Young Pope szn is upon us all

With every new year there comes a crop of new shows premiering but with so much content out there its hard to keep track of what , where and when these new shows come on. There have been a few shows I have seen in the past year that were very well done and enjoyable but I couldn’t tell what some of them were right now , maybe because they weren’t that memorable ( I’m looking right at you Night Manager). But the Young Pope separates itself from the pack entirely, at first I thought what a silly name the Young Pope is and surely the show would reflect that but then I saw this promo shot

If you having girl problems I feel bad for you my son, I got ninety nine problems and the Pope is young

After seeing this I KNEW this show would be epically bad but entertaning at least. With the myriad of highly unlikely scenarios a young pope would find himself in, then hitting his wardrobe and putting on one of his many ill units like this one.

I’m a bitch, I’m a lover, I’m the Pope, only younger

When the trailer dropped a few weeks after the above pics my expectations grew ten fold and I eagerly anticipated for when I could watch it. So when my good friends over at Home Box Office (HBO for you nubs) sent me over some screeners I was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to see the engaging Jude Law. The show centers around Law who goes by Lenny in the show. He’s an orphan that was given up at a young age and raised in the Catholic Church by Sister Mary  who is being played by the pleasant, wicked jump shot having Diane Keaton, who has a number of memorable moments akin to this one

Nun humor, gotta love it. The nuns in the show get a lot of the jokes and a majority of them really like sports surprisingly and there is an exquisitely shot scene where the nuns are playing a game of footy with some deft moves and cracking finishes set to some operatic music and it was pretty funny to see those nuns go all FIFA on each other.

Jude Law has been great in many supporting roles from The Talented Mr. Ripley to Sherlock Holmes and one of my personal favorites Gattaca but he has rarely been the lead with such a juicy part. Thats why this will be a career defining performance for him where he can show off as the newly elected Pius XIII: chain-smoking,right-wing, deeply cynical and ultra-political. Machiavelli living in the 21st century.

The Young Pope might disguise as a high-budget soap, but it tells us some uneasy truths about the hypocrisy at the top of the Catholic Church. This show feels a lot like The Sopranos without the Bada-Bing and the chicken parms but replaced with the rich, beautiful set pieces of the Vatican and some lavish pools to boot.

 

This show is opulent, sleek, charming and ultimately visually sumptuous. If you go into the show expecting a spectacle rather than something literal you will have infinitely better time. It will be on my end of year list for the most fun shows undoubtedly. Just sit back and accept the body of Christ as long as it looks like Jude Law.

ps.

Shout out to my Serie A lovers , Napoli gets some major love throughout it.

The NBA season is a quarter of the way over so here are my observations so far

After 13 years Dwayne Wade has found a 3pt shot. He is taking and making more threes than at any point in his career. He is a 28% for his career and is at 34% this season. Just a necessary addition to his game since he’s getting older and doesn’t get to the rim as much as he used to. He still has one of the best in between games in the league

 

What is wrong with the T-Wolves? I expected them to be maybe hover around the 8th seed for the playoffs but they have cellar dwelling this season (6-18). Even with the progress of KAT and Wiggins it still hasn’t translated into wins. I think this team would benefit from a roster move or maybe just embrace the tank and get another high pick. But if they were to make a move it would have to be Zach LaVine because they could get the most equal return. He seems to be more aggressive than Wiggins so that will free up more room for Wiggins to operate as he grows. But the downside of that would he is their only consistent perimeter scorer on a team that desperately  needs shooting. Their record mostly has to do with their horrid defense, 27th in the league with a defensive wiz as coach.

The Warriors have looked just as explosive as everyone thought they would and have even come together much faster than excepted. They have shown how dominate they can be even without shooting well when they dusted the Clippers (also their biggest roadblock to another trip to the finals ) last week

They shot 23% from three making only seven of them but ended up winning the game by 17. Since the arrival of Durant only Curry’s shot have dipped the most to an average of almost three fewer per game. Klay is still getting theirs as you can see from his 60pt outburst last week.  Klay is an interesting player  because NO ONE gets scorching hot in a flash quite like him, but you wouldn’t pick him in the top 10 of the best players in the league where efficient scoring comes at a high premium. The only guy really sacrifices is Draymond, he gives up the most out of anyone in terms of scoring so good for him but then again he continues kicking people so screw him.

Since I just mentioned the Clippers this is the perfect time for me to say that they are the hardest team to root for. Simply because they whine constantly, it’s not just one or two of the players but every single one and the maestro behind it all Doc Rivers. Doc thinks the officials are so bad that they would benefit from adding another one out there

At Blazers-Clippers. Doc Rivers asked about the NBA possibly adding a fourth official.
Doc: "I liked two, I got away with more."

— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) December 13, 2016

Maybe then Doc’s will completely disintegrate and he will be forced to use a robot voice.

Russell Westbrook Westworld has become must watch tv just like the show of the same name . Much like Westworld Russ might be a sophisticated robot too, especially when you look at his historic numbers this season without Durant. His consecutive triple double streak just ended at 7 which is tied for fourth all time alongside Michael Jordan, Oscar Roberston, and the leader with nine Wilt Chamberlain. He’s currently averaging a triple with 31, 11 and 11, if he were to do it for an entire season he would be only the second guy to do so. The hardest stat to keep up for the entire season is the rebounds, he has a similar streak for guys less than 6’5 with consecutive double-digit board games. I just don’t think he can keep it up but if there was ever a guy that could, it would be Russell Westbrook. You hardly see guys with such tenacity and fierce passion in their play every game and I’m glad to be able to watch him dunk all over my Rockets.

 

Kevin Love is looking like the player of old they way he’s been getting buckets down this year. This is the best he’s looked since joining the Cavs 2 years ago. He also came close to breaking Klay Thompson’s record for most points in a quarter when he had 34 in one quarter against the Blazers. He would have done it too if not for Kyrie trying to get his. Let Lil Kev cook!

The season is only just a quarter over but these teams are already out of the playoff picture.  In the Eastern Conference its the Sixers, Nets and Heat. For the Western Conference it is the Mavs, T-Wolves, Pelicans, Suns and Nuggets. The good thing about some of these teams is that they each have young pieces to build around for the future.

How about the Rockets?! They are playing inspired ball this year because they now have actual shot makers on the team. Like Eric Gordon who has been lights out this year with shooting 44% from three and leads the team in three pointers made off the bench. They also added Ryan Anderson to go along Ariza and Beverly to surround Harden which gives him that ability to rack up those assist numbers. The Rockets lead the league in three pointers made and percentage. Critics will say they still don’t play any defense but hey their offense is so fun and Harden/Capela have the best pick n’ roll in the game now. I think they are one piece away from contending in the West.

 

Now its time to touch on Kristaps Porzingis aka basketball unicorn , Godzingigs. He’s gotten more comfortable this year and has improved at a scary rate. There has never been a 7’3 guy with his handle , stroke and agility before. He’s quickly becoming the best player on the Knicks supplanting Melo. But for right now its good to have Melo around for his development so he won’t be solely weighed down with the expectations and criticisms that come along with being the guy in NYC. In addition to putting up 20ppg, 7 reb, 1.9 blk every game he is also the leading rim protector going by defensive field goal percentage. Can you imagine the mismatches they can create if he got played center?!  The Knicks could have saved so much cap space without signing Joakim. If there is one thing you can count on the Knicks doing is wasting money on washed players but c’est la vie.

 

On December 15th teams can trade players that were signed this summer, while most if not all these guys won’t be moved. These are the players who I think will get moved sooner than later- Greg Monroe , Brandon Knight , Donatas Montiejunas,Nerlens Noel, Zach LaVine, Rudy Gay, CJ McCollum and finally Boogie Cousins.

My early MVP’s are Westbrook, Harden, Bron, Durant,and Chris Paul in that order.

Happy Holidays

 

Amish folks: Enough is enough

(CBC)  Amish residents of a western Kentucky town are fighting back against an ordinance requiring large animals to wear collection bags to catch their droppings, arguing that the law unfairly singles out their community.

The Daily News of Bowling Green reports that many Amish in Auburn have refused to comply with the ordinance, citing concerns that attempts to put the bags on their horses might frighten the animals.

Many cases have landed in court, and some defendants have been jailed for refusing to pay the fine for violating the ordinance.

Regulation unconstitutional?

Last week, attorney Travis Lock filed a notice arguing that the regulation is unconstitutional because it discriminates against the Amish.

Auburn officials say the ordinance keeps the streets clean and reduces the risk of spreading disease.

First things first I love the  entertainment the Amish community has provided me over the years from those reality shoes on TLC, and Discovery like Breaking Amish to Amish Mafia all the way to the scripted stuff like Harrison Ford in ‘Witness‘

‘I’ll strike your Da if you disparage my flock again’  s/o to young Viggo Mortenson behind my friend Harry.

Last but certainly not least the most beautiful Amish girl I have seen Rebecca Bowman in the massively underrated show Banshee

Needless to say that she didn’t return home after Rumspringa. 

Ok back to the point about how the Amish think its unconstitutional to equip their horse’s with poo catchers so their many horses don’t shit all over town when they come in to sell their goods and whatever else it is Amish people do besides commit incest. I know you guys like to live like tis the 1800’s but its not like that anymore you cannot just let your trusty steed just drop bombs all over the place. While us regular folk have to make sure to grab a doggy bag for a 3lb chihuahua or face a ticket and fine. Shit ain’t right. If you want to benefit from our society maybe you should follow some rules that benefit everyone. I’m pretty sure everyone else is on board with no poop in the streets rule. You already slow up traffic with your buggies so the least you can do would be to clean up all the horse logs getting sawed off around town. So their big gripe is that the extra bag on the horse will frighten it, haha you have to be kidding me. Look at the horse in the banner pic, if all that gear on it isn’t frightening it I doubt a poo bag will.

I think the real reason they don’t want to follow the new law is because they don’t want to be trotting around with a fresh bag of horse logs wafting into your carriage. I can’t really blame them on that one. But thats the life they chose.

A Foreshadowing Thought on Se7en

I woke up last Sunday morning  got up went to brush my teeth then came back into my room turned on the tv to get some entertainment while I brush. To my delight Se7en was on so my search stopped there and I was all in again for my umpteenth viewing  of the Fincher product.  The part I jumped in on was right before detective Mills and Somerset  discover the ‘Sloth’. When I sat down to watch it I noticed something that I hadn’t previously. Now if you are not familiar with the film its about a serial killer named John Doe who is patterning his kills off of the seven deadly sins.  For a visual refresher this is the scene

 

Pretty wicked scene right, its downright frightening when the guy wakes up and gasps fort air. The part I was referring to earlier happened right after the clip above ends. I couldn’t manage to find the clip after searching for a while so I’ll just describe it instead. The crime scene around the sloth’s apartment is cordoned off. Mills (Brad Pitt) and Somerset (Morgan Freeman) are standing watch at the top of the stairs before the apartment. While they are standing watch a paparazzi sneaks up the stairs and starts snapping pictures (the title image is one of the pics he took) of the scene before Mills gets a little physical with him by showing him the way downstairs and cursing him out as he leaves. As Mills is turning around Somerset says to him “It’s impressive to see a man feeding off his emotions.” For some reason that line struck me differently and with the *spoiler alert* photographer being revealed later to be John Doe when they find the title picture in his apartment it all starts to piece together.

Somerset’s quote foreshadows Mill’s fate perfectly by completing Doe’s plan of the seven deadly sin killings with the final one being Wrath. After Doe sees how easily Mills gets worked up he locks in on him. He knows that under the right circumstances he can manipulate Mills into feeling such hatred and anger he will have very little choice and ultimately give into the violence that festers inside of him and ultimately unleash it on Doe. The transfer of emotion is how Mills becomes a possessed by Doe and ends up doing what he had planned along. By killing the evil Doe Mills has become evil himself and caused it grow stronger. Mills’ innocent and pure wife is violated and sacrificed and Mills the hero protagonist who is in a twisted way a reason his wife died. By avenging her he relinquished his soul in a way and becomes a broken man in mind,body and spirit.

But if he had refused to do that like Somerset pleaded with him to do so that wouldn’t be the case. He would’ve suppressed the wrath he was feeling and had a chance to conquer the evil that was coursing through him in that moment but alas he just became another one of the forsaken. That is why the ending is so gut wrenching because everyone is constantly fighting the Doe that is inside of us all in a spiritual battle. Do we give in to weight of our own anguish and allow the darkness to take over or make the other choice ?

 

SHOOT YOUR SHOT: THE TRUE STORY OF JIM JINKS THE CREATOR OF DOUG AND HIS REAL LIFE PATTI MAYONNAISE

(EW)

It’s been around 25 years since Doug premiered on Nickelodeon and its creator Jim Jinkins gave an interview to EW about it. Jim gave some insight into his inspiration for Doug along with the other characters on the show and as you can probably guess he took inspiration from his own life to mold the characters , especially with Doug being modeled after himself.  He had this to say
“I’ve written the scene,” Jinkins tells EW, referring to one major moment that would answer the question Jinkins’ is constantly asked — whether Doug and his lifelong crush, Patti, end up together.

What happened to the love of Doug’s life? That’s where Jinkins’ tale about his surprise reconnection with the real Patti Mayonnaise comes in. If you want to know what happens to Doug, you must first find out what happened to Jim

It’s my ten-year reunion, and I didn’t go. I was in New York working like crazy as a freelancer and just trying to make it there. And I got a phone call in New York and it’s Patti. The real Patti. And my heart’s beating fast. She’s like, ‘I was at the reunion! You weren’t!’ and I was like, ‘Yeah…sorry…I had to work.’ And she goes, ‘I found out you live in New York. Guess what—I do, too!’ And she told me where she lives. We lived across Central Park from each other. And she says, ‘Why don’t you come over for dinner?’

So now we’re in a Doug show. I’m like, what do I wear? What will she look like!? All that’s happening as I’m walking across Central Park to her apartment, just wondering and just hoping, all those things. I was, at the time, very available.
I get to the door, and you get buzzed up in New York, and so I walk up to the apartment and I hear the lock turn—it’s getting ready to happen—and she opens the door, and she’s perfect. Just perfect. She just looks spectacular and she’s so happy, and her arms fly up and we hug, and I’m just like [frightened guttural gasping noises]. She backs up and she goes ‘Look, Jimmy! Boobs! I got my boobs!’ [Laughs.] It sounds like I’m making this up, right? And I’m like, ‘Yeah… yeah, uh huh!’ ‘Yeah, they always used to call me Flatty Patti, but look!’ And she was just funny and fun and innocent, but it’s like Doug and Patti together again, ten years later, right?
So this is all wonderful, right? And then she wheels and goes, ‘Oh, Jimmy, I want you to meet my husband.’
And I don’t even remember the rest of the evening.

 

Come on Jim, tell me she didn’t like your hair, or your outfit, that your charisma was lacking , that you were too short , that she just didn’t vibe with you but don’t tell me you never tried back in the day. No wonder you ‘very’ available with an attitude like that. You were like that guy in a pickup game that refuses to look at the basket and just passes it. That’s not how you go about booking a trip to Motorboat Bay Jim.

To add insult to injury it turned out that the girl of his dreams has basically been right across the street from him for years without his knowledge. If that’s not some twisted karmic iorny I don’t know what is.  What a roller coaster of emotions that must have been for him , I would pay good money to see what his face must have looked like when he first saw after all those years then seconds later when she went to introduce him to her husband. The regret must have been pouring over him like the cold, frigid waters crashing down upon the rocks at Niagra falls. He was so discombobulated he couldn’t remember the rest of the night and I don’t blame because who would want to.

After reading that story it just reaffirms what I have always thought and that is you have to ‘shoot your shot’ when you get the chance, just let it fly. Because you will only have regret if you don’t. So don’t be like Jim Jinks kids and remember to always shoot your shot.

Preacher goes out with a Bang

Preacher ended its inaugural season this past Sunday in bombastic fashion where it sets the table for an intriguing season 2. I haven’t seen many people talking about how good and strange in a good way (its much stranger than ‘Stranger Things’ ) this show is and i wanted to change that.

If you’re not familiar with ‘Preacher’ its about a west Texas preacher Jesse Custer that becomes possessed by an otherworldly force which may be a mix of good and evil. He soon finds out that it gives him the power to control people with just his words. Shortly after he’s joined by his bad bitch ex Tulip (who is my favorite character on the show and Ruth Negga is primed for stardom). Rounding out the three musketeers is Cassidy who lands in Annville and quickly becomes best friends with Jesse, and Cassidy happens to be a foul mouthed vampire from Dublin who loathes the Big Lebowski. Quickly all three become entrenched in a battle between Heaven and Hell and all that lies in the middle.

 

 

Preacher is a weird, funny, violent , mysterious , romantic, a little meandering and surprisingly jarring at times. You won’t get a lot of answers or why’s and be left scratching your head but don’t fret too much because it won’t hinder your ability to enjoy it. The best way to watch this show is to just sit back and enjoy without worrying about the questions you will have because they won’t even matter by the end of the first season. Preacher excelled the most when the three electrifying leads were paired on screen together. This will be a strong foundation for season 2 when Preacher and crew take the show on the road in search of the all powerful who has gone missing while they are being pursued by deadly forces. By taking Preacher on the road it will remove the parts that didn’t work so well this season like the small town politics  for one and focus solely on the parts that worked the best (Cassidy, Jesse, Tulip) and give them more freedom in an open world which is where the comic actually begins its own story.  Plus there is a guy named Arseface who looks like this

get it?

So give it a chance , you can watch all the episodes here http://www.amc.com/shows/preacher 

 

Popping adderalls like tic tacs? Mr. Robot thoughts

Is control an illusion?

First off i just want to say I do not think Elliot is in prison or some sort of asylum. I do think that he has simplified his life to mimic one though.

One of the constants after the first two episodes of this season is control, whether it be trying to get it, letting go of it, or how to handle it when you get it. Most of the episode is spent with Elliot as he fights for control of psyche against Mr. Robot, a fight he wins temporarily thanks to taking a huge doses of Adderrall. Which helped him rid himself of Mr. Robot for five sleepless days where he walked around with this pleasant hop

http://i.imgur.com/rsZTWHj.gifv

It was fun to see Elliot go through his life without Mr. Robot so we were able to see the vibrancy so often missing from the show. His drug haze was well done and kind of felt like something out of Trainspotting. Maybe going forward now that Elliot has figured out a way to subside him Mr. Robot temporarily we will get to see more of this vibrancy in the coming weeks. The next time we see Mr. Robot is when Elliot is talking to Ray,  then he gets up to get something from a shelf and there is Mr. Robot waiting behind him.

We learned more about Ray’s motives this week and one of them is trying to regain control of his site that is getting infiltrated and stealing his bitcoins. So he needs some to fix the situation and thats where his interest lies with Elliot. The Bitcoin angle is interesting because the lack of available cash since the hack, so it would figure that bitcoin has way more value than it did before ( the exchange rate is 1 bitcoin is worth $657 bucks). Ray is very eloquent guy often using 50 words when only 5 will do, for example when he says this about Elliot’s quest for control of his life, “Control is about as real as a one-legged unicorn taking a leak at the end of a double rainbow”. He studies Elliot and lets him know that they are not much different from one another.  One of the ways is that he talks to his dead wife every morning just like how Elliot does. He appears to   be slowly getting through to Elliot and it can’t come soon enough because I’m eager to see Elliot behind a keyboard again.

Now onto Angela at E Corp, whose scenes have been some of the strongest this season thanks in big part to Philip Price her boss who feels like the personification of capitalism, especially with his speech last week in DC. But this week he throws Angela for a loop when he asks her out to dinner after gauging her interests on a dessert they serve there. Right before getting there she fills herself with positive quotes, assuming it would be a romantic date of some sort. She shows up looking dressed to kill , very vampy stuff. Instead, Price introduces her to two other dinner guests, E corp colleagues. At the end of dinner, Price privately tells Angela of his coworker’s  positive, charitable qualities before telling her that they were complicit in the toxic leak that killed her mother and Elliot’s father. Price then produces a disc with all the evidence of their repeated fraud and  tells her this is all she needs to destroy the men’s lives , saying that while she’s “panicking” right now at the thought, if she removes emotion from the decision, “You’ll do just fine.” So now Angela is struggling with what to with her new found control over their lives. This is one of the more interesting parts of the overall story. How much farther down the rabbit hole can she go and will it ultimately benefit her or Price more?

 

With the show moving a little bit slower than last season we get to see more from the supporting characters on the show like Romero who got to tell the violent and tragic ownership history of the arcade to Mobley. Kind of ironic that he was the de facto owner while he met his untimely demise. The FBI agent had an AH-HA! moment when she found the flyer for the end of the world party in Romero’s trash after gaining entrance to his house by offering to roll some blunts for his grandma because her arthritis made it difficult to roll them herself and decided to stroll on down and give it a look for herself.

 

F. Society, hmm. So thats how they chose the name, fair enough. I wonder what or who she will find out next, she seems really lonely  as do most people in this show so I’m sure that will only help in her endeavors to uncover the hack and those responsible for it. Speaking of those responsible for it, has anyone figured out where Tyrell is? The closet thing that I can think of is maybe he’s in France because he greeted Elliot with ‘Bonjour’ while talking with him on the phone other than that I got nothing for you. But at least his wife can afford to still look fresh as hell

The table is set for the Cavs & Warriors Final’s Rematch

 

Before I get into the Cavs Vs. Warriors let me touch on a few things on the teams that lost  to them. The Raptors took it to six which no one expected by playing inspired ball on their home court with the help of Lowry , DeRozan and the emergence of Bismack Biyombo who has made himself a lot money this offseason from his performance. The Raptors will have a nice core returning next season with a healthy Jonas coming back. But I wonder if they can attract any bigger free agents to come there since they have failed to do so in the past. Add that to DeRozan’s impending free agency when the Lakers (his hometown ) will be most likely calling and I would be willing to bet he would leave. Personally I wouldn’t DeRozan on my team just because his lack of a 3pt shot, and now he flat-out doesn’t take them. But I’m sure the Raptor fans out there would be bummed breaking up their best team ever including this super fan, who I’m sure you’ve seen if you have ever watched a Raptors game.  His name is Nav Bhatia and he has been a season ticket holder for 21 years and he is also a really good dude. By giving out the rest of his many season tickets to bring  hundreds of underprivileged children to the games every year.

 

Now onto the Thunder who by all accounts looked to be firmly in control of their series versus the Thunder until a devastating loss at home in-game 6. I felt that after that loss the series would be over going back to Golden State at home. The Thunder’s late decision-making came back to bite them the final two games. This really shouldn’t come as a surprise since they led the league in 4th quarter collapses this year even beating the woeful Sixers in that category. But this postseason they looked like they had finally turned the corner and put those days behind them. Also in games 6 and 7 their second half scoring was abysmal including a 12 point third quarter in game 7, you just cannot expect to win with that kind of output. Going forward for the Thunder I think they are in a good position with Durant’s free agency looming. They have a young coach who is only going to get better. There isn’t a team that could he could go to that would give him a better chance to win like the Thunder unless you believe those Warriors rumblings are true. I say just sign the 2yr deal with an option to opt out after 1 which will also be Russ’ last season under contract too. They have great pieces with emerging pieces like Adams and Kanter. They do need to tweak their roster some because at this rate the Thunder now will be the new age version of those 90’s Jazz teams with Stockton/Malone, in that they continually get to the apex but just can not seem to conquer it. I do think they should deal Ibaka to get back some more shooting and draft picks to bolster their roster. Although I would like to see Durant next to a pass first point guard like a Chris Paul. I just can envision the dynamic pick and rolls those two could unleash on the league.

 Getty Images

Now finally we get to the main course, and what a dish it is between the Cavaliers & Warriors. This will be the 14th time in NBA history that The Finals will be a rematch of the previous season. The runner-up has won the rematch in seven out of the 13 re-matches, but they’ve won six of the past seven so this bodes well for the Cavs.

The Cavs will be entering the finals at full strength unlike last season and they will have the shooting to back it up. The finals features the top two 3pt shooting teams ever to go against each other in the finals. The individual matchups will be interesting as usual with Kyrie probably guarding Curry exclusively because they wouldn’t want him to guard Barnes or Iguadala because of the mismatch guarding them in the post. Tristan Thompson will need to make more of an impact in this series against the smaller Warriors team than he did against the Raptors and he must make them pay on the offensive glass. They won’t be able to defend the Warriors like the thunder did with their mobile 7ft’ers so they will try to outscore them, and they can be able to pull it off winning the  on the offeensive glass. LeBron can basically go 4 out and him driving in creating for himself or dishing it to an array of shooters. He is the best driver in the league as well as one of the best passers to an epic 3pt shooting team (No one team EVER has made more threes in the playoffs than them). Finally if the Cavs really want to win they have to capitalize when Golden State goes cold and step on the gas to get as much of a lead as possible. Because a 10-15 pt lead is only 5 or 6 shots from the Warriors and POOF its gone.

Mandatory Credit: Sam Sharpe-USA TODAY Sports

The Warriors on the other hand with just a couple of nights rest will not be rusty and looking to make a statement in-game 1 which is the opposite of what they did against the Thunder. Now they know just how quickly things can change after losing game 1 on your home court. Can we get more Klay Thompson pub?! The guy has been absolutely lights out this post season , especially when Curry went down with mcl sprain and in game 6 against the Thunder when he shot literal fireballs on his way to 11 threes.

Bogut will be very important this series because of Bron’s ability to dominate the paint and without Bogut playing at high level it will be a long series for dubs fans. I wonder if Draymond can keep himself from getting another technical since one more will mean an automatic suspension and that could be more than enough to swing the series. I’ve talked about how great Curry has been this whole year and he just keeps proving it by going for 36 in-game 7 just solidifying his  Boy Scout bad motherfucker badge even more.  Steve Kerr may also want to put out a BOLO on Harrison Barnes because that guy has disappeared from second halves of games this post season run.

 Mandatory Credit: Kyle Terada-USA TODAY Sports

There is a lot on the line for this finals legacy wise, on one side you have the Warriors attempting to do something that hasn’t been done before and if they accomplish it they can begin to compare themselves to the better dynasties the league has seen , and arguably on the path to being one of the greatest teams ever. Then on the other hand you have LeBron who has been to six consecutive finals which has never been done before in the history of the Association. Then there is the added pressure on Bron bringing a title to Cleveland which hasn’t been done since Jim Brown was truck sticking folks in the 60’s. There will be a lot of history on the line this time around and with each team at full strength it will be a pleasure to watch. I’m going to ride with the Cavaliers in 6 games because as my friend Darren pointed out earlier this week that

With tonight's win, teams with the NBA MVP in that season have won EIGHTEEN consecutive Game 7's.

— Darren Rovell (@darrenrovell) May 31, 2016

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mr. Robot is back…with a new trailer

Finally after last season’s bombastic finale we get a glimpse of what is to come for season two of my favorite show from the past year.  So without further ado here it is

The two feelings I have after watching that can encapsulated with these

 

Looks we are going to be diving deeper into Elliot’s psyche to figure out what really happened when he blacked out and delve into fSociety’s allies that also operate in the shadows which will be much harder to do in light of recent events. Then we have freaking Obama calling out Tyrell Wellick while linking him to fSociety. Speaking of Tyrell, we do not see him at all in the trailer but maybe we catch a glimpse of his hand when he slaps Mrs. Wellick while she’s getting her BDSM on

I just can’t be sure. I just need for Wellick to come back and share the screen with her again because that resulted in some of the most haunting, erotic, powerful scenes of the show. Also just because the actor who plays Tyrell is the second best performance on the show behind Elliot, he just commands the screen and emotes wonderfully.

 

 

Mr. Robot returns on July 13th

Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last

 

Finally that debacle of a series is over with it and I’m ecstatic that I will not have to see those same players together ever again in my life. By the end of the series I found myself empathizing with Harden because he was the only consistent scorer on the team even with his ole defense followed by a deadpan stare at a teammate who he think should’ve helped. It’s obvious Dwight and Harden have their issues but a lot of it can be placed on JB Bickerstaff barely playing or not playing Capela at all this series when the numbers have backed up his productivity.

• Outscored opponents by 6.9 points per 100 possessions in 681 minutes with Howard on the floor with either Clint Capela or Donatas Motiejunas, but were outscored by 2.6 in 1,599 minutes when Howard was on the floor without either of them.

For being such an analytic driven team you would think JB would be paying attention to the numbers especially a staggering one like that.  He would also play Harden for long stretches of time without a break, as evidenced by him playing 40 straight minutes in game 4. During the first quarter last night Harden went 6 for 6 and the rest of the season went 0 of 15 which is a perfect microcosm of their season. After the conclusion of last night’s game the Rockets were granted permission to interview Luke Walton for the HC job which would be a phenomenal improvement.

Moving onto next year with Dwight out of the picture along with most of the role players except for Harden, Capela, Beasley, Beverly, Harrell, McDaniels,  D-Mo (going to keep him on a cheaper deal too) and Dekker. Harden is a exceptional offensive talent but he has to become more interested on the defensive end with his effort and not fall asleep on D like he is known to do.

Part of the non effort is due  to his teammates clanking their shots not like never before this season and even more so during the playoffs. Dwight and Harden never really fit they only played around 2 seasons worth games together in 3 years because of Dwight’s injury problems. It was no coincidence Harden had his MVP worthy season in 2014-15 when Dwight missed the second half of the year. He also led the league in points in back to back years which hasn’t been done since his old teammate Kevin Durant did it 3x in a row  from 09-12′.  By the way the person who scores the most total points is my scoring champ not the one who averages the most.

There will be a number of free agents to go after this offseason and they will need to get another creator to go alongside Harden , with a center and a 3 & D guy to replace Ariza. Ideally I would like them to go after Al Horford, Pau Gasol to shore up the frontline. I don’t want Whiteside even though he’s elite defensively because he just strikes me as a knucklehead and its very hard to win with those. For the 3 spot that Ariza used to occupy I would go after Durant first then then Nic Batum who is coming off of his best season ever with the Hornets. The Rockets would be fools to not go after him when Durant ultimately spurns them. The last guy is Kent Bazemore , another underrated guy like Batum who has quietly had his strongest season. Now for the piece that has been missing longest during Harden’s tenure a player that can create shots alongside him. Mike Conley is my first choice followed by Rondo and Jeremy Lin.

PS. Finals Prediction , Cavs in 6 over The Spurs