If you see that picture, that is a flat-bottomed water container that you use in your water dispensers.
The Kaholeros, also known as the Booster Squad for the Azkals' home game against Sri Lanka on July 3, need these specific kind of containers, as they will use them as drums to amplify the homecourt advantage against the South Asians.
These containers are manufactured by Clover, and the name will be mentioned on the container.
If you have those items, you can drop off these containers at the PFF office in Pasig (make sure you label them as The Blue Haired Fanatic c/o Ms. Maja). See picture below.
27 Danny Floro cor. Henry Javier Sts., Oranbo 1600 Pasig City
Welcome to the special Memorial Day edition to The Victory Formation.
Just to remind everyone, Memorial Day is an American Federal Holiday that they observe yearly at the last Monday of May, in which this year falls on the 30th. This commemorates all those who died while serving in the United States military.
Like most of the people in the United States, I am also getting the day off. To all my Stateside friends, I hope you get to do the right thing and honor the ones who gave their lives to defend your country from threats known or unknown.
It has been a while since I got the weekend off, and I really need it to get some rest, relaxation and time to stay at home. Unfortunately, most of my family got the chance to go out and frolic. At least, I get to do some more editing of photos and finish some blogs that I really need to go and write about, I hope.
How does the U.S. Embassy here honor Memorial Day? Recently, the U.S.S. Carl Vinson docked in our shores for a routine port call and then some. That aircraft carrier is the so-called funeral hearse for Osama Bin Laden. Some of my blogger friends luckily were able to go on-board and check the dock out.
Here is a nice picture of the U.S.S. Carl Vinson in Manila before we give way to the links.
Memorial Day weekend is all about racing. Dan Wheldon lucks into a rookie mistake (c/o Los Angeles Times). Kevin Harvick takes advantage of Dale Earnhardt, jr.'s fuel woes (c/o USA Today). In the principality of Monaco, Sebastian Vettel continues his dominance of the Formula 1 circuit (c/o VivaF1).
Danica Patrick might be coming to 2012 to a redneck neighborhood near you. (c/o Post Chronicle)
The beat goes on. Lost in the midst of Novak and his quest to smash McEnroe's streak is the fact that Roger Federer is now in 28 straight quarterfinals on Grand Slams (c/o The Independent).
The Williams siblings will be back in time for World Team Tennis. (c/o MSNBC)
Maryland vs Virginia for Lacrosse dominance by the men. (c/o Streaking the Lawn) Bad sign? Northwestern beat the kids from College Park to seal ladies' lacrosse. (c/o Wall Street Journal)
Jamaican dominance in sprints. Probably not going to go away anytime soon. (c/o BBC Sport) Meanwhile, Usain Bolt comes out just fine. (c/o Jamaican Observer)
It takes Charlie Davies and DC United to finally be the team to beat the Portland Timbers at their turf. (c/o Potomac Soccer Wire)
Congratulations to FC Barcelona, who made mincemeat of whatever Manchester United threw at them (c/o Zonal Marking). Meanwhile, Berbatov did not take kindly to being omitted. (c/o The Sun)
Congratulations to AS Monaco for playing your 2000th Ligue 1 game. Your reward is relegation to Ligue 2. (c/o Yahoo! Eurosport UK)
Sepp Blatter has escaped once again the clutches of nasty allegations. (c/o New York Times) And he probably will be getting a fresh new mandate (c/o Bloomberg).
The Donald is finally on top. (c/o Herald Scotland)
Charl gets membership. For Life. (c/o ProGolf Talk)
Something Annika Sorenstam or Michelle Wie never could do. (c/o Larry Brown Sports)
Greg Paulus as a future college basketball coach? (c/o The Lantern)
No more Cody Green, pressure now on Brion Carnes. (c/o Husker Extra)
Classic case of "OMG, I just threw my school under the bus, I need to be in good graces with them, you know..." (c/o Waiting for Next Year)
Some of the Rams know that sports provide temporary relief from trauma. (c/o STL Sports Minute)
Transforming a sign of negativity into a sign of hope. (c/o National Football Post)
Good news for the Canucks (c/o The Globe and Mail). He's been handy for them off the ice (c/o Orland Kurtenblog).
Hockey is king, because unlike basketball in Chicago, others had to adjust schedule. (c/o Vancouver Sun)
Defending the need for the Atlanta Thrashers to stay. (c/o Matchsticks and Gasoline)
Cavs want BOTH Kyrie Irving and Derrick Williams. (c/o ProBasketball Talk)
The John Kuester era in Detroit has reached a merciful end. (c/o The Detroit Sports Site)
Lebron is humbled by the Jordan praise. (c/o King James Gospel)
So, Scottie Pippen said that LeBron James is a better player than Michael Jordan. Interesting to note that it was Chris Broussard, the guy other than Brian Windhorst on ESPN that is thought to be the closest to James, who asked the question. Chris was guy who insisted that the James is going to Miami just before "The Decision" took place.
Feel free to compare His Airness to the King. Restrict yourself up to Jordan's first threepeat, if you want. Lebron has a long way to go. Will he get there, it's up to him and what does he want to do with what lies ahead for his future. He has to answer the question: What do I definitely want to accomplish, really?
In addition, it's hard for us to judge legacies when one has not yet finished his and is still in the midst of carving what his true legacy is, was and will be. We still do it because it makes good conversation and debate.
All I know is, we will have an idea on how things might just turn into when the games tip off American Airlines Arena / Center.
Update: Just as I am writing this, Pip tweets his explanations.
Congratulations to the Dallas Mavericks and the Miami Heat. They made it to the NBA Finals. Just like what they did 5 years ago. It would be remiss to look back then as a means of revisiting the situation that is about to unfold.
The 2006 Miami roster: Derek Anderson, Shandon Anderson, Earl Barron, Michael Doleac, Udonis Haslem, Jason Kapono, Alonzo Mourning, Shaquille O'Neal, Gary Payton, James Posey, Wayne Simien, Dwyane Wade, Antoine Walker, Jason Williams, Dorell Wright
Note: Matt Walsh played with the team during the season but was waived during the season. Gerald Fitch with also with the team but was traded to acquire Derek Anderson.
Five years later: Udonis Haslem and Dwayne Wade are the only remnants.
The 2006 Dallas roster: Darrell Armstrong, Erick Dampier, Marquis Daniels, DeSagana Diop, Adrian Griffin, Devin Harris, Josh Howard, Didier Mbenga, Rawle Marshall, Dirk Nowitzki, Pavel Podklozin, Josh Powell, Jerry Stackhouse, Jason Terry, Keith Van Horn
Note: Doug Christie played with the team at the start of the season but was waived during the season.
Five years later: Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry are the only remnants. Interesting to note though, that Erick Dampier is on the Miami roster this time around. Jerry Stackhouse likewise was also on the Heat roster, but he was waived early in the season.
We all knew what went on in the Finals. Dallas goes up 2-0 and was leading late in Game 3 before Miami pulls off a comeback to win it, and then winning out, albeit with some controversy due to officiating. Most point out the free throws disparity, as Dwyane Wade had 46 free throw attempts in the last two games of that series, with people quipping that blowing air towards him would cause the ref to call a foul.
Wade was named as the NBA Finals MVP, averaging 34.7 points. 7.8 rebounds 3.8 assists 2.7 steals and 1 block in that 6-game series. It's amazing how he just took over that series.
On June 5, the best players from the United Football League will be facing off against the National Team stalwarts at the University of Makati football stadium.
Tickets will cost 100 pesos, which will be for the use of the PFF in their preparations for the World Cup Qualifier games against Sri Lanka. Check here for more details.
You are probably wondering why there is a UNICEF post on a sports blog. The United Nations Children's Fund (or UNICEF) is conducting a live online auction via http://www.ebay.ph/unicef. Now, this is to raise funds for the differing projects of UNICEF-Philippines in their quest to uplift the lives of the Filipino child.
This auction is in partnership with Greenbelt Ayala Malls, Ebay.ph, Cibo and Cibo di M, and it brings together works of reputable artists in art, design, furniture, fashion, jewellery and photography along with exciting experiential packages. As a sports fan, there are a couple of items might just interest you.
Now, the Philippine Men's Football team or more commonly called by their monicker, the Azkals, have decided to get involved in this endeavor and pitched in a chance to experience being in the dugout with the team July 3. That Sunday is the day when they will be facing Sri Lanka in a World Cup Qualifier for 2014. There are two vouchers that would allow you to be in the dugout with them and also get a football kit.
If you want to have these chance to be just a few feet away from the likes of Aly Borromeo, the Younghusbands or Neil Etheridge or Chieffy Caligdong or Ian Araneta etc... Make your bids by clicking either here or here. Remember, this is for a great cause. Deadline for bidding is until Jun 04, 2011 (16:00:00 PHT).
UNICEF and football have always been a great mix, with the most obvious one being FC Barcelona placing UNICEF as the first ever organization to be on the front of the Catalan club's football jerseys, as seen below.
Just as you thought South Beach cannot be as annoying as it is with all the fuss and hullabaloo around it, it just keeps on going...
Game 3 at the American Airlines Arena in Miami not only featured jousting between Joakim Noah and a fan, which will cost the young Bulls center some dough, but also much fuss with TNT's Charles Barkley.
Chuck, of course, has been critical of the Miami Heat all season. He also picked the Bulls to advance. Obviously, some Heat fans felt that this is an affront to them, and let him know about that. Chuck, knowing him, gave them an appropriate response.
As such, the TNT set is to be moved inside the AAA.
*c/o Opposing Views, USA Today, and Chicago Breaking Sports.
Welcome to today's edition of The Victory Formation.
I am sure everyone was looking forward to the rapture moment the other day. The world was looking forward to whether the world was going to end or how epically bad it was going to become. It even spawned lots and lots of memes, from confessions to playlists to even views on fave videos on Youtube. Unfortunately, the day came and went, and pretty much no cataclysmic event occurred. And so, the man who "cried wolf," then goes incommunicado, probably embarrassed that his prediction did not push through.
Considering that we were ahead of most readers time zone wise, I sort of was anticipating what was to happen to us, last Saturday, at 6pm. Nothing happened, although I was watching these ladies perform and do their thing, I'd die happy if if it really ended on that moment.
Here forth are links to make your morning.
First up, some local news. Oddly enough, I did not feel an earthquake late last night. Must be really dense. (c/o Philippine Star) Not only that, there is a storm in the midst (c/o Philippine Daily Inquirer).
Only in the Philippines, where a prisoner actually gets a "vacation" (c/o GMA News)
Football preparations well underway for our World Cup Qualifier being slightly over a month away. (c/o GMA News)
Manny Pacquiao does not want you to use condoms. (c/o Fire Quinito) Meanwhile, he already has something lined up for November (c/o San Antonio Express) and it is not this guy (c/o Underdog Boxing). He is already earmarked for Glee, by the way. (c/o ABS-CBN News)
Bernard Hopkins still knows how to throw barbs, and not just the ones he threw at Donovan McNabb. (c/o Bragging Rights Corner). Chad Dawson is the next hurdle, I presume (c/o Boxing News 24).
On the other hand, it's time, Roy Jones, jr. It's time. Enough. (c/o Ball Junkie).
Oscar Dela Hoya needs to get things back in order. (c/o Daily Star)
Hey, got nothing to do due to the lockout, Ray Edwards goes the Zbikowski route. (c/o Shutdown Corner). On the other hand, Garrett Wolfe takes the Dez Bryant route and goes another notch. (c/o Bear Goggles On)
Tedy Bruschi successfully climbs Mt. Kilimanjaro. (c/o ESPN Boston)
Appy State might crash the BCS party. It'll take forever, though. Still remember how the pulled the rug at the Big House. (c/o College Football Talk)
The Lacrosse Final Four is complete. (c/o Washington Post) and one ended in clutch (SB Nation DC).
The Belmont Stakes lost luster, but the battle between Shackleford and Animal Kingdom might be the headline. (c/o Louisville Courier-Journal)
There was volleyball in the Preakness. (c/o Examiner)
The French Open has begun! (c/o Wall Street Journal) As such, it also gives me license to post this:
FC Porto is dominating Portugal (c/o Pravda) and Europe (c/o New York Times' Goal).
A French club ended their title drought that lasted as long as the San Francisco Giants. (c/o Football Fan Cast)
Why should Landon Donovan go to AS Roma? A guy gave 100 reasons. (c/o Sensible Soccer)
We know college football and how some teams handle Twitter, Manchester United might provide a template for professional clubs to go forth with. (c/o The Guardian)
Real Madrid and Philadelphia fans about make themselves comfy with each other. (c/o Yahoo!)
Adios to the Premiership for Birmingham (c/o Daily Mail). But for Blackpool, they might luckily get a European backdoor amidst their relegation (c/o Blackpool Gazette).
Roman Abramovich does not like failure. (c/o The London Telegraph)
Goooooooooooooooooooooooooooolllllllllllllllll! Ronaldo! (c/o Who Ate All The Pies)
Canada at the pole. (c/o Toronto Sun) Here are your 33 racers for the milk bottle (c/o Auto Racing Daily). Their Euro-based cousins had a race in Spain with Bassy dominatin'. (c/o The First Post)
Can the Iceman make the Montoya transition? (c/o Autoblog)
The slide downwards continues for Tiger Woods, and with that, so does golf's major relevance. (c/o ProGolf Talk)
Canucks just one game away from Lord Stanley's finals. (c/o Vancouver Sun)
The Bolts are around (c/o Slap Shot). And they made themselves known (c/o Boston Globe).
Because they do not understand this procedure, MLB thinks this is performance-enhancing. (c/o New York Daily News) And with the results Colon is showing, others want it, too. (c/o San Francisco Chronicle)
Cliff Lee shows the Rangers what they're missing. (c/o Dallas Morning News)
What lies in the immediate horizon for the Yankees: tempering Jose Bautista (c/o Newark Star-Ledger).
Is the cure for the Philly woes is with them all along? (c/o Philadelphia Sports Daily)
Fredi now has no worries on where Jason Heyward is in the batting order. (c/o Atlanta Journal-Constitution)
Mavs lead Thunder after three games. (c/o Sports Illustrated)
NBA does the right thing and rescinded the Chandler tech after the James Harden acting job. (c/o Sportsgrid)
These are the kind of things that wrecked the Garnett-Starbury pairing in Minnesota. Can KD and Russ fix it? (c/o Larry Brown Sports)
Found it odd that a guy who shot 24 free throws two games later just shoots one. (c/o CBS Sports)
I'm the Larry Bird for the new millenium, bitches.
Game 1 has passed by and what a game that was. You could call it the Dirk Nowitzki Experience, where whatever Oklahoma City put up did not stand a chance. Even their coach, Scotty Brooks, said it. Lost in the DNE was that Kevin Durant was not all too shabby either.
After the jump is the much belated preview of the NBA Western Conference Finals.
Schedule of Games: All games in Eastern Time
Game 1 - Tue May 17 Oklahoma City at Dallas 9:00PM 121-112 win for Dallas. Game 2 - Thu May 19 Oklahoma City at Dallas 9:00PM Game 3 - Sat May 21 Dallas at Oklahoma City 9:00PM Game 4 - Mon May 23 Dallas at Oklahoma City 9:00PM Game 5 * Wed May 25 Oklahoma City at Dallas 9:00PM Game 6 * Fri May 27 Dallas at Oklahoma City 9:00PM Game 7 * Sun May 29 Oklahoma City at Dallas 9:00PM *if necessary
Unlike the Eastern Conference, it's simply an alternating setup and no events that could possibly disturb the cycle are present. What helps is their proximity to each other makes it conducive. (Oklahoma City is just three hours away from Dallas-Forth Worth.)
Regular Season Matchup: Dallas won the first two meetings before Oklahoma City got theirs in their final encounter. Interesting to note that all games came before the trade of Kendrick Perkins. In addition, both of Dallas' wins have been with Caron Butler on the roster before he got hurt, and Dirk did not play in that final meeting.
What should Dallas do? Feed Dirk. The German shooting machine has totally been as efficient, like what the German stereotype of their industry. The Thunder are befuddled as they try to defend him in Game 1. JJ Barea has been running rings as of late and in Game 1, OKC failed to keep him in check. Dallas also has been great with the three-pointer, predicated on by Jason Terry and Jason Kidd.
What should Oklahoma City do? Still, the major elephant in the room remains to be the Westbrook shot selection process. Russell needs to make those shots and at the same time, find opportunities that would make Durant feel comfortable with. Focus on the defensive end is also a need, considering all their games against the Mavs have been high-scoring affairs.
X-Factor/s: A pair of guards off the bench for both teams need to contribute well for the success of both teams. On one side, JJ Barea has been great in the playoffs, while James Harden for the Thunder has been the offensive oomph from the bench, considering they start off with Thabo.
The pick: Dallas in 6. Dirk is primed for a return run to the Finals. This is another learning experience that would be for the benefit of Durant, Westbrook and the others, knowing that next season is the leap to becoming one of the favorites to win the title in 2012.
Alright, the highly anticipated 2nd leg of the Philippines vs Sri Lanka 2014 World Cup qualifiers will take place in the Rizal Memorial Football Field on July 3, 2011. That is a Sunday, FYI.
Of course, with the announcement of the match and location, comes with the additional question of where can I get tickets to watch the game at Rizal? Details after the jump.
Well, as per a tweet from Philippine Daily Inquirer's Cedelf Tupas (whom you can also follow at @cedelfpt), the breakdown on ticketing is as follows.
There is the bleachers section where the 200-peso location (8,000 tickets available) and 300-peso location (5,000 tickets available) will be available.
And then there is the grandstand, where 5000 tickets worth 2,000 or 3,000 will be made available.
Ticketworld is handling the distribution of tickets and the official release date is on June 3. Questions can be addressed to them by either calling them 891-99-99 or tweeting @ticketworldinc.
Update: As per information found on a post in Facebook, more clarifications are made regarding ticketing.
Well, Game 1 has already passed us by, and what a game it was. For Chicago fans, that is. Bulls come out like gang busters in the 2nd half and paved the way for the manhandling that went on from there. For Miami fans, they want to shake this one off as fast as they could until tip-off for Game 2 begins.
After the jump, here is the much belated preview of the NBA Eastern Conference Finals.
Schedule of Games (times are in local time at Chicago):
Game 1: at Bulls, 7 p.m., Sunday, TNT 103-82 win for Chicago
Game 2: at Bulls, 7:30 p.m., May 18
Game 3: at Miami, 7:30 p.m., May 22
Game 4: at Miami, 7:30 p.m., May 24
*Game 5: at Bulls, 7:30 p.m., May 26
*Game 6: at Miami, 7:30 p.m., May 28
*Game 7: at Bulls, 7:30 p.m., May 30
*If necessary
It's kind of odd seeing a huge time gap from Game 1 to 3, but then again, that Oprah has much pull.
Regular Season Matchup: Bulls won all three games by relatively small margins. It is important to note, though that Lebron James missed the first meeting. And the Chris Bosh 1/18 shooting game was their second meeting.
What should Miami do: Lebron and Dwyane have finally gotten over the Boston hump. Now they should assert themselves and go for the big kahuna. Ditto for Chris Bosh, who needs to keep the likes of Noah and Boozer off the boards. There is a need for the bit players to make more contributions, from James Jones making three's to effective quarterbacking from Mario Chalmers.
What should Chicago do: Play together and defend. Thibodeau was the man who devised the Boston defense that steered them to two Finals appearances and one NBA title. They have guys whom they can put on Lebron and Wade (Bogans, Deng, Brewer). The bigs controlled the boards 19-6 on the offensive end in Game 1. Derrick Rose should be able to control pace and knife his way through things.
X-Factor/s: For Chicago, it's Taj. You saw for yourselves what he did. Can he follow that up with more of it? As for the Heat, it's Bosh. Because the Heat cannot afford to have him being dominated on by Noah and / or Boozer.
The pick: Bulls in 6. 20 years after Michael Jordan makes his NBA Finals debut and staking his claim on behalf of his generation, Derrick Rose makes his debut to represent the 00s.
I managed to stumble into a post from ESPNBoston's Chris Forsberg asking the opinion of the public on what the Celtics ought to be done on its current roster and management. My personal vote lies after the jump.
I decided to keep Ainge and Doc, as well as the following players: Garnett, Pierce, Allen, Rondo, Jermaine, Big Baby, Green, Delonte, Nenad and their lone rookie Avery Bradley.
I will make the assumption that no one will overpay for Big Baby. However, the Celtics themselves should not overpay in order to keep him onto the roster. Shamsports has the lowdown on the cap-look. At least Boston has a better read on what Jermaine can definitively give than Shaq.
But if they decided to nuke this roster, it might take a while for them to rebuild and contend.
I already tried to decipher the MVP Vote, and with the recent announcement of the All-NBA teams, it would be nice to look into the way the results went out.
2010-11 All-NBA First Team
Position
Player, Team (1st Team Votes)
Points
Forward
LeBron James, Miami (119)
595
Forward
Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City (69)
492
Center
Dwight Howard, Orlando (118)
593
Guard
Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers (98)
551
Guard
Derrick Rose, Chicago (118)
593
As I thought, these are the top 5 in the MVP voting. Naturally, they go as the 1st team. This would have been a deadly run-and-gun unit for London 2012, don't you think?
It's also interesting to note there that Lebron got the only unanimous vote, considering he finished third in the MVP race. Both Dwight and Derrick had 118.
2010-11 All-NBA Second Team
Position
Player, Team (1st Team Votes)
Points
Forward
Pau Gasol, L.A. Lakers (2)
259
Forward
Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas (47)
437
Center
Amar'e Stoudemire, New York (2)
258
Guard
Dwyane Wade, Miami (24)
392
Guard
Russell Westbrook, Oklahoma City
184
There clearly is a huge gap in the top tier to the next tier. I believe that everyone is in agreement that Pau Gasol has been a clear disappointment in the postseason knowing that he is in this group.
2010-11 All-NBA Third Team
Position
Player, Team (1st Team Votes)
Points
Forward
LaMarcus Aldridge, Portland
135
Forward
Zach Randolph, Memphis
67
Center
Al Horford, Atlanta
62
Guard
Manu Ginobili, San Antonio
106
Guard
Chris Paul, New Orleans
157
Finally, LaMarcus Aldridge gets the recognition he truly deserves after being robbed of not only an All-Star Game berth, but also the Most Improved Player nod.
Note the others getting votes:
Rajon Rondo, Boston, 68 Paul Pierce, Boston, 55 Carmelo Anthony, Denver-New York, 53 Kevin Love, Minnesota, 48 Tim Duncan, San Antonio, 43 Blake Griffin, L.A. Clippers, 36 Tony Parker, San Antonio, 27 Kevin Garnett, Boston, 22 Deron Williams, Utah-New Jersey 19 Steve Nash, Phoenix, 17 Andrew Bogut, Milwaukee, 13 Monta Ellis, Golden State, 11 Nene, Denver, 11 Andrew Bynum, L.A. Lakers, 9 Kevin Martin, Houston, 7 Tyson Chandler, Dallas, 7 Joakim Noah, Chicago, 5 Marc Gasol, Memphis, 3 Al Jefferson, Utah, 3 Kendrick Perkins, Boston-Oklahoma City, 3 Andrea Bargnani, Toronto, 2 Chris Bosh, Miami, 2 Andre Iguodala, Philadelphia, 1 Emeka Okafor, New Orleans, 1 Eric Gordon, L.A. Clippers, 1 Gerald Wallace, Charlotte-Portland, 1 Jason Kidd, Dallas, 1 Luis Scola, Houston, 1 Luol Deng, Chicago, 1 Ray Allen, Boston, 1
Some names just are eye-poppers. You can name them yourself and feel free to take potshots if they do so in your opinion.
Overall, I managed to correctly name 12 out of the 15 players, with 10 being in their exact position, Manu being in the wrong team and Zach being in the wrong position. Not bad.
It has been reported that Robert "Tractor" Traylor passed away in Puerto Rico.
In the aftermath of the Fab Five's arrival and departure, a lot of kids wanted to go to Michigan and be the next Chris Webber or Juwan Howard. It might be a Herculean task to succeed such collegiate legends, even though the win totals were erased from the record books, but they kids certainly tried. One of those recruits was Robert Traylor. A huge body and an immovable force in the collegiate lanes, Robert provided the low post muscle in the immediate post-Fab Five era. That is why he earned the monicker "Tractor."
Who were his teammates back then, the likes of Louis Bullock, Maurice Taylor, Jerod Ward and Maceo Baston. He also the NIT MVP in 1997 as a sophomore.
After his junior year, he declared for the draft. The Dallas Mavericks selected him 6th overall. However, Don Nelson, the quirky guy that he is, had an eye for a particular player, a gangly teen from Germany, that people had no idea back then what he could do and what his role should be in the NBA. So, then-Milwaukee GM Bob Weinhauer, who had the 9th and 19th picks, impressed with his pre-draft workout, traded both picks for him. The 19th pick was eventually Pat Garrity, whom the Mavs managed to use in a deal that brought them a young back-up point guard who was playing in Phoenix. You can discern what happens next based from this picture:
This was one of the most lop-sided deals in the history of the NBA Draft, as you can see below, like a tractor, he just chugged and crawled along slowly until it rusted away.
Looks like it is cool to be strutting the old threads again, as the past year saw the Golden State Warriors adopt a logo similar to their classic ones, the Sixers reverting back to their previous logo pre-dating the Iverson era, and the Jazz reverting back to the note.
If there is one team that should go back to the old ones, it's the Washington Wizards. It is probably unlikely that they will be reverting back to the Bullets, but the red, white and blue is pretty pretty cool.
This is how they rocked it back then:
Now, this is what John Wall and Jordan Crawford will be chucking next season (provided there is one):
If it looks famillar, it reminds you of the Caps, which Ted Leonsis also owns.
Well, this was supposed to be the playoff preview for the Western Conference, but since I'm posting this already after the Lakers get bounced (I predicted the Lakers to supposedly advance in 6, so I am terribly wrong in this case), might as well do a little revisionism and post-script action.
So, let's go straight to the nitty gritty.
2 - Los Angeles Lakers vs 3 - Dallas Mavericks
Regular Season Analysis: The Lakers held a 2-1 edge in the regular season, winning the last 2 meetings. Dallas did not shoot well in their regular season losses against LA. Peja Stojakovic only played in the third and final game.
What went wrong for Los Angeles: True to form to their regular season, save for Lamar Odom, the bench was relatively non-existent.That already put more pressure on everyone, especially with Pau Gasol, who already has been receiving major flak based on his performance in the previous series.
What went right for Dallas: Dallas stroked it from long distance. They tied a playoff record with 20 three-point conversions in a game during Game 4. To put it into comparison, the Lakers converted just 15 threes for THE ENTIRE SERIES. And when you watched the game, most of those were coming off good screens and great execution. The Jet went bananas in the last game, 32 points off a record-tying nine three point conversions. Also give credit to how the Mavericks defended Kobe and made it difficult for him to score. Barea has been a pest and made things brutal for Laker defenders to the point they had Ron Artest guard him.
Man of the Series: Dirk Nowitzki has been great all series long. Unstoppable from Games 1-3. He was there in Game 4, but the BTS took care of things in that one to the point that he was pretty much irrelevant.
4 - Oklahoma City Thunder vs 8 - Memphis Grizzlies
Regular Season Matchup: The Grizzlies have a 3-1 edge in their regular season duels. It is important to note that Rudy Gay only played in the first 2 games before his season-ending surgery. In addition, they only met once after the trade deadline that netted Kendrick Perkins for Oklahoma City and Shane Battier for Memphis. Memphis won said particular meeting. All games were relatively close, with winning margins of 4-9 points. Each team scored in triple digits in all the games.
Keys for the Thunder: Shot selection. The white elephant in the room has been Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant's shot attempts. The issue is not that, because Kevin is a guy that does not really that vocal in demanding the ball. The issue is and remains to be on the decision-making Russell conducts in the process.
Keys for the Grizzlies: Paint dominance. They have two of the better (possibly the best remaining in the postseason) low post scoring options in Marc Gasol and Zach Randolph. Mike Conley has played within himself and controlled the ebb and flow of how things roll.
X-Factor/s: It's all about the Celtic championship pride running down the veins of Kendrick Perkins and Tony Allen on each side.
Lost in the limelight of FC Barcelona's 1-1 draw against Real Madrid (and 3-1 aggregate final score) in the 2nd leg of the UEFA Champions' League semi-final was the entry of Eric Abidal as a substitute. It occurred in the 89th minute, replacing Carles Puyol. That substitution spawned massive cheers and celebrations around the Camp Nou.
For those who were unaware, Abidal or "Abi", a French international defender, underwent emergency surgery for a liver tumor last March. His appearance in the 5th and final El Clasico of the season was his first game back since the removal of the growth. Last Monday, he rejoined the Catalan club and current La Liga leaders for full training after six weeks of rest and recuperation, a welcome presence knowing that his fellow defenders Maxwell and Adriano were both unavailable for the 2nd leg. It may only have been three minutes of game action, but those three minutes were very much cherished for Abi as he is finally back in his field of dreams.
During his absence, his fellow footballers and football fans worldwide were full of tributes wishing him well for his full recovery, from posters to shirts to tweets of support, they all want him to be back on the field as soon as he can .
With the Champions League trophy in sight at the hallowed ground of Wembley on May 28 (and the possibility of a Cup Double), the back line of FC Barcelona just got better in the most opportune time, as they prepare from an onslaught of offense from the likes of Rooney, Hernandez, Berbatov, and Giggs.
With all the bad blood and besmirched reputations and allegations that marred this semifinal, Eric Abidal's return to the pitch is a glimmer of hope and positivity in football.
Congratulations to Derrick Rose, as he is officially named as the NBA's Most Valuable Player this season. He truly deserved the nod and in fact, was very humbled by it.
Typical of Derrick and his personality, he deflected the prestige of being the best player in the NBA this season, expressing instead his appreciation to Him, his teammates, Bulls management, everyone, and especially his mom Brenda for keeping him in check as he grew up in the South Side.
The Chicago Bulls won 62 games this season under their new head coach Tom Thibodeau, a 21-game improvement over last season. Not surprised that Thibs gets the Coach Of The Year nod.
This is what the 22-yr old Rose averaged this season (h/t to Basketball-Reference):
G
GS
MP
FG
FGA
FG%
3P
3PA
3P%
81
81
37.4
8.8
19.7
.445
1.6
4.8
.332
FT
FTA
FT%
ORB
DRB
TRB
AST
STL
BLK
TOV
PF
PTS
5.9
6.9
.858
1.0
3.1
4.1
7.7
1.0
0.6
3.4
1.7
25.0
If you look at the fact that Boozer played in just 59 games (which one might say is very typical from Carlos) and Noah in only 48, and then take into consideration the huge hole at the other guard position (currently filled by Keith Bogans as the nominal starter while Kyle Korver and Ronnie Brewer alternate), that is a lot of carrying Derrick had to deal with during the whole season, whilst the other teams have had reliable help all year (whether it is the Celtics with their core, the Heat with theirs, Lakers with Kobe and Pau, and the Thunder with Durant and Westbrook). Not just that, the numbers Derrick put up were career highs in almost every single category, both good and bad ones.
Now, let's look at the ballot results: You have to take note that there are 120 voters from the media (composed of sportswriters and broadcasters). Fans also had a say and the NBA gave them a collective vote. That's why you'd might wonder at the excel data below why someone got 121 (Data taken from the NBA's official press release)
2010-11 Kia NBA MVP Award Results
Player, Team
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
5th
Total Points
Derrick Rose, Chicago
113
6
2
--
--
1182 (121)
Dwight Howard, Orlando
3
57
31
16
11
643 (118)
LeBron James, Miami
4
26
39
31
12
522 (112)
Kobe Bryant, L.A. Lakers
1
18
32
40
12
428 (103)
Kevin Durant, Oklahoma City
--
6
10
20
38
190 (74)
Dirk Nowitzki, Dallas
--
5
3
11
30
113 (49)
Dwyane Wade, Miami
--
1
1
2
6
24 (10)
Manu Ginobili, San Antonio
--
2
--
--
6
20 (8)
Amar'e Stoudemire, New York
--
--
1
--
4
9 (5)
Blake Griffin, L.A. Clippers
--
--
1
--
--
5 (1)
Rajon Rondo, Boston
--
--
1
--
--
5 (1)
Tony Parker, San Antonio
--
--
--
1
--
3 (1)
Chris Paul, New Orleans
--
--
--
--
2
2 (2)
I understood the landslide in the first place balloting. The Lebron backlash was not necessarily that atrocious, because he was the guy the second-most 1st-place votes with four, compared to Dwight Howard with 3. Kobe got the other remaining first place vote.
Speaking of Dwight, he was the clear 2nd-best player, he got 57 2nd-place votes. What intrigues me with him is that he had 118 media members voting for him. I wonder who were the two people who left him off their ballots.
I thought Dirk Nowitzki could have gotten more votes that what he received. Ditto for Dwayne Wade, considering the Lebron-Wade dynamic down in South Beach.
For all the sizzle that Amar'e Stoudemire had to kick off the season, that fizzled as he only was in 5 ballots. Also an interesting thing to note, Blake Griffin, Rajon Rondo and Tony Parker each got a vote.
So, a total of 13 players received votes. If we determine the All-NBA teams based on the balloting, I would go out and do it like this.
1st team All-NBA:
Guards: Derrick Rose and Kobe Bryant
Forwards: Lebron James and Kevin Durant
Center: Dwight Howard
2nd team All-NBA:
Guards: Dwyane Wade and Manu Ginobili Forwards: Dirk Nowitzki and Blake Griffin Center: Amar'e Stoudemire
3rd team All-NBA:
Guards: Rajon Rondo and Chris Paul (I value Paul's numbers more than Parker's) Forwards: Lamarcus Aldridge and Kevin Love Center: Zach Randolph
From the original 8, there are now just four teams left in the East. Congratulations are in order for Chicago, Miami, Boston and Atlanta. Happy trails to Orlando, New York, Philadelphia and Indiana. Let's see how the teams and match-ups fare for this round:
1 - Chicago vs 5 - Atlanta
Regular Season Matchup: Chicago won with 2-1 edge. All 3 games were in a span of 3 weeks in the month of March, so they already had Kirk Hinrich in tow. Josh Smith did not play in the first meeting, which was the only one that the Hawks won and was the only close game. The other two meetings were major Chi-town blowouts. Speaking of which, the second game (and first blowout) did not feature Carlos Boozer.
Keys for the Bulls: Derrick Rose went nova on the Hawks, scoring 34 and 30 in their final two meetings. Considering Kirk Hinrich is nursing a strained hamstring, the mismatch got even bigger. In both of their blowouts, they had a huge edge in rebounds, taking advantage of their athletic bigs. There is a slight concern with the ankle, though. Luol Deng has been playing well, but he is mainly benefiting from the presence of Rose and what he does as well as the attention to Boozer.
Keys for the Hawks: They pretty much frustrated Orlando in such a way that it absolutely was putrid to watch their games. Yes, it was really that difficult to watch how ugly this series got offensively. They might have to do the same thing to the probable MVP Derrick Rose. Larry Drew must realize that they don't have much depth, so they'll have to keep things close and not allow Chicago to pull away. As such, he must also figure out a way to minimize the Iso-J**** (Joe, Josh, Jamal) situations a.k.a. Clogged Toilet offense that stops ball flow. Atlanta needs to be efficient with their offense knowing their limitations.
X-Factor/s: Jamal Crawford will be absorbing most of Kirk's minutes, while Jeff Teague will be a nominal starter just like Jason Collins. Hawks cannot afford to have bad nights, so Crawford needs to get buckets. Bulls need better numbers from Carlos Boozer, who struggled mightily in the last playoff series.
Prediction: Bulls in 5.
2 - Miami vs 3 - Boston
Regular Season Matchup: Boston won with a 3-1 edge, winning the first three. It is important to note that all three wins by Boston came before the Kendrick Perkins trade. The first two games also featured Udonis Haslem for Miami, who then got hurt. Also playing in two games were the O'Neals. Shaq played in the first two, Jermaine played in the first and the last. Delonte West only played in their final meeting. The three Boston wins were close to an extent, but the Miami win was a huge blowout.
Keys for the Heat: The supporting cast. Sure, they probably have the best collection of young studs, but they can only get you so far. Will Mike Bibby, Mike Miller and James Jones be enabled to shoot? Can their collection of bigs get the job done down low, or in Z's case, make the 15 foot jumper?
Keys for the Celtics: The supporting cast. All three wins in their regular season faceoff also had a role player making a major contribution, from Glen Davis to Nate Robinson to even Von Wafer. They'll need that because it will entail a massive effort from Paul Pierce to have to deal with limiting Lebron James. Oh, and Rondo needs to get off his funk. Sure, he eviscerated the Knicks at Madison Square Garden the past game or two, but his form has been off in general compared to how he got serious MVP votes
X-Factor/s: Shaq did not play in the first round against the Knicks. He did not play in Game 1, but he did travel to Miami. As they traded away Kendrick Perkins, it is a must that Shaq plays. On the other hand, Joel Anthony has been the solid defensive presence to complement Chris Bosh, something sorely missing due to Udonis Haslem's injury. Can he keep that up? We'll see.
Welcome to today's edition of The Victory Formation.
I was supposed to be doing a little experimentation for today's edition of TMA. But instead, I'll have someone else speak to you.
Here forth are the links.
The Mets fittingly won yesterday in extras. Watch as sports and media merge. (c/o Huffington Post)
Also befitting, the Yankees (c/o National Post), the Nationals (c/o San Jose Mercury News) and the Pirates (c/o Bucs Dugout) (Pittsburgh being the nearest team to Shanksville, where United 93 crashed).
Tom Thibodeaux named as the Coach of the Year. I doubt that the curse it brings will affect the Bulls as they play the Hawks later today. (c/o Chicago Sun-Times)
Celtics (c/o Celtics Hub) get screwed, while the Thunder get shocked (c/o Norman Transcript).
These ain't no choking Sharks, yet. (c/o New York Times)
Time for some grease, Lightning. (c/o Washington Times)
Will this happen on Saturday / Sunday? (c/o Yahoo!)
To part, it was only yesterday that the Vatican has decided on officially beatifying Pope John Paul II. His feast day has been set for October 22, which was the day he ascended onto the Papal Throne. Sports connection? He was actually a goalkeeper in his youth. The simple song I have here is the theme song to the World Youth Day back in 1995 when it was held here.
