Manchester City manager Roberto Mancini is silencing his critics - Paul Blank photo

Sports Notes Part 2 - WHO'S THE MAN… CITY or UNITED?

James Loving - National Radio Text Service

Pundits praise the emergence of the strength of the money rich deep pocket City and are softening their criticism of manager Roberto Mancini who previously has been challenged on his game decisions - Cambodia's national basketball team is coming together

Phnom Penh, Cambodia

Saturday October 22, 2011

IT'S GET IT ON TIME IN MANCHESTER

With the English Premiere league underway the first few weeks of competition begs the question… Who's the man? The man could be the best team in Manchester being either City or United. That scenario will be more clarified this Sunday October 23rd when the two sides meet.

After eight games City leads the Premiere League table undefeated with 22 points 7-1-0 while United also undefeated trails with 20 points 6-2-0. The surprise if the City leads in goal difference 21-19.

Pundits praise the emergence of the strength of the money rich deep pocket City and are softening their criticism of manager Roberto Mancini who previously has been challenged on his game decisions. He's accused of being too cautious considering the abundance of talent that City has. That was then this is now.

Carlos Tevez who was the team's top scorer last season is now on the bench and in conflict with Mancini and club officials by refusing to enter a game when asked by the manager. The disruption failed to distract the squad as they and continue to win. Their move to the top of the table lends itself to the argument that City is much stronger overall and Mancini is taking more control of the reigns and receiving the respect of his players who are putting their talent on the line to produce for him.

This summer Tevez created problems insisting that he didn't want to return to City due to family reasons. He changed his mind and now he's not been playing, was suspended and waits for a decision with disciplinary actions being discussed for his refusal to enter a game. His replacement Sergio Agüero has been scorching the nets with eight goals in the first eight Premiere League games of the season and is ranked second in the league in goals scored. Apparently being the son-in-law of Diego Maradona has helped his mental skill level.

Edin Dzeko's six Premiere League goals gives City a one two pinch that can keep any team off balance and makes them difficult to defend. He's third in EPL scoring. United's Wayne Rooney nine goals tops the Premiere League scoring race.

With City entering this weekend's Darby with Manchester United finding themselves at the top of the English Premiere League table shed light of a possible changing of the guards of who's the man in Manchester. Should City come out of the contest with a winning result it will certainly create more the controversy of WHO'S THE MAN in Manchester… City or United.

As far as the managerial who's the man Mancini admits that Alex Ferguson has been winning for 25 years. He added that Ferguson is the teacher and being a young manager the Italian admits that he is still learning.

Cambodian national team basketball coach Austin Koledoye likes the progress of his Khmer squad in preparation for the upcoming Sea Games - (NR photo)

CAMBODIA'S NATIONAL BASKETBALL TEAM COMING TOGETHER WITH WIN OVER VIETNAM

After a losing a 15 point lead resulting in a three point 74-71 loss to the Vietnam national team yesterday the Khmers had a sit down today. No not the Mafia type but a lunch sit down to talk over about the what's up's of the game and getting to know each other. Three Khmers living abroad returned to Cambodia only three days prior to their loss to the smaller, blazing quick Vietnamese. The sit down made a difference as the Khmers redeemed themselves with a resounding 95-81 win over the visitors.

The new Cambodian player's toughness, mental attitude, height, strength and aggressive play have benefited the Cambodian squad as they collectively scored 59 on Cambodia's 95 points. They brought a toughness that the Khmers need as they continued to dominate the boards.

Cambodia went into the half with a slight 54-50 lead. In the third quarter the Khmers exerted defensive pressure and controlled the boards on the Vietnamese who weren't hitting their outside shots and scored only seven points in the quarter.

Coach Austin Koledoye made some adjustments and had all three returnees start. Pek Mith from Lowell Massachusetts who was a substitute in the 74-71 loss yesterday led the team in scoring with 22 points. He was followed by Sop Oeun from Fresno, California with 22 points although he sat out the final quarter when Cambodia had a 21 point lead 78-57.

"We play rough (in America)" said Ouen in pointing out the physical style of play at an elevated level in the United States where the real basketball games is no place for sissy ball. That aggressiveness was applied and paid off with a winning result.

Borioth Thach from Sweden did an excellent job on the boards as well as chipping in with 16 counters. In the first game he was the teams top scored with 18 points. Thach was all over the floor in handling the ball at the point guard position to banging the boards like a power forward.

Cambodia handled Vietnams press much better tonight. They moved the ball around and spread the floor giving them improved rotation resulting in more open shots. The Khmers had their largest lead at 23 with one minute remaining in the third quarter. The reserves played most of the fourth quarter scoring only 17 points while Vietnam racked up 24. It was the only quarter that Vietnam outscored the Khmers.

NOTES: After the first game loss Cambodian coach Koledoye said he was pleased with his squad. He noted that they have talent but it's a matter of getting to know each other and developing team chemistry. With his positive perspective and one game experience of watching his new players he made adjustments to his starting line-up that made a difference. He expects another new player that is currently playing in the Australian league to join the national side November 1st to prepare for the Sea Games in Indonesia that begins November 12th.

The added talent, physical strength and tough attitude by the returnees are making a difference for Cambodia. The younger players are getting a chance to see how the game is really played. In America you have to man up and be strong and serious. This is the aspect of the sport that the returnees are implanting in the more timid style of game that is played in the Southeast Asian region with the exception of the Philippines where they go for ones knees in their Kama Kazi style of play particularly at the pro level.

Cambodia will need their added toughness to compete against the Philippine squad from a country where basketball is king. They will meet in the Sea Games. The results bear out that Cambodia has promise. It will take time for the Cambodian players to practice, play and get to know each other' strengths while the job for coach Koledoye is to figure out how to use and develop them into a cohesive unit. Things are looking up for Cambodian basketball.

PART 1 - CAMBODIA BUILDS BASKETBALL FUTURE WITH NEW KIDS IN TOWN

NATIONAL RADIO PUBLISHED IN 5 LANGUAGES

National Radio text is published in five languages, English, Thai, French, Russian and Khmer (Cambodian language). Any of our foreign language material and our Roman Wanderaugh columns is legally available ONLY on our National Radio site. Our sports, entertainment and feature programming has been broadcast on over 1000 radio stations.

© Copyright: National Radio. Any use of these materials, whole or in part, is prohibited unless authorized in writing by National Radio. Contact: nationalradio@yahoo.com All rights reserved.