The Vim Views & Versions - Blogs of a MIghTy African

I have been following basketball more closely since I went to the USA in 2001 to continue my journey to MIT from Presec . During my 10 years in the US, I fell in love with the game of basketball. #ILoveThisGame . This love grew partly because I was unable to watch much football as a big sports fan. If you think I am talking about the NFL, you must be new here . Football, aka soccer, okay, I am about to talk about American sports so I would defer for now . I have blogged about  basketball  a lot. This time, let me tell you about NCAA basketball , even though March Madness is a couple of months past. I support the following colleges in the annual tournaments: Stanford, Syracuse, North Carolina (UNC) and UConn . From September 2001, I spent almost 12 months in Syracuse , New York with my dad who was working on his Post Doc at the time. I worked at a local grocery chain to get money for school, helped my dad with some side hustles and he taught me how to cook . He also was the...

Let's make this snappy. The NBA season has just started but I am gonna stick out my neck and make these predictions. Actually, I picked the first names that came to mind. Rookie of the year - Victor Oladipo Sixth man of the year - Andrei Kirilenko Most improved player of the year - Bradley Beal All-Star Game MVP - Derrick Rose Defensive player of the year - Lebron James Most Valuable Player (MVP) - Kevin Durant Seeding the playoff teams and who will win it all Eastern Playoffs - Chicago Bulls, Miami Heat, Indiana Pacers, Brooklyn Nets, New York Knicks, Atlanta Hawks, Cleveland Cavaliers, Washington Wizards Western Playoffs - Los Angeles Clippers, San Antonio Spurs, Oklahoma City Thunder, Houston Rockets, Golden State Warriors, Memphis Grizzlies, Dallas Mavericks, Los Angeles Lakers East Semis - Bulls vrs Nets, Heat vrs Pacers. West Semis - Clippers vrs Rockets, Spurs vrs Thunder East Finals - Bulls vrs Heat West Finals - Clippers vrs Thunder NBA Finals - Heat...

I have been a fan of the San Antonio Spurs ever since I started watching basketball religiously in 2003. I liked the unassuming nature of Tim Duncan and the way about which the Spurs went about their business. I appreciate the nuances and tactics of sport, unlike many others, I don't follow sports mostly for the entertainment. I could literally succeed at coaching basketball teams. I've watched enough bball to do X's and O's to make my team earn multiple team hugs and several kisses from cheerleaders :-) The Spurs have been organizing basketball clinics on NBA courts for years now with super results. However, as much as they have won, they have also lost some big ones. They lost none bigger than this year's NBA Finals. It's just one of those that got away. From about 1994 up until 2003, two men had been part of every single NBA championship team.  Robert Horry  &  Steve Kerr .   Read about them here . After seeing Robert Horry's Lakers win three stra...

Lebron James came into the basketball spotlight just as I was starting to become an avid fan of the NBA. While Carmelo Anthony was making the word Syracuse more popular around the USA , Lebron was showcasing his arsenal of talent in preparation for the NBA. I had left Syracuse for MIT , and found uninterrupted and ubiquitous internet supply which allowed me to appreciate them both. Because I was a big fan of Melo, I couldn't really be a big fan of Lebron. They were rivals, and fans support accordingly. Lebron was going to go as the first draft pick, beating out Carmelo. It was to be dark o! Because one Darko Milicic (the next Dirk Nowitzki ) went #2, consigning Melo to #3. Carmelo has acquitted himself really well in the NBA. Darko has only seen dark days. Lebron? What a career he's having and a player he's turning out to be. This is where, who and what he's supposed to be. "I'm Lebron James, from Akron, Ohio. I'm not even supposed to be here". ...

I am a  Boston Celtics  fan. I will admit I am a fair weather one too, not as consistent with them as I am with Manchester United. They gave me some great years from 2008 and 2012. With the Big 3 and their coach Doc Rivers shipped out of town, I am back to the cold winter fan days I am afraid. I can't believe the Boston Celtics will start the 2013-2014 season without any of  Paul Pierce ,  Kevin Garnett ,  Ray Allen  and  Doc Rivers . For what it's worth, I know the Jesus shuttle left last year, but to doctrinate that the Big Ticket's absence in Beantown would be Truth could make me cry rivers right now. It's an end of an era. As a Celtics fan, I am sad to see this run end, but hopeful for a quick turnaround to give Boston a team that will be relevant in April, May and June. As a basketball fan and a fan of these 4 aforementioned, I also wish them the best as they see out their careers. I started following the NBA very closely when I arrived in th...

I can't believe the Boston Celtics will start the 2013-2014 NBA season with any of  Paul Pierce ,  Kevin Garnett ,  Ray Allen and Doc Rivers . The Boston Three Party is over. It was great while it lasted and relived the Boston Celtics' days as a relevant force on the NBA scene. It reached a peak with the Celtics' 17th championship (still one more than the Lakers) at the end of a magical season that could not be scripted perfectly. After some years of middling around the NBA, the new Big 3 was born via a flurry of trades in the 2007 offseason . Real Boston Celtics fans would know about the original big 3 of Larry Bird, Kevin Mchale and Robert Parish . They carried the 80's Celtics to 3 championships and a renewed salivating rivalry with the Los Angeles Lakers . In the 2007 draft, Boston was expectant. Greg Oden  would be entering the NBA. He was being touted as the next big man who would lead a team to multiple rings. After missing out on Tim Duncan 10 years...

The NBA Finals ended a while ago but I haven't been able to comment on them because of the World Cup. Hey, even Kobe Bryant was in South Africa recently taking in the Mzansi Mundial. I was cheering for the Boston Celtics to win their 18th NBA championship banner but they lost out to the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 7. The Lakers won their 16th championship and more importantly defended their championship won in 2009. This was the first time the NBA champions had successfully defended their title since... yes, the Lakers of 2000-2002. So, I'll call it now, it is very likely that the Lakers will go for the three-peat. Some of these things in the upcoming free agency period may change that, but we'll see. But what does the Lakers win mean for Kobe Bryant, Ron Artest, Phil Jackson, the Lakers, the Celtics, Ray Allen, Rajon Rondo, Doc Rivers, etc? Here are some thoughts. The Lakers deserved to win the NBA championship more than the Celtics did. It's clear the Boston Celtics p...

The conclusion of the NBA season with the Los Angeles Lakers beating the Boston Celtics for the championship officially set the free agency frenzy into overdrive. For a couple of years, we've been made to wonder where Lebron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh would land at the start of the 2010-2011 NBA season. It's a couple of days till July 1st, the first day NBA teams can talk to free agents. There's been a lot of speculation about where players would go, who would join who, etc. As an NBA fan, I have interests in where different players go. Whether these free agency moves change the NBA power play much, we'll wait to see. Here is what I wish would happen. The LA Lakers, Boston Celtics, and Orlando Magic are definitely three of the best NBA teams but they are not really in position to sign any of the top free agents. There's been talk of the Lakers signing Chris Bosh through a sign and trade and the Phoenix Suns can also hold on to Amare Stoudemire. I think many p...

I logged on to Facebook earlier and saw that two Tanzanian celebs who I've never met before had been tagged in a Facebook video. It's called THE OFFICAL NBA PLAYOFFS ANTHEM: WINNER REMIX BY WAKAZI . Some random Chicago-based Tanzanian musician had remixed Jamie Foxx's track and had a video montage of Tanzania's current favorite sportsman, Hasheem Thabeet. Yes, the guy who was a defensive force for UCONN in last college year, went high in the NBA draft and then became infamous for being the highest draft pick to be sent to the NBA's D-Developmental league. Hey, Thabeet may be a tough NBA life but the jury's not yet out on whether he'll be a winner, winner, winner. Lebron James on the other hand, is arguably the best basketball player on the planet and faces the biggest game of his life tomorrow. After 7 ringless years in the league, how that game goes on Thursday, May 13, will go a long way to determine how much of a winner Lebron James is. I am a huge NBA fa...

As I am typing this entry, I am watching the induction of Michael Jordan into the Basketball Hall of Fame. MJ is the greatest basketball player ever and also one of its biggest winners. MJ was a fierce competitor and cared about winning so much. He didn't mind his individual stats much, he always wanted his team to win. I was thinking about winning and losing yesterday and how much I hated to lose. Then I thought to myself, I think I forget my wins and that my losses are more memorable. Is this common? Are our losses more memorable than our wins? We have seen countless highlights of MJ, draining buzzer-beaters, the flu game, the Dream Team, the Shot, etc. MJ didn't lose much in his career but does he vividly remember when he failed? Michael Jordan never used to win when he first joined the NBA in 1985. When he won his first title in 1991, he had endured years of losing. When he un-retired in 1995, he played and then lost again. This is a quote from a recent ESPN article concern...

One day in 2001, I woke up and realised I was pretty tall. When I came to the NBA USA, people will look at me and ask if I played basketball. I guess tall black boys were supposed to be basketball players if they lived in Syracuse, New York. Like I was telling a high school friend earlier today, the 'gaso' the caterers fed us in Presec did me some good. Either that or I was meant to shoot a number of inches in my teenage years. Anyway, I've been a huge fan of the NBA since I started schooling in the US. I never played basketball growing up and haven't been able to pick it up since. I can't shoot, dribble or dunk. I can play some inspired Kobe-like defense for a couple of possessions but even that will be mistaken for Bruce Bowen scissorhands work. I have made a momentum-swinging shot in an intramural game though. Wink wink. "Not all of us can play bball". Not all of us can play bball. Some other Africans have proved they can though, and they made to the N...

The NBA regular season ended on Wednesday and ze MIghTy African is going to chip in on the debate for various season-ending awards. I am also going to hand out a few awards that I have patented (in case, the folks at ESPN) are reading. Yes, Bill Simmons is my hero. Let's get into the awards already. Most Valuable Player (MVP) I think this year's MVP decision is the easiest as far as I can remember. Lebron James was the most dominant player in the league and his team had the best record. They had basically the same team with the addition of Mo Williams but Ben Wallace, Ilgauskas, Delonte West all missed time. The guy led his team in points, rebounds, assists, blocks and steals. That takes the cake right there. Second on my ballot is Dwyane Wade, third is Dwight Howard, fourth is Kobe and fifth is a tie between Chauncey Billups and Chris Paul. Rookie of the Year This one is tough and though Russell Westbrook and OJ Mayo should get some credit, this one is between Stanford alum Br...