What went well and what went wrong.

The Biased Ball was totally biased tonight on the Lakers' side.
So, the question is, why was it close?
The answer is simple, the refs were biased to the Spurs.
Lakers got a fast 22-8 start but the Spurs cut it down to 28-23 at the end of the first quarter.
Why? There were 2 offensive fouls and and a traveling called on the Lakers.
Of course, Derek and Lamar had 2 fouls both.
I just don't wonder why these Spurs fans are complaining about that Barry non-call.
Justice serves right.

Let's just take a look of some of the calls that favored the Spurs :

• The Duncan Euro Travel - This was an easy call. This was worse than a normal traveling call because Duncan took 4 (four) steps in that play. TNT made a good job of replaying it and showing us how Duncan took a trip from Parker's hometown.
• The Manu 3 foot on the line - This was another easy call that the refs would have made. Manu's foot was totally on the line when he shot that basket, and the refs, guess what, called it a 3-point shot. It's just one of those nights where you can't get a call in your favor Laker fans, eh?
• The Odom "block not goaltending" call - Another stupid call by the refs to make that goaltending call on Odom. The ball didn't hit the board before Odom blocked it, and it was shown in the high cam angle. This was a clear block. No more. No less.

These are just plain examples of the way the refs had favored the Spurs (not including those ticky tack fouls on Parker and Duncan).
So if anything, the Lakers should have complained more.
The free-throw disparity was a total fluke.
SA once had a 26-14 advantage in the free throw line. And it just pissed me off, totally.

Anyways, the Lakers still won. Why? Because they were the better team. They played harder than the Spurs and the champs didn't deserve to win this game. That simple.

Numbers, numbers, numbers :

• Kobe attempted 29 shots and ZERO free throws. Amazing? Well, records told us that Kobe's last zero-attempt free throw game dated back in the 2004 Conference Finals versus San Antonio, otherwise known as the 0.4 D-Fish buzzer-beater.
• Brent Barry set a career playoff mark for points, 23 points today.
  
• Lakers got the rebounding edge, 46-37 and had more turnovers than SA, 14 to 8.
• Both teams combined 10-for-38 in the 3-pt line, with LA shooting a much lower percentage(21% on 3-of-14 shooting) than SA (29% on 7-of-24 shooting). Turiaf, Vujacic, and Farmar combined to shoot 3-for-15 from the field for a total of 10 points.
• Barry made more 3 (5) than the entire Lakers squad (3).
• Oberto went 21 minutes without a field goal attempt, the most so far in this year's playoffs.

That's it for tonight. Watch out for my Game 5 Detroit-Boston keys for the game.

Under the table : Lakers for Game 4

Game 4 of the Lakers-Spurs WCF Series is tonight (tomorrow in Manila@9am) at 9am.
I'm still sticking to Lakers in 5. And Biased Ball tells us Lakers will get this one. Time for the helpful keys to win the game:

• Get the Triangle going - One thing I've noticed in Game 3 was that the Lakers were rushing shots that they wouldn't necessarily take. They were so down in a big hole that they tried to make things happen by taking quick shots. The beauty of the Triangle is in its passing; stretching patience until someone is open or has a good look. The Lakers only had 13 assists in Game 3, much, much different than Game 1 (18) and Game 2 (20).
• Defense, LA, Defense - Another thing I've noticed was that the Lakers’ energy in Games 1&2 was not showing up. Prior to Game 3, they were holding SA to 37.5% shooting especially in the 3-pt line ( 25.6%). They were averaging 7.5 steals and 6.5 blocks, compared to Game 3’s 5 steals and ZERO block performance.
• The Fish-Odom Factor : Game 3 was , as Simon puts it, "utterly horrendous" for Lamar and Fish. They were the game-changer in Game 2, but were a no-show in San Antonio. They combined for 9 points in Game 3, a big step back from Game 2's 31 points. I say let Fisher and Odom be the aggressors in tonight's game early.

That's it. Hope you all have a great time. And by the way, I am writing for LA Ball Talk
and for a full article of this post, just click on that link and you'll see my keys for the game (including the Spurs). Have a great day.

Biased and Beyond : Pistons get back their charm.

Game 4 was a showcase of Detroit's best defensive game of the playoffs.
The ball was biased towards Mo-Town.
Everything (almost) went well for these "been-there-done-that" Pistons squad.
And of course, they probably did what they should do .

Just Numbers :

• The Pistons held the Celtics to a staggering 11% 3-pt shooting (1-0f-9). They defended the perimeter well.
• Kept Garnett out of his game - 16 points , 10 rebounds.
• Bench Booster - 22 points tonight.
• 26 Detroit FTA to 39 Boston FTA.
• 7 Detroit TO to 14 Boston TO.
• 27 Detroit assists to 12 Boston assists.
• 10 BS and 7 Detroit steals to 3 BS and 3 Boston steals.
• 21 points , 16 rebounds by McDyess.

That pretty much sums up today's game.
Tomorrow , Game 4 of Lakers-Spurs.

Under the table : Pistons for Game 4

Game 4 of the Boston-Detroit show will be tonight 8:30pm ET(8:30am in Manila).
This Eastern Conference Finals has lived up to its hype so far.
The series is in favor of the Boston Celtics, 2-1.
Biased Ball tells us Detroit is, well, as long as Billups gets healthy.
I won't go into the details yet (gimme a break, I'm just starting this new thing off), so here are the keys for the Detroit Pistons for Game 4.

1) Stay with the shooters.
Boston is 12-for-42 (28.6%) in the 3-pt line and has been averaging 14 shots a game in this series. Detroit is doing a good job defending the perimeter. But Game 3 was different, they were 5-for-14 (36%)from the 3-pt line, which is a great sign for Boston because in Games 1&2, they shot 25%. Don't let Boston stay comfortable from shooting the threes, because they are really good at making them.

2) Get Garnett Out.
Garnett is the best player in this series. And he is probably showing why. He is shooting well over 50% in this series (55.8%) and is attempting just a little over 17 shots a game.
He is averaging 1.19 points per shot (62 points on 52 shots) , and that's great efficiency. He is also grabbing 11.7rpg and 1.3bpg. He is the core of the Celtics' defense and is now showing that he can be the core of their offense as well. Double-teaming Garnett is not a good idea, because it will open up the shooters. What they need to do is just put different faces on him everytime he touches the ball in order to distract his rhythm.

3) Bench Booster.
Where's the pride of the Detroit Pistons? Anyone on the bench not named Rodney Stuckey are nowhere to be found. Take away Stuckey , their bench is averaging 5.33 points a game. We are missing Maxiell and Amir Johnson. Get those guys in the 2nd quarter and try to make them play, take the risk, because chances are, they will lose anyway if the bench won't score.


That's it. Let's just hope that the Biased Ball will favor the Detroit Pistons.

Welcome to Biased Ball

May I present myself to you. I am Mark Evasco. 17 years old from the country of the Philippines. I've been a basketball fan ever since I was born. Well, sort of. I started watching the NBA when I saw a 7-foot monster called Shaq. But, he was not the reason I started watching more often. It's about this cocky, arrogant, selfish guy named Kobe Bryant. We all know who he is and what he does so let's get back to the main reason why I made such a blog as this.
This site is all about NBA and its others-related stuffs. This site offers you a wide variety of humor, facts, stats, news, and rumors all combined to make a "basketball fan" knowledgeable. Well, not necessarily, since
I tend to be more "rough" regarding the issues around the NBA. Expect a daily dose of laughs and cries as I treat you to a new level of basketball material : Biased Ball.
Have a great day and enjoy!