jordan.  In fact, LeBron is not even in Michael's area code when it comes to basketball, and, despite what happens in the future, King James will never be as good as the one they dubbed "Air Jordan."

All pregame talk centered on whether LeBron would be able to bounce back from what was the worst playoff perfomance in his career. To his credit, he did notch his first triple double of the series.  Yet he couldn't help lift his team to the victory, and now he and his Miami teammates head home on the brink of elimination.

Lebron apologists will point to the fact that Miami was without D-Wade for a majority of the game.  During Michael's prime, however, had Scottie Pippen been hurt Michael would not have made excuses, he would have found a way to win without Scottie.

In addition, Michael Jordan may have also been unofficially known as "Mr. Clutch",  because when it came to the fourth quarter, and the game was on the line, Michael took over.  LeBron's recent struggles in the fourth quarter of playoff games are well documented, with one fan even posting this on twitter:

" RT @damienwoody: If u ask @KingJames for a dollar, he'll only give u 75 cents; he never gives you the fourth quarter."

There are other reasons, though, that James will never be in the same stratosphere as Jordan, even if the Heat end up winning this series(and possibly another four or five titles).  The first is that LeBron complains way too much.  It's become pretty pathetic, actually, to the point you almost expect him to cry 'foul' every time he misses a shot.  At least it seemed that way last Sunday while I was watching  game four at a friend's house.

Jordan never made excuses, he just won ball games.  And, if he ever talked any trash, he was always able to back it up.  Lebron hasn't even won one championship yet, and he's already looking ahead to the day when he has more titles than Michael.

And what if Lebron does bounce back and leads the Heat to the championship?  Or five? Or six? Or seven?  The answer is he'll still never be as good as Jordan, primarily because he thought it was too tough to win in Cleveland. So he decided to "take his talents to South Beach."   Why couldn't he persuade Wade and Bosh to join him in Cleveland? Oh, yeah, that's right, LeBron is much more marketable in Miami than he would have ever been in Cleveland.

Think Michael Jordan gave a rat's a-- about his marketability while he was on his way to winning six NBA Championships with the Bulls?

I rest my case.