Magic basketball

NBA, 因为姚明, 正吸引着越来越多球迷、非球迷的目光. 目前, 在NBA两大联盟榜首展开的巅峰对决中, 东部迈阿密热火"吞噬"菲尼克斯太阳, 提前获得了常规赛东南部赛区冠军. CCTV9频道在3月30日北京时间8:30-11:00; 各省台在3月31日8:30-11:00, 分别将直播超音速对灰熊、国王对活塞的精彩比赛. 本期推出的NBA专栏, 旨在让更多的朋友了解NBA, 喜欢NBA, 同时分享球迷对NBA情有独钟的评论.



Origin of NBA

NBA (National Basketball Association) was founded on June 6, 1946 with the name of BAA (Basketball Association of America). It was cosponsored by the bosses of 11 ice rinks and gyms to avoid leaving the courts lie idle. There were 11 teams at first, and in 1949, BAA changed its name to NBA after taking in another alliance, NBL. In 1976, the number jumped to 22 when ABA (American Basketball Association) was annexed. With the joining of the Dallas Mavericks in 1980, Charlotte Bobcats and Miami Heat in 1988 and the Orlando Magic Minnesota Timberwolves in 1990, together with another two Canadian teams, the NBA now has 29 teams.

 

 

Watching NBA for 10 years
By Dustin
Everything begins with Jordan



I was a middle school student 10 years ago. It was said that Michael Jordan was a flying man on the basketball court. So, I started to collect pictures and photos of Michael Jordan, and almost went to extremes in worshipping him. Especially after the final game of 1998, where Michael won the game by 86:85 just because he stole the ball from Carl Malone and scored 2 points at the last 5 seconds. I won't forget that moment all my life.

NBA-a factory of famous stars

When I grew up, I found NBA does not only have Michael Jordan, but also "the king of wolves" Garnett, "big shark" O'Neal, "flying knight" Kobe Bryant and "the answer" Allen Iverson. Yao Ming is now a product of the factory, too. NBA is absolutely a factory for famous stars. In this factory, stars shinning in their own way and everything in the games is uncertain. No one can take any game for granted. NBA continually manufactures stars and suspenseful games, which attract thousands of fans from all over the globe. Its slogan: "I love this game!" has become a slogan for basketball fans in their daily lives.

Perfect sport system

One may ask: how can NBA produce so many stars and attract so many fans? My answer is: It has a perfect sport system. Surprisingly, NBA makes or amends basketball rules not for players, but for the audience. For instance, regular season games and playoffs are all held in the evening, basketball backboards are transparent, and all kinds of entertainment programs are given when it is time out. NBA players are very free to decide which team they want to join. NBA rosters record all the data of every player, so it's easy to learn the past of a player and even to predict his future. Although, the most important system is its salary system, which pushes every player to practice his basketball skills and to become more and more stronger, because his salary is totally connected with his performance. This is why you will find all NBA games exciting and wonderful. Commercialization---CBA are learning from NBA. In recent years, CBA is hoping to step out of its predicament by learning from NBA. CBA bought foreign players, added the performances of cheer leaders and chose excellent Chinese players to go to NBA. Last year, two NBA regular season games were held in Beijing and Shanghai. However, frankly speaking, CBA did not learn the essential thing---total commercialization. CBA still is a part of the government. In fact, if commercialized sport games can enrich people's lives and encourage them to keep fit, why not?

 

Playoffs, who will laugh last?
By Zhang Lingming



2004-2005 NBA regular season will come to its end one month later and now playoff games are the focus of people's discussion. Which team has enough strength to win the championship?

Detroit Pistons?

Last June, as a dark horse, the Pistons beat the Lakers by 4:1 in the final game, and won the championship. This year, 5 major players (Ben Wallace, Rasheed Wallace, Billups, Prince, Hamilton) still stay together. What makes other teams fear is that all of the 5 players are so strong both in defending and offending. None of them are weak, including their coaches. So people won't be surprised to see the Pistons get the championship cup again.

Miami Heat?

With the joining of "big shark" O'Neal, Heat becomes hot. Now there is no doubt that Heat is the most powerful teams of the whole league in the free-throw field. Moreover, Wade is a formidable shooter, helping Heat get 12 continuous home victories. So, Heat and the Pistons may give "final games" in the east conference ahead of schedule, and the winner will possibly be the champion.

San Antonio Spurs?

"Spurs are the most depressing team of NBA, because you can seldom see smiling faces on any of their players, especially Tim Duncan, who is just like a stone sculpture" many fans commented. However, without much entertainment, Spurs still are a strong team of the west conference. Duncan, Park and Ginobili, 3 major players from 3 different countries compose the core of the team. If Duncan comes back to the court soon, they have a big chance.

Phoenix Suns?

This team is miraculous. Once it was one of the last teams of the west conference, but it has won most games this season in the west. Organizing guard Nash and scoring guard Richardson joined this team, and activated two forward centers: Marion and Stoudemire. Now the games which Phoenix are involved in are the audience's favorite of the whole league because their playing rhythms are so fast and fluent. The Suns appear more and more like a dark horse.

Houston Rockets?

Frankly, there is little hope for the Rockets to win the championship this season. Although Yao Ming and McGrady gave an excellent performance recently, the Rockets are not strong enough to keep going steadily. They have a chance to play the playoffs, but to get the championship rings; they still have a long way to go! We hope their dream will come true next season.

 

 

Health Garden

Chinese acupuncture can lower elevations in blood
中医针灸可降血压
The traditional Chinese acupuncture treatments, combined with low levels of electrical stimulation, can lower elevations in blood pressure by as much as 50 percent, US scientists recently reported.



Oral contraceptives reduce breast cancer
口服避孕药减少乳癌
An Australian research suggests that taking oral contraceptives reduces the risk of breast cancer carrying breast cancer genes. The findings go against the researchers' original hypothesis that the pill would increase breast cancer in high-risk groups.

Anti-cancer compound in green tea
绿茶含抗癌合成物
Spanish and British scientists have discovered how green tea helps to prevent certain types of cancer. It decreased rates of certain cancers but scientists were not sure what compounds were involved or how they worked. Nor had they determined how much green tea a person would have to drink to have a beneficial effect.

A drink per day keeps brain young
每天杯酒保脑康
Older women who drink daily a cup of alcohol are 20 percent less likely to suffer cognitive decline as they age. A glass of wine, beer or a cocktail a day improves memory and might be good for the brain.



Vocabulary
dunking 灌篮
contraceptives 避孕药
playoff 决赛