The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[udosuk]

To tell you the truth I felt a little bit shocked to see Nash skipping the All-star activities... Now we need to find a replacement and I think it should be a guard... Chris Paul seems a good choice but Deron Williams will probably get it because of the overwhelming demand for a Jazz player in the lineup... Hopefully Dirk will get the starting spot he deserves ahead of Amare...

Now that you mentioned it I have to admit I'm also quite interested about the Anna Nicole Smith saga... Is it me or do many also suspect that this is all a part of an evil scheme for the potentially huge amount of wealth she hasn't inherited yet from the assets of her late husband... It sounds too much a coincidence that her son died half a year ago when visiting her in hospital which leaves her baby daughter the sole recipient of the money she could be getting... And her lawyer happens to be amid all these, claiming to be the father of the baby girl... Looks like a case of "Murder, She Wrote" to me...


Added later:

Today the Rockets gutted out an OT win against the Kings at home... Ron Artest almost killed them (39 pts, 5/7 3s, 10/11 FTs) and their FT% almost did them in (10/16 or 62.5% vs Kings' 26/31 or 83.9%)... Luckily, their 3 point-shooting (13/29 vs Kings' 6/15) and rebounding (50-38) once again saved them... They were down by 9 with 4 mins to go, but T-Mac's clutch shooting and Bonzi's amazing defensive effort on Artest (he played his heart out against his old team) almost won the game for them in regulation...

I'm really looking forward to the comeback of Yao now... If he can mix with the current lineup smoothly, they'd be a truly strong team to challenge the Mavs & the Suns... Meanwhile I'll be satisfied in tomorrow's clash with the Mavs if they don't lose by double digits...

The all-stars replacement spots for Nash & Iverson are given to Ray Allen & Mehmet Okur, which should be reasonable enough... Though now Tony Parker become the only PG in the West team, which could be a bit worrying... Perhaps T-Mac will need to become an act-in PG at some stage of the game... And Jason Kidd is likely to miss it too... So perhaps Joe Johnson or Michael Redd will get a chance?

[Hud]

I may ramble a bit on this, so please bear with me. I can't figure out if Diaw will play tonight, but obviously, Nash is out. There're rumors that Thomas is ready to return but I don't know if it's tonight.

I helped the old man (76) down the street try to replace a waterpump on a 97 Olds Aurora for his disabled nephew today. So far the job is defeating us but we're stubborn and will try again tomorrow. I asked him how his betting has been going and he said he cleaned up by taking the Bulls in Sunday's game. I'm glad he doesn't just bet on the Suns. The Suns were giving 9 points so they easily won that bet.

Nice win for the Rockets last night, and it appears the Mavs were lucky to win their game (or they played great defense). The Lakers have to be a disappointment of late.

[udosuk]

Joe Johnson gets his All-star spot... If he'd stayed with the Suns I wonder it'd be possible... The Suns could lose another game tonight but I doubt if they care too much... I think they're ready to concede the #1 seed to the Mavs and make sure they get healthy when the playoff starts...

They say the Bulls would be twice stronger if they give up a few young talents to grab Gasol from the Grizz... Perhaps it's true judging from their past few losses...

And the Celtics finally won one tonight, against the equally hapless Bucks... Now that they've avoided history, I'm sure they'll tank another 10 games or so to make sure they get a top 2 pick in the draft...

Sounds like your old friend is a pretty wise punter... I'd ask his advice to bet if I were you... Remember my earlier "betting on Suns against all non-elite teams" scheme? Ditch that, as I didn't see the possibility of a Nash injury (plus a few others too)...

Good luck on the waterpump job...


Added after the game:

As guessed, Suns lost their 3rd game in a row, this one by 24 to Ray Allen's Sonics, easily their worst loss of the season so far... It's evident Marion and Bell can't score without Nash, and surprisingly Marcus Banks top-scored for the team (21 pts). I don't think he had ever imagined himself to top-score for the Suns this year... Pat Burke the Irishman did play stiffly like Hud said and only got 6 pts, 2 rebs with 5 fouls... But the Suns are so desperate they even activated the New Zealander Sean Marks...

And I just checked, 90 pts is the lowest output they had for the whole season, including preseason games... So they've lost 5 of 8 after the 17-game winning streak, and I'm sure they can't welcome the All-star break more and would be working crazy to get Nash healthy ASAP...

[Hud]

My friend lost his invincibility cloak. He bet on the Suns last night and even gave 2 points. I warned him that Ray Allen always torched them, but it was too late. I watched a bit of the game and thought they were playing hard, but obviously, not well enough to beat any team in the league. I hope I'm not rationalizing when I say that I don't care if they aren't the #1 seed in the playoffs. Whenever they are, they manage to blow a home game and have to win on the road anyway.

I dug out some heavier tools for the WP job today; a portable air tank for an impact and a 3/4" drive socket wrench handle.

The Rockets/Mavs game will be on TV here tonight. I'm predicting a Rockets win in a close game; possibly OT? It's hard to tell about Joe Johnson. He did get some exposure during the world championship last summer. I like the fact that a team doesn't automatically get the #1 draft pick just because they had the worst record.

[udosuk]

It was a close game alright, but the Rockets lost by 3, and was held scoreless for the last 2 minutes or so... T-Mac put up a great show against Dirk in the 4th, but couldn't shake off the tough D from Josh Howard (and the double teams) in the final moments... If they had Yao they would have another go-to man but it wasn't to be...

When the Rockets were down by 2 after the 3rd quarter, I knew they'd be in trouble because they were 1-13 when trailing after 3 quarters (1-14 now)... The only win was coming against the Kings earlier this week... I don't know why but they played worst in the 4th quarter, a big worry for them in the playoffs...

Also, from this page, the Mavs are the best team in games decided by 3 pts or less (9-2), and it seems other elite teams aren't even close to them...

And the Lakers lost 5 straight... With Odom back they're supposed to make a run, but perhaps their current schedule is a bit too tough compared to earlier in the season...

On the all-star game, I predict the West will win because Shaq isn't in his prime now and Kidd isn't playing... But the West having only 1 PG in Tony Parker is quite a worrying factor for them... So perhaps it'll come down to a shooting contest between Kobe+Dirk+T-Mac+Melo and Lebron+Wade+Arenas+Joe Johnson... I don't expect Marion to score a lot but hopefully he'll contribute enough defensive effort...

[Cec]

Cricket

My, how Australia's dominance in cricket has changed in the last few weeks with England beating us and today New Zealand inflicting our first 10 wicket loss in a ODI. Steve Waugh's comments are relevant that no team can expect to win every match they play and the selectors now have some deep thinking as regards to future team selection. Why Stuart Clark continues to be overlooked, particularly following Lee's injury, is bewildering to me.

Cec

[udosuk]

I think Australia lost its "mojo" ever since Andrew Symonds went out in a freak injury...

Perhaps that's a good thing for not-too-die-hard fans like me... Now that they aren't expected to win, all that left for me is a pleasant surprise if they pull off a miracle, and if they don't, I won't feel too disappointed...

[Hud]

The Rockets did play the Mavs tough last night. I was rooting for them, but my wife wanted to watch the doctors drill holes in a guy's head with a cordless Makita drill. That was fun, but I'd prefer the basketball game. I was also thinking about the Mavs winning many close games and many of them near the last possession. I still think they'll hit a bad spell before season's end. Mark Cuban spends a lot of money on his team, and the deep bench has to help them. The Suns spend for 5 or 6 guys and that's pretty much it. Scotty Pippen wants to return to action. I hope the Suns don't pick him up.

We finished up the water pump job and it took an impact wrench and a compressor to get the old one out. My 3/4" drive ratchet put the new one in nicely. I had some electrical adventures helping out my ex-son-in-law today. It scares you when you think the AC is off and it's not lol.

[udosuk]

Speaking of Pippen, he had a brief stint in Houston (alongside Hakeem and Barkley), but they didn't achieve much... I doubt if the Rockets would take him back... He specifies that he wants to play for a contender in a warm city... They said it's likely to be Miami or San Antonio... But I wonder if Phil Jackson would bring him back to the Lakers?

And since I mentioned Barkley, he's gonna race the umpire Dick Bavetta during the All-star weekend... I suppose it's another gimmick for the bookies to accept more bets?

Added after the race:

Now I realise Dick Bavetta is 67 (Barkley is 44). I think you can race Sir Charles and win, Hud... I felt for Dick when I saw him having to slide head first to the finishing line, and crashed one of his knees in doing so... It must not be easy to hit the ground so hard at that age...

[Hud]

I was thinking that 2 or 3 years ago, I would have left "The round mound of rebound" in the dust. Now I'm finally getting over a pinched nerve in my lower back and can't run very fast.

Last night in the dunk contest, MJ was really tough on some of the dunkers with his scoring. I suppose he was comparing all of them to himself. I only watched the first round, but the last contestant made a great dunk and MJ gave him an 8 (out of 10).

They say that Nash has been practicing and rehabbing with the all stars. They had a little halfcourt shooting contest just for fun, and he took some shots left handed. I'd bet he came close with some of his shots.

[Cec]

Cricket.

Struth!.. Australia 4wickets for 336 and we still can't win. It certainly exposes our bowlers aren't performing well enough..McGrath was the most economical going for about 5 runs per over. It was however a great match with Australia posting the highest score at this venue only to see New Zealand produce the second-best run chase in one-day history to snatch a marvellous win with eight balls to spare.

Cec

[Hud]

Cec, I thought you were gonna rub it in about Mickelson blowing the Nissan Open today. Edit: Allenby not Appleby was right there for awhile and I thought "oh no, not another Aussie winner". I like Howell III so I don't feel too badly for Phil.

I was going to play 9 holes the other day but they wanted $17 to walk 9 holes. Since I had a frugal upbringing, I just couldn't justify paying almost $2 a hole to hack up a course.

[Cec]

Hud, being both keen golfers ourselves it's comforting to know that even the Pro' golfers can stumble at the last hurdle (hole) .. as Phil Mickelson did when he bogied the 18th causing a play-off with Charles Howell III who eventually won. Golf is such a highly competitive sport as shown at the conclusion of most tournaments when usually half a dozen or so players have a chance to win when playing the final hole or two of a 72-hole tournament.

I'm waffling here a bit but I can't help ponder over the difference in sportsmanship between golf and cricket. Imagine golfers "sledging" one another when another player misses a crucial put or hits a poor shot. Also golfers are required to exercise complete honesty in observing all the rules of the game or risk disqualification if they fail to disclose any breaches of the rules.

Cec

[udosuk]

On cricket, like I said I'm not expecting anything from the Australian One-day team right now... That they don't use Stuart Clark shows there is a serious flaw in the current selection process...

On golf, not paying much attention, but as for the issues of golfers "sledging" each other, I wonder would they be penalised if they mutter profanity words aloud after hitting a bad shot? I've surely heard players talking hard to themselves on TV coverage...

On basketball, nice to see Amare and Marion played solidly for the West to rout the East by 21... The first time Shaq lost since 2001... Kobe put on a great show to get the MVP, and it's amazing the West with only 1 PG managed to rack up 52 assists...

About the dunking contest, I think the one you said MJ gave a low score could be Dwight Howard's 12'6" dunk (he slapped a sticker on the upper corner of the backboard which measures about that height)... I guess it's fair enough because if what Dwight displaying was his jumping ability then for sure Nate Robinson (5'9") reaching the rim is far more impressive than that... So I kind of leaning on MJ's opinion...

[Hud]

Golf: I get a kick out of Tiger Woods occasionally letting loose some bad words after hitting a bad shot. It kinda reminds me of me lol.

I was glad to see Amare and Marion play well. At least now, the rest of the country will realize they are legitimate super players. I was surprised to hear a smattering of boos when Kobe was awarded the trophy. I believe it may have been Nate Robinson whose dunk I saw. He sure didn't look only 5-9. In my prime, I was about 5-10 and couldn't touch the rim. Maybe I needed better shoes?