UCON SHOOTING SHOWDOWN!
Swish!
Swish!
Swish!
That was the sound of two highly-talented shooting guards duelling throughout game 2 of the Boston-Chicago series. Basket after basket, shot after shot. Both were University of Connecticut alums and known for their ability to shoot. And of course, both extremely clutch and competitive.
That is how Game 2 can be summed up -an epic duel between two terrific shooting guards, Ray Allen of the Boston Celtics and Ben Gordon of the Chicago Bulls. It was the game which had me on the edge of my seat the whole time because both teams went back and forth with Ray Allen and Ben Gordon leading the way during the 4th quarter.
The final 15 seconds were exceptionally breath-taking! Ben Gordon knocked down a cold-blooded jumper from the top of the key with 12.3 seconds remaining to tie the game at 115 all. But after a time-out, Ray Allen received the ball and drained an even icier three-pointer from the right side to give the Celtics a 118-115 victory!
It can be argued that Rajon Rondo (who finished with an impressive tripe double of 19 points, 12 rebounds, 16 assists and also had 5 steals) and Glen Davis (26 points, 9 rebounds) also played a tremendous role in the victory but it was Ray Allen (30 points, 6 of 10 from beyond the arc) who provided clutch basket after clutch basket to keep them in the game after Ben Gordon’s offensive explosion (42 points) in the 2nd half.
Ben Gordon is a very intriguing player. Listed at 6′3, he’s actually closer to 6′1 and is an extremely undersized shooting guard. What he lacks in height, he makes up with quickness and a deadly shot. The Bulls should be glad they managed to re-sign him (for the qualifying offer) and should aim to secure him a long-term contract in the off-season as he has been a very consistent offensive weapon for the Chicago Bulls.
Overall, it was an evenly matched game. The Celtics managed to seize 21 offensive rebounds while the Bulls swatted 14 shot attempts. It will definitely be a close series full of more nail-biting endings such as the one just witnessed. The series now switches to two games in Chicago and the Bulls should be able to at least win one game with home-court advantage.
They need to continue to exploit the absence of Kevin Garnett in the Celtic’s line-up. KG’s absence is a major reason why the 7th seeded Bulls have been able to keep up with the 2nd seeded Celtics. He was the anchor of their defensive scheme, barking orders and ordering his team-mates to defend and mark up. Without him, the Celtics’ once impregnable defence has looked non-existent at times and was a reason why rookie Bulls’ point-guard, Derrick Rose, was able to penetrate almost at will and score 36 points at ease.
The Bulls’ also need the bench to continue their hefty contributions. Kirk Hinrich and Brad Miller have been terrific -knowing their roles and limits and adhering to the team concept. They are thin at small forward with the absence of the lengthy, Luol Deng so Salmons needs to step up his game and use his strength and smarts to take on Paul Pierce.
What the Celtics need to do in order to win is simple -all starters must play to the best of their abilities. Ray Allen and Paul Pierce must continue to shoot the ball well, Kendrick Perkins and Glen Davis need to sustain their excellent game 2 play and Rajon Rondo must be a stat-machine on a regular basis. The bench also needs to play a lot better. Last year, they had a much stronger bench with James Posey, who could defend, rebound and hit open shots. Eddie House was This year, they have an inconsistent (so far) Eddie House, a washed up Marbury and hustling bigs like Leon Powe and Mikki Moore who are out-played and out-muscled by the Bull’s slow but strong and savvy veteran center, Brad Miller.
Whoever wins, I will be happy with the result. Stay tuned for what is definitely going to be a very close and competitive series!
K DUO
I was ’sad’ enough to go karaoke with a friend after handing in a stupid law assignment.
I went over to another friend’s house the night before and we ended up drinking so yeah, I rocked up with a hang-over and enough alcohol in my system to start talking gibberish and acting abnormally hyper and outgoing.
Initially, we had agreed to go with another person. Surely 3 people karaoke was a lot more socially acceptable than two people karaoke right? However, that person was unable to attend and so we ended up going and looking like sad-asses.
I remember telling my friend, “I wish I had a hat so I could cover up my face!”
The friend cackled and called me a girl. How charming.
We went to Citi-K and we decided to do one hour. The korean lady at the counter seemed amused when she realised we only had two people! When my friend asked to get change in their usual, gruff voice -the korean lady pouted and gave my friend a small dirty.
Meh! We’ll never see her again right?
K was actually quite fun and we each showed off our vocal capabilities.
One thing was so annoying though….we had to waste twenty minutes trying to figure out how to operate the remote. It was in korean!
Lesson learnt: Never go karaoke with another person unless its that friend -aka a person who is a really good singer and an avid karaoker (if that’s even a word).
Next time, can we please get more people and go to a chinese karaoke? More songs and much more easier to navigate around with more user-friendly remotes!
Hoops Galore
It certainly feels great to be back on the court after a three month hiatus. Nothing can compare with the sweet sound of the net swishing as you knock down shot after shot!
I was a little rusty in the beginning, airballing my first attempt but as time went by, I was on fire -unstoppable. I faked, drove to the left, dribbled to the right, took a base-line jump-shot and knocked down five similar shots in consecutive fashion.
I enjoyed playing defence, attempting to be a lock-down defender. I’ve learnt not to fall for fakes and to set your feet in a good position so you won’t be in an awkward situation when they suddenly cross-over! Also loved rebounding and making nifty passes to open team-mates.
My team-mates -Boris, Scott and Chen played unbelievably as well. Chen was a match-up nightmare, utilising his quickness and smarts to score in a variety of different ways. Scott was an absolute tank, using his size and strength to bully the opposition and seized rebound after rebound. Boris was the biggest surprise. I had heard he was good but I didn’t know he was that good. His agility and ability to finish at the rim in traffic was a major reason why we were able to come out with a big, fat, juicy win.
Can’t wait till next time! 
Drunken Family Friends!
Who here is Asian and has attended one of those stereotypical, Asian dinners with 9999999 other family friends?
*raises hand high*
You know, everyone is all polite and proper. Young people have to smile sweetly, toast their elders whilst declaring their profound admiration for [insert name of random family friend], etc.
Usually, they’re quite PG-rated. So it was quite the experience when one degenerates into a drunken fest. Like the one I was at on Friday night…
It started off all normal ~ all the ‘kids’ (basically anyone who is under the tender age 30) were seated on one table, aunties and uncles were hovering around toasting each other (in a non-intoxicated manner) and everyone was making polite conversation and eating abalone, roast pigeon and lobster.
I was having a great conversation with Eddy and his lovely girlfriend, Lisa. My god, I do not know how much Russell Peters impersonations we managed to enact that night. My little brother was also busy with his ‘cult’. I use that term because the really young kids idolise him because he’s;
1) TALL (10, going 11 soon and 171cm)
2) Is really good at video games (“MASTER, PLEASE SHOW ME HOW TO GET DEMON EDGE”)
He looked like a don, sitting with his arms folded, a semi-smug expression on his face, listening and occasionally making some half-interested remark while the other kiddies yapped cheerfully at him and begged him to share his expertise in gunning down hordes of zombies and stuff relative to that agenda.
We were so occupied that we did not notice the calamity nearby…
All the adults were DRUNK.
The host (Eddy’s dad) was completely GONE. He was staggering around, his face as red as a tomato, freely chugging down spirits straight from the bottle. My mum had broken out in tears (she was wailing ‘I’m so happy’) and was hugging two other aunties. Other uncles and aunties were really obnoxious and loud, toasting each other non-stop and sculling down alcohol faster than any adolescent at a house party.
Lewd jokes were being tossed around more often than they do at any private boys’ school. It was really embarrassing and shocking. Everyone at the ‘KID’ table were just awkwardly watching. Ken and Tania had forced smiles while grimly looking over at their parents.
Food was being spilled all over the place -on the table, on the lazy susan, on the floor, etc! Even the little kids had stopped running around or bothering my brother and were sitting transfixed. Talk about their parents setting a “GREAT” example for them!
After a while, Eddy’s dad got really smashed. He was alright at first, sitting down at a table and just with his face buried in his hands. However, he started puking and then passed out altogether, while shivering profusely. They had to cover him with a table cloth (for warmth) and had to carry him out back to the car. It looked like they were carrying a corpse! ><
I had to make sure my dad did not wander onto the road several times. He’s a large man so I’m actually glad he could still walk on his own two feet and I did not have to carry his 98kg frame around my two shoulders! ><
I Love My New Basketball Shoes!
Introducing, my brand new Nike Zoom Lebron VI Witness shoes.
Cost an arm and a leg BUT they were so WORTH IT.
However, I am confronted with a dilemma….should I risk damaging such gorgeous shoes by wearing them during basketball? Should I instead, keep them in a cabinet? XD
What to do?!
Tyson, the hair model!
He’s going to become a teeny bopper really soon if this persists.
All he’s missing is the blonde hair dye!
Kids these days really grow up fast. When I was 10 (same old as Tyson now), I didn’t give a damn about what I wore (power ranger t-shirts for the win!) nor worried whether my hair was too…uncool.
Fast forward from 1999 to 2009, Tyson may not worry about the clothing part but he’s really keen about hairstyles.
“Make me look like….Rain” <————— he has small eyes like the korean singer
Or
“Just give me a cool Japanese hairstyle!”
Here are the pics after his new hair-do (courtesy of my mum and naturally, FREE OF CHARGE!)
Relevation
Years of adversity linger left and right
Woes suffered, none ever so slight
In a muddy pond, no dragon is fit to lie
One of these days, he’ll ride the thunder to the sky!
– W.A.Z.
[Insert Witty Title For Random Male PMSing]
WARNING: CONTAINS RAGING MATERIAL
I just realised I don’t have many actual friends.
I don’t believe in people who you meet at uni, at work, or through another friend, to be considered an actual friend unless you regularly hang out with them and have conversations. That’s why I have only a small group of friends and way too many acquaintances. Don’t let my naturally, friendly demeanour fool you and cause some sort of misunderstanding.
.
Hmmm, which is why I was more cheerful and less cold/cool back in the past because my good nature led to some very awkward misconceptions.
I categorise my friends. Actual Friends (or more commonly known as true friends) are quite scarce in my life. They are the people I can confide in, trust and pour my deepest secrets and thoughts to. I also have Fun Friends (who are pretty damn awesome!) who I go out with and have a lot of fun with. However, there’s still that barrier and I would only consider elevating them into the first group when these conditions have been met;
1) we’ve known each other for a period of time and we’ve talked and hung out consistently.
2) they’ve moved me by their sincerity to get to know me (I like to consider myself an honourable and reasonable person so if you treat me well then I will reciprocate with the utmost benevolence and kindness).
Piss me off and you’re history. I’m ruthless forced. But of course, that’s another story.
Then there’s Normal Friends. People you talk to regularly but you don’t hang out with them much. Finally, there’s Acquaintances -for people who are friends of friends, co-workers, uni classmates, etc. I see them around and we may talk and party together once every now and again. However, vastly not enough to be considered a friend.
Right now, my true friends are only ____, _____, ______, _____, and ______.
They’ve remained pretty close and sincerely willing to be real friends throughout the years. Some of them have broken their word (that and being indecisive..i HATE those) and let me down at times but we’ve worked through those problems and emerged stronger. I’m also a pretty loyal friend and since they’re old friends, they get top priority over any new friends I make.
Speaking of old friends, I was so tight with _____ during high school but these days talking to him is so straining….topics are hard to come up with and there’s this distant feeling lingering…
______ and ______ were close but we’ve drifted apart a lot. I don’t know why but they’re just really busy. The former definitely is but the latter just has indecisive and anti-social moments which can be a little irritating at times. I still like them a lot though and because of my soft spot for them, will attempt to incorporate them into my life on a regular basis, regardless of whether I succeed or fail.
Oh and course, _____. How could I forgot about that person? Formerly, one of the closest but now, seeing that person is once every blue moon or so. Hmmm, how do I sum it up? Oh yes, with this ancient Chinese quote which might seem a bit misogynistic but anyway here goes, “Wives and children are like garments, they can be replaced easily. Brothers though, are like limbs. You lose a limb and it’ll never grow back”.
Touche.
And there’s the case of ______. Seriously…what the hell happened to you? Before you were so nice and sincere. Now you’ve become this arrogant, selfish and extremely loud-mouthed bitch who breaks her (yes, this person is female) word.
I don’t want anything to do with you anymore.
Oh yeh, and your taste in men is APPALLING. But then again, you weren’t even ranked above 4 out of 10 in the first place. So I guess things make sense right?
Alright, since I’m quite pissed already by this point, might as well criticise another certain female.
You hob-nob with ‘influential’ people because your close-minded brain only allows you to believe that people from selective schools and who are doing either Law or Med are so freakin’ awesome. It is this belief of yours which causes you to be friends with them so you can ride their wagon to victory in the future eh? Stop the sucking up and doing the whole “omg, are you a friend of [insert name of random person who went to a selective school] from [insert name of random selective school]?” Just because you went to your local high school doesn’t warrant you to pass over and trod over people just because they didn’t go to a selective high school like James Ruse or Sydney Boys. What you suffer from is CSHD -a most grievous ailment – COMPULSIVE STATUS-HOPPING DISORDER. Ever heard of the term, ‘island-hopping’? Well, Miss Harpy, that’s what you are doing now. I don’t know whether I’ll become a really successful lawyer but let me tell you this -I’m not going to spend a cent on you. Notice how I’ve never shouted you anything? And that’s when I’m poor but willing to spend money freely on people worth spending on!
BACK ON TOPIC: As you can see, if I’m not regularly trying to incorporate you into my life then I don’t consider you an actual friend. That’s just the way I perceive things and the whole gawdy title of ‘friendship’. There’s the ‘right way’ and the ‘wrong way’ but I prefer to do it MY WAY.
My 76ers…
With more than a third of the season underway, the 2008-2009 season has been both tantalising and surprising. As some of you may know, I’m a die-hard Philadelphia 76ers fan. To be honest, I started off as a Lakers fan but I was more of a bandwagon fan than a true blue one. After that fiasco, I bounced around -switching my allegiances from Toronto, then Miami, then Golden State and finally, Philadephia.
And I’m determined to remain a Philly fan for life.
It was only after their long-time franchise player/icon, Allen Iverson was traded, that I embraced the 76ers. They were a bunch of young players without a leader and much NBA experience. While this may put off most fans, I decided to support them because I wanted to be part of something special. I wanted to see them develop and grow together as a team and eventually mature into quality NBA players. Surely there have been times which make me want to bang my head against a brick wall but you have to accept the fact that young players are bound to make mistakes and improve as a result. It is a learning process definitely.
Fast-forward a couple of years and the young players have become older, more seasoned and much better players. Andre Iguodala is clearly the face of the franchise now. While his numbers have been down from the previous season (19.9ppg last year), his growth has been evident as a leader and the ball is in his hands during crunch-time. The recent win against the Rockets was a good example; Iggy was given the ball in the remaining 5 minutes and he delivered each time.
Other exciting additions to the team have been the speedy Louis Williams, the highly athletic and oozing with potential, Thaddeus Young (who is having a stellar sophomore year) and the skilful rookie, Mareese Speights. Together with Iggy, they form the nucleus of the team.
One move which was highly anticipated but has not come to fruition, is the signing of Elton Brand to a max contract. Touted to average 20 and 10 while vaulting the Sixers into the top echelon of teams in the East, Brand has been injury-prone and has not seemed to be a good fit at all. He is averaging closer to 16 and 9 and his shooting percentages have been woeful for a power forward. He is also undersized and not very athletic (his younger days are behind him) and the only reason he gets blocks are because of his ridiculously long wingspan. Consequently, he does not really fit into the style of Philly basketball -which is fast and exciting. The 76ers are currently 16-20 in the NBA standings but have won the last 3 games. Overall, they have played better WITHOUT Elton Brand so far.
It makes one think whether management should’ve gone after Josh Smith instead during the offseason. Things could be different if Josh Smith was running the floor, blocking shots, dunking with monster jams and putting more people in the seats. Maybe even more wins in the win column perhaps?
Luckily, the season is still fairly early so it isn’t time to panic. I’m confident Brand will come back and play much better and the 76ers will sneak into the playoffs and be a menace to whichever opponent they face in the First Round.
The one glaring weakness which is preventing them would be their lack of three-point shooting. It really is DISMAL! They are only averaging 29-30% from down-town as a team. It is absolutely unacceptable if they want to run a Mike D’Antoni offence. They have the slashers and finishers but they don’t have the shooters! Their current starting shooting guard, Willie Green, is only averaging 0.6 three pointers on a mediocre, 32.8%. Their point guards, Andre Miller and Louis Williams are only mid-range shooters at best. Andre Iguodala has improved his range ever since he first entered the league by leaps and bounds but is still not consistent enough.
If they can pull off a trade to get some shooters, then they will most definitely become a top team very soon. However, if they just hope and pray Iggy and the rest of the team become Jason Kapono-like shooters eventually and make no moves then this team will be doomed for failure.
But of course, I will stand by and support this team no matter what happens. Win or lose, I love my 76ers =)
NYE!
I had an absolutely terrific time on New Year’s Eve! I was fortunate enough to be able to attend three different events. In this entry, I have provided summaries for each event and I hope you enjoy reading about it.
1) Nelson’s House Party
I was late by 30 minutes because I spent all that time trying to find him a decent birthday present. In the end I did, and I drove over to his place. By the way, isn’t he lucky? He gets fireworks on his birthday!
There were many familiar faces there. The majority of them were the good ole High boys -Aaron, Lun, Quoc, Alan, Yimin, Davie, etc. I joined them in a game of world monopoly even though I was a very late addition to the game and had no property at all in the beginning stages! However, through some shrewd negotiation I was able to accumulate Beijing, Hong Kong and Jerusalem. Unfortunately, my brief taste of success was short-lived as Aaron and Alan were able to build all these hotels (in addition to owning 80% of all the property) and yeah, GG…..
At least I wasn’t the first to declare bankruptcy!
The lunch that Nelson provided was delicious yet fattening. But of course, that’s a good thing right? Pizzas of all flavours and some of the best shish kebabs and fried fish I’ve had in a long time! Now…if only I could’ve gotten my hands on some of those legendary scallops we used to enjoy when we were children…
2) Fireworks @ Milson’s Point
This was spent with another group of friends, all entertaining and interesting in their own unique ways! Izzy, Sha and I caught the train together and we waited outside Nitrogren @ Town Hall for the others to arrive. Jenny turned up followed by Chrissy, Kevin, Jeremy and Christian, the one ‘affectionately’ labelled as Jeremy’s “SEXY MACEDONIAN FRIEND!” I think he was good-looking to some degree of attractiveness as all the girls -when confronted with a certain question -looked unsurely at their boyfriends before admitting he was decent-looking in an embarrassed way!
The final couple showed up unexpectedly -Veronica and Johnny. Previously, Ron had informed us that she would not be joining us for fireworks as she wanted to go watch them with Johnny’s friends. Hence, it was a pleasant surprise that they were able to come! Also saw Marie, my former neighbour. She hasn’t really changed in terms of appearance but she is certainly a lot more outgoing than before.
We caught the train to Milson’s Point and it was PACKED. There were so many people sitting down and even more people standing up! We spent ages trying to get into Bradfield Park and we ended up separating with Jeremy and SMG (SEXY MACEDONIAN GUY) several times.
Oh yeah, we had some bad experiences with some incredibly stingy and grumpy minority groups that night -curries and SEA people.
“Please do not step on our rug!”
Bitch please, twas some aluminium foil you were referring too as a rug!
Eventually, we found a nice and relatively stoneless grassy patch on a slope to rest our feet. We got bored though and started to play Dare, Double Dare, Triple Dare! It was a lot of fun and we all ended up doing crazy stuff such as leap-frogging towards a group of cops, hugging and kissing in front of a random, dirty-dancing with a pineapple-shaped tree, coming out of the closet in front of a poor Asian dad (lol!), and other weird and wonderful deeds =)
When the fireworks finally came, they were amazing! Lit up the night sky and we were quite lucky to be so close! At midnight, I took Izzy into my arms and kissed her, fulfilling the traditional ritual.
We all hastened towards Milson’s Point Station as soon as the fireworks subsided and it took AGES to get out as there were so many people! It wasn’t as bad as last year though (took 2 hours and there weren’t enough trains…) but it was just annoying having to squeeze your way through a sea of sweaty Sydney-siders….
3) HOTEL PARTY!
We went to our awesome hotel and partied the night away -drinking and playing all sorts of drinking games. We had alcohol and we also had good music and at one stage we turned off the lights, turned up the volume and tried to create a club scene (I think Chrissy called it a ‘Bligh Bar scene’). I was thankful that the random old Poms next door did not complain about all the laughing and shouting we were generating! Chrissy, Kevin, Ron and Izzy ended up pretty tipsy while Sha and Johnny (who was a bit sick) became quite drowsy. Only I was fully awake until 6am and I began to doze away….
We also ended up having the longest sex talk. The words ‘masturbate’ and ’sex’ was mentioned close to a thousand times I reckon. Oh yeah, and ‘Kin Lam’. I really don’t think you can string the words ‘Kin Lam’, ’sex’ and ‘masturbate’ in one sentence! That’s taboo!
The next morning our stomachs were all growling with hunger! We waited until 9:45 before checking out and it was then that I saw…someone very familiar with a certain someone…hmmmmm…tsk tsk. Anyway, we went to grab some food and I had a further two bad experiences with curries -the pad thai that a curry chef made was atrocious and too oily, and some curry woman gave me a dirty when I accidentally brushed aside her. Stupid cow, you stunk like overdue vinegar *pukes*
Anyway, it was a really enjoyable NYE =) Goodbye 2008! Hello 2009!
