"The Stack" 6-8-17

The Stack is back on this Thursday and what a game we saw last night in the NBA Finals. The Golden State Warriors are still undefeated in the postseason and they are one win away from their second NBA title in three years. Reaction to the game plus Bob Stoops stepping down and a pick for tonight’s game five in the Stanley Cup Final in “the stack” for today, Thursday, June 8th:

Warriors rally, take down Cavs for 3-0 Finals lead

Finally we had a close game not just in the NBA Finals, but the NBA Playoffs in general. Yes we had a handful of good playoff games, but for the most part, the NBA Playoffs have been absolutely dreadful. Game 3 of the NBA Finals delivered and then some with the Golden State Warriors closing the game on an 11-0 run to beat the Cleveland Cavaliers 118-113. As was the case in the first two games, game three saw a magnificent first half with the Warriors jumping out early, but the Cavs keeping it close and trailing by only six at the break. Klay Thompson was shooting very well for the Warriors in the first half. He had what 18 points in the first half including four threes early on. When the Warriors jumped out by eight early in the third quarter you wondered if the Cavs would have enough to come back and take down the Warriors. They did, particularly Kyrie Irving. He made some absolutely ridiculous shots driving to the hoop and getting his layups to drop. He scored 16 points in the third quarter and the Cavs entered the fourth quarter with a lead for the first time this series.

The Warriors though kept hovering around. The Cavs’ biggest lead in the second half and the fourth quarter was seven points, but Steph Curry would make a play and then Kevin Durant would make a shot, but the Cavaliers answered with LeBron James or Irving. They didn’t get anything from Kevin Love as he went just 1-for-9 from the field, but he did have several key offensive rebounds that helped give the Cavs extra chances and he did have six steals so he contributed. He just didn’t contribute in terms of scoring like the Cavs needed him to. With the Cavs up 113-107 late in the fourth quarter it looked like they were going to hang on, but the Warriors didn’t panic and it appeared the Cavs didn’t think the Warriors would come back. Their offense essentially became non-existent. They went 0-for-8 from the floor. Have to imagine fatigue and tiredness set in for James and Irving. James played all but two minutes in the game. When he was on the floor, the Cavs were a +7. When he was off they were -12. With under a minute left the Cavs were up by two, but that is when Durant drilled a three to take the air completely out of the building and put the Warriors up one. James had a shot blocked by Andre Iguodala on the subsequent possession and then Durant made a couple of free throws and the Warriors came back to win. It’s essentially a death blow to the Cavs and their chances of winning this series. Do you see Cleveland winning four straight against Golden State? I certainly don’t. This series will be over Friday night. Curry had a double-double with 26 points and 13 rebounds. 13 rebounds for one of the shorter guys on the court! That’s incredible. Durant has been the best player in this series and finished with 31 points and Thompson burst out on offense with a 30 points performance that the team has kind of been waiting for. James and Irving combined for 77 of the Cavs 113 points (39 and 38 respectively). James was one assist away from a triple-double yet the haters gonna hate, hate hate, hate, hate, hate, hate to quote Taylor Swift because he didn’t close the deal. That’s ridiculous. He and Irving are the only reasons the Cavs even had a shot in this one. They’re going to need to be at it again Friday night, but I just don’t see it happening.

Bob Stoops retires from Oklahoma

Rather stunning news out of the college football world Wednesday where Oklahoma head coach Bob Stoops has retired effectively immediately and offensive coordinator Lincoln Riley will take over and serve as interim head coach. Stoops is doing this on his accord. He was a consistent winner at Oklahoma, but there was always plenty of pressure on him and fans are going to wish he were still around here in a few years. There is no health concern that we know of. Sources say this was not a spur of the moment decision and that they do not expect Stoops to coach at any level ever again. While the transition to Riley will be a pretty seamless one for the Sooners, the loss of Stoops will almost certainly negatively impact them this season and impact their future recruiting classes. Maybe Riley is the guy or maybe it will be someone like Chip Kelly. Stoops leaves Oklahoma with a national championship in 2000, ten Big 12 titles and a 190-48 record (.798 winning percentage). He is the second big name coach at a big time university to step away from the job this week.

Ohio State to offer Greg McDermott head coaching position

The other head coaching news this week was that Thad Matta was stepping down/out as Ohio State men’s basketball head coach. The university has wasted little time in potentially naming his replacement. It appears it is going to be Creighton head basketball coach Greg McDermott. McDermott has spent the last seven seasons with the Bluejays to multiple NCAA Tournament appearances, but he has only been successful in one season since his son Doug left for the NBA and that was last year. Ohio State is a whole different ball game. He’ll get good recruits, but good enough recruits to help Ohio State compete for Big Ten conference championships and Final Fours? That I’m not so sure of.

Stanley Cup Final game 5 pick

Game five of the Stanley Cup Final between the Nashville Predators and Pittsburgh Penguins is tonight. Puck drops at 8 PM ET on NBC. The momentum in this series appears to have swung back to the Predators after they dominated the Penguins in Nashville. Having said that, Pittsburgh has been a city of horrors for Predators goalie Pekka Rinne. The Predators have largely outplayed the Penguins in this series, but the Penguins will cash in on a few more opportunities tonight I feel/fear and take down the Preds 3-2. Should be a great game.

Coming up Friday: Stanley Cup game five reaction plus NBA Finals game four pick and other top headlines in sports