when i have time toNIGHT, i'll post on my thoughts on the artest trade deal finally done as well as my opinion on piston fans that ARE detroit residents

get lucky, and i might even write some stuff about us ball 2-3 spots.

or more about e-sword.

but i can't really go into that in depth right now, as i've got some stuff to handle. and it's late.

hope this little stuff keeps your ears and eyes peeled though.

later

1st Thessalonians 5:21 has more-or-less become the creed by which i have been living for about 1 year now

because if we just live by accepting what others say, even in the church, and never make sure what they say is bibically correct, are we not just sheep led to the slaughterer? people will act like it's terrible to keep a skeptic's eye at everything, but look at the possible consequences that can occur. i for one, refuse to be taken advantage of regarding my christian knowledge if i can help it.

*i need to update the bible verse links at the top of my journal; there's so many other verses that i have tried to commit to learn because of the influence that they have*

just to list a smattering of them:

Psalm 2:1-3
Psalm 12:6-7
Isaiah 55:8-9
Jeremiah 11:9-10
Ezekiel 22:25
Ezekiel 33:6-9
Romans 9:6-8
Romans 11:5
Romans 11:29
Romans 11:33-34
1st Corinthians 10:23
1st Corinthians 16:30
Galatians 3:16
1st Thessalonians 5:21
Hebrews 2:14-18
Hebrews 7:22
Hebrews 8:6-13
Hebrews 9:15-17
Hebrews 10:16-18

note how many of these deal with conspiracies, God's promises, definitions to help assert those promises, etc.

for instance, one of the hebrew verses defines what a "testator" is, who writes a testament. it's one of the arguments that is used to help assert why only the kjv bible should be used(kjv uses formal equivalence(word-for-word translation), except when necessary to add words, and when they do, they put them in italics)

you guys should read what pippen said on his blog about not being able to compare kobe to mj

and it's not b/c he says mj's better; it's the way the rules of the game are compared to back then. it was more physical, harder to score points.

(maybe that's why i was so impressed *and still am* by the pistons being able to hold the lakers to below 70 pts in game 3 of the 2004 finals; it's great to know that in the modern nba era, some teams are still committed to playing exceptional defense, and not just squeezing by with the minimum)

but going back to the subject, don't forget; mj was also one of the best defenders; you exert all that energy on defense, and it's not a surprise that he only topped out at 69. and i believe this was against the celtics, which were really up there on both ends.

ahh, the crux of nba bball; you change the rules so that you can score more and bring in more fans, but now you have more people who just don't "get it." or you leave it as is, but now you're making a lot less money.

makes me wish i actually got into nba bball seriously while i was still in jr high, and not like starting senior year in high school; nbc played a lot more games than abc did, and all those great players were still playing back then. i could've learned a lot more from actually analyzing everything mj and scottie did.

kim clisters vs martina hingis was a great matchup

korean food is like black food asianized

seriously, i've never eaten asian food where almost everything in the menu is in some way doused with hot sauce

something concerning the message bible for you guys to mull over

and i thought this sunday was going to be all about the afc and nfc championships

well, didn't everybody? (my mind was totally in football mode this sunday; big ben is now the 2nd youngest player to make the super bowl, and has made the super bowl in just his 2nd year in the nfl *i think*)

how can you top kobe's 81 in this day and age? i dunno.

but it's funny; ppl watch nights like these, and think that kobe is invincible.

then you watch the games where his team's trailing against great defensive teams, where he gets pissed like he did last night, and then proceeds to hoist roughly the same amount of shots, and none of them fall.

i know that great teams will never do this, and i think that in the future when kobe has a better supporting cast, *hopefully* he doesn't ever do this(or maybe does just to lose so i can mock him and all the laker fans which support him, for thinking this is how you win games); but for the record, right now it is pretty intriguing to just check on espn.com and nba.com occasionally to see him just take off against defensively-weak teams.

keep in mind that if you watched a transcript of the shots he took, almost all of them were in close; a number of them were at the free throw line. only 7 3s were hit for him.

so THAT is why he can't do this stuff against defensive-minded teams; they'll have great big men to contest him when he gets in close, and they'll have great perimeter defenders to prevent him from driving in the 1st place; as a result, he'll have to take a LOT more outside jumpers, which just doesn't fall.

e-Sword - the Sword of the LORD with an electronic edge

simply the best study software for the kjv of the bible. period.

it's free too.

while you can't carry it with you, like on a usb drive, it's simply unbelievable.

for 17 mb, it includes all this and more:

scripture memorization tool
prayer request tool
dictonary and concordance
enables you to markup all over it, with highlighters or to write and save notes on the side
print specific verses
bible reading plan
change fonts and stuff
etc

plus you can download addins on their site like maps and stuff to further enhance it.

it's really great, the problem is that i'm usually not studying the kjv in front of a cpu. when i am on campus, i usually can't use this b/c i'd have to dl and install it, which won't work on the other cpus in the lab, and i can't use it on a usb drive.

but it sure is useful at the apt.

martina hingis must have a really weak serve and smash hit

because everytime i've seen her serve, the sound of the ball bouncing off the court barely sounds at all. no speed.

nevertheless, her all-around game in tennis is astounding.

sorta like roger federer without that (occasional)strong serve.

big ben, the bus, and troy are all too good

bettis just mows over defenders when he runs forward. and he provides excellant additional pass protection for ben during pass plays.

this year's super bowl's gonna be interesting; steelers and seahawks.

team by team stats are really interesting

click and fool around

detroit's perimeter might be THE best in the game; while detroit is easily tops in the game, followed by san antonio, and we know both teams are atrocious on the defensive end, it's interesting to see how they stack up.

look at fg% of the opponents. san antonio has the lowest, but detroit falls somewhere in the middle. this is partially due to the fact that marc stein has noticed that the 2 wallaces haven't been as strong as in 2004 when they 1st got rasheed; you'll notice in a lotta games, power forwards have been having their way with the pistons. that of course, doesn't mean they win em, but it's a major sight of concern.

does that mean the pistons suck on d? no... look at their 3 pt % of their opponents; it seems almost like a role reversal; detroit is probably the best perimeter defending team! although san antonio is still top 10 here. what surprised me was the lakers placing 1st, but then again, they had that time where they had a huge streak, and kobe IS one of the best perimeter defenders. quite honestly, i think detroit has the best perimeter defense; you got tay, but i started to see the light how good billups was last year, and rip is SLOWLY improving in that area as well.

granted detroit is still one of the leaders in points allowed per game, but realize that if you constantly bring the ball up court slowly and play half court, then those numbers can seem a bit inflated. however, detroit leads in point differentials per game; +8.86. so they in that aspect, are the best team as of now.

like i said, there's more interesting observations you can make, but i'll let you do it yourself; it's more fun that way.

here's some non-pistons, non-spurs observations:

phoenix is a much better defensive team that people make them out to be.

gsw actually plays WORSE defense compared to sacramento; sad, but true. gsw's perimeter defense is SLIGHTLY better, but not by much.

miami might actually be a lot better at defense than what i originally thought; they're right behind detroit in 3pt%. and their fg% is 6th. quite honestly, that makes no sense, b/c we all know miami to not be very good in defending, especially on the perimeter. but then, they seem to on average, only win by 3.82 pts; that means there's cases where they play exceptionally well, and other cases where they don't.

of course, numbers don't tell all the story. b/c it's a common fact that houston isn't REALLY a defensive team, but more like a half-court offense team.

the day after mlk day...

some of the christian ppl who preach w/their signs on campus were at it again...

their signs read something like:

no racism, no sodomy, honor mlk

or something like that...

opponents stood next to them holding a sign saying

"mlk does not equal indifference"

(i presume they were opponents, b/c one of them was smoking)

and i was just shaking my head saying to myself

"man, these opponents of these christians just don't get it"

there are two sides to christianity; a side of grace, and a side of justice; the 1st says i'm going to love you regardless of who you are, ie equal love, and demonstrate agape love. the 2nd says i'm not going to accept your moral wrongs and compromise my standings on what is right and wrong(ie i want you to become something you're not). both are complete opposites, and yet completely true of jesus.

mlk demonstrated jesus' teachings perfectly by living out BOTH. he loved all people, not just his own brethren, but the white marchers who supported him, even those who opposed him, which was why he did not strike back. but he recognized the evils of discrimination, and refused to back down from what he believed in, even laying down his life to do it. he was just a preacher, but God turned him into one of the most iconic people of the 19th century.

unfortunately, all the world sees is only a fragment of the side of grace that he lived. they forget his incompromising will towards what is right. maybe mlk, if he was alive today, might not be as outspoken against sodomy(God gives us all different battles to fight in), but i know he certainly would not support it.

funny how you don't need to be black to appreciate mlk, but the ones that still appreciate him fully and aren't black are christian, IF they sit down and think about how he epitomizes a christian.

how many of you guys are hedging bets that kobe and shaq only hugged and shook hands b/c they were televised on mlk day?

i'm glad joey porter said what he thought

yes, he's going to be fined...

but someone had to say it...

i really felt the exact same.

there was NO WAY that was an incomplete. no way.

in fact, they should fire that ref for making such a bad call.

but chances are, they won't, b/c in conspiracies, the upper office will always protect the pawns.

this is interesing

Romans 21:25-29(italicized words are in brackets)

25For I would not, brethren, that ye should be ignorant of this mystery, lest ye should be wise in your own conceits; that blindness in part is happened to Israel, until the fulness of the Gentiles be come in.
26And so all Israel shall be saved: as it is written, There shall come out of Sion the Deliverer, and shall turn away ungodliness from Jacob:
27For this [is] my covenant unto them, when I shall take away their sins.
28As concerning the gospel, [they are] enemies for your sakes: but as touching the election, [they are] beloved for the fathers’ sakes.
29For the gifts and calling of God [are] without repentance.

concentrate on verse 29; if what this says is true, then that means once God has saved someone, they CAN'T fall away. which means... those who are saved, but later deny their faith and die without taking back their renouncing... were not saved to begin with. why else would jesus say in the gospels,
"i never knew you"? did he say, "i once knew you, but you fell away?"

also think about verse 26; do you think that refers to a spiritual Israel, or the fleshly Israel? wouldn't it be lying if it referred to the Jews? hence, are we supposed to expect that there will be a massive revival of Jews?

steelers at colts was a game decided by mistakes

that's what i felt.

however, there was something i remembered while watching espn last night, to the extent of this about indy's defense:

their defense relies more upon the talent of each player, not actually them being a team that blitzes.

this was true, as jerome bettis just ripped the colts and ate time up on the clock by doing so.

that supposed int by troy polamalu but was ruled an incomplete by the challenge smells of conspiracy; there was no way that was counted an incomplete; it's quite possible that they did that to hopefully give the colts the win.

and as for vanderjagt, he has simply no excuse; they were playing in the rca dome, at home, in an indoor field; funny to watch though all his team's efforts go to waste.

like i said, the game was decided by mistakes, not by what each team did right, first the supposed conspiracy. then when steelers supposedly have the game, instead of taking a knee to seal the win, bettis loses the football in an attempted-run-in, causing a runback to midfield. then vanderjagt loses on the punt.

edit: kudos to big ben not only for his strong performance during the 1st half of the game, but for stopping the potential int to td at the end of the game. i guess defense really does win championships, even if you're not supposed to play it.

us men's bball - point guards

ok, figures i might as well; as we all figured out, international bball is not quite the same as nba bball; a lot more emphasis is on the perimeter. i thought i'd over the next few days post some good players that would help make up a good team. to be honest, some of my stuff might read like the entry one of the espn guys wrote up(read it for fun if you want to get your juices flowing as well).

read the article here

anyways, today i thought i'd list 4-6 guys good for the point guard position.

ideally, the point guard should be a guy who can distribute the ball offensively. being able to hurt from beyond the arc's very important, but that can come from your 2's and 3's.

jason kidd: the only remaining pure point guard so i guess we gotta list him. he is getting KINDA old, so he can provide good leadership on the court, and ppl will listen to him. all-around, he simply makes people better on offense; you don't need a lotta shot creators when he's on the court, just good spot-up shooters. and his defense is pretty good too. only weakness might be that he's not really that dangerous one on one; still good, but not great.
to best complement him: just surround him with good spot-up shooters or guys who don't need the ball to create(which is also good, b/c the spot-up shooters often tend to be better defenders than guys who create in a lotta cases, making your team good on offense and defense)

chauncey billups: obviously i'm a pistons fan, but hey, we gotta list him. he's not a pure point guard, but he has shown with the experience he's gotten with larry brown and flip saunders that he flat-out does everything a good point guard's supposed to do almost better than anybody else(except creating shots for others; jason kidd does that better). excellant perimeter shooter when the clock's winding down to bail guys out of tight spots, heavy so he can back guys down, good ability to create shots for others, always cool-headed, making him a great leader on offense, and on top of that, plays great defense. no real weaknesses i can think of.
to best complement him: put a spot-up shooter on the court; it will double his already good offensive abilities. or a defensive player to lockdown on the perimeter. remember that this guy like kidd can fastbreak, so athletic guys are gooood.

mike bibby: not a kings fan, but he used to be good when webber was around, reason being he had someone to run around before catching a pass and the pressure to make a shot wasn't all on him. he's one of the few kings who actually TRIES to play defense(though with the numerous games i've watched him, he still doesn't lockdown), and he is unselfish making the extra pass, so he would not be a bad fit.
to best complement him: a big man who can score w/the ball in his hands, and a 2 spot who can defend well.

chris paul: didn't want to list all all-stars or in the case of billups, strong potential all-stars, and chad ford listed him in his recommendations, but i am kinda stuck as to why he's good, only that he's one of the few players which are making the hornets look decent this year.

dwayne wade: guy can't shoot beyond the arc, and at the int level, ppl will just crowd the lane if you drive, limiting his mj-esque slashing dunks. but he is selfless on the offensive end(which is good; don't want all guys on the us team who seriously think they're the team's #1 scoring option), and very fast, which should free him off his man a bit and send a lotta double teams at him, giving his teammates wide open 3s. good defensive abilities thanks to his athleticism, though i think you'll need to prod him to really work on them to make team us shine.
to best complement him: a 2 guard who can defend well so that perimeter d doesn't go down the pipes when he's playing, and guys who can spot up for 3s well so that hopefully that lane opens up a bit more for him to operate

i sound like i'm being very redundant; sorry, except for billups, i'll admit i don't really look at the point guards(or maybe most of all the good pg's except for billups and kidd are int? parker, nash, etc); maybe when i tackle the 2s and 3s as well as 4s and 5s it'll be a bit less redunant.

to be continued next time: shooting guards/small forwards

is rasheed THAT good of a 1-on-1 post defender?

i gotta ask this because it's a DUH that rasheed defends better in the post compared to ben wallace. ben is of course the king of help d, but i've thought about how sam's told me once he thinks rasheed is the best 1-on-1 post defender in the nba.

i mean, i know rasheed is all-around a great defender. no question.

but could he really be THAT good? thoughts; hit me up on this one. what does he do that makes him so much better than say, kevin garnett, or tim duncan?

he's one of the few nba players who can defend duncan straight up, according to the espn.com pistons spurs recap, so would that put him up there? we all know how devastating duncan can be on offense(he rarely has an off night).

because if it is true, then i maybe am underestimating the true potential of the pistons' d. you've got arguably the best perimeter defender, best post defender and best help defender all on the same team; that's pretty hard to top defense-wise. no wonder they held 5 opponents in a row to under 70 in 2004.

i've been meaning to post up some of my bible notes

some from xmas service, some from my previous bible study that i held w/the guys in my group, cause these were good thoughts, but i'll do that tomorrow. promise.

yesterday's "message" that we discussed was good though; "grace vs truth." essentially, the two components of jesus; his mercy and his just, holy side, and how these 2 qualities are almost contrasts, but yet fully part of jesus.

but to give you something to mull on in anticipation of tomorrow, i'll point out that the church of today has grown soft; they're too concerned about the upholding of the grace side of being a christian, and not about telling the truth, even if it hurts. look at proverbs 9:8. in fact, there's a lotta good verses telling about the value of rebuking; hit up "rebuke" on any bible search engine. everytime someone accuses the church of doing something wrong, it's always "why can't we just get along? what happened to the love that christ is all about?" you fool, christ's love can be see in two different ways.

"i don't want to hurt them" is a poor excuse for not being real; the truth will ALWAYS hurt. if you care so much about them, you will be willing to sacrifice the relationship between you and them to make the relationship between them and God that much better.

so my quest for a good kjv freeware continues

b/c "bible plus" is good, but does not point out the italicized words.

"bible database" looks good, but you can't install it onto another spot on your cpu, enabling you to carry it on your usb(which was my intentions)

so i'll be trying e-sword tonight and seeing how that goes; hopefully it'll work on usb drive, have the kjv, and the words will be italicized.

some more sports stuff

i wonder what's more likely; paul pierce getting some quality help, or him getting traded? both seem improbable. i like pierce as a player(as a celtic); all-around good player, and hope he doesn't get traded. though it's not exactly a match of titans, i'll enjoy watching him take on aix2 tonight. not going to be too concerned about heat and sonics; won't be able to watch it, and we know the outcome already.

(maybe all the "leastern conference" jokes during the reign of lakers and spurs came b/c of the atlantic; seems all the jokes we hear now are about the "titanic" division)

i wonder when lebron and dwayne are going to commit to really develop as defensive players. right now, they just showcase some potential but never develop it.

convert any file to .pdf for free

there's other good programs that don't require the internet, but this is probably the only one which doesn't require a driver(good for when you're using a uc computer in their lab)

but if you don't have that problem, PDF redirect is pretty good for that purpose.

(i'm posting this b/c i know if you send online resumes, it's a pretty good suggestion to convert your file to .pdf before you send it, not a .doc)

THIS... IS... UNREAL...

i keep giving san antonio the benefit of the doubt... cause i know san antonio really isn't a pushover team...

but detroit is seriously unreal.

if you told me detroit was going to duplicate what they did on xmas day(hold san antonio to 70 or under and beat them by 15) ON THE SPURS' HOME COURT, WITH A HEALTHY GINOBILI, i really would not have believed it.

unreal, period.

(on another note, too bad it looks like artest looks like he's going to the clips and the warriors lose to the suns)