Rudy Hatfield at his best

Talk about ego.

More on Dunks

This Blake Griffin guy is sick.

It's one thing to dunk in every game. It's another thing to amaze people every single time.

March Madness Baby!

I'm no regular follower of US-NCAA basketball but man, I've been hearing a lot about the on going tourney and seems like it's one of the more exciting in years. So many close games and very few blowouts (which is a normal thing in tournaments like these). College basketball fans should be in a giddy! NBA scouts are all over the place as well! Exciting times for basketball as a sport. :)

I'm just hoping college basketball goes up to this level in the Philippines. I love the fact that UAAP and NCAA have become so popular that games are now televised LIVE. I remember the time when UAAP games were not televised and only championships were the only one's shown on TV - unfortunately, on delayed telecast!

With the rise of technology and social media these days, game information will forever be available. I remember following Ateneo games over twitter whenever I'm at work - shouting out when Ateneo held on for the win against FEU in the championship. Can't deny that college basketball right now is at it's peak but we need to realize that we're only focusing on the Manila teams and we don't have a "National Champion" - which the NCAA takes pride in unifying all leagues.

We do have the Champions' League (PCCL) and yeah, it has slowly grown to prominence - but I guess it will really take time for all these leagues to be aggregated into just one system. What's happening now is it becomes a "post-season" tournament where teams can strut their wares against opponents from other leagues and the title of "National Champion" doesn't have that attention just yet.

I hope a lot of time and funding can go into the PCCL. I want them to unify rules across all leagues so that when the tournament starts, we're all in the same page, footing etc.

I see Ateneo being the Duke counterpart of the NCAA. How about the other teams? What do you think?

Javale Mcgeeeee!

This has got to be the block of the year! Waaay better than Lebron's chase down.

Just disrespectful.

Talk about massive hops. Blake Griffin is a BEAST! First Mosgov, then Gortat. Who's next?

Fab Five Documentary

I didn't really grow up watching and being a fan of the fabled "Fab Five" of the University of Michigan but I grew up appreciating what they started. I grew up loving the game of basketball at a phase when black shoes, black socks, long shorts and bald heads were the in thing. It was a phase that the "Fab Five" jumpstarted by being so popular in the NCAA.

I remember playing NBA Live via SEGA and my brother and I used to form teams that represented the alma mater of each NBA player - and thus I discovered the Fab Five. They weren't complete but hey, that was one heck of a line-up.

Here's part 1 of 5 of the Documentary. You can move on to the other parts by clicking on some related videos. Enjoy! :)

Dwade over Perkins

Sick. Dunk.

Bad news: they lost this game

Kobe's dead serious about winning

After losing to the fabled "big three" of Miami, Kobe put on some practice gear and went back to work - practicing his jump shots on Miami's homecourt. While the supposedly slumping Heat players celebrated their win against the streaking LA Lakers, Kobe went out of his way to "work". After all, he gets paid to play this game. That's a true professional in any book. Because at the end of the day, you are measured with what you contribute and in the NBA, you know winning that chip fits the bill.

I've always hated the fact that these players earn thousands of dollars a game. This is why I give a lot of respect to players who really practice so that they can develop / learn more skills.

Car Dunks

Because of Blake's dunk, a lot of attention have been given to car dunks. Here's one that could very much be compared to Blake's dunk contest performance. I thought his dunk was over-hyped. Got annoyed with Kenny Smith's supposed "swagger". Nevertheless I know Blake can do this. Not sure though if the Clipper management would allow him to.

Athletically Challenged moment

I bet most of us "athletically challenged" basketball players have had moments like these.

Perhaps in a pick up game at a neighborhood court - ballers spotting you watching the game and invite you to play. Usually happens when they lack players to form teams of five. You try to fit in but can never play at there level - and end up disappointing your team.

Perhaps in school during PE when your more-athletic classmates do the "pilian" after a round of "bato-bato pick" and they have no choice to pick you as the last player on their team. Yes, those moments when you try to present yourself but they just breeze through you and pick another classmate for their team first - just because they think you're not that good.

Perhaps in an intramurals game and you only enter the game when it's all said and done - and still make the game exciting because of the errors you commit. You blundered all those ball possessions and screwed some 3-pointers - giving the other team a chance to win the game.

Definitely been there. how about you?

Friday NBA Triple Header

NBA

LA Lakers @ Miami - Live on BTV at 8am

New York @ Dallas - Live on BTV at 1030am

Denver @ Phoenix

PBA

Talk n' text Tropang Texters vs Meralco Bolts

Powerade Tigers vs Brgy. Ginebra Kings

Good news. Bad news. NBA Thursday Recap

As if Melo's first game-winning shot wasn't enough, the NBA went up and down with so many headlines for thursday.

Good news: Chicago beat Charlotte - closing in on the Celtics' hold of the Eastern Conference top seed.

Bad news: Carlos Boozer went down with an injury because of a meaningless flagrant foul by the ultimate black sheep of the NBA - Kwame Brown.

Bad news: The Celtics lost at home against a sub-.500 team.

Good news: They lost against an up-and-coming team: the LA Clippers.

Good news: Kevin Love passed Moses Malone for the double-double streak record with his 52nd.

Bad news: The Timberwolves still suck.

Bad news: Chris Paul is still out and didn't play against the Mavs today.

Good news: Jarrett Jack won the game for them.

REALLY GOOD NEWS: Heat vs Lakers March 11! :)

All that and more: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba

Ballgame!

Hope to see more of this from the Knicks!

Jacob Tucker Dunk Video

At 5'11, this kid's going to be popular - at least on the internet.

Blake who?

Loaded NBA Thursday - March 10

NBA

Golden State @ New Jersey

Utah @ Toronto

Chicago @ Charlotte

Oklahoma City @ Philadelphia - Live on BTV at 8am

LA Clippers @ Boston

Indiana @ Minnesota

Cleveland @ Milwaukee

New York @ Memphis

Dallas @ New Orleans

Detroit @ San Antonio

Orlando @ Sacramento - Live on BTV at 10am

March 9 Highlights

The NBA had a total of six games today but all eyes were on either the Heat or the Lakers. No surprise there. These two teams have been getting a lot of attention all season long. Unfortunately, at this point, the Heat and the Lakers are at way different ends of a string.

The Miami Heat just lost their fifth straight game, six of eight since the all-star game, thanks to the Portland Trailblazers. It was a close game and Miami looks like they're having a hard time closing out games like these. It's been really tough for Miami's big three to carry the load these past few games. Imagine facing the Knicks, Magic, Spurs, Chicago and the Blazers consecutively. The sad thing about these losses? All except for the Spurs game were decided by less than 10 points (three of them by less than 5). Against the Spurs, they were blown out by 30 - which all the more makes this losing streak so disappointing. There were even news that players were in tears after that game against D.Rose and the Bulls. I wouldn't be surprised if they got all emotional after that tough loss. Heck, expectations were really high. But they cried? I don't want to go down that road. Hah!

The worse thing? The Lakers are coming over.

The Lakeshow's been unstoppable since the All-Star break - winning eight games in a row. Just when we thought that the Lakers may have lost it before the All-Star break, when they lost three disappointing games in a row (which happens to the Lakers once in a blue moon), the big boys from L.A. have really stuck it into high gear. As Phil Jackson and Kobe Bryant would say it, they're all in the same page right now. Well I think the key this recent surge has been Andrew Bynum's presence - especially on defense. And as they say, defense wins championships.

In other news, the PBA featured two games today and one of them involved the Philippine National team - Smart Gilas Pilipinas being pitted against the Air 21 Express. Since the news broke out that Gilas will be playing in the PBA, there's been a lot of buzz about the national team - the most since it's inception two years ago. This marked the first time Gilas playing regularly on national television. And after three games, Gilas has definitely lived up to the hype, coming out still unbeaten. Yes, Gilas has a naturalized 6'10 Marcus Douthit - which some people claim as an unfair advantage. But hey, we have a number of locals too who are 6'9 or 6'10 in Asi Taulava, Sonny Thoss, Mick Pennisi, and a few more. Besides, the imports from other teams have a 6'4 height limit. This means, imports are expected to play wing positions rather than play as bigs.

I hear that Gilas has been playing so smooth that the two-year old program has been reaping fruits. I'm a big fan and I really follow their games. I hope they win a lot of games so they can get great support and following when they take on teams from other countries.

I read from Noli Eala's tweets that Gilas has definitely gained a following from Pinoy fans and PBA has benefited from this as well. Well said.

March 9 games

NBA

LA Lakers @ Atlanta

Golden State @ Cleveland

Philadelphia @ Indiana

Milwaukee @ Washington

Portland @ Miami (BTV - live at 8:30am)

Houston @ Phoenix

PBA

Smart-Gilas Pilipinas vs Air 21 Express (BTV - delayed telecast 11pm)

Alaska Aces vs San Miguel Beermen