Haven’t watched NBA games since Rodman retired his 91 (if there’s an emergency, who do you call?) jersey. Wait, Garnett when he was with the Timberwolves, was in my radar for a split-second but nah, Rodman is irreplaceable. I have just started watching PBA games again this year, off and on. This I have to say, nothing beats the fun and chaos of “kanto” basketball, the basketball I grew up watching as a kid through this “liga-liga.”
Some of my fondest memories with Dantoy is getting fried in open air in our sleeping clothes, munching on icedrop or icecandy, doing what I enjoy: heckling at basketball players who didn’t know us from Adam.
Game 3 between my favorite SMB and the Burger Kings earlier was quite brusque and physical, Game 4 makes me a bit nervous. That Pennisi is a whiner, my pet peeve. I can take a selfish, uncerebral player any day, but a whiner? On my team, at that? With his heft and attitude, Pennisi is hardly a finesse player. He should learn playing rough but tough. Engage in all the trash-talking you want but never lose composure. I would not recommend trashtalking as a weapon but if you have to engage in it, do it to gain advantage, not to lose your form. Whiners, they have no room in professional sports.
I miss Rodman on such moments, his calculated antics, all the reverse psychology in his bag of tricks people found infuriating like openly applauding a good play by an opponent, reaching out to an opponent kissing the floor after being defeated in jockeying, taunting Alonzo Mourning to get dirtier, tapping Malone or Kemp on the shoulder every time they missed their free throws, chuckling everytime he was being elbowed and the referees wouldn’t blow their whistle. The man loved playing basketball, he took everything in good stride and a truck of humor.
I miss those unknown players from the barrios who played with their hearts and unwittingly provided us clean entertainment and valuable lessons in life, those players whose poverty cannot be concealed with their lanky bodies and their badly beaten footwear. We often witnessed how one pair of sneakers was passed from one player to another, one time a left pair just bursting out of exhaustion in the court and the crowd roared in laughter and awe. Magical moments in amateur basketball that fill your heart with I don’t know, what’s the word besides joy?
Game 4 is on Wednesday. It should be physical, let the referees reign supreme. The players should just focus on their gameplan. Enough of the whining. It's not attractive.
Some of my fondest memories with Dantoy is getting fried in open air in our sleeping clothes, munching on icedrop or icecandy, doing what I enjoy: heckling at basketball players who didn’t know us from Adam.
Game 3 between my favorite SMB and the Burger Kings earlier was quite brusque and physical, Game 4 makes me a bit nervous. That Pennisi is a whiner, my pet peeve. I can take a selfish, uncerebral player any day, but a whiner? On my team, at that? With his heft and attitude, Pennisi is hardly a finesse player. He should learn playing rough but tough. Engage in all the trash-talking you want but never lose composure. I would not recommend trashtalking as a weapon but if you have to engage in it, do it to gain advantage, not to lose your form. Whiners, they have no room in professional sports.
I miss Rodman on such moments, his calculated antics, all the reverse psychology in his bag of tricks people found infuriating like openly applauding a good play by an opponent, reaching out to an opponent kissing the floor after being defeated in jockeying, taunting Alonzo Mourning to get dirtier, tapping Malone or Kemp on the shoulder every time they missed their free throws, chuckling everytime he was being elbowed and the referees wouldn’t blow their whistle. The man loved playing basketball, he took everything in good stride and a truck of humor.
I miss those unknown players from the barrios who played with their hearts and unwittingly provided us clean entertainment and valuable lessons in life, those players whose poverty cannot be concealed with their lanky bodies and their badly beaten footwear. We often witnessed how one pair of sneakers was passed from one player to another, one time a left pair just bursting out of exhaustion in the court and the crowd roared in laughter and awe. Magical moments in amateur basketball that fill your heart with I don’t know, what’s the word besides joy?
Game 4 is on Wednesday. It should be physical, let the referees reign supreme. The players should just focus on their gameplan. Enough of the whining. It's not attractive.
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