nba musings

NBA Finals Game 2
Lakers v. Magic 101-96/OT

• Kaboom. That is the sound of the Orlando Magic’s balloon of hope deflating.
• Rotations. A word Stan Van Gundy likes to play loose and fast with. I admire rotation adjustments. They’re critical to success. But, at some point, you really can’t be playing every combination of guards on your roster. I realize Pietrus was in foul trouble, but was it really a great idea to have Redick playing point guard (when the last time he saw any serious minutes was in the Boston round)?
• Rookie. A word describing Courtney Lee’s status in the league, in case anyone forgot. Those two missed layups by Lee were heartbreaking, but should he really have been the one taking them? I don’t care how talented he is or that he’s been starting this season, he’s still green around the gills. I agree it was a great play drawn up by SVG and if the basket had fallen it would be moot, but still. A veteran should be taking those kinds of shots for obvious reasons.
• Neutralized. A word that describes Dwight Howard in the first two games of this series. It seems like just yesterday that everyone was ready to annoint D12 the new king of the world. Remember that? What happened? Superman, my ass. Personally, I think he should have had to win more than a dunk contest to get a nickname like that, but that’s just me.
• All that being said, I don’t think being down 0-2 should be the end of the world. All that really happened was that the Lakers held serve on their home court — like they were supposed to do. The Magic now have the opportunity at home to get back in this thing. Will they? I’m not putting money on it. Especially if Stan can’t decide between Jameer, Rafer, Anthony, Hedo or J.J. at point guard.
• Off-topic: Kate Hudson & A-Rod? WTF?

Recent postings from around the blogosphere:

• Talk Hoops: 2009 NBA Finals: Lakers-Magic Game 2 Recap
• Heels on Hardwood: Done with Dinneyland…. For Now
• Red’s Army: Maybe the Lakers winning is a good thing
• Ball Don’t Lie: Video: Amar’e, Hill, Dahntay and Birdman on ‘Jimmy Kimmel’
• Both Teams Played Hard: All the News Fit to Six: June 8, 2009

I’m changing my username and the name of my blog from “inanemusings” to “nbamusings”. Not a big change, but I like it better. I signed up for a domain alias so this site will show up both here and there, so it should be a seemless transition. I know it can be annoying updating links and whatnot when people just up and change their handles like this, but for me, it’s worth it. I’m sure my warblings will be as inane as ever, but since I blog about the NBA 99% of the time, a name change just seems right. If by any chance, you’re linking to me at the inanemusings.com URL, please take a moment to update your link to nbamusings.com if you don’t mind. Muchas gracias!

NBA Finals Game 1
Lakers v. Magic 100-75

This game was a classic “die by the 3″ game. The Lakers defense was part of it, but the Magic also missed a ton of wide open shots. Simply put, the Magic are who we thought they were. The key to me was how the Lakers controlled Dwight. When Dwight can be controlled, the Magic are toast. I’ve read this book before. More than that though, Kobe was just a monster. He had a psycho look in his eye and as I said before this series started, there’s no way he’s not going to avenge last season’s finals. I’m sure the Magic will heat up and probably aren’t going to get swept. Past that though, I’m not sure how long this series can go.

It amused me that right before the game, David Stern announced that he was fining LeBron $25k for not speaking to the media. Strange that he had four off-days where he could’ve announced that, but instead waited until right before game 1. I’m sure LeBron won’t miss that $25k since that kind of money has to be cushion change to him. It was interesting to me when Stern said that LeBron would come and speak out about this at a later date. Why? He already spoke out about it last Sunday when he said he did nothing wrong. So now we are supposed to be sitting here waiting with bated breath for him to come BACK out and change his tune? Like, oh ok, NOW he’s sorry. NOW he realizes it was wrong. Ridiculous. I think the whole thing was overblown, but I also think LeBron’s first instincts and first comments were the truth. He’s spoiled and a bad sport. Nothing more, nothing less. I don’t want to hear another thing he has to say on the subject because spin control makes me cranky.

In other news, apparently KG is making championship guarantees for the next two seasons. Sigh. Oh KG, why do you do this to me? Not long ago, I stated that only chumps make guarantees. I would never call you a chump… but, cut it out.

Recent postings from around the blogosphere:

• Talk Hoops/Both Teams Played Hard – Cross Polination: Emails With Both Teams Played Hard, NBA Finals Preview | Talking Hoops with Talk Hoops: Vol. III (Zach & Jared are hilarious and a great team. Read volume 3 and then check the archives for 1 & 2. They are lengthy, so you’ll need a little time to read everything, but it’s worth every minute.)
• Heels on Hardwood – NBA Withdrawal: 10 Paperbacks for the Basketball Fan (Nat’s lists have been literally rocking my world. Read this post and then be sure to check all of her other great hoops-related recommendations.)
• The No-Look Pass – Chronicles Of Crotty #19: Come Clean (The latest podcast from Rey-Rey and his SoCal posse of Clips/Lakers fans. Check this one out and then be sure to backtrack through the archives. The guys have a lot of fun while sharing their insights on the game.)

Oh and ps. Found out last night that Kobe is Larry Bird’s favorite player. Why don’t you just tell me that Derek Jeter is Jim Rice’s favorite player while you’re at it.

Random NBA thoughts in no particular order:

This stretch between Sunday and Wednesday with no NBA has been brutal. I don’t know what I’m going to do during the off-season this year. It’s going to be long and painful. Sigh. Thankfully tonight, ESPN Classic is airing Game 4 of last year’s finals. I still can’t believe that game. Epic comeback. Watching it reminds me of how much I miss the love of my life, James Posey.

Is it just me or did anyone else notice a change in Charles Barkley this season after he came back to TNT from his DUI bust? To me, he just seemed to be enjoying his job a lot less. I can’t nail down exactly what he did to make me think this, but it’s just something I kept noticing the longer the season went on. He was still fun to watch though. Only Chuck could call his colleagues numbnuts and pussy over the airwaves and get away with it.

Some quick Celtics updates – KG had surgery last week to remove bone spurs and is now rehabbing his right knee, The Boston Celtics won the Professional Sports Team of the Year award by the SportsBusiness Journal and SportsBusiness Daily, Celtics assistant coach Tom Thibodeau lost out to Eddie Jordan for the head coaching position with the Philadelphia 76ers — will interview with the Sacramento Kings this Saturday for their head coaching vacancy, Tony Allen had surgery today at New England Baptist hospital on his right ankle.

Prediction time. So for the finals, I’m picking the Lakers to win and my mom is picking the Magic. She took a big long drink of the kool-aid everyone else is drinking based on the last series. I’ve only been watching the NBA since 2006, but I’ve been watching long enough to know that the Magic got a very VERY very favorable matchup when they met up with the Cavs. It will not be so easy this time around. Do they have a chance? Yes, they have a good chance. But, not a great chance. The Lakers have been waiting all year to redeem themselves in this year’s finals. I have a hard time believing that they’re going to let anyone stop them this time.

For a quick NBA fix, this interview by 850 The Buzz with J.J. Redick is worth listening to. He candidly discusses a variety of topics including LeBron not shaking hands after game 6, how Dwight has a stylist who picks out the sherbert colored sweaters he wears to press conferences, which Duke alums he’s in touch with and who he thinks will win this year’s NBA Finals (gosh, I wonder). Even if you don’t like J.J., this is still a good listen for NBA fans who enjoy getting the inside scoop.

Recent postings from around the blogosphere:

• Heels on Hardwood: NBA Withdrawal: 10 Player Stocks on the Rise through the Recession (Playoff Edition)
• Red’s Army: Oh those meddling Maloofs
• The No-Look Pass: We Like Obscure NBA Players: Pig Miller
• Both Teams Played Hard: All the News Fit to Six: June 3, 2009
• Talk Hoops: Hoops Media Consumption — June 3, 2009

Playoffs Game 6
Magic v. Cavs 103-90

By now, I don’t know what there is left to say about LeBron James and his lack of sportsmanship. He’s been picked clean really and is now just a pile of bones laying by the roadside. I feel like talking about it though, so lets just pretend we haven’t already heard everything there is to say on the matter. What did LeBron do that was so bad exactly? Let’s start a list…

1. Walked off the court without shaking hands with any of the opposing team’s players, including his team USA teammate, Dwight Howard.
2. Left the building without attending the mandatory post-game press conference to talk to the media.
3. Broke his silence the next day by making excuses for his poor sportsmanship by calling himself a winner and denying that his actions make him a poor sport.
4. Wore a Yankees hat to next day non-mea culpa.

I don’t get it. He had to know he was going to get ripped by ESPN, Internet blogs, Twitter, smoke signals and just about any and all modes of communication. Why open yourself up to that? I actually can almost understand #1 and #2. When you’re inconsolable, sometimes you just don’t care about the reprecussions of your actions. So if he was devastated and just couldn’t bring himself to talk about it while it was still an open wound, so be it. What I can’t understand though, is showing up the next day in a Yankees hat refusing to take responsibility for anything. I don’t care how big a Yankees fan he is, that hat was a message and the message was, ”F–k you, Cleveland… and the horse you rode in on too.”

Related news:

• Orlando Sentinel: LeBron defends actions: I’m a winner – not a poor sport
• Fox Sports: How Cavs went from unbeatable to beaten
• CBS Sports: LeBron’s premature celebration haunts him | Will someone smash the guitar over LeBron’s head?
• Red’s Army: Definition of a Sore Loser
• Yahoo! Sports: King James left the playoffs as a loser