1, 2, 3, Cancun
Happy Read-Only Friday. It hasn’t been a tremendously successful week. Best I can do at this point is try to close it out strong. I’m jumping between writing this and sending out some emails, delegating some things that have sat for a while.
I’m sincerely hoping skipping coffee was strictly necessary. It’s a big difference.
I’ve been torture-testing myself in Rocket League, playing a lot of 3v1 and 4v1. I win all the games at 2v1, about half the games at 3v1, and none of the games at 4v1. It’s a pretty good test, really. Playing those unfair modes means you have to really play perfect, keeping the ball in front of you at all times. If you don’t, you won’t be in position to do anything about the counterattack. It also makes for good keeper training, just staying in goal and letting 4 players fire at you. If you don’t mind losing 15-0, you can get a lot out of your five minutes.
The Boston Celtics were knocked out last night in a rather lackluster display. I’m not sure whether that was more on the Hawks playing exceptionally well or the Celtics just not making their shots. The Hawks did rack up a shitload of blocks. Dennis Schroder is better than I gave him credit for, he made four or five really nice plays around the basket. Tonight there are three Game 6 games happening. The Blazers and the Hornets both have a chance to win their series at home. Honestly, it’s going to mean a hell of a lot more to the Blazers if they advance than the Clippers. So much of the media wrote the Blazers off at the start of the year. That wasn’t an outlandish thing to do, either. They lost 4 of their 5 starters and their 6th man. That represents like 80 points a game they needed to get elsewhere. And they’ve done exactly that. I can’t really say how happy I am for CJ McCollum.
Tomorrow is Game 1, Spurs vs. Thunder. Going to be a great series. Westbrook vs. Parker is way in favor of OKC, but Durant vs. Leonard might just be a push right now. Everything else favors the Spurs. I can’t believe the Thunder have gone this many years without solving their problem at Shooting Guard. At least they’ve got plus defenders out on the perimeter, they’re going to need them, and they’re going to really tighten up defensively. There are flashes when the Thunder operate, where they’re executing on the offensive end, finding the open man, but they’re also locked in defensively. When that happens they’re the best team in the league. But it’s not something they seem able to do on a consistent basis.
Monday is Game 1, Cavs vs. Hawks. If Atlanta executes like they did last night, this’ll be a series. It would be an ideal time for the Cavs to go to their small lineup with LeBron at the 4 and Love at the 5. Atlanta’s undersized inside, but they’re great shooters. I’m hoping this will be a better series than last year’s Eastern Conference Final.
