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both cities (orlando and l.a) have disney attraction parks, which generates alot of money + abc and espn are owned by walt disney company = the finals will be huge.
Stern is a stand-up guy, and surely never even considered manipulating the playoff series.
Magic evaluating Nelson's status for NBA finals - NBA - Yahoo! Sports (http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/news;_ylt=AumDDcU3epz6ezYF.3vmRxC8vLYF?slug=ap-magic-nelson&prov=ap&type=lgns - broken link)
Um, that's some incredibly wishful thinking. (You are forgetting about Orlandos other big man too) Orlando beat LA both meetings in the regular season and is playing very good ball right now. More likely, LA will have the same issues keeping Howard off the glass as everyone else.
I guess that forcing the ball at the Defensive player of the year is ONE possible strategy.
If I analyze the match-ups thoroughly I can see what you mean but my first thoughts are "The Lakers frontcourt will expose Orlando." Okay, since I'm thinking about it I just see Los Angeles bringing the intensity (Kobe, Phil, and Pau aren't about to let this slip). Orlando does have the edge at the 5 but Dwight will have to earn it all, Gasol is better than Lewis at the 4, Hedo is better than Trevor, Kobe's the best on the floor, and Skip will eat Fisher alive. Match-up wise Dwight will not dominate Bynum like he did with that Brazilian flopper Anderson Varejao, I think the Lewis Gasol matchup will be good (I think we'll see a lot of Odom though), Kobe/Ariza will score on and shut down Hedo, Ariza/Kobe will shut down Lee and Pietrus, and Rafer will be solid but so will Derek.
This is gonna be an interesting series to see. The key is Dwight Howard and foul trouble. If he gets into foul trouble, it will be hard for the Magic to win. If he gets Gasol and Bynum in foul trouble, it will be tough for the Lakers also. I haven't seen much of Lewis's defense to know how good he is. Offensively, Lewis can spread the floor making Gasol go out and guard him cause of his 3 pt shooting. Gasol should be able to post him up. As far as the perimeter, the Magic should have Hedu come off the bench. There is no way he will come close to even containing Kobe since no one can stop him. Pietrus should start instead and be on Kobe which he did on LBJ. He had problems with LBJ posting him up, but i don't see Kobe really posting up that much. LBJ drives to the hole more than Kobe, so Pietrus has to force Kobe to shoot jumpers, which Kobe is much better at anyway. Kobe will get his 30-35pts. Rafer and Fish are pretty much cancelled out. I haven't seen much of Lee's defense, just his decent shooting.
Again, the key is foul trouble for Howard. The longer he is on the court, the better chance they have. If he can keep Kobe(and the other guards) from going to the hole, they have a chance, otherwise, they will lose. The Magic perimeter guys won't be as open as they were against the Cavs as i think Howard won't be doubled as much.The smart thing for the Magic would be to NOT shoot 3s all the time and take that midrange jumper and drive to the hole more which i didn't see hardly at all in the Cavs series. They need to move around and instead of standing around waiting for Howard to pass out while spotting for the 3. Mo and West were really too short to affect the Magic defensive wise, but the Lakers size on the perimeter(Ariza, Kobe) will alter their shots out there, so the Magic should go to the hole more. One advantage the Lakers will have without a doubt even before this series starts is their FT shooting. You can pretty much give them a +5 for every game already. It is like the Magic spotting them 5 pts already.
Yep, Orlando's a cute feel good story but they are done. Dwight has dominated against scrub post players for the longest but now he'll deal with real skill (Gasol, Bynum, and Odom) that will have him fouled out by halftime. The gritty Lakers in 5.
Yeah, such a cry-baby, b/c Jordan always shook the hands of the Pistons after they beat the Bulls, and Magic & Larry Legend always shook hands after their epic battles were over in the 80s. Only in the last decade has it become custom for NBA teams to congratulate one another after the series is over, I don't want to see the other team congratulate the winner, where's the competitive streak??
The Lakers wil win one of two in LA and 2 out of 3 in Orlando so how will they win in 7?
Don't you mean 5?
Not quite. I think Orlando wins 1 of 2 in LA. Orlando wins 2 of 3 in Orlando to take a 3-2 lead. LA will take two at home again with the 7th game on a last second shot.
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