Let It Fly: Danny Green & Gary Neal

Last night in game 3 of the NBA Finals the San Antonio Spurs shot the Miami Heat out of the building in a 113-77 blowout. The fact that I'm even calling it a blowout should be considered a compliment to Heat fans they gave up an NBA Finals record 16 Three Pointers. I have never seen any team shoot the ball like I saw Danny Green and Gary Neal last night who shot a combined 13-19 from behind the 3 point line.

It's great to see guys like that succeed especially in the NBA Finals. I remember when Lebron James played in Cleveland and Danny Green wore street clothes he barely ever suited up for the Cavs and was cut a few years ago. Green a 2009 National Champion of the UNC Tarheels played for 3 D-league teams and had a stint playing in Slovenia and now he is dropping 27 points in the NBA Finals against the NBA's best team, you just can't write this stuff.

Gary Neal like Green has had a journey and a half to the NBA. After playing basketball at La Salle and Townson he went undrafted in 2007 and played three seasons of pro basketball overseas all before Signing with the Spurs in 2010. After proving himself in his 1^st season he was rewarded with NBA All-Rookie 1^st team honors. Now he is looking video game like in the NBA Finals dropping 24 points while him and Danny Green outscore the Heat Big three 51-43.

These dudes could have stopped playing pro basketball years ago but stuck to it, worked their tail off and waited patiently for a chance. Now They are key contributors on a team looking to stay a perfect 5 for 5 in the NBA Finals and dethrone the best player in the world and defending champs from repeating. So this is a great example for all those basketball players who want to make it stick to your dreams, work hard and wait for your chance and maybe you could be the next Danny Green or Gary Neal.

Pay Attention People

In the State of California as it pertains to basketball we tend to think Lakers, Clippers first before anything
but few are paying attention to that team by the bay known as the Golden State Warriors. At 11-7 they rank 5th in the gantlet  known as the western conference but very few people outside the bay seem to be giving them any love so I thought I would. I don’t understand why people aren’t paying attention to them, they are an exciting, young up tempo team who play great team Basketball.

With Wins over the Clippers, Hawks and Brooklyn Nets I think its time for more people to open they’re eyes This team can play. When you look at the reason this team has been playing well It all Starts with the elevation of play at the Point Guard position from Stephen Curry who is playing big time basketball right now. He is healthy for the 1st time maybe since his rookie year and is playing the best basketball since that time. With 11 games of 20 points or more. He has 4 straight double-doubles coming into tonight’s match up with Brooklyn. He is playing like the guy Golden State drafted and the player the whole country fell in love with at Davidson.

There is more to Curry’s success though then people realize. Jarret Jack who the Warriors picked up in the off-season has given Steph something he has never had before and that’s a back up point guard who can facilitate an offense and give Curry the freedom to move off the ball and be the Perimeter nightmare that he is. Jarret Jack is one of the most undervalued players we have in the league today he always played solid basketball facilitating and scoring and the fact that the Warriors have a guy like this who can come off the bench give Curry some freedom in the flow of the offense as well as get buckets for himself is big. If people Steph give credit I think Jarret Jack deserves some to.

Then you have the young Rookie Harrison Barnes from UNC who honestly I wasn’t high on like most people coming into this years draft but  to get him at 7 I thought was a steal for them. I can see why people were high on him this kid knows how to play basketball and has a good head on his shoulders and you can’t say that about a lot of Rookies. He has shown flashes of brilliance with performances like 19 points 13 rebounds and 20 points 12 rebounds in wins against the Hawks and Mavs. I think as long as he keeps working this guy can be an All-Star in this league.

David Lee is one of those players in sports that never gets talked about enough he goes out plays the game right and produces at a high level year in and year out usually in top 5 in Double-doubles. He is up to his old tricks again Averaging 17 points and 10 rebounds for Golden State. If he keeps playing like this along with the team winning he may finally get some of the recognition he deserves in this league.

Golden States Bench is dangerous guys like Jarret Jack and Carl Landry will do that for you. As important as I said Jarret Jack was earlier Carl Landry is just as if not more important to the Warriors success as he is. Carl Landry is a low post presence that you can play next to Lee if you go small or Spell David Lee if you want to give him some rest. On most team in the League Landry is starting so having a guy with 15-10 capabilities to come off your bench and give you 13 and 6 is huge. He is Efficient smart and plays the game right. Add Richard Jefferson, Brandon Rush, and Draymond Green along With Jack and Landry and you have a deep bench.

This team has Shooters, Big men, a solid bench and a good mix of young players and veterans who play the game right.The scary part is they don’t even have Andrew Bogut who when healthy  is a very productive basketball player.
Marc Jackson has a lot to be proud of as coach of this basketball team and with a core of young guys like Curry, Klay Thompson ,Harrison Barnes the future of Basketball looks bright in the Bay area.