Cruisin' and Cookin'

Warriors are 52-5 and are 4-1 in this road trip, a trip that was supposed to be the toughest challenge remaining for them this regular season. The trip started ominously as they were blown out at Portland by Damian Lillard and his wrath at his all-star snub. But the dubs straightened the ship the very next day at the Clippers, a game that was expected by some to be the first loss of this road trip. They are back to cruising now and Curry is hot and steaming. He had a back-to-back 42 and 51 point games at Miami and Orlando with the Miami game also featuring a couple of clutch shots at the end. Media is running out of superlatives to describe Curry and this Warriors team. He won the MVP last year and it wouldn't be hyperbole to say he deserves to win both the MVP and the most improved player awards this season. The guy is 27 and is already widely recognized as the best shooter in the history of the game and rightfully so. There was a sequence in the game tonight when he pulled up in the middle of the shot clock to take a 3 pointer 3 feet behind the arc. A horrible shot for anybody else, but Warriors announcer on TV Bob Fitzgerald was actually shocked he missed an "open look!" Thats all you need to know about the shooting prowess of Curry. There are no bad shots, period.

All this leads to the prime time game this weekend to wrap up the roadie. Dubs are playing the Thunder this Saturday night. Since the dubs are 4-1 in this trip already, this game may or may not impact their historic chase of 72 wins, but this will be a fun game nonetheless. Thunder has been in a bit of a funk with home losses to the Pacers, Cavs, and a loss tonight at the Pelicans. But what better way to right the ship than to beat the the league leading defending champs?  Plus Durant always has monster games against the dubs. Speaking of Durant, the Bay Area sports radio and media doesn't have a lot of burning issues these days when it comes to Warrior talk. So the major topic of discussion is whether or not to sign Kevin Durant in the off-season when he becomes a free agent. Supposedly, Durant is interested in the Warriors and the question is, whether the Warriors should want him or not. Life should be real good if you are seriously considering saying "no" to a top-5 NBA player in his prime! Life is good if he even wants to come to your team because, these days, super-stars like Durant only go to good teams they hand-pick. But how many teams can even consider saying "no" to him? The Warriors are winning 70+ games without Durant, so there is a legitimate reason to wonder if they should stay away from him and focus on chemistry and continuity instead. Nice to have such "first world problems." 

My message to the Warrior fans is that they shouldn't even sweat this Durant thing. The dubs ownership and front office know exactly what they are doing and will make the right call. Whether it is firing coach Jackson, or hiring coach Kerr, or refusing to trade Klay for KLove, they are batting .1000 for a couple of years straight. My early gut feel on this, I think they are going to get Durant. This ownership group is super-aggressive and they won't stop short. Secondly, Harrison Barnes is demanding a lot of money anyways and you might as well invest just a little more and get a Durant if you can. Durant's game and personality is not a bad fit for this team or for any team for that matter. There is only one ball to share, but these guys can figure it out. It will be an amazing roster, though it's hard to even imagine how much better a 72-10 (or better) team can get! This reminds me of the Lakers team with Shaq, Kobe, Malone, and Payton at the end of Malone and Payton's careers, except Steph, Klay, Draymond, and Durant will be way better because all 4 will be barely entering their primes this summer. One strong reason to do this if you are dubs front office - we always talk about team's windows closing. Actually, more times than not, other teams pass you before your window closes. Not that the dubs are in danger of their window closing anytime soon, but signing Durant extends it indefinitely. More importantly, it keeps him away from their competition, whether it is OKC or the Clippers or some other team, and prevents those teams from passing the Warriors.

Will the 20-year old record survive the next 30 games?

The most amazing and crazy thing about the Bulls all-time record of 72-10 that MJ and the boys engineered back in 1995-1996 is that a team like this year's Warriors could be at a ridiculous 48-4 and we still can't be 100% sure that they will break the Bulls' record. That's how special that season was. It is probably one of the most underrated record in all of sports. Playing .878 ball over a 82 game season is near impossible. The Warriors are currently ahead of that pace and are winning at a blistering .923 pace. They have to go 25-5 rest of the way to break the record or 24-6 to tie it. It would have to be a robust .833 or .800 ball respectively in case you are scoring at home. Thats what it's going to take even after playing .923 ball for the first 50+ games. These are just ungodly numbers. Will the Warriors break the record this season? I think they will and it's a tribute to how good this team is that it doesn't even sound like I am going out on a limb to say this. Some folks may actually be surprised if they don't make it happen because, suddenly, the Bulls record doesn't even sound that difficult to these fans given the dubs impressive run so far.

But there are a couple of potential roadblocks for the dubs. Key injures are of course the obvious one. Also, their schedule has some tough stretches like the 6 game roadie they are starting this week post all-star break. Nothing fazes this team, but @Clippers, @Hawks, @Heat, and @Thunder can be a challenging stretch even for them. Their schedule is back-loaded and more than half of their remaining games are against the 7 teams right behind them in the brutal Western conference playoffs standings today. Of course more than half of those teams are no match for the dubs, but they also play the Thunder and Spurs 5 times rest of the way. You can't put anything past a team that's 48-4 and they are definitely not scared of anybody. With all that said, nobody will be shocked if they miss the 72-10 mark. It's easier to win a championship than going 72-10. That was definitely true at the beginning of the season and even today, I will still give the record a slight edge over winning the championship on the difficulty scale.

This Warriors chase will actually keep us entertained and carry the second half of the season. It is a big deal. We will hear about it a lot and rightfully so. Some people have blamed the Warriors' excellence for taking some of the drama out of this NBA season. That may be true in some NBA towns, but the chasing of the record will put the Warriors and the NBA increasingly under the spotlight come March 10th or so. Should be a fun second half after a great All-star weekend. I meant All-star Saturday because the actual game on Sunday was garbage. Something has to be done to make the All-star game watchable.  As stupid as the MLB's idea to award home field in the World Series to the winning side of the All-star game was, it is looking better and better with every inane Pro Bowl and All-star game in other leagues. The 3-point contest and the dunk contest on Saturday night were both great. Thanks to the star power of the splash brothers, the 3-point contest seemed like the headliner the last couple of years. But Aaron Gordon and Zach LaVine walked in right after and put on a dunk show for the ages. They brought back the dunk contest to relevancy. It was real fun and good luck to those 2 youngsters in their careers.

Suns' own Devin Booker made it to the final round of the 3-point contest with the splash brothers. This kid is special and hope he keeps getting better and saves the franchise. Protect the shield, Devin!

Denver 24 - Carolina 10

It does feel good when you are right. Especially when you pick the underdog to win the Super Bowl and it happens. Denver took care of the Panthers like I had predicted behind the stellar defense. That defense was the only reason I had picked them. I did not intend any disrespect for the Panthers nor any respect for Peyton Manning. I was really impressed with that defense against the Pats in the AFC championship game. It's not that the Pats never lost this season. In fact, they lost quite a few games late in the season and traditionally, Peyton Manning led teams have had great success against these Pats in the AFC championship games. But it was the way Denver beat the Pats that was impressive. They throttled Brady and the offense and won with very little help from their offense. That has not happened all season especially when Brady had both Edelman and Gronk at his disposal. I knew Cam Newton was in trouble. He is good, but he is no Tom Brady.

It's hard to believe that a Peyton Manning led team won with him throwing just 23 times for a mere 141 yards on a paltry 13 completions. Thats a game manager if you ever need one. Peyton Manning is a completely different QB than he was 10 years back, or even 3 years back. It' is tough to see his wobbly passes. Most of his passes looked like a pick-6 the moment it left his hand. Von Miller and the Denver defense literally carried their legendary QB to his second Super Bowl win cementing his legacy. Nobody has won 2 Super Bowls with 2 different teams. Speaking of legacy, how about his boss John Elway? Not that he needed any more validation after his 2 rings as a player to be considered Denver's most important civic treasure, but this championship absolutely elevates him to an entirely different planet. It's not that easy to win the Super Bowl both as a player and an executive. On top of that, he didn't just happen to be at the wheel driving this thing, he made some tough and hard turns.

Elway's decision to break the bank and get Peyton to Denver despite his health concerns was a brilliant move. He let go of Tim Tebow at the height of his popularity and also let go of coach John Fox before this season. Poor John Fox. He has coached both these Super Bowl teams at different times and doesn't get any credit for either. Elway's decisions have been money and he got 4 playoffs, 2 Super Bowls, and one championship out of Peyton Manning. Thats the best he could have hoped for when he brought him to Denver. Now, nobody can touch Elway for another 15 years. Winning a Super Bowl is a life changer and a big deal. It usually gets 5 years of job security in this rough NFL for a head coach and 8 to 10 years for an executive. But given Elway's special place in Denver, he doesn't have to worry for another 15 years. Sun Devil's own Brock Osweiler doesn't look half bad and he might lead the Denver to several more playoffs as a QB. Drafting him was not a bad call either by Elway.

On the flip side, losing a Super Bowl should be a big disappointment. Making it to the game is a big achievement indeed, but it doesn't come with the same perks and job security as winning does. Losing coaches don't get a whole lot of job security because the expectation is that they have to get back and win the big one soon. Just look at the job security Mike McCarthy or John Harbaugh have as opposed to Jim Caldwell in Indy. As for the QB, Cam Newton won a well-deserved MVP, but had no shot against this Denver defense. There is also a lot of criticism of his behavior and attitude towards the media in the post-game presser. It was not ideal, but doesn't bother me a whole lot. But he did surprise me with how tired and stressed he looked during the game. I have never been a professional athlete and I can't imagine how these guys feel when they play in the Super Bowl. They all talk about how anxious and excited they are through the week and can't really sleep the night before or for many nights leading up to the big game. That can't be the best way to go into the biggest game of your life.

Cam definitely looked gassed at times and resembled a 39 year old QB in the game, not Peyton. It looked like a combination of stress, anxiety, and possibly nerves. May be he didn't sleep well either. But I was most surprised by the fumble late in the game when he didn't jump on that ball and held back instead. I definitely don't know what happened there. He is one of the toughest running QBs in the league and I can't believe he was afraid of the contact. There is no explanation I can think of. At the end of the day, it was not Cam's Super Bowl. It was Von's. Lot of folks also say this was a boring game due to the lack of offensive brilliance and exciting offensive plays that have dominated the last few Super Bowls. I disagree. The game was close until very late and the Panthers were not really totally out of it. I was thoroughly entertained and found the drama gripping. Good job by the host city too managing a great Super Bowl. Now, it's time to put a bow on the NFL season. Bring on the off-season -- the only time all 32 teams have a shot and hope.

Denver 23 - Carolina 20

The Super Bowl has been dissected and analyzed in every which way the last 2 weeks including various talking heads pontificating on contrived racial issues around people's perception of Cam Newton. Thats what happens when we don't have a football game for 2 weeks after almost 5 straight months of non-stop NFL mania. Media has to keep their 24 hour sports chatter fed and happy and every angle of this game has been over-analyzed. We are all now ready for the game and glad it's less than a day away. I will spare you all the details of my line of thinking, but I am going to go with my gut and a little bit of my heart and say Peyton Manning walks away into the sunset a Super Bowl winner. My head says the Panthers could easily blowout the Broncos if a couple of early breaks go their way during the game. They are absolutely known for creating those early breaks and jumping on teams. Given Manning's recent performances in the Super Bowl, that might very well happen here. But I do like the narrative of Manning retiring a champion much like his GM John Elway. It's too good to pass up!

Aside from my gut feel and a marginal rooting interest in Manning's legacy, I do think there are legitimate football reasons to like the Broncos. Their defense is legit. I was very impressed with what they did to the Patriots couple of weeks ago both strategically as well as on the field. The Panthers offense and the MVP Cam are no joke and their balance on that side of the ball with their ability to both run and pass will be a major challenge for any defense. But I think Cam can be bothered by the Denver D and if they force him into a mistake or 2, the Broncos will be in business. Of course, everybody expects Peyton to be the one to be forced into mistakes given how he is more of a weak-armed, game manager these days. This Peyton is not the same player we saw 10 years back, but he can still do some damage, especially if you give him 2 weeks of rest and preparation time just like the Super Bowl schedule just did. Peyton also looked decent early in the game against the Pats, though the Pats defense is no comparison to the Panthers. I think there is enough juice in that right arm and if he doesn't choke like he does sometimes, he will give the Broncos D and their running game an opportunity to help him walk into the sunset in style.

Long story short, I am expecting a nip and tuck game with the Broncos upsetting the Panthers 23-20 in a close one. Thats my story and I am sticking to it.

Suns of Anarchy

The most depressing thing in sports right now is the plight of my beloved Phoenix Suns. They got into the news this week the only way they can, by firing their head coach Jeff Hornacek. The cute story of an old-time, classy, and quiet Suns player coming back post retirement to coach the team came to a sad and horrible end in the middle of his third season. There is a saying in business, "don't let your success kill you." To some extent, thats exactly what happened to Hornacek. He started his coaching career with a 48-34 record in 2013-14 when nobody expected anything out of the team. The Suns at that time were coming off a disastrous 25 win season and had a joke for a coach in Lindsey Hunter. They were barely one season into the post-Nash era which was one challenging and horrible season as expected and they had fired Alvin Gentry mid-season to replace him with Hunter. 

Horny was not expected to do much in year one, but he turned the team around overnight behind 2 exciting guards. Suns continued to play an entertaining brand of fast-ball similar to the previous regime and Horny was also surprisingly winning games. But unfortunately, 48 wins in the wild west gets you nothing except a few less ping-pongs in the draft lottery. In retrospect, this unexpected early success screwed everything up. Instead of debating Andrew Wiggins versus Jabari Parker in the summer of 2014, Suns fans and the front office was now dreaming about playoffs and free agents like LeBron James and championships. And then GM Ryan McDonough did something that to this day makes no sense to me. He went out and signed 5'9" point guard Isaiah Thomas to go with the other two PGs he already had on his roster - Eric Bledsoe and Goran Dragic, who were both actually good and were the engine behind the 48-win team. 

That was the beginning of the end. Why in the world did he need a 3rd small guard? There are a lot of legitimate rationalizations of this decision including the messy contract situation of Bledsoe and Goran, but the IT signing is the singular reason I believe McDonough will and should lose his job. I trace all of the current problems to that one decision. It went south fast from there and I hate Isaiah Thomas to this day for that. Poor guy, none of this was his fault and all he did for the Suns was play hard. But McDonough bringing him in was a big mistake. Not only did the Suns not have enough shots to go around, they didn't even have enough dribbles to go around with these 3 guards. This pissed Dragic off and he wanted out. They were not winning enough games either to even match the previous year's 48. They had to trade the Dragon and that was a bummer. Not only was the dragon a good baller, he also provided us an emotional connection to the Nash era of the Suns. 

McDonough also traded IT and brought in Brandon Knight. We were in the midst of another reload and all these moves were neither here nor there. The team was a mess. We can't blame owner Robert Sarver either because they have been willing to spend the last 2 season and have been chasing big name free agents. But stars like LaMarcus Aldridge are not biting. Signing the aging Tyson Chandler in the hopes of landing LaMarcus was another huge gamble that looks bad now. This season started with a lot of hope and went downhill in a hurry. We then had towel-gate-2 as another mediocre power forward threw a towel on the face of a Suns ex-player and current head coach in the midst of a horrible season. Unfortunately, Kieff is still with the team and it's the coach who is gone. Not quite the Anige-Horry ending yet. I hope they get rid off Kieff soon despite his great game under coach Watson tonight. 

Now we are in this mess with Earl Watson coaching the team. Part of me thinks he is Lindsey Hunter redux, but part of me also thinks he looks like a classy and smart man and hope he succeeds. There are rumors of the team wanting Nash coaching the team next year, but I think this idea is a non-starter. Nash doesn't look ready to tie himself down with a coaching gig. The Suns are 14-36 right now after starting the season 7-5. They may not win 25 games this year and this feels like the Suns' worst season in my memory. The 2012-13 disaster will always give a tough fight for the worst season award and the one silver lining we got this season is Devin Booker. This 19 year-old gives us some hope. The upcoming off-season will be very interesting - high draft pick and lots of cap money that stars may or may not take. McDonough is considered a smart, young GM, but I wouldn't be too sad if he loses his job. Much like Hornacek, McDonough has earned his firing with everything that has happened in the last year and a half. Bring on the off-season already!