First Time Since 1946, Two Rookie Coaches Square off In NBA Finals

Steve Kerr, the head coach of the Golden State Warriors has home court advantage against the Cleveland Cavaliers leader David Blatt.

The stage is set for what should be a fantastic best of seven game series against the last two basketball teams standing.

The opening round of the finals had a classy start as 10-year-old Nayah Damasen wonderfully sang the national anthem. She has been singing for the Warriors since she was 8-years-old. Warriors pulverized the Cavaliers in the Overtime period, but the first four quarters was wire to wire round balling.

   

The Warriors come into the series with the leagues MVP in Stephen Curry and Blatt has arguably the best player in the entire game in LeBron James. James like Curry can bring 'it' in all aspects of the game. James, unlike anyone else it seems has the ability to make his four counterparts on the court play above themselves, just like Michael Jordan used to do in the 90s NBA. Without James the Cavaliers are a first round playoff exist at best, and the same could be said about Warriors.

Aside from which team you were cheering for, whether they won or lost, did game one live up to the hype? Upon recap, yes. After four quarters of regulation play the score was knotted at 98. In the first quarter alone there was nine lead changes and the score was tied three times.

The Cavaliers offensive prowess on getting rebounds was the key to their 20-9 run to end the first quarter for a 29-19 lead to start the second period. In the second quarter, the Warriors had a 29-12 run and finished plus 2 in the rebounding aspect as opposed to finishing -8 on the boards after the first 12 minutes of play.

Notables in the 2nd period of play was Curry nailing a 3-pointer to tie the game at 36 with 4:25  to play in the half. The Warrior bench players were also stellar, scoring 18 points by half time. J. R. Smith was the only bench player to score for the Cavs by half time, (entire game) but his three 3-pointers, including the quarters final basket were daggers, giving the Cavs a 51-48 half time lead.  

In the 3rd period, both teams traded baskets, but it was the the final seconds in the quarter that ignited the excitement. Andre Iguodala stole the ball from King James and sprinted to the hole for a sweet layup to knot the game at 73 to start the last quarter of regulation.

The Warrior bench outscored the Cavalier bench 39-9 tonight and with less then 31.9 seconds in the 4th, no team scored, and the stage was set for a 98-98 overtime showdown.

By the start of over time there was a total of 18 lead changes and 10 ties. The Warrior defense held the King and company to a mere two points in the extra period and waxed them 108-100 to win the first game of the series. Game two is also at the Orcale Arena on Sunday night; 5 p.m here on the west coast.  

Latest John Grisham Novel, A Bust or Must Read?

Number seven on the FBI's 10 most wanted list, Pete Duffy and two of his comrades seek to make life miserable for 8th grader Theodore Boone and his parents.

Despite not having read the first four books of the Theodore Boone series, John Grisham has mustered up a worthy afternoon read in his May 12 release of  "Theodore Boone (the fugitive)."  This book contains no profanity and is fit for all ages.

While on a 3 and a half day field trip in Washington, D.C., 8th grader Boone spots the fugitive Duffy in the airport. A $100,000 reward is offered for information leading to Duffy's arrest and conviction. Enticed by the reward money, Boone with the aide of his uncle Ike seek to help the FBI catch Duffy.

While in Washington, D.C., Boone plays detective and stalks Duffy, a wanted killer as opposed to spending time with his classmates at the Smithsonian Institution, the worlds largest museum, aka 'the nations attic.'

As I was reading the book, I never could figure out why Duffy was still wanted by the FBI, because he was acquitted of the murder of his 46-year-old wife Myra because of a mistrial. Then again I never read the first four books of the series, and the other vague points in this novel did not hinder the over-all understanding of this read.

The plot heats and cools fluidly throughout as Duffy seems to know who Boone is, and for obvious reasons doesn't want to go back to trail for the strangulation of his late wife Myra and possibly live in LWOP, Life With Out Parole.

This book was very vague about the scrupulous characters Omar Cheepe and Paco, but these two have definitely set the stage for number six in this series of books. Three and half stars for Grisham's latest release. I was thoroughly impressed with how the book catered to the minds of both the grown adult and the adolescent brain.

Does All Star Cast in Cut Bank Carry Movie?

"Cut Bank" is the name of a town in Montana in which the story of course takes place. Dwayne Mclaren characterized by Liam Hemsworth plan to swindle a huge amount of cash in order to leave Montana with his beautiful women Cassandra (Teresa Palmer) turns out not to be so cut and dry as he'd planned.

Derby Milton marvelously played by Michael Stuhlbarg proves to be a huge chink in the armor of Mclaren's plan to score huge bucks and run off to California with his enticing women. Milton is a demented soul who simply wants a package he ordered, and is not afraid to kill people in his quest to get it. Bruce Dern is the perverted mail man, George Wits who unwittingly complicates Mclaren's devious plan, which was a staged murder convincingly caught on Mclaren's cam corder.

John Malkovich is Cut Bank's sheriff who along with his pal Big Stan Steeley, (Billy bob Thornton) keep the story mildly intriguing. Steeley is also Cassondra's father, and when he begins to question her relationship with Mclaren, the plot thickens, but not enough to make this movie worthy of more than  2.5 stars. First on the big screen April 3, then on DVD May 26, it has all the ingredients for a true mystery suspense, corruption, murder and mayhem, but it could have been so much better.

"See You in Valhalla" Delves Into the Issues of Twisted, yet Soulful Family Values

While refreshing to see a new movie riddled with dialogue and no gluttony of special effects geared mostly for  adolescence minds, "See You in Valhalla" still lacks greatness.

First in theaters on April 24, then to DVD May 26, it's still worth a watch, but only once. "Modern Family's oldest daughter Sarah Hyland portrays Johana Burwood who returns to her home town after several years to attend one of her brothers funerals. Johana brings her new beau along to stay at her widowed fathers house along with her other two brothers and their families.

The deceased brother was a viking history advocate, and despite his suicide, the family who doesn't get along begin to confront their own personal demons. It's also a quest for the family to reunite and seek some sort of reasoning for death. "See You in Valhalla" validates that there are many ways to understand and interpret God, Odin, Mohammad, Bumba or any other name there is for an all powerful entity. Odin being of course the Viking word for God and their heaven which is called Valhalla.      

Johanna's boyfriend of the past factors into the flick for some more interesting wrinkles. While suddenly forced to deal with her former lover, she also has to deal with  one of her surviving brothers homophobia toward his other brother and gay lover Makewi played by "Shameless" regular Steve Howey. Makewi is the comic relief to the story, and possible wisdom enhancer for everyone.

"See You in Valhalla" is an average 2.5 star movie that doesn't live up to its potential. The ending is good with a great reference to how vikings dealt with losing a loved one.

"American Sniper," All American Classic, or Just Another One Time Watcher?

The story-line for "American Sniper" has all the elements for an intense mind journey for those of us who've never experienced real combat in a war zone.

The American involvement in the Afghan war just like the one in Vietnam has no true identification of its real enemies in the heat of battle, at least much of the time. In Afghanistan, like in the Vietnam war some children recently potty-trained are fully armed and eager to kill any American solider in sight. Too often in war, it's killed or be killed, even it involves killing the old and very young.

The focal character in "American Sniper," Chris Kyle (Bradley Cooper)  is credited with more than a 160 kills in his many tours in the middle eastern war. He is faced with his personal demons and angles as to which of his kills are justified or maybe flat out murder of the innocent. The movie leaves open ends as to whether 'all' of his kills where legit, and I liked that aspect of the movie. If you see this flick, you be the judge of his war kills.

Deby Kyle (Elise Robertson) wants to raise her children she's had with her husband, and her spouse Chris wants the same, but he also wants to serve the U.S. in it's mission of madness. Chris, during his many encounters in the battle field manages to come out on the highly positive end physically, but dealing with Shell Shock puts tension in his marriage and over all life back home in America.

I give this movie an average rating of 2.5 stars. It was too pro war for me, and the scenes that were supposed to be intense simply lacked that knock-out cerebral punch. While having sympathy for the 6,848 U.S. troops killed in both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars (causalities.org), I also realize they volunteered, unlike the vets in World War I, II and Vietnam.

More than 50,000 U.S. soldiers have been wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001, more than 1500 troops have lost an arm or a leg and 100s of them have lost multiple limbs so we can drive our gas guzzlers to our next abomination. (http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/11/07/iraq-afghanistan-amputees_n_2089911.html)

More Bleacher Babble

For the first time in over 90 games this season, the Houston Rockets lost three games in a row, a game in which they desperately needed to win.

The above stat may be the first time the Rockets lost three in a row at home in the Toyota Center, but I'm too lazy to research the real facts on that one. Regardless, tonight the Golden State Warriors for the first time this series did not give anything to Houston and shellacked them by 35 points on their home court to take a commanding 3-0 best of seven series lead.

The first two games where close between these teams largely in part of Warrior turn-overs, but even in their 67(best in the league) games won in the regular season this year, they were not too good at protecting the ball. As a team the Warriors averaged 14.1 turnovers per game, and are at 15.1 in their 11-2 post season run thus far. (http://espn.go.com/nba/team/stats/_/name/gs/seasontype/2/golden-state-warriors)

The Warriors only had one turn-over in the first half of tonight's game as opposed to nine in game two. Stephen Curry was again brilliant, amassing 40 points, and he only had three points at the end of the first quarter. Andrew Bogut and Draymond Green both had double doubles. The Warriors had 15 assists as a team and had a devastating 62-37 half time lead. Going into tonight's game, the Rockets were the leading scores in the playoffs this year, averaging more then a 100 points.

Since losing two games in a row to the Memphis Grizzlies in their last play-off series, the Warriors have now won six in row, largely in part to a 'play-off' defense as their head coach, Steve Kerr would say.

I hope my prediction is wrong now, in my last article I said each team would have blow-out wins and the series would go six games, now I just want the Warriors to win game four on Monday night to get to the finals. Being wrong can be a very  good thing.

Bleacher Babble

Twenty-six out of the 30 NBA teams are no longer vying for this years championship, and the odds point toward a championship series between the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers. 

Tonight's game three match-up between the Warriors and the Houston Rockets is sure to be a basketball barrage of brilliant entertainment. The Warriors won the first two games of this series by a total of five points. The next two games between these teams shifts to the Toyota Center, the home of the Rockets.  

Both the Rockets and the Warriors are capable of huge scoring runs. During Wednesday nights game, the Warriors were up 49-32 in the second quarter, then the Rockets went on a 23-6 run to close out the second quarter for a 55-55 half time score. The Warriors had nine turn-overs in the half and the Rockets made them pay for it. 

Both math-ups between the Rockets and Warriors have seen both of their star players do their jobs. The Warriors Stephen Curry has had 30 plus points in both games, and The Rockets James Harden was one assist away in both games from having a triple double. In Wednesdays bout, Harden was the games leading scorer with 38 points. (10 boards, 9 assists) Curry was the games leading scorer in game one, and had 33 points in Wednesday nights game. 

The Warriors need to cut out the large number of turn-overs and need more production from Klay Thompson, and Harrison Barns to really put the Rockets away. The Rockets need more consistency from Trevor Ariza, Jason Terry, and if Dwight Howard's knees mend tougher, the Warriors could be home for the NBA finals. 

The Cleveland Cavaliers look poised to sweep the Atlanta Hawks. The Cavaliers have the number one defense in this years play-offs and they have been nailing their 3-point shots. To be honest, the series between the Hawks and Cavaliers is hard to watch. Thus far, I've only watched the second half of last nights game two between these teams. 

The king, LeBron James has taken a team that at best would have been a first round play-off losing team into one that is poised to win it all. If the Cleveland Cavaliers play the Warriors in the finals, the stage is set for a six or seven game series sure to entice its viewers. 

Currently the Cavaliers are 10-2 in the post season, as are the Warriors. The Hawks have too many banged up players and are simply over matched by Cleveland. Cleveland has won both games by a total of 20 points, and just watching the second half of last nights game, there was never a moment when you thought the Hawks might actually win. 

Go ahead and skip watching the Eastern Conference finals remaining games because there is no doubt which team is going to win the series. If you crave new entertainment, watch the remaining games with the Rockets and Warriors, because I predict one blow-out win for each team, and the rest down to the wire round ball games with the Warriors prevailing in six games.