Age Is Nothing But A Number

I admit I did not see this coming. The San Antonio Spurs has always been a contender in the NBA but with the ageing trio of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, I thought they were too old to run with younger teams like the Oklahoma City Thunder. I was wrong.

In an act that showed that experience trumped youth, the San Antonio Spurs has reached the NBA Finals for the first time since 2007. What’s more impressive was the way they did it. The Spurs got back into the Finals by sweeping the Memphis Grizzlies in 4 games in the Western Conference. What’s more is that with the Indiana Pacers and the Miami Heat locked in a heated tussle in the Eastern Conference, the Spurs now have at least a week to rest before playing their next game. With Duncan, Parker and Ginobili all on the wrong side of 30, this is rest that will be needed by the Spurs.

With a sweep in the finals of the tough Western Conference, and probably facing a tired opponent from the East, the San Antonio Spurs will be the favorites in the NBA Finals. Just to show that sometimes, age is nothing but a number.

The Strange NBA

The last NBA season was widely considered to be a successful one. The Miami Heat managed to get 3 star players, Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh, on the same team and this move increased publicity for the league.

Somehow though, most of the teams (22 out of 30) in the NBA still managed to lose money. Accordingly to reports I read, the losses amount to about US$300 million. The owners of the teams blame this on the division of basketball-related income between them and the players. In the last labor agreement, NBA players got 57% of the income. This year, there would be a new labor agreement between the owners and the players, and this time the owners want a 50-50 division of basketball-related income.

The players are offering a 52.5%-47.5% spilt which they say would cover the owner’s loss of US$300 million. The owners do not dispute that but has insisted on a 50-50 spilt to guarantee profit for them. This is the part where I got lost.

Now I only have a passing interest in the NBA nowadays but I do not understand how the owners could get away if the call is for “guarantee profits”! I mean as a businessman, it’s my job to make my business a successful, my job to make my business a profitable one.

Here the owners have a union who is willing to cover all their losses, and they are still not happy? The NBA players are offering them a deal where there is almost no way they could make a loss and they are not taking it? A deal where they can’t lose is not good enough for the owners?

What kind of businessmen are they? If someone offered me a deal where there is no downside and plenty of upside, I would race you to the pen! No wonder the idiots are going to the courts!

The NBA Champions!

The NBA Finals are over and the Dallas Mavericks became the NBA champions for the first time in its history. Led by Dirk Nowitzki, the Mavs finished off the star-studded Miami Heat in 6 games and sent fans into rapture because they denied LeBron James his first NBA ring.

Frankly I couldn’t care less about the LeBron James situation, but I’m glad the Mavs won because they were the better team this series. Miami may have the Big 3 in LeBron, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh, but the Mavs were the better team with better teamwork and (seemingly) better camaraderie.

Although Nowitzki rightly won the Finals MVP, to me the most important factor for the Mavs this series was the teamwork they had. They looked like they were playing for one another and they made the necessary adjustments to counter Miami.

The Dallas Mavericks, deserved champions of the NBA!

NBA Finals Preview

The NBA finals are upon us and the finals will be a rematch of the finals 2 years ago between the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics. 2 years ago the Celtics won an easy victory but things looked very different this time. Here’s a look at the match-ups in the finals and who has the edge for them;

Forwards: The Lakers have Pau Gasol and Ron Artest but the Celtics have Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce. The Celtics should have the advantage here as they did 2 years ago. Back then, the Lakers were unable to stop Garnett especially on the boards and frankly I don’t see it being any different this time. The only question is whether Artest, one of the NBA’s best defender, can stop Paul Pierce. If he can, then the Lakers would be more than happy to leave it at that.
Advantage: Celtics.

Center: Normally I would go for Andrew Bynum (Lakers) over Kendrick Perkins (Celtics) in this match-up but Bynum has been plagued by knee problems throughout the playoffs, while Perkins held his own against Dwight Howard, arguably the NBA’s best centre.
Advantage: Celtics.

Guards: No contest here. The Celtics may have Ray Allen (a future Hall of Fame player) and Rajon Rondo (one of the best players in this postseason), but the Lakers have Kobe Bryant! Bryant averaged 33.7 points against the Suns and has been scoring 30 points for fun throughout the postseason. Also the Lakers have a tough defender in Derek Fisher who is capable of slowing and posting up Rondo.
Advantage: Lakers

Reserver: Neither benches are really that important to both teams but there are a few important role players in each team. The most important is without question Lamar Odom of the Lakers. He is a man who is capable of doing a little bit of everything and also everything goes through him when the second unit is on the floor. A lot also depends on the health of Glen Davis and Rasheed Wallace of the Celtics. Both were hurt in the series against the Magic and both are important role players.
Advantage: Lakers.

Coaches: Phil Jackson of the Lakers has won 10 championships and is going for his 11th. Doc Rivers won one with the Celtics two years ago. On paper, this should be no contest but Rivers has been impressive in the postseason, carefully guiding his team through a few tough series while the Lakers made hard work of Suns.
Advantage: Lakers.

Expected Outcome: Lakers in 6.

This is Legal?

Athletes having money problems is not new. Countless formers athletes find their earning power going down like a rock when they retire. However sometimes athletes have money problems even when they haven’t retire.

That is also not new so when I read that NBA player Eddy Curry is US$1.2 million in debt, I wasn’t that surprised. I mean the man live in a US$4.5 million mansion and has huge expenses (a US$6,000-a-month personal chef?), so of course he is in debt.

To be fair, Curry seems financially capable of paying the debts but is fighting in court as he says he should not be paying as his finances were mismanaged by his former accountant, Lamont Carter. At first I thought this was a case of him trying to run from his debts but on closer inspection, Curry got a case.

In 2008, Mr. Curry went to Allstar Capital to take out a personal loan for US$580,000…at an interest rate of 85%. Yes, at whopping 85% interest! How the hell is that legal? Loan sharks in Singapore do not charge that rate but that's legal in America?

Not only that, but what kind of an accountant allows his client to take a loan with an 85% interest? Curry claims that Lamont Carter handled all his money up until 2008, when he fired Carter once he realized he was in financial ruin. Curry is now suing Carter but I am still amazed it is legal for Allstar Capital to charge an interest rate of 85%!

85%! And it’s legal! Wow, loan sharks in Singapore are looking at that number in envy.

New NBA Season

It’s one of those things last year when the Los Angles Lakers won the NBA title last year. It was inevitable. Even discounting the fact that no one thought the Orlando Magic had a chance of upsetting the Lakers, you just know Kobe Bryant was going to win a ring without Shaquille O’Neal sooner or later.

Will the Magic and Lakers meet again this season? I doubt it.

In the East, I don’t think the surprising Magic will be able to match their run last year. The Cleveland Cavaliers may have taken Shaq to deal with Dwight Howard but I think the finalist from the East will be the Boston Celtics. They were the favorites entering the playoffs last year till Kevin Garnett got injured. Garnett is okay now and with Rajon Rondo, Ray Allan and Paul Pierce all in the last year of their contracts, it’s now or never for the Celtics. That desperation will see them to the finals this season.

In the West, I just have to go with the San Antonio Spurs. They have Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, Tony Parker, Michael Finley, Antonio McDyess, Theo Ratliff, and Richard Jefferson. That’s 7 current or former All-Stars on their team. As good as Kobe is, I just can’t see anyone beating against the Spurs this year.

A Celtics-Spurs finals this year with the Spurs winning.

What US$1 Can Buy You

That’s the price Russian tycoon Mikhail Prokhorov is going to pay to buy over NBA club New Jersey Nets.

Wow, I know the financial crisis has hit America harder than anywhere else but US$1? Okay, I get that it’s a symbolic sum with the Russian tycoon footing the bill in the building of a new playing arena for the Nets but US$1?

When a certain Russian tycoon took over Chelsea in the English Premier League, he paid hundred of millions for it. US$1? Wow, things must be worse than I thought.

The NBA Finals Preview

So I was wrong. Even in the weak Eastern Conference, LeBron James wasn’t enough to get the Cleveland Cavaliers back to the NBA Finals. Dwight Howard powered the Orlando Magic to a surprising NBA Finals where they will meet the Los Angles Lakers, but personally I have to wonder if the Magic deserves to be in the Finals. If Kevin Garnett had been healthy for the Boston Celtics, would the Magic have won that Game 7? However the fact is that it will be a Magic-Lakers NBA Finals and this is how I view the match-up.

Centre- It will be Dwight Howard against Andrew Bynum. Not really much of a contest in my view as Howard is a constant double-double player, at times a constant 20-20 player, while Bynum is just a promising player with great potential. I expect all of the Lakers big men to have to use their fouls on Howard and put him on the foul line. Thus far the only way to stop Howard is to get him into foul trouble, so the Lakers may have to attack him but I will say the Magic will win this match-up.

Forwards- The Lakers have Pau Gasol while the Magic have Hedo Turkoglu and Rashard Lewis (if he can get healthy). This is contest of styles as the Lakers will want Pau Gasol to go inside while Turkoglu will drain the 3 on the perimeter for the Magic. Both are really important for their teams but I will give the slight edge to the Lakers here.

Guards- For the Magic, Jameer Nelson is struggling to be fit for the Finals and Rafer Alston can be unpredictable at times. Add to the fact that the Lakers have Kobe Bryant on the team and you would think the Lakers will win the match-up of the guards, but I feel Derek Fisher will be a problem for the Lakers. Fisher seems to have lost a step this year and he is having trouble matching up with quicker guards. However the Lakers do have Kobe so I have to pick Lakers here.

Bench- Both benches don’t really do much for their teams outside giving rest time to their starting 5. However the Lakers have Lamar Odom on the bench while the Magic have…Courtney Lee? That swing it to the Lakers.

Coach- Phil Jackson been here before and is looking for his 10th NBA title but Stan Van Gundy did better than anyone thought possible by bringing the Magic to the NBA Finals. Jackson is known as the Zen Master while Van Gundy is all fire and brimstone. However Jackson got the-been-there-done that advantage so…Lakers!

Intangibles- The Magic has nothing to lose. After needing 7 games to beat the Kevin Garnett-less Boston Celtics, everyone was picking Cleveland to come though in the East. No one thought the magic had a chance, but they prove everyone wrong. All the pressure is on the Lakers so the advantage here belongs to the Magic.

Everyone is picking the Lakers to win the title and I’m no exception. Even U.S President Barack Obama, a keen basketball player, is picking the Lakers. It would be one of the greatest upsets in NBA history if the Lakers fail to win. I will say the Lakers in 5.

New NBA Season

The Los Angeles Lakers/Boston Celtics Finals last season was the best advertisement the NBA could have hoped for after a year of scandals. It was the young, hungry Lakers against the seasoned Celtics and with the history between the two teams, it was a great finals.

Hope the NBA enjoyed it because it won’t happen again. Boston Celtics still have the Big 3 of Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen and Paul Pierce but they lost James Posey and worse, they did not add to their bench. So in the weak Eastern Conference, LeBron James is probably enough to get the Cleveland Cavaliers back to the NBA Finals.

Unlike the Celtics, the Los Angeles Lakers got stronger. Injured centre Andrew Bynum is coming back from injury, and with Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom, the Lakers has a very good frontline this season. Of course the main man for the Lakers is still Kobe Bryant. MVP last year, he will still the reason why the Lakers get to the finals this season.

A LeBron-Kobe duel in the NBA Finals? Uh…maybe the NBA shouldn’t have to worry at all.

NBA Champions!

That’s it! The Boston Celtics has won their 17th NBA title after beating the L.A Lakers in 6 games. If only Singaporepools has bets on NBA games.

After 22 years, the Celtics has finally won the NBA title again. Having seemed the games, I have to say the Celtics deserved the title. Not only did they came back from 24 points to win Game 4, almost came back from 19 points to win Game 5; they also won Game 6 by 39 (a record for the biggest margin of victory in a championship clincher).

The Big Three, Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen, were important for Boston but it was their bench who won the title for them. James Posey, Leon Powe and even Sam Cassell came up big at various points of the series as the Celtics’ veteran bench just outplayed the Lakers’ bench. Whereas Pierce, Allen and Posey swarm all over Kobe; Powe and Cassell took over some of the scoring duties from the starting line-up. Something Kobe did not have.

Boston in 6 games, the new NBA champions!

Bombshell hit the NBA

Just when things are looking up for the NBA with the dream NBA finals featuring the Los Angeles Lakers and Boston Celtics, a bomb was dropped on the NBA. Tim Donaghy, a former NBA referee at the center of a gambling scandal alleged that he is not the only NBA referee who is influencig NBA results.

Reports in the U.S says that Tim Donaghy claimed that NBA routinely encouraged refs to ring up fouls to manipulate results and discouraged them from calling technical fouls on star players. This is to keep them in games and protect ticket sales and television ratings.
Donaghy, who faces up to 33 months in prison for pleading guilty last year alleging he took cash from gamblers and bet on games himself, says that if the NBA wanted a team to succeed, NBA league officials would inform referees that opposing players were getting away with ‘violations’. As expected, the NBA called the allegations baseless.

The problem for the NBA is how detailed Donaghy’s allegations are. In one of several allegations of corrupt refereeing, Donaghy said that in May 2002, two referees were working a best-of-seven series in which ‘Team 5’ was leading 3-2. In the sixth game, he alleged the referees purposely ignored personal fouls and called ‘made-up’ fouls on Team 5 in order to give additional free throw for Team 6. ‘Team 6’ won the game and came back to win the series. Without question that is the Los Angeles Lakers-Sacramento Kings series. That series went to seven games during the 2002 playoffs and the Lakers went on to win the championship. With the Shaq-Kobe duo at LA, one can see why the NBA would want the Lakers to win instead of the Kings. Just for the record, the Lakers, who beat Sacramento 106-102 in that game in Los Angeles, shot 27 free throws in the final quarter and scored 16 of their last 18 points at the line.

Like they say, there’s no smoke without fire and these allegations aren’t new. For years, people were complaining that referees were favoring certain teams. Now with this, the year with the dream NBA finals might turn out to be a year the NBA would rather forget.

NBA Preview

Just a day before Lakers-Celtics NBA Finals and I thought I give my 2 cents on what must be THE dream final for the NBA marketing guys. At the start of the season, I thought it will be Spurs-Celtics...I was damm close, wasn't I?

Now for the breakdown as I see it-
Centre- Pau Gasol must the steal (or donation) of the season (of the decade even), but the Celtics have Kevin Garnett and Kendrick Perkins in the middle. Yes, I know Garnett is the power-forward but see the way he plays and tell me he's not playing like a centre. However, I like the Celtics for this match-up because of Perkins. He was a monster against the Pistons and if he can constantly get 10 rebounds against the Pistons, I like his chances against the smaller line-up of the Lakers. About even but I will go against the gain and say Celtics just win this one.

Forwards- With 2 of their Big 3 in the forward line-up, Boston got this one in the bag. I think Kevin Garnett and Paul Pierce are going to have their way against the Lakers and I don't think there's too many people who will disagree with me here. In fact the only interesting thing I see here is whether Lamar Odom can limit Pierce's scoring. If he can, Phil Jackson will be a happy man. Celtics!

Guards- Ray Allen has struggled in the playoffs while Rajon Rondo is quite frankly a vastly over-rated player. He is a young talent but prone to making some very stupid mistakes at times. The Lakers has Derek Fisher and a certain MVP named Kobe, last name not needed. What else is there to say? Lakers by a mile.

Bench- They couldn't be more different. Lakers has a young bench with Ronny Turiaf, Sasha Vujacic and Luke Walton. All young talent hungry for success while the Celtics has a bench loaded with experience. Sam Cassell, Eddie House, P.J. Brown, James Posey have all been in the game for some time and know what it will take to get that ring. I have to go for the Celtics here due to the experience.

Coach- 'Doc' Rivers has done a good job this year but Phil Jackson is looking for his 10th NBA title. Jackson has got the Lakers into the finals when no one thought they had a chance in hell of getting past the Spurs, Suns etc. Lakers!

Intangibles- The magic word is HOME-COURT! The Celtics may have lost one to the Pistons but at other times they have looked just incredible at home. They didn't just beat teams in Boston, they killed them by 10-20 points! For the Lakers to win the series, they must win in Boston. I don't think they can. Boston due to the home-court advantage.

In the end, I will say the Celtics in 6.

New NBA season

After the ugly, ugly Cleveland Cavaliers/San Antonio Spurs series that was in the NBA Finals last season, the new NBA season is starting.

And not a day to soon. After the yawning series to end last season, the NBA was hit with a close season betting scandal on one of it's referees. The bad taste in the mouth must be wash away quickly if the NBA is to maintain it's grip as THE basketball league of the world.

Luckily, there's good moves in the close season that give the new season great promise. First off, my favorite team the Boston Celtics has made some great trades. Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen has now join Paul Pierce in Boston, giving the Celtics 3 All-Stars. Of course all 3 are on the wrong side of 30 (and they have no bench), but with the Big 3, the Celtics are favorites to reach the Finals from the Eastern Conference. Tim Duncan's San Antonio Spurs are the defending champions and they look a good bet to be in the Finals from the West. They have kept all their best players and they still have the solid look they have last year.

The Celtics and the Spurs in the Finals! That's my bet for the coming season.

NBA Finals: Game 1

I blogged earlier that the NBA Finals between the Cleveland Cavaliers and the San Antonio Spurs will be one ugly series. Boy, was I right or what!

The Spurs got an easy 85-76 victory over the Cavaliers in Game 1, mainly due to good defence on their part and a bad show on the part of LeBron James. The Spurs kept the Cleveland superstar under total control and they held James to just 14 points. In contrast, Tim Duncan finished with 24 points, 13 rebounds and five blocks. One word; big stage experience. Okay, that's 3 words but you get the picture.

Bruce Bowen was on LeBron, but it was a team effort. 2-3 guys on him whether LeBron even tried to get to the rim. LeBron just couldn't solve the Spur's puzzle. But the biggest problem Cavs had was Tony Parker. He got whatever he wanted yesterday and the Cavs got no one who even looked like they could slow him down.

He and Duncan was the brightest lights in a otherwise terrible game. I can understand if the game was boring due to great defence but there was good defence, not great. People was just missing shots (lay-ups, put-backs you name it) left, right and centre. The Cavs top scorer was Daniel Gibson with 16 miserable points. Only 3 Spurs players got more than 10.

I heard that the game drew the lowest rating ever in America for an opening NBA Finals game in prime time; guys the only thing you missed was a bad game. If the Cavs and Spurs keep this up, even I might miss the rest of the series. That was how bad it was. Terrible!

Cavs vs Spurs: It will be ugly

Can LeBron James led the Cleveland Cavaliers past Tim Duncan's Spurs? Can Bruce Bowen stop LeBron? Can Daniel Gibson keep up with Tony Parker? All questions that will be answered when the Cleveland Cavaliers meet up with the San Antonio Spurs in the NBA Finals. But no matter what the answers are, there's one thing I know for sure: This will be one ugly series.

The Cavs may have LeBron, but the reason they are in the Finals is because of their defence. They held the Pistons to low scores throughout the Eastern Finals and that is not going to change againest the Spurs. LeBron also best be ready for some rough treatment. The Spurs have already proven that they're not above taking out the star player of the other team to win. Steve Nash and the Suns got the treatment, LeBron best be ready.

In short, don't expect a high scoring series or any run-and-gun. A lot of half-court defence, a lot of free-throws and the Spurs winning the whole thing. As good as LeBron is, I just can't see the Spurs losing this one. Duncan and the Spurs just have too much poise, experience and weapons to lose to the one-trick pony that is the Cavs. Spurs in either 4 or 5 games.