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Philippines, 17 May 2024 |
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NBA Spectation: A 'Bay Bridge' Too Far---Hornets beat Warriors' young guns in a 93-87 heartbreaker By Emmanuel Rivera, RRT PhilBoxing.com Mon, 04 Nov 2019  Nov. 2, Saturday, The City by the Bay, California: You can watch the Warriors play (practically for free) in their home court ---the hi-tech Chase Center---while catching up on your social media and work-related emails, watching a movie on WiFi, stargazing, etc. You’ll have lots of extra time to file a report on your favorite outlets like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram. In my case, it’s for PhilBoxing.com, PinoyGreats.com and my buddies Raul Rodriguez, Tom Macasaet and Rudy Teodosio. All told, it would cost under thirty U.S. dollars spread out over 4 to 5 hours. As pre-requisites to this adventure one must love vociferous basketball fans, like multi-tasking, enjoy moonlit walks, love the outdoors because you’ll be watching on a big screen in front of the arena, and appreciate public transit (a far better option than driving 3 hours round-trip and $40 bucks for parking). This is not at a dating ad. Just bear with me. Still interested? Last night’s northbound adventure started in my hood in San Leandro in the East Bay, a Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) train stop before Oracle Arena in Oakland. A brief stop at Powell station, a short 15-minute walk to the best noodle house in San Francisco --- Hon’s Wun-Tun House on 648 Kearney Street --- a staple of Filipino media men and dignitaries during my dad’s heyday at the NMPC on Sutter Street. 
Lots of time and a few bucks to spare before tip-off. A pit stop at tourist trap Chinatown allowed me to buy knick-knacks (pasalubongs) for my upcoming trip to the Cebu, Sarangani, Manila, Dagupan City, not necessarily in that order. Upon arriving at the sold-out Chase Center, this PhilBoxing.com man-on-the-street, set up camp at The Plaza, on an outdoor couch overlooking the spectator stands that could hold about 1,000 people. In front of us was the biggest hi-definition screen in recent memory. Priced-out Filipino and American fans abound outside the arena. So were the San Francisco’s finest cops and numerous security guards on patrol to keep NBC Bay Area Sports, international reporters and the locals safe. 
It was Filipino Heritage Night, and the evening had a barangay (community) basketball feel to it. One excited Pinoy fan started tossing his dog to get some (no pun) air time on NBC Bay Area Sports hosted by Greg Pappa, Chris Mullin, Garry St. Jean, Kelenna Azubuike, Laura Britt and Kerith Burke. Armed with my battle-scarred laptop, pen and paper and cell that sounds like a fruit, I did what every seasoned couch-potato-arm-chair-reporter does---watch a WW II movie in search of a metaphor for the game at hand, absorb the ambiance and just type. Simultaneous feeds from Twitter and Philboxing.com kept me updated on UFC’s BMF title match resulting in Jorge Masvidal TKO 3 Nate Diaz in a good fight but with a disappointing finish. Much later in the evening, Saul “Canelo” Alvarez’ brutal come-from-behind KO of Sergey “Krusher” Kovalev in the 11th round showed he might now be the top boxer in the revolving pound-for-pound ranking. Back to the basketball game. The Warriors’ first home-win was within reach but was let go by the inexperienced, young guns Eric Paschall, Jordan Poole, Glenn Robinson III, Willie Cauley-Stein and Ky Bowman who were trusted to hold the fort while the injured players Klay Thompson (ACL), Steph Curry (metacarpal) and Draymond Green (hand ligament) and D’Angelo Russell (ankle) recover. In a hard-fought game, the Golden State Warriors, after leading by one in the waning minutes of the fourth quarter, missed offensive rebounds on consecutive missed free throws by the Hornets. Eric Paschall (second-round pick) scored 12 of his total 25 buckets in the first half including a dunk over Hornet Cody Zeller in the second quarter ala Draymond Green complete with a biceps pose. “I’m more of a win type of guy. I mean, 25 is good, but I’d rather have 14 and a win,” the rookie Paschall told NBA.com in reference to his performance, something Twitter user Tim Roye (@warriorsvox) described as feat not seen since Charles Jenkins scored 25 points against the Portland Trail Blazers way back in March 25, 2012. Ky Bowman, in his first start, finished with 16 baskets, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists. Glenn Robinson III, the six-year forward, turned in his season best 16 points and 8 rebounds to redeem his previous poor performances on offense. By half-time, the Warriors led the Hornets 55-50 and had their largest lead at 10 evaporate by the fourth quarter. PhilBoxing.com’s Tom Macasaet clarified (by text) that the Warriors are running more pick-and-rolls than their motion offense staple and appears to have a more simplified offense under coach Steve Kerr. A lesson learned by the young Warriors starters is that their perimeter defense has improved. The Warriors held the Charlotte Hornets, the league’s top 3-point shooters at 41.9% to just 17% beyond the arc. On the way home, I couldn’t help but correlate the WW II movie A Bridge Too Far with plight of the Warriors in a season fraught with difficulties including bad luck, injuries and less than stellar trade decisions. A Bridge Too Far (1977) tells the story of World War II ‘Operation Market Garden’--- an ambitious attempt by the Allies to end the war quickly by securing three bridges in the Netherlands. The goal was to allow access over the Rhine into Germany. A combination of poor allied intelligence and the presence of two crack German panzer divisions meant that the final part of this operation (the bridge in Arnhem over the Rhine) was doomed to failure. Arnhem, the northernmost bridge the Allies were required to capture and defend, was “a bridge too far” ---John Butler as quoted on IMBd. The Golden State Warriors and their owners have secured the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. But for many priced-out and broken-hearted fans left in Oakland, the proverbial bridge may be still too far to traverse this early in the season. It is now up to the young guns to fight for our hearts and minds. 
Injury Update: Click here to view a list of other articles written by Emmanuel Rivera, RRT.  |
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