Two Game Sixes, the Stanley Cup Finals, the French Open and some baseball; we've had worse weekends.

  • The general consensus this morning is that LeBron took it to another level last night.  Statistically, he did, but he didn't actually play better.  His teammates finally made some shots and his coach made an adjustment.  LeBron's assist total jumped to 12 (series high) because "Boobie" Gibson finally made some wide-open threes.  In fact, LeBron's teammates shot a higher percentage from the field (52%) than he did (46%).
  • As for Mike Brown, he switched up their crunch-time plan, so James was attacking the defense from the free-throw line instead of behind the three-point line.  Sometimes, great players need to be saved from themselves.  James is a streaky three-point shooter, but he's not a great distance shooter.  He's much more efficient in and around the paint, where he was able to work on Mikael Pietrus down the stretch.  As the commentators mentioned, they just ran the same play the Celtics run in crunch time for Paul Pierce.
  • Credit where credit is due, Mo Williams stepped up.  Do it in Game 6 in Orlando and I'll actually be impressed. 
  • Do you remember when Ben Wallace won the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year Award FOUR times?  Give credit to Larry Brown who somehow found greatness in an otherwise below-average basketball player.  Wallace took a -19 last night in a game his team won by 10.  He does nothing well on a basketball court right now.
  • If Jameer Nelson was healthy, the Magic would have a best five of Nelson, Pietrus, Turkoglu, Lewis and Howard.   That's the most complete best five the NBA has had since the Pistons won their title with Billups, Hamilton, Prince, Wallace and Wallace.  Actually, it's better than that Pistons team.
  • The Stanley Cup Conference Finals were a non-event, which took a little steam out of the league's momentum, although they are used to that by now.  The good news is that the NHL has a dream Finals rematch between Pittsburgh and Detroit.  Last year, Detroit won in six games.  The Wings managed to hold down Sidney Crosby and shutdown Evgeni Malkin.  No team is capable of doing that right now.  Detroit is banged up and Pittsburgh is on fire.  Sid "The Kid" will hoist the Cup after winning in 6!
  • ESPN and Tennis Channel do an amazing job covering the Slams.  They go live with every match for the die-hards and DVR users and then they replay the best matches at times that are suitable for the casual fan.  On the other hand, NBC butchers their coverage of the French Open and Wimbledon.  Tape-delay is the worst idea in broadcast sports.  On Saturday and Sunday, NBC will show nothing but the Williams sisters, Andy Roddick, and the top four men.  They won't bounce between the courts for the great matches.  And if they do get a classic, it's easy to figure out who won by seeing when the coverage window ends because they won't run over.   Sports are LIVE drama that's why we love them so much.
  • It's almost June 1st, which means baseball fans are allowed to take their first serious look at the standings.  The AL has three tight divisional races, but the Wild Card seems destined for the Red Sox/Yankees loser unless the Angels magically find some offense and a closer.  In the NL, the Dodgers might already be counting down their magic number.  Otherwise, the East, Central and Wild Card are up for grabs.
  • The reports out of Memphis are that there was some old-school cheating going on.  NetFlix The Program if you don't know what I'm talking about.  With his typical class, John Calipari has left Memphis holding the bag as he strolled off to Lexington and miraculously pulled off the top recruiting class in just a few weeks.   The same scenario almost played itself out with Tim Floyd and USC/Arizona.  It makes me sick to think that Memphis could have their basketball program blown up, while Calipari is cutting down nets in Lexington.  My only hope is that if the allegations are true, the NCAA or Kentucky will step in and send Coach Cal packing.  Let the investigation play out, see what actually happened, and make sure those at fault are punished, not those left behind.