Masters Teaching Basics

What is a blog and consequently, what is blogging then? Ask a neophyte like me and I’d answer you, “it’s an online diary” because that’s what Google gives me when I asked about its meaning.  It’s an online diary where most people  use as a form of a freedom wall, some makes it a means of sharing their knowledge to the world, and some with a touch of business makes a living out of it. CDOBloggers, Inc., a non-profit organization composed of bloggers and social media practitioners in Cagayan de Oro and Northern Mindanao recently conducted CDOBloggers Basic Blogging & Social Media Promotions last 23^rd of March 2013 held at Mbox Internet Cafe, Pabayo-Cruz Taal Street, Cagayan de Oro City. Discussed topics were: brief history of CDOBloggers, the fundamentals of blogging, and familiarity to social media sites. It was an enlightening symposium for both organizers and participants as both parties benefited from an interactive milieu. I, in fact, had my own unforgettable experience starting from a late arrival, to being caught by the camera peeping at someone else’s station, and to have a privilege of a 1-on-1 tutorial from Kuya Dingdans.

It was my Father’s birthday, Ermat’s on an official trip, and big brother is at work; being physically and mentally present on discussions is worth the gamble. Not just I learned about blogging, I also had experience a rare chance to meet and greet people who are now working for years as dedicated bloggers. When passion’s at stake, I can’t help but be obsessed with it and blogging has been giving me ecstasy as of late.

 To be a blogger was never in my ‘to reach lists’ but to be a basketball writer, columnist, pressure group spearhead, and an admirer of life, in one, is. 

Basketball was, is and will be my first love. Fallen in-love with the sport since five, Mike Breen, David Aldridge, TJ Manotoc, and Jinno Ruffino were famous personalities I grew up dreaming of becoming like them someday. Blogging, recently, offered me a fighting chance to grab and hold on to that aspiration.

Funny as it sounds but it took me an eon to choose a path to embark but as soon as I embraced it I’ve been attached to every bit of it. Got into politics in the early age of 15, it made me decide to embrace the life of a political animal. The weblog offers me freedom of speech wherein I could voice out my political opinion and participate in nation building. Being a no-nonsense political netizen is something I should be proud of and at the same time enjoying a constitutional right to a democratic state.

ART 3, Sec 4 of the 1987 constitution of the republic of the Philippines provides

“No law shall be passed abridging the freedom of speech, of expression, or of the press, or the right of the people peaceably to assemble and petition the government for redress of grievances.”

Unemployment line and credit card declined – the status quo of my barren existence – has got to end in a civilized way, the way educational institutions are mandated to eradicate such – the use of intellect.  This mantra, however, imposes a caveat that I just learned from the sound CDO bloggers president himself, Vic Marion Madriaga. Blogging as told by Sir Vic is not merely about the monetary feature it provides but on the distinct attribute it possesses for someone to be a difference maker in this life. I don’t call it coincidence when my passions are clearly aligned to blogging.  I don’t call coincidence neither when my favourite pastime is reading books, writing poems, reading newspapers and sports articles, and watching historical events. When the usual mode of sharing my ideas is only through small clique of friends; blogging offered me a chance to share it to the world, could make money out of it, and giving pride to my nation. While freezed on slumber away from the world of work, blogging could serve as a hobby, a career, or simply both. One blogger I met promotes tourism, one writes about health tips, one writes pertaining to fashion, and I would love to make a trademark of my own. Isn't it great to watch all NBA games you want, make a video analysis or a game breakdown then write a blog about it and share it to those hoop junkies while earning? Or, scrutinize candidates this fast approaching election to help others decide who should be voted and who shouldn't, still, while earning? Love for sports, love for country, love for passion, and a decent living.

“The master of art of living makes a little distinction between his work and his play, his labor and his leisure, his mind and his body, his education and his recreation, his love and religion. He simply shows his passion of excellence in whatever he does, leaving others to decide whether he is working or playing. To him, he is always doing both” – Lao Tzu. 

From the bottom of my heart, I would like to thank the CDOBloggers team for giving a valuable assistance to an inquisitive, sometimes misinterpreted as nosy, kid like me. Haha.

From the moment you accepted me as a part of your team and to the latest activity I attended with you, you guys were like a family to me. This started when fellow Taeyang stalker, ate Venus, tagged me on facebook and it ended with ate Jen Jaqs was making fun of me in twitter. She’s so mean. LOL! 

I made a collage on the valuables I received from Saturday’s event and I thank the sponsors who help made this event successful. I totally enjoyed the giveaways and more so to the food but, what I would cherish forever is the food for thought I brought home that the CDObloggers family shared to me.

Loving the lob?

First and foremost, I would like to greet belated happy birthday to Blake Griffin. Here’s my gift to the man that saved the Clippers franchise and to his avid supporters, a compilation not just all about your dunks, but, a chronological collection of your pyrotechnics that will surely be worth the watch.

Let’s not prolong the excitement to see my top ten version of ‘Blake Show’ and how he changed the basketball culture of a once feeble team. Be sure, as you scroll down, to buckle up and be ready to be on the edge of your seats.

Blake Austin Griffin, a college standout from the Oklahoma University Sooners decided to waive his two-year eligibility to play for college basketball and declared to be enlisted as a candidate for the 2009 NBA draft. Having the title of Player of the Year awarded by Sports Illustrated and FoxSports.com it’s no surprise that BG is among the favourites of that draft selection. He didn’t fail to impress the world even when the official 2009-2010 season has yet to start when he didn’t skip a beat in the pre-season games where he was awarded as the Summer League MVP. Sadly, the shades of Greg Oden was summoned when BG injured his knee cap after landing from a thunderous jam. Griffin’s season, as told by many, was over even before it begun making him underwent a surgery costing him the whole season.

 Let’s take a look at the clip:

Seriously, who injures himself after a dunk? That only proves that this man’s leaping ability is a world beyond ours. 

Since that is not recognized as an official game, that's the reason why it's not included in the list. Don't get too excited.

10.  After sitting out the whole 09-10’ season, the same season where the Lakers made it to the Finals and took home the covenant title, Blake Griffin is out there ready to shed off the dust.

For the first of so many, Griffin on his much anticipated NBA season debut against the Portland Trailblazers on their home floor scored his first bucket via alley-oop.... and the era has only just begun. 

What we didn't know is that after it, more and more alley-oops are coming. Surprising for a rookie who just had his first dose of the real season and coming from a season hiatus, Griffin tallied a double-double, 20 points and 14 rebounds respectively.

9. On the 27^th of January, 2011 Griffin stunned the sporting world by setting his personal career high in points when he bombarded the Indiana Pacers with 47 to go along with 14 rebounds. To set a career high is always expected for a number 1 draft pick, but for a rookie to do so, it’s wonderful. Griffin is the second player to have two 40+ point games during his rookie season, so, who was the first one? Guess who. My man, Allen Iverson during the 96-97 season. 

If you’re not lazy enough to finish the whole video and you already know Blake Griffin’s style of play even before reading this article for sure you would be more surprise to see that on a night to remember of BG, he only had one dunk. Nonetheless, this stellar performance is labelled an awestruck.

8. Listed by Sports Illustrated as one of the 15 greatest rookies of all time, Blake Griffin, with no surprise made it to the All-Star festivities on his first official season. Since he missed the entire 09-10 NBA season, Griffin is still considered as a rookie and being voted a rookie-allstar, BG shares a milestone of being a rookie-allstar with Shaq, Tim Duncan, and Yao Ming.  He participated in more than two events, to mention: rookies-sophomores challenge, slam dunk contest, and the All-Star game. Though his minutes were curbed on both rookies-sophomores challenge and the All-star game, it was the slam dunk contest where he took the spotlight and shined the most. 

From left to right: Griffin starting as center for the Rookie team, Griffin on a dunk attempt assisted by former team mate Baron Davis for the slam dunk contest, and Griffin posting up Pierce on the All-Star Weekend.

                            Take a look at Griffin's highlights on the 2011 all-star weekend.

       Well, it’s good to hear that Griffin went home victorious on all competitions he attended. 

7. Thus far, Griffin has three triple doubles on his resume. Two coming from his rookie season and again, the first one is the most magnificent.  On a game against the Washington Wizards dated March 23, 2011, Griffin scored 33 points while grabbing 17 rebounds and dishing out 10 assists to walk away with a ‘W.’

Later in that season, Griffin had another triple- double against Memphis Grizzlies with 31 points, 10 boards and 10 dimes. It’s amazing to note that after a season ending injury Blake Griffin manages to play all 82 games of the 2010-2011 season, credits to Francisco Matrisciano who he worked out with during his should-be first regular season.

Griffin then won the ROY (Rookie of the Year) award with a unanimous vote from sportswriters and basketball personalities when he led all rookies in points, rebounds, and double-doubles. He shares the same title with David Robinson for claiming unanimous nods. Griffin was also unanimously selected for the All-Rookie first team.

Now, from here on you’ll get to see significant close encounters with Blake that sparked a craze in a viral manner. Most of it probably you have already seen before but let’s take another look at Blake Show’s mid-air highlights.

6. After signing a contract extension for the Los Angeles Clippers with a reported 95 million US dollars for another 5 exciting years and then signing New Orleans Hornets All-Star guard and Olympic Medallist Chris Paul, the lone bright spot for the miserable Clippers now has a sidekick that could draw plays fit for him. CP3 known for his adeptness in Pick-n-rolls and possessing a vigilant vision on the floor, Griffin just found the best partner for him as they mould their way to revive the Showtime Lakers in a more highflying edition called Lob City.

On the 4^th of April 2012, glad I saw it in action. Prior to this, many have already fallen to the hands of the Lob city. Whether they’re taking a nap on fast break or just simply being so unfortunate for being posterized by Griffin. Pau Gasol, the 7 foot Spaniard had, not just one but two, daily dose of the Blake Show. Take a look:

                                    Oh my god! The look on Gasol’s face is just epic. LOL!

“Blake Griffin explodes on Gasol,” the commentator exclaimed. Explosion might be an understatement but try to pause the video at 0:26-0:28 and you’d see Andrew Bynum’s sarcastic smile tells it all.

Poor Gasol.

5. On the 10^th of November 2012, the day Griffin headlined Sporstcenter again. A spin and slam against Italian forward Danilo Gallinari and a Dwight Howard like dunk over the Russian Timofey Muzgov.

 Gallo made himself wished that he’d rather be posing for Armani than being part of one of Griffin’s poster on this. 

                                 Even Amar’e himself gives him a nod for a dunk unlike any other.

4. Okay, this one’s more resounding than those presented above. Oh my bad, forgot that is Blake Griffin’s highlight reel. Forgot that the each play he does is expected to be more spectacular than the last. He’s done with the taller but softer Gasol and on the 30^th of January last year he decided to test someone though smaller but incredibly way tougher than Gasol, Kendrick Perkins. This happened when Perk tried to help over a defensive breakdown but was late on a rotation and then he got viciously dunked over by BG. Griffin who was born and raised on Oklahoma city and played his amateur hoops on the same city probably showed the people from Oklahoma what they’ve been used to see.

Good thing Sports Science is here to explain to us that horrifying dunk with the help of Physics.

“It happens ... If you’re a shot blocker, you’re going to get dunked on. It was a great play that he made. Obviously I wish I wasn’t in it, but it was a great play that he made,” explains Kendrick Perkins who has been the talk in corners of the globe for almost two months. “I wish I wasn’t in it?” I agree with you Perk! (Laughing boisterously)

  “It’s the timing of the play, it’s the timing of when I got the pass, and also the late rotation,” Griffin said. “If all that comes together at the right time, then those things happen. It’s not like I caught the ball and thought ‘okay, let’s go make something happen.’ It just came together.”

Gasol weighs 250 pounds while Perkins that he just dunked over, weighs 20 lbs heavier. Griffin is 251 lbs and to have a mid-air collision with Perkins’ monstrous body and still finishing it with style is absolutely nuts.

Did you know that out of dismay because of the fact that he got dunked on by Griffin and a 10 second action got 2 million views in youtube in less than a week Perkins breaks his silence and hits on a fellow NBA player for getting involved in the social media talk about that incident? I don’t know why he chose to retaliate on just one in particular despite the fact that many were tweeting about it. And the not so lucky player is, Lebron James. It was when Lebron tweeted on his tweeter account this:

 “Dunk of the Year! @blakegriffin just dunked on Kendrick Perkins so hard!!! Wow! I guess I’m No. 2 now. Move over #6.” James was referring to his alley-oop dunk he threw down after jumping over Chicago Bulls guard John Lucas III a day earlier.

The irked big man then responded with:

“You don’t see Kobe [Bryant] tweeting “You don’t see Michael Jordan tweeting. If you’re an elite player, plays like that don’t excite you. At the end of the day, the guys who are playing for the right reasons who are trying to win championships are not worrying about one play. They are also not tweeting about themselves talking about going down to No. 2. I just feel [James] is always looking for attention and he wants the world to like him,” tells the furious Perkins. 

3. First playoff appearance. After escaping a crucible against the Memphis Grizzlies in the first round, they were bound to face the San Antonio Spurs on the second round. Though Griffin played a well rounded game, the Spurs swept the series leaving the young Griffin’s promising season done and dusted. Despite a heart-breaking loss, his stats were great for a considered sophomore in the league.

Credits to NBA.com

2. Bleals (block and steal) DWill. It is not surprising for a man who jumps so high not to block shots as exciting as the way he does it when he dunks. Earlier this season, on a road game, Brooklyn Nets guard Deron Williams attempts to stuff the ball to the rim. We rarely see DWill driving down the rack and more so, seeing him dunking it on the ring. Well, BG decides to convince him not to do it rarely but doing it never. After he blows past Chris Paul, he attempts to dunk it and fails. Sorry my friend Kyle Juztine and my club mate on 5am ballers club, Jose Rey, for this.

1. “Who says basketball and circus can’t co-exist?” That’s what I said when I saw the highlight on NBA.com and shared it on my twitter account immediately. This is Blake Show’s latest display of magic as of this writing. Some would say, it’s not about the dunk but how the pass was done, for me the whole sequence made by a mixture of presence of mind and brute force makes it a top contender for this season’s top plays.

You know what’s good about Blake Griffin and his dunks? The fact that every dunk he makes, he donates 100 US dollars to a charity called Dunking for Dollars. His benevolence has helped cancer patients and people fighting for obesity. Heart pounding isn’t it? Isn’t it beautiful to have a win-win situation for both basketball thrill seekers and charities for every dunk Griffin makes? So next time, if you’re worried that you’re favourite big man or your team might be dunked on by Griffin, just think of the kids and patients he could help for every dunk he throws. Not kidding.

Griffin with his skills on his position on the floor truly is remarkable and I can’t help but compare him to those who have come before. Shawn Kemp of the Seattle Supersonics, an NBA all-star and Olympic medallist, Amar’e Stoudamire and Kenyon Martin, who now both play for the New York Knicks. If you’ve seen then on their prime, Blake Griffin’s style play isn’t far identical. No matter how they try to learn to add more arsenal on their game, the open court is where they thrive better; cutting down the lane, running up and down, dunk after dunk, and making a living in the paint. I hope the basketball gods won’t allow the same fate to Griffin, I mean just being an icon to remember and not a champion. Not just slam dunk champion, not just a highlight factory, or just an all-star showcase but an NBA champion. Sad to say, the style of basketball Blake plays hasn’t found a ring in the league. Kenyon Martin boldly told slamonline.com that the Clippers style of basketball isn’t conducive for playoff type of games. “You can’t do it in the playoffs, so it don’t matter,” he said. “In the regular season it’s all up and down, man. We know the way the game goes in the regular season.” I do agree with K-Mart on that, however, things are way too early to judge what Blake Griffin could achieve especially if his knees could go much further.

Former NBA Player Makes his own version of March Madness

Dennis Rodman, Bill Laimbeer, Charles Barkley, Metta World Peace (formerly Ron Artest), Chris Childs, Bruce Bowen, and Carmelo Anthony, they all had one thing in common – trouble makers. Names mentioned above were renowned bad asses in the hard court that fans of the opposing teams would show disgust to them even by their mere presence alone.

Who would forget Rodman’s dirty plays on Karl Malone during their 2 finals matches? It is also important to note that prior to the Jazz-Bulls rivalry way back the Jordan era Rodman has already earned the moniker “the worm” for his dirty plays on the court. Rodman’s teammate, Bill Laimbeer, who he calls a thug in his book AS BAD AS I WANNA BE, was also involved to a lot of fights throughout his NBA career. Only few sane men would dare to ask for a fight against Shaquille O’neal who weighs more than 300 pounds and standing as tall as 7 feet, Charles Barkley was one of them. Metta World Peace, or forever remembered as the Ron Artest of the unforgettable ‘brawl at the Palace’, would probably be the most hated player ever to play in the NBA. Chris Childs, the dirty guard who punched Kobe in the face. Steve Nash’s best friend, Bruce Bowen, whose jersey got retired and hanging from the rafters despite not having exemplary numbers on his stat sheets but because of his lockdown causing dirty defense. The man who choked Maria Sharapova’s ex-boyfriend Sasha Vujacic and the same man who gave a jaw crushing right punch to Mardy Collins and then run away – Carmelo Anthony, who turns out to be my current my idol of the sport. They were known for initiating troubles, capable of inflicting excruciating injuries, and frustrating their defensive assignments but never did they attempt to annihilate the composure of people who are on the same jersey with them.

Well, Renaldo Balkman, a forward of the Puerto Rican national team uncharacteristically displayed a demeanour that gave itch to everyone that saw the game between Petron Blaze Booster and Alaska Aces.

“It was in the heat of the moment, I was frustrated, I hate myself for what I did. Everybody sees me as a bad person. But, that’s not me, that’s not me.” [...]

“I am a professional, I am not supposed to do that. I already apologized to Arwind (Santos), his family and my teammates, including our bosses."

 “Everybody does something once in a life, they’re not supposed to do. At the time I blanked out and went at it.”

 “It’s my first time ever in my entire life to do that."

Renaldo Balkman’s statement after the incident.  Really?

               

Even NBA’s notorious animal Latrell Sprewell who has reports of anger management issues has a very logical explanation for causing him to do such unrealistic acts. On December of 97’, Latrell Sprewell choked Warriors coach P.J Carlesimo, current interim coach of Brooklyn Nets, the submission took 10-15 seconds before other players could pacify the situation,  Sprewell then  returned to the court about 20 minutes later and punched Carlesimo, landing a glancing blow before  being dragged away.

"There was just a buildup of anger and frustration and having it all bottled up and not being able to express myself. At that point, it just came to a head," says Latrell Sprewell on ESPN Classic's SportsCentury series pertaining to the choke incident.

Spree was also reported to have fought team mates years before his assault to a defenceless coach, he was reported to have fought Byron Houston and Jerome Kersey, the former was said to have a Mike Tyson like demeanour and physique while the latter made him brought a two-by-four lumber and threatening him with a gun.

The choke incident ensued during a practice game because of instructions from coach Carlesimo to Spree to make crisper passes and the hot headed Sprewell warned the coach that wasn’t in the mood for criticism. When Carlesimo, as what most coaches do and to whoever is in-charge of an organization, approached Spree and the rest is history.

Oh, I remembered I mentioned logical explanation. I’m taking it back. Tim Duncan of the San Antonio Spur is an absolute cool head on the hard court but in rare cases he also losses his composure. Same with Roger Federer from a not-so-relative-sport, tennis, was also seen to show anger towards officials. Even people outside the reigns of the sporting world would lose their temper but hitting almost everyone on their sight is totally unusual.

Renaldo Balkman, who was released by the New York Knicks on  February 17, 2012 to make way for the acquisition of spitfire guard J.R. Smith, is a benchwarmer in the NBA. I’ve also seen him on FIBA America playing alongside J.J Barea and Carlos Arroyo of Puerto Rico, he still sucks. It was a blessing for him to play overseas and averaging surprising numbers and also earning. Though I condemn fights in and out the basketball court whoever is involved, it was Balkman’s loss of discretion I hate the most. This has not just tapped the frontiers of human behaviour dealing with frustrations but also racism. Seeing this incident made me believe that western people, excuse to those who are not, see us inferior to their race, still.

He (Balkman) may have lost his cool, same with Sprewell, to all basketball bad boys, and including me but, would it excuse an individual to exhibit full disrespect? Hell no! Listed below are Spree and Balkman-manil’s differences and similarities based on my quick research:

• Both Spree and Balkman played with the Knicks in their NBA venture; don’t pull out a joke. Okay? (laugh)
• They’re both on dreadlocks (Spree at one point of his career)
• Spree is a scorer and a terrific player. Balkman? You say it.
• Too bad all of Spree’s meltdowns were never caught on tape. I just wish Discovery Channel’s ‘Lost Tapes’ would show one someday.

We all hate fights in sports we love, not unless if you love MMA or boxing. Even to contact sports if the brawls are not on the timing and places.To mention UFC’s Tank Abottt, when had a fight outsided the octagon, the Morales-Barrera weigh in, and more. We also hate outbursts of emotions discharged to the wrong people. And today, I already hate Renaldo Balkman who is now labelled as “Balkman-manakal” (mananakal).

Miami Heat: Love me or Hate me

Let me start up by informing you that the Miami Heat just signed veteran Juwan Howard for a 10-day contract and if only Taj Gibson of the Bulls wasn’t sidelined due to a sprained left knee, on my opinion, Heat wouldn’t have stopped courting the veteran role player Lou Amundson to join their roster too. Prior to the acquisition of Chris “the birdman” Andersen, Heat were keeping an eye to Greg Oden’s rehabilitation and planning to sign him. Haven’t heard any update of that since rumors have spread out that Oden is already considering signing with Cleveland Cavaliers as soon as he is good to go, but I doubt Miami would quit that easy. Just recently, on the 8^th of February to be exact, Heat bolstered their already good defensive line up by acquiring former Nuggets center Chris Andersen. Dating back to 11^th of July 2012 Heat signed two elite shooters Ray Allen (yes! the greatest shooter of all time) and Rashard Lewis just few days after they won a championship. Admittedly, those were indeed blockbuster roster transactions that most small marketing teams would wish to have. But the mega move was two seasons ago when the ‘Super Big Three’ of Miami was formed surpassing Boston’s own version of aging trio. Love me or hate me but I always favour underdogs and Miami’s all star superstar casts really irritates me. They’re like two standard bearer teams fused in one, they could kill you in all sorts of way and they have no plan of stopping collecting more and more great names in the league. I’m always reminded of a horror movie, forgot the title anyway, wherein someone has to choose how he is going to die - suffocation or death by stabbing – every time the Heat relentlessly plays on a roll. Suffocation by their stifling defense, or could be, the thing that they usually love doing, making smooth plays consistently down the stretch and.... dagger!

Why is the Heat so good these days? Why can Lebron and Wade afford to seat on the bench for a long time while Durant, Kobe, and everyone else is still on the floor trailing by double digits? (Except New York) Yeah I know; the depth of the bench! And you would probably ask why they could have big time players on their bench while the Charlotte Bobcats could hardly own a reliable player to put a smile on their fans, if they have, and probably saving Michael’s Jordan reputation for god’s sake. This directs me back to one of my hated subjects in college – management class. From the start of the Millennium up to date, teams who were big spenders of their money and teams that are willing to pay the luxury tax regardless of what type of market they belong are the teams that are always seen contending for the trophy. Give credits to Pat Riley for doing that to Miami. You lure people with cash no matter how your expenditures  destabilizes your balance sheet because eventually those people you’re paying will bring home the covenant title which is the summit of every basketball players/teams dream. The 5 M’s of management I suppose could expound my claim. Just think of you unlearning the things you knew about basketball when the business side sets in same as boxing nowadays. I am beginning to hate Marquez now on demanding bigger purse than their last bout with Pacman.

As of this writing, two Heat players are in the top 10 candidates of MVP talk, Lebron James and Dwayne Wade respectively, the former obviously on the top the food chain. The partners in crime have always staged the court with their outstanding connection on both ends of the floor. The two were undeniably good but on their duo it also undeniable that Lebron’s the Batman and DWade’s just the Robin. Lebron on his stellar season is currently enjoying a 13-game winning streak after escaping a crucible against Memphis last night. They are bound to face the team that beat them twice this season this Monday (Philippine time), the New York Knicks. It is not possible though that they could just cruise their way over the Knicks and continue the streak but,  Lebron on his last game against Memphis could serve as a useful tool not just for the Knicks but for teams looking for answers on how to defend him. For the first three quarters, he only had 4 points. Don’t believe it? See it for yourself. The Grizzlies, via team effort, turned him into a facilitator rather than a scorer. Here’s how it goes: They clogged the driving lane and forced him pass the ball to someone rather him taking a shot. It’s not as effective though but in the long run, it actually does. When LBJ is scorching hot on the scoreboard, it’s not a guarantee that he won’t pass the ball to someone capable of draining a jumper that is left unguarded. He has learned his lesson being a one man show way back his playing days on Cleveland. When you don’t give LBJ a room to score, swarming him and making him more of a passer then you could live with that. LBJ on a scorer mode destroys your defense, puts you big men in foul trouble, disorients your teams’ morale, converts your best player into a defender, and etc... While LBJ on a passing mode gets his teammates involved and making them the scorer now. Now think of this, him on a scorer mode could be 60% on field goals while dishing out assists still; him on a passer mode could dish out assists but could be out there ‘cold.’  

Michael Jordan said this to Wright Thompson of Espn on defending Lebron:

“So if I have to guard him... I’m gonna push him left so nine times out of 10, he’s gonna shoot a jump shot. If he goes right, he’s going to the hole and I can’t stop him. Son I ain’t letting him go right.” 

Hmm... Interesting.

 That's what Kobe did last All-Star game but let's not dwell too much on that. Lebron's not a douche to commit scouted mistakes over again.

Last night when they host Memphis, the leading candidate for MVP played more of a human being and not to what usually does when he shot an awful 4 for 14 on the field yet still escaping with a win, snapping an eight game winning streak of Memphis by delivering 18 points, 10 assists, and 8 rebounds. Bad night yet close a triple double, right? Sigh! This man is really hard to stop. You will always have a choice, and it is either to allow him to get his scoring average by being too watchful to midrange/long range bombers that might receive the ball from LBJ if he’s doubled or contain him below his scoring average and letting others take the spotlight. Whatever you choose, it’s like choosing the way you want to die like the movie I mentioned – suffocation or death by stabbing. For so many incredible games I’ve seen and incredible players too, when you put them out of their comfort zone consistently, you would most likely escape with a victory.

What Memphis has done to limit him, if it’s that what you call it and his Airness’ comments about defending LBJ is easier said than done pragmatically. He is not labelled as the best player in the universe for no reason. Whether you push him left or push him right, he will answer those critiques like a punch in the mouth like the way he did last NBA finals when he was accused of not living up to his game during games when it matters most. Have you heard of a player who significantly increased his shooting percentage every season?

How about a player who in his last three seasons with the Miami Heat dramatically decreased his turnovers per game?

Wow!! Increasing his field goal percentage and at the same time taking good care of the ball. He really is a basketball God that even Lakers legend Magic Johnson appealed to him to join that the slam dunk competition because if he would, Magic would multiply the prize by 10 for the winner. That concludes it - size, athletic ability, talent, and eagerness to be better.

And when worse would  go even worst, I mean when Batman is held up by the Joker, Robin will always be there to the rescue. Just like how he poured 22 points, 4 rebounds, 8 assists, and 1 block against Memphis when Batman was struggling. Ray Allen's 10 points, Shane Battier's 14 , and Chris Bosh's 13  to add the list of heroes; could Erik Spoelstra's finishing line-up be the new Avengers?