Month: June 2015

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After Game 1 of the NBA Finals, Are the Cavaliers Done Already?

Last night in Oakland, the Warriors played the Cavaliers in Game 1 of the NBA Finals.  Cleveland jumped out to a 14-point lead late in the first quarter, which evaporated by late in the second.  The game was extremely tight in the second half, however, and it was tied with 32 seconds to go.  With the ball and a potential two-for-one situation, the Warriors moved quickly.  They set up a fantastic play which saw Steph Curry get the ball in one-on-one action against the ailing Kyrie Irving.  Curry got around Irving, looked like he had a layup secured, and…

On the next possession, LeBron James, while being defended by Andre Iguodala, stepped back for three, missed, and then the ball popped off the rim to Iman Shumpert.

This was the closest the Cavaliers came to scoring until the very end of the overtime session.  Neither team scored for the first 1:48 of OT, and the only points scored in the first 2:30 of overtime were Curry free throws.  Then this happened, which could be calamity for the Cavs:

The Cavaliers would not score in the overtime until a LeBron layup with nine seconds left, which the Warriors defense willingly yielded.

Irving is scheduled for an MRI this afternoon, and he is having that MRI performed as this article is being written.  If there is an official update on his injury and/or status for the rest of the series, this will be updated.  However, his Game 2 status looks grim, per USA Today’s Jeff Zillgitt:

If Irving cannot play in Game 2 or beyond, the Cavaliers are most likely done. This is why.

Without Irving, the Cavs would most likely turn to Matthew Dellavedova to start at the point.  In Game 1 against Golden State, Irving had the best +/- number on the Cavs, at +5.  Dellavedova had the worst at -13.  Worst of all, he did that in nine minutes.  If he would have played Irving’s 44 minutes at this rate, his +/- would have been -64.  Of course, that wouldn’t happen, because the game would have evened out after a certain amount of time, before those 44 minutes were up.  But Dellavedova’s complete lack of impact in those minutes is utterly concerning.  He had three assists and one rebound in those nine minutes, and that’s basically it. He did nothing to distinguish himself, and was also on the floor during the Warriors’ bench-fueled comeback in the second quarter.

Another issue for the Cavaliers is the question of who will help LeBron in the scoring department.  As Bill Russell once said in a Pepsi Uncle Drew commercial, “This game has always been, and will always be, about buckets.”  Sure, he scored 44 points last night, as well as 8 rebounds and 6 assists.   However, the Warriors are obviously not terribly worried about James’ scoring; they are more worried about that of his supporting cast.  LeBron also made some very tough shots, especially jumpers, against very good defense from Andre Iguodala, Harrison Barnes, and others.  He will not make those shots forever, and without Irving, he may be the Cavaliers only productive offensive player.  Sure, Tristan Thompson had 15 rebounds and played an awesome game last night, but he can’t do too much on offense.  J.R. Smith played well in the first half, but went cold in the second.  Can he get his own shot without the passing and floor spacing that Kyrie provides?  Can Timofey Mozgov get the same pick and roll dunks he did last night, like this one?

And can the Cavaliers’ bench out-perform that of the Warriors if Uncle Drew is unavailable?  It would have been tough for all of these things to happen with Irving, but without him, they become nearly impossible.

In conclusion, the Warriors should get plenty of credit here.  They found a LeBron defender in Iguodala, who defended him extremely well the entire night, as well as on the last play of regulation.  In my Finals preview last week, I only mentioned Iguodala once, and that was a mistake; I forgot about ‘Dre.  However, we cannot forget about how this series is basically over if the Cavs don’t have Irving for the rest of the series.

Without him, the Cavaliers are done, already.

UPDATE: As I wrote this article, I said I would update it with potential Kyrie news.  Well, here it is.  Back to Zillgitt:

My guess now is that the series ends in a sweep.  The Cavs just don’t have enough to beat these Warriors.

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Don’t Get Too Excited About the Minnesota Twins’ Hot Start

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The Minnesota Twins were baseball’s hottest team in May, going 20-7 on their way to the top of the AL Central and to the best record in the American League. They hold a 1/2 game lead over their division rival Kansas City Royals for first and are 3.5 games up on the Tigers.  The question that many baseball writers and fans have had throughout the team’s recent run has been simple:  Can it last? This is a very legitimate question.  It is one that we can not answer for sure, but my best guess is that the success will not last.  Here’s why:

First, there was a rather interesting piece in the Washington Post this weekend about baseball’s biggest surprises.  You can read the whole article here, but if you don’t, this is the excerpt that deals with the Twins:

Winners of five straight to pull into a tie with the Royals atop the AL Central, Minnesota entered the weekend with no regular hitting above .280 or with an on-base percentage above .348. Their supposed ace, Phil Hughes, has a 4.57 ERA. Their major free-agent acquisition, Erwin Santana, was suspended for 80 games because of a drug violation. Their $49-million bust from a year ago, Ricky Nolasco, has a 5.12 ERA and is allowing 1.611 walks and hits per inning pitched — yet is somehow 5-1. Since being outscored 22-1 in a season-opening sweep at the hands of the Tigers, they have scored 211 runs and allowed 169 runs — and gone 28-15. Plus, their bevy of prime prospects — outfielder Byron Buxton, third baseman Miguel Sano and right-hander Alex Meyer — remains in the minors. No, nothing makes sense about these Twins.

That describes the Twins season to date quite well.  Additionally, pitching staff as a whole has put up a 3.92 ERA to date, 9th in the American League.  The pitching staff’s big bright spot has been closer Glen Perkins, who has allowed just five earned runs in 25 appearances this year.  He has also racked up 19 saves in the season’s first two months.  Another positive has been Blaine Boyer, who has accrued ten holds which have led to Perkins’ saves, leading the bullpen.  Other than that, the pitching staff has been kind of rough, including bullpen pitchers Tim Stauffer (8.03 ERA) and Brian Duensing (7.59 ERA).  The starting rotation has scuffled without Santana and with Hughes, Nolasco, and Santana fill-in Trevor May struggling.

However, the line-up has been better.  The team scores 4.6 runs per game and has hit .257 this season, the latter good for a tie for fourth in the American League.  While there are no horrendously struggling hitters on the team, no everyday player has cleared a .515 slugging percentage or an .850 OPS. Additionally, this team just does not steal bases.  They are 13th in the American League in both stolen bases (19) and stolen base percentage (55.88%).  Add this to the fact that they are 11th in the AL in on-base percentage (.309) and slugging percentage (.391), and they should be struggling to manufacture runs.  The only explanation for their winning is that their pitching staff, maligned as it is, hasn’t allowed very many home runs.  It also has allowed the 2nd least walks (117) in the game, trailing only the Mets’ pitching staff’s 103.

Consider this as well:  The Twins’ May schedule was, shall we say, easy.  Of the nine teams Minnesota played last month, five were under .500 (White Sox (six games), Athletics (four games), Indians (three games), Red Sox (three games), and Blue Jays (three games)). 19 of the team’s 27 games last month were against teams with below .500 records; to their credit, the Twins were 15-4 in these games.  Another three games were against the Rays, who are now sitting right at .500 with a 26-26 record; Minnesota took two out of those three.  The other five games were against the Tigers and Pirates, and the team was 3-2 against them. So once the schedule gets harder this month when the Twins have dates with the Cardinals, Rangers, Royals, and Cubs, they may very well struggle.

For all these reasons, the Twins are not for real.  While it has been enjoyable to see their run to the top of the standings so far this year, it is unlikely to last. However, it was fun while it lasted.  Give an immense amount of credit to first-year manager and team legend Paul Molitor, who has done an amazing job with this team. He should be up for Manager of the Year consideration this year.  Can they be like the Astros, Braves, Mets, Rangers and others and sustain a sudden run of success?  Who knows, but it will be very difficult.

It was fun while it lasted.