Bleacher Report - Articles by halvar dil

Dwayne Wade: The NBA's Real MVP

halvar dil — Sat, 09 May 2009 16:06:02 -0400

How could you not vote for Dwayne Wade when the guy plays for one of the worst teams in the NBA and takes them to a fifth seed in the East?

Of course when the MVP voting comes along, no one is able to look past team records and LeBron James wins the MVP while Kobe Bryant gets second place.

Where is the respect for the NBA's scoring champion? Wade is the guard who blocks more shots then most centers and would have over 10 assists per game, too, if his supporting cast could hit a wide open shot once in a while.

The MVP is supposed to be the most valuable player to any team, so then please tell me who can possibly be more valuable to their team than Wade is to the Miami Heat who owned the league’s worst record last year?

With Wade injury free this year, the team that couldn’t get beyond 15 wins last year surpassed that benchmark before the start of 2009 season and clinched a playoff spot in early April.

So you have to wonder how the Heat's star got overlooked in the MVP voting. Out of the three main MVP candidates, Wade is by far the best competitor when it counts. When he gets thrown to the floor a few times, he still puts up a 30 points.

In a game against the New York Knicks, he got thrown to the floor and cut open his lip; afterward, he scored 24 points in the fourth quarter to give the Heat the comeback victory.

When you compare Wade to the MVP winner James, the statistics are in Wade’s favor. He has more points per game, more assists per game, more steals per game, more blocks per game, and a higher field-goal percentage.

Although James' stats are also impressive and his talent and skill as a basketball player are some of the best in the history of the game, I think Wade matches the true meaning of MVP for the 2008-09 season better than James.

With all that said, Wade had my vote as the league’s MVP. We can only hope for the sake of the NBA and the Miami Heat that he can put up another spectacular season to finally get the trophy he deserves.

Dirk Kuyt: Liverpool's Non-Flamboyant Hero

halvar dil — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 12:44:02 -0500

Liverpool sits comfortably at second place of the premier league table. This is only due to a goal difference, otherwise they would be ahead of the current leaders from Samford Bridge. A lot of the Reds points have come from winning close games, especially by scoring late and pretty much 'stealing' a victory.

With Torres out for most of the season their main contributor has been the selfless Dutchman: Dirk Kuyt. The Dutch International plays a very unselfish type of soccer that is hard to find these days.

He is officially a forward but it is not uncommon to see him battling as a defender. Kuyt runs the wings very well and distributes the ball from there.

Dirk Kuyt has been extremely underrated throughout his career both for the Dutch team and for Liverpool. Yes they love him now, but he had to prove himself over and over again, because he is not a magician with the ball.

Kuyt is one of the hardest workers you will find on a soccer pitch and will give his all every day of the week. Whether it's practice, matches or preparation, his skills come from hard work not talent.

Then how come he is never mentioned as one of the top players of the game? That answer is easy, it is because he is unselfish, not flashy, and modest.

Players like Cristiano Ronaldo get the attention, which of course is fair. I mean he is one of the greatest players, especially at the moment. However, his contribution to Manchester is very comparable to Kuyt's contribution to Liverpool.

The main difference is, Ronaldo scores more goals for MANU, taking more shots in the process. But that doesn't seem to concern anyone. In addition, Ronaldo has a cocky swagger about him that makes people notice him.

Whereas Kuyt just goes about his business and does what he needs to do and is modest about it. I know Kuyt doesn’t try to score off a bicycle kick or dribble past three defenders like Cristiano does, but isn't the end result what really matters? And isn't the main end result how much they contribute to the odds of their respective teams winning?

The Dutch Oranje Turning Heads at Euro

halvar dil — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 03:28:07 -0400

In 1960 a Dutch soccer coach developed the idea of total football. Total football is the concept of every player on the team being able to play every position.

The Dutch also known as the Oranje or orange played using this tactic throughout the 80's leading them to the 1988 Euro victory. Great and all, yet there has been a serious drought in Dutch football. This 1988 championship trophy is the only trophy the Dutch have brought back to their loyal orange colored fans in their history.

With little hope the Dutch team travelled to Switzerland were they were set to play Italy the world champions and the runners up France in a one week span.

Hopes in the little orange country were down and when radio DJ's asked callers what they thought the outcome of the Holland-Italy match-up would be, most callers actually replied that their bet was on a defeat!

What great soccer nation counts on their own team to lose?! None but then again the Dutch are pessimists when it comes to their football.

Yet the entire country was sitting in front of the TV the ninth of June at 8:45 in the evening local time. Going out into the streets of Amsterdam at this time you could hear a pin drop in the red light district...

Maybe the only time you could hear a pin drop in these crowded always living streets of Amsterdam. Yes the Dutch take their football seriously!

It soon appeared that the Orange was well represented in the Swiss capital with the stadium covered in this bright color!

It also became clear that the Dutch national team meant business, when Kuyt played a great pass to the Dutch legend striker Ruud Van Nistelrooy who got touched by the Italian GK Buffon, but did not fall down to try and claim a penalty.

However, this did not seem a costly missed opportunity as a few minutes later Van Nistelrooy did find the back of the net on a controversial goal where one of the Italian players was lying behind the goal causing the goal to count and offside not being called.

Italy nearly struck back with a header but Giovanni Van Bronckhorst one of the few Dutch players to play for a Dutch team (Feyenoord) was able to take it off the goal line, he then managed to open up the left flank and play a great high cross to Dirk Kuyt who headed it back for Wesley Sneijder who finished with a great shot to the near post beating one of the worlds best goalies in Gigi Buffon.

Van Bronckhorst later added the 3-0 with a header on another assist by Dirk Kuyt the Liverpool player.

3-0!

The loyal Oranje supporters were in shock! Could it be? Was this actually happening?

Was their team beating Italy the reigning world champions 3-0! The worst defeat in the history of Italy at the European Championships.

Yes it was true and a great deal thanks to Giovanni Van Bronckhorst who is a left back and managed to take a away a goal then assist and score a goal.

I think the Dutch managed to play the complete football they have been looking for the past 20 years...

Florida Marlins Analysis: Underrated Fish Don't Doubt Themselves

halvar dil — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 01:43:42 -0400

So the beginning of the baseball season came along and you thought of the teams that might be above .500 in the second week of June.

Now I am sure you added the Boston Red Sox, New York Yankees and especially the New York Mets to this list. Now let's look at the facts!

You made a good decision with the Red Sox, as they seem to be on their way to another great season. The Yankees, however, are at the bottom of their division with an even record.

Now let's look at the division rivals of the Florida Marlins. The New York Mets acquired Johan Santana in the offseason, which ought to increase their chances greatly.

Yet, they are 6.5 games behind the division-leading Phillies and they are also three games behind the most underrated team in baseball: the Florida Marlins!

The Marlins have the lowest payroll at roughly $22 million, yet they have been leading the NL East for most of the season and are still strongly in contention.

Now, I admit I did not expect them to be five games above .500 at this point of the season. However, we should have learned over the past 11 seasons that with those Fish anything can happen!

So all you other sportswriters out there: stop ending the Marlins' season before it has started!