nba

  • OK, why the hell are you wasting everybody’s time for having Playoffs?

    Let’s go straight to the Finals with Cavs vs Lakers, immediately. Let them play the best-of-11 or even best of -99 series, and everyone will be happy to watch LBJ vs Kobe.

  • <Welcome to the NBA playoff>

    ok, 無圖無片, 預左無人睇.

    老實講, 我都好耐無睇 nba.

    Eastern Conference

    (1) 人肉坦克 對 (8) 底特律

    人肉坦克, 4-0 or 4-1.

    零疑點.

    準備人肉坦克入城狂殺. 每場起碼入五次樽, 射十球三分. 但估計命中率唔會太高 (畢竟人地淨係防守一個人)

    底特律有冇機會羸? 有. 搵就執既 GM 工人去殺死 毛 . 威廉士.

    要擋住坦克? 如果咁都得, 當年唔會有 六四 (沉思中)

    對唔治. 六四 係唔應該用黎開玩笑.

    (2) 波士頓 對 (7) 芝加哥

    波士頓, 4-1 or 4-2 (睇下有冇加納特)

    有機會好似上年既阿特蘭大咁, 迫到波士頓打第七場. 但我重申, 機會, 都係好微.

    (3) 奧蘭多 對 (6) 76 人

    奧蘭多, 4-0 (如果 full team); 若同時無 德古魯 + 路易士, 76 人有機爆冷. 老老實實, 未傷既魔術隊球員, 你仲o翕得出邊個? 夏達威 同 史葛 嗎?

    (4) 阿特蘭大 對 (5) 韋迪隊

    韋迪隊 4-2 or 4-3. 對面無人碼到佢. 祖莊遜太高, 畢比太慢.

    當然, 佢 (6 呎 4) 守識迫籃既祖莊遜 (6-7), 都無可能.

    八個季後賽對決既個人搶分大戰, 我睇好 韋迪 對 祖莊遜. 韋迪有機會入 50 分, 但係輸波.

    Western Conference

    (1) 湖人 對 (8) 爵士

    湖人, 4-0 或 4-1 . 請有心理預備湖人四場勝仗中, 對面個教練 史龍 俾人趕兩次出場.

    無錯, 今年兩隊對過三次, 史龍 係其中兩場拎過 技術犯規.

    有d 球員, 人工收足 (講緊十幾球一年; 美金喎), 但一去到季後賽, 就變傻仔 (e.g. 火箭既老麥). 湖人同爵士都各有一件, 奧當 (14球美金) 同 保沙 (12 球美金).

    德朗 威廉士 要證明身價, 唔該唔好大意俾 費沙 一次又一次偷波.

    高比. 今年西岸無強隊, 你羸左對 波特蘭/ 火箭, 你唔係唔上呀嘛?

    (2) 丹佛 對 (7) 新奧以良

    咁多個對決之中, 最大機會下線羸上線.

    — 後衛 : 比立斯 vs 基斯保羅

    — 中鋒 : 馬田 vs 陳拿

    — 小前鋒 : 淨係識打交既安東尼 vs 韋斯

    — 第六人對決 : 史密夫 vs Posey

    (3) 聖安東尼奧 對 (6) 達拉斯

    我人生第一次想聖安東尼奧羸.

    仆街達拉斯搞到太陽無得打季後賽.

    聖安東尼奧, 4-1

    食屎拉小牛

    (4) 波特蘭 對 (5) 候斯頓

    萊以 對 阿達士; 矛 對 盾!

    呢個都好難估. 4-3 是但一隊.

    但有準備火箭俾人強姦籃底. 係. 如果你睇過姚明比賽, 就知 nba 得個高字, 係對防守無助.

    ——————————

    總結 :


    西岸, 湖人
    東岸, 坦克/ 波士頓人


    若坦克勝, 湖人拎冠軍
    若波士頓勝, 波士頓拎.


    噫, 乜咁似上年既?



  • <山水有相逢 3>

    前文回顧 : 山水有相逢 1, 山水有相逢 2

    經過十一個年頭, 彭尼 . 夏達威 終於與他相逢了.

    是 奧尼爾.

    當年二人分開 – 奧尼爾轉會至湖人, 兩口子像情侶分手, 在傳媒前你一言我一語, 最後鬧翻了. 十一年間, 奧尼爾拿了四次冠軍 (湖人三次, 熱火一次). 而夏達威呢, 什么也沒有 – 除非你將被當作人球踢來踢去, 也界定為成就.

    彷彿夏達威一直沉醉於過往那些輝煌的日子.

    十一年了.

    看到報導時, 腦海不斷浮現起當年一起的日子.

    今天, 他們都已經踏入老年, 無復當年勇了. 而夏達威 膝頭傷完做手術再傷再做手術, 可能跳都跳唔起. 奧尼爾 也不再是那副人肉坦克, 所向無敵了 – 曾幾何時 EA Sports NBA 遊戲中的 奧尼爾, 可以係籃底打邊爐大便都得, 球証都唔敢吹.

    這重逢, 大概代表二人已經冰釋前嫌了.

    Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket

    永遠記得那個穿上魔術 1 號的夏達威 :

    相關報導 :

    ESPN :Hardaway signs with Heat, reunions with Shaq.

  • <Games 2 and 3 of the Finals>

    Let’s admit that. No matter how many games it will win in the rest of the Finals, Cavs just simply cannot beat the Spurs and win the NBA champions this year. David Stern should immediately suspend the Finals (just like MTR suspends the operation of 360 cable car indefinitely) and give the trophy to Spurs directly. Go NOW, there is simply no excuse for any hestiation.

    I think this pretty much summarises the 2007 NBA Finals. I think if you look at the rating reports, the NBA fans know at the outset that Cavs is not gonna win. (Please read the report in “Rating of NBA Finals” : http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs2007/news/story?id=2902227)

    You know what? If 溏心風暴 is shown in the States at the same time as this year’s finals, I bet 細契 will become the superstar in Los Vegas this summer. Over 90% of the people won’t realise NBA is having finals.

    If you are not convinced that Spurs will win, just take a quick look on video at the top right corner of the following links :

    http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-070610


    http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/dailydime?page=dailydime-070612

    You know, EPSN commentators always remind us that it’s 1 versus 5 in the Cavs-Spurs series and the Spurs is the better TEAM to win (both of which are true). Some people say Duncan so far is the MVP. Oh, i don’t care. If the Finals end now (which it should), Parker will get it. By the way, my beloved Bill Simmons of ESPN will predict Spurs win 4 :1 :

    http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=simmons/070607

    And Cavs should stop planning how to win 1 or 2 games. LBJ should boycott playing the Finals. They should sit together and pitch who they can get from the trade market this summer. From EPSN’s 2007 Free agent list (http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/news/story?id=2654216) and without considering salary cap (i always have problems with numbers), I hereby suggest the Cavs selecting the better supporting cast for LBJ. Sorry, there should be no base for comparison at all, since LBJ has no supporting cast, strictly speaking. There isn’t any “better” if you have none in the first place.

    First, Cavs should replace coach Mike Brown. I think everyone has ever watched Cavs playing must agree. There are few coaches in NBA than whom I strongly believe I will be a better one. Mike is just one of them. Unless Cavs could replace Mike, every additional supporting cast in Cavs will degenerate to the 2007-Final version Larry Hughes.

    Second, replace Mike Brown.

    Third, in case you have any doubt on my allegation on Hughes, here is Hughes’s statistics for this Final :

    2006-07 Playoffs FG 3PT FT Rebounds Misc
      G GS MIN FGM-A FG% 3PM-A 3P% FTM-A FT% OFF DEF TOT STL BLK TO PF AST PTS
    vs. SA 2 - 21.5 1-10 10.000 0-2 .000 0-0 .000 0.0 2.5 2.5 .50 .00 1.00 1.50 1.0 1.0

    If it wasn’t official records, I won’t believe this is someone with 10% Field Goal, more turnover (1.5) than points (1.0) or assist (1.0), with a payroll of US$13 million. This is the nice thing about capitalism. If the name is hidden, I will guest this is Detroit’s Darko Milicic or Bobcat’s Morrison (he is not even that bad). Yes, Larry is injured, but who doesn’t in NBA?

    I saw another NBA fan in MSN a couple of days ago. We talked about how boring Spurs is (and sucking Cavs is).  We then came up with Larry Hughes. My friend kidded that if we were 6 foot tall, we probably won’t score only 2 points in a game (which Larry did in Game 2). There cannot be anything more insulting than such allegation.

    And you know what? When Larry didn’t play in Game 3, the Cavs JUST lost by 3 points.

    I am not sure. But it seems that a trade between Hughes and S. Marbury is not impossible.  First, adding Hughes to the Knick’s lineup could reduce Knick’s possibility of getting into playoff (that’s exactly what I Thomas wants). Second, Marbury has much stronger scoring ability than Hughes, which to many teams (including Knicks) is a tragedy but to the scoring-drought Cavs, it could be a potential weapon. Third, if you are paying US$13M for someone contributing 1 point in a basketball game (we are not soccer!), you don’t mind paying an extra US$4M who could possibly score more (Marbury’s salary is about US$17M).  This brings us a better (thought not satisfactory) point guard who can contribute 17-22 ppt per game.

    Fourth, using Gooden and Varejao or Ilgauskas (if anyone can dictate his name, pls let me know) and anything in Cavs not named LBJ and Gibson for K Garnett. Maybe a package of Gooden with sign and trade of Varejao is fair enough. Anyway, Gooden is only 25 (i thought he is 28 something). The nice thing about this trade is we can bring Marbury and Garnett together again. I am not sure what their relationship was about when Marbury left Wolves, but i think, as many people did, relationship can be rebuilt.

    In case the Marbury- Garnett Trade does not materialise, Cavs should have the money and talent to lure either R. Lewis (free agent) or Mike Bibby (Early Terminate). Playing with LBJ brings you something more than monetary return. There is pretty good chance that Cavs can get either or even both. But first they have to deal with Ilgauskas’ salary ($9M) and that for Hughes as well.  Desmond Mason is also a free agent… who i think is comparable to R. Lewis.

    Fifth, waive Damon Jones. Tell him to play in CNBA. Waive Snow and Marshall as well.

    Sixth, attempt to sign the following guys : Luke Walton / Chucky Atkins / Jason Kapano (3 point shooting is okay); Steven Blake (traditional pass-first point guard); Kurt Thomas/ Jamal Magloire (low post defender).

    So if Cavs have LBJ, Lewis, Bibby, Gooden, Magloire; with Varejao, Gibson, and a centre, such a 8-man rotation should be unbeatable, at least in the East for fifty years.  This is well beyond the life of Hong Kong’s 1 country-2 system.

  • <Here we go : The 2007 NBA Finals>

    This is crazy – When i work, i don’t feel sick anymore. The more i work, the more i feel better. This makes me to feel myself like 阿信 and have a 辛苦命. I can still recall the busy days when i had to study very hard (at least i think so) and worked on a part time basis (in return for money to date girls during college time), i seldom got sick. Once i had holiday, it’s 120% sure i will be sick (more certain than the guarantee fund you have in your MPF account). That’s weird. That’s bizarre. That’s horrible.

    And i begin to love writing xanga in English… It’s simply faster, and it’s easier to convey message. Especially writing NBA in English makes myself a 1000 times easier. But that’s not a good news for my readers (and somehow myself). Or I guess when the Finals’ gone, i will switch back to Chinese entry.

    As I have said here about a week ago, if Cavs won the Eastern Final, people will forget teamwork and talked about the return of one-man-save the earth, die-hardism, individualism (or Jordanism).  That’s exactly why ESPN guys compared LBJ (LBJ stands for LeBron James, it does not stand for LeBanon and Jordan the small country in Mid-East) with Michael Jordan.

    This is unfair. To be honest, no one can ever be compared with Michael Jordan. I am not saying in the basketball domain, but every sports domain. You talked about soccer : Pele and Maradona are great, but they are not, from a professional sportsmanship perspective, as attractive and valuable as Michael Jordan is. Perhaps it’s their fathers’ fault by bringing them to the world too early. Beckham is valuable, but many doubt if he actually knows how to play soccer (i do doubt as well). You talked about Tennis, Agasi, Sampras, Federer are legends, but somehow people are not paying enough attention to sports that do not have physical/ body interaction. So Jordan is simply Jordan, our great Jordan that has neither precedent or successor.

    In 50 years ahead, the two Michael-Js in the states (the other is Michael Jackson) will become a legend that when you become a grandfather and tell your grandsons that you once watched MJ playing basketball, they will drop their jaw to the floor with an unbelievable exclamation. It’s just like someone told you now that he has a full collection of 飯島愛/ 小澤圓 (so it must be “he). If you are not sure how chi-lan-sin MJ is, try either of the links :

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=txela2VuI7A

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8M2NgjvicA

    So I felt sorry for LBJ.  But I felt more sorry for Pistons and too sad for everyone who loves unselfish basketball. The motown just missed Ben Wallace and his block shots so much. But LBJ’s 48 point Game 6 is really amazing. Poor Prince. King is simply the father of the prince. You can’t beat your father right? or you go to jail with Paris Hilton.

    Today’s result is not very suprising, 85-76. LBJ is only 4-16 with 6 turnovers. Well done, Bowen. Trust me, not only no one in Cavs could defend Duncans (no one in the entire NBA league can indeed), neither can they defend Tony Parker nor Ginobili. I even think they have trouble defending Bowen. Unless they are taking LBJ on Parker, Parker will be the final MPV (it’s NOT Duncan). Indeed, Parker has been a more energetic and consistent player than Duncan this year. If you wish to watch the highlight for today’s game, please click the following link

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ItL76Sbh9U4

    Anyway, I think i’m one of the few guys that (1) are delighted for LBJ and Cavs’ meltdown today BUT (2) are not a fan of Spurs. This is weird because i hate Duncan very much, but on the other hand i like the way they play Cavs. Just sweep LBJ, dismantle the Gooden and Hughes and other supporting cast with no performances, go to WhiteHouse, Spurs.

    Show them it is teamwork that matters in basketball. Show then you can win ball game with boredom.

    I still insist my earlier prediction of 4:1 Spurs wins the title.

  • <The FINAL dilemma>

    As I have said earlier, Spurs will beat the Jazz (and whichever team in the Western Conference. My poor Suns lost by 4-2) and enter the NBA Finals. Jazz is good, but i am not that naive to think it could come back from a 1-3 deficit. Duncan remains so Duncan and boring. In MW dictionary, the picture next to the word “Bore” “Boredom” “Boring” Bored” “Fucking boring” “Boring to death” will be Duncan. He is amazingly boring.

    The Eastern Conference is relatively more interesting, though in absolute terms, it is still very boring : it’s simply the Pistons versus LeBron James.  In case you don’t believe in my conjecture, just take a look on the NBA top 5 in the May 29 Game 4 in youtube (and also the one on June 1 Game 5 in youtube).  King James simply is the main actor of all TOP 5 plays.  Dishing, scoring, rebounding, everything you name it.

    I don’t know. Probably Pistons are the better TEAM, but i have the feeling that LeBron James could single-handedly destroy the Pistons. The cost of Ben Wallace’s departure becomes obvious in this series for Piston (and so is the benefit to LeBron James). James could just attack the rim as much as he could. Prince is a good defender, but he really has problem defending quick players with strong first step like James. So the presence of a defensive centre who can block is really important. This is not something we can expect Piston, Weber or Maxiell can give now.

    Of course I admit that Pistons versus Spurs is a boring disaster tragedy catastrophe for NBA fans and David Stern (NBA Commissioner) next to nothing. I couldn’t find or even think of anything in the history of mankind that can have a chance of matching the degree of boredom brought by Pistons vs Spurs. I don’t know. Maybe it is my classmate in science stream that 考第一 for seven straight years in high school (and probably in his kindergarden-hood, primary school and even university and the rest of his life). Maybe it is the standard rubbish said by our Govt officials. Maybe it is sucking soap drama like 同事三分親 / 高朋滿座. Maybe it is my job. Maybe it is myself. But once i think of Spurs versus Pistons, I sweat like in hell (i haven’t been there) and have a nightmare at noon (you know how terrible it is? having nightmare at NOON!).

    So, from a fan’s point of view, I opt for Cavs vs Spurs. I want to see if Bruce Bowen can shut down James, or if James could punish Bowen and slam on Duncan’s face again (which he did during the regular season).

    I think since the time Jordan retired (for the second time) and it is doomed that no one could probably “replace” him in the future (Look at Hardaway, G Hill, V Carter etc.), the NBA has successfully back to what basketball should be – teamwork and a game that 5 players from each side have to play.  You can’t rely on one single star anymore, although we must admit that none of the star in the post-Jordan era is as talent, competent and unbelievable as Jordan.  Three of four conference finals teams are teamwork first. They are featured with All Stars (Boozer, Duncan, Billups, Wallace), but when i say “featured” i mean “featured”. Suns, Nets, Bulls, you name it, are all teams stressing on teamworks rather than individual efforts. Basketball finally goes back to the teamwork era. You must have stars, but to succeed, you must have very very good supporting cast as well.  I believe that’s why Rockets sucked.

    That’s also why Knicks can’t get into Playoff anymore, since good single individuals do not equal to a good team.  I can recall when the season just started, people in ESPN forecast that Knicks will be the biggest surprise in NBA this season simply by MAKING PLAYOFF! I can’t stop laughing. When did the Knicks stink so much that making playoff becomes a Surprise for not only New York people but the NBA as a whole? And I laughed also because i don’t think Knicks could enter the playoff again until both Marbury and Nate Robinson are gone. Selfish individuals can’t win ball game in NBA anymore.

    And teamwork is important not only for NBA.  In the past couple of years, the Amercian Team kept on losing and losing to Argentina, and any national team you name it in international matches. Why? Not because Kobe, T-Mac, O’neal etc. are not playing. Just that these teams have teamwork but NBA superstars, unfortunately, are still looking for individual performances. Three cheers for Teamwork~~~ HIP HIP HURLAY~~~ x 3

    So, if James win the Eastern Finals, this could set a bad precedent and send a wrong signal to other teams that single individual still matters and you can still have good results for grooming one superstar. This has long-lasting negative impact, which i think is even worse than a final series of Pistons versus Spurs, which AT MOST lasts for 7 games.

    By the way, I have post a youtube highlight featuring LeBron James in my 剪貼簿. Really amazing. To make Pistons/ Cavs versus Spurs series more amazing, I think the NBA should start 4 point FGs…

    My final prediction : 1-4 for Cavs – Spurs; 2-4 for Pistons – Spurs.

    So… Duncan will go to DC during the summer to donate some boredom to G. Bush…

  • <Just forget it>

    If everything is on the right track in NBA Playoff (unless crazy things like Tim Duncan is killed, Parker’s wife is kidnapped etc.), we will see Pistons facing San Antonio in the Finals… yea… San Antonio versus Pistons again. Exactly the record-breaking low ratings for NBA finals which appeared 2 years ago. NBA fans are not Chinese investors. They know what to pick and watch. Who doesn’t want to watch Golden States versus Phoenix?

    How can the world let history to repeat? I propose next year as long as they enter playoff, the Pistons and Spurs will face each other in the first round. Just kick one of them out of the picture.

    Anyway, Spurs vs Pistons will provide us all of the following (WOOO~~ what a comprehensive list) :

    - Final score 51 vs 50 for three games, or two teams combined scores less than 100 (Don Nelson will be shaking his head… What da heck are these guys playing? where is the three point line? where are my 3s? where is my Baron Davis?) The other games are settled at, say 70 to 70 something.

    - Each game with at least 40 free throw attempts

    - A combined 30 times shot-clock violation each game (that’s 12 mins, or a quarter)

    - TNT instead broadcasting the 94/95 Finals featuring New York Knicks vs Houston Rockets (Harper for THREE~~~~~~~~ YES!)

    - People won’t talk about NBA anymore.  WE just forget about the playoff until Duncan is officially retired. 

    You know what? Tim Duncan is probably the most boring sportsman in the world. WE just hate him and the Spurs. If Spurs go to the Finals, regardless which team is the Eastern Champion, I will just pretend as if Golden States or Phoenix wins the champions.

    I could still vividly recall when i first visited Japan back to 1999 (so-called Graduate Traveling or whatsoever), the finals were Spurs versus the Knicks (in that year, the Knicks had Camby, Kurt Thomas, Alan Houston, the retired L. Sprewell). I simply couldn’t tolerate the pace (if there is any at all) that the Spurs played. All they want to do is take away all fun you possibly have from basketball, and then make you give up yourself. Tim Duncan remains so Tim Duncan, without any emotional ups and downs on his face, even when they won the CHAMPIONSHIP! We once kidded among friends that even jerking off, Tim will have the same emotional representation.

    So….

    Instead of sticking to Spurs versus Pistons, here are couple of solutions that NBA commissioner David Stern can offer :

    - The Spurs and Pistons play the first and third quarter; the Suns and Warriors play the second and fourth.

    - Cut the 12-min 4-quarter Game to 5-min 2-quarter game. In another way round, cut the best-of-7 series into best-of-1 series. In any case, it doesn’t really matter whether you watch 7 or 1 game. It’s just boredom after boredom.

    - Flip Saunders and Greg Popovich play on court, featuring Joe Dumars and David Robinson.

    - Replay the 2004/05 Finals.  Players go to Los Vegas for strip show.

    - Open trade market without any salary cap or luxury tax.

    The last is funny… I bet spurs will not change its lineup except getting a better defensive centre (e.g. Camby or Ben Wallace). So if you were the Pistons, who will you get in to win over spurs? Okay… replace R. Wallace with Garnett (he can shoot 3, he can defense, he can pose, he can do everything Rasheed can without getting the technicals.).  Replace Webber with Yao (Yao cannot defense – just look at the Jazz-Houston match up with Boozer, But with Garnett taking Duncan, its ok that Yao is taking Camby or Wallace defensively and do his jobs at the offensive end).  Replace Prince with Marion (though i prefer the injury-free L. Odom more). No need to change the backcourt (Bullips – Hamilton match is doing fairly).

    But at the end, Spurs will win at all.

    We are doomed to the Spurs vs Pistons series…

    So, forget about the Finals.

  • <A week in the Playoff>

    I always wonder why the Jockey Club does not offer any betting opportunity on NBA. I mean, if there were some legal ways that i can bet for NBA Playoff results, i should have earned pretty good return, though not as profitable as in those crazy IPOs.

    In retrospect, I think my views towards the first round are largely correct – Pistons just swept 4 – 0 the little Howard-Magic, Cavs three easy wins over Wizards, Bulls 4-0 over Heat (and more importantly Walker doesn’t get as many 3s as he wishes). My prediction : Cavs 4-1.

    Golden State successfully stole one from Dallas (not surprising), Dirk sucked in Game 1, Golden State offensive shined etc.  Dallas is so strong to come back in Game 2 (that’s why they won 60+ games).  Golden State still have good chances of sending Mavs home, but i think , seriously, if they are to win the serious, they cannot have any of their offensive weapons being tossed anymore. In Game 2, both Baron Davis and S. Jackson were ejected. When you don’t have any defensive, you cannot lose any of your guns at the offensive end. This will be a tight series. Golden State in six or Mavs in Seven. Prediction, G.S, 3-1, G.S. 3-2, G.S. 4-2 evetually.

    Rockets won 2 straight in a row and then lost 2 straight. Not really surprising. Another tight series, Mcgrady first will enter the second of Playoff in his career.

    Another not surprise, Suns 3-1 Lakers. I bet Suns 4-1.

    I watched Game 2 of Suns and Lakers yesterday. Instead of watching Kobe vs Bell (and i don’t think Bell himself can defend Kobe, honest), I enjoy the Marion vs Odom matchup. Versatile, long arms,  well-rounded,  seriously underrated all star. If choosing between being Jordan and being Pippen is possible (READ: there is no such choice), not many want to be Pippen. But Pippen does have a market. Pippen himself cannot lead any team, but if you put a superstar around him, he life himself to that superstar level (at least 80%).

    I think both Marion and Odom do not want to be Pippen. But if they try to leave the team, it will be a complete disaster – Remember Joe Johnson? Three years ago, Joe was the most improved player in Suns (YES, exactly the first year Nash rejoined the Suns. You know why I love Nash so much). Unsatisfied for being the 3 or even 4th best player in a successful team (A. Stud was healthy, alongside Marion and Nash. Richardson broke the record of 3s make in Suns made by D. Majarie in that season), Joe opted for a lucrative contract and joined a lottery-bound team – Atlanta Hawks (In the sign-and-trade deal, Suns in return got Boris Diaw, the most improve player last year). I was really upset by Joe’s move. I am sure playing around Nash is really the funnies thing in playing basketball – in no less than 10 different games, i saw Sun players smiled while playing the game seriously. Joe is still good in Atlanta, but not as good as he is supposed to be. He is a good player, but not a great leader, which is an essential element in building a team.

  • <It’s SHOWTIME>

    Didn’t write about NBA for quite a while (Indeed I didn’t write anything serious for quite a while). Anyway, officially the NBA now enters the Playoff, so, it’s time to Payoff -  I just feel obligated to write something about NBA.

    This year is unique (as were the past years).  I believe (READ : I have no solid evidence) that this is the only year when the top 5 pick in a particular year can join the Playoff together.  Which year? Of course the most talented draft in recent NBA history, 2003 – L. James, D. Milicic (he does so well in Magic compared with days in the bench of Pistons), C. Anthony, C. Bosh and D. Wade. This was and is a crazy year. If you scroll down the list in (http://sports.espn.go.com/nbadraft/draft/tracker/histround?year=2003) you can see even more amazing names – B. Diaw, J. Howard and K. Kolver. Anyway, four of the top 5 will continue to dominate NBA in the coming 5 years.

    Most Valuable Player. I will definitely vote for S. Nash… there is simply NO, repeat NO, player in the NBA history could or can single-handly lift the level of the players around him so significantly. Last year, the Most Improved Player was B. Diaw (he really sucks this year though), this year most likely to be L. Barbosa, who is 120% sure to be the Best 6th Men. He is so quick that I think he should quit NBA and join Lau Cheung for 110 hurdles in the coming Olympic. It is true that Marion is great, A. Stud is talented and others in Phoenix are good (esp. Kurt Thomas’s low post defense is really impressive).  But it is Nash that pull them together. In terms of contribution to Team Success, Nash is undoubtedly the best point guard ever in NBA. If there is a dictionary on NBA, the picture next to Point Guard is no longer Magic Johnson/ Issiah Thomas or anyone else not named Steven Nash.

    But realistically, Kobe Bryant will probably get the MVP – scoring champ, 10 games over 50 points (including 4 games in a roll), bring K.Brown to Playoff, huge elbowS in killing foreign players…. he just simply deserves it. Dirk should have good chances, but he is surrounded by too good cast – J. Terry, J. Howard, J. Stackhouse. This tends to reduces the significances of Dirk’s role in the Mavs, though he is still the most important guy in Mavs.

    This year is very competitive (READ : No team is outstanding), making it really difficult to guest the conference champion, leaving alone the NBA champion. But it is pretty sure that Wizards (no C. Butler, no Agent Zero), Magic (Playoff green D. Howard facing veterans Pistons) can play no more than 5 games more. Nuggets… well… should be thrown out by Spurs in 4 or 5 games – because not only Crawford will not be there (and hence Duncan wouldn’t be tossed for no reason), Parker/ Gino is a true defensive problem for AI. G. Karl simply can’t beat Popovich (yea typo, but I can’t type his name correctly anyway).

    Other than these 3 series, all other are 5-5 ball. And here could be another thing making this year unique – last year’s conference champions could be home in series 2. Bulls vs Heat. Ben Wallace is a disastrous given his payroll (I lover T. Chandler more). But T. Thomas (I bet him the Rookie of the Year) should make up his offensive slack. If they can kill Wade (serious, I mean kill him) or sacrifice Wallace in return for Wade’s left shoulder… But I bet the Bulls can contain Shaq and partly Wade. Unless Walker can put in 10 3s (not attempt but field goals), Bulls should kick Heat out in 6 games. Or heat wins in 7.

    And Golden state vs Dallas. Just feel so sad that Nash isn’t in Dallas (and the Suns isn’t facing GS). Else we will have the most entertaining playoff series EVER in human history with FG 70%, 3FG 75% and final scores like 190 vs 195 for each game. GS is too quick for Dallas and they have too many guns (Richardson, my best-friend beloved Davis, S. Jackson, R. Ellis, A. Harrington). And D Nelson can simply forget about defense.. indeed none of the above 5 guys know how to defend… If GS can steal one from Dallas in the first two, they could probably win the series. No kidding. No one else in the world knows Dirk more than D. Nelson does. So we shall see M Cuban in frustration (again) very soon. Anything more than 5 games will belong to Dallas.

    This leaves us Sun vs Lakers, Rockets vs Jazz (I hate Jerry Sloan very much by the way. I hate him so much that I once doubted he is the father of J. Stockton AND K. Malone) and Net vs Raptors series. Sun could probably send Kobe home in 6 games (depends on whether Kobe can get 100 for each game). Rockets… um… see AK47 can shut down T Mac and uphold his first round curse. Yao really has to step up to get 35 points per game. Don’t be blocked by D. Williams or anyone shorter than 6-5… But Boozer and Okun (this tall man can shoot from the MidCourt. Think about a 7 foot Reggie Miller) are not stupid. We are not stupid… Net vs Raptors. Not easy for the then Air Canada to play in Toronto. and if R. Jefferson can’t slam, he is just a crap. I love Bosh (the ratio among his body, legs, hands and head is peculiar and he looks too like a monster). But Kidd+Jefferson+Carter is too high a wall for him alone to get over. So we have to bear with M. Moore for another series. If MorPet can make 7 3s from the corner every night, Raptors win.

  • <不必相見>

    我未死, 起碼今日仲未.

    其實, 我過去個星期, 病到成隻狗咁. 病到我以為自己就快要死 – 儘管那只是普通的發燒感冒腸胃炎. 每日都訓係床度, 個頭好痛, 又諗唔到乜野正經野, 再加以為自己會死 – 儘管如果因為發燒而死, 個人認為太無謂, 於是乎竟然諗起自己既喪禮來.

    早前已經說過, 自己理想的喪禮是怎樣的. 今次係床上再諗, 係諗下各人見到我既時候會講d 乜.

    (1) 我還想到有些人會認識我幾十年, 但從來沒有見過我真身. 這次係喪禮見到, 便說 : 呀, 原來呢條粉腸就是史弟, 抵佢死/可惜他已經死了. 還有些人大家可能在網絡上溝通多年, 要到某某的喪禮才有機會一聚 : 呢條友就係 x x x? 唉… 一直以為佢好靚仔…

    情形就像大魚奇緣裏面既主角, 在父親喪禮上看到各個傳奇人物, 那感覺既興奮又難過. 大家聚首一堂, 猜下枚, 食下煙, 過黎同我影下相, 幾過癮. 法事過後, 離開暢行道, 登上 10 號小巴, 一切隨風而去, 天空仍然是藍色. 當然, 那個時候, 我什么都不知道了.

    我想, 大概有些人, 不必見. 不見反而有著憧憬 (原來佢咁矮咁醜咁高咁靚咁有錢咁串…), 我更欣賞那種君子之交淡如水的關係. 見了, 關係亦會變得複雜. 是好是壞, 我不知道. 但我較為欣賞現在的交往方式 – 大家既然是路人甲乙丙的關係, 就繼續當其路人甲乙丙好了. 再者見了, 就未必可以造到群英聚喪禮既效果.

    (2) 然後我想到一d 好耐無見既朋友. 包括小學時既初戀情人, 大學時一直得不到的女同學, 碩士時的日本籍友人… 等等. 就算我死了, 他們大概也不會知道, 也不太關心吧.

    (3) 我也想到親人和女友 (連佢地都諗埋, 你可以想像我病左幾耐). 這時候 now 的仆街 8 號台 (即播 “獨家試愛” 的 trailer 台, 現改為 118), 正播放著 變種特工 (x-men) 第三集既片段. 女角痛苦地叫狼人 :

    Kill me~

    沒有什么比叫自己最親的人殺死自己更痛苦. 如果一個人認真地叫你殺左佢, 佢所面對既困難真係好高大, 所需要的勇氣比臭氧層更厚. 裏面涉及的情感也很複雜, 我不知道怎樣可以有系統地說出來. 對, 我是支持安樂死的. 要求親人代為向醫生轉達了結生命的勇氣, 並是超出道德和法律的範疇.

    __________________________________________________________________

    <NBA Playoffs>

    My earlier predictions on the Eastern Conference is partially correct and on the Western Conference, entirely incorrect.

    Anyway, this is the most insane and interesting NBA Playoffs I have ever watched :

    - Two straight 7-game series for my most favourite run-and-gun team ever;

    - Two great come-back-from-verge-of-elimination series (Piston-Cavs; Suns-Lakers);

    - Large pool of talents with great variety of team plays (Team spirit of Piston; the unstoppable Wade and L.James; the guns of 333333~~~ Suns; The bench of Mavs could be starting 5 in another lottery team; the Yoga-like Ginobili reminds me of master Kamal)

    - Early elmination of my hatest team (Spurs and Lakers).

    - Huge mistakes by great players (Ginobili in Game 7 versus Mavs, see below; Nash in Game 4 versus Lakers with two turnovers).

    - Blow-outs with great offensive moves (Game 1 of Piston-Cavs; Game 7 of two Suns series)

    FUNNY :

    1. Look at Chris Kaman of Clippers in Game 7 versus Suns. EVERY sinlge play he complains to the officials. Yea, EVERY. What is he doing? With 2 seconds – by the time  Kaman could only raise his hands and open his month trying to speak – Marion have an AND1 play on the other side of the court. You keep talking you are committing suicide. No wonder Mike (coach of Clippers) puts him on the floor for only 20 minutes, despite Kaman is 7 foot 1 and the average of Suns is something like 5 foot 7.

    2. With less than 30seconds your team leads by 3 after your 3-pointer, now the top scoer of the opposite team drives down the lane, what will you do? I have no idea what Ginobili has in his mind when he fouls Nowitzki for an AND1 play to give Mavs the tie at 104. Shouldn’t you let him go? Shouldn’t Ginobili know Nowitzki is 7-foot? What is he thinking? What does Greg (coach of Spurs) feel? With almost no bench scoring (oh yea, almost all Mavs in PF or C foul out), does Ginobili ever remember that it is no different from self-killing for Spurs to play over-time, after Duncan playing almost every mintue of the game? This is the greatest mistake I have seen in playoffs of NBA in the last decade.

    Before that, in the Game 3/4 (i forget) 1994 NBA finals (Jordan’s Bulls versus Barkley’s Suns), a Bulls (again forget the name) passed directly to Barkley for a layup right under the basket during over-time, right after a basket by Suns. I saw Jordan and Phil Jackson have heart attack after that.

    3. I totally understand from this year’s playoff that a team with 3 major scorers is not enough to bring you to conference finals. Spurs (Parker, Duncan, Ginobili) can’t, Nets (Kidd, Carter, Jefferson) can’t, Wizards (Butler, Jamison, Arenas) can’t. Not to mention Lakers, Clippers, Nuggets…. Of course if you have Wade or James you can stay a little bit longer…

    To win you must have 5 scorers… yea… FIVE, at least 13-15 points per game in a reliable manner. All 7 players of Suns score at least 10 in Game 7, the bench of Mavs is the best I have ever seen (could be compared with the 80s Celtics), the Piston’s starting five can give you 15-20 per game.

    If my observation is correct, Miami heat will be eliminated by Pistons soon… in about 7 games…

    And Mavs versus Suns… I am rather reluctant to predict as both sides have great starting lineup and bench, the coaches are also skillful. Remember Kurt Thomas might back for the Suns….. Mavs 4:3, with no more than 3 games decided by above 10 points. 

    Nowitzki and Nash………………………………………….