Ball or Nuthin' » Playoff Central

Lakers Win Title

T Lamont — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 04:48:39 +0000

Kobe and the Lakers ended the Finals drama in Game 5.

Kobe Bryant celebrated his long-awaited 4th NBA Championship on Sunday night as the Los Angeles Lakers ousted the Orlando Magic in Game 5, 99-86.

It was certainly a long time coming for Bryant. He’s had so much bad press in between titles. Of course there was the Colorado incident. He also did some pretty ugly teammate bashing a couple of years ago – and now I’m sure that he’s glad that L.A. didn’t trade Andrew Bynum for a wife beater. And Jason Kidd looks about as fast as a snail these days.

Since then, Bryant has worked hard at mending his wrongs, and I’m happy for him. Getting Pau Gasol for nothing and nabbing Trevor Ariza is what has made the difference for Los Angeles.

Can the Lakers do it again next year? Sure. Will they?? Nope.

Poor Officiating Costs Magic Game 2

T Lamont — Mon, 08 Jun 2009 03:37:36 +0000

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The Los Angeles Lakers prevailed in Game 2 of the NBA Finals 101-96 , due in large part to some suspect officiating all game on Dwight Howard post-ups. The Lakers now have a comfortable 2-0 lead in the series.

The Magic played well enough to test the Lakers and push them to overtime, however, there were two key elements that held Orlando back from achieving a split in L.A.:

Free Throw Shooting – Orlando shot 20-27 for the game from the charity stripe. You might say that’s not bad. But they are a really good FT shooting team – and the ones they missed were crucial. 5 of their 7 free throw misses came in the 4th quarter, which kept the Lakers within striking range – - and they ultimately took over in OT.

Reach-in No-Calls – I can’t remember watching so many no-calls on reach-in plays in any game – pre-season, regular season or post-season. Every single time that Dwight Howard made a drive into the paint (with Gasol or Bynum defending), at least one of the Lakers would be around to provide defensive help in the form of reaching in to slap the ball away.

Here’s the way NBA officiating works: If the offensive player is a star, the obvious calls (reach-ins) and non-obvious calls (attempted charges) go their way. From this, one would have to assume that Dwight Howard has not yet been tagged as a star. Time and time again he was slapped on the arms, wrists, and hands and the zebras held onto their whistles.

Based on this observation, Howard’s game never got off of the ground. The Magic were valiant in their effort – and Rashard Lewis (31 points) and Hedo Turkoglu (22 points) found their touch tonight. But the lost possessions (Howard ended up with 7 turnovers – Orlando had 20 total TOs) resulting from the inactive men in stripes were too much to overcome in the end game.

The only standout part of the Lakers game was Lamar Odom. ”Sweets” stepped up his intensity level big time with 19 points (8-9 FG), 8 rebounds, and 3 blocks. If L.A. can get this production from “The Goods” every night, everything would come much easier for them.

Look for the Lakers to lose their intensity in Game 3 in Orlando. If there’s one thing that the Lakers have proven throughout this playoff run, it’s that they cannot maintain consistent levels of focus and energy.

Bryant Dominates

T Lamont — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 04:32:47 +0000

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Kobe was very aggressive in Game 1.

Kobe Bryant took over the 2nd and 3rd quarters of the NBA Finals in route to a decisive Game 1 victory as the Los Angeles Lakers topped the Orlando Magic, 100-75.

Bryant scored 30 of L.A.’s 60 points in the two middle periods. In contrast, the Magic could only manage 34 points. With the game in control, Bryant rested on the sidelines during the fourth quarter. It’s not often that you can rest your best player in the fourth quarter of the NBA Finals.

After picking up some early fouls, Dwight Howard struggled tonight. He picked up a couple of offensive fouls, so it should be obvious that he isn’t going to have to adjust his extremely physical, Eastern Conference game to suit the officiating. If not, the Magic are going to see more nights like this one throughout the series.

One bright spot for the Magic is that Jameer Nelson came in and gave them some spirited play. In his first few minutes of game time, he quickly collected a basket and 3 assists. We’ll keep an eye on how his minutes are managed, particularly with the Magic now in an 0-1 hole.

As good as the Magic are on offense, they’ve found out that nothing is going to come easy against this Lakers team. Now, let’s see which Lakers team shows up for Game 2.

Cavs Go Down Without a Fight

T Lamont — Sun, 31 May 2009 04:32:16 +0000

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The league MVP earned his paycheck with his effort in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The joking around and laughing on the sidelines is over. No more high fives or posing. The Cavs now realize that they have some serious issues to address if they truly want to make it to the next level.

The Orlando Magic dusted off the Cleveland Cavaliers 103-90 in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals, en route to a 4-2 series victory – - and a trip to the NBA Finals for the first time in 14 years. In the process, the Magic showed the Cavs the elements of a complete team. Dominant big man on both ends of the floor? Check. Three-point showing? Check. Player versatility? Check. Consistent bench production? Check. Good coaching? Check.

After a 66-win regular season, LeBron James is going fishing. This series (against Orlando) just proved that James undoubtedly the league MVP.

Superman dominated the paint against the Cavaliers' old big men.

In the end, Cleveland was outdone by mismatches. Guards who were vertically challenged. Big men who were athletically challenged. A bench that has been sporadic at best. And a coaching staff that was unable to mitigate these mismatches.

Where do the Cavs go from here? They have to make changes. It seemed like they had the winning formula this year. But against the first true playoff-caliber team they faced, they came up short – literally and figuratively. The Orlando series proved that a good defense can lose to a better offense. So, Cleveland desperately needs to pick up some legit scorers to make LeBron feel more at ease doing what he does best – making plays.

It’s up to Cleveland management to make sure that the greatest NBA player of his era doesn’t continue to spin his wheels. For what he’s done for the city and the franchise, that’s the very least that they could do for him.

Cavs Get Lucky in Game 2

T Lamont — Sat, 23 May 2009 04:05:00 +0000

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Bron Bron kept the Cavs from getting into an 0-2 deficit.

LeBron James lifted the Cavs to victory – in a game they almost gave away…again.

The Cavs cruised through the first two rounds of the playoffs. They were on their way to cruising to a Game 1 victory…but they put the game on auto-pilot a little too soon.

Same thing in Game 2 – only this time Cleveland squandered an even bigger lead (23 points at one point in the game).

Cleveland must keep their foot on the gas if they want to be successful against the Magic.