5-at-10: Warriors' statement, college hoops craziness, Titans' awful hire, Glenn Frey Rushmores


              Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) knocks the ball loose from Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James (23) in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Jan. 18, 2016, in Cleveland. Andre Iguodala (9) is at right. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)
Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry (30) knocks the ball loose from Cleveland Cavaliers' LeBron James (23) in the first half of an NBA basketball game, Monday, Jan. 18, 2016, in Cleveland. Andre Iguodala (9) is at right. (AP Photo/Tony Dejak)

Cavs' troubles
Wow. Just. Plain. Wow.
The Golden State Warriors DE-stroyed Cleveland at Cleveland on Monday.
It was Sherman vs. Atlanta. It was Drago vs. Creed. It was shoe vs. ant.
Only worse because we expected Atlanta, Creed, ant, et al. to be more competitive.
This was a statement by the Warriors. In fact it was a soliloquy.
It was a statement that the Warriors' A game is light years ahead of everyone else.
It was a statement that the Warriors know their A game is an unstoppable force. (They talked a ton of tracy before going into Cleveland and backing it up like a dump truck.)
It was a statement that if you have a defensive liability on the floor, it will get exposed by Golden State. Ask Kevin Love, who is the basketball punch line on the internet this morning.
It was a statement about the current future and the immediate foreseeable future about the game of basketball.
Let's explore that a little.
In the now, the Warriors are the clear front runner. They have spoken about trying to win a record 73 games, and the biggest hurdles in that pursuit are injury and self-motivation.
Also, in the now, the team that is the clear heavyweight in the East - these Cavs - appear to have absolutely nothing for Golden State.

photo Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James (23) questions a call by referee Eric Lewis (42) during the first half of an NBA basketball game against the Dallas Mavericks, Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016, in Dallas. (AP Photo/LM Otero)

How is that possible with LeBron James in a Cavs uniform?
Well, Love could not stop Draymond Green's myriad skill set with a straight jacket and a court order. Kyrie Irving's lapses in defensive focus resulted in pick-and-roll 3s or dunks, whichever the Warriors selected. And defensively, the Warriors throw a variety of match-ups at James.
Even when LeBron is at his offensive apex of efficiency - and in our mind, that's posting up and working inside-out since he's the game's most unselfish superstar since Magic - the Cavs can post a river of buckets.
But a flood of 2s is mathematically inferior to the Warriors parade of 3s. (It's science.)
And that's the statement of the future. The game will continue to move to the perimeter, pick-and-roll, 3-point-driven analytics style that the Warriors have perfected.
And that's good news for the Warriors.
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College hoops upsets
OK, welcome to college hoops bizarro land.
It's where Duke has lost three games in a row, including a couple at Cameron.
It's where top-ranked Oklahoma falls and is still likely a No. 1 seed.
It's where Auburn beats Kentucky, which seems even silly to write three days later.
What does it mean in mid-to-late January? Not much, and a little bit of everything.
It's the spiraling characteristics of the modern-version of college hoops.
Quite simply, when the best teams have the best talent and that talent is an abundance of teenagers, everyone is susceptible. Everyone. Be them the defending champs like Duke or the perennial powers like UK.
It also means that the madness that is March will be even more mayhem than normal.
It also means an experienced team like UTC could make a real splash come tournament time.
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Grading the NFL hires
TFP ace sports columnist Mark Wiedmer pitches the thought that Tennessee hiring Mike Mularkey to coach the Titans could be a catalyst for moving the franchise.
It's an interesting talking point, and one that when we discussed it late last week on Press Row was met with shock and outrage by some callers. That was before the hiring of Mularkey, of course, and the hiring of a guy that was 2-7 as the interim to drop his career record to 18-39 does very little for confidence in the direction of the organization. (Unless, as Weeds points out, that direction is out of Nashville.)

photo FILE - In this Sunday, Jan. 3, 2016 file photo, Tennessee Titans interim head coach Mike Mularkey looks on during the second half of an NFL football game against the Indianapolis Colts in Indianapolis. The Tennessee Titans have hired Mike Mularkey as their head coach, choosing to keep the man who handled the final nine games after they fired Ken Whisenhunt, Saturday, Jan. 16, 2016. (AP Photo/AJ Mast, File)

With that, it appears the universal view on the Mularkey hire is that, wait for it, is a bunch of malarkey.
Let's grade the seven NFL hirings.
Cleveland: Getting Hue Jackson was a very nice get. In fact the most common question was, "Why would Hue got there?" which speaks well for the Browns. Grade: A
San Francisco: We think getting Chip Kelly was the best hire of the offseason to tell you the truth. We believe he will be humbled and more experienced by his roller coaster in Philly. And, in truth, he, GM Trent Baalke and quarterback Colin Kaepernick all have to realize this could be each of their last best chance to make a mark in the NFL. Grade: B+
Miami: The Dolphins added Adam Gase, the 37-year-old offensive mind who has had great success with a wide-ranging spectrum of quarterback talent. In that regard, this also represents the last best chance for Ryan Tannehill. Grade: B+
Tampa Bay: The Bucs promoted Dirk Koetter to help the continued growth of quarterback Jameis Winston. It's a move that makes sense, even if it cost Lovie Smith his gig. Grade: B.
New York: Another promotion from within, the Giants turned to offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo. Interesting choice for a lot of reasons, mainly because it appears that N.Y. thinks the window for Eli Manning is still open. Grade: B-
Philadelphia: The Eagles ended the Chip Kelly experiment. OK. But they ended it and went back to the future with Doug Pederson, who was Andy Reid's OC, and of course, Andy Reid was the long-time coach of the Eagles, who was told to R-U-N-N-O-F-T. Grade: C
Tennessee: Gross. Grade: F
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This and that
- Tennis craziness. Venus Williams was the No. 8 seed in the Aussie Open. We say was because she was bounced at some point during the night. Also toppled was No. 5-seed Rafael Nadal and Simona Halep, the No. 2 seed on the women's side.
- Man, being good at baseball is a nice blessing. Justin Upton just got paid. Again. Upton's numbers last year - he hit .251 with 26 homers and 81 RBIs and is an average defender - generated a six-year, $132.75 million deal. Egad.

photo Venus Williams of the United States makes a backhand return to Johanna Konta of Britain during their first round match at the Australian Open tennis championships in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Jan. 19, 2016.(AP Photo/Aaron Favila)

- To further expand on the point of the perimeter-oriented NBA, did you see the top three scorers last night? Yes, Kemba Walker dropped 52, JJ Reddick went for 40 and Gordon Hayward went for 36. Enjoy, and kids, remember to eat healthy and shoot 500 jumpers a day.
- Saw this article about Kirk Herbstreit talking about the old-school NCAA EA sports football game and realized how much we missed that game. Also of note: There's an interesting theory out there that the rise in soccer among the young kids of today is due in part to the popularity of the FIFA video game. At the same time, the college sports games in football and hoops are no more. We're not saying, we're just saying.
- Finally, we have discussed the potential hard times ahead for ESPN. Then we saw this doing our research this morning: After record-setting viewers this weekend for the Saturday night game and the Sunday game - numbers that set marks for those rounds of the playoffs - ESPN has announced it will NOT bid on the NFL Thursday night package.
- Another Tuesday, more Cam Newton hate. So it goes.

photo FILE - In this June 30, 2009, file photo, Glenn Frey, of the the Eagles, performs at Belfast's Odyssey Arena in Northern Ireland. Frey, who co-founded the Eagles and with Don Henley became one of history's most successful songwriting teams with such hits as "Hotel California" and "Life in the Fast Lane," has died at age 67. He died Monday, Jan. 18, 2016, in New York. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison, File)

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Today's question
Glenn Frey died Monday. He was 67.
He started the Eagles with Don Henley, and they became the best-selling U.S. band ever. Ever.
Frey also was arguably the Czar of the Soundtrack.
With that in mind, what's your nomination for the Rushmore(s) of a) the best American musical group and
b) soundtracks? Let's go with the full version soundtrack, not just the title tune. (And yes, Spy, you can nominate Dirty Dancing. "Nobody puts Baby in a corner.")

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