The New Sudoku Players' Forum

[udosuk]

Shaq opened his mouth again and put his foot in it. He said that Nash wasn't worthy of the MVP awards. I wonder how many he'd have gotten if the refs had ever called him for traveling and simply shoving guys out of the way going to the hoop.

According to this, he's only got 1 (1 fewer than Nash), in 1999-2000, where he got 124 out of 125 #1 votes in the MVP voting (that other vote went to Allen Iverson)... So his comments can be easily dissed as sour grapes, because it's unlikely he'll ever surpass Nash in this lifetime...

Today the Rockets beat the Magic in T-Mac's return to Orlando... I actually feels a little to the Magic, it seems they'll miss out on the playoffs again... It was like yesterday when they were leading the East earlier in the season...

And the Pistons won a thriller against the Bulls today in Big Ben's return to Detroit... C-Webb made a winning put-back with 2 secs left... I bet if the Bulls had Pau Gasol they would have grabbed that defensive rebound... I would like to see the Pistons reach the final, and perhaps upsetting the Mavs or the Suns (but not my Rockets)...

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Right now, I think the Pistons are the team to beat in the east. I think their weakest link is Rasheed Wallace. I haven't heard how the new rule about technical fouls will work in the playoffs. I heard that after 16 T's a player is suspended for 1 game. After that, a 1 dayer for each T. When I heard this, Rasheed had 15 T's. C Webb is really fitting in with the Pistons now it seems.

Jeff Van Gundy said today that Yao isn't progressing as fast as was predicted. I wonder if that's a ploy to get him to say he can play sooner?

Wade is vacillating about whether to rehab the shoulder or face season ending surgery. I'd rehab if it were me. My shoulder probably wasn't as serious as his but I could have played after a month. I never did go to the doctor's.

I mentioned awhile back that my vertical jump was limited? Anyway, I have to qualify that after a rattlesnake tried to bite me once and I out jumped him. I won't go into the whole story at this time, but it was right beside my leg and buzzing and the next thing I knew, I was rising in slow motion and he was striking at my leg in slow motion. He missed, but I was so mad at him that I didn't miss with a 12 gauge shotgun. I don't kill snakes, but made an exception in his case. I've had situations in sports where things have happened in slo-mo and usually they turned out fine. Sorry to stray.

[udosuk]

I don't get it... The Rockets were playing the worst team in the NBA in Houston, and were leading by 13 with 9 minutes remaining, but managed to lose by 5 at the end...

True, T-Mac was out with a flu... But Bonzi Wells had a stellar game replacing him (27 pts, 9 rebs, 3 asts) and even the ex-Sun Jake Tsakalidis played well for them (7 pts, 10 rebs)... But Battier, Alston and Head combined to shoot 1/21 from 3s and 5/34 FGs... Ugly is the only word I can say...

On a night when the Lakers defeated the Jazz, the Rockets blew a big chance to gain ground on the battle for home court advantage in the #4-#5 matchup... Instead they now have the Lakers breathing behind their necks now...

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Udosuk, I know how you feel. I think it's a lot tougher getting up for a team you expect to beat even with your best 2 players out. They're ballyhooing the fact that the Suns can be the first team to ever sweep the opposing conference on the road in a season. I'd almost bet they'll lose one of the next 2 games now.

The old man lost almost all his winnings at Laughlin, NV last week. Since he's been back, he's almost won every game he's bet on. I tend to form bad habits, so I try not to get into gambling.

[udosuk]

The Suns beat the Pacers today after being down 18 with 17 mins to go, then limit the Pacers to 13 pts in the final 15 mins... Who said these blokes can't play defense?

They can complete the sweep of East road games tomorrow against the lowly 76ers... I don't see how they can't do it, but I also don't think it's of any relevance to the playoffs... The only Eastern team that should have won their home game against the Suns was the Pistons but they were without Billups and C-Webb when they lost it... If the Suns were to play the full Pistons team in the final, I'll be more inclined to the Pistons...

Regarding the gambling, I think a scary aspect of it is we tend to forget when we're losing but remember the good times when we're winning... That's what drives people into addiction...

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I didn't know the Suns had been so far behind late in Q3. The Suns are very dinged up right now and really need to get some of these guys in top shape for the playoffs. I know it's academic and I'm somewhat prejudiced, but at full strength, I think they're the best team in basketball. Let's get tonight's game over with and maybe not worry about games for a week in order to heal up some of these injuries. It looks like Diaw's back might keep him out for longer than everyone thought.

I have a widow neighbor who took in a guy for "companionship". He introduced her to Indian Casino Gambling on slot machines. It's hard to believe, but she never loses. He loses sometimes though. It's funny, she never had $ problems, but now always seems short of $.

Edit: added 3-1
The Suns were ripe for plucking last night and the 76ers beat em. Somehow they need to get healthy but D'Antoni won't let them do it. His method might work for young guys but I don't like it for 30 somethings. I hope Marion's injury isn't too severe. The x-rays came back negative so they say.

[udosuk]

Well, how did you know? The Suns fell at the last hurdle... The 76ers are a bunch of talented guys with Iguodala (I still struggle to remember that name) and Andre Miller etc but surely missing Marion hurt the Suns big time... They fought gallantly though, tying the game in Q4 after being down by 14... But this time the 76ers somehow held off their offense in the last few minutes...

And it didn't surprise me to see the Rockets lost to the Raptors, as I think it takes a very good team with a great inside player to beat Bosh and Bargnani... This is surely one of the games where they need a healthy Yao to win...

An interesting piece of stats amazes me: before these 2 games, all through the season there are only 3 teams who have held a lead in every game they played: Suns, Rockets and Spurs... But in these 2 games the Suns and Rockets never led, which left the Spurs as the only team in that category...

The Rockets are undoubtedly in a bad slump (4 losses in 6 games) and the schedule gets real tough with games against the Nuggets (with a healthy AI), Spurs and Cavs ahead... I have a feeling they'll lose all 3 if Yao couldn't come back soon enough...

The Suns are also entering the tougher part of their schedule now, in a bad time with injuries racking up... Pacers & Lakers are next, and then in a week later they'll play the Rockets, Mavs and Pistons... I hope Yao would be there in Phoenix...

This might not have seemed possible to you... But not only has the Suns' chance of catching the Mavs for #1 become slimmer and slimmer, they could lose their #2 spot to the Spurs as recent history suggest the Spurs normally play their best ball in March & April... And we know how difficult it is to play the Spurs in the playoffs, especially without home court advantage...

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Yeah, the Spurs are playing well right now. Somehow, I believe the Suns match up pretty well with them when healthy. I wouldn't mind seeing the Suns end up #2. I like em better when they are slight underdogs instead of the #1 seed. Damn, I hope they all heal up for the playoffs.

[udosuk]

Tonight, both the Rockets and the Suns won against respectable opponents... For the Rockets, holding AI & Melo & co under 100 pts is always an impressive defensive effort... Mutombo had another monster game in Denver (22 boards, not bad for a 41-year old guy)... He obviously loves his old home court more than the one in Houston...

The Suns beating the Pacers without Marion is surely impressive... Next up is the Lakers, who managed to lose to the Kings at home tonight... From tonight's performance the Suns should handled them well, but I have a feeling that Kobe is gonna bounce back on Sunday for what happened in the last playoffs (he missed the first Suns-Lakers game this season)... Perhaps another 50 or 60 pts?

Shaq personally mowed down the Pistons with 31 pts & 15 rebs... Didn't think it's possible for him to play this big again but if Mutombo could grab 22 rebs it shouldn't be too surprising... If he can continue this kind of dominating performance for another year or two I'll have to take back the claim that he'll never catch Nash in the MVP tally, as well as the statement that Yao is the #1 center in the world...

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I watched a lot of the first half of the Rockets/Nuggets game last night. The Nuggets seemed out-of-sync with their offense, but I'm sure Houston's D had a lot to do with it. T-mac has really blossomed with the Rockets this season. The announcers said he had contemplated retiring before this season, but I don't think that's the case. Mutombo is really surprising me as well.

The Suns are finally playing some of their bench warmers. Pietkowski (?) played around 21 minutes last night. They tried starting Barbosa the previous game and it was a disaster. Last night they started James Jones and brought Barbosa off the bench. It seemed to work, but I wonder why? I worry about guarding Kobe tomorrow if Marion can't play? I have a feeling that Marion will play if for no other reason than to guard Kobe a little. I think he'll get 35.

Yesterday, I told a friend from Detroit that I thought the Heat would give the Pistons a good game. I didn't think they'd win it though. Payton tried to blow the game with an ill advised inbounds pass with seconds left. The Pistons had 3 shots at 3 pointers that would have tied the game.

Daisuke pitched for the first time in spring training yesterday and did ok. I didn't realize at the time that he was pitching against a college team. He really seems to have command of his pitches and has a great changeup. I thik he'll do well as long as he maintains control. He's similar to Brandon Webb in that respect.

[udosuk]

The Rockets got royally kicked by the Spurs today... I'd have to say the Mavs and the Spurs are the clear cut top 2 in the league right now...

I watch a bit of the story about Daisuke's debut, but it was just for a couple innings and he got hit with the very first ball he pitched, which is not a good sign... It remains to see how he performs against MLB batters...

Speaking of which, I just found another potential MLB pitcher from Japan, with an interesting name - Yu Darvish (his father is Iranian)...

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It's odd, but it sounded like they pronounced Daisuke's name "dice-k". I'm also having a problem with Yokosuka lol.

I think I'll try to watch some of the Sun's game today. Marion plans to play and won't talk about his hand.

[udosuk]

According to my knowledge of Japanese, "dice-k" is a pretty close pronounciation to "Daisuke"... I'm sure you'll have trouble pronouncing "Udosuke" too...

The Suns defeated the Lakers by 5, with a great clutch performance from Nash... Marion & Bell combined to hold Kobe to 31 pts, a decent defensive effort... But the Lakers were without Odom, Walton & Radmanovic, so it's still not a creditable playoff preview... But thanks to you guys the Rockets' grip on the #5 seed is a bit more secure...

As for now, I think there's a decent chance the Suns and the Lakers will play in the first round again (either as #3-#6 or #2-#7)... Perhaps it'll depend on who'll have a more healthy lineup at the time...

Added later:

Yao returned today and the Rockets still lost... Which made them 2-5 since the game Wade hurt his shoulder... Looks like the bad karma is here to stay... But the Heat are rallying impressively without Wade, so perhaps it'd turn out to be a good omen for Miami after all...

Next up for the Rockets are Celtics, Nets, Magic and then Suns... I hope they won't carry a 5-game losing streak into Phoenix... At this rate they'd be lucky if they can make the playoffs...

Since beating the Rockets last Monday, the Celtics are on a 4-game winning streak and they'll play the Rockets again on Wednesday... I think perhaps they're winning too much for their own good, if they still want more ping pong balls in the lottery...

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The Rockets got their revenge against the Celts and the Suns continue to struggle. I hope this all falls into line to begin a hot spell in the playoffs. I don't know what's up with Amare, but he'd better stop obsessing about calls he gets or doesn't get. One more technical, and he gets to rest for a game. I wonder how that will work in the playoffs?

Right now, I think Dirk has the inside track on MVP, but Maybe the Mavs would be a very good team without him playing? Kobe gets mentioned, but seems to have enemies.

[udosuk]

Kobe got suspended once again for elbowing his defender in the "follow through" of a shot... It seems the NBA officials are focusing on his actions... Much like 2 years ago when Yao was pin-pointed in the series against the Mavs where they won the first 2 game in Dallas and then lost the next 3...

I thought the automatic suspension for every 2 Ts after the 15th carries into the playoffs, but I'm not sure anymore... Perhaps it doesn't, as Rasheed got 16 Ts in regular season last year and I don't recall him getting suspended during the playoffs...

The Suns tonight escaped in OT from the great effort of Barbosa... I'm sure they'll treasure all these great escapes if they manage to hold off the Spurs and Jazz for the West #2...

The Heat's latest run is ridiculous... Wade being out is certainly a blessing for them, as all the other players don't have him to rely on and must play real hard... It's sort of the same situation as the Rockets when Yao was out...

A bit about baseball... Dice-K pitched pretty impressively against the Marlins... Did you know one of his secret-weapon pitch is the "gyroball" which is like a magical reverse slider? If you're familiar with cricket I can make an analogy using Shane Warne's "flipper" but you probably aren't...