Reflections on the Conference Finals, and Getting Ready For a Classic Matchup

Here are my thoughts as we prepare for a reprisal of the Celtics-Lakers rivalry:



---Love him or hate him, Kobe Bryant is one of the greatest players of all-time. I am an ardent Laker hater with a strong dislike for the Black Mamba, but even I was amazed by his stunning, unstoppable performance in Game 6. Kobe was absolutely amazing. The Suns were playing stellar defense, but Kobe was draining impossible shots with ease. Somewhere, Michael Jordan was smiling.

---Another encouraging sign for the Lakers: The inspired play of Ron Artest. Artest's game-winner in Game 5 was downright fluky, but no luck was involved in his terrific performance in Game 6. If the Lakers are to beat the deeper Celtics, Artest and Derek Fisher are going to have to continue their strong play.

---As for Sasha Vujacic, I can't recall a more useless, arrogant player. Anybody who self-proclaims themselves The Machine when all they do is loiter aimlessly outside the three-point line is a total jackass. More reason to hate the Lakers.

---Meanwhile, the Vujacic-Goran Dragic feud continues to heat up. Never have I been more interested in the state of Slovenian basketball. When Dragic and Vujacic get together to play for the Slovenian national team this summer, it will have all the makings of a classic, guilty-pleasure reality television series.

---Sad scene in the Suns locker room after the Game 6 defeat: An emotional Steve Nash being embraced by Coach Alvin Gentry. Nash is one of the most selfless, exciting players the league has ever seen, a surefire Hall-of-Famer who plays the game with dignified class and grace. Nash had a superb series. Here's hoping he wins that championship he so richly deserves before his illustrious career comes to an end.

---Phoenix has no time to celebrate after finishing off a truly outstanding season, because they must immediately focus all of their attention into re-signing free agent Amar'e Stoudamire. Stoudamire may have had some lapses in focus this past series, but he is still an elite player in the prime of his career. The Suns have the potential to be a title contender again next year, but only if they can bring back Amar'e.

---Out East, the Boston Celtics defeated the Orlando Magic, and will now be vying for their eighteenth NBA championship. The Celtics owe their success this postseason to the brilliant play of Rajon Rondo. Two years ago, when the Celtics met the Lakers in the Finals, Rondo was a weak link for Boston. Now, he is the best player on the team. I fully expect Rondo to thrive in the biggest stage of them all. He will have another spectacular series in the Finals against L.A. Book it.

---Also, I must acknowledge the splendid play of Nate Robinson. Robinson provided a much-needed spark off the bench in Boston's clinching Game 6 win against Orlando. I have always loved Lil' Nate. One of my favorite moments as a sports fan came in November 2006, when I was in attendance at Madison Square Garden for a Knicks-Rockets game. That was the infamous game in which Robinson dunked on Yao Ming. The Garden went crazy, and rightfully so. Very few players can match the excitement level of Robinson. Keep up the good work, Nate!

---Uhhh, is Rashard Lewis still alive?

---I said it before, and I'll say it again: Vince Carter doesn't have a clutch gene in his body.

---Ok, here we go. Celtics. Lakers. Cue the flashbacks of Magic Johnson and Larry Bird, Kareem Abdul-Jabaar and Robert Parish. This is gonna be great. Go Celtics! Beat L.A.!

---Two years ago in the Finals, the Celtics overwhelmed the Lakers with their toughness and physicality. I expect a similar occurrence this time around. The Lakers have more raw talent than Boston, but they only have four players who can be classified as tough: Kobe, Artest, Pau Gasol, and Derek Fisher. The Celtics, meanwhile, have at least eight: Rondo, Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen, Kendrick Perkins, Glen Davis, Nate Robinson, and Rasheed Wallace.

---David Stern has to be beaming with joy at the current state of his league. Sure, the playoffs haven't been rife with classic moments, but the two conference finals were very exciting, and now two storied franchises and bitter rivals are set to meet in what could very well be an all-time great series. Gotta love the awesomeness of the National Basketball Association.

---So obviously, my hope is that the Celtics sweep. Realistically, here is my final prediction: Boston in 6. Should be fun. Can't wait for Thursday night.

Orlando Magic: Keys For Game Two

Heading into the 2009 NBA Finals, the excitement was at a fever pitch. Sure, we were deprived of a Kobe-LeBron showdown, but there were still several storylines that got the blood pumping: the presence of two superstars, Kobe Bryant and Dwight Howard, the return of Jameer Nelson, a fascinating clash in personality between the two head coaches, and most of all, the presence of two evenly matched teams. Or so we thought. The Lakers, behind another superb performance by the frustratingly joyless Bryant (more on the joyless part in a later blog), hammered the Magic by 25 points. Orlando, who lives and dies with their streaky shooting, looked like they had bug spray in their eyes. It was clank after clank for Stan Van Gundy's team. The Lakers put on such a beating, even Dick Cheney thought it was cruel.

However, it was just one game. Pardon the overused cliche, but with a win in Game 2, the Magic can steal home-court advantage. Yes, the loss in Game 1 was embarrassing, and it will take a Herculean effort to win at the Staples Center tonight. But the beauty of a seven-game series is that each game becomes its own story, and very often that story is entirely different than the one that preceded it. As crazy as it sounds, if Orlando gets the split with a victory tonight, their trip to Hollywood was a successful one. L.A. surely has the upper hand, but judging by Orlando's undying resiliency during the playoffs, and the Lakers' habit of becoming complacent, this series is far from over. I'm pulling for a Magic victory, and in order for them to win, they must do the following

---Play Jameer Nelson less minutes: Nelson, making his much-anticipated return to the court after four months on the sidelines, provided a huge spark off the bench during the second quarter. For four minutes, the All-Star looked as if he hadn't lost a beat. But as time progressed, it became clear that Nelson wasn't yet ready to play for lengthy stretches. Stan Van Gundy left him on the court for too long, and Orlando lost a great deal of energy as a result. I love Nelson, and as he showed briefly in the second quarter, he has the ability to inject a jolt of life into his team. But he is not at full strength, and during these Finals, the vast majority of playing time at the point guard position should go to Rafer Alston, with Nelson and Anthony Johnson getting the call only when Alston needs a rest.

---Adopt a more fearless defensive attitude: Obviously, Kobe will find a way to score even when faced with good defense, but Orlando's defensive effort in the first game was terrible. As San Francisco Chronicle columnist Bruce Jenkins pointed out earlier this week, Orlando needs to be far more aggressive on the defensive end. Through sheer tenacity and hustle, the Magic can successfully limit Kobe's production. Jenkins used last year's Celtics as an example of a team whose fearless defensive effort drastically affected the Black Mamba. As a result, the Celtics won the championship. The Magic need to attack defensively, and this should not be limited solely to Bryant. Against these Lakers, Dwight Howard cannot worry about getting in foul trouble. Instead, he needs to be aggressive in the paint with Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol. Ultimately, the Magic just need to make the Lakers work harder on the offensive end, because if the game is decided by effort, Orlando will come out on top.

---Keep on shooting: The Magic looked like they were blindfolded in Game 1. The usually reliable Hedo Turkoglu, Mickael Pietrus, and Rashard Lewis just could not put the ball in the basket, and nothing sinks a team's morale more than a continued barrage of bad shooting. With each missed shot, Orlando clearly lost confidence in Game 1. But here's the thing: If they want to win, they have to continue shooting. The Magic cannot abandon the very thing that brought them to the Finals in the first place. Love it or hate it, their offense is all about taking risky jump shots. They need to keep letting it fly, because if they become too offensively shy, the Lakers will continue to run them into the ground. So Hedo, Rashard, and Mickael, keep shooting. Chances are you will be much more successful in Game 2.

So there you have it. The odds are stacked against Orlando, but it is in these situations that they have proved everybody wrong during the playoffs. If they follow the aforementioned keys to victory, they will make this a series.