Broncos, Manning head to second Super Bowl in three years

Photo by Doug Pensinger / Getty Images
Denver Broncos quarterback Peyton Manning (No. 18) will make his fourth Super Bowl appearance and is the first quarterback in league history to take more than one team to multiple Super Bowls.

    The Denver Broncos and Peyton Manning have life in them yet, and they will make an appearance in Super Bowl L to face the Carolina Panthers on Feb. 7 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif.
    Denver defeated the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots, Tom Brady and Bill Belichick 20-18 in another chapter of the Manning versus Brady rivalry.
    It will be Manning's fourth trip to the Super Bowl, and he has a chance to even his record to 2-2 and get a second ring should he and the Broncos win.
    Manning was far from spectacular by any stretch throwing for 176 yards and two touchdowns, but Brady was worse as the 4-time champion threw for 310 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions in the losing effort.
    The loss also marks the third time Manning has gotten the better of Brady in postseason play as Manning is now 3-0 since 2006 when going against Brady, and no other quarterback has as many playoff wins versus Brady. In AFC championship games, Manning has a career record of 4-1, but the elusive second Super Bowl ring is the next target in his cross-hairs at this stage in his illustrious 18-year career.
    "It's been a unique season," Manning said. "And this game today was a unique game."
    Manning has been known as an offensive stat machine, but at this point in his career he has been more of a game-manager as his physical skills have deteriorated since undergoing multiple surgeries during the 2011 season; his final season with the Indianapolis Colts.
    The No. 1 ranked (in defensive efficiency) Bronco defense -- led by Von Miller -- was the difference-maker of the game as Brady was under duress through all four quarters. Brady was hit a season-high 23 times, and he had not been hit more than 12 times in a single game during the regular season going into Sunday's game.
    In Brady's defense, the Patriots led the league with 37 starting combinations on their offensive line throughout the entire 2015 season, and that lack of continuity would affect any quarterback regardless of how much success was accomplished.
    Turnovers were also a factor as Brady threw two interceptions in the first half. In four of the last five playoff games, Brady has thrown an interception. This season when the Broncos have multiple takeaways, they are 7-1 and 7-0 when they win the turnover battle.
    Denver also saw something from Manning they had not seen very much this season. Going into the game, Manning had one touchdown pass at home. In the first half alone, Manning had thrown two to tight end Owen Daniels.
    "He's going to do what he has to do to win," head coach Gary Kubiak said. "He's one of the greatest competitors ever in this league."
    Another reason why the rivalry between Manning and Brady has an impressive history is because both quarterbacks hold career playoff records. Brady is first all-time in starts (30), passing yards (7.647), and passing touchdowns (55) while Manning is second with 25 starts and 7.022 passing yards and ranks fourth with 38 passing touchdowns.
    Speculation throughout the league is that this may be Manning's final season, and he will get one more chance to leave his postseason legacy on a high note following the 43-8 loss in Super Bowl XLVIII against the Seattle Seahawks in 2014. Plus, Manning has an opportunity to be the oldest (39 years) quarterback to win a Super Bowl since John Elway.

*All information was borrowed from espn.com, @ESPNStatsInfo, @MarkMaske, @WillReeveJr and @Zaclee_nyc
 

Cam dabs on them for first trip to a Super Bowl

Photo from smpicks.com
Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (No. 1) led an offensive assault on the Arizona Cardinals for a 49-15 victory in the NFC championship game on Jan. 24. The Panthers are the eighth team in the Super Bowl era to win by at least 30 points in a conference championship game.

    It is official. The Carolina Panthers are Super Bowl bound as they drubbed the No. 2 seed Arizona Cardinals 49-15 at Bank of America Field at the NFC championship game. Quarterback Cam Newton had a game for the ages as he proved to so many doubters that he is in fact a superstar in the NFL.
    Newton passed for 335 yards and two touchdowns while adding two rushing touchdowns as Carolina has punched their ticket to meet with the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl L at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. on Feb. 7.
    All season long the Panthers have dealt with doubters and non-believers who either criticized their strength of schedule or just plain did not buy into their winning ways. None of that criticism seemed to have any effect on Carolina -- or Newton -- as they just kept winning in a rather impressive manner. The Panthers have lost twice in their last 24 games.
    Many expected a more competitive game -- especially from Arizona -- as the Cardinals also showed critics of their own that they could be a contending team. The result was nothing but that as Cardinals quarterback Carson Palmer had a game many Arizona fans would rather forget than relive from seeing reminders on highlights on tv. Palmer spent nearly the entire evening fighting for his life as the Arizona offensive line could not protect him from the Panthers front seven. Palmer turned the ball over six times (four interceptions and two fumbles) to tie an NFL postseason record, was sacked three times and finished with a QBR of 5.0 on the loss.
    "I kept digging us in a hole and we just couldn't come out of it," Palmer said in a post-game interview.
    Cardinals receiver Larry Fitzgerald, who had a breakout performance in the divisional round versus the Green Bay Packers, was virtually non-existent as Carolina did not look to make the mistakes the Packers made. Fitzgerald had four receptions and 30 yards in the loss.
    "We wanted to come out and play a complete game," Panther linebacker Luke Kuechly said, "there was pressure all day." Kuechly was the star on defense as he had eight tackles (three for a loss), recovered a fumble and returned an interception for a touchdown in the fourth quarter.
    The Panthers will now turn their focus to the Broncos who were victorious in their AFC championship game with the defending Super Bowl champion New England Patriots 20-18. The last time Carolina and Denver met was in the 2012 regular season as the Broncos won easily 36-14.
    With so much more on the line and more experience behind them, the Panthers are a 56 percent favorite to win the Super Bowl. Newton has a chance to make history as well as he is one win away from becoming the only quarterback to win a Heisman trophy, an NCAA National Championship, the NFL MVP and a Super Bowl in a career.

*All information was borrowed from espn.com, @ESPNStatsInfo and @JohnHayesESPN.
 

David Blatt was doomed from the beginning

Photo by Mark Lawrie / Getty Images 
David Blatt is the first head coach who was fired while his team was No.1 in their conference since the league implemented conferences in 1970-71.

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    The Cleveland Cavaliers parted ways with head coach David Blatt today, and immediately addressed their coaching situation as Cleveland and assistant Tyronn Lue agreed to a three-year contract. In doing this, the Cavaliers have essentially spear-headed any potential lame-duck questions every interim coach would face in nearly every other situation when a head coach is fired. The question remains, why didn't Cleveland offer the job to Lue in the first place?

    Blatt was hired before the 2014-15 season, and before the Cavaliers agreed to a contract to bring LeBron James back to the organization that drafted him in 2003. Speculation at the time was that Blatt was on a short leash because James and Lue have had a good relationship for several years. With that, was Blatt just a scapegoat so that Lue could usurp him when the organization felt comfortable making Lue the head coach?

    When the announcement to hire Blatt was made, some questions were raised about the former Maccabi Tel Aviv head coach's ability to succeed in transition from Euroleague to the NBA. His success could not be questioned overseas, but it was in the United States. Others thought Blatt was just a figurehead as James was considered to be not just the leader of the locker room, but on the court as well. The same things were being said about current head coach Eric Spoelstra when James was in Miami.

Cavaliers Superstar LeBron James may or may not have influenced Blatt's firing, but he certainly got the front office's attention with visible displeasure on the bench and in the locker room.

    Regardless of all the speculation then and now, Cleveland appears to have the coach they really wanted to give the job to, but were unsure about the timing over a year ago when the Cavaliers dismissed Mike Brown from head coaching duties. It has been well-documented that James possesses leverage when it comes to the decisions that the front office makes. James was vocal about the contract situation with Tristan Thompson, and it ended up with Thompson getting a five-year $82 million contract. By the way, Thompson and James share the same agent (Rich Paul).

    Blatt did all the right things by saying how grateful he was about getting the opportunity to coach Cleveland and thanked Cavaliers owner Dan Gilbert as well as general manager David Griffin. After compiling an 83-40 record in his first NBA coaching gig, he has the appearance of a professional who can win, but his next job will likely not feature a superstar on the roster. It did not look like a good fit from the beginning, and it is possible that the Cavaliers won in spite of Blatt but maybe in a different situation success is attainable. 

    Step No. 1: get out of Cleveland as soon as possible.

        

*According to Elias Sports Bureau, Blatt is the third head coach to be fired one year after his team made an NBA Finals appearance (Byron Scott 2004 and Gene Shue 1977).

Some information and statistics came from espn.com, The Associated Press and Elias Sports Bureau 

    

     

      

Peanut butter and jelly: NFC and AFC championships

Photos (from top left clockwise) by seattletimes.com, nfl.com, charlotteobserver.com and zimbio.com

                                           .

    For nearly every football fan, the Super Bowl is the most important game of the entire season, but at times that is the game that has let NFL fans down with large margins of victory. Some would argue that the best games are in the round before the Super Bowl; the week of both the NFC and AFC conference championship games. This is the week that will tell fans what to expect come Feb. 7 at Levi's Stadium in Santa Clara, Calif. 

    In 2016, the NFL has the top two seeds from both conferences meeting to compete for an opportunity at winning a Super Bowl since 2004. In the NFC, the Carolina Panthers will host the Arizona Cardinals for a rematch between two teams that met in the wild card round in the 2015 playoffs. The AFC will feature another chapter in the Tom Brady versus Peyton Manning saga that may be the denouement of this well-marketed rivalry between two sure-fire hall of fame players.

    Carolina is a team that despite only losing once in their last 17 games is somewhat of a dichotomy. It is not necessarily a polarizing effect, but the consensus is that the Panthers are the favorites against the thought that they are a product of a weak schedule. Carolina has done what has been asked of them; beat whomever your opponent is. The sample size is there and the mid-term exam (as far as importance goes) was passed when the Panthers defeated the defending NFC champion Seattle Seahawks in the divisional round last week.

    The Arizona Cardinals have also been an unpredictable team, but mostly because of the history of the franchise. Ever since the Cardinals moved to Arizona, it has been a laughingstock of poor management up until the time the organization opened their new stadium in 2006 to spark excitement in the fan base. This season has been the best in franchise history as the team has a top offense and defense, and it was the most wins for the organization since moving to Arizona in 1988.

    The Panthers' strengths are their ability to run the football with Cam Newton, Jonathan Stewart and Mike Tolbert as well as their stellar defensive play anchored by Luke Kuechly and Josh Norman. Newton is the star and face of the franchise, but this game will determine if doubters will either buy, question or sell Newton. Arizona is a team that is not afraid to throw the ball downfield, and use numerous defensive packages to pressure opposing quarterbacks with the likes of Calais Campbell, Deone Bucannon and Patrick Peterson. The theme of this game may just be, "who will make more mistakes." Many will look to see if Newton can pull off the big win against another tough opponent, and others may be cheering for veteran wide receiver Larry Fitzgerald to chase down that elusive Super Bowl ring some thought he could have won in 2009.

    On the AFC side, the New England Patriots will visit the Denver Broncos, and Brady and Manning have been and will be the focus of the game. It will mark the 17th time the two have competed against each others respective teams, and it will be the fifth time the two future hall of fame quarterbacks will try to eliminate one another from advancing in postseason play (it is 2-2 as of now). Both quarterbacks are not what they once were, but Manning has been the target in an onslaught of criticism since his health has deteriorated over the last few years. Brady has faced questions of his viability as recently as last season, but another Super Bowl victory over Seattle silenced some of those critics for now.

    The Broncos have arguably the best defense in the NFL as they allow the fewest points and create pressure with a front seven that many would say is also the best. Brady can still be a very dangerous passer, especially when he has his favorite targets on the field to force opposing defenses to respect the Patriots' attack. Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman are key to how much success the offensive unit may or may not have. New England are also weak at offensive line as they have used the most starting offensive lineup combinations in the league, but Manning faces a similar red flag with opposing defenses pressuring the Denver offensive line to force Manning to make plays.

    New England is not really a team to have a philosophy that continually is in their game plan. The Patriots play football like a game of poker; they do not play the cards they play the man. Head coach Bill Belichick devises a game plan that is all about taking advantage of weaknesses or mistakes he finds by studying opponents. Denver is a more formulaic offense now that Manning is not as dangerous as he was in his prime. The Broncos have used a running attack that is designed to relieve some of the pressure from Manning. Eyes will be on whether Manning can make throws on critical downs in cold weather in the high-pressured moments that are expected in the playoffs.

    

    Predictions: The Cardinals and Panthers have been playing complete football as both have been able to score and prevent scoring from the opposition. Weather will be a factor for both teams as winter storm Jonas will affect the passing game. Arizona will struggle if they cannot at least have balance, but Carolina very well could lean on their running game since that is what they do best. Because both defenses are dangerous, this game very well could be low-scoring. I did pick Arizona to go to the Super Bowl (via Twitter), and though I am less certain, I will still stick with the Cardinals to win 20-16. (Carolina is favored on most betting lines at -3)

                          New England and Denver is a less intimidating match in my opinion because I am one of the doubters of Manning's arm strength. Denver's defense has also raised a question in me that maybe there is a vulnerability since Pittsburgh was able to put a scare into the Broncos in the divisional round a week ago. Picking against Brady and Belichick is not something I can have much confidence in. I do not expect New England to have much difficulty scoring somewhere around 27 points, but I am not sure Manning can help the Broncos score as much as 20 points in this match up. I did pick New England to go to the Super Bowl as well so I will be comfortable to stick with the Patriots winning 30-20. (New England is favored on most betting lines at -3)  

    

    

    

Cam Newton is not a top MVP candidate yet

                                                                                                     Photo by AP    
                                          Panthers quarterback Cam Newton has been
                                          mentioned in the race for league MVP as his team
                                          continues to win.

     As the season has reached its halfway point, The Panthers remain one of the league's unbeaten teams at 7-0, and quarterback Cam Newton has been thrown into the MVP debate.
     Certainly, Newton has improved since his rookie season from five years ago, but league MVP may be a conversation people are only including his name in because Carolina is still undefeated. When you hear various sports media personalities -- like ESPN First Take's Stephen A. Smith -- or people on social media praise Newton, the first qualifier that is cited is the team's record. The second is his ability to be an effective rusher.
     Those are things that are factual, but for a league MVP there needs to be more, and Newton does not have enough to win that award right now unless he improves in these statistical categories:
   
     No. 1 - Total QBR (not to be confused with passer rating)
     Newton ranks 26th (46.9) in this category among qualified starting quarterbacks, but here are just a few of the quarterbacks ranked ahead of him: Ryan Fitzpatrick (78.4), Brian Hoyer (69.4), Blake Bortles (61.4), Kirk Cousins (58.8), Jameis Winston (58.7), and Colin Kaepernick (47.6) just to name a few. One could argue that Newton has incredible talent (and he does) over this list of quarterbacks ahead of him, but how can an MVP candidate be this bad in QBR? And on another note, only one game did Newton have a QBR over 50.0, and that was in week 3 (86.0).
    (This statistic is one that uses an algorithm that configures how much a quarterback does or does not contribute towards points for their respective team in any given game. Having this low of a QBR in Newton's case is an indicator that he technically is not the one directly involved in scoring points on plays he throws and runs personally. Fortunately, it also factors in if he hands off the ball on plays that score points so in theory this number could actually be lower by removing that from the algorithm.)

     No. 2 - Protecting the ball
     As a quarterback, limiting turnovers is one of the most important responsibilities. Newton currently has 15 total touchdowns (including four rushing), but has turned the ball over 10 times (eight interceptions and two fumbles). Newton has the third highest interception percentage rate in the league (among quarterbacks with at least 200 pass attempts) with 3.70 percent of his pass attempts getting intercepted -- only Peyton Manning and Andrew Luck have a higher percentage rates.

     No. 3 - The overall passing game
     Newton leads a Carolina passing game ranked 30th in total yards, and eight teams have less first downs than the Panthers from pass plays. Newton's individual numbers do not put him among the better half of quarterbacks in the league as he is 22nd in yards per attempt (7.05) and 32nd in completion percentage (54.2 percent) -- which also happens to be the worst in his career so far. To be fair, Newton's teammates have dropped the fifth most passes in the league with 15. Out of the 215 attempts, that comes out to 7 percent of those attempts are drops which is the worst in the league.

     None of this analysis is to prove Newton is not talented or a good quarterback, but rather just an argument that proves he is not an MVP as of now. A better finish to the regular season could change the perception of those who are not on the "Cam for MVP" campaign. Newton is second to Russell Wilson in rushing yards for quarterbacks, but among all rushers Newton is tied for fourth in touchdowns -- which is remarkable. Newton has also shown better leadership this season as that was a criticism in the past from reporters and analysts. Newton has improved, and that is part of the reason why Carolina is 7-0 right now. But Newton also is not the most valuable player in the NFL... yet.

*All statistics were borrowed from ESPN.com, pro-football-reference.com and sportingcharts.com

NBA Finals preview: Golden State versus Cleveland

    

    The 2015 NBA Finals begin on June 5, and the two teams squaring off for the championship are the Golden State Warriors and the Cleveland Cavaliers.

    It is a billing that pits the team with the best record of the regular season and 2015 MVP against LeBron James; arguably the best player in the world.

    

    The Warriors have been a historically great team and join nine other teams in NBA history to have won at least 67 regular season games. Of those nine teams, seven went on to win the championship.

    Golden State also has another statistic that points in their favor; according to ESPN staff writer Tom Haberstroh, there have been eight teams that outscored their regular season opponents by at least 10 points per game. Seven of those eight teams went on to win the title, and team No. 8 lost to the champions who also outscored regular season opponents by 10 points per game. Golden State has outscored their regular season opponents by 10 points per game for 2014-15.

    The Warriors were the No. 1 ranked team in defensive efficiency, but since the playoffs began have slid to fourth; conceivably because of their playoff opponents. Golden State had to go through the New Orleans Pelicans, Memphis Grizzlies and Houston Rockets in succession.

    Golden State is led by league MVP Stephen Curry, and his success there has transitioned to the playoffs. Curry is averaging 29.2 points, 6.4 assists per game and has made 73 3-pointers at a 43.7 percent clip. Second to Curry in that category is his own teammate shooting guard Klay Thompson with 45 made 3-pointers.

     Second-year forward Draymond Green was the 2014-15 NBA Defensive Player of the Year runner-up and has been the Warriors best player defensively. Green also averages a double double with 14.0 points and 10.8 rebounds per game.

    The aforementioned Thompson is also part of the consistent production the Warriors rely on as he has scored 17.4 points per game and is shooting 42.5 percent from 3-point range. Thompson suffered a concussion in game six versus the Rockets and is listed as day-to-day. First-year head coach Steve Kerr expects Thompson to be ready for game one on Thursday.

    The Cavaliers are led by superstar and four-time MVP LeBron James who has put up MVP-like

numbers this postseason with averages of 27.6 points, 10.4 rebounds and 8.3 assists per game.

    Despite those numbers, James is experiencing his lowest field goal percentage (42.8 percent) since 2007-08 (41.1 percent). James is not amongst the league's best 3-point shooters, but he did shoot 40.7 and 37.5 percent in the last two playoff seasons. In 2014-15, James has a career-worst 17.6 percent from 3-point range.

    In this postseason, the Cavaliers are averaging 101.4 points per game (the Warriors average 104.3), and they outrebound their opponents by 6.5 rebounds per game.

    Cleveland outranks Golden State in the playoffs at defensive efficiency as the No. 3 team in that statistical category, and allow a playoff-best 92.6 points per game (compared to Golden State's 96.3).

    The Cavaliers had to go through the Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls and Atlanta Hawks to get to the finals, and injuries have been an issue for them. Forward Kevin Love was lost for the remainder of the playoffs with a torn labrum in his shoulder in the series with the Celtics.

    Kyrie Irving is listed as day-to-day with a knee injury that has affected him since game six versus the Bulls. In the Eastern Conference Finals against the Hawks, Irving missed games two and three, but did play 22 minutes in game four. Irving told the Cleveland Plain-Dealer that he is feeling good after some rest.

    Veteran guard J.R. Smith has experienced some success since being traded to Cleveland, and has shot 39.6 percent from 3-point range. 

    Smith also is coming off of a productive conference finals as he scored 28, 17 and 18 points in games one, three and four. Plus, Smith had two double doubles in consecutive games that helped sweep the Hawks. Smith did shoot 47 percent in 3-pointers for the series as well.

    Forward Tristan Thompson has filled in for the injured Love and has given the Cavaliers a rebounding presence. In his last five games, Thompson is averaging a double double and 12.2 rebounds.

    Analysis: The two teams split the regular season series, but the factors one should look for in the series will be Golden State's health compared to Cleveland's, the Warrior's ability to share the ball, offensive efficiency, physical play and coaching.

    The injuries have already been reported earlier, but the Cavaliers are facing a bigger question of health. Irving's knee will be monitored closely and even though he will have plenty of rest going into game one, the question is if Irving will be 100 percent.

    Golden State is not affected as much by Thompson's concussion as Cleveland is by Irving's knee. This places more pressure on James to carry the entire offense, and if he is not going to be the one making big shots, Smith better be ready to do so.

    The Warriors have been an unselfish team all season long as they led the regular season in assists with 27.4 per game. 

    The concern one should have for the Cavaliers is their lack of ball movement as they led the league in isolation plays per game with 12.1.

    Credit Kerr's and assistant Alvin Gentry's (who was hired for the Pelicans job, but will remain with the Warriors until season's end) philosophy which is to first stretch the defense, make the extra pass to stretch even more and find an open shooter for a high-percentage shot -- whether it is a 3-pointer or in the paint.

    On the other hand, Cavaliers head coach David Blatt appears to have been undercut by James' lack of faith in Blatt's system. Early in the season it was evident the team struggled to implement Blatt's offense with the team.

    It was obvious the team went from an actual system to playing isolation basketball, which to James' credit did work since it allowed him to control who goes where and who shoots when the time comes.

    Offensive efficiency was clearly stated in the report with previous statistics. This is perhaps the least efficient year in James' career as he has taken it upon himself to make all of the decisions and that has resulted in less drives to the basket compared to years past.

    Can Smith continue to shoot as well as he has in this postseason? It is unlikely as he does have the frequent game where once he misses his first few attempts he begins to shoot even more in hopes of getting hot. A regression to the mean is logical and expected.

    Curry has been excellent and consistent throughout the entire regular and postseason -- yes every player has a bad game from time to time -- but Cleveland will approach him the same way Memphis did. Keep a body on Curry, give him as little space as possible and be physical (get to that later).

    Only once did Curry shoot at least 50 percent from the field, and the Grizzlies held Curry to 40.6 percent in 3-pointers; better than any of the Warriors' playoff opponents this year.

    Also expect the Cavaliers to throw a different defender at Curry just to mix things up. That rotation of defenders that should include defensive specialist Iman Shumpert, James, Matthew Dellavedova and maybe Irving and Smith.

    Expect Cleveland to be very physical with Golden State every possession, minute, quarter and game. That is precisely what the Cavaliers have played like since their battle with the Bulls.

    Dellavedova has emerged as someone to monitor with his defensive play and energy that many say are just hustle plays to borderline or downright dirty. Dellavedova started getting attention when he had an encounter with Chicago's Taj Gibson -- which got Gibson ejected. In the series with the Hawks, there were some encounters involving the injury of guard Kyle Korver and forward Al Horford.

    Just something to keep an eye on because expect it to happen and possibly that's where Green's role is important. Green is the Warriors' enforcer and if he sees anything he does not like from Dellavedova, those two may have an altercation. It is certain the officials are aware of this potential chemistry fire, but how they handle it will be the key to setting the tempo of the series, much less a game.

    Finally, the coaching matchup will definitely be something to take a look at as both teams have NBA rookie head coaches. Kerr took a Golden State team that had not enjoyed this kind of success under his predecessor Mark Jackson. Kerr brought in Gentry to utilize the fast-pace offense based off of Mike D'Antoni's (Gentry was an assistant under D'Antoni with the Phoenix Suns).

    The results were the frenetic pace you have seen up to this day which creates more turnovers, but overall this Warriors team is tailor-made for this system.

    Blatt could be a liability to the Cavaliers if he tries to do too much to counter with Kerr. It is imperative a team that plans to win make some adjustments, but it is presumed that James will be the one who makes the necessary adjustments and Blatt can just look like he is coaching. That may be unfair to a Cavaliers fan or Blatt fan, yet it is the reality. James does not believe in Blatt's system and took over the team by himself.

    

    Prediction: I expect the Warriors to win this series in five games, but in their four victories they should be able to win by double digits in three. Golden State should have a desire to close the series out as soon as possible, and I cannot imagine the Warriors would want to clinch the championship in Cleveland when they could celebrate that 40-year drought on their own homecourt. Why even let it come to a game seven when all that does is create the high-pressure do-or-die mentality? This Warriors team should go down as one of the best championship teams in the history of the NBA. Fans may not treat them that way, but historians will and that is what really matters in creating the narrative of an all-time great team.

Credits: Stephen Curry, James Harden and Josh Smith photo courtesy of gospelherald.com. LeBron James and DeMarre Carroll photo courtesy of cavaliersnation.com. Curry and James photo courtesy of hoopsaddict.com. All statistics were used from espn.com, basketball-reference.com and landofbasketball.com.

    

    

    

    

Golovkin scores his 20th consecutive KO in the sixth

     Gennady Golovkin defeated challenger Willie Monroe Jr. by technical knockout in the sixth round to register his 20th consecutive knockout victory to defend his WBA, IBO and WBC  middleweight titles.

     It would not be a competitive fight, and Golovkin did at times hold himself back allowing fans to see if Monroe would be a threat to the undefeated champion's 14th title defense.

     Golovkin knocked Monroe down twice in the second round -- both times with powerful left hooks -- and set the tone early after an opening round spent mostly on developing a feel for the pace Monroe potentially was expecting.

     After a third round where Monroe bounced back, he followed it up with a productive fourth by outworking the Kazakhstan native by a good enough margin to have scored that round.

     Monroe reverted to his previous strategy (more defense and movement instead of volume punching) in the fifth round and a Golovkin who decided to slow down his production did not take advantage until the sixth round when Monroe was knocked down once again -- but this time by a combination of punches.

     According to CompuBox numbers, Golovkin landed 133 of his 297 punches (116 for power at 49 percent). Monroe, on the other hand, could only manage to land 29 percent of his 305 total punches and 33 percent of his power punch attempts.

     In the post-fight interview with HBO's Max Kellerman, Golovkin thanked his fans with a "present just for you," and some news for those who may have though Monroe was actually controlling the fight for a short stretch of the bout.

     "I show him who's number one, who's champion," said Golovkin.

     Kellerman then asked about the immediate future for champion's plan to attract big-name fighters, and Golovkin was not shy in sharing who the fighters in his crosshairs are.

     "I'm a real champion," said Golovkin, "I want unification (referring to Miguel Cotto)."

     Golovkin also did not rule out Saul "Canelo" Alvarez as a potential opponent in the very near future, but he did make it clear that he wants either Cotto and/or Alvarez before a bout with Andre Ward.

Photo credit: Joe Camporeale / USA Today Sports

All information was gathered from outside media outlets: HBO's World Championship Boxing