Shane Battier - Who is this guy, really?

One thing is for sure. Shane Battier is not an All-Star type player, or not even a player fans or general managers in NBA look forward to see him playing in their team. But all these facts don't mean that he can't make a difference in a team where he plays. Especially, he can be very impressive in defense and is easily capable of decreasing the efficiency of the most scorer and dangerous player of the oppenent. Whether he is Kobe or LeBron, it doesn't matter.

His stats have never been remarkable during his career in NBA. For instance, he has scored 10,1 points and grabbed 4,8 rebounds per game up until today, whereas these figures are 6,8 and 4,9 respectively in this season. But the interesting thing, which still looks astonishing, is that he manages to stay on the court 33,4 minutes per game despite all these states given above. He is still proving that he deserves to be regarded as "a valuable part of the team". He can add important value to his team that can't be easily observed in the stats sheet.

There is a long but very interesting and highly informative article about Shane Battier of Houston Rockets written by Michael Lewis on NY Times Magazine. You can read the all via this web-page.

Partizan - Unbeatable at Home

Partizan is one of most diffucult teams for visitors to play against. The venue, Pionir, where Partizan plays their home games is generally packed with very loyal supporters in Euroleague fixture. Therefore, the team takes all the advantages of having this powerful backing while they clash with the top teams in the league.

It can already be seen in the stats that the winning percentage in the home court has been quite high during this season. For instance, in this first phase of this year's Euroleague, they won 4 home games out of 5. The only game they have lost is the one against the defending champion, CSKA Moscow. It was a one-point margin loss, which is quite acceptable. The teams that returned to their homes with empty hands were Real Madrid, Efes Pilsen, AJ Milano and Panionios.

The winning behavior is still continuing in Top 16. So far, they beat both Malaga and Lottomatica Roma in Pionir. They are now the second position in the group; have a good chance to move to the quarterfinals.

Ramon Sessions - On the rise

Ramon Sessions has been the surprise package for the Bucks, and also for all NBA followers around the globe. Before last years, most of us doesn't know anything about Sessions, and probably never heard of him.

Despite being selected by the Bucks in the 2007 draft, he started the season with playing in one of NBDL teams, Tulsa 66ers. However, he was able to show his potential and guarding skills there along with some impressive stats. Then, he was called up to the Bucks in March'08 and started playing in the remaining games of the regular season, where the team had already lost the play-off battle. In April 14th, the stats sheet was very bright for him; 20 points, 8 rebounds and 24 assists. Wow, ha! Moreover, it was the first and only "20-20" performance in the Bucks history.

Sessions has been performing well this season too. The averages for the month of February are 26 pts and 10,5 assist per game. Hope to sustain this performance for the coming years!

Blake Griffin - No.1 in 2009 Drafts?

Blake Griffin has had a tremendous season so far in the Sooners, Oklahoma University. Last saturday in Valentine's Day against Texas Tech Red Raiders, his performance was easily regarded as the best one in his career to date. He scored 40 points and got 23 rebounds in only 31 minutes. Due to this performance, naturally he was named the Big 12 Player of the Week for the fifth time this season.

Among all basketball players in NCAA Divisions, he ranks ninth nationally with 22.8 points per games. He is the national leader with 14.2 rebounds per game, though. If he keeps this marvellous performance in the next game against Texas on satuday, he can definitely make his team, the Sooners, be ranked as the No.1 in Associated Press NCAA Rankings again after almost 20 years.

According to some basketball pundits, he is the best prospect among others for being picked as No.1 in the 2009 NBA Drafts. In the meantime, it would be quite charming and exciting if he was selected by Oklahama City Thunder, his home town both in high school and university.

A Total Disappointment - Part Two

I watched the All-Star game before going to bed last night. By the way, it is far more convenient for me not to watch these exhibition games live. At least, I don't worry about the long and stupid commercial breaks and other useless off-the-court activities. I can only focus on the game and the things happening on the court; it takes only an hour to watch the all game.

Anyways, it was one of the worst All-Star games I have ever witnessed. There wasn't even one dunk or move that is worth remembering. The West team executed the zone defence during almost the entire game, which eventually caused the East to make lots of shots behind the arc. While The East had 34 three points attempts (just %23.5), the West finished the game with only 14. Sometimes, I needed to fast forward the game to see something interesting.

The things occured at the end of the night seemed so very well organized and predictable as if it was all about a play/story written before by NBA executives to attract the audience and the press. Even though Chris Paul could have been selected for the award after all the performance he showed (14 points, 7 rebounds, 14 assists, 3 steals), Kobe Bryant and Shaq O'Neal shared the MVP Award. Like one of the Eastern Conference executives said:

“It’s all about the story lines,” ... “You think the league didn’t want this to happen? Is this the NBA or WWF?”

That was most well put indeed!

Montepaschi - The Italian King

Montepaschi Siena continues dominating the Lega Basket A. After defeating Carife Ferrara by 103-75 last weekend, Siena extended its winning streak to 19 games. They haven't been beaten by any Italian team yet since the domestic season started in October. They are ahead of the second place holder, Lottomatica Roma (13-6 record), after 19 weeks. The current Top 5 is as follows:

• Montepaschi 19-0
• Lottomatica 13-6
• Bancatercas 12-7
• Fortezza Bologna 12-7
• NGC Cantu 11-6

They are 3 wins away to break the Italian record of having the longest consecutive winning streak, which is currently hold by Virtus Bologna. As I mentioned before, they are also playing very good in Euroleague and very likely to proceed to the quarter-final playoffs. I think this is the team everybody should keep an eye on.   

The slam dunk contest - A total dissappointment

Frankly speaking, I am not a big fan of All-star weekend and the hype sorrounding all the activities orginized during 3 days. Yes, I watch some of these activities every year and mostly am quite interested in the slam dunk contest. It is a kind of excitement to see whether the contenders show us something fresh and untested. But overall, the All-star stuff is not deserved to be taken very seriously contrary to opinions of some people, mainly the ones who broadcast the show every year.

I have just watched the slam dunk contest and other activies of the saturday night; 3 points contest, the skill challange etc. Even though Nate Robinson won the final, I think he was not better than Rudy Fernandez who unfortunately eliminated in the first round. Because Robinson is the shortest guy attending the contest (around 1.80 metres), the dunks he commits look more dashing and good. Especially the second dunk Fernandez did was really very impressive and I bet most of the players in the NBA can't do that. But for the jury, it was not enough to let him proceed to the final. I guess the dunk can be seen on youtube. If you have a chance to look at it, you will see what I mean.

I will probably watch the All-star game tomorrow. However, I have no great expectations to witness a basketball magic; but rather it would be a good game where I can see some star players on the court at the same time. That's all for me.