Reflecting on the Warriors' title

The San Francisco Giants were underdogs in the postseason each time they won their three titles in the past five years. So it felt different with the Warriors as one of the best teams in the regular season in NBA history en route to their championship.

After being the eighth team in history to finish with a 10 point differential in the regular season, Golden State wasn't quite as dominant in the postseason. The Warriors were the best team in the postseason, but it is a different beast. You don't sneak your way into the playoffs in the Western Conference.

While the Warriors became the first team with no players with NBA Finals experience since Michael Jordan led the 1990-91 Bulls to the franchise's first title, they were also the first team with a rookie head coach to win a championship since the Showtime Lakers in 1982 with Pat Riley. With the higher level of play and the playoff format, Kerr seemed ill-prepared at times. While most media focused on the inexperience of the players at that level, I faulted Kerr. But in the end, he won the coaching battle in each series.

The Warriors faced adversity in each round, but Kerr made adjustments and the team executed his plans to perfection. Outside of Stephen Curry's fall and Klay Thompson's concussion, watching LeBron James prove himself as one of the best of all time provided the biggest scare to Golden State's dreams of winning a title. But the Warriors were the better team and Kerr's moves, along with the team's depth, made the difference.

It turns out the Warriors didn't need Thompson in the Finals -- well at least not that much. He did score 15.8 points per game and played stellar defense. But Andre Iguodala led the Warriors when they needed it most. They followed his lead on both ends of the court.

When the Golden State offense gasped for air, Iguodala resuscitated it by pushing the pace. But it wasn't just his energy on the fast break, Iguodala led the NBA Finals with a 62 effective field goal percentage (eFG%). On defense, Iguodala shut down James -- or at least slowed him down as much as possible. When he was in, James shot 38 percent and the Cavs were minus-55. When he was out, James shot 44 percent and Cleveland was plus-30.

Curry didn't earn any MVP votes for the Finals, but he had a sneaky good series. Besides crossing up Matt Dellavedova, he had some other daggers. Curry played the most minutes of any Warrior and was second overall in Finals minutes to James. He averaged 26 points, 5.2 rebounds and 6.3 assists a game with a 55 eFG%. I'm glad he didn't split the vote with a more-than-deserving Iguodala, but Curry was huge.

Stevenson golf coach Bill Hankison retiring

After 38 years of coaching sports at Stevenson and bringing the school its first state title, Bill Hankison is retiring.

Since becoming head coach of the golf team in 2005, the Pirates enjoyed a run of nine consecutive league titles and five consecutive Central Coast Section titles between 2010-2014.

"He never gets down on you if you have a bad round or anything," senior Pirates golfer Nick Simmons said. "Supportive. He helps us all out a lot and will pretty much do anything we need in order to help us achieve success."

 In 2013, Hankison led the Pirates to a victory in the CIF State Boys Golf Championships, the school's first state title in any sport. But Hankison didn't only coach golf at Stevenson.

Since arriving in Pebble Beach in 1976, Hankison has coached tennis, girls and boys basketball and golf at Stevenson. He has also served as a counselor, teacher and chair of the English department. Hankison said he will continue to teach.

"He's a good guy. It's been fun knowing him for the past four years," said senior Sunny Yan. "Even like outside of golf, just like conversations we've had in the van (going to and from tournaments). He's been my teacher for the past few years in English as well, so we've gotten pretty close."

Yan will be participating in the CIF State Boys Golf Championships on June 3 as an individual for Stevenson.

Stevenson athletic director Jeff Young, who is also retiring, arrived at the school in 1979. Hankison was already hard at work enriching the lives of Stevenson students by then.

"Bill has done a remarkable job of being such a positive influence in the lives of so many students both in the classroom and in the sporting arenas," Young said. "He has spent countless hours helping students discover and expand their passions in life. Bill is a master teacher and coach and has garnered deep respect among players and coaches alike."

At the Mission Trail Athletic League Golf Championships last month, Carmel coach Ross Kroeker presented Hankison with a pin flag signed by the golfers. Kroeker said he likes to pick Hankison's brain for wisdon.

"Bill cares a lot about the kids," Kroeker said. "Not just the players on his team, but about all of the players."

Carmel High catcher Daniel Higman has big shoes to fill

After the Carmel High baseball team's 4-3 victory over Aragon (San Mateo) on Tuesday, senior outfielder William Kehoe said teammate Robby Treadwell's injury was one of the worst things he could have seen happen.

It was especially tough to watch for Kehoe, who's played baseball with Treadwell for over 10 years. No matter what team they are rooting for, nobody in the stadium wants to see something like that happen. An injury like that is tragic. The good news, is that the senior catcher didn't break any bones and should fully recover.

"We know we'll have him emotionally and we know we'll have him mentally, we're just going to lose him physically for Saturday," Padres coach Randy Bispo said after Tuesday's game.

No. 7 Carmel (23-7) meets No. 4 Sacred Heart Prep of Atherton (20-12) on Saturday in the Central Coast Section Division II final at 1 p.m. at San Jose Municipal Stadium.

While Carmel will miss Treadwell in the lineup and behind the plate, the senior has worked with backup catcher Daniel Higman, Bispo said. Higman, a sophomore, appeared to do a fine job in the final two innings of Tuesday's win after Treadwell's injury.

Bispo said what Treadwell brought to the team is immeasurable, but he's confident Higman can fill the role for Saturday's game. Bispo coaches the Carmel catchers and he said that Treadwell has mentored Higman, which should make the transition as seamless as possible given the situation.

"He's put a lot of time in with the backup catcher, Robby himself has, so we're really confident in that guy getting the job done -- and he knows that," Bispo said of Higman.

Senior Tanner Koopmans should be the other part of Carmel's battery to start the game on Saturday. The righty allowed only three earned runs on five hits in his last outing, a five-inning win against Mills (Millbrae) at Monterey Peninsula College on Saturday. Carmel ace Wesley Noble and reliever Carter Hayes should be available out of the bullpen. Higman caught Hayes for two innings on Tuesday.

Local golf notebook

At the high school, junior college and NCAA level, the regular season is over for golf. As you might expect from teams playing in and around Pebble Beach, many of our local squads are looking at deep postseason runs.

MPC

The men's team at Monterey Peninsula College is looking for its first state title since 1987. The Lobos get the opportunity to get that done next week. The CCCAA Men’s Golf State Championship opens up on Monday at Kings River Country Club, near Fresno.

The Lobos took third place in the Northern California CCCAA Men’s Regional Championships at Merced Golf & Country Club, with top-10 finishes from Taylor Daniels and Greg Moreno. If league MVP Will Cross is at the top of his game next week, the Lobos will be in good shape.

"The team has a great chance of winning this year," MPC coach Justin Russo said in an email.

Central Coast Section

On the high school level, Stevenson appears to be in the driver's seat. Longtime coach Bill Hankison asked for a little more out of his seniors before the CCS Regionals and they delivered. Nick Simmons shot 3-under 68, the top score from either day of the tournament. The Pirates are senior-heavy and would no doubt love to earn Hankison one more state title before he retires.

After Stevenson posted a 359 team score on Day 1, Bellarmine one-upped the Pirates and shot 356 when they got the chance to compete on the second day. Both teams had two players under par, with Nick Rivera (70) joining Simmons for Stevenson and Bellarmine's Eddy Lai and Berk Harvey coming in at 69 to share medalist honors on the second day. Expect to see those two teams battling it out for a section title on Tuesday in the CCS Championships at Rancho Cañada’s West Course in Carmel Valley.

Don't count out Palma, which joins Stevenson as a Monterey County representative on Tuesday. The Chieftains are a laid-back group that doesn't fold under pressure. Hansi Hell was co-medalist with the two Bellarmine golfers on Day 2 at the CCS regionals. Palma is solid up and down its lineup.


CSUMB

Last, but certainly not least, the CSU Monterey Bay men's golf team has its eyes on another national title. The Otters will compete in the NCAA Division II Men’s Golf National Championship on May 18–22 on the Jones Course at Rock Barn Golf and Spa in Conover, North Carolina.

CSUMB looked dominant at the NCAA West Region Tournament at Hiddenbrooke Golf Course in Vallejo, with Ray Richards draining a 70-foot putt on the 18th hole to earn a share of the individual title. Carr Vernon, Anton Rosen and Fredrik Jullum are All-CCAA golfers. The Otters are no strangers to deep NCAA runs and they are used to the intensity that comes with playing for an NCAA title.