just some bible verses that have been on my mind lately:

Ephesians 4:17-19 and Ephesians 4:26-27

i've felt that these verses have taught me something about the way i should react to nonbelievers who just shut God out...

take it from Jesus' example himself; he did not become angry who mocked him and heaped insults upon him, but instead looked up to heaven and said "Father, forgive them, for they know not what they're doing."

'k, i just felt it on my mind to post top 4 of each conference in the nba and random ish:

-top 4 teams in the west:

1.san antonio
2.seattle
3.phoenix
4.sacramento

san antonio's a no-brainer... IMHO, they ARE the best team this year... no sufficient weaknesses with them... basically their defense has always been there, their bench has always been deep, they have always played team ball... but this year, they got scary offensively real fast; i don't even think you can label the spurs as being "boring" on offense anymore; duncan seems to only need to put in 30 mins or so these days; they build leads that greatly, and then their bench can just keep the lead. everybody talks about great rookies and their successes, but tony parker(who usually doesn't get mentioned for young talent) is only 22... scary huh? he's like nash, but can actually play defense. how many times have you seen the spurs win by at least 20 pts?

seattle and phoenix are both big entertaining surprises... i'm giving the nod to seattle though because they are better AS A TEAM... they are deeper, they play team defense quite well, and they have found ways to cover their main weakness(lack of an interior); danny fortson has been superb. i would consider them the biggest threat to san antonio's road to the finals(not to mention they've actually WON against the spurs, unlike phoenix, even when they had nash); phoenix has been great, but i'm putting them at 3 because of their sheer lack of depth; look at how they're doing w/o nash. they also don't use their bench too often. they can't play defense, and they lack so much in depth(i personally hate nash too, because he can't play d). yes, they're doing great so far. but i like to look at the "completeness" package and ability to cover weaknesses, and so far, suns look great, but not superb.

i was stuck w/4; i really doubt sacramento is really no 4. but no other team in the west seems good enough to take the 4. and sac HAS been on a 6-win streak. so i'll give it to them by default. maybe cuttino mobley added something to this team. however, his d is not that great; above-average at best, moderate usually.

-which team impressed me most in the west?

well, for me, it was sorta hard to decide between j-rich's recent huge upstart, showing that he could finally lead the warriors, or seattle continuing to be in TOP playoff contention. honestly. i'll go w/warriors though. i think everybody thought they were done this year. and the win record says that. to see j-rich suddenly come out gives me hope... (chris mullin, you're forgiven) if golden state could just get a good rebounding center and shot blocker, we might actually have a chance of making the playoffs next year.

-which team disappointed me the most in the west?

ugh... hmm... i'm giving the nod to minnesota. i kinda already knew houston gave up too much depth in getting t-mac to be an immediate threat, and it annoys the hell outta me seeing anybody chink/taiwanese rooting for houston. DEPTH, chinks. DEPTH. denver could have made the list, since there were high hopes @the beginning of the season w/the aquiring of kmart. but it's minnesota. think about it; last year they ended at no 1 in the west. they were like no 4 in defense. they were deep. this year, they have pretty much the same cast. but where are they? out of playoff range(just barely); they show a lackidasical effort. they don't lockdown on d no more. kg's still kg, but apparently, the rest of the cast aint 2k4 calibur material. i would even say they disappoint me more than detroit this year.

-top 4 team in the east:

(man i'm loving this year; i hate the fact that detroit isn't as monstrous as last year, but i love the rise of the east; annoyed the hell outta me seeing how everyone treated the east like it was the "leasten conference"; now you've got at least 5 new east teams that are looking good on top of the tried and true, and if pacers weren't involved in the scuffle, you'd have to add them to the list as well this year)

1.miami
2.detroit
3.cleveland
4.washington(who knew? :D)

miami's a no brainer; they lack depth, but they have been able to cover it quite well; i love dwayne wade's mentality towards the game, and shaq has been serious about giving miami something they don't have(i might add, he's also appeared less cocky on tv)

detroit's up there, but even i have to admit, they're not the monster they are last year. they get the nod above the cavs though because they're deeper than cleveland. they have been winning games though, but they haven't been DOMINATING GAMES... they're still a good team, but not a GREAT team this year. of course, this may have something to do with the way they raped la, as well as most of the eastern conference on the way to the finals and won a championship last year... ppl have high expectations for those who are proven winners.

cleveland... lebron james DOT COM... nuff said. he's overexceeeded the hype, and though it annoys me w/the bandwagon fans(i like lebron a bit myself, just that the fans annoy me), facts are facts; he's for real. just wait 4 more years, and see if he isn't like kobe 2.0 or something equivalent. the team though, isn't that great, but it has some good spots, so it's not a lbj-only team: "z", drew gooden...

washington... WARRIORS :D i love how they're doing good this year(they should get more airtime; i wanna watch them more); hughes has been great; areans has been great... jamaison has been great... they're getting the nod above orlando because though i like orlando, they don't play d yet... they have the athletic talent to though...

-which team impressed me the most in the east?

wow, this one's gonna be hard... you've got washington, orlando(dwight howard WILL be good), cleveland, miami... but i'll say: CHICAGO! :D when's the last time you heard them being in playoff contention? that's right: the last time mj took up house there. then after that, they sorta disappeared; they were a joke team; you were either a loser or a faithful loser for loving the post-jordan chicago bulls. but suddenly, this year, they look good. kirk hindrich's been a sorta john stockton/jeff horny-sack(yes, i spelt it wrong on purpose) hybrid, being great on d and offense. eddy curry, lou deng, ben gordon... all these guys are good. and for the life of me, they play hard on both ends... i would love to see them get some national airtime real soon...

-which team disappointed me the most in the east?

i have to swallow my pride and say detroit. yes, they're still winning games. but what were their main strengths? their depth and their lockdown d. their offensive capabilities are above-average AT BEST. so they have to win it on the defensive end. but they don't seem to be locking down compared to last year when they seemed to just under-70'd teams at will, or won by 10 pts or more. and you could argue how much depth they lost; the pick w/mcdyess seems good, but menmet okur seems like a really special player they lost. i could say the same w/colliss williamson(they didn't even use derek coleman). and unless if darko and delfino suddenly get better real soon this year, you can give up on them DOMINATING games this year. they might reemerge in a couple of years if and when darko and delfino get real nasty, but for now, they're good, not GREAT.

(the consolation is that scottie pippen, a great player, has said that he still thinks detroit will repeat this year)

there you go... i think in the future i'll write something about team usa bball and building a team that can compete, as well as long... overdue... thoughts about the team that DID go to greece.

fyi, alice kim is nicholas cages' wife, if you didn't know already... i think he's just weird and messed up. don't believe me? he's talking like he's been korean all his life: "kimchee's good for my soul... etc..." i think he's just trying to suck up to his wife.

futurama and family guy are hilarious. that and chappelle's show. i honestly believe no 3 other tv shows can make me laugh as hard as these 3. and fyi, futurama is not a sci-fi only type of cartoon. it's more adult-referenced than the simpsons. last night on adult swim, futurama made fun of star trek. they had the 3 crew members of futurama fight to the death against the actors of star trek. william shattner w/the "hey! maybe i can throw my boot at them, like in episode 14!"

-"why do you act like i know karate? just cause i look japanese?"
-"we never asked you"
-"i wish you had" (looks downcast)