Kentucky Wildcats Morning Quickies: Golden State Warriors Edition

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen of the Big Blue Nation, and welcome to the Tuesday Morning Quickies.

Today’s big story is the Golden State Warrior’s triumph over the Cleveland Cavaliers in five games for the NBA Championship. I really can’t say enough about the high quality of basketball both teams played throughout most of the final series, but the Warrior’s amazing deep shooting makes them perhaps the most frightening collection of basketball talent to be assembled in my memory.

LeBron James may well be the best individual player ever (sorry, Michael Jordan, but he’s getting into your space real fast), and he is the consummate professional. He almost never lets his emotions rule him, yet he plays with passion, selflessness, and an understanding of exactly what he does well and what the team needs from him. Kyrie Irving is also an outstanding player who seemingly gets better every year.

Unfortunately, the Cavs simply lack the third dominant player that the Warriors possess in spades. Kevin Durant, Stephen Curry and the still-underrated Klay Thompson are simply impossible for any team, however talented, to handle, especially when added to the indomitable effort of Draymond Green and the aging but still dangerous Andre Iguodala. The only way to beat the Warriors consistently is to put up a bunch of very efficient points, and currently no team in the NBA has sufficient offensive talent to outscore the Warriors consistently. The difference Kevin Durant made in this team compared to last season is stark and undeniable, and the Warriors were great last year.

I’m not sure what the answer is for the Cavaliers. Some will point to Kevin Love as not living up to expectations, but he had some great games in this series. To be sure, consistency is a problem for him, and the Cavs still lack sufficient outside firepower to handle the Warriors. They have enough for almost anyone else, though.

It will be interesting to see what Cleveland will try to do to address this loss, if anything. There is an argument to be made that they don’t really need to, that the Warriors just got hot. In the NBA, though, I doubt that argument will be accepted, and for a fact, it is suspect considering how well Golden State played this year. But don’t be surprised to see a repeat of this year’s finals pairing again in 2018.

Tweet of the Morning

College basketball starts in 151 days.

— CBS Sports CBB (@CBSSportsCBB) June 13, 2017

Excited yet?

Your Quickies:

Kentucky football

• Mark Stoops will attend Cardinal Mooney’s 17th annual Camp of Champions in Youngstown.

Kentucky basketball

• Dominique Hawkins recalls how he was "starstruck" by UK scholarship offer, and also about his efforts to make it in the NBA.

• Marquis Estill will join the coaching staff at Georgetown College. Marquis played for my favorite UK team ever, the Suffocats.

• What will Coach Cal get out of coaching Team USA U19? Kyle Tucker looks at the question.

Other Kentucky sports

• UK women fourth at NCAA Track & Field outdoor championships.

• Bat Cats’ Evan White selected #17 overall by Seattle. Congrats!

Links posts

• The Leach Report: Tuesday Wildcat Links.

College football

• NCAA to UCF kicker Donald De La Haye: Quit YouTube or be declared ineligible.

College basketball

• University of Louisville Foundation audit drawing swift and sharp public reaction.

  In case you missed it, an audit of the Foundation found all sorts of improprieties, and the Kentucky Attorney General is weighing criminal and/or civil action.

• 2018/19 NBA Top 100 camp roster.

• Tennessee and Memphis likely to resume basketball series. Good.

Other sports news

• From the "Some people still think life should be fair" files:

  'They shouldn't allow that. It's not fair'. - my neighbor on Durant joining the Warriors

  — Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) June 13, 2017

• Kentucky High School basketball all-stars beats Indiana for the first time since 2008.

Other news

• The Mystery of Dark Matter

• Einstein proven right again: Distant star bends light due to gravity.

• Faberge’s eggs still captivate after all these years.

• More grav waves detected:

  "These are the most powerful astronomical events witnessed by human beings," Michael Landry, head of LIGO’s Hanford, Wash., observatory, said during a news conference May 31 announcing the discovery.