| 04 June 2009
Embedded video from NBA Video
Some things of note about what Kobe said during his post-game Q&A:
- He mentioned that the guys worked hard and that's what you need to do against Orlando's spacing. That couldn't have been more true. Think about how different the court looked in Game One against LA as opposed to how it looked during the entire Cleveland series. There were very open shots taken for Orlando other than Rafer Alston's misses. The Lakers covered so much ground on defense with their quickness and length and that's something the Magic didn't have to deal with when guys like Delonte West and Mo Williams were jumping out at shooters. If Orlando can't spread the floor, they'll be dead in the water.
- He talks about forgetting Game One and moving on to Game Two and I think this is extremely important for the Lakers players to do. They have a history of impressing themselves with a big win, reading the press clippings about the series being over and then trying to cruise through the rest of their games. You can't do that in the Finals and be successful. And you can't do that when you're a team that has given up its fair share of big leads before, especially when you're facing an Orlando team that can erase big deficits in half of a quarter. If Kobe and Phil can get them to head into Game Two like they're down in the series, they should be able to do more of what we saw in Game One.
- Seeing Kobe this focused and emotionless is something I've been dying to see out of him. It's something we saw from guys like Jordan and Tim Duncan when they marched to titles with their teams on their backs. It's something we've needed to see from Kobe too. He's saving the smiles for the trophy ceremony and that's the kind of focus he has to keep. Good to see from him.
Embedded video from NBA Video
Some things that SVG said that stuck with me:
- Stan mentions that this team needs a starting point to get back to what they do well against good teams. And that has to be some type of spark that happens relatively early in Game Two. Whether it's a big Rashard Lewis three, a Hedo hoop plus the harm off a good drive to the basket, or Dwight Howard throwing a ball away from the Lakers basket and then running down the floor and getting a highlight dunk, something has to galvanize this Orlando roster. Losses like this in which you're "totally dominated on both ends" can be demoralizing to a relatively young team like Orlando.
- 56 points in the paint against the number one defensive team with the Defensive Player of the Year is flat out embarrassing. Dwight Howard looked slow all game in defending from the weak side of the court and he needs to be much quicker in challenging and changing those shots.
- The inclination that Jameer Nelson being back caused Rafer Alston to miss open shots is just a stupid thing to infer. It seems like someone trying to stir up drama that isn't there. I didn't know that TMZ was covering the NBA Finals.
- I love SVG with a microphone in his face. He always delivers the goods and his schtick of calling all of the games important was some nice brevity to what could have been a panic-filled situation.
Embedded video from NBA Video
Just two things of note here from what Dwight said:
- Dwight mentioned that the Magic made just 23 baskets. Let's say that they make 40% of their shots instead of 29.8%. That cuts the final deficit from 25 to 11 with seven more made shots. If two or three of those are from three-pointers, that cuts it to single digits and we have a whole new ball game.
- He mentioned that they need to come back stronger and usually come back stronger. They've only lost two games in a row in the playoffs once this post-season and they won that series against the Celtics. And from their two double-digit losses, they bounced back to win the next game by double digits. That will be tough against the Lakers but they have the pedigree this post-season to do so.
| < Prev | Next > |
|---|
