Could You? (20)/NBA Finals

"When you become number one and everybody talks about how much you're going to kill the other team and they've done nothing but lose and you're on the road, it's at night and it's cold, it's a trap game..." -Mack Brown- (University of Texas/Head Football Coach)

"We need to play.  We don't need to play a game, take a week off, play a game, take another week off.  That's not a very good schedule for us..." -Dennis Franchione- (Texas State University/Head Football Coach)

"We have guys that are inspired by these types of moments in the bright lights..." -Erik Spoelstra- (Miami Heat/Head Basketball Coach)

"I asked them if it wasn't too much trouble, if I wasn't being too pushy, if they could execute what we were trying to do.  And if it didn't make them too angry, if they also wanted to play some defense on the other end, that would be great..." -Gregg Popovich- (San Antonio Spurs/Head Basketball Coach)




Could you write a lot about sports and colleges today Coach?  Yes, I believe that I could, and good evening everyone...

Could you leave the predictions to me brother?  So after the first game of the Bruins/Penguins series, a game that Boston won 3-0, my brother predicted that the Pens would change goalies before the series was finished.  Fast forward to the second game of the series last night, where Pittsburgh pulled their goalie at the 3:29 mark of the first period after the Penguins fell behind 3-0 - good call Pete...

Could you tell us about another text that your brother sent you?  I have to admit that I don't watch even close to the amount of college softball that I used to since I stopped coaching it as a high school coach.  Last night I get a text from my brother that says, "how about this softball game?"  I change the channel to find Tennessee and Oklahoma tied 3-3 in the top of the 12th inning, after each team had just scored all 3 of their runs in the 11th inning.  After Tennessee was retired in their half of the 12th, the Sooners got a runner on base.  At this point, Oklahoma sends a batter to the plate that has been hitting very well, and the commentator says, "Will they walk her? No..."  And then, BAMMMMM!!!  When I look up from my computer monitor, I see a ball clearing the fence just inside the left field foul pole, and the game is over.  The Sooners now lead the championship series of this year's NCAA Women's College World Series 1-0, with the second game taking place tonight at 7:00 p.m. CST (ESPN).


Could you tell us something about Texas State University and the University of Texas?  Well, yesterday was the first day of summer classes at Texas State, and Thursday will be the first day that summer classes meet at UT.  You know that this only means one thing:  the upcoming football season is now less than three months away...  ;)  Being the team player that I am, I researched the 2013 football schedules for each of these programs today, and I'm about to type them for you below...


Texas State Bobcats 2013 Football Schedule

Aug. 31  @ Southern Mississippi
Sep.   7  vs. Prairie View A&M
Sep. 14  OFF
Sep. 21  @ Texas Tech
Sep. 28  vs. Wyoming
Oct.   5  @ Louisiana-Lafayette
Oct. 12  vs. Louisiana-Monroe
Oct. 19  vs. Georgia State
Oct. 26  vs. South Alabama
Nov.  2  @ Idaho
Nov.  9  OFF
Nov. 16  @ Arkansas State
Nov. 23  vs. Western Kentucky
Nov. 29  @ Troy


Texas Longhorns 2013 Football Schedule

Aug. 31  vs. New Mexico State
Sep.   7  @ BYU
Sep. 14  vs. Ole Miss
Sep. 21  vs. Kansas State
Sep. 28  OFF
Oct.   3  @ Iowa State
Oct. 12  vs. Oklahoma (@ Cotton Bowl)
Oct. 19  OFF
Oct. 26  @ TCU
Nov.  2  vs. Kansas
Nov.  9  @ West Virginia
Nov. 16  vs. Oklahoma State
Nov. 23  OFF
Nov. 28  vs. Texas Tech
Dec.   7  @ Baylor

The thing that pleases me the most about these schedules (and that should make San Marcos and Austin businesses smile) is that the Bobcats and Longhorns do not host a single home game on the same day as each other this fall...  That's the reason that I chose the specific Coach Fran quote above that I did.  Between open dates and one team being on the road while the other is at home, I will have the opportunity to see any home game that I choose to attend this fall...  :)  I have also decided that as a part of making my weekly football predictions, I will predict the final score for all of the Texas State and UT football games this fall... :O

Could you please stop stalling and give us your prediction for the NBA Finals Coach?  Well, before I do that, let's take a look at the previous rounds...  After the first 3 rounds of the playoffs, I am now 10-4 picking the winner of each series.  Below is a recap of my predictions for the last round, and my prediction for the finals:


Third Round - My Prediction/Actual Result

Heat over the Pacers in 7 games/Heat in 7 games
Spurs over the Grizzlies in 7 games/Spurs in 4 games


NBA Finals Prediction

Spurs over the Heat in 7 games


As a Spurs fan, I obviously want the Heat to lose, but I try not to be biased when I make my predictions here.  If you remember my preseason predictions, I predicted that the Thunder would meet the Heat in a rematch of last season's NBA Finals.  At the time I made that call, OKC still had Harden, and Westbrook hadn't suffered his playoff injury.  That is the reason that I don't like making "prop bets" - too many things can happen over the course of a season.  Well, these developments opened the door for the Spurs.  The Spurs and the Heat played each other very closely in each of their games in the regular season this year.  As  you might recall, each team played a game without its superstars.  I'm sure that David Stern remembers, since a team is supposed to make sure that its stars are on the court to please the road fans instead of looking out for its own best interests evidently...  Anyway, one reason that I like the Spurs in this series is that they got the chance to rest a little bit.  Another reason that I like them is that they seem to be more disciplined that the Heat.  If somebody is going to get frustrated or is going to be ejected from a game in this series, I would see that happening to someone on Miami's team first.  I also believe that the Spurs have a deeper bench than the Heat.  And yes, I do realize that the Spurs will have to win a Game Seven in Miami if the series goes that long, but I just believe that it's going to be a great series, much like the Spurs/Pistons series of 2005.

I hope that you have a great day and I'll see you again on Thursday!