shot, we have to have the rematch. we have to have the trilogy. we waited a year and here it is. >> well, he gets hurt, the warriors win. they get hurt, cavaliers win. >> you could not ask for a better match up. there are so many story lines to this match up and of course we'll get to those in the next half hour. >> that is for sure. so, we are pumped. the players are just as or more excited and they talked about meeting for the third straight year in the finals. >> it's a special thing. you know, we're definitely excited about, but most importantly, like i said, the goal is to win a championship regardless of who you're facing. >> definitely great both teams are here for a third straight time. we know each other well. we've added some pieces along the way. we'll see what this series holds. >> great memories of that, and terrible memorandum ritz of last year, but they're both lessons that you can learn going into

this series, knowing what it takes to win, how important every possession is. >> and we welcome in espn's mark spears, the undefeated. got his own special mic. >> sorry. hey, sometimes i'm an espn guy, too. you nailed it before i did. >> on loan. obviously the big difference between last year and this year is the guy who is right behind u right now. number 35 kevin durant. >> he certainly brings a whole different dimension to this series. this is the warriors team was up 1 and 3 without him. with him they have an added heavy weight to go against the heavy weight in basketball now. kevin durant is 7 feet. he's super skilled. he can do everything and he's thirsty. he thinks people forgot when he won mvp a few years ago. he's going to be the real mvp in order for the warriors to win again. >> the cavs have a match up problem. lebron would be the guy most lkely to guard him. but last year lebron guarded or

didn't have to guard harrison barnes. they don't have anybody that matches up with k.d. outside of lebron they could be in trouble if he guards durant. >> he played safety. he did whatever he wanted, stayed in passing lanes. he has to be honest now, you know. he has to guard a guy that's taller than him. and even on the other side, keep an eye on this one. when lebron goes to the hold, kevin stretches out on him. these runners lebron does, these short jumpers are going to be a lot tougher. now he has to work on both ends, where i thought he got a rest on the defensive end the last two finals. >> he guarded klay thompson at times in the regular season. let's talk about redemption. as much as we want this series, shu, i think draymond green wants it more than anybody else. we'll show it one more time, what happened in the finals, flailing against lebron, gets suspended in game five.

if draymond had been playing, the warriors would have won the finals last year in five and we'd be talking about golden state is back to back nba champs. as much as we want to see it, draymond wants the cavs badly. >> well, i think he feels responsible for that loss last year. and he's been, you know, harboring that the last year. he kotb wait to g couldn't wait. he's a lot more emotionally stable on the court this year. i don't think we're going to see lebr lebron baiting him this year. >> no technical, he's not in danger before the game. he's bitter about what happened last year. he said he probably would have done the same thing if a player walked over to him. now it's water under the bridge. he has the rematch he wanted. draymond, if the warriors would have won that gave 7, probably would have been finals mvp the way he played. but they depth. he has his match up back. i would be surprised if there is testiness between those two

guys. >> for sure. draymond has to keep his cool. his former coach at michigan state, college coach. also in the seeking redemption category is steph curry. we know he's great. two-time mvp but was not himself last year because of the knee injury and the ankle. if you look at the fourth quarter of game 7, my goodness, it was a stretch starting with the behind the back pass, which still haunts him to this day. >> gets what i call a little globe trotter on us. key moments like this you can't do that because every possession is so key in the finals. a lot of people are saying he needs to have an mvp type performance here to move up in the next echelon with michael and lebron. i think he's got a real focus. you can see it in pregame today, mark. >> he's healthy now, too. last year there were some big center, lumbering center and he couldn't get around him. >> kevin. >> that's when i knew something was wrong. i don't know if he'll ever admit how messed up he was. that's why losing that game 5 was so critical because it

pusheds him even longer. he's been the best player in the playoffs scoring wise. he's hungry. he's healthy. i think he'll be ready. >> talked with ron adams. they play with so much joy. he said they need grit to go along with that joy, especially playing this team. from the east, very physical, they're going to knock him around. they haven't been used to this in the western conference. >> i think they're tougher now than a year ago. they got punched in the mouth last year and didn't get up. but you know, now they've got some egos and some stuff with that david west. the west ate them. matt barnes will be yelling at them from the sidelines after draymond. this team is tougher, and i think steph is tougher in a lot of ways. >> well, you better have some grit and physicality if you're going to deal with lebron james. he jogged by in warm ups. he's enormous. he just glides. you know, there's all this talk about the comparisons with michael jordan.

let's hold on a second before we go there with m.j. we can discuss that later. i'm not ready to put him there. i'm surprised this season -- >> especially losing the final. >> 6-0, i believe. >> just for the record. including some game winners. but the three-point shooting by lebron, i already said it. three-point shooting by lebron, he's at 42% in the post-season on three's. that is steph curry's territory. what's happening with lebron james from deep? >> well, they've added a lot of three-point shooters, too, which i think is helping him get open, as well as him hitting three's. he's doing a lot of iso pound, pound, pound the ball. what is he doing? you'll see it tonight and he's just waiting for somebody to get over him. whether it's korver, whether tyree, james smith who didn't play the first game. he's waiting for three point shooters to get open, making lasers. >> he's making them. that's what's surprising. that's what his former coach,

mike brown, said. >> lebron didn't have rim protecters. >> better defense. >> exactly. he's going to have to kick a lot. those guys we talked about are going to have to make the three's to keep up with the warriors. >> warriors defense is better than anything the cavs saw in the east. so many story lines, so much more to come on this edition of #dubson7. a pregame show brought to you by jeep. when we continue, we're going to talk about super teams and whether it's kevin durant joining the warriors or it's lebron taking his talent to south beach. and then back to cleveland. we're going to discuss whether super teams are good or bad for the nba. and then don't forget after the game, we've got our version of a super team. spears didn't make the squad. i don't know what happened, you didn't make the photo here. >> i'm going to be on scott van pelt. >> oh,! >> yes, baby. >> want to go there. he drooped the mic right there. that will be after the game. [ laughter ] >> yeah. >> nicely done, nicely done. much more

this team that we're playing, they're the champions. we're not. i saw the quote from kelly. he said he's surprised. >> are you surprised? >> i'm surprised, too. what is everybody talking about? they're the great team, they're the champs. we're trying to take from them what they took from us last year. >> steve kerr a little bit surprised that the warriors are favorites. jerry west, the logo, the legend, along with isaiah thomas. jerry will be our pregame guest on sunday. right now we've got one of the men who is going to be calling tonight's game here on abc and that's jeff van gundy. a lot of people don't know you grew up in martinez. probably watching the rick barry warriors way back when. could you imagine that curry at the time, 30 something years following that where it's pretty

shaky, that the warriors will be in the finals for three straight years now? >> yeah, budding dynasty. rick barry, you're right. rick barry, jeff mullen, nate derman, that's who i grew up with, listening to bill king. yo-yo dribble. it was the great time in warrior basketball. they had some obviously down times, mixed in with, you know, the nellie run dmc time. this is a special time for warriors fans. >> what's your take on the super teams? i saw a quote, the warriors, never mind three in a row, could be five in a row, eight in a row. you think it's good for the nba to have teams that are so clearly superior to the rest like the yankees in baseball for years, or does it make the rest of the season kind of irrelevant? we've been waiting for this for a year. >> well, i think that greatness is always good for the nba, and you have two great teams here tonight. but i think greatness that ends

up getting pushed, larry, is even better for the nba. so, last year, the warriors got pushed by oklahoma city, and then got pushed by cleveland, upset by cleave lappveland. the year before memphis pushed them, got them down 2-1. this year neither team has been pushed. i don't think that's great for the nba. but i think great players are great for the nba and so are great teams. >> let's talk about this game specifically because i look at this as the danger game for the warriors. they've been off for nine days. you called this the spurs game, game one of the previous series. they looked asleep for the first half. they kind of lucked out because kawhi leonard got hurt. but if cleveland is going to steal one of these two games, to me it feels like this is the dangerous one. >> well, both teams have played so few games since the end of the regular season, and then have had this long layup, i think we're looking at the possibility that one or both

teams take awhile to get going. >> sure. y >> you mentioned that san antonio game, couldn't make shots, turned over, slow defensively. kawhi leonard carved them up in that first 28 minutes of the game. so, you know, i think it's a concern, but now it's a concern for both teams. i hope both teams play well right off the bat, but i think the nba body accustomed to playing every other day, it's hard to stay in rhythm. >> the warriors have only played 13 games in 46 days. so, we'll see how long it takes to shake off the cobb webs. keep, we'll see you back here many more years in the finals i hope. >> looks that way. like i said, they're building the dynasty. >> thanks very much. he'll be on the call tonight. when we continue the #dubson7 pregame show, you saw shots of steph curry earlier on. we're going to talk to the man

who coached steph when he was back in college when he was a skinny kid that hardly anybody wanted. steph curry getting set for game one and we'll talk with his coach right there, bob m ♪ ♪ award winning interface. award winning design. award winning engine. the volvo xc90. the most awarded luxury suv of the century. visit your volvo dealer to take advantage

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on snickers and twix miniatures. steph curry is famous worldwide, and this proves it. a sherpa who lives in nepal is atop mount he have rest there. his 15 year old son is a huge curry fan and asked him to take that jersey to the top. and now with social media we have evidence from the top of mount everest. #dubson7 brought to you by jeep. i'm joined by the man who was steph curry's coach in college,

bob mckillop. he was a skinny kid -- still skinny kid, skinny adult. not a lot of teams wanted him. you saw something in him. what did you see that others missed maybe early on? >> you know, i thought we saw a full package. we saw his greatness as a shooter. but his vision, his present mindedness. he stays in the present and does a remarkable job of not letting adversity, a miss, a turnover affect the way he plays. he played that way for us three years, tremendous joy to davidson college. today he's the greatest ambassador davidson has ever had. >> looking at the old video, you want to talk about the baby face. it was really right there in those old clips. >> i just remarked to him when i saw him on the court about his hair and facial hair. i said, you still look 18 years old. he's trying to disguise that. >> have you talked to him at all about that billy goat beard? i don't know about that. >> yeah, he says it's part of --

they're playing well so he's going to keep it going. >> maybe i'm a little superstitious there. you mentioned -- and we had a chance to see when he hugged you like you're best friends. i mean, estopphe stopped his pr warm up as soon as he saw. you guys are really close still to this day. he brought the championship trophy back to davidson a couple years ago. >> when he brought the championship trophy back, i asked him in advance. i said, look, we can have a steph curry day, we can have a parade, we can have the key to the city presented to you. he said no, i want to do three things. i want to meet with the team, i want to meet with the student body and i want to have lunch in the commons on the campus. how simple steph curry that is, he's a giving person. he's -- there's tremendous humility along with his confidence, and very few people have that wonderul balance that he has. >> you also had a jersey ceremony involving steph. tell me about that. is there anything we don't know

about steph? because everything else has been written about him. >> maybe i shouldn't reveal this, but he was at the dukane game and it was a sellout crowd. it was the biggest buzz throughout the campus in the season. they had a celebration in the practice gym. he was there, he had to play the hornets the next night. he decided to go to the brick house with myself and couple others which is a gathering place and he stayed until 1:00, 1:30. we dropped in on the hornets. he's got that capacity to be everything to everyone and not let it affect him. >> interesting, that's a good story. i hope he drops 30 tonight. did you have dinner with him last night by any chance in >> no, we did speak. i did see him make that shot. >> that's always a good sign. >> that was pivotal. >> you've been coaching at davidson for what, almost 30 years now? >> yeah.

>> break this series down as a coach. what do you like from the warriors and what do you think -- obviously lebron james and irving are great. >> i like the collective nature of the warriors versus the individual nature of the cavaliers. and golden state has to make it a collective game. they can't be sucked into a one on one game. they can't go half-court. i think they have to go full speed, half-court, full court, out of bounds, every aspect of the game because they're so darn good at all positions there. >> let me follow-up on that because when you're talking about ball movement in the playoff, there is so much clutching and grabbing and it really hurts the way the warriors play. a little more iso ball with k.d. may not be that bad a thing. >> i think k.d.'s presence gives them more space. and the game is a war for space. unlike harrison barnes last year, and he's a terrific

player, but they sagged in the paint. as a result didn't have the same kind of spacing. and i think they're going to see a lot more open area to make their cuts, make their passes with k.d. present. >> all right. we'll see how it plays out. coach, great meeting you and we hope you come back. maybe not for seven games, but maybe game five? >> let's hope we end it in four. >> he's talking sweet. steph curry's coach talking sweet. appreciate it. bob mckillop. more to come on the #dubson7 brought to you by jeep when we come back, fearless prediction time. who is going to be kissing that trophy at the end of four, five, six or seven?

i have a feeling we might see cavs, warriors in the trilogy one more time. >> that would be one heck of a story, one heck of a story. >> i hope with a little different out come next time. >> me and you both hope. i hope for an outcome. you hope for a different one. >> that was tyree irving and myself in july talking about the possibility of the trilogy as d.j. d. sharp rocks the house. we get set for game one and mark spears from espn rejoins us. let's get to some predictions here, okay. what do you think, big man? >> after lots of deliberation -- >> oh, goodness, here we go. >> i have the warriors in 7.

>> okay. >> another long series, but bay area better this time and the party starts. >> you have a complicated prediction, i'm told. >> you know the contrarian i am. i say the warriors in 6, but if they don't win at 6 -- >> however, there's a however? >> but the cavs win it in 7. >> how can you -- >> no, i'm giving you the warriors a chance to win in 6. but if not, the cavs will win in 7. >> sounds like a guy hedging his bets. >> i hear you can only make money betting on the cavaliers. >> only one team is going to win. >> i'm with you. i'm going warriors in 7 and i just hope my heart can take it because last year was agonizing, especially tyree reliving that jump shot. they got me as warriors in 6 on this. i'm like you. i'm 7, but i'll go 6 and 7 since

now we have a couple picks. real quick, it's critical for the warriors to get off to a fast start. to me, and i was talking with the coach. this is the danger game tonight. do you agree? >> oh, no doubt. they're at home. the cavs get either one of these, they go back to cleveland feeling good about themselves. i think the warriors really need to make a statement. everybody is talking about how great they are. show the team how great you truly are. >> i can see from the layoff standpoint. it's so long. >> games one and three -- >> cleveland has been off, too. >> it's six days. >> that's a nice amount of time. >> lebron's victory i think it will be tonight. that will be interesting. that's my x factor. tristan thompson is the guy for me. you talked about bringing physicality and grit. they have to match that intensity. >> keep him off the offensive board, klay thompson. >> klay thompson, he gets going. i know everybody says not the same rhythm with k.d. here. if he gets going it could be

trouble. >> last two series he's shooting only 34% on three's. reminds me of the beginning of the season he could barely make a shot. he's ready to bust out, though. >> he needs to now. >> more chocolate milk, right? >> the lucky socks he wore last year, something. >> all right. so, that's going to do it. you can see the fans are coming on into oracle arena, going to be packed. 19,000 plus. >> two shorts coming. >> what did two shorts say? >> he said the warriors no matter what. he says he has a song he's going to come out with if they win. the song is ready to go. >> reminder, abc 7 the only place. shoes traveling, so is mark for games three and four back in -- >> you don't have to go to clveland? >> i don't have to. i lobbied to go. i tried desperately, i tried. they won't let me. all right. that's it. we'll see you afternoon the game. mark spears,

nothing like this has ever happened before. this has ever never. ♪ i got ♪ i got ♪ loyalty ♪ got royalty inside my dna >> it's been 348 days since last summ summer's shocker. the greatest comeback, and collapse, in nba finals history. >> it's over! it's over! cleveland is the cities of champions once again. >> and tonight, for the first time ever, two teams meet in a third consecutive championship. the ultimate tie breaker. >> oh, he throws it down.