I have to say, it’s a pure joy to be able to watch the NBA every single day now, thanks to BTV! And this season has been “simply amazing” to watch. There have been quite a number of surprises and disappointments in the current 2008-2009 NBA season and this is the first part of my year-end review of the teams that are surpassing everyone’s expectations and the teams that have been total disasters. These are the Top 5 teams and 5 most disappointing teams of the league in the first half.

TOP 5:

1. LOS ANGELES LAKERS (25-5) - it was a toss-up but Kobe’s squad had their revenge against the Celtics on Christmas day by defeating them by 9 at home. It was the same day Phil Jackson notched his 1000th win and became the fastest coach to do so surpassing Pat Riley. The Lakers are 16-1 at home and are definitely the most balanced squad in the league. And with Jordan Farmar being out until late February due to surgery, the Lakers still haven’t missed a beat.

2. BOSTON CELTICS (28-5) - they were off to a historic, franchise-best 27-2 slate which is the BEST start in NBA history for a team with only 2 losses. In that streak, they are currently 17-1 at home, had a 19-game winning streak, and had KG surpass David Robinson for 27th place on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.

Unfortunately, December was a terrible month for them as they ended their West Coast year end trip with a 1-3 slate starting with that Christmas loss to the Lakers on the road, and followed it up with a terrible loss to the hapless Warriors who were without 2 of their main guns. And then they ended the year losing to a Roy-less Blazer squad to close out their record at 28-5. They’re still the team to beat as you can’t put down the Big 3. But losing Posey is going to be quite glaring in the playoffs and it looks like a rough road ahead  if they go up against the Magic or the Cavs in the early rounds.

3. CLEVELAND CAVALIERS (26-5) - King James has a little helper named Mo Williams now, and the Cavs look rock solid. They lead the league in point differential at more than 12.5 points a game, and they are tops in points allowed which is a testament to their defensive mindset They are also the only team in the league with a perfect 16-0 slate at home and will challenge the Celtics in this year’s playoffs and have a very good chance at toppling them this time around.

4. ORLANDO MAGIC (24-7) - whoever doubted that the Magic would be one of the elite teams in the league this year are now hush hush. Dwight Howard has been an absolute monster posting career numbers yet again this year. He leads the league in rebounds (13.8 a game) and blocks (3.7 a game) coupled with 19.8 points a game and shoots 54.7% from the field. You put him alongside 2 of the best 3 point shooters in the league in Rashard Lewis (leads the league with 90 makes) and Hedo Turkoglu (with 50 makes) and their much improved court general in Jameer Nelson (who also has 47 threes made) makes this Magic squad a team to be reckoned with. I’m 100% sure no one wants to play this team in the playoffs this year and rightfully so.

5. NEW ORLEANS HORNETS (19-9) - with the best point guard in the league running this team, the Hornets are off to a solid start. Chris Paul leads the league in assists (11.5 a game) and steals (2.93 a game) and now holds the NBA record for consecutive games with a steal at 108!  With the demotion of Mo Pete (finally) and the rise of Rasual Butler and with their key acquisition this year in James Posey from the Celtics, the Hornets look to improve on their playoff performance last year and get to the Finals. And with this lineup, that is a very distinct possibility.

Next: Can These 5 Teams Get Any Worse?

For all the UFC fans out there, here’s a real good one for you. The main event in UFC 91 was being touted as the best heavyweight fight in it’s long history. Couture vs Lesnar definitely had that potential, though I’m rather late in bringing the news out as the main event was held two days ago on November 15, 2008. The results are already out, but I won’t spoil it for those who haven’t watched it yet. The FULL download links for all the matches in UFC 91 can be found below. The Countdown for UFC 91 was also a great preview hyping up the event, and you can also download it from the link below.

Randy Couture, at 45 years of age, is undeniably the BEST fighter ever to come out of the UFC. And even at that disadvantage, he is still pounding the daylights out of opponents much younger than himself. But this time, he goes up against a totally different breed of fighter. The former WWE Superstar known as Brock Lesnar, a 31 year old MONSTER, is out to bring down the Legend.

There have always been many Couture doubters out there, and he is always the underdog whenever he goes up against much younger and bigger fighters. But in the end, he is STILL the one holding up the belt. So the main event in UFC 91 is going to be one for the books. As Dana White (President of the UFC) said in parting, “Everybody loves the guy who is the master in coming up with game plans to beat guys that he really shouldn’t beat. Now he is up against this young amazing athlete who walks around at 300 pounds but has the agility and speed of a 150 pounder and the power of a TRUE heavyweight.” So Randy Couture has his work cut out for him, but if history is any indication, he can’t ever be counted out. But look out for the coming of Brock Lesnar, as he is out to prove that he IS the REAL deal.

Download Links:
UFC 91 Countdown: Couture vs Lesnar (357MB)
UFC 91: Couture vs Lesnar FULL PPV Event (1.37GB)
UFC 91: Couture vs Lesnar PPV Part 1 (700MB)
UFC 91: Couture vs Lesnar PPV Part 2 (700MB)

For all the basketball fans who read this blog, I uncovered an article written by Buster Dunning of RealGM, where he interviewed the suspended and injured Monta Ellis of the Golden State Warriors as he finally talks about how he really got injured.

Months ago, Ellis’ 2008-2009 career went from promising to practically nothing, when he had a terrible moped accident that not only led to a severe injury, but also to a very lengthy suspension meted out by the Warriors. He first came out saying that he had injured himself badly playing pick-up games but in the end it was found out that it was because of him racing on a moped with some of his friends. Tsk tsk.

This is the entire interview done by Buster Dunning as he spoke to Monta Ellis about the entire incident. The article below is copied from the RealGM website, and should be read carefully. Enjoy the article!

Monta Ellis Tells All: I was Racing Baron and Elton

Since time immemorial, there has always been a storied rivalry in the UAAP between the Ateneo Blue Eagles and the De La Salle Green Archers. And in Season 71 this year, that rivalry was revisited as both teams faced each other in the Finals in yet another epic battle. Ateneo, however, was DOMINANT the entire season, and ended it with a bang by sweeping their rivals to the tune of 62 - 51. The boxscore can be found below for those who are interested.

I’m not going to write a recap here nor do anything the many forums out there have been doing, which is get both schools to bash each other. It’s rather funny though, but I’ll leave that to them, hehe. I just wanted to give my two cents on why La Salle lost. But I’ll give credit where it’s due, as the Green Archers still got to the Finals even if they had a team that really didn’t have enough to be able to get there and win it. Props to them for reaching the Finals and playing their hearts out.

So why did they lose? For me the reason was pretty clear and rather simple. They had no leader on the team this year and they could turn to no one when the pressure was on. In the past teams they had, they always had guys you could count on. Mike Cortez was there, Cardona, and Ren-Ren. These three guys kept the DLSU engine in amazing shape and were constant threats at any point in the game. Cortez was a pure leader, and you could always count on Mac Mac and Ren-Ren for clutch points. This team they have this year had none of that and you can clearly see it If you watched the 2 games in the Finals. When Ateneo’s defense tightened, La Salle’s offense sputtered and they really had almost no chance of winning especially after Rico’s ejection.

Casio is the supposed leader of this team, but he has no leadership quality whatsoever. You can’t count on him in the clutch and he can’t make plays to help his teammates either. Sure, he can get hot every once in a while, but when you concentrate your defense on him, there is no way he can do anything. And what’s worse, he can’t play decoy and make his teammates better. Who else is there? Rico is in the Mythical 5, because he really raised his game to another level this year. BUT, sometimes, no matter how pissed off you are about something and no matter how great a play you make, you don’t taunt your opponents and you definitely don’t give them the finger in plain sight. That’s just plain stupid. DLSU had a real chance to win the game today as they fought back hard from a huge double digit halftime deficit. But as close as they got, Rico was dumb enough to throw that finger of his out and got thrown out of the game. Not that they would have surely won if Rico was still in there, but at least they would have had a better chance.

So in the end, La Salle lost because they had no leader on the floor. When the pressure was on, they could turn to no one, and no one wanted to take charge to lead this team. Add the element of stupidity in a player who should have realized he was worth more to his team if he was IN the game, gave La Salle absolutely no chance to win. Better luck next year, but unless they get a guy like Buenafe, who’s a rookie but doesn’t play like one, and plays with spunk and isn’t afraid to lead his team when called upon, then they can forget about getting to the Finals next year too.

Congrats to the very deserving Ateneo Blue Eagles for winning the championship this season! Ateneo practically swept all the awards too. MVP was Rabeh,  ROY was Buenafe, and DPOY was Baclao. Those 3 guys are still going to be in the same team next year. So it looks pretty promising for Ateneo in Season 72 even with Chris Tiu leaving. Pictures courtesy of GreenArchers.PH and Fabilioh.com.

ATENEO 62 -Tiu 16, Nkemakolam 8, Baclao 8, Al-Hussaini 7, Baldos 6, Buenafe 5, Reyes 5, Salamat 3, Austria 2, Escueta 2.

LA SALLE 51 - Casio 18, Walsham 8, Maierhofer 7, Revilla 5, Bagatsing 3, Atkins 3, Mangahas 3, Malabes 2, Ferdinand 2, Villanueva 0, Barua 0.

Quarters: 16-10, 41-26, 50-47, 62-51

After Lebron James had won his Gold medal in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, he held an online contest called “LeBron’s Trick Shot Challenge sponsored by Cub Cadet.” A guy named David Kalb of La Habra, California, won it by throwing a ball against a wall and have it bounce back and through a hoop on a forklift that is spinning in a circle (see link below). And by winning that contest, he had the chance to play against Lebron James for a game of H-O-R-S-E.

The judges of the contest picked nine of the best entries while fans narrowed the field to just three. James then picked the winner and faced David Kalb for a game of H-O-R-S-E in Venice Beach, California, on a Wednesday evening. Kalb eventually beat Lebron with a bunch of different trick shots that included bouncing the ball high in the lane, and then racing around the goal post, catching the ball as it came down and alley-ooping it into the basket (again, see the link below). James missed his try, and after losing the first game, declared best two-of-three. Each made quite a few trick shots, but Kalb still went on to win the second game. After Lebron missed his final shot, he tossed the ball away in humorous anger, and then congratulated Kalb. Nice gimmick by Lebron, it would have been nice if he had won though

Kalb beats Lebron James in H-O-R-S-E: Los Angeles Times Video