The Greatest to Ever Play the Gam

There is much debate about the best basketball player ever. Some people say Julius "Dr. J" Erving. Others say Magic Johnson. I think the best to ever be in the NBA is none other than Michael Jordan. He won 6 NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls. He won 5 NBA MVP awards and 6 NBA Finals MVP awards. He won Rookie of the Year in the 1984-1985 season and was named to the All-NBA first team 10 times in his career. The awards are countless but those aren't the only things that made him great. He was always the leader on his team. Everyone counted on him and looked up to him. Michael Jordan was the most dominant player in the game. He showed class and poise that nobody else had. He is and always be my favorite player.

Here are some highlights:
Top 10 Amazing Layups


Top 10 Dunks


We all know that Michael Jordan was the best player to play in the NBA. But the title of the post is the "The Greatest to Every Play the Game." That title goes to a guy who demonstrates greatness in every aspect of the game. A deadly 3 point shooter, quick movement with the ball, amazing post savvy and a high basketball IQ. This guy should be in the NBA but he thinks an education is a lot more important. Especially from an English Professor named Professor Farley. The Greatest to Ever Play the Game of basketball is none other than the Great One, the Pride of the Philippines, Tropic Thunder, the Unstoppable, the Unbeatable, the one and only Virgil "Virgilicious" Quijano.
Yes I said it, I am the greatest to ever play the game. Despite my husky and short stature I am still an amazing basketball player. I can shoot a 3 in your face or take you to the hole. I can post you up or I can cross you up. You name it I can do it (Except dunk and play defense). But who plays defense nowadays? Defense is overrated. I'm a lefty and I am unstoppable. Come test me. If you don't believe it, I lay down a challenge to anyone who is 5'9 or shorter, can't jump too high, not that good on defense, and is slow. So if you meet these characteristics come see me and we'll put my title to the test.

I Challenge You!

The Physical Aspect

One thing that angers me the most is when non-basketball players say that basketball isn't a "physical sport." Some people say, "Why don't you go play hockey or football, those are real sports." This post is for all those people that say that there is no physicality in basketball. This should shut up all the critics and cynics. I would recommend watching the second video without sound because the song is very vulgar.

Top 10 NBA Fights


Really Big Fights


I understand that some people say that these fights are a disgrace to the NBA but its just an aspect of basketball. People only fight because they take the game so seriously and they are very competitive. Nobody in the NBA just fights to fight. In the NHL (National Hockey League) people know that there will be fights so it isn't as exciting an NBA fight. NBA fights occur in the heat of a battle. In basketball physical play is always rewarded but there are boundaries. Even I get into fights when I play. I love getting in my opponents head. I love to play angry because it causes me to want to win that much more. Fights in basketball usually bring out the best in teams because it fires them up and causes them to try harder. Basketball is a physical and mental game, and fights incorporate both. Fights usually end up uniting a team because everyone looks out for their teammates. I've been involved in many fights in my basketball career and I love when it happens.

Where Isiah Thomas Happens

The New York Knicks new President of Basketball Operations, Donny Walsh, finally did what everyone in New York wanted to. He fired coach Isiah Thomas. Isiah Thomas who at first was President of Basketball Operations before becoming coach held both positions at one point. He was relieved of his President position earlier in the season and was finally fired.
As coach, the Knicks were unable to make the playoffs. As president, the Knicks received lack-luster players while losing many prospects. Thomas cost the Knicks millions of dollars on players who either are injured, no longer play for the Knicks, or are worth only hundreds. He was like a plague to the organization. A video was made showing all the bad things he had done to the New York Knicks organization.



It was only a matter of time before he was let go. I went to a game last November and he was already getting booed and heard the fans chanting "Fire Isiah!" I felt the same way. He single handedly destroyed the Knicks. Now we have to rebuild when we could have been strong by now. I hope that whoever takes over makes the right decisions and leads the Knicks back to greatness. New President Donny Walsh is already adored by many fans including me for doing the greatest thing to ever happen to the organization in years, firing Isiah Thomas.

It's the Shoes

Kobe Bryant had new shoes come out last month. In order to get people to buy them look what he did.



I think this was a good way to advertise the shoes because many kids are amazed by things like this. It is a very funny commercial because his team-mate who is also in the video (Ronny Turiaf) is very skeptical. He doesn't want him to do the stunt. But after Kobe Bryant successfully completes the stunt he goes crazy and celebrates with his team-mate. I don't think that the car is real but Kobe swears he really did it and did not use any special effects. I think it's possible for him to do it but I'm not sure if he would really risk injury especially during the season when he knows that he is the bet player on his team.
He said "Don't try this at home!" but if I buy these shoes I will. If I don't return to St. John's University next semester you will know why.

NBA Playoff Commercials

The NBA has made a series of commercials about the playoffs. This is the first year that they've done something like this and I think that these commercials capture what the playoffs are all about. Each player has the same feeling of wanting to win and doing whatever they can to do it. These commercials also show that even though all they do is play basketball, it's still a job as well as a passion. Each player wants to do what is necessary to lead their teams to victory.

Dwight Howard (Orlando Magic) & Chris Paul (New Orleans Hornets)


Kobe Bryant (LA Lakers) & Shaquille O'Neal (Phoenix Suns)


Lebron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) & Kevin Garnett (Boston Celtics)


Steve Nash (Phoenix Suns) & Jason Kidd (Dallas Mavericks)


All of these commercials are very entertaining and build up a lot of excitement for the games.

2008 NBA Playoffs

It's that time of year. 16 teams, 8 from the West and 8 from the East. All vying for one thing. The NBA Championship. Every team has the motto "Win or Go Home!" This is where stars are born. It doesn't matter what place you were in the regular season because in the play-offs the slate is clean. Until after your first play-off game your 0-0. This is where everyone has to dig in and everyone has the chance to be the hero.
The 8 teams from the West (in order from 1st seed to 8th seed) are the LA Lakers, New Orleans Hornets, San Antonio Spurs, Houston Rockets, Utah Jazz, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, and the Denver Nuggets (who I completely hate). As of right now, the Lakers have a 2 games to none lead, New Orleans is up 2-1, San Antonio is up 3-0, and Houston is down 2-1. The first seed plays the 8th seed, the 2nd plays the 7th, etc. Each series is a best of 7. I'm kind of upset at how things are coming. I dislike the San Antonio Spurs because they are a boring team to watch while Phoenix is very entertaining. I can't believe that the Suns are losing 3-0. This basically puts an end to their season because history shows that no team in the NBA has ever come back from a 3-0 deficit to win. I'm also upset with the Houston Rockets, I know that they are only down by 1 game, but there is no way that they are going to win. Tracy McGrady, of the Rockets, hasn't made it out of the first round of playoffs in 8 years. I hope the Lakers go on to win because I would not want San Antonio to repeat.
The 8 teams from the East (in order from 1st seed to 8th seed) are the Boston Celtics, Detroit Pistons, Orlando Magic, Cleveland Cavaliers, Washington Wizards (I hate them also), Toronto Raptors, Philadelphia 76ers, and the Atlanta Hawks. I'm fairly content with the way things are going in the East. Boston is leading their series, Orlando is leading theirs, the Cavaliers are winning, and shockingly enough the 76ers are winning. I'm not a big fan of the Pistons so I wouldn't mind seeing them as a number 2 seed falter and lose in the first round. The Atlanta Hawks somehow made it to the play-offs. It was their first time in 10 seasons. Aside from the top 4 teams in the East, the rest of the conference is very weak and have no chance at winning the championship. Whereas, any of the top 7 teams in the West can win it.
I hope that the Lakers and the Celtics make it to the Finals and play each other just like in the 80's. Most people say it is possible because they are both the number 1 seeds and both have very strong teams. I would also like to tell you why my font colors have changed. They are the colors of some of the teams in the play-offs. Purple and yellow are the Lakers, Green are the Celtics and Blue, White and Black are the Magic. I can't wait until June to see who is in the Finals.

It Never Happened!

In the 1993 Eastern Conference Finals, my two favorite teams squared off. The Chicago Bulls against the New York Knicks. Nobody could ask for a more exciting and more entertaining matchup. In game 2, John Starks of the Knicks did one thing (that I don't even think was that good) that made him look like he was great. After he pulled off this move people called it "The Dunk." Most Knicks fans loved it because he "supposedly" dunked on Michael Jordan. But if you look at the clip, that clearly doesn't happen. So I want you to first watch the clip...



Now that you have seen it, it is blatantly obvious that he did not dunk on Michael Jordan but indeed did dunk on Horace Grant. Michael Jordan came into the picture after the ball had already been in the basket. So, why is this dunk so special? Does it really deserve its own name? Michael Jordan has thousands of dunks like that. Yet, John Starks has one and automatically becomes a legend. Perhaps the use of the word legend is too much. The name John Starks isn't as known as Michael Jordan. John Starks had his one moment in time. He isn't even going to be a hall-of-famer. Nobody cares about him anymore. I clearly don't and I never did. It just angers me that people think he is great for something he didn't even really do.
If someone were to ask me, "Man, did you see that dunk that Starks had on Jordan?" I would respond by saying, "No, because he never did."

Pick-Up Games

Once again, my friends and I played some ball. For some reason I wasn't really in the mood. There were about 8 of us and only 2 kids really wanted to play. My friends Nick and Jojo were the only two that were playing serious. We played a 4 on 4 and they were on opposite teams. As they battled it out like Ancient Spartan Warriors the rest of us just stood around as spectators. It was really funny to see how hard they were trying while the rest of us didn't. Eventually we all sat down while they kept on playing. After one guy scored, the other would retaliate. The score at one point was 50 to 50. After a while we all wanted to play again. But the two would not let us back on the court. So we decided to just stand and interfere with their game. They eventually got fed up and we played again. This time we were the ones energetic and eager to play while the two of them were sluggish and tired.
After a while we all decided to play serious but the only way to do that was to make a wager. So. we all made a deal that the losing team would have to buy the winning team drinks as well get punched by each member of the winning team. It was once again a hard-fought battle. Like the 2000 election the game was very close. My team consisted of both Nick and Jojo as well as Steve McCann. The other team was a lot weaker. They had Sal Linea, Pizza Man Chris Doro, Luca Panarelli, and this kid Jed. We thought we were going to slaughter this crew of flunkies but they kept it close. The score was 20-14 in favor of the flunkies. They only needed one more point. We had to dig deep to win. We eventually tied it up. In that 6-0 run I scored once, Nick scored twice, Jojo scored twice and Steve scored once. Now that it was tied 20-20 the winner had to win by 2. The other team scored then we scored. We would eventually be the victors with the final score of 24-22. The other team bragged about how they almost beat us with a much weaker squad. But the only reason it was so close was because we gave them 19 points. The game started with the score 19-0 and we still won. So in reality we won 24-3 because Sal Linea is one of the worst basketball players in the world. Seriously. Read the 2008 Guinness Book of World Records. He's under the second worst basketball player in the world.

Grab Some Popcorn

There are many movies made about basketball. To me, basketball films are the best of any sports films because the action scenes are a lot more entertaining. The game scenes are more realistic than that of other sports. It is a lot easier to make basketball look real as opposed to football or baseball. Basketball movies are more fast-paced and usually have better story lines. I have watched tons of basketball movies since I was a little kid.
Here is a list of my Top 10 favorite basketball movies:
1. Space Jam- This is number 1 because my favorite basketball player ever is in it. Michael Jordan comes out of retirement and teams up with the Looney Tunes to play in the biggest "Intergalactic Game" ever. Cameos by Bill Murray, Larry Bird and other NBA greats like Patrick Ewing and Charles Barkley make this movie amazing.
2- He Got Game- Starring NBA all-star Ray Allen and Academy Award Winner Denzel Washington. This movie is more for a mature audience because of some of its scenes.
3- The Air Up There- A comedy. A college coach (Kevin Bacon) travels to Africa to recruit a prince of a tribe to play basketball in America.
4- Above the Rim- This is the movie where I got the title of my blog from. This is a drama that is more suited for an older audience.
5- White Men Can't Jump- I loved this movie. Woody Harrelson and Wesley Snipes are two on two streetball team-mates and make loads of money hustling other ballers.
6- Coach Carter- Another drama starring Samuel L. Jackson. Based on a true story. Shows the hardships that a team goes through in California but eventually succeed and make it to college.
7- Love & Basketball- Childhood sweethearts go through life playing basketball at the same high school, college, and eventually both make it to the pros.
8- Blue Chips- Shaquille O'Neal and Penny Hardaway both star in the movie. At the time, they were one the NBA's dynamic duo. They get recruited to play at a college but they are swayed to go there illegally.
9- The 6th Man- Two brothers play on the same college team. After an accident kills one, he comes back as a ghost to help his old team win the NCAA championship.
10- Semi-Pro- Just came out 2 months ago but it was pretty funny. I liked it a lot because Will Ferrell was in it and it wasn't a typical basketball movie.

Honorable Mention:
Eddie, Hoosiers, Hoop Dreams, "O"

It's April Now

Not only does April signify the beginning of many rainy days, but it also means the end of "March Madness." The NCAA Championship tournament crowned its new champion and the college season if officially over. I filled out my brackets back on March 3rd and boy did I do bad. I had Stanford winning but that was a long-shot. This years tournament had a lot of upsets and some teams either surpassed their potential or totally blew it.

Davidson, a number 10 seed, was an under-dog through its whole tournament run. They were dubbed the "Cinderella" team this year. First they beat number 7 Gonzaga, then number 2 Georgetown, then they beat number 3 Wisconsin making it to the Elite Eight. There they would meet number 1 seeded Kansas where they would lose by 2 points.

History was made in this years tournament. For the first time ever, all four number 1 seeds from each region made the Final Four. North Carolina, Kansas, UCLA, and Memphis dominated their respective regions. Both games were supposed to be very good and close but that wasn't the case. The first semi-final pitted UCLA against Memphis. Memphis won by a considerable margin by using their speed and high-flying abilities. The second game was almost the same. Kansas built up a 28 point lead but North Carolina fought back to cut it to 8. Kansas would eventually regroup and would win the game by 16.

The championship was between Memphis and Kansas. Nobody knew who was going to win but a national poll showed 58% of America thought that Memphis would win. The game was close throughout. Memphis had a 9 point lead with 1:24 seconds left but that lead would relinquish to 3 with just 8 seconds left. Memphis could not hit a free throw which gave Kansas a chance to tie the game. And of course they did. In overtime Kansas dominated the game and would eventually win. I was pretty upset but there was nothing I could do obviously.

This years tournament was one of my favorite tournaments ever because I knew three guys playing in it. I used to play against them in leagues throughout Staten Island when I was younger. Steven Rossiter of Davidson used to play for Farrell in high school and his brother Ryan who played for Sienna also went to Farrell. The biggest star in college to come from Staten Island is Kyle McClarney from Notre Dame. He actually lives around the block from me and went to Moore Catholic High School. They will all be playing again next year and I cannot wait to see them play. Only 6 more months until the season starts up again.

Kansas University Jayhawks 2008 NCAA National Champions

I Like Turtles

This blog entry has nothing to do with basketball but I felt the need to write this blog. The blog is my reaction to this video:



At first I found this amazingly funny. I could not stop laughing at what this kid said and the way the reporter reacted after he answered her question. "I Like Turtles" was his response to her question and I found it really funny. And then after watching the video over and over I started to get aggravated. I was really pissed off at how dumb this kid was. If you look closely it looks like he smirks so maybe he was just being a wise guy bit I doubt it. He's from Portland and it looks like he was born and raised in a trailer. I'm sorry if I offended anyone. I understand that he is a little kid and maybe he was nervous but that makes no excuse to say "I like turtles." First off she asked about his face paint and he said he likes turtles. What the heck???? Honestly how dumb can a kid be. I'm gonna guess that maybe he's 5-8 years old. When I was that age I was able to understand what people were asking me and I was able to give a normal human-being response to them. Also, when I was that age I was able to pronounce the word "Turtle." If that was my kid I would've disowned him for embarrassing himself as well as me. Did you see the way the reporter reacted? She had no idea what to say. She was probably thinking, "Wow, what a stupid kid, we couldn't interview a kid who knew how to speak and knew how to respond like a normal person? This is horrible. If this was my kid I'd kill myself. Wow I feel bad for his parents"
This video shows the importance of going to school. I believe that kids should start going to school at the age of 2 so that this doesn't happen again. If I see another video of a kid who doesn't know how to get interviewed I am going to be very mad. I felt the need to vent. Thank you for listening.

Friday Ballin'

After class on Friday, Lou Musto and I played basketball in the gym at school with a few of my friends. We played with two of your other students, Steve McCann and Luca Panarelli. First off, Lou Musto sucks. Well he doesn't suck, but he is too strong. At first, he couldn't make a layup because he would shoot the ball too hard. I guess that's a good thing in life, but not on the basketball court. So we played a 5 on 5 game at first. Me and Luca were opposing captains. My team was Me, Lou Musto, My friend Dave the Jew aka "Sherman", my friend Nick Curran, and my friend Drew. Luca's team was Luca, Semi-Pro Joe Ruopoli, Steve "Blake" McCann, this kid Joe, and some weird kid who really really really sucked. After the first three or four points most of us stopped trying. So we decided to fool around and unfortunately that made me look bad. I was on a fast break and I decided to do a Karl Malone pose while going up for a layup and Luca blocked me. Before we started playing, everyone kept telling me that they wanted to be included in my blog and I said that they have to do something memorable and luckily for Luca that was memorable. We stopped playing full court and played 4 on 4 halfcourt. My team ended up being Me, Nick, Steve McCann, and my friend Dave. We played against Luca, Drew, Semi-Pro, and Lou Musto. We easily beat them and I finally got into my groove. Our team was well-rounded. With the inside presence of Nick, the outside shooting of Steve, the jumping of Sherman, and the greatness of me, we were unbeatable. We won the first game and played a second. We were winning 15-2 and then began to fool around again. We ended up winning 21- 16 but it could've been 21-2 if we really wanted. It was fun playing and hopefully we will play more often.

MARCH MADNESS

It's that time of year once again. The time where basketball is on for the whole month of March. The time where I wish I didn't go to St. John's because our basketball team sucks and couldn't even make the Big East tournament. But it's ok because we do play in the Big East which is one of the most competitive conferences in the NCAA unlike Rider College who plays in the "WACK" MAAC. But anyway, it is NCAA tournament time. The time where 64 colleges get the chance to play for the right to be the best college in America.
Today is "Selection Sunday" Selection Sunday is when a committee comes together and picks the best 64 teams and seeds them according to their records, strength of schedule, and other aspects. Teams vie for bids in conference tournaments. Each Division I conference is guaranteed one representative in the NCAA Tournament. So even weak conferences like the Ivy League, NEC, or the "wack" MAAC have one team in the tournament. But other conferences like the Big East, ACC, and the Big 12 have multiple bids for the tournament. The tournament is divided into 4 regions East, West, North, South and there are 16 teams in each region seeded 1-16. The field starts off with 64 teams then is narrowed down to 32 then the "Sweet 16" followed by the "Elite 8" then the "Final Four" and eventually the Championship.
Even though the brackets have not been selected yet and nobody knows what schools are going to be seeded in what region and what seed I have an idea of who the number 1 seeds will be in each region. North Carolina will definitely be a number 1 seed as will UCLA. Memphis will definitely have a number 1 seed. They were 30-1 in the regular season which was the best record in the NCAA. I'm not sure who the 4th number 1 seed will be but I will find out by 6 oclock tonight. I will write more about the tournament as it progresses. And I can't wait for it to start. The first game is March 20th. Like Dick Vitale says, "It's MARCH MADNESS BABY!!!"

Houston Rockets Make History

The Houston Rockets have made history this season. They now own the second longest win streak in NBA History. They haven't lost a game since late January. They won 21 in a row. They are second only to the 1972 Los Angeles Lakers who won 33 in a row. Ironically they go for 22 in a row today against the Lakers. The reason I think that this is such a big deal is because the Rockets lost their all-star center Yao Ming in the middle of their win streak and also they have played some of the elite teams in the NBA. In the 2000's there has been only one team to win 18 or more games in a row and that was the 1999-2000 Lakers. The Rockets on paper aren't that great of a team. They have many young guys and many old guys. Their only all-star is Tracy McGrady who I believe is one of the top 10 players in the NBA. Although they do not have the star power or the talent that the other top teams have, they are playing as a team and are playing with heart. Before their win streak they were 9th in the west and now they are tied for first with the Lakers.
The game today between the Rockets and the Lakers has a lot on the line. First, it is for first place in the Western Conference. The Western Conference race is very tight. Only 8 teams make the playoffs from each conference but from 1st place to 8th place all the teams are capable of beating each other. Second, the Rockets are putting their 21 game win streak on the line against a team that holds the record for most consecutive wins. Both teams are playing without two of their superstars. The Lakers are playing without Pao Gasol, the Spanish all-star who sprained his ankle two days ago against New Orleans and the Rockets are playing without 7'6 Chinese big man Yao Ming who has a stress fracture in his foot and will not play for the rest of the season.
Many people believe that Rockets streak will end today against the Lakers because they feel that the Lakers are stronger and will outplay them. The big matchup in today's game is gonna be between Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady. They both can score 50 points each and both lead their teams. Even if the Rockets win today I don't think they will tie or break the 33 game win streak record held by the 1972 Lakers because their next 5 games are against the top 5 teams in the NBA. Besides the Lakers today, they have the Boston Celtics who are the best team in the league, the New Orleans Hornets who are number 3 in the West, then they play Golden State who is number 8 in the west, and finally they play one of my favorite teams the Phoenix Suns who are in 4th place in the Western Conference. If the Rocket's can somehow win these 5 games and extend their win streak to 26, then I think they can reach 33 because their games after that are against crappy teams like Sacramento, Minnesota, Seattle twice, and the Clippers. But you never know what can happen in the NBA. We can only wait and see.

New York Knicks: Best Team In The League....NOT

One of my favorite teams in the NBA are the hometown New York Knicks. They have a rich history. They have a winning tradition and always had perennial all-stars and future Hall of Famers. They have won 2 NBA Championships and numerous Eastern Conference Championships. Names like Earl Monroe, Walt Frazier, Willis Reed, Bernard King, Patrick Ewing, John Starks, Larry Johnson and Allan Houston used to grace the New York Knicks teams. They were on teams that made their fans enjoy watching them. Chemistry, unity, camaraderie were all characteristics that past Knicks teams had that led to their success. They also had great coaches. Pat Riley, Jeff Van Gundy, Larry Brown are all great coaches that had led the Knicks or the other teams they coached to greatness.
Let's tune in to the last 4 seasons. The Knicks haven't finished above .500 since 2001. And since then have only reached the playoffs once. From 1990-2001 they made it to the playoffs every season. What is going on with these guys? Now they have a bunch of ragtag classless players who care more about money than they do about the game. Just last week Zach Randolph and Nate Robinson argued with each other on the bench during a game against Washington. If they weren't restrained by their teammates they would've definitely started throwing punches. What I wanna know is why does the Knicks front office put up with that garbage. Also, Isiah Thomas is the worst coach I have ever seen. He has to go. With him coaching the Knicks will never be a good team because he sucks and nobody wants to play for him. Also, they have to get rid of Stephon Marbury. He is the worst point guard I have ever seen, I hate him. I don't know who to blame. The players, the coach/president, the NBA? I dont know. All I know is that a fan can only be loyal for so long. Being a Knick fan is like being a Jet fan, you have to love to be disappointed.

I Still Love Basketball

Last Tuesday night, my friends and I went to go play basketball again. In one of my past blogs I wrote about how much I sucked. In this blog I'm gonna write about how much I don't suck. We started playing at around 10 PM. There ended up being 15 of us at this minuscule gym. So we had to have a 4 on 4 tournament. I played in the first game and we were up against some crappy team that we destroyed. But one of my team-mates got hurt so we had to pick up this other kid. Our second game was pretty easy too. It was a team led by another student of yours, Luca Panarelli, they sucked too (sorry Luca), but its true we beat em pretty bad. The next team was easy as well and we won again. This made our record 3-0 for the day. We then played a very good team which also had another student of yours Steven McCann. They were bigger and on the whole stronger. My team consisted of this kid with weird feet, a skinny wanna be Jamal Crawford, a very strong kid, and of course myself. The team we were up against had an average height of about 6 feet. I was guarded by this big dude who is about 6'2-6'3 and I'm only 5'8. The game was going pretty easy. We were at one point up 9-1 and the game is up to 11. But out of nowhere, the other team made a crazy comeback and the score was 10-8 with us winning. But then our team captain (the kid with weird feet) hit the game winning shot and kept us undefeated. We then won 3 more games until we were once again matched up with the team that almost beat us. Instead of us taking the early lead it was the other way around. They were up 9-3. We made a small run to cut the lead to 9-7 before the "wanna be Jamal Crawford" took an ill-advised three pointer which he air balled right into the hands of our opponent which led to an easy layup. We ended up losing 11-7 and our undefeated night was over. 7-1, not bad right? As we sat on the sidelines watching the other teams play for the first time all night we felt the agony of defeat and we were all torn and beat. Our best player's toe was bleeding through his sock, the feet of the kid with weird feet got even weirder. I still wanted to play, so I fired up my teammates by using a line from "Remember the Titans" and it worked. We played again and won two more games before everyone decided to leave.
We ended up 9-1 for the day. But the main story is that I played good basketball as compared to last week. I was hitting three pointers left and right, I was posting up on kids, I was hitting my floaters and my layups. It was great to finally play good again. So as we were leaving the owner of the place never asked us to pay. So I got in my car while the rest of my friends stayed lingering in the parking lot. Then I saw the owner come outside, he told my friends that we had to pay. One of my friends said that we left a credit card number inside so the man went back inside to check. And as that happened everyone ran to their cars and fled.
The reason that I named this blog "I Still Love Basketball" is because after we played I was all sweaty and I went outside in the cold weather and got sick. And even though I got sick and didn't feel well and felt like dying, I Still Love Basketball.

UPDATE! UPDATE

In some of my previous posts I wrote about the Slam Dunk Contest and the 3 Point Shootout, but I never posted the results. I know it's a little late but I don't care because I feel like writing about it and judging by my counter, nobody looks at my blog anyway and that hurts my feelings.
3 Point Shootout Results:
I wanted Steve Nash to win because he is one of my favorite players and he's Canadian, but unfortunately he didn't. As I was watching it looked like he wasn't even trying. Most of the contestants didn't try. Mainly the "superstars." Aside from Nash, Peja Stojakovic seemed like he didn't even wanna be there neither did Dirk Nowitzki or Richard Hamilton. If you know anything about basketball you would know that these four are all-star players and they are household names. It kind of got me mad that they weren't trying and didn't care. If I had to chance to win money just by shooting a basketball I would sooo do it. But whatever, what can I do right? Jason Kapono ended up winning the contest for the 2nd year in a row. Big whoop. A random fact about this years 3 point contest was that every participant was born in a different country.

Slam Dunk Results:
My vote for most likely to win the contest also lost. I thought Rudy Gay was going to win, but he obviously didn't. Instead, Dwight Howard won. He did do some pretty amazing dunks. He got 50's (the highest you can get) on all four of his dunks. Gerald Green came in second place but I don't think he deserved it. Dwight Howard was amazing. He was the best I've seen since Vince Carter won in 2000. Here are videos of what I think Dwight Howard's best dunks were:

The "Superman" Dunk:


The Behind the Backboard Windmill Dunk:


Off the board Dunk:

PRESSURE

This blog is my comparison to Prof. Farley's blog titled "Still in NYC"
Watch this video:



This was the first thing that came into my mind when I saw that video. It does have some similarities in that a lot of people are watching and being confused by what is going on. This commercial was in 2004 when Lebron James was just a rookie. It was about all the pressure and expectations he had coming into the NBA. Lebron James did meet his expectations and he did overcome the pressures.

The way that the people in the video in Dr. Farley's blog confuse and trick the people, Lebron James does the same. He stops and everyone doesn't know what to do. Mike Bibby (#10 on the White Team) is in shock and looks like the people in the other video. He just watches and is in a state of bedazzlement.

Dr. Farley, I don't know what is missing from that post that you made on February 14th. I read it over and over and I think that since I kept looking for it, I couldn't find it. Maybe thats because when you look for something that isn't there, you obviously aren't going to find it.

Return of the Man

During spring break the greatest 18 year old Filipino named Virgil Quijano (me) made his return to the hardwood after almost two months of absence. I haven't played basketball since January 6th 2008 and I made my return on March 1st 2008 (yes I remember the exact dates). A few of my friends wanted to play and I wanted to get back in shape so we decided what the heck let's play. We went to this gym that was open till late. We got there at 10 PM and kept playing until about 1:30 AM and we didn't even have to pay. But that's neither here nor there. The big story here is that I played basketball again. Its supposed to be like riding a bike right? WRONG! My friends haven't seen me play in a while. Last they saw, I was a dead-eye shooter and I was quick and basically just good. But that wasn't the story that night. I was so rusty that I had to guard this kid Sal Linea who doesn't know the difference between a lay-up and a jump shot. There was 6 of us so we played about 15 3on3 games and I went maybe 8-7. And of those 8, in four games my team was spotted 10 points and the game was up to 11. And then these guys challenged us to play and we spanked their backs. :) Then eventually they beat us. The good thing about this is that I started to get back into basketball shape. Mind you that I used to be a Varsity player my Junior year of high school. So its not like I'm a never was. I'm trying to leave my "Has-been" status and become good again. Especially since there's a 3 point shootout during Greek Week which I'm 99.983737% sure that I'm gonna win for my frat, the Almighty, Iota Alpha Sigma Knights. So I'm going to start playing more often and I'm going to return to greatness.

NBA Three-Point Shootout

Another event at the NBA all-star festivities is the Footlocker Three-Point Shootout. This year there are six participants. All the participants must have a 3 point percentage of at least 35%. Taking part in this years shootout are LA Lakers superstar Kobe Bryant, Cleveland's Daniel Gibson, Richard Hamilton of Detroit, Phoenix's Steve Nash, 2 time shootout champ Peja Stojakovic of the New Orleans Hornets and defending champion Jason Kapono of the Toronto Raptors. The three point shoot-out will be held on Saturday February 16th right before the Dunk Contest. Out of the pack Kapono has the highest 3 point shooting percentage, while Stojakovic has the most made three pointers. The favorite to win the contest is Peja Stojakovic, but I believe that Steve Nash will win. Not only because he is my favorite of the 6 but because I believe his shooting form is the best one.

The three point contest has been in existence since 1986. Larry Bird won the first three shootouts and is one of only two players to be the champion 3 times. The other being Craig Hodges of the Chicago Bulls in 1990, 1991, 1992. Only 5 players have won multiple three-point shootout crowns in its 21 years. The three-point contest for me has always been one of my favorite contests to watch because I can relate more to it than any other contest. I cannot dunk so I know that I cannot mimic that contest. But I'm a very good shooter and always loved to shoot three's so I like this contest a lot.

Other highlights of all-star weekend include the celebrity game, skills challenge, shooting stars, and the rookie-sophomore challenge. This Friday marks the beginning of the all-star festivities and concludes on Sunday after the All-Star Game.

Superstars Find New Homes

This week many NBA teams made trades to improve their squads. The Los Angeles Lakers who are known for their blockbuster trades have yet again made a key acquisition to help them win a championship. In exchange for forwards Kwame Brown (2001 First Overall Draft Pick) and Javaris Crittenton, the Lakers got the 7'0 2 time all-star Paul Gasol from the Memphis Grizzlies. This should make the Lakers, who are in 6th place in the west, an even stronger contender. Experts have said that Pau Gasol will work well in the Lakers offense and will provide help for Kobe Bryant. Kobe Bryant who is number 3 in the league in scoring said that Gasol would be a great asset and he provides the team with another scoring threat. In the three games that Gasol has already played with the Lakers he has scored 62 points, grabbed 30 rebounds, and dished out 18 assists.

If that trade wasn't big enough the Miami Heat and the Phoenix Suns pulled off a blockbuster deal exchanging to amazing all-stars one being "BIG" and the other one being a high-flyer. The Heat traded away Shaquille "Big Daddy Diesel" O'Neal for the Suns 5 time all-star Shawn Marion. Both players are amazing and will fit in great on their new found teams. Shaquille O'Neal was once the most dominant player in the NBA. At 7'1 325 pounds he was a force to be reckoned with. But this year he has been plagued with injuries and is averaging career lows in scoring and rebounding. His old team, the Miami Heat, are in last place in the NBA with a 9-39 record while his new team, the Phoenix Suns, are in first place in the west with a 35-15 record. The only worries that Suns coach Mike D'Antoni has is that the Suns are a run and gun team and Shaq may slow them down. But now they have a solid big man that can match up well with the big men in the west and hopefully Phoenix can finally make it to the NBA Finals. Shawn Marion has always provided great scoring and rebounding and can run the floor easily. He fits well with the Miami Heat and will play alongside the 2006 NBA Finals MVP Dwayne Wade. This trade made both O'Neal and Marion happy because they both demanded to be traded. Marion wanted to be traded in September while Shaq wanted a trade due to disagreements and conflicts with coach Pat Riley.

Also the New Jersey Nets who are having a very disappointing year have traded away Jason Collins to the Mephis Grizzlies for Stromile Swift. Nets all-star point guard Jason Kidd is demanding to be traded as well and is not happy in New Jersey. But the Nets can't find the right deal just yet so we'll be watching them to see what moves they make.

Other players have found new homes as well, not through trades but rather in free agency. All-star Damon Stoudamire who is a solid point guard and is a sharp-shooter has been signed by the San Antonia Spurs. Earl Boykins the smallest player currently in the NBA who stands at only 5'7 was signed by the Charlotte Bobcats. And the biggest signing was made the Golden State Warriors. They signed 4 time all-star Chris Webber. Webber who started his career at Golden State in the 1992-1993 season was traded in his second year to the Washington Bullets. He then went to the Sacramento Kings the to the Philadelphia 76ers and ended up in Detroit last year. Now he has found his way back to Golden State where he won the Rookie of the Year award.

I can't wait to see how all these acquisitions will change these teams. Some for the better and some for the worse. Who knows? We will see though, and I will keep you updated. So stay tuned to Above the Rim.

How Things Have Changed

Basketball was always apart of my life. When I was growing up I was always a fan of two teams in particular. The first team I loved was the Chicago Bulls because Michael Jordan is my favorite player ever and he was on the Bulls. My other favorite team is the New York Knicks because I'm from New York. When I was a kid these two teams dominated the league. They were always contenders and were always one of the best teams in the league.

The Chicago Bulls were the most dominant team of the 90's. From 1991-1998 they won 6 championships. Led by players like Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, and Dennis Rodman they were unstoppable. They collected championships in 1991, 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, and 1998. The only reason they lost in the 1994 and 1995 seasons was because Michael Jordan retired and played baseball. Even without him they made it to the Eastern Conference finals in 1994 and 1995. When Michael Jordan returned in 1996 they made history by having an 82 win and 10 loss season, the best ever by an NBA team. They went on to win 3 championships in a row again before Michael Jordan retired again in 1999, thus causing the breakup of one of the greatest basketball dynasties ever.

Growing up, the New York Knicks were also a very good team. Led by big man Patrick Ewing the Knicks had 16 consecutive winning seasons. The Knicks always had perennial all-stars and great players. The Knicks would always make the Eastern Conference finals only losing to the Chicago Bulls. They were very entertaining and were known for their physical play. They were the rivals of the Bulls and whenever they played you were in for a show. The Knicks made the championship in 1994 and 1999 when the Bulls weren't in. They were a great team and always had great players.

Nowadays however, both teams have taken a different road then what they used to. The Bulls haven't won a championship, let alone make it to one since 1998. They haven't had an all-star in several years. From the 1999-2004 season they were always on of the worst teams in the league. The Knicks also have been slumping. Since in past 5 years they made the playoffs only once and have finished with a record above .500 once as well. Since the greatness of these teams, they have fallen to the bottom of the barrel. This season is a great example of how much the teams have fallen apart. The Chicago Bulls are a measly 18-28 while the Knicks are a worse 14-33. Both teams are on pace to win less than 30 games. The Bulls a decade ago finished with a 64-18 record and the Knicks finished with a 50-32 record. If you look at it, mid-way through this season they already surpassed the amount of losses they had in 1997.

Hopefully history will repeat itself and my two favorite teams will eventually return to greatness. If not, I'm gonna have to find new favorite teams.

1996 CHICAGO BULLS TOP PLAYS


Top 10 1994 NBA FINALS PLAYS: Knicks vs Rockets

NBA SLAM DUNK CONTEST!!!

The participants for the 2008 NBA Slam Dunk Contest were chosen last week. The contest has four contenders. The contest is taking place on Saturday February 16th in New Orleans. The competitors are the Orlando Magic's Dwight Howard, Toronto's Jamario Moon, Memphis Grizzlies' Rudy Gay, and the defending champion Gerald Green of the Minnesota Timberwolves. All four can really fly. Out of the four my favorite player is Dwight Howard. But I think that Rudy Gay is gonna end up winning the contest.

Up until a few years ago, the slam dunk contest was always a highlight of the All-Star festivities. But recently people have been losing interest in the dunk contest. Originality, flare and creativeness have been dying out. New dunks haven't been done and people keep repeating dunks nowadays. So in an effort to gain interest, the NBA has found a way to increase fan involvement. Fans are now going to vote for the winner of the dunk contest instead of relying on just the judges scores. Also, fans can send in videos of dunks that they want to see the contestants perform via YOUTUBE. This should make the dunk contest more entertaining and should gain more viewers.

Here are the Top 10 Dunks of each contestant.
Jamario Moon


Dwight Howard


Gerald Green


Rudy Gay