| 14 June 2009
I decided in doing this recap for the final game of the NBA season that I would just ask some questions to myself and figure out the answers. It's a little bit talking to myself mixed in with some I want the last post of the season (in terms of game recaps) to be different because we finally have a conclusion and closure to what has been an extremely interesting and intriguing year of NBA basketball. So let's answer some games about Game Five, the series, the season, and the big picture of the NBA as we congratulate the 2009 NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers:
Question: When did I know Game Five had been decided?
Through the first 18 minutes of Game Five, the Orlando Magic appeared to be the better, hungrier team. They seemed to be incapable of having an NBA Finals closed out in someone else's favor on their home court. They were scrappy. They were aggressive. They were opportunistic. But with all of this great play early on, they were defending exceptionally well and they only had a four-point lead. The Lakers were in the game despite being outplayed and ready to strike back with some great play of their own. And they did.
The Lakers went on a 16-0 run to turn a four-point deficit into a backbreaking double-digit lead. But during this run, the Lakers did something that wasn't extremely characteristic their players. As the teams went to a timeout, Hedo Turkoglu and Trevor Ariza got into a double technical foul argument that saw tempers beginning to flare. Coming out of the timeout, Ariza hounded Turk while he was dribbling. Eventually Orlando turned the ball over, the Lakers came down the floor, and Kobe Bryant found Ariza for a three-point lead that would end the last lead in a game that the Magic would see this season. The Lakers kept pressuring and executing. The Magic got hit in the mouth and decided not to fight back right away. That was all LA needed to affectively end this series.
Question: Is there something the Magic could have done better to survive?
It sounds really simple but they could have made more shots and defended a lot better in this series. They were the number one defensive team in the regular season. But they couldn't find a way to do that against the Lakers. They couldn't figure out how to let Kobe get his and shut down his teammates like they treated LeBron and the rest of the Cavs. They couldn't get Kobe to miss the tough jumpers he made time and time again. In this series, the Magic shot 42.8% from the field and that's WITH a 62.5% effort in Game Three. The Lakers on the other hand shot 45.6% from the field in this series and even though 2.8% doesn't sound like a big difference, when you stretch that differential over five games in which three games were decided by single digits, it adds up quickly.
Question: What did the Lakers do properly to close out this title run, series, and season?
My biggest knock against the current makeup of the Lakers roster (the past two seasons) was the fact that they seemed to fold or shy away from moments when they were smacked in the mouth. In elimination games they wilted and never looked back. Well, during that little spat between Hedo and Ariza in the second quarter, something clicked in the Lakers head that wasn't fake or necessarily manufactured by some false inspiration. The Lakers got tough because they had it in them. They decided to self-galvanize themselves, get in the face of Orlando, and give them hell the rest of the game. In a moment that they previously would have let pass, they decided to show their toughness and push back. It was that element in which we wondered if they had. It was the one thing missing from the most talented team with the world's best player. It showed itself in the closing game of the season and they hoisted the Larry O'Brien trophy at the end of this game because of it.
Question: Did the Lakers win these Finals more than the Magic lost them?
There were so many moments in this series in which you could see Orlando's inexperience and just dumb luck helping them lose games. In Game Two, a really difficult alley-oop miss kept them from closing out a road game in the NBA Finals and instead led to an overtime loss. In Game Four, they had a three-point lead with less than 15 seconds to go and two free throws coming from their star player. They missed those free throws, gave up a game tying three-pointer and finished the game on the wrong side of a 12-1 run to give away an all-encompassing home game in the Finals. Those are two moments that can be considered the Magic giving away wins. However, a lot of that was created by pressure and execution from the Lakers. You can't take anything away from the Lakers in this series. They definitely won the NBA Finals more than Orlando lost it.
Question: What did this title run do for Kobe Bryant?
It legitimized his place in NBA history. His critics and dislikers (remember, we don't use the word "hater") will point to the fact that he still doesn't have as many as Michael Jordan or that he has just one without Shaq. They'll mention the series loss to the Pistons in 2004 or the Celtics in 2008. But now that he has the monkey off his back, he's able to move into the conversation of one of the greatest of all-time. It's completely stupid that it takes a title "on his own" to put him in the conversation but that's how our society and sports world is. He's been one of the top offensive weapons that this game has ever seen. He's a world-class defender who puts more effort on the defensive side of the court than any superstar since Michael Jordan. And he's arguably the hardest working and hardest studying player this game has ever seen. Does it make him better than MJ? Not at all. But he's in that realm of greatness that approaches Jordan in which very few players (Russell, Bird, Magic, etc.) reside. There wasn't a single thing that he did wrong in this series. He led his team to a title as well as anyone ever has. He scored 32.4 points and dished out 7.4 assists with 43% shooting. He stuck daggers all over the Orlando Magic organization. He willed his team to victories in a way that few players have ever been able to do. I assume at this point that anyone unwilling to put him in the Top 10 players of all-time is just feasting on sour grapes at this point.
Question: What did this title run do for Pau Gasol?
Well, he's now a champion power forward that came through in the NBA Finals with one of the better championship series efforts that the position has ever seen. He scored a modest 18.6 points and grabbed a normal 9.2 rebounds per game in this five-game series. He shot 60% from the field and 77% from the free throw line. These aren't overwhelming stats but when you throw in the fact that he played exceptional defense against Dwight Howard, you have to recognize how important he was to the team and their four wins in this series. Pau Gasol was as impressive in this Lakers title as Kevin Garnett was in the Celtics championship last season. Not bad for a soft Spaniard.
Question: Is Dwight Howard better or worse because of his disappointing Finals performance?
There were two things that Dwight couldn't do in his incredible performance during the Cleveland series that he corrected in the NBA Finals. His foul trouble nearly disappeared and his 1.17 blocks per game against Cleveland shot up to 4.0 per game. Unfortunately, his good numbers against the Cavs dropped significantly against the Lakers. His scoring dropped from 25.8 to 15.4. His field goal percentage dropped from 65.1% to 48.8%. And his free throw shooting went from 70.1% to 60.3%, including two big misses at the end of regulation in Game Four. Dwight went from Superman to completely human. He was bother by long defenders and quick and varying double team attacks. He's worse right now for his failure to perform how he was expected to p erform. But with his work ethic and sense of long-term goals, he'll become a better player from such a disappointing NBA Finals performance.
Question: Can a style like Orlando's win an NBA title?
I think they can. They weren't a Phoenix Suns/Golden State Warriors type of freewheeling three-point chucking juggernaut. They were a three-point barraging attack that also was pretty incredible on the defensive side of the ball. They forced a lot of opponents threes and quick, out of rhythm shots in a designed scheme to make the other team think they could shoot with Orlando. That is a deadly combination when it works right. Unfortunately, they ran into a better team in Los Angeles and couldn't get solid and consistent production from their backcourt and superstar big man. Orlando was a sense of organized chaos on both ends of the court. It's something we haven't seen in the Seven Seconds Or Less era and that's why it's capable of winning a title. Just not this year.
Question: Now that Andrew Bynum is an NBA champion, will I start giving him a break?
No, he's still a disappointment on a $50 million+ investment like the movie Gigli. In fact, Gigli Bynum is my new favorite nickname. I'll give him this; he did defend Dwight Howard extremely well despite the misleading foul trouble. His length and size slowed down Dwight and allowed the double team to come. But he's an atrocious offensive player that makes Chris Anderson look like Kevin McHale. He has to develop, get tougher, and figure out a way to stay healthy. If he can't do that, he won't be worthy of anything but more Jennifer Lopez-related comments.
Question: Is there a more melodramatic video than this via NBA Fanhouse's Twitter?
Here are a few tips if you want legitimacy while shooting a video that you hope will make cops look like bullies and innocent/ignorant citizens look like the victims. 1) Don't stand their antagonizing the police officers. It probably wouldn't be a problem if you actually backed up to a safe distance instead of maintaining a maximum of three feet between you and the cops all time. 2) Don't put the term "po po" in the subject of your video. It's just diminishing your claim. 3) If you're so concerned about the way the cops are treating you with a child in your arms, PUT DOWN THE F&^KING CAMERA AND TEND TO YOUR CHILD! There should literally be a licensing process for humans breeding.
Question: You can sign one guy this off-season to be a key swingman for you. Is it Lamar Odom or Trevor Ariza?
If you're the Lakers, keeping Lamar Odom is the priority this off-season. He adds a weapon that no other team can replicate, except for San Antonio with Manu Ginobili and the Cavs with LeBron James. When he's on like he was in the playoffs and Finals, he's a game-changing and game-breaking force on both ends of the floor. He'll give you plenty of nights in which you think you've wasted your money on him as much as he's wasted his talent. But a Finals win this year may have changed things around for him in the future. Perhaps, he'll be able to channel his talents and skills more consistently. Ariza is a nice piece but he doesn't rebound or shoot well enough to necessitate big money. He can be replaced by young, athletic forwards out there with an affinity for playing defense. You can't do that with Odom.
Question: Did the best team win the NBA title?
This is actually going to be done much more in-depth in a later article. But as for right now, I do believe the Lakers were the best team. Sure, the Rockets fell to injuries and Boston missed too many big men to compete but the Lakers were the best team at various points this season and harnessed their talent to prove it this post-season.
Question: Should the refs overshadow the NBA season that was?
The officiating this year was probably the worst it has ever been. There more legitimate gripes about missed calls, no calls and pity calls than there were games in which you could honestly say that it was a well-officiated game. But ultimately, the best team in November ended up being the best team as of June 14th and I think that accounts for something. The refs didn't cost the deserving champs anything and despite what Kobe dislikers and conspiracy theorists would love to lead you to believe, they didn't give the Lakers this title. When things end well and properly, you have to be willing to let the other stuff go and hope the NBA addresses it in the off-season.
As for now, congratulations go to the 2009 NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers and the 2009 Finals MVP Kobe Bryant.
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