more b-ball thoughts

Saturday was one of those rare, precious days when my 2 favorite teams both won - Duke and whoever's playing Carolina. :) And I know it doesn't really matter much right now, but it sure is nice to see Duke ranked higher than UNC for a change. I readily admit that we aren't as talented as UNC or about 10 other schools for that matter. And I know we shouldn't even be considered a favorite for the final 4.

But we sure are playing well as a team. Obviously, we're getting killed on the boards by bigger, physical teams. But we seem to make up for it with defense, hustle, and smart play. Coach K is really getting the most out of his roster this year. I do think that our best lineup has McClure playing center, allowing Singler to play PF. And Singler reminds of Laettner in some ways. Smart, well-rounded, nice shot. He presents a difficult matchup for a lot of teams. Plus, he's gaining confidence.

As for UNC, what's up?! This team seems to have all the pieces - a great PG, a great SG, a great C, depth, athletes, etc. Is it the coaching? I know Roy won a title a few years ago, but is he really a great coach? Shouldn't he have won at least one title at Kansas? At the least, he's a great recruiter. UNC seems to be signing players left and right lately.

What do y'all think?

Cruise Review

Hey everyone!
I just wanted to recap our little 3-day cruise that we went on. We rode the Carnival Paradise out of Long Beach to Ensenada(Mexico) and back. Unfortunately, we picked the stormiest weekend of the past year to go. The first couple days out at sea were pretty rocky. Joyce got really seasick. I could feel it, but never got sick.

Well, as you would expect, there was non-stop eating. As soon as we boarded the ship(around 2PM) there was a buffet waiting for us. There was a 24 hour pizzeria, fancy restaurants, buffets, grills, anything you can imagine. And despite hitting the gym each day on board, I'm sure we both put on a few pounds.
There were jacuzzis, pools, mini-golf, a casino, shopping, live shows, and several nightclubs. Poor Josh wanted to jump into every pool and jacuzzi he saw, but it was too cold. I did try the slide once, but had to run straight into the jacuzzi after hitting the water.

I also played poker one night, winning enough money to cover all our tips. :)

Josh loved seeing the ocean and the birds. We pretty much had a great view whenever we ate. Josh was always pressing up against the windows or trying to run for the doors. :)

Our room was small but had everything we needed. Our stewards were so nice and even helped tape up a bedsheet so that Josh couldn't see us from his crib. We're used to sleeping in our own rooms at home, so we figured we had to create the illusion of separate spaces. At night, we would basically put him down, wait outside the room until he was asleep, and then go eat a nice dinner in the formal restaurant. Are we horrible parents for leaving him alone in the room?
We got the idea from other parents who also did the same thing. We figured once he's asleep, he's pretty much out until the morning.

The dinners were amazing, lobster, steaks, fancy appetizers that I couldn't even spell. For $200/person the food alone was worth the price of the trip. The buffet food was hit and miss, but I did enjoy the frozen yogurt about 5 times a day. And Joyce couldn't stay away from the hot pizza for more than a couple hours.

All in all, it was a fun time. I have to scratch my travel itch every once in a while and it was Joyce and Josh's first cruise. We'll probably go again with our parents in a couple years. It'll really be sweet once the kids are old enough for kids' club(starts at 2yo).
Well, sorry it ran a little long. Just thought it might be helpful for anyone else thinking about a family cruise.

X-mas in Northern Virginia

Here are some Christmas pics of the Parks - Rachel is 6 now and Samuel is 2 1/2. (Sorry, although I am Asian, I've messed up the whole text/picure layout.)

You can see that little Samuel is quite the stylish fellow sporting his sweater/turtleneck combo. 80's in December?Brian, you should know better than to tease the rest of us suffering through a cold winter! Man, I miss Southern California!

Joyce, you look fabulous! You should model for Fit Pregnancy magazine, or something. I think Joyce looks more fit pregnant than me! Again, congrats to Baby Girl Paik - it'll be nice for Josh to have a little sister to protect.

It's nice seeing all these nice postings with all these pics of some good-looking kids - thank God that they don't look like their parents!

Although I realize that most bloggers are Dukies, let's try to keep the B-ball postings to less than 10 paragraphs - please, the ACC regular season hasn't even started yet - let's not get too excited too fast. I know last season was pretty miserable for the Dukies, and the team does look good - BUT come on, wait until Feb/March or so before we all get too wound up.

X-mas in SoCal

Well, the Paiks got ourselves bikes for X-mas this year. And thanks to the nice weather, we were able to ride this week. It must have gotten up to 80 degrees.
Plenty of homes for sale in our neighborhod, y'all. :)

Josh likes to put his feet up. Might be time for a mini-lazyboy.

bloodying tyler's nose...

yes... if i was a duke fan and had to endure many many images such as this, since tyler's freshman year, i too would be bitter... :)

BTW... the pic of the asian kid in the OSU uniform is pascal rhee. as you know rich and i have the unique relationship of being rivals of college football and basketball... the "bet" we had on football was that winner would the loser's kids clothing. the loser would have to dress their kid up and take a digital pic of them.... hence........ the picture of pascal in an ohio state uniform.. :)

needless to say, it has been good 7 yrs to be a buckeye......... :)

i'll post more later... :)

Duke bball: thoughts on non-conf play

I entered the college basketball season with fairly high hopes and our team so far has not disapppointed me. There's a lot to like, in particular, the shooting, the depth, and the defense. I think Gerald Henderson and Kyle Singler can become big time players, and even our fifth, sixth, and seventh best players are huge offensive weapons. I absolutely love the depth on this team as we can go ten deep. Significant injuires, which almost always must be dealt with mid-season, should not affect this team too much. If Paulus goes down, we don't lose much (if anything) with Nolan Smith. If Gerald or DeMarcus goes down, we don't lose much with Scheyer. The only real injury possibility that worries me is Singler as he is probably irreplaceable. With so much depth, I am disappointed that Coach K has not committed to going ten deep (like he did earlier in the season) and play everyone between 15-25 minutes. I think with our second team so talented (in effect, not losing that much offensively), we should be applying full court pressure and really wear down teams that only use seven or eight players. Coach K has a tendency to fall in love with a seven man rotation and give it huge minutes. I think with this team, that is a mistake.

Our non-conference play so far has been pretty strong. In addition to the cupcakes we usually play early, we have quality wins over New Mexico St., Illinois, Marquette, Davidson, Wisconsin, and Albany (all were NCAA qualifying teams last year). I thought Pitt would be not only a huge test for us, but would reveal a lot in terms of how good we are or can be this year. Overall, I would say our first half play was good (though probably it was more that Pitt's offense was just horrible) and that the second half exposed our weaknesses and in the end, we could not secure the win. I'm not overly upset as Pitt is a very, very good team and I'd rather have a loss early than go 15-0 and foster some unrealistic expectations for a team that is very good but not quite in the top tier.

The biggest shortcomings of this team are: size/rebounding, poor free throw shooting, and the tendencies of both DeMarcus and Gerald to play too much 1-on-1 down the stretch in close games and to hoist up some very low % shots. Granted they were both able to make a few, including Gerald's fadeaway turnaround jumper from the corner at the end of regulation (I think Eric Lim would agree with me that that shot was very Kobe-esque) or DeMarcus' reverse lay-up in OT that fouled out Blair. But honestly, were those good shots? How often do they fall? I'm thinking maybe 30-40%. Definitely not the type of shot I want deciding the game. Down the stretch and in OT, it seemed like both Gerald and DeMarcus were playing a bit too much like individuals, a tendency that we had seen glimpses of in earlier games. Don't get me wrong, I like the ball in their hands, and I absolutely love it when they slash and penetrate to get easy dunks or lay-ups. But when they penetrate and there is nothing there, I would rather they not force a low % shot. Usually when they penetrate, they draw a double team and someone should be open. If they kick it back out and we're able to move the ball around quickly to find an open perimeter shooter, I would much rather have Scheyer or Paulus or Singler squaring up for a wide open three. But overall, I think our inablitiy to keep Pitt off the offensive glass and our continuing struggles from the charity stripe cost us the game. Pitt out-rebounded us by 15 and we continue to shoot just over 50% from the line. Scheyer uncharacteristically missed one late, Singler missed one late in OT, and DeMarcus missed his usual handful from the line. If any one of those drops, we escape with a win. Rebounding, there's not a whole lot we can do to compensate for our lack of size. Against a big Wisconsin team, the size differential didn't really matter because we were shootingg so well. And I imagine that the size differential really wouldn't have mattered against Pitt if we had shot better in the second half. But in close ACC games or in the post-season against better teams, our lack of size and poor free-throw shooting may ultimately cost us.

Despite the loss at Pitt, I really like our team. They are fun to watch, they put up points, and they are team players (with the occasional tendencies of DeMarcus and Gerald to go solo). I love that Singler can finish the Albany game with only eight points but be happy on the bench at the end of the game, joking around and congratulating Scheyer on his performance. I love that Taylor King can not play at all against Marquette but be our most vocal cheerleader from the bench. I love how we have so many offensive weapons and that we also play tough D and usually keep opponents to a pretty low FG shooting %. My only wishes are that Coach K go deeper on the bench, that Taylor King loses some weight and plays better defense so he can be on the floor more (is it just me, or is that kid built like a middle linebacker and not an off-guard?), and that Brian Zoubek would develop more as a low-post presence. I think he is reasonably skilled for a 7 footer and I think developing him would be a huge asset for the stretch run and for his final two years. I also wish Coach K would focus more on recruiting big, physical post players. I would love to have Pitt's DeJuan Blair starting for us instead of Lance Thomas. We lost Patrick Patterson, a similar type player to Kentucky at the end of recruiting season in May and we already lost prized high school senior Greg Monroe, a 6-10 monster to Georgetown. We were finalists for both those guys but weren't able to close the deal. I can't really complain about recruiting as I think Coach K is the best in the biz in that dept, but I think we stockpile too many Hendersons, Scheyers, Nelsons, Kings, and Smiths who all play essentially the same position, and don't do enough to recruit the obviously more scarce skilled big men.

Anywayz, should be an exciting season. I think about 28 wins and an elite eight type of year is reasonable. And hopefully one (or more) sweet, sweet victory against Tyler Hansbrough and Carolina. I say we retire Henderson's number if he can bloody Tyler's nose one more time. Just kidding! Happy holidays everyone.

Intern

Hey guys,

one of my colleagues just wrote a book about life as a medical intern. It is our modern day version of House of God.

It should be a good read.

Check out his website sandeepjauhar.com

Hope all is well,

Joe

Thoughts on Duke-Pitt

Even though we lost the game, I was encouraged by several things I saw. We missed too many free throws, layups, and open 3s, but we were still leading for most of the game, and it took a fadeaway 3 to put us away. There were also too many silly freshman turnovers and very little interior defense/rebounding.

But I liked how we dominated the first half. I liked the big shots by Henderson, Singler, and DeMarcus near the end. Those guys didn't look timid at all.

There won't be too many nights when we miss as many free throws or threes as last night. And our freshman will get better. At least they're all talented and fairly basketball-savvy. Obviously, we need to get tougher inside, but I still like our chances against most teams, esp. come March.

X-mas '07

Happy Holidays, everyone!

Let's see those x-mas pics, y'all. :)

Visit with Sunny

Sunny's back! Yeah!!!
So, when are the rest of you going to move out here?

it's a girl!

We just found out we're having a girl, everyone. I keep hearing it's good to have a girl b/c they're more likely to take care of you when you're older. We'll see. :)
At least we'll have one of each now.

Early Season Thoughts

Not to toot my own horn, but I think my preseason predictions were pretty close. We're clearly deeper, more athletic, and have better flow as a team than last year. Singler is a polished, complete player. We don't miss McRoberts much, although rebounding can be an issue at times.
And unfortunately, I was right about Zoubek so far, too. Although he'll get some rebounds and blocks, I just cringe every time he tries to make any kind of move. I'd much rather see the team play small and run.

And while I don't think we have as much size or pure talent as a UCLA or UNC, I think we can hang with anyone and win on a given night. Team play, defense, hustle, and decision-making are so important in college sports. Plus, 3-point shooting is a great equalizer. All of these factors will play to our strengths this year.

It's been fun watching the Devils so far this year. Let's hope they keep building and improving, then peaking at the right time. Go Duke!

Any UNC thoughts out there?

Yoos and Ahns Visit

So I finally got my own little reunion out on the West coast.

From left to right are Joyce, me, Josh(15 mo), Joe, Kailar(16 mo), Ramee, Dave, Alex (4 mo), and Julie.

Kailar actually cried when Josh went to bed. He cries just like his daddy. :)

Poker, Faith, and Randomness in Life

Brian recently encouraged me to contribute to the nc-op blog, which by the way, is very fun to follow when people write. Initially, I was hesitant as I am pretty much a private person and I didn't really think there was anything worth sharing. But several weeks ago, I was watching ESPN as I usually do for a handful of hours a day and came across the World Series of Poker Main Event final table.

The WSOP Main Event is one of the greatest inventions of mankind. In my opinion, it is up there with electricity, cars, airplanes, mapquest, youtube, tivo, fantasy football... you get the point. Poker tournaments are run pretty much everyday in probably all fifty states and unless a deal is made, only one person emerges victorious. That's the beauty of tournament poker: whether it's a ten person home game tournament, a decent sized tournament in a local casino with several hundred entrants, or a major World Series of Poker or WPT tournament with a field of 500-600 of the toughest poker pros in the world, only one person emerges victorious. For everyone else, whether you are the first one out, or the dreaded bubble boy, or runner-up, when you are eliminated with that fateful river card, all your hopes and dreams are cruelly vanished. But until that time, if you are alive with even one chip, there is a certain sense of hope, that maybe this will be the tournament when all the stars align, the cards will break your way, and you will be the last entrant standing. Tournament poker has flourished in the last four years (since Chris Moneymaker splashed onto the scene) because it fosters a dream that maybe, just maybe, YOU might be the last player standing.

I've played in the Main Event the past two years and I don't think I'm overselling it when I say that there is nothing like it in the world. It is the Super Bowl of poker and ANYONE can enter. Immediately before the cards go in the air on the first day, there is tangible electricity in the air. As players are knocked out and you see the field shrink, that fantasy or dream that tournament poker fosters begins to grow. Perhaps I could be the next world champion of poker. And if you can in fact navigate your way through the largest poker field of the year, then you can try to figure out how to spend a sick amount of money. It's not quite as much as the Powerball, but it's certainly enough to live comfortably for the rest of your life. In 2006, I was able to last four days in the Main Event before busting out 286th out of a field of almost 9000. Unfortunately, Jamie Gold took home the first place prize of $12 million, not yours truly. This year, I barely lasted one level as I got all my chips into the middle with a set of jacks against a guy who had unimproved pocket aces and the winner of the massive pot who held a ten high flush. Tough beat.

The winner this year was a social worker from Temecula, California by the name of Jerry Yang. The Main Event final table was televised several weeks ago and Yang utterly ran over the table. I believe he eliminated all but one of the final table players and unlike last year, when Jamie Gold held a dizzying number of hands, I think Yang actually outplayed his opponents for the most part. Granted, if you look at Yang's poker resume, you'll see that he is a relative novice, and he did commit a number of big mistakes (though fortunately for him, his opponents made even bigger mistakes on the hands he played poorly), but all in all, he absolutely steamrolled the final table.

What I wanted to discuss was something that I saw repeatedly during the final table. It was pretty clear that Yang is a devout Christian and his convictions came across on television. I actually saw the final table live on pay-per-view back in July and Yang not only prayed during hands but it seemed like he was speaking tongues while waiting for the turn and river cards in key pots. Now, I don't have a problem with faith and hoping for the best possible outcome, but Yang's convictions were unique and thought-provoking. He actually thought that it was God's will for him to win the main event. In the middle of an all-in hand, he even said something along the lines of, "Lord, I know that you have a purpose for me in this tournament; so please, let me win this one."

Now, I may be over-stating this a bit, but it was clear throughout the final table that Yang sincerely believed that God was on his side. Watching all this unfold, I was intrigued. I thought, man, this guy Yang really believes that God is on his side and conversely that God is not on the other nine players' side. While his play was certainly aggressive right from the start and he benefited by making his opponents uncomfortably play huge pots against him, I thought that if Kravchenko or Lam or Watkinson got ahold of some chips, he wouldn't be able to overcome their experience and superior play. But in the end, Yang emerged as the victor. Without a doubt in my mind, he believed that God had anointed him to win the 2007 WSOP Main Event. While this is certainly possible, I am of the opinion that the Main Event developed totally randomly, just like I believe that the Boston Red Sox won the World Series randomly (meaning without God's intervention). It is possible that God interacts in a more hands-on way (I'm referring specifically to sporting events and other competitions), but I am skeptical. I think that it is much more likely that every hand that was dealt in the Main Event was totally random and that every player in the hand had decisions to make and that the results developed without God's intervention. Decisions were made, outcomes dealt with, and most players tried to learn from their experiences. Yang obviously felt very differently about his experience.

This exploration of God's interaction with human activity is something that I think about often. I know that a lot of people, Christians especially, believe that everything happens for a reason. I don't necessarily share this sentiment. I am a big believer in the randomness of life: the recent fires in Southern California, Hurricane Katrina, the fatal earthquakes in India (2001), the outcome of Super Bowls, World Series, Final Fours, and the Main Event of the World Series of Poker are totally random. I believe that it's a part of the human experience to actively participate in life's events and to learn from them. I think that trying to discern God's specific will in human activity is sort of over-reaching.

I hope you don't think I have a negative opinion of Jerry Yang. I'm actually happy that he won as he seems to be a very, very genuine and humble person. He has pledged 10% of his winnings to three charities and I think he will do a lot of good with the Main Event winnings and title. I thought he was very, very lucky to win the Main Event (but no more so than previous winners like Varkonyi, Moneymaker, Raymer, and Gold) but most significantly, I thought his perspective on God's will regarding Yang and the outcome of the Main Event was very, very interesting and thought-provoking.

Sequioa trip

Hey guys,

Here are a few pics from our trip to Sequoia Nat'l Park this past weekend. It was really fun and relaxing, exactly what we needed.

And an extra pic from Halloween. :)

Beachwalk Recap

Hey y'all. We just wanted to thank everyone who contributed to the Beachwalk. Your generosity helped us surpass our personal goal of $1500, and the clinic as a whole raised 82K. It was a beautiful day, a great event, and a fun time!

If anyone still wants to contribute, you can do so at http://www.tccbeachwalk.kintera.org

Thanks again!

Duke Basketball Preview

http://www.dukebasketballreport.com/articles/?p=23661

This is a nice season preview, but I wanted to add my own thoughts and start the discussion. :)

First off, although it pains me to admit that Carolina is probably better than Duke starting off this season, there is a silver lining to being ranked #11 while UNC is #1. It'll be that much sweeter if and when UNC falters somewhere in the NCAA tournament and also if we can knock them off the #1 ranking during the season. There's something more fun about being a relative underdog. Let UNC and their fans deal with the pressure and weight of expectation.

As for our team, I think we'll actually be quite a bit better than last year, maybe even capable of a final 4 run. Paulus is healthier starting off the season and showed some flashes last year. I still think he's going to end up being an excellent point guard. He has good vision, a nice stroke, and toughness. Henderson and Scheyer will only improve. And our freshmen are all nice additions. We'll miss McRoberts rebounding and size, but I think our offensive flow will improve without him. Too often, we would look to him to score or create in the half-court sets, and it was just awkward.
I don't Zoubek is really the answer at center, but I think we can go with 3 guards and 2 big forwards most of the time. Besides, how many really good centers are there in college basketball? Singler and King can play on the perimeter but still help on the boards. I think Singler in particular will be a star. He has a much better feel for the game and all-around skills than McRoberts.
One thing that will be fun to watch will be more running and better transition. We've got a lot of guys who can pressure the ball and a lot of good shooters. I'm predicting runner-up in the ACC, beating UNC at least once, and at least an Elite 8 appearance.
What do y'all think? Is anyone else excited to get this season started?

Funny picture.

It's even funnier if you think of John Malkovich's character from Rounders saying the caption.


Vote Ron Paul. If anyone wants a Ron Paul button, I'll mail you one. Brian and Joe, yours are coming with us to LA.

great read

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=rayofhope&lpos=spotlight&lid=tab6pos1

This is a great read about the former Carolina mascot who died last year.

Beachwalk 2007

Hey everyone.
As some of you know, I work at a non-profit clinic serving uninsured and underinsured patients in LA County. Every year, we have a 5K fundraiser to raise money for the clinic. If anyone would like to donate to the cause, go to the website below and you can find my webpage.
Joyce and Josh will be walking with me this year(at least as much as Josh can walk). :)

Thanks for the support.



http://www.tccbeachwalk.kintera.org/

I'm like a virus. . .

The contagious aspect, not the whole parasite thing.

Leaving for LA

(How many photos like this since college? heehee) Sandra & Dave Sohn, thank you so much for your hospitality in organizing and hosting the NC potluck! It was so nice to reconnect with familiar (and new) faces and a great way to conclude my time here in NC as I prepare to begin life again in LA. To all you parents out there, you guys are great and are raising sweet & adorable children.

I'm leaving for LA (Long Beach) on Wednesday to begin a new ministry and would appreciate your prayers. I'll be joining a group of pastors at an established Presbyterian church who have the vision and desire to reach out to displaced and unchurched 2nd generation Korean/Asian Americans. Our hope is that we will build, strengthen and transform a community of individuals, families and marriages in the love and wholeness of Christ. It's an exciting prospect because this church is a Japanese American & Anglo American church that merged 5 years ago--a congregation that is intentionally multi-ethnic and multi-generational (from babies to grandparents). And though the new ministry means taking a risk and facing uncertainty, I can't help but look forward to the experience, knowing God is faithful and good. So if you are ever in the area, please stop by (Grace 1st Presbyterian church, Lakewood (Long Beach) CA or just give me a "hollah" and I'll take you out for some tasty Mexican and Korean grub. Brian, a potluck in LA????

More photos from NC POTLUCK

(Emily saying hello to Alex) Dave Yoo--put up some photos of you since you are often behind that awesome camera of yours that makes us look so good. What's the model number on that camera again? ;)

PP3?

PP2!

Potluck pics