TWTWTNBA: The World Basketball Championships post-mortem

These are some of the things that we learned from the World Basketball Championships

1. Kevin Durant is ready to take the best player mantra right now. If there is any doubt that he is not among the best in the world, leading the so-called B-team to first gold medal in the tourney since Dream Team II erased all that. I think he will win the 2010-11 NBA MVP if Oklahoma City takes the next step.

2. Hidayet Turkoglu gets a bounce back year in his Phoenix debut. Nothing like playing well for your flag to rejuvenate you after a lousy season. It happened with AK-47 before.

3. Lithuania will be dangerous in the Eurobasket 2011. Finishing third in the tournament sure made things look good for a team with only one NBA player (Linas Kleiza) on the current roster. Watch out for a future NBA player named Donatas Montejunas on that roster by then.

4. The Serbian resurgence is primed up. I still cannot get over the Milos Teodosic bomb against Spain. Turkey needed a block in the final seconds to escape with a semifinal win. Like Lithuania, they only have one current NBA player (Nenad Krstic). And after that nasty incident in Greece, they surely needed this good set of news.

5. Luis Scola. Argentina had no Manu Ginobili and Andres Nocioni got hurt in the path to Istanbul. Already known as one of the most hardworking players in the NBA, he then raised it up a notch. He averaged 27.1 pts (tops in the Tourney), 7.9 rebounds (4th), 35.9 minutes (3rd), 56.6 % shooting (5th). With all the uncertainty surrounding Yao Ming, Luis Scola can surely fill the void.

6. Playing bodes well for the upcoming NBA season. The future of USA Basketball looks really good. Youngsters like Russell Westbrook, Eric Gordon and Stephen Curry really benefited from the experience. NBA fans now have an idea on certain players who will be coming in this season, like Mozgov for the Knicks, Splitter for the Spurs, Asik for the Bulls and Erden for the Celtics.

7. Hard to argue the best game of the tourney. Brazil vs Argentina (Scola vs Huertas showdown) or Spain vs Serbia (Teodosic bomb) or Turkey vs Serbia (The Block) would be the prime choices.

Blog Outsourcing - 9/13

Welcome to today's edition of Sparty and Friends.

Yup, football fever has taken over. Already 2 200+ comment posts and another 100+ comment post for the past 2 weekends. You guys surely love your football. Especially when the writers and commenters are either a Spartan, an Irish, a Gator, a Vol, a Nittany Lion, a Buckeye or a Yellowjacket or a Giant, a Jet, a Dolphin or a Patriot. I actually missed out on the commenting madness the past two days. To prepare for this post (as I always do), I had to backread the posts and comments to set the table as to what I am going to write home on.

As for me, I watched the final regular season game of my alma mater. We lost by 2 pts, but we could have won the game with the missed free throws and a missed layup in the final seconds. However, we already secured the twice to be advantage by winning our game last September 5 against the University of Santo Tomas (the game where you saw my picture from last week's TMA). The Final Four is scheduled this week. Hopefully, I can write home something positive from that and I can relate them to you on next week's TMA.

Oh, and the VMAs took place last night, where I found this picture of someone that our newest member of the S&F team would absolutely appreciate...

Now here are the links:

Johan is shut down. We wish him well.

Mariano Rivera blows one. He's fine, people. Then again, they need to get Andy Pettitte ready already. Oh, and that came after Nelson Cruz killed them. Rafael Soriano also blew one, too.

Cheers to the Twins. They get their 4,000th win.

NL MVP race still undecided, because Albert Pujols just made his presence felt. On the other hand, Domo Arigato, Mr. Joey Votto.

Welcome to Rocktober. After they stole one from the Reds, Jason Giambi gets his 1st hit against the Diamondbacks in style. That's 10 straight. They are now creeping closer to the NL West division lead, which is a toss-up by itself, thanks to Tim Lincecum.

The BCS Cartel pressed the Buffalo Wild Wings button. James Madison answered the call.

Shoelace better start practicing Desmond Howard.

Week 1 in a snapshot.

Matthew Stafford's hurt. Not good news for the Lions.

Alex Barron blew this game. He better pack his bags.

Saw this in a tweet. Might be funny yet true: Philly coach Andy Reid muttering, please stay injured... please stay injured...

Well, at least it is not due to overtraining, right?

Tony Dungy must be the NFL pontiff.

Yup, typical Jets fans.

To paraphrase a tagline of one of the Motherland's most well-known banks, You're in good hands, with Kevin Durant. But the 12 Giant Men gave them their all.

How much do you want for Ron Artest's championship ring?

Melo to Chi-town? Probably not.

Do you still remember the anti-Peyton Manning? While the real one got battered by Arian Foster.

Bruce Pearl must have learned this from Lane Kiffin. However, he is a lovable guy, so that's fine.

Johnny might be interested in this one.

This goes with the Robert Green and that Chaouchi Gaffe gallery.

Daytona gets a hi-tech face lift from someone who has never ever been there.

Terry Labonte doing a Brett Favre.

The Tafosi celebrate the Prancing Horse's win in the Italian GP, but this might be the real reason to celebrate.

Because you need to know what is going on in the Canadian Football League.

Kim Clijsters was successful in defending her crown. Unfortunately, Rafa's quest for the career Slam is delayed.

Floyd Mayweather's still getting headlines for all the wrong reasons. Still saying Floyd's a farce.

They must have had a really really bad case of diarrhea.

Are you excited for volleyball? Speaking of volleyball, the streak ended.

Parting videos... This one came from the recent Cheerdance competition that the Motherland was focusing on yesterday.


This one came from the VMAs. This one features the Real Slim Shady.

Eminem & Rihanna - Love The Way You Lie - Live MTV VMA 2010 from Infox on Vimeo.

Blog Outsourcing 9/6

Welcome to the latest edition of Sparty & Friends.

It's Labor Day in the United States, and I am pleased to say that my job will allow me to have the day off today. But writing blog posts is a 24/7 responsibility for the site and the quest to provide quality content is always a responsibility all of us writers have. It always helps to have readers suggest possible posts.

Whilst college football marked its opening this weekend, college basketball for my alma mater is picking up. One more game to go before the end of the regular season. Toting a 10-3 record, they are a game behind Far Eastern University, whom they will be facing this Saturday, September 11th. Yes, that is a significant date. We lost to them in the previous round robin, but one missed lay-up was the difference.

Meanwhile, yesterday I had the opportunity to watch them seal the twice-to-beat advantage in the Final Four, albeit in a scary fashion. The special thing about this game is that I watched the game at courtside level. I somehow lucked out in getting one, which costs slightly over $7. Usually, these particular seats are always snapped up, especially when it comes to rivalry games.

The experience of watching it down there is really great. It will probably be unlikely for a repeat with the playoffs looming, but I would like another crack at it.



Hereforth are the content action:

Revis Island is ready for the upcoming season. Caretakers like Randy Moss and Brandon Marshall are to be advised.

Final roster cuts have been made, some look bad, but others look deserving.

Vincent Jackson is still a Charger for now.

Steeler Nation ready for Charlie Batch?

The Padres are on a skid. Giants catching up.

Good thing the Rangers locked it up already, because injuries are piling up, with Josh Hamilton and Cliff Lee skipping. They botched one, too.

On the other hand, Rays and Yankees are on a dead heat still, as for the Red Sox? All Sawx fans are in FML mode.

Carpenter keeps things alive, but the story is about the Rasmus drama.

Atlanta and Philly in a NL East tug-of-war.

Immediate repercussions from the Chapel Hill mess.

Things looking good for the Irish, even their TV profile.

How was it in Jacksonville State, the day after?

Cardiac Finish! Prayers were answered. Sure helps to be 6'8"



Turkey and Slovenia advance. USA plays later against Angola and will face winner of Russia vs New Zealand.

Delonte in Boston makes sense.

So Floyd "apologizes." The smart people have figured that out already. As for the Pacquiao, he shrugged it off.

Parting shot: Since it was 90210 a few days ago...

Blog Outsourcing - 8/30

Welcome to the latest edition of Sparty and Friends.

Interesting tidbit about this particular month, there are 5 Sundays, Mondays and Tuesdays.

In the Motherland, today is National Heroes Day. A holiday to commemorate the Cry of Pugad Lawin more than a century ago.

Last week at the time of writing last week's post, the Motherland was gripped in a hostage crisis involving tourists from Hong Kong. Unfortunately, things did not end well and as such, we deservedly are getting flak for it. I am just annoyed with the excessive nature of the repercussions. Admittedly, our handling situation more looked like Keystone Cops instead of CSI / Criminal Minds, but still, don't blame the ordinary person for something that he or she did not do, just because of his or her nationality. It reeks of racism.

The next day, it was all about the major major way. Fetch called it when he watched.

Tough week, but time to shake it off and on to the next one.

Hereforth are what you want to click on and weep.

Dan Johnson deja vu'd the Red Sox. And they are 6 games out with 31 left.

Manny Ramirez to the South Side. Imagine if Jay Mariotti did not have any issues to worry about.

Yovani Gallardo had a really bad day.

Well-deserved. One day will be in the Hall.

Can he save the rotation for now? Or do we need to wait for him to come back?

How do you make the Yankees hip and trendy? A simple touch of Jigga.

This story will be the white elephant in the room for as long as New York is around. I still think he is not the right fit for that job, yet.

The Reds have a hidden ace in the deck.

One more to 600.

The chase continues for San Francisco and Colorado.

Replay works.

Sure, it is not the levels of manager histrionics, but not bad.

Get well soon, Bob Feller.

And so the repercussions of USC and Reggie Bush continue.

UGA wins the Fulmer Cup.

Los Angeles Vikings, anyone?

Bill Polian is a genius of a GM.

$8 million training camp invitation.

Minor setbacks for Oakland?

Details, it is all about the details. That is always good lawyer advice.

Now we know why his stock dropped back then.

Is this the anti-no huddle rule?

Favre in mid-season form. Yup.

That's just bad football. At least it can still be corrected at that age.

Can he handle the pressure of both being in New York and being Patrick Ewing?

Day 1 highlight? France beating Spain. Day 2 Highlight? Germany beating Serbia by 1 pt.

Is Jurgen Klinsmann the next step?

James Toney was definitely Lights Out.

RIP Luna Vachon.

Mr. Nicole Scherzinger wins the Belgian GP.

Pearl Harbor again? Not exactly, but close.

Finally. 2nd win for Wie!

Flushing Meadows time. Means more of this, hopefully.



13 year-old kid dies in a race. Way way way too young.

I hate this match. I know Floyd is a chicken, but this reeks of Top Rank selfishness to the nth degree. Money talks, nowadays.

Because I like how they dance...

The World Basketball Championships 2010 Preview - Group D

The World Basketball Championships are coming to Turkey next week. As such, here is a simple basic layman's check on each team participating.

Canada - Neither Steve Nash and Samuel Dalembert are available for the neighbors up north, but recent Knicks draft pick and Syracuse alumnus Andy Rautins (also known as Canada coach Leo Rautins' son) will be manning the playmaking and shooting chores. UConn alum (and someone who played in the Motherland recently) Denham Brown as well as two current Gonzaga Bulldogs in Robert Sacre and Kelly Olynyk join in the cause. Joel Anthony is also around to be the resident veteran big guy. It shows you how bad Jamaal Magloire has been when his lesser known teammate makes the team.

France - Tony Parker (and Eva Longoria), as well as Roddy Beaubois and Ronny Turiaf will be skipping the tournament. Led by the ballooning Boris Diaw, French basketball will revolve on whether Nicolas Batum will take the scoring cudgels and act like his teammate in Portland, Brandon Roy. Air France's brother Florent Pietrus is also playing, as well as a couple of San Antonio draft picks in Nando De Colo and Ian Mahinmi (who has moved on to Dallas). And, no, Frederic Weis is not on the team, so we will not be seeing this highlight again.

Lebanon - The other major thorn in the quest for the Motherland's Olympic qualification. Best player is Fadi el-Khatib, a scoring machine. They have a couple of Americans in Matt Freije and Jackson Vroman to bolster the ranks.

Lithuania - Only one NBA player is on their roster in Linas Kleiza, but they have a few NBA-caliber players on it. They will be hosting the upcoming Eurobasket next year, so this will be a good preparation for them. It will be wishful thinking if they would wear this, too.

New Zealand - The Tall Blacks' most well known asset is veteran benchwarmer Sean Marks. But he is not playing this time. They will be relying on veteran guard (and former Wisconsin Badger) Kirk Penney and Pero Cameron (who was an all-Tourney team in the ill-fated World Basketball Championships in Indianapolis)

Spain - Best team in Europe. No Pau for the Euro champs? They have his brother, Marc, in. No Jose Calderon? They brought it former Jazz PG Raul Lopez (once thought to be John Stockton's successor) to replace him and then hand the keys off to Ricky Rubio (you may proceed with your Kaaaaahhhhhnnnnnn! right now). They also have the most expensive second round pick ever (Sergio Llull), two guy who had a cup of tea with the NBA (and should be back there) in Jorge Garbajosa and Juan Carlos Navarro, and the guy who should consider this to be his try out for all other NBA teams (Rudy Fernandez).

Top 4: Spain, France, Lithuania, Lebanon

The World Basketball Championships 2010 Preview - Group C

The World Basketball Championships are coming to Turkey next week. As such, here is a simple basic layman's check on each team participating.

China - Still no Yao Ming, so it will be up to Yi Jianlian, the prodigal son Wang Zhizhi and Sun Yue to carry the cudgels. But admittedly, Yao makes this team go and he will be missed terribly. Unless they have something good in the pipeline, the Middle Eastern teams might end the Chinese reign in Asia.

Cote d'Ivoire - They shocked the continent by finishing 2nd in FIBA-Africa. If they pull off a win in this division, that would definitely be a shocker.

Greece - FIBA has made their decision. However, the Greeks are still in contention with the talent they have from top to bottom. Former Jeff Van Gundy benchwarmer Vassilis Spanoulis is the playmaker, with their bigs providing size. Their shortest player is just 6'4". They also have former Gator Nick Calathes. They are the San Antonio Spurs of Euroball.

Russia - No Andrei Kirilenko, but they still have their American PG and Russian passport holder JR Holden. They also have Viktor Khryapa and Sergei Monia who have had NBA experience. And Knick fans, here is your shot of getting to figure out Timofey Mozgov. Jayhawk fans would also want to know that Sasha Kaun is also on the team.

Puerto Rico - If they are getting on track, they will need as much as they can from their two NBA guards in JJ Barea and Carlos Arroyo. They also have former Cane and Clipper draft pick Guillermo Diaz who can light it up. Peter John Ramos and Daniel Santiago make up their size and Nuggets forward Renaldo Balkman can defend. Unfortunately, Arroyo bromance buddy Larry Ayuso was bumped off the team for Diaz.

Turkey - The hosts won't be having Mehmet Okur and former Wolfpack guard Engin Atsur, but the home crowd would be pumped up to know Hidayet Turkoglu will be leading the team. He could surely need a redeeming effort after that horrible year in Toronto for the newest Phoenix Sun. Omer Asik and Semi Erden will tag team the minutes Memo will vacate. Ersan Ilyasova is an emerging star for the Turks after his breakout season with Milwaukee.

Top 4: Greece, Russia, Puerto Rico, Turkey

The World Basketball Championships 2010 Preview - Group A

The World Basketball Championships are coming to Turkey next week. As such, here is a simple basic layman's check on each team participating.

Angola - Honestly, the only thing about Angolan basketball I remember is what Charles Barkley said. However, they are the basketball superpower in Africa, with a FIBA ranking of 12. Yup, even better than Nigeria.

Argentina - We all know there is no Manu (who really needs a break from year-round ballin' at this point), but they have a solid team still with a revitalized Carlos Delfino, Luis Scola, Fabricio Oberto and Andres Nocioni (although he is hurt) leading their NBA contingent. Oh, and they are the top-ranked team in FIBA.

Australia - Known as the Boomers, they are the dominant team in FIBA Oceania. Their best player is also their youngest player, Patrick "Patty" Mills. He and David Andersen (recently traded to Toronto from Houston) are the only NBA players on the roster, because Andrew Bogut has not yet recovered from the injury he suffered. Ranked 11th in FIBA.

Germany - No Dirk Nowitzki and Chris Kaman for this tourney. But the 7th-ranked team in FIBA have Tibor Pleiss (the OKC draft pick this year) and Gonzaga's Elias Harris.

Jordan - ranked 38th in FIBA, the team has a naturalized American in Rasheim Wright. They are one of the biggest stumbling blocks in the Philippines' quest to return to basketball glory.

Serbia - Fifth in the FIBA rankings. By now you have seen the clip. Ironically, Nenad is their only NBA player.

Top Four teams: Argentina, Australia, Germany, Serbia