Game on...!

Keeping his election day tradition, Obama had a pick-up game of basketball somewhere at Chicago’s West Side in the afternoon of the voting.  Believing this will bring him luck like the 2008 election day game, BO this time got an assist from NBA great Scottie Pippen who played on this team.

Joining them were BO’s bro-in-law and Oregon State basketball coach Craig Robinson, Education Secretary Arne Duncan, White House Assistant Chef Sam Cass (yes, they never get hungry), former State Treasurer Alexi Giannoulias and several aides.

BO and his team won the game, and later in the evening won and got re-elected as the world’s most powerful man.  So it will be round two for Barack Obama in the White House.  The Americans have spoken, Mitt Romney has acknowledged defeat, BO accepted victory.  Depending on our views, we have four more years of Barack and his girls.

Back in the local front, while our own president is moonlighting as a stand-up comic with his potshots aimed at GMA, defeated VP bet Mar Roxas is still awaiting resolution on his electoral protest against VP Jejomar Binay.  Or was it resolved already?  Ah, elections.  It’s more fun and crazy in the Philippines.

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It has been a week that the 2012-2013 NBA regular season began play and so far, with a few blow-outs and unexpected performances from favorite doormats, we look forward to an interesting and full 82-game schedule. 

Miami, with the addition of veteran shooters to complement their resident superstars, has exploded.  The LA Lakers, despite their own galaxy of stars, are struggling with their new identity, and in the process imploded in their first three games.  Other teams, from East to West, have made changes in their manpower, entertaining hopes of advancing to the post season.

Whether they make it or not wholly depends on their performances and the resources available.  To give you some clearer views of the picture, let’s do some quick analysis on teams battling for this season’s Larry O’Brien trophy.  We’ll start our preview with the Atlantic Division in the Eastern Conference.

The Atlantic Division has Boston Celtics, New York Knicks, Brooklyn Nets, Philadelphia 76ers and Toronto Raptors.  For a long time, Boston and their men in green dominated this division.  New York and Philadelphia will try to regain lost glory with Brooklyn and Toronto settling for whatever is left of the spoils of war.

Boston Celtics – The 2007-2008 season was the birth of the ‘Big Three’.   Together they produced five consecutive Division titles.  Boston is all about winning tradition and we can’t argue with that.  When Ray Allen took his shooting to South Beach, disappointment among fans was an understatement.

The void was filled by new additions Jason Terry, Leandro Barbosa and Courtney Lee to help Paul Pierce and Rajon Rondo.  Jeff Green, Brandon Bass and Darko Milicic will provide relief to Kevin Garnett in the frontline.  The Celtics are again on their way to the Division crown.

New York Knicks – Carmelo Anthony, Amar’e Stoudemire and Tyson Chandler make up NY’s version of the Big Three.  This is a solid frontline backstopped by the returning Raymond Felton and JR Smith.  Although their roster got older, the Knicks have the league’s deepest benches.  Consider Jason Kidd, Marcus Camby, Steve Novak, Ronnie Brewer, Rasheed Wallace and the ancient Kurt Thomas.

Linsanity is replaced with longevity.  Vet presence will be important in the post season and NY has addressed this well.  Madison Square Garden will rock with the oldies, featuring the NY Geraitrics.

Philadelphia 76ers – In contrast to New York, this team from the City of Brotherly Love is pediatric.  Only Jason Richardson has more than 10 years of NBA playing experience in their lineup.  The rest have an average of 6 years and this speaks well for a rebuilding team.

Their resident superstar, Andre Igoudala, was shipped to Denver but they got a legitimate big man in Andrew Bynum.  Since his Laker days, Bynum has knee issues and he has brought it with him to Philly and has yet to see action.  Subbing for him at center is Spencer Hawes and it looks like they’re not missing Bynum.

Jrue Holiday is Coach Doug Collins’ main man at the point with Dorell Wright, Nick and Thaddeus Young and Even Turner completing the rotation.  Expect this young team to go nowhere but up.

Brooklyn Nets – The hype, the drama, the new image and the $1 billion Barclays Center.  This describes Brooklyn’s new professional sports team.  Ever since the Dodgers left for LA, this New York borough longed for another pro team.

The Nets is a somewhat a solid team with the explosive combo of Deron Williams and Joe Johnson.  Gerald Wallace provides the muscle with his rebounds and second-chance points and that’s about it.  Center Brook Lopez is consistently inconsistent.  Kris Kardashian, or Humphries if you wish, has been advertised as a power forward but he will be mangled by KG, Amar’e and even Dorell Wright.  He’s the kind of player that can score but won’t be feared.

Toronto Raptors – One of several NBA teams that are Euro spec, key players include Italian Andrea Bargnani and Jose Calderon from Spain.  Lithuanians Linas Klieza and rookie center Jonas Valanciunas will form the core.  New additions Kyle Lowry and Landry Fields make the Raptors respectable but they’ll find it hard to break the top four in this division.  But who knows, as PBA legend Atoy Co once said, “The ball is a-round”.  Oh yeah, I love this game.

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