Did Dwight Howard really have a terrible Finals series??

After taking time to digest my humble pie and assess what went wrong with the Magic, I went no further than young Dwight Howard initially. Some may say that his game needs more work? That he misses too many free throws? That he is not a leader?

All of the above are relevant questions, but now ask yourself, how many other 23yr olds have taken teams to this position? True Kobe Bryant went but there was the "Big Aristotle" to show him the way along with the "Zen Master" on the sidelines.

Some of the more glaring press slants are Dwight misses two free throws down the stretch in Game 4 and suddenly he is an offensive liability, Kobe misses four free throws down the stretch in Game 3 and he is considered "just tired".

In the Eastern Finals Game 6, LeBron James had a shocker, no one writes about the fact that he had a bad game, just that he needs more help. Howard still gets criticised even though he actually averaged 15.4 points and 15.2 rebounds in the finals. True he shot only 60.3% from the line but other great big men through NBA history--Bill russell and Wilt Chamberlin--have shot worse while Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was probably the best foul shooting big man in the finals over the years.

Remember most big men Howard's age are only one year into their NBA careers or 2-3yrs at most if they spent at least one year at college whereas Howard's has been on the job training. He will be back again and the league will have to deal with a more determined, polished young buck the next time around.

Fat Lady sings in Orlando!

Yes it is over! The Magic have fallen in Game 5 of the NBA Finals losing to the LA Lakers by the score of 99-86. After falling behind by nine points early the LA outfit regrouped in the second and third quarters to put the finishing touches on their 15th Championship.

The Lakers were again led by Kobe Bryant with the support of Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. Bryant can now claim ownership of a crown without the "can't do it without Shaq" hoodoo as he was also the Finals MVP. Once again the Orlando backcourt was non existent putting in another horrible shooting performance.

Finally, in conclusion, I put forward this closing statement. I am not a Laker Basher per se, I have always been an admirer of the franchise over the years. I have always appreciated the way the game was played by Magic, Jabbar, Worthy and company along with the more recent contributions from Shaq in the late 90's - 2001. Recently I feel too much of the focus/hype surrounding the team has centered on one person while the likes of Gasol, Odom, Bynum and the rest of the supporting cast went unheralded. Now all of those gentlemen can enjoy and savour the spoils of a true team effort. Congrats!!

Orlando in six prediction dead!!!

My prediction of the Orlando Magic winning the NBA title in six games fell by the wayside with todays 99-91 overtime loss to the LA Lakers. Kobe Bryamt returned to form for the Lakers who survived early foul trouble and more hot shooting by Orlando to go ahead in the third quarter and eventually pull out the win after trailing by double digits at half time. The game marked the first occaison since 1984 that two finals games have gone into overtime. Bryant finished with 32 points while Hedo Turkoglu led the Magic with 25 but missed several key free throws late in the game.

Game 5 of the series will be Sunday night (Monday Aussie time). The Magic need a win to extend the series while the Lakers can claim championship number 15 with a victory.

Has the power been restored??

Good Question as the Orlando Magic simply shot the lights out in their 108-104 win over the LA Lakers on Tuesday night (Wed Aussie time). Even with the great shooting performance, the Lakers will have to look at missed freethrows and defensive lapses as contributing factors in letting aan opportunity to go up 3-0 in the series slip away. Kobe Bryant who shot only 50% from the line missed a crucial attempt in the last minute that would have cut the Magic lead to one. The Lakers poor foul line performance came after a Game two performance where they made 14 in a row late in the game.

The Lakers shooting aside, the Magic set an NBA Finals record in shooting 62.5% from the field. It was the first Finals win for the Orlando franchise and got them back into the series with Game 4 scheduled for Thursday (Friday Aussie time). Will this be Miami-Dallas redeux?? If the Magic can eek out another home win, it will be game on!!

Game 1 NBA Finals

Ouch!! Maybe Kobe can do it all!!! but will he be able to do it for the entire series?? Perhaps this will be a wake up call for Mr. Howard and the rest of the Magic?
Clever as ever, Zen Master Jackson used a smothering at times triple teaming strategy to keep Howard to 12 points with 10 of those coming on free throws. Bryant to his credit showed no signs of the "Me Kobe" selfishness that has been known to surface in the past and was nothing but a pure team player getting 8 assists and 8 rebounds to go with his 40 points for the night. The Magic's outside shooters were non-existent.
The excellent game by Bryant overshadowed the return on Magic point guard Jameer Nelson. Will his prescence matter in the rest of the series?? Stay tuned, game two is on Sunday.

NBA Finals are here!!

The finals of the NBA season are upon us with the Orlando set to face Los angeles in the best of seven series starting Thursday June 4. This promises to be an interesting championship series featuring the brute inside force of Orlando's Dwight Howard seemingly pitted against the will to win it all of Kobe Bryant from LA.

After the surface is scratched look for the undertones of the battle to boil down to Orlando's outside shooters and play of point guard Rafer Alston against the role players of LA getting their job done. Throw in a sidebar of the possibility of a big game or series from Derek Fisher of LA and the wisdom of "Zen Master" turned coach Phil Jackson in LA's corner.

Will the Magic be able to frustrate Kobe or will he get his way?? Can the Lakers stop Howard inside?? Hmm...stay tuned.

For opening predictions I'll say look for the Magic to win it all in six games. In finals basketball, I think ultimately the big men decide outcomes and I see Howard as the biggest man stepping up to the challenge.