This entry is pretty much out-of-place for a blog like this. But I'm definitely giving a space for the controversial King of Pop, age 50, who died due to cardiac arrest. The whole industry is mourning as well as his fans.
I'm not a huge fan of his but I definitely am a fan of his music.There's a place in
Your heart
And I know that it is love
And this place could
Be much
Brighter than tomorrow
And if you really try
You'll find there's no need
To cry
May you rest in peace MJ.
My sister was so happy that the Dallas Mavericks came out of Game 1 against the San Antonio Spurs with a 1-0 lead and obviously I was feeling otherwise. But then again, it’s a game – you win, you lose. The only difference is that this is the NBA playoffs. And so, I told her that the Spurs will get even and take over the AT&T Center on Game 2.
Spurs’ Tony Parker settled the score to 1-1 with 38 points and eight assists on Game 2 against the Mavs. Tim Duncan finished the game with 13 pts, 11 rebounds, and three blocks. The Mavs’ flaw was being unable to contain TP which is very much evident during Game 1 after Parker had 24 points. Jason Terry, the forerunner for the 6th Man Award this season, finished off with 16 pts with Dirk Nowitzki providing 14 pts with six rebounds.
Overall, it was a classic Parker game. Cheers to all my fellow Spurs fan! But you see, it ain’t over until it’s over. Game 3 & 4 would be in the home of the Mavs and a lot can happen.
The 2009 NBA Playoffs has begun! I'm so stoked. Here is the list of team ups for the first round:
"It's speculation, I don't really have to think about it," said Ray Allen, Boston Celtics.
Honestly, I'm not even sure if he knows what he's saying. It's like welcoming the Celtics' downfall if this speculation comes true. I don't even want to think that someone had the guts to speculate regarding this incredibly troubling subject. Grrrhh!!
I like the Celts enough to stop me from getting really bored with their high stat in the association and pretty good comments from among critics. But if the speculations about New York Knicks' Stephon Marbury going over the Celts, I'd be exxxtremely disappointed. Anything that has something to do with Marbury is very very troubling given the problems he's caused to the poor Knicks.
Phoenix, Arizona, will be host to the upcoming 2009 NBA All-Star. I'm getting psyched about it! I have my All-Stars and here are the non-Spurs players I've already voted for:
Forward: WEST >> Pau Gasol(LAL), Carmelo Anthony(DEN); EAST >> Kevin Garnett(BOS), LeBron James(CLE)
Guard: WEST >> Chauncey Billups(DEN), Chris Paul(NOH); EAST >> Dwayne Wade(MIA), Vince Carter(NJN), Gilbert Arenas(WAS)
Center: WEST >> Marcus Camby(LAC); EAST >> Dwight Howard(ORL)
There are only 17 days left to vote. So, start voting your favorite All-Stars now. Oh, there are no Suns [PHX] on my list yet. Well, I still have time to vote haven't I. I'd definitely want to see Steve Nash play for the West. GO WEST!
The rivalry between the Phoenix Suns and the San Antonio Spurs is undeniable. The neck-and-neck game between the two was proven too much for Roger Mason, who brought the Spurs victory against the Suns. Apart from the Suns, there's also the Memphis Grizzlies that the Spurs ought to worry about particularly the guy named Rudy Gay. So, what's the Gay-solution that Spurs' coach Gregg Popovich applied? Have Bruce Bowen tail Gay and it worked in the favor of the Spurs, beating off the Grizzlies, 106-103, in a double-overtime game.
Tony Parker led the Spurs with 32 pts, five assists. And despite missing the remaining 1:13 minutes of the game with 6 fouls, Tim Duncan dished out 29 pts and five rebounds. Manu Ginobili meanwhile had his low profile night with 20 pts. The Spurs' BIG 3 is pulling off games the way they should. But there's another player wearing grey and white jersey that deserves almost the same credit as the Spurs' BIG 3 gets and that's Bowen.
The perimeter defender of the Spurs took charge of Gay and limited him with 5-to-18 shooting. “A lot of times, I start out off them, then I end up on them, and they don't know what's going on. I more or less give them a different diet of things and slide my feet. They try to feel my body, and I'm nowhere to be felt,” said Bowen. Knowing the damage that the Grizzlies' ace player can do, Pop knows that Bowen can do the lock-down defense he's good at while the rest finish the game off. Gay finished with 13 pts and 11 boards. O.J. Mayo, the Grizzly rookie, took 29 pts along with Marc Gasol's 15 pts, 10 rebounds, and four blocks.
With Parker and Bowen providing more pressure on the ball, the Spurs forced several missed shots and turnovers and start chipping away at the Memphis lead.
Whoa, it's been what? A month since I posted my last blog post. Can't believe I've been missing a lot of games lately. And that's mostly because I've been sleeping a lot due to my work. [sigh] Oh well, I'm literally back that's what's most important.
I'm actually planning on writing a new post here in my blog, this coming December 1st. But when this news caught my attention, I was itching to write about it. Here it is: Marbury Suspended.
Honestly, Marbury should've been suspended ages ago. Why? Because he's got this H-U-G-E attitude problem and I can't stand the fact that the New York Knicks is still sticking with him. Argh! Not that the Knicks are in my list of favorite NBA teams, but I just wanted him out of the NBA [period!]. He's really not a big loss to the team.
The San Antonio Spurs have now lost three games in a row. The freshest loss came against their Texas rival, Dallas Mavericks. The Spurs were definitely not playing the way they should be as the Mavs won 98-81.
The first half of the game was plainly dreadful. The Spurs just couldn't find their rhythm on the offense while the Mavs kept on hitting the right shots. Jason Terry, who's had his first game of the season, totted up with 29 points and six assists. Dirk Nowitzki played his best too, I think, with 30 points and seven rebounds. On the gray and silver jerseys, it was Tony Parker, Tim Duncan, and Roger Mason, who finished with double-digits 22, 19, 11, respectively.
So, what went wrong with the Spurs? Why 0-3? Missing Manu Ginobili's spunk? Or getting younger isn't really the best solution?
Too bad the Author missed the first set of season opener games. Anyways, back to back to business. The NBA season was officially opened at the Rose Garden with Boston Celtics winning 90-85 against the Cleveland Cavaliers. The highlight of the game was Banner #17, which marked the 17th championship of the Celts. Apart from the Celts-Cavs game, the season openers also included a tough battle in the West between Greg Oden's Portland Trailblazers and Kobe Bryant's LA Lakers. The Lakers routed Blazers 96-76 with Bryant leading the scoreboards with 23 points and 11 rebounds. Back to East, the games continued between the Milwaukee Bucks and the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls won 108-95 over the Bucks. Luol Deng had 21 points. The excitement continues from there on.
The following day set a more exciting feeling in the air with the Phoenix Suns facing the San Antonio Spurs at the Alamo City. The Suns was offense-driven last season under Mike D'Antoni's mustache. But with defense-oriented, Terry Porter, coaching Steve Nash & Co., the Suns are in good shape right on the defensive end. And the first time they're going to display their new-found strategy is at the Alamo City, home of the Spurs. The Suns succeeded though in outplaying the Spurs and winning, 103-98.
The question is... Will the Suns outlast the best teams in the West? There are considerations to make. First, it's too early to think that the Suns will be as competitive as they are during the past seasons. A lot of things can happen as the season goes. Second is that they are very new to this playing style. Can they handle the sudden change? And lastly, the West is as crowded as ever with teams that play good defense. So, can they stick to their style up to the very end?
The Author's hands been itching to write after reading this Ball Don't Lie article about Shaquille O'Neal calling the San Antonio Spurs cowards.
"When you're down, I can see using that as a strategy. But when you're up 10, 15 points, there's really no need for that. That's a coward move. And he knows that. I'll make 'em pay for that."
As you know, my dearest reader, Shaquille O'Neal's ranting about the first round loss of the Phoenix Suns to the Spurs on last season's playoffs. No one can really blame him for being bitter, right? But calling another team's strategy cowardly is lame, just very lame. Hack-a-Shaq, the Spurs' strategy courtesy of Gregg Popovich, is like a slap on Shaq's face that his free throw shooting stinks. Yea, Shaq stinks on the free throw line and he's still having a hard time accepting that valuable fact.
So, instead of training himself to shoot free throws better this season, he just won't shut about the blunder his actually made during the Suns' last moments in the playoffs. He's simply having cold feet in admitting that he's slowly and surely losing his touch.
Peace out.
The basketball season has begun and new things have happened in the NBA. Apart from the trades, which are normal, there's this outdoor games. Okay, James Naismith created the game basketball as an indoor game for his students, right? So, the idea was really quite out-of-the-ordinary.
But David Stern surely has his ways. And unbelievably, he had the preseason tickets between the Phoenix Suns and the Denver Nuggets sold out. The Suns and the Nuggets definitely had a wonderful view of the night sky in the Indian Wells Tennis Center. The game went well but it was pretty chilly that the players had to put their towels over their heads for some warmth. Allen Iverson, who's missed the game because of a sore knee, didn't have to endure the cold while watching his teammates win 77-72 against the now-defense-oriented Suns. Carmelo Anthony sat out for the second time with a sore finger while JR Smith did his own thing despite the icy-cold weather and finished with 12 points. Nene also had his share of the Nuggets' victory with 10 points.
The Suns played differently, giving more emphasis on their defense which is expected to improve. Among the problems of the cold Suns during the game was their turnovers and their poor 3-pt shooting. It was probably one of their lowest ever. Even so, Steve Nash played pretty well with 16 points while Boris Diaw took care of the ball with 10 rebounds. There's no one to blamed for the poor shooting of the Suns and Nuggets, who have showed offensive power during the past seasons, it's probably because of the wind slicing every now and then through the Indian Wells.
P.S. The new look of NBA.com is great!! Luv it!
