On Saturday, I went to an LA Clippers game with my school, and it was an unforgettable experience. I think it was my sixth Clippers game, but this one felt different because I was surrounded by my friends and classmates. As we arrived at the arena, I could feel the excitement in the air. Our seats were not the greatest, but the view was actually way better than I expected. We were lucky that most of the Clippers’ players were not injured besides Ben Simmons. It was a neck-to-neck game against the Sacramento Kings. I think there were 12 ties in total in the game. Kawhi Leonard ended the game with a left hook buzzer beater. the crowd went crazy when he hit the left hooker and won the game for Clippers with score being 111-110. After the game, we all went down onto the court after the workers had cleared out the court for us. We were all able to shoot a free throw. It was an amazing experience even though we still had school the next day, and we got back to the dorms late too. But that day will be an unforgettable moment.
After the first league basketball game against Westmark, I wrapped up the match with 4 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists, and 3 steals. It was a solid team effort, and we came out on top with a convincing victory, 46-27. The game started a bit slow for us in the first quarter, as we struggled to find our rhythm. However, the team stepped up together, and we tightened our defense significantly. One of the highlights was our incredible performance in the third quarter, where we managed to shut down Westmark completely, not allowing them to score any points. By the time we reached the fourth quarter, we had established a comfortable lead. This allowed our freshmen players to get their first playing time in the season, gaining experience and confidence. Overall, it was a satisfying start to the league with a record of 1-0, and I look forward to building on this momentum in our upcoming games since it is always great to start the season with a win.
We finished the tournament last week, and our team was in 4th place. The record is 2-2 now. In one of the losses, we lost to a buzzer-beater 3 down at the half court after coming back from down by 18 points. It was the 3rd game in the tournament on Wednesday. I had a bad game, posting 5 points and 6 rebounds. However, we will play them again in the season. We should beat them next time with different refs and new systems and plays. We finished the tournament with a win against Beacon Hill posting 8 points and 2 rebounds. Throughout the tournament it was not the best performance, I only averaged 6.8 points per game and 3 rebounds per game. The season starts today playing against Westmark. The goal is to get as many rebounds as possible minimize turnovers and start the season with at least 15 points.
For basketball this week, it was short. Since we had a game the week after we returned from Christmas break. The practices were painful since I hadn’t moved much during the break. However, we played against Highland Hall and Summit View School. After both games, we still remain undefeated. I didn’t get to start in the starting lineup because I forgot to wear a tie since the coach asked the team to wear it before the game. However, during the game, I still got some decent minutes, but they were limited due to the weak calls from one of the referees. I had 3 fouls in the first half, which is surprising since I usually was never in foul trouble when I started in the starting lineup. But now that I got benched that game, I started the game with 3 fouls and ended the game with 4 fouls and 1 more foul from being fouled out.
In this winter basketball season we will have 13 games, all away games. In recent practices we have been working on our offensive game plays. Coach has introduced us new plays such as Duke and Princeton. Duke is when the 1 calls for a high pick and roll on the court with the wings and 4 staying at their positions, 2 at the wings and 1 at the free throw line. Princeton is when the 1 will call Princeton high on the court with 4 players stacking from the left wing all the way to the right wing. It will require paying lots of attention during the games because Princeton can be used in different forms such as inside screen into an easy layup, or pass and cut to dish to the player on the top to get a wide open 3. However, with all these games finally scheduled we are still working on getting an indoor basketball gym to host 1 or 2 home games excluding CIF playoffs. This will be another exciting season with the new coach, new system, and new games. We are in hope of returning to playoffs this year.
Basketball season started this Tuesday. The new coach has started the season with meetings and talks about his past coaching career and what we are going to be working on in the future to be a better team. Last year we gave up too many points because of defensive breakdowns and miscommunication. We gave up around 20-30 points in the first half last year. During the practices this week we have been working on conditioning and defensive game plans. We have been introduced to new gameplays such as 23-jump, 3-2 zone, and 2-3zone. They are all zone defense that we will be using in future games. The new coach seems to have more coaching experience and knows what he is doing. I hope this season we can go undefeated and get back to the CIF playoffs again. Since there is not that much time left too because as a junior in high school there are only 2 years left.
With the upcoming basketball season starting in a few weeks. I feel fully ready and excited for it. During summer I worked with multiple basketball trainers and teams. The team this year is looking great, and has a lot of potential. There is more size in the team now. During the summer it has just been mostly basketball for me. I started the day with basketball practice with the team and ended the day with the trainer. The basketball trainer, Noah, has helped me a lot basketball wise. He has helped me gain more knowledge in the game. He taught me how to control the ball and the speed of the game. I have improved my jumper with his help. I averaged 17.2 points per game and 5 assists during the season in the league I have joined with my friend in Taiwan. Although we have been downgraded to the lower bracket this upcoming season, we still have a chance in making the CIF if we go 8-0 this season. Anyways, I have come prepared and ready this season to win first place in the league this year.
The Washington Wizards are sending point guard Spencer Dinwiddie and forward Davis Bertans to the Dallas Mavericks in exchange for a future second-round draft pick and forward Kristaps Porzingis. The Wizards are adding another big in Porzingis, which I don’t get they have Kuzma, Gafford, Hachimura, Bryant, and now Porzingis. I guess they might try and mirror the Cavs who had a boatload of bigs/forwards. Dallas adds a veteran guard who will probably come off the bench and add a stretch-big both will play big roles for Dallas in the latter half of the season.
Washington gets a C for this deal while Dallas gets a B-
pc: clutchpoints.com
Harden heads to Philly:
The Brooklyn Nets are sending James Harden and Paul Millsap to Philly, the 76ers are sending Seth Curry, Andre Drummond, two first-round picks, and Ben Simmons. This is a win-win trade for both teams. the 76ers add a second superstar next to their all-star center Joel Embiid; while New York adds rim protection with Drummond, 3-point shooting with Seth, future assets, and a young all-star point guard/power forward in Ben Simmons. Both teams are in win-now mode and this trade keeps them both in this focus.
Philly gets an A and Brooklyn gets an A as well, in my opinion.
“Practice makes perfect” but nobody cares about practice, they care about applying said practice. When I go up and down a basketball court practicing my jump shot, I don’t like tirelessly throwing the ball straight up and down, I like watching my jump shot clearly improve when I start shooting. My jump shot in the past struggled, it struggled to even hit the backboard. My jump shot would consistently sky the backboard by a cool 6 inches, I sucked. Perfect. The worse I am at something, the more I can improve. The worse I am, the faster I can get better. Liking something to improve is not the best quality however, because when I attain a goal I had been striving for, I become intoxicated by my achievement, but I feel nothing for the sport. I find joy in reaching a goal that once felt unreachable. This has lead me to succeed at many thing and then quickly quit, wether it be certain video games, skateboarding, lacrosse, or basketball. I don’t count this as quitting, I just count it as losing interest.
Here are my NBA awards and playoff bracket predictions
League MVP: There are many options for MVP such as Kevin Durant, LeBron James, and Giannis Antetokounmpo. But my pick this year is none other than Stephen Curry from the Golden State Warriors. Curry lead the league in scoring last year along with averaging 5 boards and 5 assists. He should’ve taken home the award last year but the Warriors missed the playoffs by game which was the biggest knock on his 2020-2021 campaign. This year the Warriors will most likely have a high seed in the west due to incoming rookies Mose Moody and Johnathan Kuminga providing much needed help off the bench; and most importantly the return of all-star shooting guard, and co-splash bro Klay Thompson. Thompson will provide much needed assistance to the Warriors back court. Klay Thompson with bring out the best of Stephen Curry in this upcoming season.
Rookie of the Year: Rookie of the Year is an easy pick; Jalen Green out of Houston. Green will get to play both the 1 and 2 guard positions for the Rockets this year allowing him to have the ball in his hands for most of the game. Having the ball in his hands not only gives him the free range to create his own shot it also allows for him to be a playmaker. Houston with out a doubt will find themselves in the bottom of the western conference but at least they have a franchise player in Jalen Green.
Most Improved Player of the Year: The player who’s game that will elevate the most will be Michael Porter Jr. Porter Jr recently signed a 5 year max-extension worth up to $207 million; not only will he have to prove he is worth a two hundred million dollar contract he will also have to prove that he can be a leader on this Denver Nugget team. The Nuggets will be without point guard Jamal Murray this year so Porter Jr will have the opportunity to take more shots and elevate to an all-star wing he was projected to be coming out of the University of Missouri.
Defensive Player of the Year: This year’s DPOY will be Anthony Davis. Anthony Davis, or AD for short, should’ve taken home the award in the 2019-2020 season. Davis has a chip on his shoulder coming into the 2021-2022 season, AD missed most of last year due to injury and was given the nickname “Anthony Day-To-Day Davis” via the ruthless nba followers on Twitter. AD will not only remind everyone the type of player he is, he will surpass everyone’s expectations for him. I believe this year will be AD’s career year due to the fact that the Lakers added another Hall of Fame playmaker to their roster in Russell Westbrook, brought back legendary point guard Rajon Rondo, and have some guy named LeBron James as well. Davis’s defense will be a key part in the Lakers hunt for their 18th title.
6th Man of the Year: This award will go to Jordan Clarkson out of Utah. It’s his award to lose and nobody is as consistent as Clarkson when coming off the bench. There’s not much to say for JC as he knows his role on the Jazz; fucking score the basketball. And he does, he does it very well so he’ll find himself adding another 6th Man of the Year trophy to his award case.
Coach of the Year: What team/coach fits the NBA’s narrative for the 2021-2022 season. I like Nate McMillan from Atlanta.
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