BOB’S PICK IN NBA FINALS: GOLDEN STATE IN SIX (MAX)
THREE-POINT SHOOTING A KEY – ON OFFENSE AND DEFENSE
Three-point shooting is a big reason why the Golden State Warriors and Cleveland Cavaliers will collide in the NBA Finals for the third straight season starting Thursday night.
Golden State is a great shooting team from long range. Believe it or not, Cleveland has relied more on three-point shooting in these playoffs and has been more proficient:
Cleveland – 33.6 attempts and 14.6 made per game (.435)
Golden State – 31.1 attempts and 12.1 made per game (.391).
Cleveland’s main 3-point shooters in the playoffs –Channing Frye .526 (20-for-38)...Kevin Love .475 (38-for-80)...JR Smith .449 (22-for-49)...LeBron James .421 (32-for-76)...Kyle Korver .415 (22-for-53).
Golden State’s main 3-point shooters in the playoffs – Draymond Green .472 (25-for-53)...Stephen Curry .431 (53-for-123)...Kevin Durant .417 (20-for-48)...Klay Thompson .364 (24-for-66)...Andre Iguodala .111 (3-for-27).
Those numbers don’t necessarily mean Cleveland will have an advantage over Golden State in three-point shooting in the Final.
Why? Because Golden State was significantly better than Cleveland in three-point defense in the regular season (.324 to .361) and in the playoffs (.320 and .391).
In the regular season, the Warriors had a .383 three-point FG percentage (12.0-for-31.2 per game) and the Cavaliers were .384 (13.0-for-33.9).
The bottom line – Golden State’s defense against three-point shots should more than offset Cleveland’s suspect advantage in three-point shooting
Klay Thompson is a key shooter for the Warriors. He is much better from the perimeter than he shown so far in the playoffs.
My prediction: Gold n State is a maximum of six games.
NEW YORK TABLOIDS HAD SAME REACTION TO TIGER’S BAD DRIVE
The rival New York City tabloids – the Daily News and Post – try to outdo each other with catchy front-page photos and headlines. Every once in a long while, they come up with the same package.
One of those rare times was Tuesday morning:
Both had Tiger’s mug shot after his DUI arrest near his home in Florida.
Both had the same main headline: DUI OF THE TIGER.
The Post’s drop head: Woods hits rock bottom. The Post’s photo tagline: Watch the birdie! Bleary-eyed Tiger Woods doesn’t look to be in championship form in his mug shot yesterday after his Florida DUI arrest.
The Daily News’ drop head: Washed-up golf legend busted in Fla.
SOCCER 38, BASEBALL 0 IN THIS WORLD’S 100 MOST FAMOUS ATHLETES LIST
ESPN’s second annual World Fame 100 rankings we released Tuesday. The formula combined “endorsements with social media and internet search popularity.”
Some of the highlights and lowlights:
Top sports – 38 soccer players...13 basketball players...11 golfers...10 tennis players...8 American football. Baseball was shut out. Cricket has 4. Badminton and table tennis each provide one athlete.
Top countries – United States 35 athletes...Brazil 9...Germany 7...England 5. Russia has one (Maria Sharapova).
There are 92 men and 8 women.
The top 10 – Cristiano Ronaldo...LeBron James...Lionel Messi...Roger Federer...Phil Mickelson...Neymar...Usain Bolt...Kevin Durant...Rafael Nadal...Tiger Woods.
A HUGE VICTORY FOR THE RATTLERS AND CAPTAIN BOLTUS
The Major League Lacrosse Rochester Rattlers would appreciate more support from the lacrosse community in Greater Rochester. They’re sure doing their best to earn it.
Last Saturday evening, at Denver’s Sports Authority Field In Denver, the Rattlers ended the mighty Outlaws’ 12-game winning streak with a 16-15 victory.
Army captain Jeremy Boltus, who commutes from Fort Drum to wherever the Rattlers are playing on Saturdays, scored the game-tying and game-winning goals in the final minutes. Super scorer Jordan Wolf, in his return from a broken hand, had five goals and four assists to earn Coca-Cola Player of the Game honors.
The Rattlers are 3-3 and coach Tim Soudan – due to injuries and assorted work or National Lacrosse League Finals commitments (Joel White, John Ranagan and Jordan MacIntosh) -- has yet to enter a game with his A+ preferred roster.
Assuming the Rattlers are at full strength by the time the 14-game regular-season ends, Rochester will be as strong as any team in the nine-team league and a legitimate threat to win the championship.
The Rattlers next play Saturday, June 10, 7 p.m., at Capelli Sport Stadium, against the Chesapeake Bayhawks.
Check out these Rattlers. I think you’d enjoy the show. No guarantees on where they’ll be playing next season.
TAKUMA SATO CONTINUES WINNING INTERNATIONAL FLAVOR IN THE INDY 500
Takuma Sato is the size of a jockey (5-foot-4, 117 pounds) but he furthered proved he’s a big-time driver with his victory in Sunday’s 101st Indianapolis 500.
Sato became the first Japanese driver to win the Indy 500 but a non-American winner no longer is a rarity.
Ten countries have supplied a total of 29 winners of the Indy 500 – including 14 of the last 18 winners since 2000.
Sato began his IndySeries career in 2010. His career performance line: 124 starts...5 poles...2 wins...14 top-five finishes, 35 top-10, 91 top-20, 47 did not finish, average finish 14.9...His previous Indy 500 finishes: 20th-33rd-17th-13th-19th-13th-26th.
FRANK DEFORD WAS AMONG THE VERY BEST WRITERS OF SPORTS
The great Frank Deford died Sunday. He was 78.
Just a few of his career highlights:
Editor-In-Chief of The National (1989 to 1991). It was a relatively short-lived national daily sports newspaper. The staff had many of America’s best sportswriters and had in-depth coverage of the major sports. The sports fans who bought the newspaper loved it – there simply weren’t enough of them to sustain it.
A regular on HBO’s Real Sports, with Bryant Gumbel, for 20 years.
Did commentaries for the Public Radio sports commentaries for 37 years (1,656 commentaries). He signed off with a thank-you column to listeners in early May.
Distinguished career as a star writer for decades with Sports Illustrated.
Wrote 18 books.
Presented the National Humanities Award by President Barack Obama in 2013.
Deford spent his life writing and talking about sports. Others have been blessed with similar jobs. He did it better than the rest of us.
DON’T LAUGH – IS AARON JUDGE THE NEW AL MVP FAVORITE?
Mike Trout (Los Angeles Angels) was the obvious favorite for American League Most Valuable Player until he tore up a thumb and will spend the next six-to-eight weeks on the disabled list.
Is Yankees rookie surprise Aaron Judge the new frontrunner for AL MVP?
It’s much too early to tell. But I’ll put Judge up there with Carlos Correa (Houston) and Corey Dickerson (Tampa Bay) as the current favorites.
GARY PLAYER STIRS THOUGHTS OF WALTER HAGEN
Bernhard Langer won the Senior PGA Championship last Sunday and Gary Player isn’t buying that Langer broke a tie with Jack Nicklaus with his ninth career major victory on the over-50 circuit.
Player, 82 years old, argues that his victories in the Senior Open Championship in 1988, 1990 and 1997 should be added to his official six majors for a total of nine. But that tournament did not become an official major until 2003.
I get where Player is coming but I don’t believe he’ll get anywhere. This reminds me of Rochester product Walter Hagen’s controversial total of 11 majors.
Hagen won the PGA Championship five times, the British Open four times and the U.S. Open twice.
During Hagen’s playing career, the Western Open was considered to be the world’s third biggest pro tournament, behind only the U.S. Open and the British Open. He won it five times.
Hagen’s supporters long argued that he won 16 majors – 2 more than Tiger Woods and two fewer than Jack Nicklaus.
SHORT SHOTS
Red Wings general manager Dan Mason says a Turn Back The Clock Day-record 10,000 50-cent hot dogs were sold at Monday afternoon’s Memorial Day win over Indianapolis.
Kentucky Derby winner Always Dreaming is out of the Belmont Stakes June 10. He needs a rest. Lightly-raced Preakness Stakes winner Cloud Commuting also is expected to pass the 1 ½-mile test.
The NHL Stanley Cup Finals got a break in the schedule. There will be no scheduling conflicts with the NBA Finals and the can’t-miss Golden State Warriors vs, Cleveland Cavaliers matchup.
The Rochester Rattlers selected RIT star Ryan Lee No. 85 overall in Saturday’s Major League Lacrosse draft.
$$$ update for our touring golf pros: Dominic Bozzelli $689,619 (99th on this season’s PGA Tour)...Jeff Sluman $342,520 (18th on the Champions Tour).
The Rattlers are 0-2 at home and 3-1 on the road. They have lots of company in lousy “home cooking” this season. In the 22 games in Major League Lacrosse this season, home teams have a 6-16 record.
.HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO...
Wednesday, May 31
Bryce Petty (26)...Erik Karlsson (27)...Jordy Nelson (32)...Nate Robinson (33)...Jake Peavy (36)...Dave Roberts (45)...Kenny Lofton (50)...USA Olympic goalie Jim Craig (60)...Laura Baugh (62)...Amerks Hall of Famer Gordie Clark (65)...Tippy Martinez (67)...Joe Namath (74). Colin Farrell (41), Brooke Shields (52) and Clint Eastwood (87) are invited to the birthday party.
Thursday, June 1
Nick Young (32)...Carlos Zambrano (36)...Santana Moss (38)...Derek Lowe (44)...Scott Greene (45)...Alexi Lalas (47)...Greg Schiano (51)...Paul Coffey (56). Heidi Klum (44) and Morgan Freeman (80) are invited to the birthday party. Marilyn Monroe was born on this date 91 years ago (1926) and died in 1962.