Individual and Team Awards

Wildly Wicked West

1. La Lakers
2. New Orleans Hornets
3. Utah Jazz
4. Houston Rockets
5. Phoenix Suns
6. Dallas Mavericks
7. San Antonio Spurs
8. La Clippers

Wildcards: Denver Nuggets, Portland Trail Blazers, Golden State Warriors

Ever Ebbing East

1. Boston
2. Detroit
3. Philadelphia
4. Orlando
5. Toronto
6. Cleveland
7. Chicago
8. Atlanta

Wildcards: Washington Wizards, Milwaukee Bucks, Miami Heat

2009 Western Champs:La Lakers

2009 Eastern Champs: Boston Celtics

2009 NBA Champs:La Lakers (4-2)

Yesterday was another meltdown for the Los Angeles Lakers as they once again squandered an early 19-point lead and a late 14-point cushion. Though this time they did just enough to survive the Celtics rally and win the game, the victory was awfully ugly. Most times the Lakers offense went wayward. The triangle offense 'became the bermuda triangle', as what coach Phil Jackson said during the earlier  playoff round in the western conference, referring to his team's tendency to freelance and improvise one-on-one basketball deviating from the scheme which took them all the way to the championship round.

Game 5 was almost a mirror image of Game 4 as the Lakers went out of the gates smoking hitting their shots with great precision and running their offense to near perfection with players moving and the ball being crisply passed around before it finds its way to the best available option. The Lakers then drew back from what's giving them the edge, only this time they did it earlier in the game (2nd Quarter). The offense became stagnant and the players became tentative. The 19-point lead was whittled down to three by the end of the first half of play. The fans, including our buddies here in the office, went worried and uneasy with another possible collapse looming and the Lakers championship hopes further reduced from what was earlier ascertained as 99.98% going Boston's favor. Actually historical statistics show us that 100% of the way, a 1-3 disadvantage in a best of seven NBA championship series is a sure win for the commanding team. We just gave 0.01% for Phil Jackson's greatness and another 0.01% for Kobe's desire, skills and clutch play capabilities. Back to the game, after the third quarter the Lakers came out on top for the first time this series scoring 24 points to 18 points for the Celtics thus going with a 9 point cushion to start the final frame.

The Lakers even went ahead as high as 14 in the fourth before once again (whew!) letting the pesky and hardworking Celtics catch 'em up. If not for Garnett's inability to play during clutch situation, the Larry O'Brien trophy might have been awarded yesterday to the greens. 

Aside from the boneheaded plays of the Lakers after the excellent first quarter, there are some moments where they showed flashes of brilliance.

• The Lakers finally beat the screen roll play of Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett. Thanks to Kobe's 'lucky' poke off of Pierce's decisive attack that the ball somewhat found its way to Lamar Odoms hands resulting into an assist pass to the streaking Kobe for a two-handed slam dunk that padded the home team's lead to four with less than a minute remaining in the elimination game. 
• That play almost overshadowed the effective inside plays of Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol throughout the whole game finally showing their toughness. L.O. and P.G. showed their ability to mix it up inside the paint scoring a combined 39 points (14-20 FG) and providing muscle on the board with 24 rebounds between them. Their defense was also enough to produce six blocked shots and several missed layups for the visitors. These two dynamos should be the ones to start toughening up the whole 'soft-Laker team'.
  
• Phil Jackson recovered quickly from the failed experiment of sending role players to try to find somebody who can contribute something positive on the floor. With his calm approach to coaching he wielded his young team to an improbable recovery after a heartbreaking loss in Game 4 and another confidence-busting Celtic run in the second and fourth quarter.
• A new jewel willing to play hard was found on one dude named Jordan Farmar. The young point guard provided 11 points and plenty of energy off the bench offsetting the lack of production from the rest of the Lakers bench mob.

For the gold and purple team to have even a chance to send the series into a full seven games the bench has to step up. The front line play of Odom and Gasol is erratic and the coaching staff should find a quick fix on this. Kobe Bryant should play like an MVP and start quickly to give confidence to his young teammates especially that now they are playing on the road with a very hostile Boston crowd. Radmanovic should be relegated to the bench and start somebody more alert. Perhaps Walton should be starting ahead of Vlade.

Game 6 should provide plenty of drama. LA should be pressure-less as everybody is counting them out with the history writing them off as a sure team on the losing end of an insurmountable finals deficit. Boston will be very anxious from the start to have their first NBA championship banner, trophy and rings after more than twenty years of drought. Better be ready to watch another elimination game tomorrow. If and only if the Lakers should force a Game 7, I would like to believe they'll have a better chance to win it all on a triple overtime game as what Mr. Rosen envisioned in his earlier finals matchup preview.

Nakakatatlong timba na yata ako ng kape para lang malabanan ang antok. Paano naman kasi alas kuwatro na ng madaling araw ako natulog. One hundred fifty minutes of sleep lang ako magdamag. Lintik na schedule kasi ng French Open at Canadian F1 Grand Prix kasi masyadong late na. Ang nakakainis pa eh binunggo ni Lewis Hamilton ang Ferrari ni Raikkonen! Very amateurish move ang ginawa ni Hamilton nung dire-diretso siyang nag-drive kahit na naka-red light sa exit ng pit lane. Susmiyo I hate you Hamilton.

Grabe ang schedule ng sporting events simula ngayong buwang ng Hunyo. NBA Finals, French Open, Wimbledon, Canadian and French Grand Prix at siyempre ang laban ni Manny Pacquiao. Ang masaklap halos lahat ng schedule ng mga laro ay sablay sa schedule ng trabaho ko. Lintik kasi na seven days a week na trabaho 'to :-(

Hayy... Sana mag dilang-anghel si Madam sa kanyang hula at manalo nga ang Lakers!

Spoelstra first Pinoy NBA head coach

Spoelstra who traces his roots to San Pablo, Laguna is the first mentor with Filipino roots and youngest to ever coach in the league.

“I believe Erik Spoelstra is one of the most talented young coaches in a long time,” Riley, who steered the Heat to the NBA crown in 2006, told a news conference.

Spoelstra, son of Irish-Dutch Jon Spoelstra, a long-time NBA executive involved with the Portland Trail Blazers, Denver Nuggets and New Jersey Nets, said he’s proud of his Filipino roots even as he previously said he regretted declining an offer to play in the PBA.

Born in Portland, Spoelstra, whose mother Fe Celino is from San Pablo, Laguna, has been to the Philippines only once.

“I’m embarrassed to admit I’ve visited the Philippines only when I was three years old,” said Spoelstra. “I’m definitely planning to go again. I have lots of relatives who live just outside Manila. I’m hoping that someday soon, I’ll be able to visit and maybe, do some coaching clinics so I can share whatever I know about basketball.”

Continue reading...

Kudos to "The Dean", Mr. Quinito Henson (Joaquin Henson, but I prefer Quinito), for writing the best overall review of the recently concluded Pacquiao-Marquez fight. It's not so much for him siding with Pacman but for objectively analysing the fight and the scoring per round against the punchstat numbers. Even in his PBA stints that I've watched back in the Philippines, Mr. Henson had been my favorite commentator because of his accurate analysis of the game at hand (even the statistics recorded prior to a game) and his "extra" bits of information that makes ordinary fans even more excited to watch the game. Maybe that's why Mr. Henson deserved to be the first Filipino recipient of the first-ever PhilippinesCatholic Mass Media Award in the sports column category (2005) and first Filipino recipient of the first-ever Olympism Award from the Philippine Olympic Committee for excellence in journalism (2004).

The following is Mr. Henson's article for www.Philstar.com which should be read by every boxing fans, aficionados and know-it-alls especially those who are reprobating the judge's decision and discounting the effort Manny Pacquiao showed the whole world.

********************

"The problem with some Filipino fans is they’ve been spoiled by Pacquiao and expect nothing less than a spectacular knockout in each of his fights."

It is appalling to find some Filipinos casting doubt on the integrity of Manny Pacquiao’s win by split decision over Juan Manuel Marquez in Las Vegas last Saturday.

Like the sourgrapers in Marquez’ camp, they’re insinuating Top Rank chairman Bob Arum did a sleight of hand to protect his hefty investment in Pacquiao by loading the judges panel with personal choices. Marquez’ supporters claim the Mexican should’ve won because the punchstats show he landed more blows.

First, the record will establish that both Pacquiao and Marquez gave their thumbs-up on the three judges who were assigned by the Nevada State Athletic Commission. In fact, one original choice Bill Flaherty was replaced on Pacquiao’s instance because he is Roach’s family friend. He was subbed by Tom Miller, 48. The two other judges were veterans Duane Ford, 70, and Jerry Roth, 66, whose reputation for fairness is unassailable. Ford has been a judge since 1978 and Roth, 1982. They’ve been involved in major world title fights before so working last Saturday’s fight was not an unfamiliar experience.

Continue reading...

Araykupo! Halos ma deform ang karakas ni Pacquiao sa sapok na ito ni Tita Marquez.

Kahapon ay sobrang tensiyunado ako na kung may kumatok sa kwarto ko para manghiram ng bombang DVD ay baka masapok ko. Mabuti na lang at napataob mo si Marquez sa third round. Kung hindi baka delikado ka sa desisyon ng mga huwes. Kung bakit kasi pinabayaan mo pang sapakin ka ng kalaban mo na alam naman ng lahat na ang sapok niya ay very predictable at kayang kaya mong ilagan. Malamang ay pinapatunayan mo lang sa lahat na kayang-kaya mo ang umbag ng iyong katunggali. Inamin mo naman sa huli ng ikaw ay kapanayamin ng isang amerikanong hilaw na: "Aym rili hart. Ay did not see his panches bikus op di blad in may eye yu now." Wow improving ang english mo idol.

Sabi ni Girlash baka daw lumabas ang tren.

Dahil sa dikit ang laban ay marami tuloy ang nag second guess sa desisyon ng mga hurado. Bago nga sabihin ni Michael Buffer ang huling bilang ng puntos ay natawag ko na  yata ang isang limpak na santo't santa santita para lamang pagkalooban ka ng panalo. Langya, what a relief  ng i-anunsiyo na ng bedroom voice na emcee na ikaw ang nagwagi. Tangina ang swerte galing mo talaga! Aprub ka talaga.

Dahil (halos) evenly matched ang performance ng dalawa parehong proud sina Pacman at Pacwoman, este Marquez after the bout.

Sana sa mga susunod mong laban ay di ko na makita si Chavit sa likod mo sa ibabaw ng ring patuloy kang magwagi at makapag-alay ng karangalan sa ating bansa. Your place in the boxing world hall of fame is already cemented. Wala ng kokontra ha Recah Trinidad.

The Good (center), the Dud (kaliwa) and the Bogli (kanan).

Pacman Vs. Marquez

MARQUEZ, 130; PACQUIAO, 129!

Excited na ako, katulad ng mahigit sa 80 milyon na Filipino, para sa laban ni Pacman kay Marquez bukas. Gustong gusto ko na nga matapos ang Sabado dahil isa ito sa pinaka-boring na araw dito sa Tangguh (well lahat naman ng araw boring dito) at ng makapanood na ng laban ng ating pambansang kamao. Bukas ay busy kami sa opisina kahit na Sunday dahil malapit na naman ang cutoff ng singilan dito sa mga trabahong nagawa. Pero kahit na hilahin ako ng boss ko na pumasok sa opisina eh hindi ako mapipilit. Siguro magpakita lang ako ng 2-3 hours sa umaga at pagkatapos ay takas na. Bukas ay talaga namang isa sa pinaka matinding Sunday na nga ang magaganap dahil sa hindi lang laban ni Pacquiao kundi bukas din ang pinaka-aabangan kong Melbourne F1 Grand Prix (first GP of the year shet! Go Ferrari) at syempre ang first meeting para sa aming CNSHS Batch '98 reunion. Anyway nalayo na ako sa topic about Pacman.

Two weeks before the fight nagsimula na akong maghanap ng makaka-pustahan. Dahil sa nakilala na ng mga Indonesians si Pacman wala nang gustong mag bet against him. Aba at ang siste pa ay sila ang naghahamon ng pustahan na para sila kay Pacquiao at ako daw para sa kalaban. Mygalibaw! Meron naman iba na ang gustong pustahan ay kung anong round mana-knock out si Marquez na ang dating ay parang pa-ending sa PBA. Masyado na talagang sikat si Pacman at maging ang mga Indons na ang alam lamang ay sumipa ng bola at kumain ng pagke-anghang anghang na pagkain ay nawiwili na rin sa kwentuhan at tsismisan patungkol kay Pacman...at nakikipag pustahan pa na hindi naman ine-encourage ng kanilang relihiyon. Sino nga ba naman ang hindi magsusugal ng kanilang rupiah kay Pacquiao kung ang makakalaban nya ay ganito ang porma:

Naku mga Pinoy talaga in-edit pa ang mga pictures ni Marquez. Photoshop nga naman. Siguro para maiwasan ang mga kapustahan nila na umatras kaya medyo ginawang mukhang macho si Papa Marquez. Ang totoo kasi mas baklita pa diyan sa mga larawan sa taas ang pose nya sa mga photograpers sa weigh in nila. Narito ang isa sa original / unedited picture ni Marquez bago dumaan sa kamay ng mga pilyo.

Bakla daw si Marquez!

Wala na akong masabi... wala na rin ako time na mag-hanap pa ng Pacquiao scandals. Let's get ready to rumble sabi nga ni pareng Michael Buffer. Tanginangyan suntukan na!

Kung gusto nyo pang makahagilap ng mga letrato na katulad ng nasa taas ay bumisita lang sa PACLAND.

I was really very happy yesterday when I learned about his victory. The sad thing was that I was not able to watch the fight in television. Damn, there's no coverage provided by RCTI as most Filipinos here in Indonesia were expecting as the network covered Manny's bouts since he beat Barrera in theri first duel. I just relied on text messages sent to me after every rounds.

I could not really say anything more about the boxing fight since I was not able to see it. I just hope that somebody back home recorded it so I can watch it when I go on vacation.

Mabuhay ka Manny! Mabuhay ang Pilipinas! You made the Filipinos prooud again!!!