5-at-10: Kerr's greatness, NFL's sneaky brilliance, Braves bullpen woes, Rushmore of coaches


              FILE - In this June 21, 2013, file photo, Miami Heat's LeBron James holds the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in his left hand and the Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy after Game 7 of the NBA basketball finals in Miami. The Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs to win their second straight NBA championship. Bill Russell is at right rear. Miami changed James for the better. He came back to Ohio more confident, more determined--a two-time NBA champion. He's now drawing on his experiences to make a run at another title. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)
FILE - In this June 21, 2013, file photo, Miami Heat's LeBron James holds the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in his left hand and the Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy after Game 7 of the NBA basketball finals in Miami. The Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs to win their second straight NBA championship. Bill Russell is at right rear. Miami changed James for the better. He came back to Ohio more confident, more determined--a two-time NBA champion. He's now drawing on his experiences to make a run at another title. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)
photo FILE - In this June 21, 2013, file photo, Miami Heat's LeBron James holds the Bill Russell NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award in his left hand and the Larry O'Brien NBA Championship Trophy after Game 7 of the NBA basketball finals in Miami. The Heat defeated the San Antonio Spurs to win their second straight NBA championship. Bill Russell is at right rear. Miami changed James for the better. He came back to Ohio more confident, more determined--a two-time NBA champion. He's now drawing on his experiences to make a run at another title. (AP Photo/Wilfredo Lee, File)

Finals breakdown

We have picked the Cavs in six. We are all-in with LeBron. You know this.

That said, here's saying that if the Warriors win it will be because of one of the most underrated strengths.

Steve Kerr is among the brightest basketball minds of his generation.

That was true before this season. It has been magnified by this season.

Consider this: We are watching Steve Kerr's first season as a coach at any level, and he is four wins from bringing an NBA Title to Golden State for Pete's sake. Golden State.

He moved pieces and limited minutes of two former All-Stars in David Lee and Andre Iguodala. He accentuated Draymond Green's role. He has challenged and stroked and pulled the best from Harrison Barnes. He has flashed limitless green lights on Klay Thompson and Steph Curry.

This team has his finger prints all over it, and while coaching may be less important in the NBA than any of the big three leagues, Kerr's role can't be overstated.

It also can't be much of a surprise.

Kerr is a guy that has enjoyed a ton of success at every level and angle of basketball.

He made himself a star at Arizona, a lightly recruited prospect - not unlike his star Curry - who helped turn the Wildcats into a national program.

He was shaped and hardened by the assassination of his father by terrorists, but he rarely speaks of it.

photo Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr gestures during the second half of Game 5 of the NBA basketball Western Conference finals against the Houston Rockets in Oakland, Calif., Wednesday, May 27, 2015. (AP Photo/Ben Margot)

He had a 15-year NBA career that included five championships and is still the all-time leader in 3-point percentage. There have been 10 NBA teams to win 67 or more games in a season; Kerr has been a part of three of them - two as a player and this year as a coach.

He had one stint as a general manager with Phoenix and became one of the game's most-respected analyst.

In fact, Kerr's true basketball value and greatness in the moment may be simply put this way: In the 1997 Finals, Michael Jordan passed the ball to Kerr for the game-winning shot to win Game 6 and the championship. Think about that. Michael Jordan, the moist competitive athlete in the history of sports, was willing to trust Kerr with everything on the line.

There were questions about whether Kerr was ready to be a head coach, but those close to scoff at that notion. He was approached multiple times over the years, but in part because of the loss of his father, Kerr waited until his kids were older before committing to the extended grind of coaching an NBA team.

So here he is, the guy that made himself a player and has earned high praise at every level, on the cusp of breaking through the glass ceiling in his first crack.

It's an overnight-success story a basketball lifetime in the making. It's a fairy tale that in part was born from tragedy more than 30 years ago.

And it's hard to bet against him, even with James on the other end.

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Big news

This could be the biggest sports development in recent memory and could change sports completely.

Seriously.

And in typical NFL fashion, the league simply slides it into an announcement package as the buzz feeds offer details about LeSean McCoy saying that a coach who traded a black running back and replaced him with a black running back was racist. Or that Adrian Peterson is "glad to be back."

The NFL has perfected its slight of hand tactics, a corporate-level rope-a-dope that would make Muhammad Ali smile.

When off-the-field issues happen, there is talk of adding more games. If concussions become a talking point, hey, there could be a team in Los Angeles by 2016.

photo NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell speaks to reporters during the NFL's spring meetings in San Francisco, Wednesday, May 20, 2015. (AP Photo/Jeff Chiu)

And when things get really serious, well, commissioner Roger Goodell breaks the glass door on his office wall and pulls out the latest version of the league's plan to change the extra point.

The NFL has emerged as the biggest thing in pop culture for a multitude of reasons.

They have embraced the gambling angles. They have helped craft the best minor league system in sports with big-time college football.

And most importantly, they have embraced and even been out front of all of the technological developments to make it a better viewing experience.

To that end, the announcement that the NFL will work with Yahoo and live stream an NFL game for free Oct. 25 could be the game-changer.

In the last few years, Goodell has said the NFL has plans of tripling its $8 billion revenue in the next 12 years. It seems hard to fathom that the league has a high enough ceiling to generate $25 billion annually under the current model. The league already has the richest TV contracts and stadiums are already full, even though the NFL is top-rated show on five networks. Yes, five - ESPN, Fox, NBC, CBS and the NFL Network.

One path could be expansion. Take the product to more cities and potentially more countries.

Another could be part of online streaming.

There already are more and more online viewing options and those who prefer them. Some sports are available online - ESPN3 is a familiar notion to Mocs fans - but not on this scale or one of this popularity.

Consider the worldwide audience - especially Americans around the world - who could access Yahoo rather than one of the traditional TV channels.

Yes, the internet has altered almost everything, but the real game-changer is the portals on which these games now can be watched. Tablets and phones with crystal-clear pictures that offer mobility beyond a desk top offer digital expansion that is limitless.

And the NFL is out front of it.

To triple its revenue, the NFL will have to go global. It will have to have another way to generate revenue and offering global advertisers - Coke, Apple, you name it - the chance to reach a captive and passionate audience from Hixson to Helsinki and from Dayton to New Dehli would be very attractive.

It also could be quite pricey.

Now, if they only could fix that extra point thing.

photo Atlanta Braves pitcher Williams Perez throws to the San Francisco Giants during the first inning of a baseball game Saturday, May 30, 2015, in San Francisco.

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Braves

The Atlanta Braves are 26-27.

They are young and exciting and fun to watch.

They also have the worst relief pitching in baseball. Let's face it, their bullpen is bull well, you know where we were going.

So what does that mean?

Not much because this bunch was not expected to contend this year anyway.

It does lay out the biggest need on the horizon for the future.

It also screams the absolute disaster that was stinky Upton, considering that the Braves had to package Craig Kimbrel with Upton to get the Padres to take him and his awful contract.

Egad.

(Side note: Kimbrel is not faring all that well in San Diego, either. Dude has 12 saves in 13 chances, which is not that bad, but has a lofty 4.50 ERA.)

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This and that

- It's tough being a 10-year-old baseball fan.

- Congrats to Florida pitcher Lauren Haeger and the Gators for winning the college softball national title. You know what, we found ourselves watching a fair amount of the tournament on ESPN and it's far more watchable than baseball because the pace is quicker. Yes, baseball is a beautiful game and the nuances and all that, but as sports shift more and more to being events made for TV - or tablet in the near future - softball's pace is much more watchable.

- Here's hoping Cubs youngster Junior Lake has learned his lesson after taunting the Marlins during a home run trot Wednesday that caused the benches to clear. We think manager Joe Maddon's message came through pretty clearly.

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Today's question(s)

NBA Finals, who you got?

Also, it was five years ago today that John Wooden died.

Rushmore of all-time coaches, regardless of sports. Yes, that's a tough one.

(P.S. Mailbag.)

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