Postcards from San Antonio
that gave the Warriors a 3-0 series lead, Green talked about “randomly switching.” In other words, not giving the other team the same defensive look every time.
I’ve never heard that before, a defensive guy being like a smart baseball pitcher mixing up his stuff to keep the batters offbalance and confused. It makes sense, though, and shows how Green is often playing chess against guys playing checkers.
I admit to being clueless about social media. I’ll tweet stuff that I think is reasonably relevant, or maybe amusing, and get the usual handful of likes and re-tweets.
Wednesday, I phoned Don Nelson in Hawaii to talk to him about the passing of Erin Popovich, Gregg’s wife. I asked Nelson, a close friend of the Spurs coach, which team he is rooting for. Nellie said, “Oh, the Warriors. I’m wearing a Warriors’ hat right now.” I said, “Send me a selfie.” He did, I tweeted it — Nellie rocking a captain’s beard — and the tweet went nuts, three days now, as if I had tweeted out the meaning of life. So that’s my next gig — selfie tweeter to the stars. Send ’em to me.
The Warriors led at the half Thursday despite shooting 1-for-11 from three-point land. They survived by going midrange and to the free-throw line. I’m wondering if the Rockets could survive a half like that, since they live and die by the three.
The cold spell didn’t faze the Warriors, maybe because Klay Thompson is the poster dude for Shooter’s Amnesia — instant loss of memory of a bad shot. He missed his first three threes, two of them horrendous bricks, but he kept firing, winding up 3-for-6 from three.
I believe Thompson could miss 50 in a row and head coach Steve Kerr would tell Klay to shoot the potential game-winner. When it comes to Thompson, Kerr also has Shooter’s Amnesia.
Back at the Alamo. The old Disney movie, which I loved dearly as a kid and assumed was historically correct, neglected to mention that one thing those plucky and doomed defenders of the Alamo were fighting for was the right to bring their slaves to Texas.
There were amazing characters involved in that famed siege. It was America’s first rock star, Davey Crockett, versus egomaniacal Mexican general Antonio Lopez de Santa Ana. His army was beautifully uniformed, but in reality, a rag-tag group of half-frozen farm boys wielding garden tools. Hey, Disney, it’s not too late to make a real movie about that battle.
Vultures are circling the Warriors’ bench. This is the time of year for lists of hot coaching prospects, and Warriors’ assistant Jarron Collins is getting plenty of love. ESPN’s Kevin Arnovitz says, Collins “checks a ton of boxes . ... He is at heart a basketball intellectual who loves creative problemsolving.”
In his previous life, as you probably know, Shaun Livingston was an English poet. The Spurs wish Livingston would go back. He’s killing them. If you wonder who’s filling in the gaps when the Warriors aren’t hitting their threes, this is the guy. Sixteen quiet points in Game 3, on mid-rangers, dunks and 8-for-8 from the line.
I recently wrote about Stephen Curry’s value as a cheerleader. Don’t sell Kevin Durant short on that count. Postgame Thursday, Durant raved about Kevon Looney, whose line was 22 minutes, four points and two rebounds, but a robust plusminus of plus-17.
Durant delivered a long testimonial to the young center, including, “I’m proud of Loon.” His words were mostly lost in the postgame shuffle, but no doubt were heard loud and clear by a youngster who has played his way into the rotation of a championship-hunting team.
It was jarring, seeing a Spurs coach — Ettore Messina, filling in for Popovich — give a sideline interview with substance and thought. Popovich is infamous for his genre-mocking sideline interviews.
It’s a mystery why Popovich, so genuinely respected and loved around the NBA, often goes jerk mode in interviews. But don’t call it bullying. Bullies hurt their victims. Any TV or print reporter who can’t deal with a Popovich scorn attack is misemployed.
I don’t know if Popovich will coach Game 4 on Sunday. If he does and you’re watching the pregame intros, bring a hankie.