Category: Golden State Warriors

by David Zizmor

San Antonio (2) vs. Miami (1): This was a big game for the Spurs they won the first game with the broken air conditioner out of action and a lot of people would have said Miami would have won game two back in San Antonio if not for the air conditioning and then the Heat came back and win game two.

So a lot of people were thinking the Heat really had a shot to have swept those two in San Antonio, so the Heat might have the advantage now that their going Florida. The Spurs said no were not having any of that talk and they had a pretty decisive win in game three on Tuesday night 111-92 and it really wasn’t that close.

The Spurs jumped out to a 16 point lead in the first quarter, they scored 41 points and the Heat have a very good defense but you drop 41 points on the Heat in one quarter your doing something right. From that point forward it was all San Antonio there was a blip in third quarter as the Spurs were having trouble getting the ball in the hoop.

The Spurs recovered and the Heat was never really able to get back in this game. It was a solid game all around from the Spurs there was really no breathing room for the Heat in this one. The Heat’s LeBron James and Dwayne Wade were impact players for the Heat Tuesday night. All the props go out to the Spurs Kahwi Leonard he really sent a message for the Spurs with 29 points, 10-13 shooting, that’s impressive.

Leonard was all over the floor and not just on offense, he was a tough defender on D, he helped contain LeBron and LeBron scored 22 points on 9-14 shots it wasn’t impactful. LeBron is one of those guys who where you can give up 20 it’s a matter of what points your giving him.

For LeBron these were points that he would not really care about, LeBron got his shots here and there but it’s really nothing he would care about and it was nothing that really would stoke the crowd it was nothing that got the team going. So the Spurs come in and makes a statement in game three, in game two they struggled and in game one they won more because of the lack of air conditioning in their building.

This was a physical game on Tuesday and your going to see players getting a little physical in this series and your talking about two very good defensive teams already and when you get in the finals everybody throws everything out the window. Your getting everything but the kitchen sink and sometimes you can get the kitchen sink. It’s the Spurs and Heat for game four on Thursday night in Miami.

David Zizmor is covering the NBA Finals for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

by Jerry Feitelberg

A Sacramento citizens lawsuit hearing was heard in Sacramento Superior Court on Tuesday, 12 citizens in their efforts to try and stop the construction of the Sacramento Kings new arena was heard. The citizens claim traffic, huge crowds creating pollution, noise in the neighborhood, possible public drunkeness and riots after games as part of the reasons given why the arena should not be built at downtown’s Fairfield Mall where all the merchants have moved out in preparation for the Kings demolition for the new arena build.

The lawsuit by the citizens was filed a day after the Sacramento City Council took a vote to approve construction for the Kings new arena, the council voted 7-2 in favor for the new arena. The citizens filed the lawsuit under the California environmental laws, the lawsuit also protests SB 743 which was signed into law by California Governor Jerry Brown giving the construction of the arena teeth against CEQA lawsuits.

The citizens went down a laundry list of reasons why the court should over rule the City Council explaining that traffic conditions around downtown’s K and L streets would be a congestion nightmare and that people who live in the neighborhood would have difficulty getting access to their homes before and after games and show events at the area.

The citizens went onto say that noise in the nieghborhood after hours or normally after a game for example around 10pm would be a disruption to the nieghborhood and to those who sleep and have to go to work the next day, parking and traffic was another issue the citizens talked about stating that gridlock before and after games would not allow the neighbors to have the normal access to their homes, parking would be horrendous for neighbors trying to park near their homes according to the citizens lawsuit complaint and creates a huge traffic delays on neighboring freeway exits.

In response to the complaint lawyers for the Kings and the City said that the issues brought up by the citizens to stop the construction of the arena were not going to be the big problem that the citizens say it was. The city and the Kings did not specify why in challenging each complaint, the proceedure for hearings at this stage for not being specific is normal. The Kings and the city plan to list why the arena is good for the city in the next hearing after listening to the citizen complaints.

The lawsuit was not filed against the Kings as the Kings were listed in the lawsuit as “the real party of interest” and the suit was filed against the City of Sacramento.

Jerry Feitelberg is covering the arena developments for the Sacramento Kings and the Golden State Warriors for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

by David Zizmor

Miami @ San Antonio Game #2: We watched game one with the air conditioning broken at AT&T Center in game one in which the Spurs won. While the Heat were able to hang in there for that game for three quarters they completely fell apart in the fourth especially the Heat’s LeBron James who cramped up in that one due to the indoor 90 degree temperatures.

For game two on Sunday night the temperature returned to the normal, 74 degrees indoors and nobody cramped up in this game. LeBron played from start to finish and you could tell he was kind of angry at all of the fun everyone was making of him for cramping up in game one. He took it pretty seriously and he took it out on the Spurs.

LeBron came out and dropped 35 points with ten boards on the Spurs and it was a big 35 points. It was LeBron being LeBron, it was LeBron dominating the game in which the Heat took game two 98-96. LeBron dominated the game especially late, this one was not a blow out by Miami but it definitely was a close one.

LeBron’s superpowers were definitely needed in this one and he delivered. 35 and ten in an NBA Final against a team like the Spurs that is good defensively like San Antonio is impressive and he did it on both ends of the floor. Not only was LeBron getting the 35 in the basket but he was playing great defense.

LeBron made a ton of critical plays and while the Heat’s Chris Bosh hit a three pointer late that put Miami ahead for good it was LeBron who dished it to him. He was involved in everything from start to finish he was the man, he was the guy that controlled the fate of the game and he came through.

Whatever happened in game one let’s write that one off, chances were the Heat were going to split the series in the first two games in San Antonio anyway. It happened to come at an unusual fashion with that air conditioner blow out but never the less the Heat are taking this series back to Miami for game three on Tuesday night.

David Zizmor is covering the NBA Finals for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

by David Zizmor

Miami vs. San Antonio: This first game on Thursday night was an interesting game and the Spurs won this one pretty handily 110-95 over the Miami Heat. There is kind of a nice side story that goes with this one. If you were watching this game you had to know that something was screwy and it turns out this game which was played at the AT&T Center in San Antonio with no air conditioning.

The air conditioning was just broke and there is nothing like being indoors with no air conditioning in San Antonio in June. It was sweltering and it got to be up to 90 degrees inside the arena. For anyone playing championship level basketball that’s really difficult.

Those are very unusual conditions and the last time we saw anything like it was back in 1985 between the Lakers and the Celtics when Boston Garden famously lost air conditioning and it was a complete swamp in the place. It was just hot, humid, and damp with all sorts of condensation on the floor.

Not quite as slippery in San Antonio but just as hot, just as sweltering and it just didn’t favor the Heat this time around. You got to figure both of these teams are used to hot and muggy weather in the summertime. The Spurs had the home court advantage and at the very minimum knew about the air conditioning so the Spurs were a little better prepared for it.

The trainers had extra Gatorade for the players on the benches and they were making sure that everybody was hydrated, on the flip side the Heat’s LeBron James was doing everything he could to keep in the game. LeBron left the game on a couple of occasions in the fourth quarter because he was so hot and so dehydrated he was cramping up.

LeBron literally had to come out of the game to get himself a rest and get some water in him and get himself on the court. So when San Antonio is in a situation where they can get LeBron off the court it’s very easy to take advantage of the Heat. If you look at the box score you would see that the Spurs took advantage of this one.

The Spurs took advantage of the situation when LeBron had to sit twice during the fourth quarter. They outscored Miami 36-17 to end the game. When you do that your just going to win everytime. The Spurs won by 15 and the game was reasonably close until that last fourth quarter. Next game is on Sunday night at San Antonio for game two, the Spurs say they have assured everyone the air conditioning should be ready for that one.

David Zizmor is covering the NBA Finals for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

by David Zizmor

San Antonio vs. Miami: At the beginning of this season we were all talking about that great finals last year between the Spurs and the Heat that went seven games and saw the Spurs lose it on a missed shot by Tim Duncan with only seconds left in game seven, giving the Heat their second title in three years for back to back titles.

It was a fantastic series the best in years and the same two teams are back again. The whole season long we thought that the Spurs and Heat were on a collision course and low and behold here they are facing each other again. This should be a great match, you have the Heat’s LeBron James the best player in the game.

You have the Spurs head coach Grep Popovich the best coach in the game and you have one of the best teams in NBA history in the Spurs a team that made the playoffs for 15 straight years. The Spurs have won four titles and they just keep putting together great runs. This is a team that everybody would have thought would have faded by now as Tim Duncan got older.

Just because Duncan is older doesn’t mean he’s not effective and that’s what we’ve seen so far. Popovich has done a great job managing Duncan’s time and allowed him to rest as much as possible for a 39 year old. That has kept Duncan fairly effective here in the late going this season.

You would figure after 82 regular season games, 12 playoff wins, that Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili are all guys who have been around the block a few times. They might be a little bit tired but no, these guys are still playing great basketball and more importantly their getting contributions from other players on this team.

Most notably Kawhi Leonard who has just been fantastic for the Spurs, your really seeing him come into his own this year which is exactly what the Spurs needed to continue being one of the top teams this year. On the flip side of the ball the Heat what can you say about LeBron that hasn’t already been said. The guy’s the best player in the league, even though he didn’t win the MVP this year.

The Heat’s Dwayne Wade has been very good, Chris Bosh has been coming on as of late, and they have a great supporting cast that really knows their role and Heat head coach Eric Spoelstra doesn’t get the high praise that Popovich does but you don’t make four finals in the row without being a good coach. It’s be a series of strategy and skill and Spoelstra and Popovich will be those wizards behind the Heat and Spurs curtains.

David Zizmor is covering the NBA Finals for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

by David Zizmor

San Antonio (3) vs. Oklahoma City (2): It’s not a coinindence that the Spurs won on Thursday night 117-89 in game five and they were at home. Every home team have won in this series and this is the continuing trend, there also have been some adjustments that the Spurs made. Obviously they play much better at home that’s usually the key in the NBA home court advantage is a very big deal.

One of the problems that the Spurs have been having in the last few games since OKC’s Serge Ibaka came back is containing him. If you watched games three and four when Ibaka came back and OKC had home court advantage what you saw was not only does San Antonio have trouble containing him on offense but also because he’s a big guy with good moves down low.

The Spurs have trouble trying to stop him on offense and defensive glass they had trouble getting around his defensive presence and that really altered the way the Spurs played and it kind of just limited them especially on defense. Ibaka is really good before he was blocking shots left and right. The Spurs needed a way to get around him to move him around not just on offense but on defense.

This is what the Spurs did and OKC didn’t expect it, the Spurs put Matt Bonner at center and put Tiago Splitter in and Splitter played about 12 mintues. He’s not a key player for the Spurs he’s been typically their starter because he’s a big guy he’s a center and Bonner is not your typical center and plays power forward. The Spurs and Thunder go at it again on Saturday for game six.

Miami (3) vs. Indiana (2): The Heat let up a little bit in game five losing 93-90 and obviously the Pacers had home court advantage and that helped them right there. The Pacers fans have been just amazing, they’re very knowledgeable than any fans in the NBA and they really legitimately hate the Miami Heat. This has been building up in this series all along so there is just a lot of emotion involved.

When your playing on that floor in Indianapolis a lot of that washes down on the players and it definitely engergizes Indiana and it impacts the Heat too. Even with all that in their favor the Pacers are still only able to win by three points and that was after a mediocre game from the Heat. The Pacers had their shot and they kind of blew it.

Earlier in this series the Pacers had a little bit of momentum going in after that first win and they really had Miami on the ropes in game two but then they let Miami get back in and pull out the victory. If the Pacers were able to pull off that game two victory and go back to Miami with a two game lead that would have been huge.

A Pacers victory would have changed the face of this series but instead they split it and the Heat took two in Miami. The Heat have a 3-2 lead going into Saturday night’s game, it’s questionable now if the Pacers have the fire power, the consistency to win any more games in Miami and this is where game six is on Friday night.

David Zizmor is covering the NBA Playoffs for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

by Jerry Feitelberg

The poll takers have asked around and when the question comes up about San Francisco Propositon B the intitiative that seek height limits on San Francisco’s Waterfront those taking the polls get a surprise in the previous weeks, but not so much a surprise now. The response has been some won’t be coming down to their local polling place and vote for the measure.

Pollsters have reported that ever since the Golden State Warriors opted out of building at Piers 30-32 at the Embarcadero that was satifactory to the pro B voters and they have figured why bother. Recent polls have shown that Prop B is losing by as much as 5-9 points ever since the W’s said they were going to build their new arena at Mission Bay the team’s second choice.

Before the Warriors Mission Bay arena announcement it looked like Prop B was going to win hands down after neighborhood groups rallied to City Hall to get the amendment on the ballot but now that all has changed and voters or enough of them have said they won’t attend the yes on Prop B voting campaign this coming Tuesday.

Also if the trend on elections is correct on off season elections one out of four of the electorate will not show up. Both sides of the Prop B fight have seen huge campaign donations pour into what might be one of San Francisco’s most important and conroversial elections in recent memory. A lot is riding on Prop B from both sides, for those in favor of the measure such as the Sierra Club, former San Francisco Mayor Art Agnos, former San Francisco Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin and the greater Waterfront neighborhood who don’t want to see high rise development unless voter approved that stretches from the Ferry Buiding to Pier 70 in the Dog Patch district of the city the measure if passed means protection for their views of the Bay, the Bridge and the East Bay.

Mission Bay development for the Warriors was not going to be an objection with the Yes on B campaign as it’s further away enough that it won’t block the Bay views that the neighborhood wanted to protect. Meanwhile the No on B campaign lead by Bruce Agid a community advocate who appears on a number of TV ads is a energy consultant who also had a stint with PG&E said in the ad that Prop B is a ” political free for all” he said that the measure would open up loop holes that developers can use to avoid environmental regulations.

Agid says that Prop B which restricts height limitations on the waterfront would reduce support for transportation, open space, and affordable housing. Former Mayor Agnos questioned the Warriors at the time of the planning at Piers 30-32 about affordable housing and would there be any at all when Golden State proposed building retail and condo towers across the street from the new arena at the piers.

The argument of developer restrictions on the No side goes mainly to the side of development that would be profitable for the city translating jobs, retail, condos, transportation and the like but no arena where the Warriors originally wanted it by Piers 30-32 because of their committment to Mission Bay. If Prop B loses and as of this writing it’s behind in the polls the Waterfront could be a development mecca and a backfire to what it’s writers originally intended it for to protect over development.

It would ironically leave the Warriors out of the picture because they’re committed at Mission Bay and businesses like the San Francisco Giants can develop on Parking lot A where they have plans for retail and a retail village near the AT&T site and a full retail development at Piers 70 as proposed by Forest City Development, without height restrictions there will be free reign and it’s all because voters thought that Prop B was delivered once the Warriors backed off from Piers 30-32.

The Yes on B folks say that if the measure loses it will be a developmental free for all at the Embarcadero. One things for certain free for all indeed.

Jerry Feitelberg is covering the Golden State Warriors and Sacramento Kings arena developments for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

by David Zizmor

San Antonio vs. Oklahoma City: This series is a big one and it should go all the way and at this stage this series is doubt and you have no idea whose going to win it. The Spurs went up 2-0 they did it in pretty dominate fashion and one of the big loses in this series was OKC’s Serge Ibaka who was pulled out of this series when it started and everybody thought he wasn’t going to play again, not only in the series but the entire post season because the calf injury was that serious.

He misses the first two games, OKC had no real answer down low to stop the Spurs Tim Duncan and it was just a mess for OKC they couldn’t do anything and Ibaka miraculously comes back and in game three OKC wins that one 106-97 and before that game Ibaka was truly in doubt needless to say if he could play.

After watching that game three Ibaka was clearly playing really well, he may not necessarily have been at 100 percent but he’s darn close he had a huge impact in that game three and then in game four he had only nine points but the proof is in the pudding. You look at what Duncan did he had only nine points he was 3-8 with six boards and he just couldn’t get it going and in large part it was because Ibaka was down there.

On the flip side, in game four this game was not about Ibaka his defense was certainly key. It was OKC’s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook’s show, these guys were amazing in the game they both shot 50 percent from the field. Westbrook was 40 percent and Durant was 31 percent. When those two guys are on the only other duel that is quite as potent in the NBA is Golden State’s Stephen Curry and Clay Thompson.

Miami vs.Indiana: The Pacers are a Jekyll and Hyde team because we saw that first round against Atlanta and they stunk, the Pacers were lucky to get out of that series alive. In the Second series against Washington the Pacers looked terrible for the first couple of games and all of a sudden they found their magic again.

The Pacers then took that second round series in six games and then early on in this series went against the Heat they looked really good in game one but the Heat squeaked out a win in game two, in games three and four the Heat just took it to them with 99-87 and 102-90 wins.

The Heat now have a 3-1 lead in the series with the Pacers on the brink, it’s not likely that anyone out there is picking Indiana for this series. In game four it was all Miami and the Pacers who went back to their old selves again. The Heat got out to a pretty solid start and never let go.

The Pacers Roy Hibbert did an disappearing act and Hibbert was pretty good that last few games but all of sudden he went back to zero points, five boards, he was a complete non factor in this one. On the other side of the ball the Heat’s LeBron James dropped 32, ten boards, five assists and it was a typical phenomenal LeBron game.

David Zizmor is covering the NBA Playoffs for http://www.sportsradioservice.com

by David Zizmor

San Antonio vs. Oklahoma City: The Spurs who lead the Thunder 2-1 in the series and who had handled the Thunder in the last two games. The Spurs right now are at their most dominate phase in this series. They’re really just destroying OKC so far. One of the big reasons why OKC is struggling their power forward Serge Ibaka is out with a calf injury late in the series against the Clippers and when this Western Conference series started he was moved out for remainder of the playoffs as of Sunday he is listed as day to day.

It was a huge deal because Ibaka is a very unusual power forward, meaning he’s unusual in today’s game because he’s a true power forward, he’s big bodied who can push guys around he can hang with the elite scorers like the Spurs Manu Ginobili around the perimiter. Ibaka is also good at cleaning up on the glass and he’s an excellent shot blocker.

Ibaka is a defender who you have to take care of and be mindful of and he can also score on the offensive end. There aren’t that many two way power forwards in the NBA these days. When you have one guy like him and you lose him it’s a really big deal and Ibaka was kind of a third wheel on that Thunder team.

OKC’s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook were great on the scoring but they weren’t so fantastic on defense is concerned. Ibaka was the reverse he was a great defender and a good offensive player but he’s great on defense. Ibaka was a great part of OKC’s weaponary and when you lose one part of that trifecta its a huge deal.

Miami vs. Indiana: It’s not going to be too crazy for Indiana trying to get back into this one, Miami hasn’t been able to play lights out basketball. If you look at game three the Pacers were up 15 points and Miami had to stage kind of a serious rally to get back and then right in the middle of the fourth quarter it was getting out of hand and the Heat were able to cruise right at the end of the game.

The Pacers were in the that game until late so if the Pacers can hold on and collect some of those problems in terms of defending LeBron and getting more production out of their team players like Paul George. They’ll make a game of it, keep in mind that George got kneed in the head by the Heat’s Dwayne Wade in game two and a lot of people didn’t think he would be able to play in game three because of a concussion.

It’s entirely possible George who is far and away the Pacers best player was in a little bit of a fog, if George can recover a little bit and get his head about him and play with a little more clarity in game four the Pacers are going to be in better shape. All the other players were doing pretty well, shooting guard Lance Stephenson had a great game for the Pacers in game three.

It just kind of went all for not when LeBron took over later in the game, Indiana has proven that they can hang with this Miami team and game two was very close until the end. In game one the Pacers kind of threw the gaunlet down, Miami has another game at home and if they win it and go up 3-1 they’ll be clearly in the drivers seat.

David Zizmor is covering the NBA Playoffs for http://www.sportsradioservice.com