GSW wins NBA Finals; Celtics future; Stanley Cup Game #2; O’s beat Jay, Closing in on 30 Wins
NBA Finals
The Warriors win their 4th Championship in 8 years, and Tom is thrilled! The hypotheticals about Steph and how he would have fared against other players/teams is ridiculous. Yes, Tim Duncan would have beaten him (at least once). Yes, him winning a Finals MVP is important to his legacy.
The Warriors did what they were supposed to do. Draymond upping his game changed the series. The Celtics blew it, with turnovers and Udoka running bench players with 12 minutes left and their lives on the line.
Will Boston be back to the FInals soon?
Tom says “probably not - Milwaukee will be back, Miami will retool…Boston has a lot of problems”
Chris, has some feelings on Boston teams,, but is not so pessimistic about the Celtics “the future looks good…I think they’ll be back 2 out of [the next] 3”
MLB & Orioles
O’s have 28 wins! Cedric Mullins is good at baseball, dare we say great at baseball! As we enter mid-June, Chris thinks about “half the teams in major league baseball are vulnerable to the ‘dog days of summer’” slump.
The Yankees don’t look like slumping at all though, they’re 47-16 at this point, and they are clicking in all parts of the game. Aaron Judge is driving his price up with every at-bat, so the newly conservative Yankee approach seems to be backfiring. Tom is a little bit disappointed that the Yankees aren’t just throwing around money, it’s their superpower. The Judge and Ohtani contracts are about to change the game!
The Angels may be cursed. The Padres are leading the NL West over the Dodgers still, but it looks like Tatis will be out longer than expected. Manny Machado is playing MVP level baseball. The Giants aren’t playing terribly either. It’s getting fun to watch, minus the Rockies & D’Backs. The AL East is the typical beast it always is, the Yanks, Jays, Sox, and Rays are all playing fantastic baseball, and the surprise Orioles make the division look deadly. The Mets are rolling even without DeGrom & Scherzer. Tom will “believe it when he sees it” though, but he’s not buying it currently…because they’re the Mets. The Phillies are getting healthy and are trending upwards, and the Braves continue to play stellar baseball.
The Commanders -
“The Commanders stink!” “...the whole division stinks!” according to Tom.
Carson Wentz is here to save the day, maybe. The organization is just always creating bad press, and continues to make it harder on themselves than it needs to be. Terry McLaurin’s new deal is a big situation looming over the franchise The Kupp and Kirk deals are driving up WR prices and the Commanders will need to be aggressive to keep McLaurin around - so he’ll probably be gone.
Chris thinks the NFC east is wide open, and Tom thinks this is Dallas’ to lose. They both agree though, this division is awful.
NBA Draft Preview
This is where the “smaller” franchises can get a Jaylen Brown or Giannis to compete with some of the larger market teams who can spend.
Orlando sits in the #1 spot and will most likely not pay their pick at the end of his contract and he’ll go elsewhere! MAGIC! We both agree that Jabari Smith is probably the pick to take here for Orlando so it will be interesting to see how it shakes out.The Rockets should be looking at Paolo ,according to Tom. Paolo is 6’10” with a great skill set and could be argued for as the best player in the draft. He may not even make to #3. The Kings sit at #4 and will probably ruin someone’s career.
We are both intrigued by Johnny Davis, he is a pretty complete baller who could make an immediate impact on a team this coming season. . Chris thinks the Wizards fit the bill here for Davis. There are a few G League guys and a lot of good talent that could all make an impact on an NBA Roster. The Pelicans could be a few pieces away from a good team if Zion can stay healthy and put some games under his belt.
Stanley Cup Games #1 & 2
We take a look at tomorrow’s Game #2 of the Stanley Cup finals between the Avalanche and Lightning!
The Avalanche came through in OT in an epic Game #1. The Avs offense is aggressive and it’s really entertaining to watch. Both squads are matching up pretty equally which hopefully makes for a great series. Both teams are physical and the Avalanche have speed by the Zamboni Load. Vasilevskiy gave up 4 Goals, which is unlike him again. Colorado’s style gave Tampa Bay trouble, but their experience kept them in it.
We both lean towards favoring the Bolts here purely on track record, but we both agree that this Avalanche team is talented, fearless, and fun to watch. They can definitely get this done if they keep playing the way they are.
Sign Off
LIV Golfers are at their first Major since getting that Saudi money for “beer league” golf. Phil is looking beatdown and defeated. Money talks and it’s taking more and more players by the week. The impact won’t be known for a while.
Lamar Jackson is practicing without a new long-term contract!!. He doesn’t feel like he deserves yet, which is a wild thought, but he is a wild dude. It’s good to have him back out on the field from a team perspective though. As Chris said “there is something rugged and cool” about him practicing without a new contract, but he is committed to Baltimore.. The Franchise Tag strategy is a risky one, but one that could payoff in the end.
MVP. Maybe a Super Bowl?. Lamar makes $500mil EASY!