Golden Gates Greater than Big Apple: Kerr Stays on West Coast

It seemed like a done deal. New York Knicks hired Phil Jackson to rite the ship and start to rebuild the New York Knicks franchise then Jackson would hire Steve Kerr, TNT analyst and former player for Jackson with the Chicago Bulls. It didn't happen. Kerr decided to coach Golden State and their wealth of young talent to the tune of five years and 25 million dollars. While many people were stunned Kerr spurned his former coach, there are many reasons why Golden State was the optimal position for the first time coach.

Kerr is a virtual unknown to coaching an NBA team. Granted, Kerr was a long-time General Manager of Phoenix Suns which he did without any experience. This is not his first rodeo. Kerr expressed multiple times publicly how he wanted to coach in the NBA someday and now he gets his chance with Golden State. The team is rich with talent as the Warriors have won 50 plus games in the past two years including two great guards although the pressure to win might be greater at Golden State than New York. In fact, it might be harder.

Golden State fired a coach for winning 50 plus games and not making it to the Western Conference Finals. That's a lot on your plate if you are Kerr to begin with. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson are two great options to start the team, but after that, Golden State has more uncertainty than many people believe to be the case. Andrew Bogut cannot remain healthy, and the Warriors have his albatross contract for the next three years. Andre Igoudala underwhelmed for most of the season. Not to mention, Draymond Green is a free agent and will demand a pretty healthy contract.  Warriors have a great deal of issues, but my assumption is all of these issues at Golden State outweighed the problems with New York.

We don't need to cover all of the problems with the Knicks because it is two paragraphs deep including whether Carmelo Anthony will be on this basketball team in the Fall.  Kerr also seems to have a pretty good relationship with Joe Lacob, the majority owner of the Warriors versus the likely non-existent relationship he would have with James Dolan. Having Jackson in your front office can only go so far for Kerr plus who knows maybe he feared Phil would mettle in personnel decisions. Further, he didn't want to hear people say when the Knicks had success, 'Oh well Kerr is just a puppet, this is all Phil's doing anyways.' I couldn't stand that if I were Kerr so I don't blame him for staying on the West Coast.

Here's the one thing though we need to consider about Kerr. The Eastern Conference is terribly easy. If the Knicks patch work a couple things here and there, they could be a top three seed in the Eastern Conference next season. After Miami, there is a pure drop-off comparable to a roller coaster at Six Flags Great America. Kerr could have consistently put the Knicks in the top four, and people would assumed him to be king if he got the Knicks far enough. Yet that's the one alluring thing versus several in Golden State. Kerr will have to work for it in a tough Pacific division featuring the Clippers, rising Suns, Sacramento is not that far away and Lakers will be back to form in a year or two.

The hire is a nice one on paper and in the media, but he is still a new coach. There will be bumps in the road, but Kerr seems like the type of guy to handle it.

Charlie.

NBA Playoffs Recaps: Clippers Come Up Big, #THUNDERGRIZZLES & Wiz Kids Alive!

Every night there is some sort of drama about the NBA Playoffs. Every game is worth talking about even if it is just to make fun of somebody. The recaps look at the game itself and what could be upcoming for the teams.  

Los Angeles shakes off distraction, takes Game 5 
People wondered what the state of mind would be for Los Angeles as they played their game at home since the Donald Sterling scandal. Los Angeles took advantage winning Game 5 and taking advantage in the series with a 113-103 win. Clippers had a spirited crowd behind him, and a big game from DeAndre Jordan proved to be the difference in the game. Jordan's strong season went a bit under the radar with the play of Blake Griffin all season, but he made a strong case for Defensive Player of the Year. Jordan had 25 points with 18 rebounds and four blocks. He dominated the whole game long and looked completely engaged. If the Clippers get half of that from Jordan in the coming games/series, Los Angeles can win the NBA Finals.

As for Golden State, is it time to start wondering about Stephen Curry? I know we all love him but besides Game 4, he's been pretty average at best. Tonight, Curry only shot the ball 10 times with seven of them being from behind three.  He also added eight turnovers. This hasn't been a great series for Curry and it could be dealing with a mean three-headed monster of Chris Paul, Jamal Crawford and Darren Collison yet it is worth paying attention to it.


Appropriate picture: Clippers banded together to say 'We Are One'

Thunder and Grizzlies play another classic 
THIS SERIES.  Four straight games with an overtime period, and the Grizzlies came out victorious with a 100-99 win taking the 3-2 advantage heading back to the Grindhouse for Game 6 Thursday night. The bizarre thing about this series is every game it is nearly the same. Memphis buries Oklahoma City early, Thunder make a comeback that includes a four-point play and force overtime where it is 'may the best man win.'  Mike Miller rose from the dead to hit two huge threes in overtime and had 21 points for the game leading the Grizzlies in scoring. Miller has become a vital part to this Memphis team and helped them out when the rest of the team was not cooking on all cylinders. But let's be real, the talk is about Oklahoma City.

This was a Russell Westbrook game. We thought it would be one where we are talking about Russell for the next week because he played out of his mind with a triple-double having 30 points, 13 rebounds and 10 assists plus a big steal to tie the game with four seconds left. Westbrook looked like himself more than ever before, but as you would believe it, people are starting to come around with Kevin Durant criticisms. He didn't touch the ball in the fourth quarter letting Westbrook work, but that wasn't good enough for people. Then he missed a key free throw with under 30 seconds keeping the lead at one. The debate will be Joey Crawford making an icing attempt at Durant by taking the ball and going to the scorers table, but that's a cop out for Durant (Crawford is such a mental midget, acted like someone had sex with his daughter in front of him).  He needs to find a way to be better or else this team is done on Thursday.

Appropriate Video: Westbrook cookies steal.



Wiz Kids are nothing to F' with
Sure they only scored 75 points tonight in a close out win, but they also held Chicago to 69 points so I guess there is that as they sent Chicago packing. It is memorizing to see this Bulls team go from being a top four team to the East then falling to complete shambles in five games with Washington winning all three games in Chicago. They are legit. I don't think they could get to the NBA Finals, let's not get crazy, but at the same time, Washington can handle everything thrown at them in the next series whether it be Indiana or Atlanta. Here are the bright spots for Washington... John Wall has been inconsistent through the first five games, and him having 24 points with seven assists is really encouraging. Nene and Marcin Gortat continued to make Joakim Noah look like a small child. Nene had 20 points with seven rebounds while Gortat didn't do much on offense yet still grabbed 13 rebounds. The Wiz Kids are a bandwagon we can all get on, folks.

Approrirate Song: Bullets... er Wizards Fever!!!!!



Charlie.