Category: NBA Finals (Page 14 of 58)

      Finals commentary, prior to Game 3

      June 9, 2009 /

      Ramona Shelburne of the LA Daily News: The plays are only noticeable in hindsight. On replays. In memory. And sometimes not even then. Little plays that could be pivotal if they don’t go the right way. Some call them “veteran plays.” Others use terms like “heady” and “mature” or “cerebral.” It sounds vague and arbitrary, but tell that to the team that doesn’t know how to make these kinds of plays. It’s even harder to explain how some players learn to make them and others don’t. Whether it’s instinct or experience, natural poise or acquired savvy. Only one thing is certain: Championship teams make them, everyone else watches them later in the film room. And right now, the Lakers are the team in these NBA Finals keeping the opposing video technician busy.

      Jeff Briggs of the RCS Blog: Tonight, Game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals is on NBC at 8pm. A mere hour later, Game 3 of the NBA Finals airs on ABC. While there are clearly two separate sets of fans that follow the sports, the two leagues are still cannibalizing each other’s audience. Sports fans like to watch championship events. People shouldn’t be forced to choose between either the Stanley Cup or NBA finals. They should be able to watch both, hockey one day and basketball the next.

      Brian Schmitz of the Orlando Sentinel: The Lakers haven’t allowed the Magic to be the Magic much at all in taking a 2-0 lead. They’ve had them on the run since this whole thing started, creating chaos. The Magic have been scrambling to find other ways to play, and with other players playing different positions, causing realignment of X’s as well as O’s. Hard to play the NBA Finals on the fly, but it’s reality. Coach Stan Van Gundy pulled out everything imaginable from his bag of tricks on Sunday, and somehow the Magic almost turned the Finals on its ear before losing in overtime.

      George Diaz of the Orlando Sentinel: The Magic have scored just 171 points in consecutive losses. That 85.5 average has something to do with the Lakers’ defense, obviously. But it also has much to do with the inability of the Magic to get into any groove when the ball is bouncing in their hands. We’ll get to the point: Jameer Nelson coming back after a four-month layoff has mucked things up for the Magic in the NBA Finals. This is the dark side of the silver lining Magic fans saw in Nelson’s return after that prolonged absence because of his shoulder injury. Nelson’s unexpected availability has messed with the Magic mojo.

      NBA, NBA Finals

      Let’s not be too hard on Courtney Lee

      June 8, 2009 /

      Yes, Courtney Lee missed the game-winning alley-oop last night and the Magic went onto lose Game 2 and find themselves down, 0-2, heading back to Orlando.

      Here’s the video…

      I’m seeing some people describing it as his “Nick Anderson moment” while others are referring to the play as a layup. It wasn’t a layup. It was an alley-oop, and it was a difficult shot. If you see where Lee catches the ball — he actually catches it underneath the backboard as his body continues to rise. He has so much momentum going towards the baseline that his head is actually under the backboard when he attempts the layup. Complicating matters, seven-footer Pau Gasol came over to help, which made the shot that much more difficult.

      Impossible shot? No, it was definitely make-able, but on average I’d say that a player successfully converts the shot maybe 30% of the time. Had the pass not led him so much, it would have been a much easier shot. That’s not to say that it’s Hedo Turkoglu’s fault either. It is a tough play to convert with Lamar Odom’s length right in your face.

      It’s a shame, really, because the Magic didn’t get any calls down the stretch and still had a chance to tie the series and make things really interesting as both teams head back to Orlando. Now, barring three wins at home for the Magic, a Laker title looks inevitable.

      NBA, NBA Finals, Video

      With a little help from their friends, Lakers win Game 2 in OT

      June 7, 2009 /

      The Lakers survived a tough test, but beat the Magic, 101-96, in overtime.

      The officiating was pretty awful in this game, especially in the first quarter and down the stretch. There was a series of calls late in the game that were all questionable and all went in the Lakers’ favor. Mickael Pietrus was called for a bogus foul on a Kobe Bryant drive, Hedo Turkoglu was called for a cheap offensive foul which wiped away a nice little jumper, and Lamar Odom drilled Courtney Lee on his driving layup attempt with less than ten seconds to play in regulation, and no foul was called. Orlando’s last best chance to win was Lee’s alley-oop attempt with 0.6 seconds to play, but the lob pass was a little too deep and he was unable to convert the shot.

      The Lakers executed well in overtime, and Odom uncharacteristically made two clutch free throws to put the Lakers up by five with 0:22 to play. J.J. Redick and Rashard Lewis had a couple of tough, contested three point attempts to cut into the lead, but time expired with a pair of misses.

      I can’t help but leave this game thinking that if not for the help from the officials, the Lakers would have lost this game in regulation. I guess that’s just home court advantage, but it really seemed like the refs took over the game down the stretch instead of letting the players battle it out.

      Kobe had 29 points, eight assists, four rebounds and seven turnovers. Pau Gasol added 24 points and 10 boards, and Odom once again had a good game off the bench, posting 19 points and eight boards. If he keeps playing like this, the Lakers will have to re-sign him this offseason.

      Orlando got great play from Lewis (34 points) and Turkoglu (22 points), and while Dwight Howard had 17 points, 16 rebounds, four assists, four blocks and four steals, he also had seven turnovers, which is waaaaaaay too many for a big man. He spent a lot of time complaining to the refs when he lost the ball instead of getting back on defense.

      The problem for the Magic is that they aren’t getting much production from their supporting cast. The rest of the Magic went 8 for 31 from the field, lowlighted by Rafer Alston’s 1 for 8 performance. He seems bothered by Jameer Nelson’s presence, but the Magic need a fourth and fifth guy to make some shots.

      The Lakers are doing a good job of rotating and keeping the Magic from getting easy baskets, but Orlando had a ton of open shots in the first half and just couldn’t convert.

      NBA, NBA Finals

      Ray-Ray, Rondo on the block?

      June 5, 2009 /

      6/23 Update: The C’s have reportedly offered Rajon Rondo and Ray Allen to the Detroit Pistons.

      Yes, according to HoopsWorld.

      Off the record, we have several sources telling us that Ray Allen is, indeed, on the block. It’s easy to make the leap, as the Celtics have managed to develop some nice young talent around their Big Three while also managing to win a championship. They might have even repeated had Kevin Garnett been healthy. It’s not a stretch to say the Celtics would part with Allen, who has an ending contract next season, if they could add another top young player to the mix.

      On the record we have an added wrinkle – one that we thought to be highly unlikely until we found it reported with a quote attributed to Celtics GM Danny Ainge. It seems the Celtics are willing to package Rajon Rondo with Allen to make the right deal happen

      “He’s stubborn,” Ainge told ESPN’s Jackie MacMullen. “He doesn’t always take direction well. He’s very bright and knows what he needs to do to be successful. But sometimes he doesn’t understand what the team needs to be successful.”

      Doc Rivers expressed similar sentiments, which he directed at Rondo himself earlier this season.

      “Do you know your teammates hate playing with you? … The point guard has to be the guy that brings energy to the team. You can’t be the guy that sucks it away. Your moodiness is affecting us. Change it.”

      At the same time, Rondo has guys like Paul Pierce and Kendrick Perkins saying he’s their leader and they believe in him. And while there is a great deal to be said for patience and seeing if Rondo will improve as much next season as he did in 2008-09, there is certainly a lot of negativity coming from the decision-makers – enough to fuel trade speculation.

      Wow. That’s the first I’ve heard about any problems with Rondo’s attitude.

      It’s shocking to me that Danny Ainge is thinking about breaking up the core that won a championship less than a year ago. It’s not like they had the same group this season and failed to advance. They missed the Conference Finals (and probably the Finals) because Kevin Garnett missed the playoffs with a knee injury. You’d think that Ainge would be focused on getting everyone healthy enough to make another run, not thinking about trading away two of his starters.

      NBA, NBA Finals, News, Rumors & Gossip

      Couch Potato Alert: 6/5

      June 5, 2009 /

      This could be a weekend of “firsts.” Calvin Borel could become the first jockey to record a Triple Crown on two separate horses. With “The King of Clay” Rafael Nadal out of the picture, Roger Federer could capture his first Grand Slam championship at the French Open. And Kobe Bryant could be halfway home to his first NBA title without Shaq.

      All times ET…

      NBA Finals
      Sun, 8 PM: Orlando Magic @ Los Angeles Lakers (ABC)

      Stanley Cup Finals
      Sat, 8 PM: Pittsburgh Penguins @ Detroit Red Wings (NBC)

      MLB
      Sat, 4:10 PM: Philadelphia Phillies @ Los Angeles Dodgers (FOX)
      Sun., 1:30 PM: Texas Rangers @ Boston Red Sox (TBS)
      Sun., 8 PM: Philadelphia Phillies @ Los Angeles Dodgers (ESPN)

      French Open
      Fri, 5 AM: Women’s Semifinals (Tennis Channel)
      Fri, 10 AM: Men’s Semifinals (NBC)
      Sat, 9 AM: Women’s Finals (NBC)
      Sun, 9 AM: Men’s Finals (NBC)

      Horse Racing
      Sat, 5 PM: The Belmont Stakes at Belmont Park (ABC)

      Couch Potato Alert, MLB, NBA, NBA Finals, NHL, Television, Tennis

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