Semis

The Indiana Fever and the Golden State Valkyries took their first round WNBA playoff series to three games.  The Fever lost but the Valkyries won, and go on to the semi-finals.

There are lots and lots of questions about that third game between Indiana and Las Vegas, but there seems to me to be one factor that may have been decisive in both games: fatigue.

There is a quick turnaround in this first round of two days. Both the Valkyries and the Wings expended a lot of energy in game 2 in Dallas, scoring 100 or more when the game went into overtime.  After getting thoroughly drubbed in the first game, Dallas had to go all out to win that game.

Back in Ballhalla for game 3, Golden State did not play their best against the Wings.  They went cold and allowed a 20-0 run, which few teams survive.  They were down 16 in the third quarter.  But they are a deep team and Dallas is not.  By the fourth quarter, the Wings were gassed.  In the crucial last few minutes several shots were short, which suggests fatigue.  Golden State had fresher legs and they prevailed in the closing minutes.

You can make a case that something similar happened in Las Vegas.  The Fever--and Caitlin Clark in particular--expended immense energy to dominate game 2 in Indiana.  Just two days later, they had flown to Vegas and were missing shots they usually make.  In particular, Clark and Kelsey Mitchell were missing threes.  Clark, who set all time records in that second game, did not dominate in the third.  A'ja Wilson, the definition of a prima donna, who can bulldoze over opponents and still get the call, prevailed for the Aces.  The Fever's depth is questionable, but in any case they rely on their starters, and they may have been worn down.  The defending champion Aces' experience may have helped them deal with distributing their energies.

Now the Fever go home, where an offseason of changes is likely.  There are many who want the coach's head, and there are questions of whether the Fever can financially afford their mighty trio of Clark, Mitchell and Boston, and at what cost to a deeper bench.

Golden State now hosts those same champion Aces in the semi-finals.  The shock of the first round was New York defeating Minnesota, with the best record this season by far, in two games.  Now the Valkyries are the winningest team left.  The Aces are as experienced as the Vals are not, and they are peaking for the playoffs.  The refs are always a particular wild card in the WNBA.  But if Golden State can get past the Aces, they stand a very good chance of winning the championship in only their second year in the league.

Playoffs

 

The WNBA playoffs have begun and both teams I follow are in it.  In many ways they are very different teams.  The Indiana Fever have big stars and personalities.  The Golden State Valkyries seem almost anonymous at times.  The Fever had two players on the FIBA championship US team, the Vals had none (though two played for France.)   The Fever have perhaps the most potent offense in the league, while the Vals have the best defense.  Yet the Fever can defend, especially with steals and blocks, and the Vals shoot 3s at high efficiency.

The Fever can look cohesive and invincible and in the next game look lost.  Caitlin Clark and Kelsey Mitchell are wonders to behold.  But though the Vals aren't as glamorous (except in the Bay Area) they have the second best record in the league. They are so deep that after the FIBA break they rattled off 6 wins in a row, 2 of them back-to-backs without their two most productive starters.  They lost one and then came back against LA when their 3s weren't falling to win by a point in the final minutes.  They look ready.

They looked even readier when they blew out Dallas in the first playoff home game in the team's short history.  Leading by 30 points most of the way, they scored over 100 while running their patented smothering defense, spoiling a fine debut by Paige Bueckers.  

Meanwhile, the Fever looked pretty bad against Vegas.  Kelsey Mitchell saw her record-setting consecutive games of 20 or more points broken, while A'ja Wilson scored 38.  In fact no Fever player scored 20, and they lost by 17.  

 The Fever can look overwhelming, but they can be fragile.  Coaching is a question.  Nobody questions the coaching of the Vals, and their game can appear boring--at least until they unleash a fearsome flurry of 3s, or fierce reserve Kailyn Chen goes on a tear.  They may be the more resilient team, and at the moment appear more likely to go deep into the playoffs.  But you can never count Caitlin Clark out.  She and Mitchell can each carry a team.

The MLB playoffs are upcoming, and neither team I follow is in them.  The San Francisco Giants have not been much fun; every time I check them out they seem to be fielding an entirely different team.  The Pittsburgh Pirates however have a lively and often impressive team, and seem poised to make some noise next year, well beyond their slightly above .500 this season, especially if Paul Skenes bounces back and they can stay healthier than they did this year. Fueling optimism was how they ended the season, with lots of wins, both in high scoring games with lots of home runs and in tight and low scoring games, when pitching as well as timely hitting and fundamentals are important.

They're developing some stars beyond Skenes, with Oneil Cruz joining the Pirates elite of Barry Bonds and Andrew McCutchen in hitting 20 homers and stealing 20 or more bases for three consecutive seasons.  Brandon Lowe hit 35 homers--first time in awhile that's happened.   The Pirates as a team hit more homers by the All-Star break this season than the entire previous season. Nick Gonzales hit above .300.  And the team stayed in the Wild Card race well into September.  

These Pirates play an exciting style, with speed (stealing bases, beating out bunts, cutting off hits) and variety.  They have good young starting pitching, and their relief pitching improved towards the end of the season.  From the very promising newcomer Konnor Griffin (whose homer won the final game of the season) to the wily veteran Ryan Reynolds, one of several hitters with high RBI percentages, this could well be a team worth watching come next spring.  As for this year's MLB playoffs, I'll pass.

First Half Pirates, Vals and Fever

 It's just past the All-Star break in both Major League Baseball and the WNBA.  For me what's most notable in baseball is that at the halfway point the Pittsburgh Pirates are actually in the hunt for a Wild Card spot.  That's very unusual, the Pirates being a small market team with a small budget, and in recent years a penchant for trading away its best assets, and rarely competitive.  But that's not in itself been what's fascinating about the first half of this season.

It's that these few months have seen one potential star after another rise from the well-regarded Pirates farm system.  Pitcher Paul Skenes was the first phenom a couple of years ago.  From rookie sensation to the best in the league in two years.  Skenes had a rough first half this year, his off the charts velocity waning, though he's always had other pitches and the ability to use them.  But the Pirates have brought up other talented young pitchers.  And then there are the two other instant phenoms. 

In April, the Pirates brought up 19 year old shortstop Konner Griffin.  He is fast, quick and hits for average and with power.  He got a hit and drove in a run in his first game, scored from second on a ground ball single, turned a smooth double play and showed range on the field.  A few days later he hit his first big league homerun, on his 20th birthday.  The Pirates promptly did something totally out of character in recent decades: they signed him to a long term contract.  

Old timers like me were reminded of Pirates great Bill Mazeroski, who also came up to the Pirates at age 19.  He became an immediate star, and played for the Pirates for 15 seasons, most of them as one of the greatest second basemen in history.  He is forever famous for his home run leading off the bottom of the ninth in the seventh game of the 1960 World Series, which won the series over the mighty Yankees and sent Pittsburgh (and those of us in nearby towns) into ecstasy.  Mazeroski (who lived in my town of Greensburg and was a member of my childhood Catholic parish) died just before the 2026 season began.  But as another connection, it was Bill Mazeroski's son who scouted and discovered Konner Griffin and brought him to the Pirates infield.

One element that ensured Mazeroski's long term success was his sturdyness.  He was seldom injured and often played nearly every game of at least his first 13 years.  Unfortunately Konner Griffin has suffered two significant injuries already, and is not expected back on the field until September.

But Pirates fans have since had several new players to be thrilled by, the latest and maybe greatest being Esmerlyn Valdez, a power hitting right fielder nicknamed the Magician.  He set a Major League record by hitting 14 home runs in his first 38 games, with 31 RBIs.  Nobody in baseball hit better than he did in that run.  

Valdez joins a lineup that hits an unusual number of home runs for a Pirates team, with Brandon Lowe leading with 23.  Ryan O'Hearn has 17, with 69 RBIs.  Bryan Reynolds is another RBI hitter with 61.  And for the first month or so it looked like mercurial outfielder Oneil Cruz was becoming a more consistent star, until his injury.  He's expected back in August.

Injuries have held the Bucs back a bit, and basically so far they've been a streaky team that usually ends up winning about as many games as they lose.  But on their best days they can be brilliant and are great fun to watch.

In the WNBA, the two teams I follow are both pretty exciting to watch as well.  The Golden State Valkyries continue to astound the league with their winning ways, now as a second year expansion team.  They ended a 9 game winning streak just before the break.  Known for defense, they've added firepower with Gabby Williams.  When Kaitlyn Chen heads for the basket it's a treat to watch her blazing speed.

The Indiana Fever seemed mired in some kind of disorganized funk, not living up to their offensive potential for much of the first half, but really catching fire just before the break, and since.  They've had several 100+ point games in that stretch.  Caitlyn Clark in particular has been showing out, with Kelsey Mitchell again becoming a consistent high scorer and when healthy, Aliyah Boston can still be dominating.  Sophie Cunningham and Lexie Hull have to be two of the best reserves and role players in the league. While the team is often controversial they are always worth watching. 

NBA Season Conclusion

The story of the 2025-26 NBA season was the story of injuries, right up to the Finals.  Finally, two healthy teams faced each other.  Health is one of the usual deciding factors.  Another is momentum.  Both the San Antonio Spurs and the New York Knicks had it in the playoffs, though the Knicks had it much more strongly.  But that to my mind wasn't the only deciding factor.

First let's review the pundits.  Nearly every day I see at least the headlines of the New York Times' outsourced sports bureau, the Athletic.  It has quickly become--at least arguably--a gold standard in sports coverage.  By the end of the regular season the Athletic named the consensus pick for NBA champion, which had been consistent throughout the year: the Oklahoma City Thunder.

When the Spurs beat the Thunder in seven games in the Western Conference Finals, and the Knicks pulverized the Cleveland Cavaliers in the East, the Athletic solemnly announced the consensus view that the NBA champions would now be the Spurs.

Now that the Knicks have won the Finals in five games, at least one writer for the Athletic is embarrassing himself by calling these Knicks the greatest sports team in New York history, and (though it would follow anyway) the greatest Knicks team, and Jalen Brunson as the greatest Knicks player in history.  Also that this victory was the greatest in history, and will be talked about in a hundred years.

Okay, so the Times is still a hometown newspaper, and everything that happens in New York is by definition the biggest and best and most important.  But let's start with the likelihood that the only thing people in a hundred years will remember about our time is that we knew we were destroying the livable climate and did it anyway. 

But as for greatness, there were a number of Yankees teams clearly better than these Knicks. Jalen Brunson is a talented player and he had a great Finals, but he probably isn't even in the top five of players who wore the Knicks uniform.  The 27 point comeback in the fourth game was special but in the age of the three point shot, not really all that remarkable.

Every playoff series, especially every Finals, is different, it's own world.  These Knicks deserve a lot of credit but they didn't create all the conditions that enabled their victory.  And it seems clear to me that the real difference maker in this series was Mike Brown, the Knicks' coach.

The Spurs have a generational star, a phenomenon of the time.  But they are a young team, without playoff experience.  They have a young coach in his first year, Mitch Johnson, who never played in the NBA and has no experience in NBA playoffs.  The Knicks coach Mike Brown had a checkered career as a head coach for the Lakers, Cavaliers and Kings, but was a chief assistant coach to Steve Kerr of the Golden State Warriors, and with the Warriors he experienced three Finals on the winning team.  He even experienced one with the Spurs, when he was an assistant there.

Mike Brown knows what winning the Finals takes, and Mitch Johnson did not.  The Spurs losing large leads in crucial games all but tells that story.  The Knicks did not face strong teams in the Eastern Conference playoffs, but somehow Brown got them ready for the real challenge.  The Knicks were well coached in situations.  And overall they stayed on an even keel, which seems partly due to the personalities of Brunson and Anunoby, for instance, but very likely also to Brown's coaching and demeanor.  

Why isn't it enough to celebrate the Knicks without this silliness?  We are so enamored with the now, except when--as is already happening--we are handicapping next season. 

And so, it's next year--with the draft and the free agents moves ready to tumble out of endless speculation into reality.

Is the Story of Sports the Story of Injuries?

 A lot has happened to the teams I follow in just a few weeks. The Pittsburgh Steelers were ignominiously defeated by the Houston Oilers in their wild card playoff game, and after 16 years at the helm, their Coach Mike Tomlin retired.  The subsequent hiring of veteran Mike McCarthy as head coach was controversial, as is the prospect of Aaron Rodgers returning as quarterback. Not exactly a youth movement.

The San Francisco 49ers won their wild card game by defeating the reigning Super Bowl champion Philadelphia Eagles, but were blown out in the divisional round by this year's eventual Super Bowl winner, the Seattle Seahawks. Another season of injuries, for one thing, finally caught up to them.

In the NBA, the Golden State Warriors were winning again when a season-ending injury to key player Jimmy Butler threw the season into disarray.  Steph Curry didn't play either for the last several games before the All-Star Game break due to lingering knee pain. 

 As the trade deadline loomed ahead, anticipation was high for a trade of unknown proportion to get Giannis from Milwaukee.  But he stayed put, and instead the Warriors traded Jonathan Kuminga (currently injured) and Buddy Hield to Atlanta for big man Porzingas, who is also dealing with illness and injury but is expected to play after the break.  It seems that these days the story of sports is the story of injuries.

The Dubs also sent Trayce Jackson-Davis to Toronto, where he immediately had the most productive game of his career. Two-way player Pat Spencer was hired for the full time Warriors roster, just after the most productive game he's had so far in his career.

With these changes the Warriors didn't exactly get younger, but they did free up rotation spots for their younger players, like Spencer and Santos.  Even without Curry and Butler, this team played some spirited games, and even scored the biggest fourth quarter comeback for a victory this season.

All of this change for the Warriors was accompanied by a public reappraisal of this season's possibilities--just get in the playoffs and maybe make some noise.  Nobody is saying it's a championship team, especially without Butler (he may miss the first half of next season as well.)  More change may be in the offing after the season, but the rest of the season will likely have an effect on what those changes are, including whether Coach Kerr will come back.  If Porzingas and Steph can stay healthy--a big if--how this new dynamic works or doesn't will probably say a lot about what happens.  

I'm not likely to follow the Steelers and 9ers all that closely through the off-season or even when their season begins,  but I like this Warriors team and how they play, so I'm going to savor the remaining games this spring.  I'm especially looking forward to something nobody talks about--the Golden State Warriors debut of Seth Curry. 

The Steelers Crap Game Win, and Anthony Davis, Seriously?

 Before the Pittsburgh Steelers host Houston in their first home playoff game in six years at whatever they are calling Heinz Field these days (and nobody in Pittsburgh will ever call it anything but Heinz Field), that Steelers-Ravens game--essentially a winner take all playoff game-- merits some comment before it fades into history.  

Some playoff games, like the Rams-Panthers Wild Card game, are contests of skillful big plays.  But the Steelers-Ravens game was a contest of decisive mishaps.  Despite subsequent praise, the game announcers didn't think Lamar Jackson had a very good game, and Aaron Rodgers was adequate, especially given a nearly non-existent pass rush. 

But the game was decided by goofs.  Jackson's two big touchdown throws were to receivers that were so wide open there was nobody else in the TV picture, especially between them and the goal line.  If they weren't nearly identical blown coverages, then they were defensive design malpractice.  Meanwhile, Rodgers threw what turned out to be the deciding touchdown pass to a receiver wide open because his defender slipped on the field.

Then after that touchdown, the kicker who hasn't missed an extra point for years, missed one.  That miss meant that Baltimore could win the game with a field goal.  Back on the bench, that kicker had to be contemplating the humiliation of spending the whole off-season as the villain.  

But even though the Ravens got great field position on the ensuing kick-off and marched fairly easily down the field to within pretty easy range for today's kickers, their rookie kicker missed it.  That unlikely miss made the Steelers the division champs and sent the Ravens home, probably contributing to the firing of Baltimore's long-time head coach days later.  Now the missed extra point is utterly forgotten, and that kid in Baltimore is going to have a long off-season. 

I don't mean to demean the efforts of players on either side.  Steelers-Ravens games are always hard fought. But some games look like battles of skill.  That one looked like it was settled by rolling the dice.

Meanwhile, the Golden State Warriors are being told over and over that they aren't going anywhere this year.   Nevertheless, with two of their veterans back from injury, they are winning a lot more than losing.   And Seth Curry's injury is to be reevaluated this month--they could use his shooting. 

But winter trade season is coming up fast, and Jonathan Kuminga is superglued to the bench.  He's said not to be pouting and playing hard in practices, but it does seem odd that the two times he was most likely to be in the lineup, he came up with a new injury. Could be coincidence.  

Still, it's a big mystery whether the Warriors can get a trade they like.  The sports savants suggest the trade market may not be advantageous until after the season.  So while some clamor for a big trade--and commentators like Bill Simmons hold forth from apparent ignorance--the Warriors may not make major moves.  Though I'd expect them to do something to make room on their roster for Pat Spencer full time. 

The trade rumor that puzzled me the most was the repeated suggestion that the Warriors wanted Anthony Davis.  Somehow I have more respect for the intelligence of the Warriors front office than to believe they seriously considered trading for another older and frequently injured player as Anthony "Street Clothes" Davis.  One recent story however said that Davis' latest injury, which ends his season, would kill that trade, if it had ever been a real possibility.  Really--as if Dallas wasn't a clear cautionary tale, especially if you want to keep your job.  Of course I don't know, but I'd be very surprised if the Dubs trading for him was anything but another Internet viral delusion.

Back to the NFL: in their playoff game, the San Francisco 49ers defeated the defending Super Bowl champs, the Philadelphia Eagles, despite losing yet another key player to injury, tight end George Kittle.  Unfortunately, their next game is against the favorite to win it all, the Seattle Seahawks.  But even if they lose that one, they'd come farther than most believed they could, which makes Kyle Shanahan a coach of the year candidate.

The Steelers play at home, but they face Houston's pass rush, and that is expected to be the key to the game.  But of course it will be something else.

Mid-December with the Warriors, Niners, Steelers, Etc.

The Golden State Warriors managed to survive the worst part of their schedule, the first 24 games or so, with numerous back-to-backs and road games.  But barely.  They had two shocking and brilliant wins over San Antonio on the road--in the same week.  And they ended this phase with two remarkable wins, on the road against Cleveland and Chicago, both without injured Steph Curry, Draymond Green, Al Horford and (for one game) Jimmy Butler.  But they came out of it having won just one more game than they lost.

After their first real break of a few days (thanks to their failure to move on in the in-season tournament), they started what some observers are calling the most crucial part of their season--a long stretch of mostly home games.  They need to do well during this stretch to become competitive with the best teams in a loaded conference, they say.

The first two games did not go well.  Steph Curry returned and scored 39 points against Minnesota and 48 in Portland--and the Dubs lost both games, falling behind in closely fought games with cold shooting and defensive lapses in the fourth quarters. 

After the Minnesota game Coach Kerr questioned the defense, and after the Portland game he questioned the effectiveness of his own coaching.  The You Tube and podcast coaches came out in droves to tell him what he was doing wrong. Many probably pointed to moving away from Pat Spencer, the sudden star of those last road wins.

Meanwhile Jonathan Kuminga has disappeared from the rotation, and the sense that come trade time in mid-January he will no longer be on the team is becoming for many a near certainty.  That was easy to defend after wins.

The Warriors are a puzzle.  They can look brilliant and surprising, and they can look bad and overmatched.  The league has become more athletic than they are, and sometimes their smarts and skills are good enough to win.  But so far, only about half the time.

Meanwhile OKC is flying high in an historic season, and it seemed no one could defeat them until San Antonio did, to deny them the in-season tournament championship.  But they seem built for this moment the way the Dubs were in 2015.  Still, injuries to key players continue to be an almost absurdly regular feature of the NBA, to the point that it is useless to even speculate how teams will end up.

In the NFL, the San Francisco 49ers are seemingly overcoming their continued bad luck injuries with a series of wins.  They looked particularly strong on both sides of the ball against the Titans to win their 10th game.  The Pittsburgh Steelers are almost as mystifying as the Warriors.  They seemed pretty much done until they came up with a fairly dominant win against their closest rivals, the Baltimore Ravens.  But a bizarre injury to their key defensive player again puts their season in doubt.

The story that interested me in college football was Notre Dame, having been denied a chance to compete for a championship in a highly controversial decision, pulled the plug on a Bowl game.  Too many of their star players would sit it out for fear of injuries before the NFL draft.  I watched several Notre Dame games during their 10 game winning streak, and much of the time they looked like an NFL team competing against college boys.  

That it's becoming all about money is understandable to me from the players' point of view--it's their chance for financial security they could probably never attain in any other way.  But the role of money in the big time colleges is something else again, and it would not surprise me that this has something to do with why Notre Dame got locked out.  

Injuries because of greedy NBA owners, the violence, brutality and devastating injuries of NFL and now college football, and the greed associated with them all, really requires enough denial to further inhibit my enjoyment of these sports.