being in pre-japan time

welcome, this is my first-ever offseason blog here.
(a message for one nba fan who has emailed me with question *which
dunks from 05-06 regular season have been the most memorable?*:
there have been three ones for me. iverson + iguodala = alleyoop
[that, that was sensation]. kidd + carter = alleyoop [don't try this
one at home]. and gerald green's off-the-glass slam [he was looking
down into the basket].)
a lot of things happened since 2006 draft till now.
our holidays were cooler than thou and the month of july was warmer
than celtics' famous garden arena in the 80's.
moreover, i enjoyed the british open in golf and this was really my
golf-watching debut.
it's not so good as the game of basketball but in these pro-hoop-less
summer days, it's a solid relax and pleasure.
(hey, i'm wondering whether tiger woods (his first-ever appearance in
fics blog!) would shoot free throws so smoothly as he does his
putting. just a thought.)
team usa is preparing for the world championships, is looking pretty
excellent and a total beating of puerto rico has only testified it.
they're gonna be a dream team-caliber team, because they're able to
play together with leadership of king-flash tandem.
it's a no-brainer that this edition will be better than olympics 2004
squad, but that's an easy odd when you have no marbury at the point
and no brown at the bench.
and bruce bowen MUST make the team.
then it'd be VERY GOOD INDEED.
in the nba, the merry-go-round of trades was (and is) in full speed and
even some franchises are moving-bound.
maybe we're gonna wait to see seattle hawks, oklahoma city sonics or
kansas city hornets (no joking here)!
in the spursland, there are some changes, namely rasho is gone
(raptor), nazr is gone (piston, why just detroit!?), sean marks is
gone (sun, not connecticut) and nick v.e. is gone (golfclub).
on the flip side, the bag of 2006 spurs newcomers include (besides
bonner and williams) jacque vaughn (the defensive pg stopper we
needed) and offer sheets centers jackie butler and francisco elson
(i'm wondering on elson's play alongside timmy).
aaargh!
did you notice dallas' deals?
who'll stop maverix?
only their suicide.
mavs 2006 (minus daniels & griffin) plus a. johnson, a. croshere,
g. buckner, d. george & m. ager...
it appears that mr. cuban will be even more arrogant but maybe he'll
obey and take an advice from dirk's mind words about him.
nba games 2006-07 aren't looming yet, so the questions and
probabilities on 'how will be the 06-07' will be in my fics-blog
coverage later in october.
on august 1, nba revealed the 06-07 schedule and... there's NO
doubleheader on dec 25!
what a mess!
but at least no damn on the change of the seeding system for the
playoffs.
bravo.
there certainly will be enough time to blog about the best draws of the
upcoming season (big ben the bull, saint amare's return, new indiana
(jones?), rookies, et al), so tune in this site later.
from san antonio's standpoint, here's my preseason almanac of
important-awaited events.
majors:
it starts on nov 2, season-opener, at mavs (the 8th consecutive
"real" game for this couple. i'm wondering whether mike finley will
get booed. just a thought.).
next vital is nov 5, home-opener against the kings, er, lebroners.
nov 8 vs. the suns, marks will get standing ovation and maybe amare
will play.
nov 24 vs. cuban's star band (maybe he'll end in the water of
riverwalk. just a thought.)
minor events:
nov 5, bonner & williams at raptors, toronto.
nov 6, butler at knicks, ny.
jan 10, elson at nuggets, denver.
feb 13, vaughn at nets, nj.
there will be 5 spurs games broadcasted on tnt, 8 gms on espn, 9 on
nbatv and 3 on abc.
the spurs' rookie-to-be-when? ian mahinmi will play the 06-07 campaign
for pau-orthez in france.
he looked good yet inconsistent in the summer league, but he has got a
nickname "the sponge", because he learns quickly.
if he'll make a final cut in the training camp 2007, i'll be happy.
(i almost forgot, steve nash cut his long never-combed hair! will it be
the real nash? just a thought.)
thanks god for the upcoming world basketball championships in japan.
it has got a very cute logo - a sumo fighter with ball.
an exciting competition in the japanese environment, what more a
hoops-fan can ask for!
(non-basketball advice: be beware of north korea.)
go u.s.a.!
go france!
go argentina!
take care, i'll be back here before day 1 of w.c.
(aw, what da hell, i almost forgot! happy 41th birthday, the admiral.
and one ticket straight to hell for those fans who don't read charley
rosen's 'readers request' articles on foxsports.com!!)

p.s.: [tim thomas]
the more he plays, the worse he plays.
the worse he plays, the less he plays.
the less he plays, the more he complains and proves again that he's a
loser. (-charley rosen)
p.s.2: [raef lafrentz]
on a more highly-evolved team, he'd be a solid performer.
with the confused, dysfunctional blazers, he's just another
multi-millionaire. (-charley rosen)
p.s.3: how could anybody give 5-year, $73.3m contract to zach
randolph?!?
p.s.4: i've been watching the world cup for four weeks trying to decide
which nba players could have been dominant soccer players, eventually
coming to three conclusions.
first, allen iverson would have been the greatest soccer player ever -
better than pele, better than ronaldo, better than everyone.
i think this is indisputable, actually.
second, it's a shame that someone like chris andersen couldn't have
been pushed toward soccer, because he would have been absolutely
unstoppable soaring above the middle of the pack on corner kicks.
and third, can you imagine anyone being a better goalie than shawn
marion?
it would be like having a 6-foot-9 human octopus in the net.
how could anyone score on him?
he'd have every inch of the goal covered.
just as a sports experiment, couldn't we have someone teach marion the
rudimentary aspects of playing goal, then throw him in a couple of mls
games?
like you would turn the channel if this happened? (-bill simmons)
p.s.5: sports illustrated asked 248 nba players for which team, other
than their own, they most would like to play.
the spurs finished first with 13 percent of the vote.
p.s.6: *just because you need athleticism, you don't want to sign a
jackrabbit if he can't play.* (-r.c. buford)
p.s.7: nazr mohammed (pistons) - must do:
undergo a surgical procedure that adds at least two fingers to each
hand. (-charley rosen)
p.s.8: *this is what bruce bowen has done the last 10 years: play great
defense and make open shots and be a great person.
he's the glue of any team.
he's got a real shot at making this team.
he's a winner, and i think you've seen that in san antonio.
that's what (coach mike krzyzewski) loves about him for team usa.*
(-mike d'antoni)
p.s.9: bruce bowen's cell phone rang monday night, and a familiar voice
was on the line.
*it was tim (duncan), calling to wish me well,* bowen said tuesday as
usa basketball announced he was one of 15 finalists from which the
12-player u.s. team in the fiba world championships in japan would be
chosen.
*tim loves it when other people bask in the glory.
people don't understand that about him.
he's been on this usa team before.
but he saw i am succeeding and he gave me a shout-out: 'hey, bruce, i'm
happy for you. congratulations, man.'
he said he hoped we didn't have to incur some of the things they had to
experience,* bowen said of the 2004 olympic team.
*i'm not worried about the officials at all.
it's never consistently bad or good.
in life, you have to move on whenever you have bad circumstances.
you have to keep on playing.*
p.s.10: isiah thomas must be a masochist to pass up local favorite
marcus williams for the little known "new rodman," balkman, a player
he could have picked later! (-george eddy)
p.s.11: larry bird never won an mvp until he stopped drinking beer
before the '84 season. (-bill simmons)
p.s.12: bill russell's legacy: OFFENSE ENTERTAINS.
DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS. (-charley rosen)

Posted by Foreigner in CS - Aug 7 2006 6:37AM