Finals Preview – Kevin

I don’t know why we’re previewing the Final now since we’re already two games in, but it is what it is, I guess. As far as who I’m rooting for – I’m kind of torn. I don’t think it’s any secret that I dislike Sidney Crosby, but Carl Hagelin is my favorite Michigan skater in recent memory. Although I didn’t see Kevin Porter play all that much, it would be nice to see him get a ring as well (piece of info you probably won’t find particularly interesting: we share a birthday). Anyway, Pittsburgh’s looked awfully good throughout the playoffs but so have the Sharks. I have more faith in Martin Jones than Matt Murray. Even though they’re down 2-0 as of this writing, I like the Sharks in 7.

Oh, yeah, the basketball thing. I kind of hate both those teams. I used to be a huge LeBron fan. I wasn’t even mad about The Decision; I gave him the benefit of the doubt and thought it was okay since he was using an announcement he knew people would care about to raise money for the Boys and Girls’ Club. I didn’t even have an issue with him teaming up with Larry and Curly. He wanted to win and Cleveland wasn’t putting people around him. Seriously, who was his best teammate during his first stint with the Cavs? A washed-up Shaq? Antawn Jamison? Mo Williams? Then they had a celebratory press conference before they even played a game where LeBron guaranteed an eight-peat. He became a real tool and can’t seem to grasp why people think he’s a tool. He goes 2-for-4 in Miami, then sees the Heat’s window closing and bolts. When the going gets tough, LeBron gets going…to somewhere else. Which, hey, that’s fine. That’s his prerogative. He forfeited any chance of his legacy getting anywhere near Jordan’s when he left for Miami, so might as well get your money’s worth.

Then, he writes this ridiculous story for SI about why he’s going to back to Cleveland but makes it clear he has no regrets about what he did. I’d have so much more respect for the guy if he just said “I want to win. That’s it. I didn’t have the cast around me to win in Cleveland when I left, so I found a place where I can win. Now there’s a better cast in place here, so I want to come back and win in my hometown.” Forget the nonsense like “I look at my time in Miami like a college experience.” Do I want to see the city of Cleveland get a title? Sure, but particularly not like this. You burned the guy’s jersey in 2010 and your knucklehead owner wrote that idiotic letter. I think it would be hysterical to watch the Cavs fall flat on their face and then see LeBron leave again.

But in the other corner is Golden State and I just hate the way they play. They’re way too reliant on the three. It’s the same reason I can’t watch that much college basketball. If I want to watch a bunch of guys shoot threes all day, I’ll go to any rec center in America and pull up a chair. Plus, Draymond Green’s a filthy player. Don’t get me wrong, Dellavedova’s a punk too but at least I haven’t seen him kick anyone in the nuts.

Somebody’s gotta win. The Western Conference Finals showed that Golden State’s human. They’re a great team, but they’re not all-time great. No matter how many times they beat up on teams like Philly in December and they can be beat. They should have been by Chokelahoma City and would have been if Kevin Durant didn’t take a couple fourth quarters off. On the other side, Cleveland looked dominant in the first two games of the Eastern Conference Finals, then let Toronto back in the series before putting the hammer down in games 5 and 6. Cleveland made it a series last year without Irving and Love. With them healthy this year, I think they can take it.

Prediction: Cavs in 7

Twitter: @KSchroeder_312

E-mail: schroeder.giig@gmail.com