The ultimate skill is to take up a position where you are formless. If you are formless, the most penetrating spies will not be able to discern you, nor the wisest counsels be able to do calculations against you. Therefore, your strategy for victories in battle is not repititious, and your formations in response to the enemy are endless. Those who are able to adapt and change in accord with the enemy and achieve victory are called divine.
-Sun Tzu
(applies to pretty much any competitive event you ever do; fighting games, bball, board games)
Thursday, May 18, 2006
funny how at the beginning i thought there might not be a pistons-spurs rematch.
now there's a very good chance both teams won't even MAKE it. (the little good news is that both teams still aren't dead yet)
all those TINY things that i had against flip saunders' coaching is starting to come out as i stunningly find the pistons 1 game loss away from ending their chances of going back to the finals. and not even against the heat or nets. spurs possibly losing to the mavericks isn't so bad of a stunner, because everybody knew dallas was THAT much better this year. the fact that pistons are getting beat by a team they should've routed in 5 games though is rediculous.
but going back to the afterthoughts i've had about flip's philosophy:
for instance, i've always had afterthoughts about double-teaming, considering how good each of the pistons can play 1-on-1. if each of the pistons are that good, why double-team when you know it'll just leave a gaping hole open? it's hurting them, because it's not even really containing lebron, and all these role-players are beating the pistons. i'm not even too sure prince is doing that good of a job containing lebron. in my opinion, billups, hunter, even rip have done better jobs, because it seems that prince's big weakness on defense is he's too frail to fight through screens and still keep pace.
charles barkeley is right in that sometimes detroit feels that they can win games alone with their OFFENSE this year. this is showing in 2 ways; sometimes they rush their shots, and they are STILL a jump-shooting team. they're not being aggressive offensively. and they're looking at offense as a way to beat the opponents, rather than a supplement to their defense.
that being said, maybe the injuries to rip and sheed are what are hurting this team the most this series. rip's been off, and sheed's been off, which gets rid of MANY 3s that could've been hit. with that, you put the majority of the pressure on billups and prince to play your offense, along with antonio coming off the bench.
i still don't see the urgency and desire detroit needs to exhibit in order to win this series. cleveland has been containing lanes much more better on defense and playing their game on offense. lebron james has been nothing short of spectactular, as he has basically been unguardable, and finding open guys that easily. on top of that, his teammates when they get the ball DO finish.
i've had afterthoughts about what type of impact flip would have on the pistons at the beginning of the season like many, but it was quickly squashed in the season by their wins. now, at least to me, larry brown's coaching is looking VERY good.
pistons just don't seem to have that fire that they had in the past. the good news is that they have gotten out of a 3-2 hole on the road before. let's see if they get complacent or not.
---
on a side note, duncan looked VERY, VERY, good.
now there's a very good chance both teams won't even MAKE it. (the little good news is that both teams still aren't dead yet)
all those TINY things that i had against flip saunders' coaching is starting to come out as i stunningly find the pistons 1 game loss away from ending their chances of going back to the finals. and not even against the heat or nets. spurs possibly losing to the mavericks isn't so bad of a stunner, because everybody knew dallas was THAT much better this year. the fact that pistons are getting beat by a team they should've routed in 5 games though is rediculous.
but going back to the afterthoughts i've had about flip's philosophy:
for instance, i've always had afterthoughts about double-teaming, considering how good each of the pistons can play 1-on-1. if each of the pistons are that good, why double-team when you know it'll just leave a gaping hole open? it's hurting them, because it's not even really containing lebron, and all these role-players are beating the pistons. i'm not even too sure prince is doing that good of a job containing lebron. in my opinion, billups, hunter, even rip have done better jobs, because it seems that prince's big weakness on defense is he's too frail to fight through screens and still keep pace.
charles barkeley is right in that sometimes detroit feels that they can win games alone with their OFFENSE this year. this is showing in 2 ways; sometimes they rush their shots, and they are STILL a jump-shooting team. they're not being aggressive offensively. and they're looking at offense as a way to beat the opponents, rather than a supplement to their defense.
that being said, maybe the injuries to rip and sheed are what are hurting this team the most this series. rip's been off, and sheed's been off, which gets rid of MANY 3s that could've been hit. with that, you put the majority of the pressure on billups and prince to play your offense, along with antonio coming off the bench.
i still don't see the urgency and desire detroit needs to exhibit in order to win this series. cleveland has been containing lanes much more better on defense and playing their game on offense. lebron james has been nothing short of spectactular, as he has basically been unguardable, and finding open guys that easily. on top of that, his teammates when they get the ball DO finish.
i've had afterthoughts about what type of impact flip would have on the pistons at the beginning of the season like many, but it was quickly squashed in the season by their wins. now, at least to me, larry brown's coaching is looking VERY good.
pistons just don't seem to have that fire that they had in the past. the good news is that they have gotten out of a 3-2 hole on the road before. let's see if they get complacent or not.
---
on a side note, duncan looked VERY, VERY, good.
Monday, May 15, 2006
cavs definitely aint the bucks. that's why this series is knotted up 2 all instead of 3-1. that said, the game was still close all the way to the end, and it could've been 3-1 at the end of this game as opposed as to 2-2, but since it's knotted up and i like the pistons too much, i'm sitting here shaking my head.
lbj was nothing short of spectactular tonight; his long-range jumpers were falling, and eric snow was really good tonight. while lbj was the catalyst of this game's victory, everybody was hitting jumpers. so much about pistons being this tough interior defensive team.
whoever wrote on espn that the pistons are still primarily a jumpshooting team is right. i think this is what makes their offense not 100% dangerous. i think it can help them a bit, because it can help them stay injury-free. and when they get hot, you can't stop them. but it also gets rid of the ability to create shots when your jumpers can't fall. and when they went cold, as they did tonight, it hurt them.
prince needs to work on his post-up game into baby hook and go back to it as his main weapon; i thought when the pistons were controlling the game offensively was when they stopped going for jumpers and letting prince get in and give lbj fits on the defensive end. prince's in-close, post-up game is better than some ppl realize. i think the biggest way the pistons are going to get better offensively is how well prince becomes on his post-up game.
this is one TINY thing i'm holding against the pistons this year compared to last 2 years. yes, their offense is better, and yes, that does lead to a slight dip defensively. but larry brown had this "asian mentality" when he coaches you(remember your mom which hammered you in high school about that 1 B you got in a flurry of A's on your report card?). you could execute 90% of your plays to perfection in a game, and he would hammer you about the 10% plays you didn't after a game. i really do get the feeling that this year, the pistons have a "flip the switch" mentality; let's turn it on when we're down 10, as opposed to flipping it on before a game and breaking the switch off. and it's kinda helped by the fact that flip is a laid back coach. i see their lockdown defense only coming out in spurts as opposed to all 48 minutes. they're not focused all 48 minutes of a game.
basically, what i'm saying is that those 5% plays you didn't execute to perfection in the 1st quarter will come back to haunt you in a close game in the 4th. it's EASY to blow off those plays when you blow the opponent out. but basketball is such a high scoring game, that you really shouldn't have that mentality at all(t-mac goes for about 12 in 1 minute? miller gets 6 in about 8 seconds?). and tonight, that was the case when the pistons played against the cavs. if you took away 5 plays where the pistons tried to nail a jump shot and replaced them with situations where they let prince post up, or just take it in instead of a jumper, or some plays where they did not double when defending james, the outcome of this game could've been different.
but hey, i don't play the games; i just watch them. i COULD be wrong.
---
so, this is what i'm speculating: if larry brown leaves the knicks(didn't expect this to happen, but i would guess this is the most likely scenario), he will end up as the kings' new head coach. and why not; kings are becoming a much more physical team than in the past, relying on hustle and defense to win games more. and who better to bring in than that guy? they even stated that they were going to pass up don nelson.
(personally, i would like larry brown to coach the warriors; mike montgomery is a bit too laid back on the warriors, which may be why they suck so much defensively, and don nelson is not known for being a defensively genius, but bringing in rick adelman wouldn't be a bad idea either)
---
i think that if you're not an asian, you believe the stereotype that ALL asians can't drive. lemme correct this, and say it's not ALL asians. just the ones which have kids in the back and are FOBs. i guess every one of my taiwanese/korean acquaintances knows this, but i had to say it. ever see them drive 20 miles/hour slower than everybody else?
---
i REALLY should try to get rid of as much on my cpu as soon as possible onto cds and defragment this sucker... it's almost unbearable opening a program. problem is i keep finding online stuff to keep.
lbj was nothing short of spectactular tonight; his long-range jumpers were falling, and eric snow was really good tonight. while lbj was the catalyst of this game's victory, everybody was hitting jumpers. so much about pistons being this tough interior defensive team.
whoever wrote on espn that the pistons are still primarily a jumpshooting team is right. i think this is what makes their offense not 100% dangerous. i think it can help them a bit, because it can help them stay injury-free. and when they get hot, you can't stop them. but it also gets rid of the ability to create shots when your jumpers can't fall. and when they went cold, as they did tonight, it hurt them.
prince needs to work on his post-up game into baby hook and go back to it as his main weapon; i thought when the pistons were controlling the game offensively was when they stopped going for jumpers and letting prince get in and give lbj fits on the defensive end. prince's in-close, post-up game is better than some ppl realize. i think the biggest way the pistons are going to get better offensively is how well prince becomes on his post-up game.
this is one TINY thing i'm holding against the pistons this year compared to last 2 years. yes, their offense is better, and yes, that does lead to a slight dip defensively. but larry brown had this "asian mentality" when he coaches you(remember your mom which hammered you in high school about that 1 B you got in a flurry of A's on your report card?). you could execute 90% of your plays to perfection in a game, and he would hammer you about the 10% plays you didn't after a game. i really do get the feeling that this year, the pistons have a "flip the switch" mentality; let's turn it on when we're down 10, as opposed to flipping it on before a game and breaking the switch off. and it's kinda helped by the fact that flip is a laid back coach. i see their lockdown defense only coming out in spurts as opposed to all 48 minutes. they're not focused all 48 minutes of a game.
basically, what i'm saying is that those 5% plays you didn't execute to perfection in the 1st quarter will come back to haunt you in a close game in the 4th. it's EASY to blow off those plays when you blow the opponent out. but basketball is such a high scoring game, that you really shouldn't have that mentality at all(t-mac goes for about 12 in 1 minute? miller gets 6 in about 8 seconds?). and tonight, that was the case when the pistons played against the cavs. if you took away 5 plays where the pistons tried to nail a jump shot and replaced them with situations where they let prince post up, or just take it in instead of a jumper, or some plays where they did not double when defending james, the outcome of this game could've been different.
but hey, i don't play the games; i just watch them. i COULD be wrong.
---
so, this is what i'm speculating: if larry brown leaves the knicks(didn't expect this to happen, but i would guess this is the most likely scenario), he will end up as the kings' new head coach. and why not; kings are becoming a much more physical team than in the past, relying on hustle and defense to win games more. and who better to bring in than that guy? they even stated that they were going to pass up don nelson.
(personally, i would like larry brown to coach the warriors; mike montgomery is a bit too laid back on the warriors, which may be why they suck so much defensively, and don nelson is not known for being a defensively genius, but bringing in rick adelman wouldn't be a bad idea either)
---
i think that if you're not an asian, you believe the stereotype that ALL asians can't drive. lemme correct this, and say it's not ALL asians. just the ones which have kids in the back and are FOBs. i guess every one of my taiwanese/korean acquaintances knows this, but i had to say it. ever see them drive 20 miles/hour slower than everybody else?
---
i REALLY should try to get rid of as much on my cpu as soon as possible onto cds and defragment this sucker... it's almost unbearable opening a program. problem is i keep finding online stuff to keep.
Sunday, May 14, 2006
fyi, if you still think sheed's bad for the nba, i suggest you go to www.need4sheed.com, and click on the videos section. then watch the interview he did with stephen a. smith. you'll hear that he actually tries to cut down on the t's, it's just that the refs aren't allowing him to vent his anger in any way. give him a t for not talking, but just giving a dirty look? ok, so let's try something else; but now you're giving him a t for laughing it off? are you crazy?
(while you're there, if you're bored, you can watch sheed making fun of reggie miller prior to game 5(haha), or the interviews billups has w/best damn and stephen a. smith. i like how billups tells stephen a. to pick the spurs so that the pistons'll win this year(since he didn't in 04 and did in 05); stephen a was like "man, you're killing me, you're gonna make me look bad either way.")
btw, sheed's at it again... he made another declaration... i WANT to say it's guaren-SHEED, but i'm leaning more towards 70% it's guaren-SHEED.
some will say that what he's doing is cocky... i understand that, at the same time, i think he does it more to motivate his teammates; he puts his neck out there, knowing it'll raise his teammates' game; i mean, this discussion has been done in the past, on espn.com, during the year they had to play against the pacers to win the eastern conference crown, and again, against the heat to preserve their eastern conference crown.
btw, this is just an observation, but i think the cavs have done better against the pistons WITHOUT hughes. the times he was in, he sucked like crap. then again, i'm basically basing this upon 1 game. we'll see if it still holds true come game 4.
it was funny at first, but now it's just become milked to death how many people are making fun of the nike commercial saying "we are all witnesses" to lebron james growing up, but now getting beat by the pistons in games 1 and 2. i'm sure you've heard it; "of course we're all witnesses... witnesses to an ass-whupping"
-------
spurs should've picked devin harris instead of "futilely" trying to chase jason kidd. it's hurting them now. btw, game 3 was really, really good from what i heard.
i thought the number of sports fans still think detroit's boring and want them to lose, but the last time i checked, the espn poll asking what matchup would you want for the eastern conference crown had pistons against heat leading by a huge margin ahead of everything else. ppl still think the spurs are boring though(or maybe not boring outside of duncan, but it is becoming a bit annoying how ginobili repeatedly tries to sell himself to the refs, and bowen gets away with stuff no one else does). i still watch spurs games in good interest; to learn tim duncan's low post offense and defense, and get amazed by bowen's defense(or at least, try to figure out why so many people dislike him as a defensive player), and parker's slashing. i also like horry. but i'll admit, while i don't dislike ginobili and bowen yet, both are slowly starting to wear thin on me.
heat are SO... SO... streaky. they really ARE the lakers of 04. one game they're terrifying to play against, the next they wilt and lose by 20. i still believe they'll give detroit the biggest problems on their way back to the finals, but i am so confused as to what heat team is going to show up. do they play russian roulette in the locker room and then by those results decide whether to play hard to just give up a game? just go by a "spin the bottle?"
(while you're there, if you're bored, you can watch sheed making fun of reggie miller prior to game 5(haha), or the interviews billups has w/best damn and stephen a. smith. i like how billups tells stephen a. to pick the spurs so that the pistons'll win this year(since he didn't in 04 and did in 05); stephen a was like "man, you're killing me, you're gonna make me look bad either way.")
btw, sheed's at it again... he made another declaration... i WANT to say it's guaren-SHEED, but i'm leaning more towards 70% it's guaren-SHEED.
some will say that what he's doing is cocky... i understand that, at the same time, i think he does it more to motivate his teammates; he puts his neck out there, knowing it'll raise his teammates' game; i mean, this discussion has been done in the past, on espn.com, during the year they had to play against the pacers to win the eastern conference crown, and again, against the heat to preserve their eastern conference crown.
btw, this is just an observation, but i think the cavs have done better against the pistons WITHOUT hughes. the times he was in, he sucked like crap. then again, i'm basically basing this upon 1 game. we'll see if it still holds true come game 4.
it was funny at first, but now it's just become milked to death how many people are making fun of the nike commercial saying "we are all witnesses" to lebron james growing up, but now getting beat by the pistons in games 1 and 2. i'm sure you've heard it; "of course we're all witnesses... witnesses to an ass-whupping"
-------
spurs should've picked devin harris instead of "futilely" trying to chase jason kidd. it's hurting them now. btw, game 3 was really, really good from what i heard.
i thought the number of sports fans still think detroit's boring and want them to lose, but the last time i checked, the espn poll asking what matchup would you want for the eastern conference crown had pistons against heat leading by a huge margin ahead of everything else. ppl still think the spurs are boring though(or maybe not boring outside of duncan, but it is becoming a bit annoying how ginobili repeatedly tries to sell himself to the refs, and bowen gets away with stuff no one else does). i still watch spurs games in good interest; to learn tim duncan's low post offense and defense, and get amazed by bowen's defense(or at least, try to figure out why so many people dislike him as a defensive player), and parker's slashing. i also like horry. but i'll admit, while i don't dislike ginobili and bowen yet, both are slowly starting to wear thin on me.
heat are SO... SO... streaky. they really ARE the lakers of 04. one game they're terrifying to play against, the next they wilt and lose by 20. i still believe they'll give detroit the biggest problems on their way back to the finals, but i am so confused as to what heat team is going to show up. do they play russian roulette in the locker room and then by those results decide whether to play hard to just give up a game? just go by a "spin the bottle?"
Saturday, May 13, 2006
i love defense, anyways:
defensive player of the year:
ben wallace
1st all-defensive nba team:
jason kidd
kobe bryant
bruce bowen
ron artest
andre kirelinko
ben wallace
(there are 6 players on the 1st defensive all-nba team b/c bowen actually TIED with wallace for being on the 1st all nba team; bowen actually had more points selected(55 to 54), but 1 of those points was on the 2nd all-nba defensive team(3 to wallace's 2); take that as what you may)
2nd all-defensive nba team:
chauncey billups
tayshaun prince
kevin garnett
tim duncan
marcus camby
comments:
for the most part, i agree with these ranks. ak's a tremendous defensive player, i love the guy; most deserving of the 1st team. i'm surprised ron's still on the 1st team, but he's really good, perhaps he's just leagues above everybody else on the kings, and most of the games he just presents matchup problems for the others he's guarding. kobe's kobe, can't deny that. jason kidd does everything BUT score, so yeah.
on the 2nd team: i think for chauncey and tayshaun to get into the 1st team, they need to really start tightening up. i get the feeling that tayshaun doesn't seem as dominant as his 1st 2 years on the defensive end; maybe that's cause ppl are getting used to him, but he used to just make ppl miss shots in his 1st 2 years. he doesn't seem to do that anymore. maybe if detroit started concentrating upon their defense again. imo a lotta the players on the 2nd team should be 1st IF they weren't injury-prone; marcus camby and tim duncan come to mind. i'm still kinda torn about kg being on the defensive team. for some reason, he's not really striking me. maybe that's cause everybody around him sucks.
other ppl who i think should be considered, but maybe aren't because the ppl ahead of them are too good:
alonzo mourning - i dislike the heat except for 2 players; one of them is dwyane wade, the other is this guy. for a guy who comes off the bench and is getting old, his defense never ceases to amaze me. his defense is leagues above everybody else's on the heat, simply because his actually shows up night in and night out. (posey isn't bad btw, and wade's is improving though he's not quite there yet)
gerald wallace - stat-wise a lot like ak
rasheed wallace - sam actually believes rasheed is the best 1-on-1 post defender in the nba right now.
elton brand
shaun marion
there's probably more...
one last thing regarding bowen vs wallace:
i'm sure you probably know this, but bruce bowen is a TREMENDOUS defender; he guards ppl his size, but also ppl not his size or bulk. however, like i said, i wonder how much of that has to do with what he gets away with when he plays on the court. almost like what the refs are going by on him are ol skool nba defensive rules and everybody else has to abide by new skool nba rules. that being said, i'm still amazed; this guy can guard dirk. that's unreal. centers can't guard dirk, guys outta proportion can't guard dirk. tayshaun's my favorite perimeter defender in this day and age obviously, but he wasn't able to guard tim duncan when larry went small last year in the finals. for the number of guys that bruce guards that are out of proportion, it's unreal. that's imo what puts him above ron artest, kobe bryant, tayshaun prince, ak and all the other good perimeter defenders in the nba; good defense isn't about stuffing your stats, but just giving the opponent 1 really bad look without fouling and no chance to rebound. no other perimeter defender does that as well as bowen right now.
ben wallace is probably the best help defender in the nba, no questions asked. man, i wish i had old school clips of bill russell so i could watch this guy wreck and compare him side by side to ben. ben doesn't get assigned to other ppl a lot, but because he has the height of a small forward, but the bulk of a center, he can guard a lotta guys outta proportion to him(or should i more properly say, out of position). combine that with his huge hops and quick feet, and you know what's going to happen on the boards. he isn't necessarily the best 1-on-1 center defender, but you have to realize his height is a mismatch a lotta times. his bulk more than compensates though(fyi, guys w/small height but huge bulk give shaq problems, so you can understand how even ben can be good 1-on-1). basically all his shot swat antics are limited to ppl who are not 5's, b/c if he tried that against centers he would foul out way too fast. but b/c of his speed, you can't beat the pistons by forcing a pick and roll situation, nor get any really open looks when driving in. ben is the original real reason i started liking defense in the nba(yes, i know, i loved the mj bulls, but i never really tried to watch mj and scottie and rodman d it up; now i wished i had)
defensive player of the year:
ben wallace
1st all-defensive nba team:
jason kidd
kobe bryant
bruce bowen
ron artest
andre kirelinko
ben wallace
(there are 6 players on the 1st defensive all-nba team b/c bowen actually TIED with wallace for being on the 1st all nba team; bowen actually had more points selected(55 to 54), but 1 of those points was on the 2nd all-nba defensive team(3 to wallace's 2); take that as what you may)
2nd all-defensive nba team:
chauncey billups
tayshaun prince
kevin garnett
tim duncan
marcus camby
comments:
for the most part, i agree with these ranks. ak's a tremendous defensive player, i love the guy; most deserving of the 1st team. i'm surprised ron's still on the 1st team, but he's really good, perhaps he's just leagues above everybody else on the kings, and most of the games he just presents matchup problems for the others he's guarding. kobe's kobe, can't deny that. jason kidd does everything BUT score, so yeah.
on the 2nd team: i think for chauncey and tayshaun to get into the 1st team, they need to really start tightening up. i get the feeling that tayshaun doesn't seem as dominant as his 1st 2 years on the defensive end; maybe that's cause ppl are getting used to him, but he used to just make ppl miss shots in his 1st 2 years. he doesn't seem to do that anymore. maybe if detroit started concentrating upon their defense again. imo a lotta the players on the 2nd team should be 1st IF they weren't injury-prone; marcus camby and tim duncan come to mind. i'm still kinda torn about kg being on the defensive team. for some reason, he's not really striking me. maybe that's cause everybody around him sucks.
other ppl who i think should be considered, but maybe aren't because the ppl ahead of them are too good:
alonzo mourning - i dislike the heat except for 2 players; one of them is dwyane wade, the other is this guy. for a guy who comes off the bench and is getting old, his defense never ceases to amaze me. his defense is leagues above everybody else's on the heat, simply because his actually shows up night in and night out. (posey isn't bad btw, and wade's is improving though he's not quite there yet)
gerald wallace - stat-wise a lot like ak
rasheed wallace - sam actually believes rasheed is the best 1-on-1 post defender in the nba right now.
elton brand
shaun marion
there's probably more...
one last thing regarding bowen vs wallace:
i'm sure you probably know this, but bruce bowen is a TREMENDOUS defender; he guards ppl his size, but also ppl not his size or bulk. however, like i said, i wonder how much of that has to do with what he gets away with when he plays on the court. almost like what the refs are going by on him are ol skool nba defensive rules and everybody else has to abide by new skool nba rules. that being said, i'm still amazed; this guy can guard dirk. that's unreal. centers can't guard dirk, guys outta proportion can't guard dirk. tayshaun's my favorite perimeter defender in this day and age obviously, but he wasn't able to guard tim duncan when larry went small last year in the finals. for the number of guys that bruce guards that are out of proportion, it's unreal. that's imo what puts him above ron artest, kobe bryant, tayshaun prince, ak and all the other good perimeter defenders in the nba; good defense isn't about stuffing your stats, but just giving the opponent 1 really bad look without fouling and no chance to rebound. no other perimeter defender does that as well as bowen right now.
ben wallace is probably the best help defender in the nba, no questions asked. man, i wish i had old school clips of bill russell so i could watch this guy wreck and compare him side by side to ben. ben doesn't get assigned to other ppl a lot, but because he has the height of a small forward, but the bulk of a center, he can guard a lotta guys outta proportion to him(or should i more properly say, out of position). combine that with his huge hops and quick feet, and you know what's going to happen on the boards. he isn't necessarily the best 1-on-1 center defender, but you have to realize his height is a mismatch a lotta times. his bulk more than compensates though(fyi, guys w/small height but huge bulk give shaq problems, so you can understand how even ben can be good 1-on-1). basically all his shot swat antics are limited to ppl who are not 5's, b/c if he tried that against centers he would foul out way too fast. but b/c of his speed, you can't beat the pistons by forcing a pick and roll situation, nor get any really open looks when driving in. ben is the original real reason i started liking defense in the nba(yes, i know, i loved the mj bulls, but i never really tried to watch mj and scottie and rodman d it up; now i wished i had)
Wednesday, May 10, 2006
rasheed's an interesting case, i'll give you that.
probably very misunderstood.
i think the reason is you THINK he's this troublemaker. with that past history in portland of t's and weed. he's not, although i won't discredit the t's.
he's just very vocal. and even then, not a smartass towards the other team and its other players.
he still gets the t's occasionally just cause he's so emotional on the court and complains to the refs when something doesn't go his way, but you have to realize he's almost like the vocal leader of the pistons, and i believe without him, even if they got the same talents that he has in a trade(excellant 1-on-1 post defender, spot-up 3-pt shooter), his motivational fire of making them always think they're the underdogs is irreplacable; i'd say close to 10-15 of their wins every season is gotten because he's in the locker room, making them think the world is rooting for the other team. and he's a great teammate both in terms of how he plays and how he supports the other guys.
watching last night's cleveland game, although he was never mic'd up, i always heard his yelling picked up over the mics. it was so funny.
doc rivers said it best IMO when he was commentating during the 2k4 finals: "rasheed just wants to win so badly." that's why he's so vocal. you could say that about all the other guys who get technicals, but i can't remember the last time rasheed was in a pistons uniform that he actually got into a fight. granted, the number of fights in the nba has drastically cut down compared to the past, but even the number of minor altercations he's gotten is very few. he had that nasty cut with cleveland's "z," but that was just 1 incident. and he's one of those guys you always see joking on the court, not necessarily to his teammates.
so i have a problem with ppl who think he's bad for this game just because he picks up technicals. kobe bryant was either 2nd or 1st in technicals this year, do you think he's a bad person too(in general; let's leave the grizzlies incident outta this)? what about carmelo anthony? think he's a bad ass cause of those t's as well?
---
btw, what was up w/kobe going soft in game 7? i thought he was way over this in the past in that game vs the kings where he did not take a single shot. it's OK, KOBE; if you're down 20 and time's running out, and kwame and lamar haven't gotten it going, it's OK to go off. seriously, sometimes i think kobe does things that are detrimental to his team in order to prove something about himself at times.
but it's alright; watching how everybody in la suddenly jumped from the lakers to the clippers in the 2nd round is priceless. PRICELESS; WHAT'S A HARDCORE CLIPPERS FAN? never heard of one(except for david)
---
meh.
i seriously wonder how bowen gets away with stuff other defenders don't get away with. i'm not hating on him, but i'm just wondering. are refs really that gullible just because you're holding your hands up? cause what bowen likes to do is hold his hands up. and yet, he's still running into the guy he's defending.
i wonder how many things i learn from watching tim duncan do stuff offensively in the low post. cause it's a fairly long list. screening to switch to a smaller defender, then posting up, trying to go inside, and only using baseline if you fake inside, using a linear floater. using your arms to brush away the opponent's arms to get into position.
probably very misunderstood.
i think the reason is you THINK he's this troublemaker. with that past history in portland of t's and weed. he's not, although i won't discredit the t's.
he's just very vocal. and even then, not a smartass towards the other team and its other players.
he still gets the t's occasionally just cause he's so emotional on the court and complains to the refs when something doesn't go his way, but you have to realize he's almost like the vocal leader of the pistons, and i believe without him, even if they got the same talents that he has in a trade(excellant 1-on-1 post defender, spot-up 3-pt shooter), his motivational fire of making them always think they're the underdogs is irreplacable; i'd say close to 10-15 of their wins every season is gotten because he's in the locker room, making them think the world is rooting for the other team. and he's a great teammate both in terms of how he plays and how he supports the other guys.
watching last night's cleveland game, although he was never mic'd up, i always heard his yelling picked up over the mics. it was so funny.
doc rivers said it best IMO when he was commentating during the 2k4 finals: "rasheed just wants to win so badly." that's why he's so vocal. you could say that about all the other guys who get technicals, but i can't remember the last time rasheed was in a pistons uniform that he actually got into a fight. granted, the number of fights in the nba has drastically cut down compared to the past, but even the number of minor altercations he's gotten is very few. he had that nasty cut with cleveland's "z," but that was just 1 incident. and he's one of those guys you always see joking on the court, not necessarily to his teammates.
so i have a problem with ppl who think he's bad for this game just because he picks up technicals. kobe bryant was either 2nd or 1st in technicals this year, do you think he's a bad person too(in general; let's leave the grizzlies incident outta this)? what about carmelo anthony? think he's a bad ass cause of those t's as well?
---
btw, what was up w/kobe going soft in game 7? i thought he was way over this in the past in that game vs the kings where he did not take a single shot. it's OK, KOBE; if you're down 20 and time's running out, and kwame and lamar haven't gotten it going, it's OK to go off. seriously, sometimes i think kobe does things that are detrimental to his team in order to prove something about himself at times.
but it's alright; watching how everybody in la suddenly jumped from the lakers to the clippers in the 2nd round is priceless. PRICELESS; WHAT'S A HARDCORE CLIPPERS FAN? never heard of one(except for david)
---
meh.
i seriously wonder how bowen gets away with stuff other defenders don't get away with. i'm not hating on him, but i'm just wondering. are refs really that gullible just because you're holding your hands up? cause what bowen likes to do is hold his hands up. and yet, he's still running into the guy he's defending.
i wonder how many things i learn from watching tim duncan do stuff offensively in the low post. cause it's a fairly long list. screening to switch to a smaller defender, then posting up, trying to go inside, and only using baseline if you fake inside, using a linear floater. using your arms to brush away the opponent's arms to get into position.
Monday, May 08, 2006
detroit...
looked...
disgusting...
it seriously looked like game 4 vs the spurs during the finals last season when they lit it up... lindsey hunter isn't supposed to connect all those 3s without any screens... tayshaun isn't supposed to go 4 for 4 beyond the arc... and detroit doesn't shoot 92% from the arc even when they're on fire... but it happened...
i was loving it...
looked...
disgusting...
it seriously looked like game 4 vs the spurs during the finals last season when they lit it up... lindsey hunter isn't supposed to connect all those 3s without any screens... tayshaun isn't supposed to go 4 for 4 beyond the arc... and detroit doesn't shoot 92% from the arc even when they're on fire... but it happened...
i was loving it...
Saturday, May 06, 2006
Queer Plans For the Straight Man
This must be the japanese version of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy... however, it's a LOT funnier...
Har-do Gay Foooooooo!
This must be the japanese version of Queer Eye for the Straight Guy... however, it's a LOT funnier...
Har-do Gay Foooooooo!
Friday, May 05, 2006
something i'm paraphrasing out of the book i'm reading, but should give you something to think about...
in order for God to communicate his word to his people, he had to put his word in the common language. now, note that some groups are going to just be excluded because of that, but you would just have to learn the new language. is this unfair to other nations? perhaps... but we should never question God's will; i believe that in the end, the very words that jesus spoke about losing none of those that were given to him from the Father holds true.
so...
old testament - hebrew language is the common language.
new testament - greek language(God didn't even return back to jersualem to use it to further his kingdom; the new center of christianity was in antioch, syria, as established in acts)
combination of the 2 together to form the bible - english language. God did not choose any other european country powerhouses because they were tainted with rome(ie the pope had some influence there), and hence had roman catholic influences. that excluded spain, france, germany, italy. england had a history of being catholic, true, but it also had a long, and permanent history after that of rebellion against rome(look up when rome used spain as a pawn tried to attack them navally and failed), and remained prostant. the us was also established upon christian(specifically protestant) men and women.
that's basically the gist of what i was going to say; i'm not looking at my book as i'm writing this, so i'm sure i'm excluding some words, but this should be good enough for you to mull over for a bit.
btw, the book i'm reading is:
samuel c. gipp - an understandable history of the bible
(one more note: what we consider "old english" and "middle english" is actually a LOT more old than the english in the kjv; if you were to look at actual "old english," there'd be NO WAY you could read it AT ALL. so, the excuse that kjv is old english does not hold up)
in order for God to communicate his word to his people, he had to put his word in the common language. now, note that some groups are going to just be excluded because of that, but you would just have to learn the new language. is this unfair to other nations? perhaps... but we should never question God's will; i believe that in the end, the very words that jesus spoke about losing none of those that were given to him from the Father holds true.
so...
old testament - hebrew language is the common language.
new testament - greek language(God didn't even return back to jersualem to use it to further his kingdom; the new center of christianity was in antioch, syria, as established in acts)
combination of the 2 together to form the bible - english language. God did not choose any other european country powerhouses because they were tainted with rome(ie the pope had some influence there), and hence had roman catholic influences. that excluded spain, france, germany, italy. england had a history of being catholic, true, but it also had a long, and permanent history after that of rebellion against rome(look up when rome used spain as a pawn tried to attack them navally and failed), and remained prostant. the us was also established upon christian(specifically protestant) men and women.
that's basically the gist of what i was going to say; i'm not looking at my book as i'm writing this, so i'm sure i'm excluding some words, but this should be good enough for you to mull over for a bit.
btw, the book i'm reading is:
samuel c. gipp - an understandable history of the bible
(one more note: what we consider "old english" and "middle english" is actually a LOT more old than the english in the kjv; if you were to look at actual "old english," there'd be NO WAY you could read it AT ALL. so, the excuse that kjv is old english does not hold up)
Tuesday, May 02, 2006
"duh" statement of the night regarding bball from me:
if you're having trouble playing defense against somebody, try making them play defense a bit more.
it sounds stupid at first, and kinda obvious, and nba players do say it all the time in press conferences, but the more i thought about it, the more it's meaning has hit upon me.
you see, sometimes you're going up against a good scorer, and it seems that no matter what you do, you can't contain him.
well, assuming he's the one guarding you on the other end, one of the ways you can wear him out is to start trying to score more on him, make him chase you around screens more, etc. that may help wear him out, and make your defense a bit easier; it won't solve the entire puzzle, you still have to play good defense, but it may help you out some.
so even if you are unselfish and don't want to see yourself as the main scorer of your team, just learning some simple effective stuff to throw at your opponent when you're on the offensive end if you're coming up puzzled about how to stop your opponent's offense will help a lot.
it's kinda hit me this late, b/c i don't consider myself the main scorer on any team i play when i'm playing bball. part of that does have to do with my abilities. but if i'm playing against people i don't know, chances are that i might end up guarding someone who is very aggressive and demanding of the ball. in cases like those, it might be good to play a bit more offense on him, in the motive of trying to wear him down more.
---
fyi, i really thought(and hoped) chicago should've won game 5. no real excuses they shouldn't have. but dwyane wade's will to win should in all due respects be commended. fought through an incredibly painful injury knowing the offense on the heat depended upon him. and it seemed that when the heat saw him come back, their confidence and will to win came back. they went on a defensive rout(although, knowing chicago's not that great offensively, i want to say it's more that chicago struggled rather than heat locked them down.) it's just a shame that this will probably hurt them down the road; even if they beat the bulls and move on, you could say this puts the nail in the hopes that the heat will make it to the finals yet again. i don't think you even need detroit to knock the heat out of the eastern race. the nets can do it. i want to say indiana could do it as well, but that's stretching it. however, i do think indiana can take this weakened heat team to 7 games.
---
you said it, ron, now make your promise. (just looking to see if "infinite intensity" 93 is going to step up and fulfill his promise of the kings getting into the 2nd round, or were those just empty threats to the league.)
---
this world is so full of people making the most stupidest comments out of ignorance. they just say whatever they want without any thought to it. that's probably what boils me so much. i'm all for free speech and it's great to live in a country that supports it; you should never be afraid of saying something because you know someone's not going to like what you said. but i am also for saying SOUND SPEECH, because free speech is IMO not a ticket to saying ANYTHING, but more like a ticket to saying WHAT IS RIGHT REGARDLESS OF WHETHER PEOPLE AGREE WITH YOU OR NOT. in other countries, you can get arrested, tortured, even killed for saying stuff, even if it is right. here you cannot. i do not believe the founding fathers of this nation allowed free speech so idiots can say the stupidest things. they allowed it so that the balance of power in speech would never be tipped into the hands of the person with the most military and monetary resources. think about that for more than a few seconds before you start saying something really stupid on impulse the next time.
in like vein of the same subject, sometimes i argue with myself regarding christianity like this:
+: it's simply not right for me to hate upon another person just because they have the most ignorant thoughts. that does not make myself any better. that's wrong.
-: i conceed with that, and know it. but does that make what they thought ok? am i supposed to just tolerate what they said? it's still wrong regardless.
...
so then, how am i supposed to loathe their thoughts, but not them? especially when it seems like the way they act and think DEFINES them?
+: but do you think your hating on them will ever change their actions and their thinking?
-: maybe... without a clear sense of what is right and wrong and why, i don't think i would ever get to a point where i disliked something about them in the first place. but you are right that if i never confront them directly in love, they have a much lower chance of changing the way they think.
THAT is probably why it is so tough to "hate the sin, not the sinner." because we can only define a person based upon their looks, their method of thinking, and the way they act. we keep saying love unconditionally, but in order to overlook all those things and simply love them(remember that unconditional love would mean we also don't necessarily love them just for the things that we see good in them), would be no different, then say, trying to love any living organism unconditionally.
although, i think in the end values and personality both help. values, will define how much you think what they're doing is not ok. personality, will determine angry or understanding you'll be. although, we do know what is impossible with men is possible with God.
if you're having trouble playing defense against somebody, try making them play defense a bit more.
it sounds stupid at first, and kinda obvious, and nba players do say it all the time in press conferences, but the more i thought about it, the more it's meaning has hit upon me.
you see, sometimes you're going up against a good scorer, and it seems that no matter what you do, you can't contain him.
well, assuming he's the one guarding you on the other end, one of the ways you can wear him out is to start trying to score more on him, make him chase you around screens more, etc. that may help wear him out, and make your defense a bit easier; it won't solve the entire puzzle, you still have to play good defense, but it may help you out some.
so even if you are unselfish and don't want to see yourself as the main scorer of your team, just learning some simple effective stuff to throw at your opponent when you're on the offensive end if you're coming up puzzled about how to stop your opponent's offense will help a lot.
it's kinda hit me this late, b/c i don't consider myself the main scorer on any team i play when i'm playing bball. part of that does have to do with my abilities. but if i'm playing against people i don't know, chances are that i might end up guarding someone who is very aggressive and demanding of the ball. in cases like those, it might be good to play a bit more offense on him, in the motive of trying to wear him down more.
---
fyi, i really thought(and hoped) chicago should've won game 5. no real excuses they shouldn't have. but dwyane wade's will to win should in all due respects be commended. fought through an incredibly painful injury knowing the offense on the heat depended upon him. and it seemed that when the heat saw him come back, their confidence and will to win came back. they went on a defensive rout(although, knowing chicago's not that great offensively, i want to say it's more that chicago struggled rather than heat locked them down.) it's just a shame that this will probably hurt them down the road; even if they beat the bulls and move on, you could say this puts the nail in the hopes that the heat will make it to the finals yet again. i don't think you even need detroit to knock the heat out of the eastern race. the nets can do it. i want to say indiana could do it as well, but that's stretching it. however, i do think indiana can take this weakened heat team to 7 games.
---
you said it, ron, now make your promise. (just looking to see if "infinite intensity" 93 is going to step up and fulfill his promise of the kings getting into the 2nd round, or were those just empty threats to the league.)
---
this world is so full of people making the most stupidest comments out of ignorance. they just say whatever they want without any thought to it. that's probably what boils me so much. i'm all for free speech and it's great to live in a country that supports it; you should never be afraid of saying something because you know someone's not going to like what you said. but i am also for saying SOUND SPEECH, because free speech is IMO not a ticket to saying ANYTHING, but more like a ticket to saying WHAT IS RIGHT REGARDLESS OF WHETHER PEOPLE AGREE WITH YOU OR NOT. in other countries, you can get arrested, tortured, even killed for saying stuff, even if it is right. here you cannot. i do not believe the founding fathers of this nation allowed free speech so idiots can say the stupidest things. they allowed it so that the balance of power in speech would never be tipped into the hands of the person with the most military and monetary resources. think about that for more than a few seconds before you start saying something really stupid on impulse the next time.
in like vein of the same subject, sometimes i argue with myself regarding christianity like this:
+: it's simply not right for me to hate upon another person just because they have the most ignorant thoughts. that does not make myself any better. that's wrong.
-: i conceed with that, and know it. but does that make what they thought ok? am i supposed to just tolerate what they said? it's still wrong regardless.
...
so then, how am i supposed to loathe their thoughts, but not them? especially when it seems like the way they act and think DEFINES them?
+: but do you think your hating on them will ever change their actions and their thinking?
-: maybe... without a clear sense of what is right and wrong and why, i don't think i would ever get to a point where i disliked something about them in the first place. but you are right that if i never confront them directly in love, they have a much lower chance of changing the way they think.
THAT is probably why it is so tough to "hate the sin, not the sinner." because we can only define a person based upon their looks, their method of thinking, and the way they act. we keep saying love unconditionally, but in order to overlook all those things and simply love them(remember that unconditional love would mean we also don't necessarily love them just for the things that we see good in them), would be no different, then say, trying to love any living organism unconditionally.
although, i think in the end values and personality both help. values, will define how much you think what they're doing is not ok. personality, will determine angry or understanding you'll be. although, we do know what is impossible with men is possible with God.
if the kings announcers weren't so stupid, i might actually like the kings a lot more...
bonzi and artest are players that contribute power to the kings on both ends... something the kings have never really been in the past.
i wonder how much of what bob said is true though; duncan really does not look like the low post monster of the past year. when he bangs, then spins and puts up a low floater, he's never right up on the basket as of late. without him light on his feet on both offense and defense, you turn spurs into a guard-oriented team(they always were, but in the past, when they got into trouble, they could always throw the ball inside to duncan and instantly solve the problem). and artest HAS been containing ginobili. so now from the spurs' perspective, the bulk of your shot-creation comes from parker, who is trying to become great in the postseason, something he hasn't really gotten down yet.
granted, he has an injury in his leg, but i think ppl forget the same year the pistons won the championship, rip played through a broken nose and rasheed played through an injured foot(game 4 brilliance vs lakers anybody?).
---
other nba playoff thoughts...
i still love chicago... they have a great chance to upset miami. they're like a poor man's detroit; nothing fancy, just hard defense and efficient offense(and no, i don't consider that boring; you know that already). i really believe chicago is just 1 good post player away from becoming one of the top 3 teams in the east(so either get a good draft pick, or tyson gets JUST A FRIKKIN JUMPSHOT and continues to develop his good d). and they have the #1 draft pick thanks to ny. if they pick up tyrus thomas, and he turns into something, the rest of the eastern conference better seriously watch out.
---
indiana... refuses... to... die...
kinda like chicago...
just incredible...
i continue to like indiana despite reggie miller gone, unlike most of the other non-native indiana fans i know. j.o. was sick in game 3. 80%?
---
funny how la is on the verge of having both their teams face each other... but la's always been about flashiness... no doubt most of them will root for the lakers... i hope elton brand and chris kaman do david suh a nice favor and kick the lakers' asses.
---
that's about all i can think of.
---
ok, some other stuff coming to my mind...
i need another cd case to house my cds... i've been a dl-and-burn freak ever since i got 2 512 mb usb's and realized the cpu labs at uc davis have cd-rw hard drives. i'd say about 60 cds... but it's slowing down... i'm mainly trying to get rid of all the stuff on my desktop. and stuff i wanted to put on a cd, like emulators, roms, mods to games i have, videos of various fighting games... once i've put everything on a cd, i can defragment my laptop, and then it can run a lot faster.
i like having stuff on cd's for data as opposed to buying another hard drive(usb's aside), b/c then i still HAVE the stuff, but if i want to use it, i'll have to go through the trouble of looking through the cds until i pick out what i want. in that way, i can keep myself from being too much of a slacker, b/c i'll have to put some effort into finding what i want.
---
still reading gipp's book concerning the bible. it's really great. i doubt i'll finish it by end of spring quarter, but i'm still going to buy a couple more books concerning the bible before i'm done; i'd like to have 6 b4 i graduate.
oh, and maybe sun tzu's "art of war." always wanted to own that book.
---
i should brush up on my lead guitar skills sometime on wednesday... i'm planning on actually going over to zane and moises' apt on thursday, since i've always said i would, but never would.
bonzi and artest are players that contribute power to the kings on both ends... something the kings have never really been in the past.
i wonder how much of what bob said is true though; duncan really does not look like the low post monster of the past year. when he bangs, then spins and puts up a low floater, he's never right up on the basket as of late. without him light on his feet on both offense and defense, you turn spurs into a guard-oriented team(they always were, but in the past, when they got into trouble, they could always throw the ball inside to duncan and instantly solve the problem). and artest HAS been containing ginobili. so now from the spurs' perspective, the bulk of your shot-creation comes from parker, who is trying to become great in the postseason, something he hasn't really gotten down yet.
granted, he has an injury in his leg, but i think ppl forget the same year the pistons won the championship, rip played through a broken nose and rasheed played through an injured foot(game 4 brilliance vs lakers anybody?).
---
other nba playoff thoughts...
i still love chicago... they have a great chance to upset miami. they're like a poor man's detroit; nothing fancy, just hard defense and efficient offense(and no, i don't consider that boring; you know that already). i really believe chicago is just 1 good post player away from becoming one of the top 3 teams in the east(so either get a good draft pick, or tyson gets JUST A FRIKKIN JUMPSHOT and continues to develop his good d). and they have the #1 draft pick thanks to ny. if they pick up tyrus thomas, and he turns into something, the rest of the eastern conference better seriously watch out.
---
indiana... refuses... to... die...
kinda like chicago...
just incredible...
i continue to like indiana despite reggie miller gone, unlike most of the other non-native indiana fans i know. j.o. was sick in game 3. 80%?
---
funny how la is on the verge of having both their teams face each other... but la's always been about flashiness... no doubt most of them will root for the lakers... i hope elton brand and chris kaman do david suh a nice favor and kick the lakers' asses.
---
that's about all i can think of.
---
ok, some other stuff coming to my mind...
i need another cd case to house my cds... i've been a dl-and-burn freak ever since i got 2 512 mb usb's and realized the cpu labs at uc davis have cd-rw hard drives. i'd say about 60 cds... but it's slowing down... i'm mainly trying to get rid of all the stuff on my desktop. and stuff i wanted to put on a cd, like emulators, roms, mods to games i have, videos of various fighting games... once i've put everything on a cd, i can defragment my laptop, and then it can run a lot faster.
i like having stuff on cd's for data as opposed to buying another hard drive(usb's aside), b/c then i still HAVE the stuff, but if i want to use it, i'll have to go through the trouble of looking through the cds until i pick out what i want. in that way, i can keep myself from being too much of a slacker, b/c i'll have to put some effort into finding what i want.
---
still reading gipp's book concerning the bible. it's really great. i doubt i'll finish it by end of spring quarter, but i'm still going to buy a couple more books concerning the bible before i'm done; i'd like to have 6 b4 i graduate.
oh, and maybe sun tzu's "art of war." always wanted to own that book.
---
i should brush up on my lead guitar skills sometime on wednesday... i'm planning on actually going over to zane and moises' apt on thursday, since i've always said i would, but never would.
Monday, May 01, 2006
Thursday, April 27, 2006
Wednesday, April 26, 2006
i still can't believe steve's going to korea and not coming back til july.
anyways, we had a goodbye dinner for him today.
not really a guys things to do, but we all ordered desert just for the heck of it.
and it hit me...
now i understand why girls always order desert at a restaurant and guys never do.
it has something to do with why girls always eat so little.
i think you get the idea, but i'll add that girls always seem to have a sweet tooth more than guys. guys don't NEED a cheesecake after dinner to feel like the meal was a success, if the main course itself was good enough.
anyways, we had a goodbye dinner for him today.
not really a guys things to do, but we all ordered desert just for the heck of it.
and it hit me...
now i understand why girls always order desert at a restaurant and guys never do.
it has something to do with why girls always eat so little.
i think you get the idea, but i'll add that girls always seem to have a sweet tooth more than guys. guys don't NEED a cheesecake after dinner to feel like the meal was a success, if the main course itself was good enough.
Monday, April 24, 2006
French may not be THE most useless language ever, but here's some reasons a lotta ppl feel that way:
outside of France, and maybe parts of Canada, not many people need speak it out of necessity. ever needed French to get by any particular area in the melting pot known as the US?
there's still a lotta people from France around these days(hence, the amount of people who exist from France and need to speak it to survive these days vs the amount of people in the world who don't use it is slanted compared to some scant native american tribe)
it just sounds "gay." maybe that's cause the typical french accent often revolves around pursing your lips and using oo's, u's, and upward accents. i THINK that's the reason it sounds kinda "gay."
so there you have it; main reasons i think why some ppl think french is a useless language; lotsa ppl from france, not a lotta places where you need to speak it, and it just sounding REALLY weird = useless.
---
"TRUE truth" can only be seen once you take a non-biased, comprehensive analysis of the subject you are trying to study. until you do so, it may only be "biased opinion." otherwise known as ignorance. that's not to say all truths are non-biased. but "TRUE truth" looks at both sides, all angles and says "i know about these arguments, and understand why they're put up, but after close analysis, these counterarguments are stronger."
---
James 4:3 is powerful. just read it, and see if it isn't the most telling reason why we're not asking God in prayer for the right reasons:
3Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
the more i ponder upon this verse, the more it becomes imprinted upon my mind. it's simple to remember and quite profound. b/c i have not found any other verse in the bible which explains WHY God doesn't answer every single of our requests the way we want him to.
you know what are the 3 things of the world: lust of the eye, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. that's what the "lusts." in the verse refer to, do they not?
outside of France, and maybe parts of Canada, not many people need speak it out of necessity. ever needed French to get by any particular area in the melting pot known as the US?
there's still a lotta people from France around these days(hence, the amount of people who exist from France and need to speak it to survive these days vs the amount of people in the world who don't use it is slanted compared to some scant native american tribe)
it just sounds "gay." maybe that's cause the typical french accent often revolves around pursing your lips and using oo's, u's, and upward accents. i THINK that's the reason it sounds kinda "gay."
so there you have it; main reasons i think why some ppl think french is a useless language; lotsa ppl from france, not a lotta places where you need to speak it, and it just sounding REALLY weird = useless.
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"TRUE truth" can only be seen once you take a non-biased, comprehensive analysis of the subject you are trying to study. until you do so, it may only be "biased opinion." otherwise known as ignorance. that's not to say all truths are non-biased. but "TRUE truth" looks at both sides, all angles and says "i know about these arguments, and understand why they're put up, but after close analysis, these counterarguments are stronger."
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James 4:3 is powerful. just read it, and see if it isn't the most telling reason why we're not asking God in prayer for the right reasons:
3Ye ask, and receive not, because ye ask amiss, that ye may consume it upon your lusts.
the more i ponder upon this verse, the more it becomes imprinted upon my mind. it's simple to remember and quite profound. b/c i have not found any other verse in the bible which explains WHY God doesn't answer every single of our requests the way we want him to.
you know what are the 3 things of the world: lust of the eye, lust of the flesh, and the pride of life. that's what the "lusts." in the verse refer to, do they not?
Saturday, April 22, 2006
scary movie 4 wasn't THAT great... funny, but wasn't THAT great. it's weird, cause all the commercials hyped up the whole dr. phil and shaq thing, and they end up using all those jokes in the 1st 10 min or so. the movie's overall very funny, but it seemed to lose its edge from when the series 1st started, and ykno, the wayan brothers were involved(the movies done by them were rated R, not pg-13).
then again, you go to this type of movie not to watch for substance, but just to laugh.
we had a choice between watching scary movie 4 and american dreams for tonight. i think we all wanted to watch american dreams more, but we have to be by church by SIX AM(yes, that's right) for tomorrow for picnic day. unreal. and this type of movie is usually very short.
anyways, i bet a lotta 24 freaks want to watch The Sentinel.
and i bet flight 93's going to be very good.
but i'm not a movies guy, so chances are i'm either going to watch it on dvd, or do the opposite, but more common thing, which is end up forgetting it altogether.
then again, you go to this type of movie not to watch for substance, but just to laugh.
we had a choice between watching scary movie 4 and american dreams for tonight. i think we all wanted to watch american dreams more, but we have to be by church by SIX AM(yes, that's right) for tomorrow for picnic day. unreal. and this type of movie is usually very short.
anyways, i bet a lotta 24 freaks want to watch The Sentinel.
and i bet flight 93's going to be very good.
but i'm not a movies guy, so chances are i'm either going to watch it on dvd, or do the opposite, but more common thing, which is end up forgetting it altogether.
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