Rafer Alston would have guarded the old man. How it is possible that you once again pulled your starter (who has been on fire) for a guy who brings the ball down the court just to give it to Turkish Delight when he gets in trouble? I mean, what's the point of having a point guard when he can't dribble out of a press and has to give it to a 6'10" Turk to keep from being stripped? This was truly a game that the Magic gave away, having outplayed the Lakers all but the last 5:32 seconds. Once the game went to overtime, it was all but certainly a Laker win. A botched inbound with an extra time out to burn and 16 missed free throws does not win a game against a somewhat decent Laker team and a magnificent Mamba who realizes that his legacy hinges on this series.
On top of this upsetting result, someone needs to do something about that exceedingly creepy Prius commercial where the trees and bushes are composed of swaying humanoid hands emerging from brightly colored, fuzzy amorphous torsos. Its bad enough I had to sit through 4.5 hours of Pau Gasol's mug.
During the introductions, when the lights are low, Pau looks like one of the cavemen from the Geico commercials.
ReplyDeleteThe "somewhat decent" lakers came back from a halftime deficit of 12 points.
ReplyDeleteI will completely agree that the game was as much about clutch D-fish shots as it was about the Magic completely and utterly choking. But doesn't it seem like every championship has some elements of this? And Orlando sure knows how to miss crucial, CRUCIAL FTs in the finals.
Another contrast worth considering:
ReplyDeleteCourtney Lee had a wide open layup that would have won the game in regulation had it gone in.
D-Fish had a wide open three pointer (which he MADE), sending the game to overtime, game over.
The old saying goes, "It's better to be lucky than good." With the Lakers, they're benefiting from good luck (Magic as choke artists), and from the kind of defense that would have given them the best record in the league this year, hands down...