Gil points to this website and says that there’s a remix of “Chocolate Rain” done for him.
The instructions are as follows:
1. scroll to bottom of page. skip all the jibba jabba, it’ll only confuse things. 2. Turn on second video and wait til it gets to 4:52 3. Start first video so that the sound from the first video plays as a soundtrack for video of second video. 4. Enjoy.
There’s a brief synopsis of what “Chocolate Rain” is and what it’s about there as well. I have to say that I’ve listened to this song twice and, aside from the fact that the guy can’t sing very well, it’s a very powerful piece of music.
———-
Gilbert Arenas is giving away a basketball court!
“I’m giving three lucky fans the chance to win a Spalding court. They get the rim, the backboard, Spalding balls, and all the rest of the accessories. All you have to do is submit an essay on GilsArena.com on why you are the one that needs or deserves the court. I’ll have the contest running now until October 1st. That gives you a month to submit your essay.”
I think I’m gonna enter. I mean, what do I have to lose?
“I need to tell you guys more about my new shoe. I mentioned it before, but now that the details are being worked out, I’m even more excited about it. They’re called the Gil 20′s. That means that there are 20 different versions coming out in 20 cities. That means what whatever version you buy in D.C., you can’t buy in L.A. Or whatever comes out in L.A., you can’t get in Miami.
So this is for all the shoeheads, I’m trying out a new something new. It’s never been done before. Every shoe is totally different. I’m hoping David Stern lets me wear all the different versions without giving me a fine. We’ll see. So there will be 20 different shoes in 20 different cities with 20 different release dates and I should have the schedule for you guys the next time I blog so you’ll know what color comes out in what city. I can give you a couple ideas of what the shoes are called though:
Black President Agent Zero Hibachi Coke Zero (That you can only get through Coke Rewards) Don’t Watch Me, Watch TV NBA LIVE ’08 (The only way you can win this is from 2,000 golden tickets inserted into copies of the game. They’re doing the whole Willy Wonka thing.) Halo 3 (That Microsoft worked on.)
You’ll only be able to buy them in certain stores. Your big sporting good stores are going to sell them, but most of them will go to the specialty shoe stores and the underground sneaker shops. It should cause a lot of hype because they are some good looking shoes.”
I want a pair.
———-
Gilbert Arenas to Richard Jefferson:
“You have to (donate $3.5 Million to Arizona University) do that because seven out of 10 people don’t know you enough to even remember what jersey number you wore in college. Ten out of 10 people know what I wore, seven out of 10 don’t know what he wore. So by him having that gym, that gives him some clout. He’s still going to be behind me with the fans, but now he has his own gym with his own name on it to go work out. That’s cute.
Richard said:
“Luke Walton just signed a $30 million contract, I think he can at least spare $1 million. I think $1 million is not too much to ask. Gilbert is going to sign for more than all of us combined, so after he opts out he’ll probably get $130 million. Gilbert really has no excuse, especially since he’s throwing $2 million birthday parties, so I think he can afford to give back just a little bit.”
See, I’ve been donating since I got into the league, so I’ve donated more than the $3.5 he did for his selfish gym. It’s a selfish gym. It’s a gym that is celebrating Richard Jefferson. I’m donating to people. I’m helping people. He’s trying to be one of the elite Arizona players ever, which he’s not right now. Unfortunately, I had to be the one to say that he’s like the third favorite. But I think his stock is dropping. He’s like fourth now. I don’t know what happened to cause it, but he’s fourth now. The R-Jeff market is in a recession.”
Looks like Uruguay was a Canada type team. Good against the bad teams, bad against the good teams. Now that the poseurs have been eliminated from competition and the stakes have been raised, it looks like Uruguay has been unable to maintain their forward momentum. Too bad for Batista (another 17 & 10) that Barbosa was scorching hot last night (32 points on 8/11 and 4/7).
Bottom feeder game. I think Canada, Venezuela, Uruguay and Mexico will be fighting for fifth & sixth spots cuz Puerto Rico, Brazil, Argentina and the US are taking the top four. AT this stage in the game, no amount of stellar offensive output matters because neither of these two teams did it in the games it mattered the most.
Carlos Arroyo finally played like Carlos Arroyo (22 points on 5/8 & 4/7) and led his squad over Canada in this final round robin game. Canada, meanwhile, had a 9 point third quarter meltdown and never recovered. And aside from Dalembert’s 13 & 18 double double, there was nothing to cheer about. Juan Mendez was spectacularly absent this game as well proving once and for all why he does not have a job in the NBA. And that is what has hurt Canada so much this tournament – inconsistency (6/23 from 3).
It’s too bad, too. Cuz I was really rooting for them this time. Now they’re gonna have to play perfect basketball just to have a shot at an Olympic wild card berth …
What’s amazing about this game wasn’t the final score – though it was pretty impressive that Argentina was able to keep the US under 100 points – or Kobe’s 27 points (though it’ll be all over ESPN today). No, what was impressive about this game was Luis Scola’s 20 points given the competition he’s playing with and against and the fact that Argentina DOMINATED the boards to the tune of 37-28. What KILLED Argentina, as far as I’m concerned, was their 5/21 (23%) 3 point shooting. This team relies heavily on the long bomb and it looks like they had an off night (you live by the three ….) I betcha they were wishing Obi Wan Ginobili waltzed in on his golden saddle to save the day.
They were outscored by 15 in the first Q. The final score had the US up by 15. So that First quarter made all the difference in the world for both the US and Argentina. The rematch is going to be a slobberknocker.
August 30, 2007 at 4:55 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
I got the official e-mail from the League Commissioner this week that the Labatt Super Men’s Basketball League is set to tip off soon.
The first event, the general information meeting is set for Thursday next week.
I advise all Shaka Duleans to go ahead and start saving up that cash, cuz I’m gonna be needing it from y’all soon. Start getting in shape too. We’re in for one interesting season!
This kid has been set up to fail, almost. I don’t envy the kinds of heckling he’ll have to endure if, after all the hold outs and news articles about it, he turns out to be a bust.
Romel Beck was held to 1/6 shooting from the floor and the usual suspects were unusually absent for Mexico, giving Canada a chance to steal one away. 3 Mexicans tallied double figures: Quintero with 20, Avila with 15 and Llamas with 10 (awesome name by the way … Llamas). What killed the Mexicans was their shooting. Despite a decent close range percentage (25/52 – 48%), it was their reliance on the three that did them in (7/22 – 31%). That, and Canada dominated the boards (59-28). Every other statistic is pretty even. The Canadians maybe shot a little better, going 29/56 (51%) from 2 and 9/25 (36%) from 3 point range. What I think gave the Canadians enough breathing room to survive all those turnovers was the 26-9 2nd Quarter advantage going into the half.
For Canada, the ONE thing that ALARMINGLY stands out is the turnovers. Playing against an average foe like Mexico, the Canadians still committed more turnovers than necessary (21-10). And that stat is worrisome because if the Mexicans, much respect to them, as a subpar opponent couldn’t capitalize on 11 extra turnovers, imagine what a good team like Uruguay, Brazil and Argentina (not to mention the US) will do with that.
The fact that 6 Canadians scored in double figures (Jermaine Anderson – 17, Carl English – 12, Olumuyiwa Famutimi – 11, Juan Mendez – 15) and the fact that there were TWO Canadians who tallied double doubles (Denhm Brown – 11 & 11, Levon Kendall 14 & 11) are insignificant to me next to this horrific stat.
Same story as always. 2 Venezuelans score in double figures (Romero – 11, Vasquez – 10) on a night where their opponent dominated every statistical category available. They shot 18/44 (40%) from 2 and 4/22 (18%) from 3.
For Puerto Rico, Ayuso is turning out to be the go to guy on this team, scoring a team high 25 points on 2/6 (33%) close range and 6/10 (60%) long range shooting. Carlos Arroyo was there too, happy to be second banana with 13 points on 2/5 (40%) & 3/6 (50%) shooting from 2 and 3 point range respectively. They shot, as a team, 23/45 (51%) from the field and 12/29 (41%) from long range.
There was nothing overly surprising about this game, except maybe Ayuso making this his coming out party and the 30 point explosion in the 4th by PUR. Could he be making a trip to an NBA team this season?
This game was a shootout between 2 run & gun offenses. Defense? Yeah, it kinda took a backseat for this one.
Marcelino Machado dropped 19, Valter DaSilva threw in 14, Barbosa was quiet with 16 (on 2/11 shooting from inside the 3, ouch!), Nene tallied a double double with 10 & 12 and yet all that wasn’t enough as the Argentinians ran away with this one. The Brazilians were goaded into 19/48 (39%) shooting from inside and 11/22 (50%) shooting from outside the arc. The team stats are pretty even with no team having a clear advantage in one particular category.
Argentina shot 19/39 (48%) from inside and 7/22 (31%) from outside the arc but had big games from Luis Scola who netted 23 points (and 12 rebounds) on 5/9 (55%) shooting, Carlos Delfino scored 17 points (and 10 rebounds) in yet another sub par performance (3/9 – 33% & 3/10 – 30%), Pablo Prigioni went for 11 and Paolo Quinteros dropped 19 points on 4/5 (80%) inside and 2/5 (40%) outside shooting.
What KILLED Brazil was the 7 point deficit they had at the end of the 1st Q and the 8 point 4th Quarter they had to end the game.
Uruguay seems to have hit a wall, having lost a couple of games now before hitting the court vs. the US – an obvious and immediate loss impending. They tried their best. They really did. Leandro Garcia Morales scored 11 points and Esteban Batista put 20 (9/14 – 63%) on the US, but was held to only 5 rebounds, in a game that could be considered a gimme for the US juggernaut. Their shooting wasn’t BAD, 18/44 (40%) and 12/36 (33%) from inside and outside the arc respectively, it just wasn’t good enough.
Meanwhile, Amare Stoudemire dropped 19 points while Tayshaun and Kobe each nabbed 13. Deron Williams added 14 as well. The night, however, belonged to LeBron James who went 7/7 from 2 point range and 4/4 from 3 point range en route to a rare “perfect performance” and 26 points … in only 14 minutes!
They shot, as a team, 33/46 (71%) from inside the arc and 13/26 (50%) from outside the arc and never really looked back after taking a 10 point lead in the first Q. I can’t fault Uruguay for losing this one. The US is just too good in this tournament.
Just when I think I have the Uruguayan team figured out, they drop a soccer ball sized egg on the court, dropping a relative gimme to Venezuela.
Not for lack of trying though. Esteban Batista flexed his skills and went for an impressive 20 points and 20 rebounds in the loss. Mazarrino went for 18 as well, but on a relatively modest 6/15 shooting for the floor including an embarrassing 2/9 from the field. Mauricio Aguiar scored 20 to provide some help as well. But Martinez Pan, Charquero and Silviera were scoreless and that is where the problem was. No support. They shot 17/40 (42%) from 2 and 10/31 (32%) from 3. Additionally, they were outplayed in every category from rebounds to foul totals so it’s no wonder that Venezuela ran away with this one.
Hector Romero was unconscious, however, scoring 35 points on 7/15 (46%) from 2 and 4/8 (50%) from 3. Marriaga and Barrios chipped in with 15 and 19 respectively. I mean, it wansn’t anything that Venezuela DID …. it was more that Uruguay was stone cold from the floor. I mean, Venezuela shot 16/35 (45%) from 2 and 13/27 (48%) from 3 so it’s not like they shot an overly impressive percentage from the floor. But beating their opponents in every category helps their cause and it looks to me like they were more efficient.
The boxscore lies about what this game was really like. Canada was never IN the game. It ended in the first quarter when they went down by 20 and it continued in the second when they refused to make the necessary on court changes without the coach cramming it down their throats at half time. It was ridiculous. They shot ….. well … the word is PATHETICALLY. 20/52 (38%) from 2 and 8/16 (50%) from 3. But they scored only 16 points for the first half! Sixteen points in 20 minutes! I don’t care who you are, that’s sad. The high scorer had 13 points … you know what? This game pissed me off so much that I won’t even mention or give any Canadians any props because they don’t deserve it!
Luis Scola shot 9/17 (52%) from the floor and amassed a game high 23 points – with NO 3 pointers! See that Canada?!?!?!? 5 players scored in double figures: Gonzales with 11 (and 0 3 pointers), Delfino with 15, Gutierrez with 12 and Quinteros with 10. Argentina was outrebounded 43-36, apparently. Though you could never see that in the game being that Canada had 1 or 2 people crashing the boards at all times. But a 21-9 assist difference means that Argentina shares the ball a LOT more and therefore, when more people touch the ball, the defense has to move, get tired and eventually collapses thereby creating easier shots for their teammates.
Long story short, Canada sucks and I’ll be glad when they’re gone and they’ve stopped sullying the name of basketball.
Romel Beck has emerged as a star on a subpar Mexican squad. It can be seen everywhere now because he is tied with Barbosa as the Tournament leaders in points per game with 23.3. And this was basically a 2 man pissing contest with Barbosa going for 21 on 5/9 (55%) from 2 and 3/4 (75%) from 3. He was upstaged by Beck, however, who went for 29 points on 6/7 (85%) and 4/7 (57%) from 2 and 3 point range respectively. But where the word “help” comes into play for Brazil, the word is not yet understood in Mexico. Witness the 31-15 assist advantage Brazil had over Mexico. Witness the 39-32 rebound disparity favouring Brazil. Witness the 14-10 steals that skew towards Brazil as well. And the final boxscore tells the overall result with Mexico tallying 3 players in double figures while Brazil had 5.
For Mexico, Parada De Los Reyes had 17 on 4/12 (33%) shooting. Pedroza Durazo had 13 on 6/17 (35%). And of course, we’ve already spoken of Beck’s offensive prowess. As a team, they shot 24/52 (46%) from 2 – a relatively good number. But they shot a pathetic 8/20 (40%) from 3. And that is where the bad teams are separated from the good ones. The bad teams have all fallen in love with the long ball. And as I always say: You live by the 3, you die by the 3.
Brazil did better with Machado scoring 11 on 2/5 (40%) from 2 and 3 as well. Da Rosa added 15 on 7/13 (53%) from the field. Giovannoni had 10 points on 3/5 (60%) and 1/2 (50%) from 2 and 3 respectively. Nene finally woke up long enough to tally 17 points on 7/10 (70%) shooting. The team shot 34/57 (59%) from close and 8/17 (47%) from long range.
It’s becoming clear who the good teams are and more importantly WHY they are good.
Ayuso was unable to continue his hot shooting and was held to 13 points (on 1/3 and 1/4) while Puerto Rican super guard Arroyo, largely absent from the tourney, was smothered to 12 points (on 4/6 and 1/5).
That’s the story. They were simply outplayed by a stacked US team.
The US shot 35/45 (77%) from 2 and a sad 12/34 (35%) from 3. But they outrebounded PUR by 10, had more steals, blocks and assists – which is almost a given with Kidd and Williams on the team. Bron went for 21 (5/5 & 3/5), Redd went for 15 (5/6 & 1/8), Kobe added 14 (4/7 & 2/4), Stoudemire put 12 on them (3/4 & 1/1) and Melo dropped 17 (4/5 & 2/6). What’s impressive is that all these totals were met in under 20 minutes for each player and no one but Michael Redd played 20 minutes.
Gold Medal round here they come!
—–
Today’s action sees:
Canada vs. Mexico (I’ll harbour a guess and say Canada will lose by 7) @ 12:30pm Venezuela vs. Puerto Rico @ 3:00pm Argentina vs. Brazil (I give it to Argentina by 15) @ 5:30pm USA vs. Uruguay (I give it to the US and will note that these teams have a lot of letters at the end of the alphabet) @ 8:00pm
“A player will rise literally inches into the air, attempt a truly horrible shot/flip/scoop/reverse/whatever, and miss by a mile. But since it’s psychologically impossible for pickup ballers to accept that they took a bad shot, the player will immediately yell out “And one!” and then strut away from the basket as if a great wrong has been committed against him (this is called “selling the foul”). I usually can’t stop myself from reminding the guy that he needs to actually hit the basket to call an “And one!” This is often met with an angry glare and results in an “escalation of hostilities” (e.g., trash talk, hard fouls, etc.).
Look, it’s very simple. You should’nt eat the macaroni without the cheese, you can’t kill Superman without Kryptonite, and you don’t get to scream “And one!” if you didn’t hit the shot.”
Absolutely. I play with so many guys like this. These guys go on to play in our men’s league with other like-minded players and we usually thump them pretty good. Why? Cuz the ref doesn’t call 75% of his “And Ones”
Just to show us all that anything can happen in a game at any given point, Canada goes out and takes it to Uruguay to the tune of 95-88. Jesse Young had a big night, scoring 22 points on 10/16 (62%) from the field. He shot no 3 pointers. Juan Mendez was once again absent, playing only 11 minutes and scoring 4 points on 2/2 shooting. Aside from Young, only Dalembert (10), Thomas (10) and Anderson (13) scored double digits for Canada. They shot 27/44 (61%) from 2 and 5/13 (38%) from 3. Every player that played, scored. They out rebounded Uruguay 40-22, had more assists (15-9), more turnovers (18-10), but had 5 blocks for the game. In reality, Canada did nothing different from normal. I think Uruguay was simply not able to get into a groove.
Esteban Batista went for 16 & 6 and Mazzarino goes for 17 on 5/8 shooting overall including 2/3 from 3. The ONLY stat that stands out about this game is the 9/31 (29%) shooting from 3. When a team shoots 31 three pointers in a game, it’s difficult to come out ahead , especially if you’re stone cold as Uruguay was last night … unless you’re the USA right now. 4 players scored double digits total including Luis Garcia Morales with 17 and Osimani with 10. Martinez, Taboada, Aguiar, Charquero, and Silveira combined to shoot 2/15 (13%) from 3 and 5/11 (45%) from 2. I can tell you EXACTLY who will shoot less next game.
This game was critical for Uruguay to get a higher standing and avoid the US in a playoff scenario.
Scola only scored 10 but Gonzales blew up or 21 and Delfino woke up long enough to chip in 19 along with Quinteros’ 12 to lead Argentina over Venezuela. This game was over when it was announced yesterday as it is blatantly obvious that Venezuela simply doesn’t have the talent to play against the big boys.
Argentina shot over 50% from both close and long range, and they out played the ‘zelans in every category imaginable. And when only 2 Venezuelans score double digits it’s difficult to imagine them winning games. What really hurt them was their poor shooting (listening Uruguay?) of 18/44 (41%) from 2 and 5/21 (23%) from 3 point range.
I hope they didn’t unpack their bags, cuz they’ll be going home soon.
As I’ve said before, Brazil is a one man show. And to prove my point, Leandro Baarbosa scored 34 points on 8/14 (57%) from close range and 2/6 (33%) from long range. Tiago Splitter added 15 points on 6/11 shooting to aid their cause but no one else on the squad scored more than 8 points. Nene was held to 6 points on 2/6 shooting (33%). They were beaten in every category.
Puerto Rico saw Ayuzo go on a rampage (24 points) and continue his hot shooting with 2/2 (100%) from close range and 5/8 (62%) from 3. Five players scored in double digits including Peter Ramos and Filiberto Rivera with 14 apiece, Angelo Reyes with 12 and Carlos Arroyo with 11. Arroyo didn’t play badly but he didn’t shine as he is wont to do. He shot 4/9 (44%) and 1/3 (33%) from close and long range respectively.
If Brazil was hoping to make the case that they were the second best team in this tournament behind the US, they argued the point poorly last night.
It looks as though Mexico tried to play the same run & gun style that they’re used to playing against a team that plays it better. Mexico had 4 players in double figures: Parada De Los Reyes scored 17, Pedroza Durazo added 19, Rumel Beck went for 20 and Mariscal Mata went for 19. But it is once again a senario where the team they were playing was simply better than they were. They were beaten soundly in every category and, although they didn’t shoot badly (23/55 – 41% from 2 and 15/28 – 53% from 3), they simply didn’t do enough. Against an Argentina or a Brazil this might have maybe … MAYBE … been enough. But not against the US.
For the States, LBJ went for 19 (3/4 – 3/3), Redd took a night off with 15 (6/7 – 1/6), Kobe chipped in 21 (3/8 – 2/5), Howard added 19 (9/10), Amare went for 12 (8/10), and Melo tore the roof off with 28 (8/14 – 2/3). But they shot 9/25 from 3 once again and 37/54 from inside.
This team confounds me. WHY shoot threes? Is it cuz they’re scared of getting injured? Cuz they’re warming up their shot for the upcoming season? I just don’t get them.
———-
Today’s action sees:
Venezuela vs. Uruguay @ 12:30pm Canada vs. Argentina @ 3:00pm Mexico vs. Brazil @ 5:30pm USA vs. Puerto Rico @ 8:00pm
All of these games will be awesome for one reason or another. You have to watch them!
“Yet by giving the shoes only to boys’ varsity teams, the Coney Island native drew attention to what some say is a glaring inequality between boys and girls athletics in New York City public schools.”
Give me a break! The guy DONATED 3,000 pairs of shoes. He gave them away!
And people are trying to complain that he didn’t give enough or give to the right people? Puh-Leaze!
Whatever happened to being grateful for someone’s kindness?
Steph is certainly not a saint, but at least he’s trying to do more than other NBA Stars out there.
Wow. Talk about ingrates. This is one of the only guys who is actually playing ball quietly in Miami without asking for a parade or doing some lame-ass herky-jerky celebration every time he does something good.
Says Oak: “I’m coming back for a good salary. You can’t buy me. Money can’t buy me. But I’m not coming back for no bull—- money.”
What is not bull—- money? “At least two years, $10 million. Nine or 10 million. I’m not coming back for a million and five. My value is worth more than that.”
Senility or alzheimers?
Is the comeback about money? “It’s not about money. Money is a part of the comeback, but you can’t buy me. It’s something I’d be happy with, but I can get you more than what you paid for. I’ll give you three-times your money.”
Is it because of gambling? “No, it’s not about gambling. I have money. I have six car washes. I have one that’s worth $10 million, one that’s worth $5 million. You know, like, I’m probably worth $25 million dollars in assets.”
How can you help the Nets? “In a lot of ways. Leadership and just, you know, bring respect. (And) my defensive skills. I can still move, jump, rebound, and use my abilities.”
Okay, so he’s not in a wheelchair. Good for you Oak. I’m sure that comeback will work out wonderfully …. but maybe you should talk with Reggie.
Leo needs to wake up. Accidents happen. It isn’t FIBA’s fault or anyone else’s that his son messed up his knee. His life isn’t over, either. Even Kobe had knee surgery and look at him now. I think he feels guilty about his son getting injured.
This new barely made the rounds of “media worthy” across the globe ….
He made 1,338 of 1,517 attempts and regained the Guinness World Record for the most successful free throws in one hour. He shot 88.20% and he averaged 22.3 out of 25.28 free throws PER minute.
A guy in Jersey sets the record for 22 out of 25 free throws per minute … nothing. Barack Obama sinks ONE three pointer and *holy crap* it’s on CNN and YouTube
I understand they want to sell papers, but this just seems wrong. Why air the guy’s personal life like this? There’s ‘wanting to bring a man to justice’ and then there’s ‘trying to ruin his entire life’. Is that aspect wrong? Infidelity? Without a doubt. But is it relevant to this case? Unlikely. And even if it is, WHY phrase it in such a way as to make the guy into a monster?
Puerto Rico’s uniforms have a Burger King logo on their shorts. They weren’t able to have it their way with Llamas, though.
Luis Scola is a very intriguing guy to watch. He has a nice little post game, lots of turnaround jumpers and lots of finesse. Kind of reminded me of Juwan Howard or Shareef Abdur-Rahim. Defensively he didn’t do much, but if he has Yao behind him in Houston next season he’ll be fine. Oh, and he really needs a haircut and a shave.
Leandro Barbosa torched Canada in game one, and he basically made Canada guard Andy Rautins tear his ACL by juking him out of his shoes. Barbosa was allowed to shoot wide-open threes all over the floor, and he went for 30 points and 5 assists.
Speaking of Canada, I watched both of their first two games — a loss to Brazil and a close win over a punchless Venezuela. When your best player is Sam Dalembert, it’s never a good thing. Even weirder is that Canada coach Leo Rautins just kind of stands around on the sideline and doesn’t show a lot of emotion. I liked when Canada was down 75-67 with 6.7 left against Brazil and Rautins called a timeout. The 8-point play he designed didn’t work out.
During that Canada/Brazil game, with 2 minutes left in the third quarter, Sam Dalembert and Nenê had combined for 0 points. They will make a combined $18.4 million this season. Not joking.
There’s a guy on Canada named Vlad Kuljanin who can barely run. Which makes him fun to watch.
Why isn’t Vegas resident Celine Dion out at the games supporting Canada? Hater.
The PA announcer in the Thomas & Mack was struggling. My favorite instance was when he referred to “Leonardo Barbosa.”
Ways to make games between the US and other countries more fair: make Team USA players get drunk before games; force each player to eat a 20 oz steak in the locker room just before running onto the floor; make USA guys play blindfolded; make the US players shoot in either numerical or alphabetical order.
Uruguay played uninspired ball against Argentina, but in game one against Panama former Hawks benchwarmer Esteban Batista went for an eye-popping 26 points and 19 rebounds. I asked someone in the know who has kept a close eye on Este the last few years to put that performance into perspective for us. Quoting our expert: “Yeah, he still sucks.”
August 27, 2007 at 9:01 am · Filed under Uncategorized
So there were games on Friday, Saturday and Sunday which basically concluded Group action in the FIBA tourney. I’m not going to give you any more game by game recaps, cuz quite frankly I don’t have the time. Instead, I’ll offer up the Group Standings and provide some comments and highlights.
Group A
1. Argentina (4-0) 2. Uruguay (3-1) 3. Puerto Rico (1-3) 4. Mexico (1-3) 5. Panama (1-3)
Highlights:
Is anyone surprised that Argentina is 4-0? I’m not. Despite missing Nocioni and Obi-Wan, the Argentines are being led by Luis Scola (Houston Rockets) and his 17 & 8 per. Though it can be said that Agrnetina has a well balanced attack going right now with 5 players averaging double digits: Luis Scola, Carlos Delfino, Paolo Quinteros, Pablo Prigioni and Diego LO Grippo.
Uruguay is definitely a story right now. With one lone NBA player on the national roster (Esteban Batista), it was expected that this team would be 0-4 and out by mid week. Instead, they beat Panama and Mexico and upset Puerto Rico to place second in group standing. Batista is having a tournament to remember; he’s averaging 23 & 14. Although those stats are a bit skewed and do not say anything about the way Argentina played him; he only went for 7 & 9 against them. So it might be said that his production is based more on the lack of comparable defensive players on the opposing teams more so than his own talent? Still, his stats are impressive and definitely place him among the leaders for tourney MVP right now. But he hasn’t been a one man show either. His main men, in this FIBA run, have been Fernando Javier Martinez Pan and Nicolas Mazzarino (who went 8-13 from 3 with a game high of 36 yesterday) whose foul drawing ability, crafty play and outside shooting have drawn enough attention on the perimeter to prevent teams from doubling down on Batista.
Puerto Rico has underachieved incredibly this tourney. After making Panama their only win it’s almost a foregone conclusion that Carlos Arroyo’s hardwood miracle was a one time deal. Which is a shame as it would have been nice for that program to actually fly right.
Mexico pulled off an “upset” at the time by beating Puerto Rico. Looking back at the final group standings, it could be said that it was not an upset. With a potential 2-2 record on the line, Mexico failed to grasp at basketball credibility by losing to Panama. I saw the Mexicans play against Argentina and was surprised by their spunk. But undisciplined play and rushed shots cost them big time.
Panama sucks. What else can I say? But at least they got a win. Which is more than I can say for the Virgin Islands.
Group B
1. USA (4-0) 2. Brazil (3-1) 3. Canada (2-2) 4. Venezuela (1-3) 5. Virgin Islands (0-4)
Highlights:
Looking back on my Day 2 FIBA declaration where I proclaimed Uruguay the “Nation of Suck”, I have to say that I feel a bit sheepish and embarrassed as it is clearly the Virgin Islands and NOT Uruguay who has clutched that “Nation of Suck” title firmly in their collective grasp. After going 0-4 with only 3 players averaging double digits and being outscored by an average of 22, it’s crystal clear that they are, hands down, the worst team in this tourney.
Canada has surprised no one by being spectacularly average during this tourney. Going 2-2 by beating the bad teams (Venezuela and Virgin Islands) and losing to the good teams (Brazil & USA), Canada has shocked no one. They have some talent, to be sure. Enough to end the dreams of one unlucky and unsuspecting team but an under developed roster and poor offensive execution constantly leave Canada in a ho hum mentality.
Brazil has surged ahead as the #2 team behind the US. And why not? With super sixth man Leandro Barbosa getting a chance to shine, Brazil has been quite good even if they are a one trick pony. Their only loss to the US (by 37 points) means that they might not have enough juice to actually win this tournament, bless Tiago Splitter and Barbosa’s heart. But when the only other teams in this tourney that are considered good are Uruguay and Argentina, I wonder if they even HAVE the abilities to make it to the gold medal game. Soccer power they may be, but basketball and soccer are two different games.
Venezuela tried HARD to make a case for taking the “Nation of Suck” title from Virgin Islands. But VI has a death grip that refused to let go. So as it stands, at 1-3, it can only be said that Venezuela was bad. And, in a contest between the two nations to see who could suck the worst, it became clear that Virgin Islands are shins and ankles below the rest. Nice try Venezuela.
The USA …. 4-0 with an average margin of victory of 48.5 points. Five players are averaging double digits (Anthony – 21.25, Redd – 18.5, Bryant – 14.5, Stoudemire – 13 and James – 12.5) with a sixth player only .25 points away (Miller – 9.75). All that being said, they aren’t really being tested yet and were conveniently placed in a weak group with sub par competition – all respect due to Brazil. It’ll be interesting to see them play Uruguay (if they make it) and Argentina ….. on a side note, they beat Canada 113-63 (50 points) … that hurt. Haha.
———-
Action today sees …
(3) Canada vs. (2) Uruguay @ 12:30pm (1) Argentina vs. (4) Venezuela @ 3:00pm (2) Brazil vs. (3) Puerto Rico @ 5:30pm (1) USA vs. (4) Mexico @ 8:00pm
* All of these teams are a part of “Group X” and will play each other in one more round robin.
The Virgin Islands and Panama have been eliminated from the tournament and after the Group X games we go to the elimination rounds.
This quote comes via the sport of Football. The coach spoke these words between 1918 and 1930. More than 70 years after his death, his words are still as true today as they were on the day they were spoken. I’m not sure that I LIKE the harshness of the message, but I definitely can understand what he was trying to say.
A true competitor does not like to lose, ever.
For a true competitor, a loss represents the chance to improve your game and find the flaws that forced you to lose in the first place and plug those holes up. It may be a strengthening process for the BEST loser, but even the best sportsman HATES to lose.
I try my best to be positive in victory AND defeat, but sometimes I fail and I convey my messages poorly. Instead of encouraging my teammates and helping them find what aspects of their game to fine tune I sometimes hurt them. Is this a character flaw? Possibly.
Here is another quote that describes my thoughts better than anything I could ever come up with as a final thought on my own imperfections …
“I myself am made entirely of flaws, stitched together with good intentions”
This movie is proof that someone out there hates basketball SO MUCH that he’s willing to sully The Game by ANY means necessary.
“A young boy and a talented stray dog with an amazing basketball playing ability become instant friends. Rebounding from his father’s accidental death, 12-year-old Josh Framm moves with his family to the small town of Fernfield, Washington. The new kid in town, Josh has no friends and is too shy to try out for the school basketball team. Instead he prefers to practice alone on an abandoned court, he befriends a runaway golden retriever named Buddy. Josh is amazed when he realizes that Buddy loves basketball…that is playing basketball…and he is GOOD!”
That is one smart & multi-talented dog! Too bad his agent has the intelligence of a newt.
“Josh eventually makes the school team and Buddy is named the Team Mascot. Josh and Buddy become the stars of halftime. Buddy’s half-time talent draws media attention. Unfortunately, when Buddy’s mean former owner Norm Snively, an alcoholic clown (of course! – Plus with a name like SNIVLEY he can’t help but BE bad!) , comes along with a scheme to cash in on the pup’s celebrity. Snively sues the Framm family for custody of Bud. It looks like they are going to be separated!“
GASP!
Oh no! Whatever will they do?!?!?
“The judge decides that it would be an appropriate exercise of the legal system for Josh and Norm Snively to both call the dog’s name from other sides of the courthouse yard and to see which one he comes to. The judge decides that whomever the dog comes to will be his rightful owner(Your tax dollars …. hard at work!). Snively tries to trick Bud to come to him, but becomes impatient and eventually snaps at the dog, causing Buddy to bite the paper he’s holding and jump into Josh’s arms, and everyone lives happily ever after.”
AAAWWWWW …. I think my heart just melted and my faith in humanity was restored ….. wait … that was gas.
No.
The REAL reason that this movie is MOTW this week is just to show you that not everyone can make a good basketball movie.
In the case of “Air Bud”, after doing sequels that sully the sports of baseball, football, soccer, volleyball, rugby AND hockey (yeah … dogs on skates), we see that some people simply don’t know how to make moives period.
This song qualifies as 100% certified old school. How old? 1993 Old!
I remember the day this tune came out. I remember listening to it and being amazed by the speed of the lyrics being spit. I remember sending letters (not e-mail …. LETTERS) to MuchMusic with hand drawn art in an attempt to get them to play this tune. I did an awesome one of Shaq with the Orlando Magic. It was pretty sweet.
I never got the song played on the TV Station and that one art piece I did I never DID send … I liked it too much. Maybe I’ll post it on here sometime.
ANYWAY this song marked the first official foray by Shaq into the recording studio. It herladed the beginning of Shaq’s music career and it marked the unofficial disappearance by the Fu-Schnickens from the rap industry.
They weren’t superstars, but they definitely had a cult following. Their lyrics were obscenely fast. Imagine Twista …. but FOUR of them. An excerpt from the Fu-Schnickens Wkipedia entry states that “The Fu-Schnickens comprised Chip-Fu (Roderick Roachford), Moc-Fu (Joe Jones), and Poc-Fu (Lennox Maturine). “Fu” stood for “For Uinty” and “Schnicken” was a made up word which apparently meant “coalition”.
Their glory days came and went, but they left an indelible imprint on the music industry via a collaboration with the MDE (Most Dominant Ever: Shaquille O’Neal)
It’s is BY DEFAULT a basketball song and therefore worthy of being this week’s Song of the week.
August 24, 2007 at 1:32 pm · Filed under Uncategorized
Larry Johnson was a great player.
I was never a fan of his when he was in Charlotte. And his feud with Alonzo Mourning (back in Charlotte in 95) made me dislike him even more; don’t worry, I like ‘zo even less.
But when he went with the Knicks, the man experienced a rebirth and Knicks basketball had, once again, a warrior to admire and revere. That’s where I found out why he was so good and that’s where I found my level of admiration for this man skyrocketing.
The culmination of his exploits, the famous “4 point play in the playoffs” is one of the NBA’s all-time greatest shots even to this day ….
Wow. Carlos Delfino scores only 5 points, they are without Manu Ginobili and they still whoop Uruguay by 21. Luis Scola goes for 16 and 5 of 8 players score in double digits. This is a case of Uruguay being BAD … how bad? SUPER BAD!
Two Uruguay players score in double digits, one guy plays 20 minutes and goes 0 for 5, the go 9 of 27 from 3, shot 40% from 2, get outrebounded (again) by 18, out assisted, out-stolen, commit more turnovers and fouls …..
3 out of 9 active Venezuelan players score in double digits; Romero was the high man with 23, and they shot 30% for the game from inside AND outside the arc. Oh well. At least they’re not as bad as The Nation of Suck.
For Canada, it was nice to see some positive results for all their activity. Sam Dalembert tallied 18 & 8, while English went for 14, Anderson dropped 17 and Young added 10. Juan Mendez was quiet with 4 points. The one big change in Canada’s game was a reduction in 3 pointers taken. They went 7-15 (46%) and shot 23 of 54 (42%) from inside the arc. I still think they’re shooting too much from the outside, but the ratio is more manageable now.
This is GREAT for Puerto Rico’s +/- ratio. 3 Panamanians score in mid double digits, but only 8 players saw action. They shot 39% from 2, 20% (4-20) from 3 and although they out rebounded Puerto Rico by 4 (35-31), their 8 extra turnovers (17-9) hurt.
When 4 of your players average over 30 minutes and they can’t even get a double double …. You can tell they were trying … they’re just not good enough.
For PR, Arroyo went for 16 & 8, and 5 of 10 players scored in double digits. 22-39 (56%) from 2, 17-32 (53%) from 3, and 13-14 (92%) from the stripe. Good shooting all around. And that’s what hurt Panama. They weren’t able to keep PR’s shooters in check.
Wow. Virgin Islands got thumped. They shot 13-42 (31%) from 2, 4-23 (17%) from 3, outrebounded by 8 (39-31), out assisted by 25 (30-5), had more fouls (23-19), 15 more turnovers (19-4), were outstolen (2-15), and out blocked (2-6). Just generally out performed. ONE player scored 11 points for the team high. No one had more than 6 rebounds and that is that.
5 US players score in double figures: Deron Williams (10), Michael Redd (22), Amare Stoudemire (13), Mike Miller (13) and Carmelo Anthony (22). Every player scored and Prince had 12 rebounds. They shot 28-42 (66%) from 2, 15-30 (50%) from 3 … and that is the ONLY alarming thing about this game for the US. They shot great, yes. So there were few rebounds which explains the low rebound totals across the boards. But shooting THIRTY three-pointers is a sign of a potential collapse point. WHY shoot so many threes when you can absolutely obliterate them from inside? I mean, really. There’s no one that can stop them inside!
I don’t know. I’d be worried to be a US fan right now. Sure, the team is a convincing 2-0 …. but such easy victories are bound to catch up with them. I mean, their good shooting has to end at some point.
I have to say that when I saw this phone, I had a hard time not giggling or becoming extremely jealous at the thought of someone I know owning this phone.
Hell, i’m heavily considering buying one for myself ….
This game apparently went to Overtime and turned out to be a great opening game for the FIBA Americas Tourney. Uruguay had 5 guys in double digits, but it’s a misleading statistic as only 8 players saw action. Panama had 4 players in double digits, but again a misleading statistic as only 8 players played.
I’ve looked at the stats for this game twice hoping that I could be excited enough to write more about this game but I find it hard to be interested by this game.
Carlos Arroyo went 0-10 from the field and tallied a measly 4 points in 23 minutes for Puerto Rico’s opening game. 5 Puerto Ricans scored double figures with 10 players seeing action. No one for their team scored over 15. Good defense? Or bad offense? I’d say it was bad offense. 48% from the field (24/49) and 23/40 from the foul line?!?!? Gross.
Victor Mariscal Mata scorched Puerto Rico for a game high 30 as 6 player scored in double figures. 9 players played. They shot 60% fr0m the field (23/38 – wow) but only 23% from 3 (6/26 – not so wow). 15 steals, 5 blocks …. this looks like it was a fast paced full court defensive game.
Leandro Barbosa scores a game high 30 as the Brazilian team powers through Canada to take their first win of the tournament. Only 2 players scored in double digits (Tiago Splitter went for 12) despite the fact that 8 players played. That’s kinda worrisome and makes me wonder how Brazil would do if something were to happen to Barbosa.
It was pretty grim for Canada as Andy Rautins (the coach’s son and leader of this basketball team, apparently) went down with a knee injury just 2 minutes into the game. I saw the injury – happened on a close out to the perimeter – and it looked like torn ACL or MCL. He went down in some serious pain. I actually felt really bad for him. Opening day, first game of the tournament, 2 minutes of play and BAM! down you go. Leo looked pretty upset too. Understandably so. But despite all that, Juan Mendez (you remember that Canadian kid from Niagara in the NCAA tourney from 2 years ago) scored 18 to lead Canada in a failed attempt. 4 players scored in double digits and 10 players played. They took a LOT of 3 pointers and made very few (4/18 for 22%). And that was the big difference. They were pretty good from inside the 3 (22/43 for 52%) but it’s when they stepped out that things got ugly. Carl English scored 12 and Sam Dalembert got 10 & 10 for his first double double as a Canadian. Never been so happy to see Sam. It’s a shame he was saddled with foul trouble in the first half. The game might have been different otherwise.
I saw about 1/2 of this game – the entire second and third quarters and have to say that it was frustrating to watch as there were so many uncontrolled and errant shots. Juan Mendez was good. And aside from that, Canada looks …. not so good.
This is vultures going in for a kill. 7 players score in double digits. Carmelo Anthony and Michael Redd each net 17. Everybody but Tyson Chandler and Jason Kidd score, but those two didn’t even attempt to shoot! I’m sure if they had wanted to, they would have also scored. Chauncey Billups shot more 3 pointers (1-4) than field goals (1-1). Kobe Bryant shot better from 3 (2-2) than from normal range (3-6). Michael Redd shot better from 3 (no surprise there, hahaha). Dwight Howard shot 4-5 … betcha they were all dunks with the exception of his one miss. Amare Stoudemire went 4-4 … betcha they were all dunks too.
For Venezuela, things were pretty grim. 3 players score in (low) double digits and 9 players played. 31% from 2, 38% from 3, 51% from the stripe. Out rebounded by 10, out assisted by 15, 3 more fouls, 8 more turnovers …. what can one say? It was the best of the NBA on display.
It looked like there was good ball distribution and everyone got enough playtime and touches. But more than that, it looked like it was just a practice for the US, a scrimmage in preparation for the better teams out there.
——–
Day two action today sees
Mexico vs. Panama (12:30 pm) Canada vs. Virgin Islands (3:00 pm – no Tim Duncan) Puerto Rico vs. Argentina (5:30 pm) Brazil vs. Venezuela (8:00 pm)
The Big Story for the FIBA Americas Tournament is that the USA are going to ….. wait for it …. win the gold! They are predicted to win in every tourney they enter.
But they face some stiff competition from Brazil, Argentina and Puerto Rico. Oh yeah, Canada is playing in there too.
Personally, I think that the US stands a good chance of making the finals. Manu Ginobili is not playing for Argentina this year (ditto for Oberto, I think) and so they are a bit depleted.
There are 2 Olympic spots guaranteed for the finalists of this tournament. So it’s a bit of a big deal.
The tournament began yesterday with 4 matches and it continues again today. You can go to ESPN.com, SI.com or any other North American Sports outlet and get pretty much one sided coverage of the tournament.
Or you can go to the FIBA Americas Website to get the whole picture and see how everyone does (not just the US)
Did you know?
Canada, due to its sheer geographical size, is a land of immigrants and the sport of basketball has benefited greatly from youngsters who have become Canadians citizens and represented their new country.
Steve Nash, a two-time NBA MVP with the Phoenix Suns, is perhaps the most famous example. He was born in South Africa.
This time around, Haitian native Samuel Dalembert takes center stage for Canada. The Philadelphia Sixers center is joined on this squad by Vlad Kuljanin, a 6-10 University of North Carolina standout, who averaged 13.6 ppg in college.
Kuljanin was born in Sarajevo, Yugoslavia, but moved to Canada at age 10.
And of course, let’s not forget me and all the contributions I’ve made to Basketball Canada. haha.
This is a GREAT article. It shows real thought and emotion and it portrays Griffin in a realistic light. Not a good guy, not a bad guy. Just another human being who was unable to deal with his baggage.
I was a fan of Griffin. I was upset when he left Houston as I felt that was a great situation for him. Texas is a great place to play as the people there take care of their athletes. Unfortunately the cities can sometimes be minefields for those who are unable to navigate the temptations properly.
Minnesota was good for him too. His locker was beside KG and they became friends. KG tried to help him out some. I guess it didn’t work.
My condolences go out to Griffin’s family and his little girl. May they find some peace of mind amidst this tragedy.
I wonder if this is the start of this this kid’s downward spiral? He’s a good shooter but no amount of skill can make up for a lack of sound judgement.
“…they spend fortunes on private planes for coaches to recruit players who in truth won’t learn much on campus? And they have special fancy housing for athletes that tells the academic-focused kids they’re not important? And they do all kinds of shady stuff to skate around academic requirements? And then they leave the undereducated athletes with lousy futures if their pro careers don’t work out? (I’m rambling, but you get my point.) I’m the ten millionth, or so, person to say that seems fishy. And there’s always someone ready to respond “yeah, but those big-time sports programs bring in a lot of money for the school.” Myles Brand, head of the NCAA, tells the Associated Press that over the last six years, only six Div 1 athletic departments have shown a profit.” – Quote from Tru Hoop
“If the NBA crumbles further on Stern’s watch, it’s not difficult to see him leaving in disgrace, with the owners turning to someone like Bill Bradley to restore public confidence. Stern’s a smart guy, but nothing might save him if he turns out to have called this one so blatantly wrong.”
I’ve seen 3 different accounts of the incidents and it makes me wonder if Stevenson is on the same path as other ill-fated NBA stars – most recently, Eddie Griffin.
Is ANYONE surprised? He’d be playing behind Mike Conley, Jr., Kyle Lowry, and Juan Carlos Navarro. Of course this vet wants out. But who will want his services? LA Clippers? Seattle? Charlotte?
“Me and Richard, for some reason, always end up having a bragging session when we’re around each other and try to out-do one another. For some reason, he thinks he’s better than me. He can’t fathom that he’s only the third best player from Arizona, and I’m No. 1. He just hates that I’m No. 1. He hates to see me on my own video game, he hates that I’m a three-time All-Star, he hates the fact that he only got a bronze medal … all of that. He is bitter about it.”
Black President
