They were written off last year, they were written off this year, but the San Antonio Spurs now have a realistic chance of winning the title again. It's pretty incredible, considering that their team's stars are all of over thirty, but it's just a testament to what an amazing job Gregg Popovich has done as coach. Year in year out he has got them not only making the playoffs but also performing really well and mostly getting to the finals (last year being the exception).

Tony Parker is better than he's ever been this season, and at least this year, he's shown that he is one of the best point guards in the NBA. Duncan's the consistent performer he's always been, while Ginobili, like Parker, has taken on a new dimension and is better than ever. It's very interesting to see the veterans of the game rediscover their peak form. It's rather like if Ronaldinho were to recommend the best player in the world. It's incredibly rare to see, and it shows that some oldies are truly golden.

It seems that experienced teams do really well on the NBA: the Mavs won last year, with Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitzki, the Celtics seem to keep doing well despite the big three being over 30, so it's really a weird sport in that regard. In football, older players are dismissed in favour of young starlets, but in basketball, old players you could argue sometimes perform much better than younger players. That's partly the reason of San Antonio's success - in football they wouldn't have a chance.

The role of a head of state is to represent your country honourably and well, and as far as basketball knowledge is concerned, Cameron has not delivered. Now, I'm really not trying to insult him, at least politically, but he should've been much better prepared than he was. Cameron probably knew months in advance that he was going to attend a basketball game when visiting the US, which is ample time to prepare and learn a few basic facts.

Such basic things as knowing the rules, knowing what the NCAA is, knowing who the best players in the NBA are. That doesn't mean just Kobe or Lebron, but knowing who's good and who's not, and also following recent big news from the basketball world in the US. I know that the calendar of a politician is nearly always full, but he still should have been able to find the time to learn some basic basketball knowledge and follow the news.

I reckon that if Cameron had taken Obama to a football or rugby game in the UK, the latter would have fared much better and bothered to find out who Johnny Wilkinson is. The court side commentator was expecting Cameron to provide some more thoughtful analysis than this is pretty 'fast and furious'. Fine, maybe not analysis, but being able to provide basic comments on what's currently going on in the NBA.

In light of Cameron's basketball knowledge fail, here are some things he should've known and should know for the future. Anything to add to the list? Post in the comments.

1. March Madness is the not the name of another DFS sale, it's the name of an NCAA tournament. For Americans, DFS is a discount furniture store in the UK.
2. In the US, Spurs does not mean the football team.
3. In the US, Shaq Attack does not mean that you're being invaded by shacks. It means something much much worse, especially if you're small.
4. A basketball player owning a ring doesn't mean he's married. It's much more important than that.
5. Insult the Chicago Bulls, and you'll find that the 'special relations' between the US and the UK won't be that 'special' anymore. So don't.

It's fair to say that Britain aren't the best at basketball. OK, let me rephrase that. Britain are rubbish at basketball. Rather, they have been since the game was invented. Until now. More and more players who are either born in Britain or have British family are playing in the NBA, and as a result, more and more good players are emerging for the British national team.

There is actually now quite a big list: Luol Deng, Ben Gordon, Byron Mullens, Pops Mensah-Bonsu are the main ones, but I reckon that in the future we could be seeing a few more. That's a good team, and I know for a fact that mnay countries won't have a team as good as that one. I see no reason why Team GB can't do well at the Olympics, especially as it's in London.

Being realistic, they won't be able to compete the big powerhouses like USA, France, Spain etc... but teams like Germany or Italy who have one or two big stars could see themselves seriously challenged by Deng's boys, possibly even beaten.

However there is more to the story of British basketball, and it's all about one player. It's also a great shame. And that player is Steve Nash. Steve Nash is completely British, with an English father and a Welsh mother. He was born in South Africa and raised in Canada, and for some reason chose to play for the latter. Just imagine if Steve Nash played for Team GB: Nash, Gordon, Deng, Mensah-Bonsu, Mullens. Now that's a team that could challenge the best.

I firmly believe that Team GB aren't actually that bad at basketball, and if Steve Nash had played for them, they could have been one of the world's best sides. Nevertheless, at the Olympics they will still be competitive and ready to surprise. COME ON TEAM GB!!

My thoughts on Jeremy Lin, who has gone from zero to hero in the past week for the Knicks.

Comment, Tweet, Enjoy!

My thoughts on the NBA season so far.

Tweet, comment, enjoy!!