China still loves Houston

I'm over the "fans don't vote for the right people as All-Stars" rant. If the All-Star game is for the fans, its never going to be a meritocracy. I've even let go of the belief that the coaches have some moral obligation to pick those most deserving and thus bring at least some justice to the situation. Of course, if we're submitting to the tyranny of the majority, maybe they should just have the game in China from now on. It's possible.

I was interested to see how China would support Yi in the voting this season. Would we see the same dedication that has made Yao a lock since his rookie season? He came in with a lot less hype than Yao, but the analysts told me Yao's support is mainly due to his nationality. This in mind, there is probably a baseline of fame and ability one has to achieve to earn this home-country love. Sorry, Big Dodger.

Yi was a high draft pick, is starting as a rookie, and has been a meaningful contributor. Yet he comes in at just #5 in the Eastern Conference Forward voting. Note that being a highly drafted Chinese player does not guarantee you a spot. You'd have better luck as a Houston Rocket.

The increasingly China-savvy NBA has been making sure to keep the Rockets on as many Chinese televisions as possible since Yao came along. Not surprisingly, team loyalty has grown. Despite the Rockets sucking, Shane Battier is 7th among Western Conference Forwards, with rookie teammate Luis Scola coming in 8th. Take that, Durant.

Tracy McGrady is second amongst Western Conference guards, trailing only Mamba. This puts him ahead of guys like Steve Nash, AI, Baron Davis, and Tony Parker. Of course Yao deservedly leads all Western Conference centers.

Battier and Scola both have more votes than Yi. Sure, this could be attributed to votes outside of China. As far as market size goes, Houston dwarfs Chinese-hating Milwaukie. But China was supposed to wield an enormous axe in this vote. Either the Yao belief that you get on the team if you come from China with any hype has always been wrong, or has recently changed.

Many Chinese fans, like non-Chinese fans, like the players and teams they see the most of. Perhaps this is reason enough to let them watch the good teams, too.

NBA.com: 2008 NBA All-Star Balloting Presented by T-Mobile Second Returns Announced

A Boom-Dizzle Christmas

Did you need another reason to love Baron Davis? Me either, but here's one anyways:



I've transcribed my favorite part for the hearing impaired:

...thats what I want on my list. Uh, some Reebok Pumps, old school. I want a bike, too (huge smile)....

And hey look, an excuse to post this!

Baby, I'm Boom-Dizzl-ING

Portland vs. Oakland tonight at the Rose Garden, I, as well as agent Brrrrrrrrrrrr! will be in the building. I have a long history of showering Baron Davis with my man love (you're gross). From the pre-2007 playoffs declaration of "with Baron Davis on your team, you can beat anybody in the playoffs" that landed DeceptivelyQuick on TrueHoop for the first time, to my always effective NBA Live Baron-centric strategy. Surprising then, that this will be the first time my eyes get treated to Dizzle in real life. I'm giddy.

As a Blazer fan, of course, I'm still hoping for a dominant victory. As a basketball fan though, I just want to see Mr. Davis be Mr. Davis. I'm also hoping we taste some Spanish Chocolate tonight, Sergio was just made to showcase his magic against teams like the Warriors.

NBA Live 08: Bold Predictions (get it? Ha!), 18

I've already written about my giddyness for NBA Live 08 to come out. Since I bought the Wii, I'm also freaked out that the controls will be too weird, but I guess I knew all that going in. In that post, I wrote about how I knew that franchise mode will definitely suck, continuing a tradition of EA Sports giving Madden something so awesome and NBA Live something so lame. I have a few more predictions, observe this official bullet points:

• LaMarcus Aldridge will be underrated. I know its coming, I think the rest of the league has yet to really aknowledge how good of a player he really is. Without Zach mucking things up, its gonna be clear to all this season. Unfortunately, the game makers don't know this, so playing with Portland won't be as fun as it should be.
• Greg Oden will be overrated. Will fans kill me for saying this? Its true. Right now, Aldridge is better than Oden (and it isn't that unlikely that this will always be true), but don't expect to see this on the game. Oden will be an animal.
• My Baron Davis-centric playing will continue to be sweet. Thanks to a solid season and a classic playoff upset, I'm thinking Boom Dizl will be rated at a pretty amazing level, which is great news for me.
• Franchise mode will continue to suck. Yep.
• The Bobcats will be fun. Who knows if this will work in real-life, but video games aren't about real life, and on paper, the Bobcats will be nicey nice nice. I look forward to reenact Walter Herrmann's late season run that saved my fantasy basketball season.

Playoff hype, what about Boom Dizl?

The playoffs will be here in the morning for us Westcoasters, and I can't wait. Today has been a day where I got to read everyone's playoff predictions and what they are really excited to see.

For the record, I can't wait to see New Jersey vs. Toronto either. Toronto has become the darlings of the post-regular season/pre-post season gap, and with good reason. I'm also on board with the Utah vs. Houston excitement. Actually, I'm excited about everything.

I'm just wondering why nobody is putting any noise behind a very Baron playoffs. I've heard plenty about how interesting the Mavs vs. Warriors is: the Mav's haven't beat the Warriors yet this season, the Don Nelson thing, Warriors peaking.

What about Boom Dizl? I can't shake his 2002 playoff performance out of my thoughts. That was the year he carried his team (averaging 22 8 and 8), before losing a crucial game due to the ref incorrectly waiving off a sweet buzzer beater.

Baron isn't a big fan of keeping in shape during the offseason, and he's hurt all time (the former definitely isn't helping the latter, I wonder if he gets the connection). But when he's locked in, he's shown he can take it to a level very few others can.

Does he still have it like that? He's had a great season, but that playoff performance was greatness, rather or not his critics want to give him that kind of credit. With that Baron Davis on your team, you can beat anybody in the playoffs.

Dallas is a juggernaut on a mission, watching them play reminds me of the last levels of Mario 3. You have to run across that big ship and all these cannons and bad guys are coming at you from all angles. It's overwhelming, you feel helpless.

Unless you got a P-Wing:

The new tat signifies Mr. Dizl is ready to continue his playoff dominance.

I realize how nerdy I am. And how pointless this post was. But seriously, Baron can be that good. I wouldn't be as surprised as everybody else if the Warriors pulled this off.