The Old Fashioned… 3-Point Play

TOF3PP will typically feature commentary on two items from the sports world (The Bucket), and a current event from the world of pop culture (The And 1).

The Bucket

The National Basketball Association seems to be operating in a sports silo or something.

How else can you explain kicking off its trio of 2015-2016 season openers with such an intriguing matchup as Cleveland Cavaliers at Chicago Bulls that went heads up against Game 1 of the New York Mets versus Kansas City Royals in Major League Baseball’s World Series?

I know baseball is pedestrian, the games take an outrageous amount of time to complete, and I still cringe as most of the game’s batters continue taking the opportunity to undo and redo their batting gloves after every single swing. But, as a sports fan – despite the small market Royals being the American League participant – I am obligated to tune in to see whether last year’s Series runner-up can get it right in a second title shot. Aren’t I?

An opening night showdown between LeBron James and the oft injured Derrick Rose, albeit in limited duty, does not supersede a defending league champion that’s earned a second run at a world title – after completing an exhausting 162-game season, an ALDS, and an ALCS.

I tried flipping back and forth and eventually decided the NBA opener’s action, and effort, wasn’t really worth missing a Daniel Murphy at-bat or Lorenzo Cain tracking down a fly ball in Kauffman Stadium’s spacious centerfield, potentially robbing David Wright of an extra base hit.

The winner: MLB. After Royals SS Alcides Escobar started off the bottom of the first inning with an inside the park HR, the Mets surged ahead at one point with help from an error by 1B Eric Hosmer. Alex Gordon tied the game up at 4-4 with a ninth inning bomb, and Hosmer made amends for his error with a sacrifice fly in the 14th inning that drove home Escobar. Amid all that drama viewers learned that Royals’ starter Edinson Volquez had taken the mound without being informed, per his wife’s request, that his father had passed away earlier in the day.

 

The NBA’s second game, New Orleans Pelicans versus defending Finals champs Golden State Warriors, also had a couple of interesting side stories. I can halfway go along with the Warriors rightfully receiving their hard-earned rings on opening night. The game also featured the NBA’s current MVP Stephen Curry (40 points) holding court against a potential contender for this year’s award in Anthony Davis. The game was also a pairing of playoff teams from last season.

The third NBA game of the night featured the Detroit Pistons visiting Atlanta to take on the Hawks, and this was actually a pretty solid, well-chosen matchup. The Hawks were the Eastern conference regular season winners that fell short in the conference finals, and the Pistons are somewhat of a new look team with a potential Rookie of the Year candidate (hopefully) in forward Stanley Johnson.

No harm there.

However, with Cavs-Bulls and Pelicans-GSW… we sports fans might really need those types of games in late January, February, or early March. We would expect those games to involve some playoff seeding implications by that stage of the season.

In contrast, when the National Football League returns in September (preseason games totally excluded) for that Thursday night double-header, and Aaron Rodgers and Tony Romo or Ben Roethlisberger and Tom Brady square off against one another all of fandom is pretty thirsty for such matchups.

We are also dealing with a brief 16-game season with only two games against division foes.

By the time the NBA swings into action fans have sold out on the NFL season, and with the expanded wild card field more MLB fans have also been more engaged than in years past – we aren’t necessarily ready to jump into hoops mode full-on. Unless, you are in say Utah, Portland or Oklahoma City. Baby steps Adam Silver…

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A recent quote from the greatest player on the planet, LeBron James, caught my attention. Well, the quote and the noticeable signs of his ailing back in just game one of an 82-game season. The quote, from Yahoo! Sports and several other outlets, is something to the effect of the Cavs season is contingent upon the performance of Kevin Love.

I’ve seen the statement more nuanced or sensationalized on various sites so that readers could infer James is handing the keys to The Q (Quicken Loans Arena) over to Love. Any way folks want to interpret it, I think it is both a true statement and a great direction for the Cavaliers.

I wouldn’t forget about the recovering Kyrie Irving either.

HoopsHype reported that at just 30 years old, James has logged more total minutes played (44,260 including all NBA games and international play) than a litany of NBA greats such as Clyde Drexler, Steve Nash, Larry Bird an Isiah Thomas. James’ total minutes played compared to players drafted in or near his class isn’t remotely close.

How many times have you seen Carmelo Anthony (or Darko Milicic) play into the second or third round of the playoffs?

Signs of James wear and tear might be beginning to crop up, and it was clearly visible that Golden State’s platoon of rangy defenders deployed against him eventually wore down LBJ by the end of last year’s Finals.

It’s even clearer that it is time for LeBron – an athlete recently celebrated by the FLOTUS as a champion of education regarding his philanthropic endeavors – to pay more attention to preserving himself better. James has long been lauded for his skill set that’s capable of a triple-double every night, for his basketball acumen, his ability to guard positions 1-5, but I’ve always marveled at his ability to relentlessly run the entire floor for 48 minutes and his availability.

At this stage in James’ career, and conceivably for the balance of it, the singular goal for each season will be to win an nth ring. So in that regard, the nightly heavy lifting of a NBA season should rest squarely upon the healed shoulder of Love – and Irving and Tristan Thompson too. After all, Love is a 3-time All-Star that averaged 26 PPG twice while consistently hauling in double digit rebounds during his tenure with the Minnesota Timberwolves.

I’m not convinced LeBron ball will work against the top 3-4 Western conference seeds should the Cavs emerge as the Eastern conference champs. An All-Pro worthy season from Love and an offense with the ball in Irving’s hands more could preserve James, and keep his legs fresher for the grueling playoffs – the King can still get off in the Christmas Day game or any of the second half of the season’s highly touted Sunday feature games.

Maybe in the NFL you can’t rest a seasoned Peyton Manning for an entire fourth quarter without things quickly coming apart, but San Antonio Spurs coach Greg Popovich has clearly shown resting veterans for regular season games can result in a fresher Tim Duncan. LeBron needs to fall back and go along with a tactic that could pay dividends in 2016, as well as benefit his career 4-6 years from now.

The And 1

First of all, salute to Adele and her team for such a triumphant return to the scene. Today’s artists, old and new, choose from a multitude of different approaches to make a hot song or album; however, Adele consistently relies on the tenets of great music-making exceptional writing, the involvement of exceptional musicians, and an all-time set of pipes. Even in this game you can’t coach height.

Couple all of the aforementioned elements with the industry’s first video shot with an IMAX camera (partially), and add a cameo with one of The Wire’s best alumni Tristan “Mack” Wilds and the project is poised to culminate in a history making release.

The sepia toned video gets going with an opening scene that symbolically welcomes our heroine back home – to the forefront of great, meaningful contemporary music – and the story begins to unfold after Adele finally acknowledges us viewers with a rousing stare directly into the camera.

I’m a hip hop head that bleeds boom-bap, and I deeply love R’nB, but with the machinery that keeps those genres afloat seemingly being only concerned with maintaining the status quo, I look forward to events in music like this where an artist elevates their craft. We will all see just how Adele raises the bar November 20 when she releases her third LP 25.

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