New NBA season kicks off

Yeah! What a day tommorow, it's halloween for most, but for me, well, the NBA 2006-06 season begins. I can't believe. I waited for so long that I watched the worst NBA shows that they air on BTV, but now, I'm just less than 24 hours from watching yet another season of the best basketball show on the planet!

And hopefully, Kobe can avenge the Lakers over the Suns as early as tommorow... See 'ya, fans!
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Kobe didn't avenge the Lakers alright, but the Lakers did win over the Suns! Yeah! Thanks to the pounding of the Lakers starting frontcourt (Odom, that 19 y/o Bynum, and the ever-good Luke Walton), the unending hardwork of the role players, and the guys who really stepped up for the Lakers to fill the absence of their star player Kobe Bryant, and two other key starters namely Chris Mihm and Kwame Brown. Thanks to the Laker guys, they made me enjoy a Laker game without Kobe! I mean, I'm liking this team better, before it was only Kobe that I'm watching for, but right now, I feel like I'm the biggest Laker fan in the archipelago! Oh, that Laker magic was on, hearing that familiar whistle of the zen master Phil Jackson, the awesome fans, the Laker staff (coaches, etc), that funny look on Kareem Abdul-Jabbar's face everytime his student Andrew Bynum shows what he learns. Wow! That's indescribably unbelievable!

Odom did what was expected of him and really proved that he's the star behind Kobe, the guy is an awesome player, and it was from him that the Lakers surged back from trailing 19 points to lead as much as 16 and win convincingly. Many things to compliment like, Jordan Farmar's toughness, Zasha Vujacic's steady defense and offense, Vlade Radmanovic's effortful attempt to extend his game, Mo Evans stellar play off the bench, etc, etc, etc.

I really like the Lakers future now... Promising. To say the least.
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Also, the Chicago Bulls defeated the Miami Heat! Yeah! By 42 points! Yeah! That's 108-66, Pat Riley's worst creer loss as a coach, NBA's recors for worst loss by the NBA champion on opening night. Not to mention it happened at the American Airlines Arena. Two things: I like the Bulls and I hate the Heat! Take it with me.
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Happy Halloween!

On NBA video game player ratings, LeBron, D-Wade, etc.... and how they SUCK!

I've had just about enough! Damn! I am recently watching trailer videos of NBA 2K7 and NBA Live 07, and with the games' upcoming releases, I couldn't wait to view the new set of ratings for the respective basketball games.

Of course, when I want to know something nowadays, that guy Internet is always around. Renowned video games website IGN already has the complete ratings for all players in the two games. NBA 2K7 damaged its good game reputation with its suckage-laden rating and roster system, while Live, well, improved their ratings in a degree.

NBA 2K7 had a lot of screw-ups on player positions (like Pierce as SF, Stoudemire at C, etc.) and still have some "what the hell?" rating results. NBA Live 07, of course, has its own version of its screw-ups although to a more minimal degree. But still, both of them are damned.

Why? Because Kobe Bryant, the best player in the world today, is neither at the top of both ratings. "King" F'n Bron is. Damn him. Kobe follow him at no.2. Damn raters.

Yeah, you can say that it's just my opinion and that you would let whine for nothing... But I don't think so. Kobe Bryant has been the best player in the NBA from Shaq's last months in LA and up to now, continuingly. But none of these two NBA video games rated him as no.1 except EA in Live 2004 (when he was not yet, because KG was). Say whatever you want but a guy who scored 81 points in a game and scored 62 in only three quarters, averaged more than 35 points per game (being the highest SINCE JORDAN in about two decades), leading his team to the playoffs with a not-so-bad-yet-not-so-good line-up, etc. is someone that should be given a 99. That's easy.

So, how low would have Kobe stacked up if ever he didn't score as much as he did in that game? Theese rating screw-ups doen't make any sense. And LeBron... Give me a break.

When I looked at 2K7's rating and found out that Kobe, Bron, and D-Wade all got 98, I tried to compare them. Kobe Bryant and LeBron James had 7 of the 21 rating categories in a tie, with Kobe having a higher mark on 7 of them, and LeBron the rest 7. I did'nt bother with Wade much, since I know LeBron's always has the media stacking him up one step ahead of Wade. Always. Anyway, it looks like a tie, eh? Nope. I deeply "studied" it an found out that in terms of freakin' numbers (of which people use a lot to say that f'n Bron is better than Mr. 81), LeBron won. Damn.

Seeing the 2K series as a better option when you choose an NBa video game, I was dismayed. So I tried to look at Live's version of ratings. I looked at Kobe's, then at Wade's, at Garnett's, at T-Mac's, at A. I.'s, etc., and saw that Kobe supplanted them all at 96. I smiled, that was, until I found out that LeBron was rated at 97. Holy schnopp. Grrr...

So they're meaning to say that LeBron James is the best player in the world today. What skeptical lunatics! NBA Live 07 even tried to widen the scope of their rating system so that they could further cover every facet of the game. Kobe's clutch is rated at 91... and LeBron at 90! Yeah right. F*ck them. Where do they get these stuffs? 2K7 has Kobe's 3point shooting only at 83, near LeBron's 79. Damn. Everyone knows that Kobe can shoot 5 trifectas in a row out of nowhere, and he could shoot as far from the rim as he wants to, and his three-point shooting would be rated only above Bron's a little? Those raters must be outta their minds.

Yeah, Bron's gonna improve, but give Kobe and these 'ol guys A. I., Pierce, etc. at least the credit that they deserve. And you know what, the way I see it right now, this batch of future "stars" with Bron, Wade, and Melo, are plainly overhyped. I don't like everything that is overrated, and I don't like those guys who misrate others. The NBA and the media around it overhypes Bron's batch the way WWE overhype their young stars. I like both companies, but of course there's an obvious difference. Back in 1996, Allen Iverson and Kobe Bryant just came out of what would become an amazing draft, you don't hear these kinds of things being said to praise the young kids, or at least not this much. Which is why I don't like what's happening today in terms of these. And with the expanded media means (video games) helping, they just certainly don't help. Give me a break.

I am excited to get those games because I am such an NBA lover and video games' lover, and I am anxious to edit the hell in those ratings.

To see the ratings, just follow the links below:

for NBA 2K7 - http://sports.ign.com/articles/731/731817p1.html
for NBA Live 07 - http://sports.ign.com/articles/733/733434p1.html

Here are a few sites that would help you think that LeBron James sucks, along with Dwyane Wade (I previously made a lenghty forum thread myself about how LeBron sucks, unfortunately, the forums in that site broke down already):

http://funkdiggityfresh.com/review9.html (this is funny. XD)
http://brentdiskin.com/throwdownarchive/sports-views002.html
http://www.hoopsvibe.com/nba/nba-players/lebron-james-ar21029-pa75.html

For Dwyane Wade, just type "Dwyane Wade sucks" in th ever-reliable Google search engine (you can also type "LeBron James sucks" for more) to see how many people agree with me. Heck, at least I'm not the only one for sure.

Manny Pacquiao's Road to... Screw-up?

Manny Pacquiao, also known as Pacman, the internationally-renowned filipino boxer, a prizefighter still in his prime, personally said that he may retire as early as 2007.

He justified that by saying that he does not want to retire from professional boxing with physical problems, and that he wants to leave it while he is able and happy.

Oh, boy. That's quite justified, but, but, but... Oh, man (now), I can't counter that, because he's reasonable enough. Besides, Manny has earned himself enough money to last his whole life through, and he could even multiply this as he plans to take care of his business(es) to earn.

But... I don't want to. Yeah, I don't have any right to tell Manny what he should do, and this is a mere opinion of a boxing fan. Caring about Manny Pacquiao's health would really lead us to agreeing with his possible decision, but do we, as fans, really want to? As for me, again, I don't.

Pacquiao is still very much at his prime and is considered by some experts as the best pound-for-pound boxer in the world today. Does he know what that means? That means he's perhaps the best. And if he leaves the sport as a performer, then he would become a big loss, much more if he does it early. Then, no other would have more loss than us his filipino fans.

When I heard the news, at first, I didn't want to believe, but further sources confirmed me the fact. "Why?" I asked. Of course I was answered by a simple and reasonable answer. At that point I stopped for a while and realized that it's only self-interest that I am considering when I said that I don't want him to retire. Self-interest, maybe, but at least I'm honest. I'm such a sport aficionado that such news would shake me, and I'm sure others too, whilst also considering self-interest mainly, does not like what Manny said.

Pacquiao is considering that when he defeat Erik Morales in their much-awaited rematch, then it's the end. That made me initially want Morales to win over Pacquiao to prevent him from retiring, but on second thought, oh, then Pacquiao could never avenge himself because that would be their last match.

Well, I you'd ask me, I would say that Manny should have another world title on his waist and defeat Marco Antonio Barerra again before he leaves. And doing the latter, he could do the former, depending on the result of Barerra's title match this September (vs. Rocky Juarez, who gave him a run for his money the first time they met).

If Manny does this, and then no other contender is capable to defeat him anymore, then I would really be cool with his retirement. Happy for Philippine sports, I will set off waiting for the Philippines' next top boxer.

But this is not over. Manny Pacquiao is seemingly poised to dirty his name with the declarations of his decisions lately. Manny reportedly had a transfer of address from General Santos to Manila, further stimulating the speculations that he would run as Manila City's Vice Mayor (to tag along with Atienza). Holy what!? Are you kidding me? Rumor has it that Manny actually agreed on this, and after his retirement in 2007, he would run for the 2007 elections.

I hope it ain't true.

But well, what can I do? As a fan, I'm just concerned about his reputation and since we don't have any world-class athletes lately, I can't afford to have a world-class athlete dirty his own name.

At the end of the day, I know of course that only Manny Pacquiao has the right to make a decision about his career and himself. I respect that...

But please. Don't screw up.

NBA Photos (and Kobe Bryant)

Recently I've been voting for the NBA.com's photo of the year. I was really, really fascinated by the photo of Vince Carter. It was such a picture! Oh, boy!

Thanks to the magic of the camera, and the magical hands of Nathaniel S. Butler, Fernando Medina, and Andrew Bernstein, among others, the art of basketball is more appreciated.

Let's admit it, basketball is the most "catchy" sport in the world. You can argue, but whatever you say, I don't think so. As to soccer, it is reasonable to say that more people do better with their hands than with their feet. As to american football, basketball is a lot less-contact sport, which means to say that there is more grace and poise in basketball. As to hockey, not all people is good with sticks. As to boxing, wrestling, and combat sports, there's little beauty when you see violence in a "game". And so on and so forth.

In the game of basketball you have the most moves that you can do than in any other sport. And the moves that you can make are really good to look at compared to other sports. This is where the beauty of basketball stands.

NBA players do many of the best moves in the world of basketball, and when the moves are translated to photos, it becomes a masterpiece.

The NBA Photo of the year award started nine years ago, and seven of the awards were won by photos of only two guys: Vince Carter (3, but I think he will win this year) and Kobe Bryant (4). All of the pictures of those guys that won awards were airborne as taken.

Notwithstanding Vince Carter, I think my b-ball idol, Kobe Bryant, ultimately exemplifies the aesthetics of basketball today. I am seeing many pictures taken of him and I can't get tired looking at it.

Whoa!

The NBA Playoffs that was...

A while ago, the Miami Heat just won the 2006 Larry O'Brien trophy, defeating the Dallas Mavericks in six games to become the NBA champions.

Great, and who would have really thought that they would be "it" after finishing the regular season below than what is expected of them? The Heat, which finished 52-30 in the season (not bad, but not good enough to be considered as HEAVY championship contenders), proved that the postseason is not the same as the regular season, exploiting that it's all a new beginning in the playoffs.

After looking very vulnerable against the 7th-seeded Chicago Bulls in the first-round, it is not very easy to fathom how they could ever defeat the top-seeded Detroit Pistons, or even go past the New Jersey Nets.

But they prevailed over these teams, and even over Western Conference champions Dallas Mavericks, which eliminated the defending champions, the San Antonio Spurs. After dropping the first two games of the series against the Mavs, critics are getting ready to publicize Miami's playoff "luck". But they won the next four games, thanks mostly to the unbelievable Wade, so 'Zo and the Glove is finally "complete" to retire, finally ending this nip-and-tuck classical 2006 NBA Playoffs.

Yes, this article is not about the Miami Heat, or even the Finals, it's about the 2006 NBA Playoffs --the best I've ever seen.

The postseason that was had been a great display of the new-and-improved league, which only adds more proof to the saying that "anything can happen in the NBA." That Playoffs was really amazing that you shouldn't blink for you not to miss a damn thing!

It had many great moments, the buzzer beaters, winning shots, great games, etc. Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers winning over the Phoenix Suns in Game 4 of their first-round match-up via Kobe's heroics, Kevin Martin winning it on a buzzer-beating lay-up for the Sacramento Kings to finally win one against the San Antonio Spurs, Jason Terry cementing a game in San Antonio with a three-point shot, among others. Actually, I can go on and on with this, only it will take me much time describing. That was only Round One, classic confrontations or what-have-you continued as the playoffs went deeper. Those were more moments in three playoff rounds as I can remember in comparison with combined playoff moments of the past few years.

It surprised us. A damn lot. And surprises intrigues people, so the interest level in the serieses of course raised, and as a fan of basketball and the NBA, I can feel that. There's one phrase that I can put here and then you can put any ideas that may follow it: "Who would have thought..." Yeah, are we ready that time that the Suns was on the brink of elimination? Did we initially know that King James can go pass the Wizards and give Pistons' fans a scare? Or that the Mavs will beat the Spurs? Or that the Heat will eliminate the Pistons? The Bulls having a chance versus the Heat? The Clippers having it easier than expected? In that playoffs, No. 8 or not, you can't really count them out!

Those few reasons, besides lacking of course descriptions and examples, only upped the drama in the NBA. It was more hyped, you can feel it, even if you're not there, and that made you salivating for more action, while not really knowing what to wait for. With playoffs more like that and better, we might see the Hawks fly away to the promised land.

I want to say more because no blog entry will ever stisfy the enjoyment I had watching the 2006 Playoffs, I may have expected more, or want more, but it was amazing. I hope and pray that it will only be better. See you next year! (er, next season...)

READ THIS!

Hi, everyone! I've finally decided! =) Heheh!

Anyway, I just wanna inform y'all that I now have two official blogs. One right here and another on friendster.

What's the difference? That's my point...

Well, I've decided that the ones I'll post on Friendster blog are the things that happen in my life. I mean, you know, stuffs, experiences, blah-blah and all that jazz. So for those of you who wants to know yours truly more, better check that out!

For those of you who are more serious bloggers and thoroughly browses the net or care about other people's articles, they are still available for a good read right here.

This time, I'll try to keep up so I hope you do as well. Thanks!

Let's see, if it is possible to follow this link please do so...

http://fj3.blogs.friendster.com/fj3com/

Your comments are welcome and will be gladly appreciated.

Kobe Bryant's 81 vs. Wilt Chamberlain's 100

As we all know, Kobe Bryant yesterday exploded for an extraordinary 81 point performance against the Toronto Raptors. On paper, that was the second-best single game scoring performance in NBA history, of course behind Wilt Chamberlain's 100 point performance versus the New York Knicks in 1962.

But as I said, "on paper".

I have read several articles today reacting about Kobe's performance, most of which drew comparisons between that of Kobe and that of Wilt. As much as possible I want to avoid being unoriginal but instead of reacting or posting comments to their columns I might as well make mine, to satisfy me more personally.

Which is the superior performance? Read on as I attempt to put up a professionallistic article for your entertainment.

There are many factors that may or may not have affected both of their scoring in one way or another. I will break to you just to light us with a better perspective in terms of comparing these two legendary works.

Many people were arguing that Wilt may have it done easier that time as collated to that of Kobe. There is a valid point though, when Wilt mustered that terrific individual scoring, players were small and those playing the same position were a lot weaker or even slower than "the Stilt". Wilt was competing with only two guys above 6'6" with all the others being smaller than 6'6". The tallest one in the opposing team was just 6'9", still inches smaller than the 7'1" monster Wilt.

Many of course will believe that it's a lot easier for a 7'1" guy to score than a 6'7" one. Wilt was called "The Big Dipper" because he's big and he puts the ball to the basket as easy as you dip a fried chicken in a ketchup. Notwithstanding Wilt's height, he's still even stronger than players of his era.

During the 60's, teams have it as a routine to score that way, which was won by Wilt's Philadephia Warriors, 169-147. Let's put into consideration the game that was supposed to be the highlight of yesterday's NBA, Seattle SuperSonics vs. Phoenix Suns. It took two overtime periods and the current top two highest scoring teams to score as much as 152-149. This season, the Phoenix Suns lead the league in scoring with 106.3 PPG, while in 1962-63, Chamberlain's team averaged a league-leading 125.4. All the teams that season scored an average of 110+ per game. Thus, scoring was a lot easier that time.

It is safe to say that players today, whom Kobe is competing with, are a lot longer, taller, and more athletic than that of the 60's. So Kobe had a harder time to score as much as he did. Wilt made that "100" from posting up, positioning himself in the baseline, catching the ball, and simply throwing it up, and possibly get fouled for a bonus shot. Those activities, some said, were way lot easier than what Kobe did.

Kobe made that "81" through dribbling a lot to free himself, then maybe shoot a jump shot or if he saw an opening then he would take it all the way. He did that a lot of times. He went to the free throw 20 times, from which 18 was made. But Kobe is a beneficiary of the NBA's offensive-minded new handchecking rule, and there is one factor that is not hard to see. The three point line --it speaks for itself. There was nothing quite like that back in Wilt's period.

However, seeing the Lakers' game against the Raptors, one of the reasons why Kobe's barrage simply became more unstoppable is that the Raptors didn't bother to double him since he exploded. Wilt Chamberlain, as their good 'ol statistician said, was doubled consistently, tripled at times, quadrupled sometimes, and got the attention of all the opponents defensively more than once. He was posting up against guys who can touch him, with the absence of the hand-checking rule. Remember I said "guys", guys who did it simultaneously.

And then Kobe just played 42 minutes, and then what if he did play for full 48 minutes just like Wilt. But Wilt wasn't involve somehow for more than the last minute, for when he scored his 100, he stayed at the half court watching his team play offense. Wilt's competitors, before he scored his 100th point for that game, were very well aware he was reaching for it so they desperately tried to prevent it. They did things like fouling Wilt's teammates before they got the ball to him so that his teammates would score otherwise. And for the last few minutes, they held the ball for as long as the 24-second shot clock would permit them. As for the Raptors, they are ranked 29th out of 30 in the team standings right now and is a visibly bad defensive team.

Another thing, Kobe scored 81 of that 122 overall team points, and Wilt scored 100 of that 169 overall team points, which tells you that Kobe touched the ball a lot more in percentage than Wilt may have probably did. Kobe also owns the higher percentage of his team's points for that, though.

No one ever kept a video tape of the PHL Warriors vs. NY Knicks' March 2, 1962 game at Hershey, PA, which made the game as mythical at it sounds. Therefore, the NBA never have seen anything quite like Kobe's performance last night. All I can say is that both game were great, and if there are indications of those I may have shown you some of it today.

Other than the obvious 19-point difference of their performances, the above I stated were much of the reasons why one game maybe, just maybe, superior then the other. But I leave it up to you, be the judge.

I honestly can't say which is the better one but just to tell you, it is considerable that Kobe's 62-points-in-three-quarters' performance against the Dallas Mavericks last December may be more impressive than the "81" thing. To think, Dallas is a great team, one that defends very well, but Kobe pulled that off. He sat himself out in the final quarter too.

Nevertheless, my magic number today is still 81. Amazingly impressive, to say the least.