catching only the last few minutes of the usa china game, during which kidd is already lounging on the bench, i was determined to get be home in time to see the opening tipoff.  that’s why despite the rain and the deep flood that required me to take a tricycle ride from dapitan/lacson instead of the usual walk to our gate, i was in front of the tv in time to hear the greek national anthem!  and i was comfortably sitted when the game commenced.

to my dismay, kidd was called for 3 fouls less than 2 minutes into the game, and i had to wait for the start of the second half to see him play again.

nevertheless, in the 5 or so minutes he was on court, i can’t figure out how people can conclude that the guy can’t play anymore.  sure he was not as fast as before (as in years years before, since his speed has not really been his forte anymore the past few seasons), and his game not stat-filling, but his basketball iq is still there.  the backboard pass to no one (supposedly to lebron, who did not continue with his trail job) notwithstanding, his passes were still very well placed: an offensive rebound-tap pass for a field goal; a bounce pass inside to melo that resulted to free throw attempts; a bounce pass to kobe to setup a fastbreak dunk. i’m pretty sure neither cp3 nor deron would have thought of those passes. granted, if they were in kidd’s place they could find their own way to get the team to score on those possessions, but probably it would involve extra dribbles, extra fakes, and not as simple as the way kidd handled it.

this, of course, comes from the point of view of a kidd fan.  but after watching most of the game with paul and williams at the helm more than i wanted to, i’ve no doubt my position is valid.

hopefully kidd plays more minutes against spain to validate that.

hehe not a cause for too much excitement really. but with the long off-season and the fact that one can’t even see the game highlights of the fiba americas tournament here in japan via nba.com, it makes one look forward to the days when sopcast broadcast of the games become available.

i’m a fan of the nets, obviously (although some argued that i’m a fan of jason kidd and not the team, since i’ve switched rooting for the teams he’s been traded to, but hey, it’s a team game, you can’t just cheer one person to succeed!). this might be the first time in a long while that new jersey will be coming into the season healthy (at least the starters, with marcus williams being sidelined for a few weeks because of surgery). (there is no doubt) i hope that the team will get out with a fast start, as opposed to the last three years were they went below 0.500 in the first months of the season.

i don’t want to look to far ahead, but i can see the nets proving the ever net-basher john hollinger wrong when he said the nets ain’t contenders no more (sometimes he’s got a point, but he ranks the team and its players too low that you’d have to say there’s something personal involved). as long as the team sticks to their game plan (lfrank is really an under-appreciated coach), and everything remains harmonious (i think it was new net jamaal magliore who said that the team’s chemistry and locker room camaraderie is beyond what he has had so far), the second round, conference finals and even the championship series is very much attainable.

lots of things happened around the league – the GAP in boston, kobe’s drama, marion and ak, etc – i guess everybody’s waiting how these things will turn out. just a few more days of waiting left!

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speaking of basketball, guys might want to check out our online simulation league. just ignore the front page, and use the dropdown lists to traverse the site. anyone interested in joining the kumbalerfu basketball league (yes you read right, but just say kbl for short), just contact me or register at kiven’s forum.