2019 NBA Finals Game 2 Recap + Game 3 Prediction

I am happy to report that Game 2 of the 2019 NBA finals went pretty much as I predicted that it would right here on this blog. Although my predicted score was a little higher than what actually occurred (did not expect both teams to go ice cold in the 4th quarter), most of my other projections came to fruition. Despite falling victim to some of the same errant play in the first half of game 2 as they demonstrated in game 1, the relentless 3rd quarter Golden State team we’ve come to know and love, or hate depending on who you ask, went on the highest Finals run of 20-0 since the NBA/ABA merger in 1976, and were graced by a clutch shot from Andre Iguodala to take game 2. Swarming defensively, making extra passes to ensure high percentage shot opportunities, and trusting role-players like DeMarcus Cousins and Quinn Cook to make big-time plays all while protecting the basketball helped a hobbling Golden State team put themselves in position to steal game 2 in Toronto and win everyone in America a free Doritos Locos Taco.

If the Toronto Raptors turn up the heat and take advantage of all of Golden State’s current shortcomings leading to an upset victory in the Finals, I’m worried that their championship efforts will be unnecessarily diminished by critics saying it wouldn’t be possible if the Warriors had been running at 100%. The reality is that they’re far from it and, as we saw on Sunday night, that doesn’t matter even on a stage as big as stages get in this sport. If Toronto wants to avoid being meme’d to oblivion for losing to such an injury-stricken Warriors team, they need to make some adjustments now that home court advantage has been taken away from them. While the Raptors can’t also plan on Klay Thompson having an off night due to his injured hamstring, they need to turn their focus to the man who has proven that even when not feeling well, or playing with blurred vision, unanimous MVP Stephen Curry, who can go off and put a game away at any moment. While Fred VanVleet has done a respectable job so far this series keeping up with Curry (and representing the 815), the Raptors need tighter rotations and more double-teams on Curry to slow Golden State’s offense. If Steph is able to get in rhythm at home barring any more energy lapses, this series is as good as over. The Raptors instead need to force Golden State’s role-players and big men to make moves and score points, a task that isn’t a given now that Kevin Durant is out, Klay Thompson is limping, Kevon Looney is out for the series, and Boogie Cousins is still getting back in rhythm.

While Oracle Arena is notorious for having an atmosphere only the Warriors can operate effectively in, it has been known to fail at key times as I said in my earlier post. The Warriors should feel somewhat comfortable, but absolutely cannot take any game for granted in these NBA Finals. The Raptors are playing with the pride and grit sufficient to take down any team in this league, and the Warriors need to have that same intensity if they want to keep home court advantage and complete the 3-peat. I see this as a crucial game in the series, and in reality one that is 50/50. That being said, I’m not going to bet against Steve Kerr and the Golden State Warriors who are primed and ready to be back in front of their home crowd. This should be a good one.

Prediction: GSW 108, TOR 103

Why Time Management Is A Procrastinator's Best Friend

As a college student I often find myself in the predicament of having what always seems like (but never really is) far too much time to complete my assignments. Unlike in high school where assignments were often due the same week if not the day after they are given out, university professors tend to give their students several weeks if not months to complete more lengthy and complicated tasks. From the mind of a professional procrastinator like myself, waiting until the last minute to tackle what is always a more complicated assignment than originally anticipated is a bad habit that I had developed but, amazingly, was able to recently break by coming up practicing what I’ve always known the right way to handle projects: time management.

My last semester in college was one in which I found success (however I will forever despise Geology and also that class received none of the advice offered in this post) in breaking assignments into bite-sized pieces, creating accomplishable and color-coded checklists for myself to complete, and allowing myself enough time to fall slightly behind without feeling overwhelmed if I was graced by the delightful presence of writer’s block, which I’ve found is only curable with time and patience. Had I not managed my time more carefully, the two online classes that I took as well as the in-person Spanish class and upper-level, writing intensive English class that I took paired with Geology which I likely would have failed if not for taking it with my amazing girlfriend who kept my studying somewhat disciplined, would’ve all become far too overwhelming to achieve A’s and B’s like I did. Procrastination is an attribute found in some degree within all of us, and while some of us use the excuse that they perform “better under pressure” as I used to, it is an attribute that should be eradicated if possible because it is completely unnecessary, and the result of carefully considered work is always higher quality and more consistently achievable than trying to catch lightning in a bottle.

For me, discipline is found when I find pleasure in accomplishing tasks and seeing real progress. The work such as presentations and lengthy papers (English Major life, yo) that once seemed daunting and difficult now seems enjoyable and more like a winnable game than a mountainous task . Instead of arbitrarily starting one assignment instead of a more pressing one, quickly becoming distracted, and then giving up to instead play a video game or take a nap (welcome to college!), working backwards from due dates and figuring out what needs to be done each day to complete an assignment most efficiently and effectively has saved my work ethic and has me excited for the next semester of college, which is guaranteed to be more demanding than ever before. Life tends to ask more of you as time goes on, so hopefully you have made yourself more equipped to deal with all of its challenges.

I know this is all fairly straightforward advice, but when actually put into practice, it has worked wonders for me. These things are well-known for a reason, right? The key is consistency and discipline, which we could all improve on. Happy studying — but not now. It’s summer. Just chill for now.

2019 NBA Finals Game 1 Recap + Game 2 Prediction

As a fairly avid fan of NBA basketball, I couldn’t be happier with this year’s NBA finals matchup. Well, I take that back - if somehow the Chicago Bulls had pulled off one of the greatest miracles and had actually decided to win games this past season, somehow making it through the playoffs and into the finals, that would’ve been absolutely incredible. Instead, the non-fairytale world we live in still provided a very intriguing matchup for fans, and game 1 of this series did not disappoint.

A Warriors team that was 32-1 in their last 33 games in which Stephen Curry played and Kevin Durant did not simply looked rusty on Thursday night after 9 complete days off between the Western Conference Finals and the NBA Finals. Right out of the gate, Golden State was committing careless turnovers, allowing easy transition baskets for the Raptors, and was failing to close-out on open three-point shots from players like Danny Green and Marc Gasol, allowing Toronto to open driving lanes and to spread the floor all while Scotiabank Arena gained more and more energy. Toronto also came out as if they expected to take game 1. As a basketball player myself for a few years and a fan who has been to some high-intensity games, I understand the unpredictability of the sport when there is a certain energy in an arena. Toronto is representing an entire country of fans who are getting their first taste of the NBA Finals in Canada, against the reigning champions no less, and they didn’t want to send those fans home disappointed. While every Raptor should be proud of stellar performances all around, especially from Pascal Siakam (14/17 shooting and 32 points, are you kidding me?!), they also shouldn’t get too comfortable against a Warriors team who has demonstrated that they are capable of making the necessary adjustments to get themselves right back into a series.

As a fan of the sport in general, I am disappointed to see any player go down with an injury, but seeing a KD-less Warriors team have to exert more effort than usual makes this series much more interesting. The reality is that Golden State did not play very well in game 1, without Kevin Durant, and still only lost by 9 points. They should, and already seem to, feel very comfortable going into game 2. Their game plan of doubling Kawhi Leonard and forcing Toronto to constantly take 3’s is a good one and when the law of averages kicks in and the Warriors close-out on open shots more effectively, the Raptors’ shooting percentage is likely to fall quite dramatically. That same law of averages likely indicates that Klay Thompson will do a better job as the series progresses, and the 9 point gap between the two teams in game 1 will likely shrink in game 2, if not grow in favor of Golden State.

I predict a game 2 that takes the air out of Jurassic Park. Steve Kerr and the members of his championship Warriors are hungry, willing to adjust, and do not want to go down 0-2 without Kevin Durant, because for as well as they perform on their home court in Oracle Arena, they’ve been known to drop the ball in some vital must win games. I could be wrong here, and I sometimes am about these things — but I see a statement victory coming from Golden State tonight. Hopefully a win will shut Drake up, too, because that in and of itself is enough to write an entire blog post about. Enjoy the game no matter the result.

Prediction: GSW 117, TOR 105

Album Review: ZUU - Denzel Curry

Fresh off of the critically acclaimed album TA13OO which released in 2018, rapper Denzel Curry is back and making his presence known with his newest project ZUU. I had forgotten that this album was releasing today, May 31st, so when Spotify alerted me that there was new music with Curry’s name on it, I was pleasantly surprised and knew that I was in for a treat. I was, fortunately, correct in this assumption. The initial impression that I had seems to be similar to that of many other fans on sites such as Reddit and Twitter, which is one of abundant praise and admiration. Denzel certainly ended the evening with a better night than Stephen did yesterday (Curry… get it? Raptors in 7.)

While not as jarringly creative and relevant as TA13OO was, Curry still delivers a project with replay-ability and stellar production here. The album cover channels late 90’s/early 00’s rap era style, and that is reflected throughout the track listing appropriately. Even by Denzel Curry’s pre-established standard of releasing high quality bangers, ZUU goes above and beyond in this regard. A modern spin on traditional southern rap instrumentals is surprisingly refreshing and sets Curry above his current competition in the scene. The intermittent skits are appropriate and further the playful tone Curry sets with his catchy flows and lyricism, which however can unfortunately be childishly simplistic at times.

It will quickly become clear as I review music on this blog that one of the biggest gripes I have with music, particularly rap, is a lack of complexity. I appreciate surface-level bars to a certain degree, but I especially enjoy lines with double or triple entendres that require multiple listens to fully grasp. This album lacks that complexity, but that isn’t to fault Curry too harshly. ZUU isn’t an instant classic, but its enjoyable production, features, and flows will keep its highlights (“ZUU”, “BIRDZ Feat. Rick Ross”, “P.A.T Feat. PlayThatBoiZay”) in the summer playlists for 2019.

SCORE: 7/10

My Top 3 Albums From 2019 So Far + An Explanation of My Rating System

I figured that posting something directly after my introductory post explaining how ambitious I am planning to be with this blog made a fair amount of sense and insures that, at the very least, this site will have at least ONE substantive post -- this one -- discussing my 3 favorite albums from 2019 so far and explaining/defending why I am so harsh when it comes to a grading scale and rating system. Let's dive in.

*disclaimer, these brief analyses of the selected albums will not be as in-depth as my later album reviews which will be standalone posts.*

Let's start with my favorite album from 2019 so far which is Tyler, The Creator's IGOR. This experimental project further demonstrates Tyler's willingness to evolve past an immature sound in Wolf and Cherry Bomb, into a more introspective Flower Boy, and then eventually into a conceptual and rough-around-the-edges project like IGOR. Thematically sound and sonically hypnotizing, Tyler's break-up album fully familiarizes the audience with the IGOR character while disorienting them with never-before-heard instrumental combinations and synth perfection. Many of the songs on this project are catchy to the point of endless repetition, and the transitions in-between them encourage keeping the album on loop, which I have done happily since it's release. Slight hiccups throughout keep me from giving this project a perfect score, but it is fairly close to the coveted and very rare 10/10 rating from me. SCORE = 9/10

Secondly is James Blake's lovely project Assume Form. This one caught me by surprise. Blake was on my radar mainly from collaborations with rappers such as Kendrick Lamar and Travis Scott as well as a handful of selections from his previous album The Colour In Anything, but until the release of Assume Form I hadn't fully listened to one of the musicians projects from beginning to end, which is how I typically consume projects. Assume Form changed that, as its beautiful and sometimes haunting sounds found themselves trapped in the recesses of my mind and the insides of my headphones. Constantly. What adds to this simply revealing and beautiful album is the fact that I was able to see James Blake open his Assume Form tour at The Tabernacle here in Atlanta with my wonderful girlfriend. James' clear humbleness and gratefulness toward the crowd accompanied with his incredible singing ability lead to a fantastic show that completely sold me on a fantastic album. SCORE = 8/10

Finally is an album that completely blindsided me, which is Billie Eilish's WHEN WE ALL FALL ASLEEP, WHERE DO WE GO? I was familiar with Eilish's viral presence online mainly because of her remarkable success at such a young age of 17. An artist releasing their debut album simply should not have such a distinct and established sound as that of Billie Eilish. Some of the themes present on this project, especially in the album's closing tracks, demonstrate a very weathered and mature performer whose age shouldn't be used as a point of criticism. Radio friendly songs such as "bury a friend" and "bad guy" are fun listens, but the heavier listens like "listen before i go" and "i love you" keep me coming back to this project. Its lack of thematic cohesiveness is expected from a debut album and is intentional from what I've seen from Eilish's interviews, but it unfortunately takes away from the start to finish replay-ability for me. Again, a great album that completely blindsided me and greatly surpassed my expectations. SCORE = 8/10

So there are my top albums so far from 2019, none of which have a perfect 10/10 score. Fret not -- that is expected with me. I only have a handful of albums that I have given a perfect score to. Some find my rating scale a bit harsh, which is a fair critique. I describe it as fair, though. Here it is, as follows:

- 10: Perfection with nothing in need of change.

- 9: Extraordinarily amazing.

- 8: Great.

- 7: Good.

- 6: Above average.

- 5: Average.

- 4: Below average.

- 3: Bad.

- 2. Terrible.

- 1. Extraordinarily awful.

- 0: No redeeming qualities, as bad as possible.

We'll see if 2019 brings a perfect 10/10 for me. Stay tuned as I continue to share in-depth album and track reviews here on this blog.