SportsKenya: NBA Play-offs Finals

Friday, 8 June 2007

NBA Play-offs Finals

Do it do it ....do it ! One of the more consistent teams in the play-offs and one that is getting to the Finals for the first time in its 37 years franchise history. Yes San Antonio Spurs vs Cleveland Cavaliers !
Finals Match-up :
Cleveland Cavaliers:

As indicated this is their first Final in their 37 years as part of the NBA. They have exceeded expectations especially beating regular play-off finalists Detroit Pistons ( yes OK Mr.Macaca you won the bet....!).But this is not surprising especially since they signed Lebron James in the 2003 season. He was picked as the 1st pick , first round draft and heralded as good enough to become an NBA great. He has shown this consistency and if he wins his first NBA Championship ring, it will be a landmark for the franchise.Incedentally he wears #23 (need I say who else wore this number...?) hence his being referred to as 'heir apparent' !
Last year they blew a 3-2 lead to lose to Detroit Pistons in the Eastern Conference. Well they had their revenge and as underdogs have performed exceptionally well. Other inspirations include rookie Drew Gooden ,Lithuanian Zydrunas Ilgauskas. They also have Larry Brown, one of the best NBA coaches known to turn non-championship teams into winning outfits. He also assisted Greg Popovich in the 1990s.
San Antonio Spurs:

This is labelled as one of the more boring sides of the NBA for their non-flashy players. But that's just it, they dominate and win. They are aiming for their 4th championship ring since 1999. Without a doubt, they have the pedigree;
Tony Parker- Frenchman said to be one of the fastest guards on the ball in the NBA. He has led the team in scoring and easing off the burden the big men which Spurs were used to relying on.
Tim Duncan - best exemplifies the team's attitude. He'll make a big move in the paint, dunk and go back to the D without as much as a smile or roar. He's dominant in the paint and is nicknamed 'The Big Fundamental'. He'll be looking for his 4th championship ring and also 3rd NBA Play-off MVP.
Manu Ginobili-one of the best shooting guards in the League and also good on the transition. He has his guard up too defensively and has become a valuable player for the team off the bench.
Robert Horry-if there are veterans in the Game it's Horry. He will be looking for his 7th championship ring having won his first 2 with Houston Rockets (1994,1995),3 with L.A Lakers during their '3-peat'(2000,2001,2002) and San Antonio Spurs(2005).
Others include Fabricio Oberto, Bruce Bowen who will be involved in more than one way in the realisation of Spurs success.

Interesting Facts:
1. NBA's total attendance for the 2006-7 season both regular and play-off season has hit 23,362,721 with an average of 20,016 fans per game for the post-season attendance.
2.There are 128 TV broadcasters with increased international interest. The Play-offs will be shown in over 205 countries and territories and done in 46 languages.
3.The NBA Play-off Finals proper will have 8 foreign players;
(for San Antonio)
- Tony Parker (France)
- Manu Ginobili ( Argentina)
- Fabricio Oberto (Argentina)
- Francisco Elson (Netherlands)
(for Cleveland)
- Beno Udrih (Slovenia)
- Zydrunas Ilgauskas (Lithuania)
- Anderson Varejao (Brazil)
- Sasha Pavlovic (Montenegro)
4. For only the second time of the NBA history, 3-D imaging will be used to try and get as much interaction with game as possible for the fans. It was first used during the NBA All-Star game in February 2007.

Game 1:
San Antonio Spurs(SAS) 85- Cleveland Cavaliers(CC) 76
(For SAS)
Tony Parker 27 points, 7 assists,
Tim Duncan 24 points, 13 rebounds & 5 blocks
Manu Ginobili 16 points (3 3-point shots)
(For CC)
Lebron James 14 points

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Profile of a Kenyan Sports Personality

This is a look at a Kenyan personality who may have influenced and continues to affect sports in Kenya and inspires all and sundry in sports. It is our hope that you shall reflect on this, take a moment to appreciate the sacrifices and efforts these heroes made. We do take a bow and wave our hats as we cheer true Kenyan patriots in sport!

This one takes a different twist. Having seen individuals grace this column, we have sought to recognize a team of individuals who did some exemplary work and set what has been an unbeatable national and indeed continental effort.

Kenya has never been a major power in shorter races 400m downwards. Back in the late 1960s and early 1970s, this was a different script especially with the more exciting relay races. It is in 1968 when Kenya’s dominance came into play and with it a retinue of athletes who would become legends of their era.

The 4x400m races are usually the climax in the athletics calendar of events and in Mexico ’68, Kenya’s team including Charles Asati, Naftali Bon, Munyoro Nyamau and Daniel Rudisha ( the latter being the father to David Rudisha - current World and African champion in 800m) had other ideas coming 2^nd to USA.

In 1972, the 4 x 400m team was tweaked a bit and the final race was run by Charles Asati, Munyoro Nyamau, Robert Ouko and Julius Sang blazing the track to come up with the only other Gold medal from the Munich Games. But for this unprecedented move and none that has been done before by any other African nation, we salute our compatriots making them the Kenyan sprint legends!

Know your Sport

Swimming

Recently at some social setting we were engaged in a club quiz and one of the questions was about swimming. This sought to know which stroke was not among the competitive ones till 1956. One of our team-mates (we were 6 said that it was back-stroke while I argued it was butterfly, and the majority thought the former ….guess we should have stuck with my answer though!)

All the same, this sport has become one of the most competitive sports in any major sporting extravaganza in the form of the All-Africa Games, Commonwealth or indeed the Olympic Games. Kenya has lately featured in this very involving and energy-sapping sport. Thanks to the exploits of the Dunford brothers who have shone the spotlight on the country away from traditional sports in athletics, football, boxing and rugby. But what do you understand from the sport? Here’s a brief of it from different sources;

According to Wikipedia, swimming is based on the human act of swimming, that is, locomotion in water by self propulsion, with the goal of completing a given distance in the shortest amount of time. Swimming is distinguished from other aquatic sports (such as diving, synchronized swimming, and water polo) that involve swimming but the goal is neither speed nor endurance.

Competitive swimming consists of four strokes: butterfly, breaststroke, freestyle (or front crawl), and backstroke. When all four strokes are done during a race, it is called medley swimming (otherwise known as the individual medley, or I.M.). It is governed by the Fédération Internationale de Natation Amateur (FINA).

The goal of competitive swimming is usually to have the fastest time to complete a given distance. Competitive swimming became popular in the nineteenth century. Swimming is an event at the Summer Olympic Games, where male and female athletes compete in 13 of the recognized events each. Olympic events are held in a 50 meter pool (long course).

There are 36 officially recognized individual swimming events – 18 male events and 18 female events; however the International Olympic Committee only recognizes 34 of them – 17 male and 17 female. Most swimming sport events are held in special competition swimming pools, which are either long course pools such as those used in the Olympic Games (50 m) or short course pools such as those used in the FINA World Swimming Championships (25 m) (25 yards or 25 m). Competition pools have starting blocks from which the competitor can dive in, and possibly also touch-sensitive pads to electronically record the swimming time of each competitor.

In most competitions, the competitors are required to wear swimwear/swimsuits to adequately cover their bodies for the dip. However some suits have created controversies which have seen FINA coming up with standards to adhere to ensure competitors do not have undue advantage over each other.

The sport can also be pursued for personal fitness and is considered by fitness enthusiasts as one of the few that does an all-round job body of keeping the body in shape. It also requires healthy diets and rehydration (yes even if your body’s dipped in water)! Famous names in the sport include Mark Spitz – 7-gold medals winner 1972 Olympics and Michael Phelps – 8 gold medals - Beijing 2008.
For more info, check www.fina.org

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Friday, 8 June 2007

NBA Play-offs Finals

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