anybody else surprised how the nba's going along so far?

i've always liked the eastern conference more than the west; things are interesting now(although i'd still wish celts and bulls were stronger)

bucks are looking good... i've kinda liked michael redd starting 2 years ago, so with a good roster, look for them to be decent again. i found it interesting how he got his dad(he's a p.k.) a church. so it's definitely a surprise who's a christian in the nba; not like the days of old where the only christians were the ones who were definitely outspoken about it(robinson and avery)

wizards look GOOD... some will say that they got lucky against the spurs(duncan shot poorly), but on top of arenas having a good shot, they actually took the place of chicago, ie they had the best allowed fgp; something like 39%. guess they didn't need hughes after all.

pistons are doing GREAT; leads in points allowed, and top ten in points per game; they're doing it on both ends. i don't need to talk TOO much about the pistons; you know how much i'm liking them, and how well they're doing, but just to throw out some stats; best start the pistons ever did was 9-0; i believe the same year they did that, they went on to win their 1st nba championship. the best streak to start though belongs to washington and houston; i believe they went 15-0. it's not a stretch to say the pistons CAN duplicate that feat and go over it; i don't see spurs, indiana, or heat in any of their up-coming games, but you never know. i'm hoping they at least break their franchise record(ie 10-0); they're 7-0 right now.

btw, pierce called prince a poor defender. supposedly b/c he doesn't need to worry too much if ppl blow by him, cause he's got wallace x2. but apparently paul forgot that prince doesn't LET people blow by him often to begin with.

it's eating me up inside how much the lakers and kings suck, and that the warriors and clippers lead the pacific conference. wouldn't it be funny to see supposed "clippers fans" come outta the woodwork if they make the playoffs and the lakers don't? all of us will be called "bs, i never heard of a die-hard clippers fan"

now, it seems like the west as a whole just isn't as strong as the east, and i'm liking that too. like i've said b4, spurs, and then a long drop, and then it seems like everybody's meshed together.

injury prone? nah, but hey...

walking to one of my classes (food packaging class), while eating kashi out of a ziplock bag w/my open palm...

something flies RIGHT onto my cereal right as i put it in my mouth...

i thought it was a leaf, but just to be sure, i spit out whatever was in my mouth...

i saw a live bee alongside those clusters...

in pure shock i immediately threw the cereal and the bee in my palm onto the grass.

good thing i did NOT chew, or my mouth could've been in a world of hurt. i was lucky enough it didn't bite me when i first put it in my mouth and closed it.

and if it survived the chewing and went into my stomach? god only knows how many holes might stomach might've had by now.

whatthehell do bees do flying onto palms of hands, wanting to sting like that?

---

and i caused my left big toe to bleed when i accidently pulled the nail up getting up(hard to explain), essentially separating some of the skin underneath the nail.

if you treat goh like a sort of washed-up akira, you could probably play him fairly well

f,f+p:b+p+g is your f,f,f+p
b,df+p is your df+p+k; make the b,df+p good by doing it as b,b,df+p to give it a better chance of beat a lot of stuff
b,f+p is a little different in that you can't use it for delayed attacks; but abuse this move after every successful dodge and after blocking slow moves
FC,f+p+k is the same in terms of using it to beat certain moves; however, it doesn't have as much range, and of course, doesn't have the high damage possibilities as akira's move

make sure to use his long range moves; b,f+k, b+p, and k are all good moves when goh's not on top of his opponent. if not on top of the opponent, mod the moves by doing a backdash first; especially good with the b+p.

always look to throw, but not TOO much.

unfortunately, you need to work a LOT to use goh well; he's just so lacking in the strike attacks. fun though. i'd say the best options for his delayed attack is to either go for f+p+k,p(40 pts base damage plus oppurtunity to pressure them even more as they get up), or shoulder ram(27 ish pts plus oppurtunity to pressure as they stagger), but he just doesn't really have anything there. f,f+k+g:b+p+g MIGHT be good once in a while, but it's just not quick enough to snag the opponent repeatedly.

hahahahaha

have you actually realized that

the warriors and the clips are now the best cali bball teams!?!?

as of now, clippers, then warriors, then lakers, then kings.

don't hate; the birth of a new rivalry is occurring.

now how'd you like us now, kings and laker fans?

(thanks God, you make me smile knowing that red hot chili peppers bassist flea is rolling over in his sleep as i can tell by his blog)

btw, i don't pray and never pray for basketball teams or any sports teams to become better and get more wins or win a championship; that's being selfish.

the last time pistons went 5-0 at the beginning of the season, they went on to become the nba champions...

the last time pistons won the nba championships, their bench was DEEP, and produced a lotta help.

an omen for things to come?

i watched last night's game, and ben wallace's 1-handed putback got me all riled up. completely sucked the life outta the crowd.

charles barkeley's totally right; all championship teams defend well and rebound well; teams like the suns may be able to beat 90% of the teams during the regular season, but what are you going to do when you come up against the elite teams in the playoffs? in close games, near the 4th quarter, you see just how important defense and rebounding can be, and the pistons slowly climbed towards the suns and then passed them.

watching the way rip dismantles defenses on the offensive end makes me wish we played more 5-on-5 or even 4-on-4 rather than 3-on-3; you can do more team plays than 3-on-3; i still feel 3-on-3 is too much 1-on-1ish. the way rasheed is on one side of the court, and ben and tay are on the other end, and chauncy's out on the perimeter; rip did this so many times during the 4th; he'd run towards sheed looking for a good screen, but couldn't get one(ie bell or barbosa? would still be on his tail), so, he'd cut towards the other side, where a double screen by ben and tay were set perfectly, then curl right into the key after passing tay. tay would step out at the last minute when rip passed him, trapping rip's defender, setting him free. billups would read him perfectly, dribble over and pass him the ball; you know what rip would do there. he was just on fire. if billups couldn't get a good pass at rip, he would back up, take nash 1-on-1, and nail the 3.

also watching how the pistons defended the pick and roll and adjusted in the 4th always impresses me; at first they had problems defending against nash's pick-n-roll because chauncy always went over the screen and then nash would either drain it for a 3 or drive in. or the same against barbosa when rip was guarding him. but they adjusted in the 4th and then rasheed or ben instead switched and that made all the difference, so that's given me a realization that defending against pick and rolls is not all about switching or going over the screen(or under it), it's all about what what the small guy and the big guy are capable of offensively; i know how to do all 3(done them all playing w/the other guys), but you need to read the opponent and know what they're capable of.

going over screen - beats those who can't drive, but can put up a shot if they have time to gather themselves
-works better if your big man defender isn't very fast
going under screen - beats those who can drive, but can't put up a shot
switching - works if your big man is fast enough or the opponent can put up a shot or drive very quickly.

this is an example of good team defense over individual defense. that can only come if you know your teammates and have good insight and communication with each other.

also, this puzzled me; i heard a LOT of cheers during the pistons vs suns games for the pistons. at first, i thought it was only for antonio mcdyess when he was hitting his foul shot, b/c i knew he had played at suns for a while. but then i also heard it for ben. and then saw a LOT of pistons fans in the stands after the game. are suns fans just really bandwagonish? did detroit hook up some of their fans to travel to phoenix? is there some connection i don't know about?

truth

*sigh* it seemed like t.o. was supposed to be such a humble guy destined for greatness when "the catch II" occurred...

and yet, now we have to wonder...

"what the hell happened?"

i believe fear is the correct term. once you get a taste of power, you become afraid of letting any of it go.

sorta like anakin skywalker.

the only really important things i've got to do today are

finish my fungal lab assignment before class
pray a little
look at some possible internships (i REALLY need to get this thing going; lazyass)

and buy some snacks...

or as luwen would say it, "snex"

haha... remember that?

that is, snacks for tonight's fellowship.

man, i am so tired.

i mean, there's other stuff i really need to take care of, but these are the important things.

do i even need to say anything?

pistons win AND kings lose in a blowout...
in other words, a team i absolutely love b/c of their approach to the game wins and a team which i absolutely loathe b/c of their approach to the game loses :D

warriors also won, which only made me VERY happy.

pistons are looking sharp in the beginning of the season, which is rare... undefeated... look for them to possibly come out #1 on the espn power rankings early. i like this, but i'm keeping my fingers crossed that they don't burn out and forget what got them to the finals the past 2 seasons. or lose to the heat or pacers.

also, this pissed me off

that's just disrespect. just be glad the pistons didn't see that video before they played; chances are if they did they'd play with even more passion and absolutely destroy the kings(if you didn't think that occurred). rasheed would just bring his hate.

my fav piston prince was ON FIRE in the 3rd; i watched him, and he just could not miss; rediculous. and he even got his only block that night as his trademark fast-break block that everybody knows him for on mike bibby's layup seemingly outta nowhere, which made me smile even more. ben wallace and tayshaun prince simply took brad miller and peja out of their offensive game.

it really is interesting to note how just because flip saunders lets the players run free on offense, especially an athletic team like the pistons, allows them to do a LOT better offensively. if the pistons don't forget and let down the defensive intensity that got them where they did last 2 years, expect them to be even better w/flip.

i try to watch prince and learn off of him, but now that flip has let him and other pistons run free, i'm starting to see the huge repetoire of offensive moves that he's never unleashed when larry was coaching him. he DOES have a good handle. and a good shooting touch. so it's like last year all over again.

about time...

Eagles fire TO

ykno, i liked to too, even when he became an eagles player.

but everything that's happened in the offseason and during this season is rubbish.

donovan didn't mean that to was worthless when he said the team would do well even without to last year; he just meant the eagles are deep.

to seems to be a guy who seems to take everything emotionally and personally and then never forgive.

for a game which is arguably the ultimate in team sports, it's absolutely unacceptable to put yourself above the team. times three. or four.

so, this really is the best for philly.

pny technologies 512 mb usb drive is only...

27.99 at fry's.

(normally 59.99)

better hurry; ends on the 8th.

glad i got one; 128 mb is a lot more than a disk, but it still gets annoying when i can't save stuff onto my usb b/c i have a large slideshow collection or video or whatnot.

and that, my friends, is how you can REALLY start emulating reggie miller

like i dunno, nailing clutch shots...

wow...

82-81, pistons; rip nails the jumper as time expires

who gets no love in football?

football's a team sport.

but have you ever wondered who on that team NEVER gets any real appreciation for?

the offensive linemen that protect the qb.

in almost all other cases, the player is recognized.

let's be fair; in a lotta cases, the star of a football team is the qb and his favorite wide receiver.

but in a lotta other cases, other players receive acclaim.

like defensive positions; sapp, or linebackers like bruschi. or good defensive players on the side that contain to and the likes of him.

on the offense, any qb and his targets are good acclaim. so are the runningbacks.

even the KICKER gots love sometimes; adam vinateri, ackers.

but never the offensive linemen.

these guys are responsible for making sure the qb never gets sacked and yet when they do their job enabling the qb to find his favorite targets, it's always the qb or the wr who gets the spotlight.

then again, when the offensive linemen do their job, so do the qb's, and the wr's, etc. but still...

just some thoughts.

btw, marcus vick and vt are looking like michael vick and vt of old.

indiana did not disappoint me

that's why i love jermaine o'neal and the pacers with their deep bench and strong d.

but it surprised me how close the game was...

even WITH shaq gone out...

ditto w/most of the game, when shaq was in...

so i guess miami really is for real; the former all-stars on this team know they need to play roles, not superstar stuff; payton knows like alonzo, his role is as a defensive stopper. etc.

one more thing before i go to sleep

dennis rodman was on best damn sports show period, and he was kind enough to give a demonstration of how he rebounds so well.

so pay attention; i'm writing down what i remember. it may not come out exactly like he said it and showed it, but i'll try.

basically, he gets near the baseline, on the side away from the shooter. tries to get further and further away from the opponent ie towards the baseline.

then he tries to read how the ball lands on rim; ie will it come to him or not.

if he thinks he's got a chance to rebound it, he'll come in on his opponent(the one guarding him or boxing him out), and then put his arm under the opponent's arm, the arm closest to him(remember, he's trying to be on the baseline), and then levers up on their armpit or upper arm area, something like that.

by doing this, he can box out the opponent, even when they had better positioning beforehand. physical i thought, but then after thinking about it, there is no soft in rebounding.

so i'm sitting here and thinking about that; it sounds like it could work really well on the offensive end, but it's not a good idea on the defensive end; you want to be on the inside, getting positioning; if you play like a big man like i do, and do that on the defensive end, lingering on the far baseline, you leave the bucket wide open. also, it might not be that good of an idea all the time even on the offensive end; dennis was a pure rebounder. not saying that's bad, but if you're trying to play a well-rounded game, you're not always going to be lingering near the baseline.

noo, the tekken 5 p1 side's broken!

i was looking to finally playing it after all my midterms were finally done for a while...

and then THIS!

but the mu has a good arcade staff; i'm sure they'll fix it.

tekken 5 seems to pull in a lotta ppl at their arcade anyways, so they would lose money to not do so.

btw, vf5 looks like it's gonna be hot stuff

-no more juggling; combos are still in, but it looks like it's gonna be more like sf-style linking. prob not as broken as some sf games.

-graphics look VERY good; they should never really play into how good a fighting game is, but this is sega we're talking about; they're really good.

-just hoping the u.s. masses will actually play this game.

based upon their 1st season game...

i like what flip's done for the pistons' bench and their offense...

if delfino, darko(yes, he played darko in the 2nd quarter, and again in the 4th), and carlos step up the way they did tonight, against the top teams, and not just the crappy teams like the sixers tonight,

they could be THE eastern team, or maybe even THE team for years to come...

at the very least, we could be seeing a lotta more spurs and pistons final matchups than once thought.

i mean, it seems like the pistons have basically changed nothing in terms of additions, only getting maurice evans from the kings and dale davis from the pacers.

but flip has really given the bench some abilities now. it's not just mcdice and carlos.

pistons could rank up there with spurs as having one of the best benches in the league.

suddenly, joe dumars is looking a LOT like the genius who dropped grant hill for ben wallace again ;D

can't wait to see pacers and heat tomorrow. bc i'll be FINALLY done w/1st wave of midterms for 2 weeks or so...

that can of whoopass that the hornets opened on the kings was all that was necessary yesterday to make me smile

what defense? waitaminute, you're the kings, nevermind... former gsw speedy just torched them, combined w/j.r. smith.

what offense? oh, you mean that floater that the birdman just sent right into the crowd, and your low 20s shot percentage? not to mention all those turnovers?

speedy claxton dunked yesterday, btw...

no doubt kings aren't going to play THIS bad for a long time, and call me sadistic, but i enjoyed it...

i LOVE it when a basketball team which solely relies upon its offense just suffers and can't shoot the ball at all, can't defend.

indiana shot poorly in game 6 of the eastern conference finals vs detroit 2003-2004 season, but they made a game of it defensively. so you can't say that once you can't shoot the ball, you're out of the game.

but this is the kings we're talking about.

denver-spurs looked like a mavericks reunion. no doubt both teams are going to be good in the west, but the spurs look REALLY loaded on their bench.

reggie miller's now a tnt commentator.

sixers-pistons tonight; i'll be enjoying that... while i eat dinner in haste *stupid genetics midterm grumblegrumble* pistons bench looks SLIGHTLY stronger this year; they got davis, and if one of the other players steps up like darko, carlos or delfino, they could be the best team in the east. i'll also like to see if flip does more of the stuff he did in minnesota like throw double teams on d at the sixers all the time, or leaves it like it is, and lets detroit do their 1-on-1 d(which i've grown to love)... also, wonder if they're gonna be a little stronger offensively.

and indiana-heat tommorow; i'm definitely looking forward to that, cause i want to see how good the heat are, and i've liked o'neal a bit.

heh, you know what would've been funny?

on halloween: indiana jersey w/o'neal on the back, no 7, pacers shorts, nike shoks, yellow headband, two armbands, two boxing gloves.

amazing how closely related the bible and its layers of prophesies are related to the layers of expression behind genetics

like genetics, the bible is LAYERED with meaning; prophesies and words left and right can combine together to spell truths we may not even truly realize, foretellings of the future not yet realized by the common man; for instance, how jesus actually died on wednesday and not friday. or whether the rcc really is the antichrist. genetics is in a like vein, so complex it's mindboggling. 95% of the human genome is JUNK DNA, and yet it probably plays a lot of roles not yet understood. the human genome was already sequenced, and yet, people still don't know what areas of the genome play what roles.
both are not yet fully understood by the common man; there's what everybody understand, and then there's stuff beneath that.
one is archaic and yet fully trustworthy, yet not thought to be so in this modern day. the other is modern and considered to be fully trustworthy, when we have just cracked the iceberg on it, and really don't have a clue as to what it's all about, and in fact probably supplements the other topic more than the other supplements it.

and i am intrinsically seemingly destined to be tied to both.

halloween

i wanted to write something about it, cause i remembered learning something bad about its connotations about last year, but it'll take too long, and i have a midterm to look after, so this is more like a self-reminder.

i will say this though for now; it is tied to roman catholic roots, and the most primative form of halloween involved voluntary human sacrifice or losing a child(the trick or treat), similar to baal worship during biblical times.

this is sorta one of the reasons why roman catholicism should be frowned upon.

it did not resurface in the infant usa because the pilgrims banned it, knowing its devilish roots; however, once the potato famine occurred in ireland, flocking roman catholic irishmen brought the tradition of halloween into the usa.

vf4 series thoughts

ETEG(or E-DTE-G) is used primarily to counter linear attacks. it is nice that it can beat throws, but it will only beat the two strongest throws your opponent does; the throw escapes are only used to partially cover the weakness of a dodge; if you predict a throw, it's much better to go for reverse nitaku; even a low punch would be better. it's sorta like how people key throw escapes in after a reversal; they don't do a RTE in order to escape throws.

i wonder exactly what box step's useful for. seems useful at -3, but when and where should one use it? what does it beat, what doesn't it beat?

for some reason i don't think i can earn the akira's items in the arcade; maybe there's a glitch in vfevo where once you become champion rank, you can't get anymore items? weird...

so anyways, i love tekken, but i know this year i have to not overindulge myself, since i need to finish my school years at uc davis strong. but i still love the game.

so what i do is that i only play the game competitively once a week; like one dollar. but the other days, at night(since no one's around), i'll spend a token or two just to make sure my joystick skillz haven't deteriorated.

problem is, if i play competitively on friday afternoons, a lotta ppl won't be on campus compared to the other days, and so i won't get as much mileage out.

but if i play on another weekday, like thursday, then i am basically wasting valuable studying time.

TINY dilemma that is, but still a dilemma.