Spurned by the Spurs

The Western Conference Finals

Game 1: Thunder 0-1 Spurs

Introduction: 

   One word that sums up how the Spurs played their game 1 of the Western Conference Finals:  EFFICIENT.  The Spurs made over half of the shot attempts they made at 57.5% against the Thunder's 46.2%.

Worries coming in, and out:

   Tony Parker exited the last game against Portland after only playing one quarter. He complained about a tight hamstring.  His game play didn't seem to be affected by this but he played a full 35 mins-game one and worries me that this may aggravate this condition (if there is really any). So far, he hasn't shown any signs of slowing down. But then again, this is still a long series and with a Conference as top-heavy as the West, it is always possible for this to be extended up to the deciding game 7.

The missing "D", definitely not Duncan.

   OKC only had 3 blocks total. This is about half of what Serge Ibaka got against the Spurs during the regular season (5 blks).

Pounding it inside:

   With Serge Ibaka possibly out for the rest of the postseason, the Spurs have capitalized on inside scoring. Quoting Tim Duncan, "We were taking what we were given. We knew we would be able to get into the middle and attack more than we have, and we were able to make some shots tonight."  And that was exactly what they did which can easily be seen by how much the Spurs have outscored OKC in the paint, 66-32. 

Master of Mismatches:

   Coach Pop is always one to capitalize on what is obvious and then some.  There were a few instances where a switch resulted in a Forward being matched up with a Guard in the post (Duncan/Fisher, Diaw/Jackson).  These mismatches do not happen by accident but rather through a well orchestrated and painstakingly practiced ball movement. Oh, and I still don't understand why Scott Brooks would put Durant on defense against Timmy.  It is just wrong whichever way you look at it.

It ain't that bad:

   You can't really say that the OKC superstars had a bad night.  Kevin Durant scored 28 pts, 9 rebs and 5 asts which isn't very far from his Playoff average of 31.4p/9.5r/4.3a. Westbrook scored 25 pts 5 rebs and 7 asts.  But apparently, KD and RW scoring close to their averages is not enough to secure a win from the ever efficient San Antonio Spurs.

It will come:

   A team as talented as the Thunders will definitely bounce back.  Both KD and RW are capable of dropping 30-40 points in one game.  The likelihood of this happening within this series is very high and that is one way of  getting a "W" from the defending WCF Champions. Either that or everybody starts to contribute Offensively and Defensively. Quoting Durang,  "Look, Serge (Ibaka) is not going to be here. He's injured for the rest of the postseason, so we've got to move past that and just keep playing as a team."  The sooner the whole team realizes this, the sooner they will be able to get that win.

Unhating on the Heat

The Eastern Conference Finals

Game 1: Pacers 1-0 Heat  

Introduction: 

   It's funny how some so-called basketball analysts blame specific players for not stepping up when the game mattered the most.  In the case of Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals, Chris Bosh. 

   9 points, 2 rebounds & 4 assists accumulated during 32 mins. of game play.  Bosh being Bosh, he definitely needs to step it up. I'm not saying that it is okay for him to play a game as dismal as game 1 but the point is, players will have Off-Nights. It's not like he's averaging less than 10 pts per game.  He will eventually pick it up and bounce back with a stronger game during the course of the best-of-seven series.

Off Nights:

   Fact: every player, no matter how good/great, will have a few/lot during the course of their career. They cannot control when this will happen. It may happen during the regular season or even during the play-offs. 

Adjustments:

   What we are forgetting is the fact that the coaches are there to eliminate the "Off night" factor that may cause the team to lose a game, or worse, the series.  The question is, "Is coach Erik Spoelstra making the necessary in-game adustments?"  

• Miami opted to start the game playing their usual "small-ball". This is not a big deal since most of the time, they either play run-and-gun basketball or starts shooting the lights out from the rainbow area (Allen rings a bell?)
• Indiana also started with their usual starters with the big middle casting in Hibbert and West.
• Roy Hibbert outweighs Bosh by at least 50 lbs. and towers over him at least 3 inches. This being said, Pacers biggies pounded the paint like there's no tomorrow. 
• Bosh is only one big man. Where is his support inside the paint? He defended fairly well against Hibbert limiting him to only 5-of-13 of his shots but there is no weak-side help defense that was eventually capitalized on by West.
• Michael Beasley (6'10") is being under-utilized. He's been with the Heat for quite some time now but doesn't seem to actual role within the Miami Heat system. He doesn't need to be that monster shot blocker or that physical enforcer in the paint but at least he can play supporting cast for Bosh.
• Finally, whatever happened to Greg Oden (7'0")?  The first time the Heat signed him up, I immediately realized that he was being saved for the playoffs (being the fragile big man that he is). I realized that he's not being given a lot of playing minutes so that he will be healthy come playoff time. Again, Where's Greg Oden?

Conclusion:

   Picking up from the very first paragraph of this article, Basketball is a Team Game. Coach Spo relies to much on the individual talents of his players who will eventually hit an off-night game. Giving your players that vaunted trust that he will eventually pick it up during the game is not a bad thing, but you have to decide what will give you that "W" simply because this is the Playoffs.  If your players who you expect to show this so-called Brilliance is not delivering then you have to make that game-winning decision to either sit him down or give the ball to someone else. Bosh's ability to sink in 3-pointers is something that they really want to capitalize on since the Pacers would rather have Hibbert guard the paint instead of running after a 3-point shooter.  The problem is, he shot 0-of-5 from beyond the arc which means adjustments need to be made.   Coach Spo is not making, not for game 1 at least, the necesarry in-game adjustments and is lacking that dynamism in team play that will make Indiana work hard on both ends of the court.

Additional Comments:

   I have been a Spurs fan for as long as I can remember.  I am a firm believer of team basketball. A good coach should always be able to continue winning games with the players available at his disposal. If Spoelstra can inject a system that will utilize each and every member of the team and not only relying on 2 or 3 players to win it for him then I might even be a fan of him. (referring to the coach and not the team).

A Movie Review: Gravity

-= GRAVITY =-

IMDB: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1454468/
IMDB Rating: 8.2
Rotten Tomatoes: http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/gravity_2013/
Roten Tomatoes Rating: 97%

After just having watched Gravity with Sandra Bullok and George Clooney on it, I have the following observations.  Warning, this article includes spoilers. Read at your own risk.

Negatives:

  First of all, this may not be the most boring movie I've watched in my life but this definitely ranks among the top 10.  You basically only get to see 3 actors and 2 actresses in the whole movie. Secondly, the physics are way off. If the debris are moving in the same direction as the International Space Station, then both the ISS and the debris should not collide and simply orbit the planet and possibly cruising side-by-side at one point.  It's not like they're moving in the opposite directions.  Lastly, I didn't know you can simply space-walk from the ISS and then to the Tiangong.  Aren't they at least a few hundred if not thousands of kilometers apart to at least prevent collision?

Positives:

  I guess the only way that you can actually get to say something positive about this movie is by looking at it from 2 perspectives.  First, the technical movie perspective.  This movie has great graphics and CGI effects.  They were able to make you feel exactly how it was in space.  The fluid panning of the camera gives you that feel that you were actually there and is able to appreciate the calmness of space.  Second, the artistic perspective.  You look into the storyline deep enough, it makes you realize how small and insignificant we are against nature.  We can be wiped out, killed, erased just like that.  This makes you appreciate life more and understand that there is only so much you can do to change it.

Conclusion:

  However boring it is in my opinion, this movie still won 7 Oscars.  It still gives you that feeling of being in space and the risks that astronauts are taking everytime they are out there.  This is still a bit educational and also plays along with your feelings by seeing yourself in the position of Sandra Bullock.  I would not recommend this movie to regular movie goers who simply wants to watch a movie to be entertained.  I would compare this movie to "Contact" starred by Jodie Foster and Matthew McConaughey.

Who Flinches First? A Syrian Civil War Sentiment from an insignificant person from Southeast Asia.

• Syrian Gov't and the Rebels are pointing fingers at each other on who used Chemical Weapons.
• Syrian Gov't says that the Rebels have everything to gain by using Chemical Weapons.
• USA wants to punish the Syrian Gov't saying that they killed their own citizens using Chemical Weapons.
• USA still strongly contemplating on military action vs Syria.
• Putin orders massive strike against Saudi Arabia if West attacks Syria.
• The British fails to secure backing from the Parliament for Military Action on Syria.
• France says it will stand alongside the USA in punishing Syria.

So far, here are the team-ups: 

Team "Leave Syria Alone": Iran, Lebanon's Hezbollah, Russia, China

Team USA-PD: Israel, French, UK(backed out)


Your move Obama, what's it gonna be? You now have the opportunity to start World War 3. But we'll make sure who started it will be well-remembered.


Quotes:

“There are few countries that have the capacity to inflict a sanction by the appropriate means. France is one of them. We are ready. We will decide our position in close liaison with our allies,” - François Hollande, President of France

"Frankly, part of the challenge we end up with here is a lot of people think something should be done but nobody wants to do it." - Barrack Obama, President of the USA

"The British Parliament, reflecting the views of the British people, does not want to see British military action." - David Cameron, British Prime Minister

"A political solution is always the only realistic means to resolve the Syria issue"  - Wang Yi, Chinese Foreign Minister


P.S.

The USA was convinced Iraq had Weapons of Mass Destruction which prompted the invasion.  After Saddam Hussein was removed from power, no Weapons of Mass Destruction were found.  Is this history repeating itself?

The Suffering State of Suffrage in the Philippines.

With the upcoming local elections less than a week from now, I talked to a few people about what they think of the upcoming elections.  Most of the "Intellectually-Capable" voters I talked to are not even considering casting their votes.  It's funny how these people now say that they will not vote simply because they don't believe in the system.  I wonder how they would react if the right to vote is removed from them simply because the system doesn't believe that they are capable of making the right decisions?

In the past, so many people have fought to obtain the rights to suffrage (mostly women) and I feel that they have fought in vain whenever these select individuals refuse to exercise their right to vote.  Browsing the internet, I found out that there are countries that compel their citizens to vote whenever there are elections (Argentina, Australia and Brazil are just a few).  I now think that this Compulsary Voting should also be enforced here in the Philippines and now I'm thinking they will start deciding as soon as they are at the polls.

Going to the point, what I hate about these people refusing to vote is that they are primarily the ones that complains the most about their public officials.  Bottomline, If you don't vote then don't complain.  You had your chance to make a difference and make your choice be considered but you waived it.

NOW VOTE UP OR SHUT UP!

Complaints about Public Transport in the Philippines (LTFRB)

  I was reading through Twitter yesterday and came across a tweet about the new account of the LTFRB Chairman.  As per the tweet, they will be answering complaints & inquiries through twitter (@LTFRB_CHAIRMAN).

  Me being me, I was skeptic on the possible response time and actions that are gonna be taken.  I actually tweeted a reply and to my surprise got an answer for it.

  For now, I will take their assurance at face value but then again, the skeptic me is still overwhelming.  Let's wait and see.

The "Maundy" in Maundy Thursday.

   Since I was a child I've been asking the same question every time the Holy Week comes.  What exactly does the word "Maundy" in Maundy Thursday means?  Thanks to google and wikipedia I am now able to look it up.  This was a resource not available 2 decades ago and is something that I can use now.  So far, I have gotten 2 significant definitions of the word online:

1. :a ceremony of washing the feet of the poor on Maundy Thursday.
2. a: alms distributed in connection with the maundy ceremony or on Maundy Thursday
   b: maundy money.

   The second definition is more of a tradition that was started by the English Monarchs centuries ago.  The first one, on the other hand, is more of what the explanation I needed was.  Connecting it to what I actually know about the New Testament in the Bible, it was then a Thursday when Jesus washed his disciples' feet which was just before the Friday when he died on the cross.

   Now I can rest knowing what it meant and not asking myself the same question I've been asking since childhood.

contents source: wikipedia
image source: www.istorya.net

FGCU Eagles: A Cinderella Run on 2013 March Madness.

   I'm not a fan of March Madness but I usually check it out whenever I can.  I believe that College Basketball is where Players actually play the game for the love of it. When they get to the pros, it only becomes a job that they need to do and the passion becomes secondary.

   News of March Madness has become very interesting lately. Florida Gulf Coast University (FGCU) to be specific. They've only been playing in the NCAA Div I for a handful of years but they ended up whooping Georgetown's ass.  These are the #2 seed we're talking about.  Not only they did not beat them but beat them while having fun. It didn't end there, next on the list was San Diego State Aztecs(#7) the 21-5 run ended the close back-and-forth first half beating them by 10 pts.  The first 15th seed team to qualify for the Sweet 16.

Florida Gulf Coast's Chase Fieler's alley-oop against Georgetown

They're definitely a team to watch out for on their next assignment versus the Florida Gators(#3) on March 29.  Let's wait and see if Cinderella will ever wake up and face the hurtful truth or if they will continue on and reach the Final Four. (do I hear NCAA Div I Champs?)


A few facts about their dream run at March Madness that I got off the internet:

1. They are the first 15th seed to enter the Sweet 16.
2. FGCU was only established in 1991.
3. They are nicknamed by the media as "Dunk City" for their high-flying athletic finish at the basket.
4. FGCU only became a full NCAA Division I member on August 11, 2011.
5. Their coach, Andy Enfield, was a previous assistant coach for 2 NBA Teams(Bucks 94-96 & Celtics 98-00) and Florida State(2006-2011) before taking up the Head Coach post for FGCU.
6. And finally, Coach Andy Enfield is married to a former Supermodel (Amanda Marcum)