I’ve had plenty of moments during our time at 2soth, where I stare at the keys, with nothing coming to mind. I try and try but cannot get that flow going on a particular subject. Then it just sticks, it all comes together and away I go to deliver the article. With this subject however, I feel I can go on all day and all night! For the benefit of the audience, I’ve cut it down to bullet points on each member of the Orlando Magicians. (in no particular order of failure)

• Stan Van Gundy: Here’s one of the only guys I feel truly sorry for. The ranting and raving that Stan does comes straight from the heart. He doesn’t get caught up in the X’s and O’s because let’s face it, the players know the damn plays! He shouldn’t have to draw them a picture on how to put the ball in the hoop. He tries to fill them with belief by telling them, (by shouting) that they must “continue to fight”, and that they have to “get into the moment”. I personally wouldn’t have thought the Magic players needed reminding of this, as they were actually focussed on winning and just got a little off track. But we’ll get to the players a little later. The barking and yelling and loss of voice that Stan displayed can easily have fingers pointed at it due to the delivery of his message. Some people will look for these sorts of things when figuring out what went wrong. Who knows if Stan will become another case of “good coach gone scapegoat” when the front office count their chips during the off-season. The cruel irony for Stan is that his style is best suited to coaching a team like the 2006 Miami Heat squad. A nice mix of veterans who just “had” to win a title and some young punks who wanted to make a name for themselves. This Orlando team seemingly has neither of those types of players. Keep your head up Stan, and while you’re at it, get the hell out of Orlando.

• Dwight Howard: Now here’s a guy everyone can respect. Nice smile, mountainous physique, the kind of guy who gets Basketball “Oooohs” and “Ahhhhs” every night he plays because he’s always doing things that 7 footers shouldn’t be able to do. If only he could put together some reliable post moves, stop fouling people unnecessarily, stop whining to the referees via voice or internet, learn to shoot free throws and grow a killer instinct. I’ll go right ahead and call “Hall of Fame” on him if even 3 of those things happen. The big moment for me came in the dying stages of the Game 6 “no-show” from his team when he tried to mock the Boston crowd with clapping gestures. I mean sure Dennis Rodman used to do it but you know what? His team was winning Championships along with taunting battles.  Dwight, you need to take command of that giant frame and start putting it to good use because if not, you’ll end up being the next Patrick Ewing in terms of titles and the next Eddy Curry in regards to reaching potential.

• Vince Carter: I actually thought Vince in Orlando to replace Turkoglu was an upgrade and a lot of people thought the same. Now, I’m not so sure. Vince sure scored a lot of points, but perhaps at the expense of other players. Carter played well in stretches of this series and predictably played better in the front-running demolition of Atlanta and Charlotte. Now that the dust has settled, I think we can all comfortably say that the deal wasn’t great for the Magic. I mean, we’ll never truly know if it was better or worse (like all things in life) but we can say that it didn’t turn out great. Vince ultimately fit in perfectly with Orlando though as he shared a chat with Ray Allen in the final minutes of Game 6 (down by 10 at this point and practically eliminated) that resulted in both players laughing as the ball was inbounded. If I’m a serious Orlando Magic fan, I’m super pissed off with that. It’s been my gripe with Orlando for a long time now and strangely enough they’ve brought another pretender in to crowd. No killer instinct, Carter you are the Mayor.

• Jameer Nelson: Here’s a guy who is a cross between Bart Simpson being shocked by a power point and an O’Doyle sibling from the movie Billy Madison. An old boss of mine once told me “if you do as you always did, you’ll get what you always got” and there’s no truer NBA example of this right now than Jameer Nelson. (And maybe Antoine Walker?) Here’s the equation: Rondo is killing your entire team as all you have faced in the Playoffs so far at point guard is Mike “D.U.N.” Bibby and Ray “I’m overrated in video games” Felton. Your back up is Jason “White Chocolate” Williams who doesn’t win all of his And1 drink bottles and t-shirts from playing defense. You have a good three-point shot and you can be a double threat on the pick-and-roll with your buddy D12. What do you do? Actually, let’s just highlight what Jameer did… repeatedly. A) Didn’t push the tempo on offense to attempt to tire Rondo. B) When on the pick-and-roll, didn’t attack the hoop in Games 1, 2, 3 and 6. (crazy pattern there eh?) C) Stood off Nate Robinson in Game 6 when he was on the perimeter, systematically transforming the renowned ”locker room cancer” into the next Gino by letting him light up. Strangely similar to what he let Derek Fisher do in last year’s Finals. D) Allowed Ray Allen to cut off an alley-oop pass to Dwight Howard. With the age of Ray Ray now, that play alone defines him as a legitimate Basketball Jesus. Except the only water he was walking on was Orlando’s tears of failure. Ah, that’ll do four is enough but you get my point. Jameer, grow 5 inches or go play in Oakland. Your choice.

• Brandon Bass: Not much to say here as he only logged 4 more minutes than his jersey number (34) but I will say this, Brandon Bass gave a damn and played hard!

• Marcin Gortat: The new Ike Austin of the NBA. As soon as that contract is up he will be as gone from the League as Reggie Lewis. (Unless he does a Dino Radja and bitches out back to Poland)

• JJ Redick: Now this guy tried his backside off for every minute he was out there but seemed to finally succumb to the “all referees hate us” attitude that was oozing from every Magic player’s face. The same could actually be said for Rashard Lewis as he performed the “look how long my arms are OMG! I’m Tim Duncan” shock face after the very first call in Game 6. I give Redick props in this series, not because he’s a DTA player, but because I truly think he wanted to have a killer instinct. He was just dragged down to his team’s level. You place him in John Paxson’s shoes in the early 90’s and Redick is a legend. Besides, Johnny Pax does not have a rap album.

So there’s my thoughts on the Orlando Magic, another season of stellar regular season play followed up with a cold, stale bucket of failure. I haven’t done the research but I wouldn’t think there have been too many teams who went on a 14 game winning streak to end a season/start a Playoff run, and then lose 3 straight to practically eliminate themselves. Doing all of this while earning/pissing away home court advantage. But hey, it’s Orlando and they ARE Magicians after all.

Some BIG questions loom for the Orlando Magic over the Summer. With the pending free agency about to explode, a new arena coming and some frustrated fans about to start a riot, I would think that changes will be made during the off-season.

I suggest hiring Wanderlei Silva at point guard or maybe even bring back Hedo Turkoglu if you can peel him away from Little Turkey. *mock*

If LeBron James’ future employment options were threatening to take attention away from this season’s Playoffs, then the events of the past 48 hours have closed that book for now. The Phoenix Suns have “taken care of business” at home and now have the chance to steal the lead in that series against the Lakers with a win tomorrow night in Los Angeles. Add to that the Orlando Magic’s comeback bid against the Boston Celtics and you find yourself “smack bang” in the middle of an extremely captivating and exciting time to be an NBA fan!

Firstly, let’s look at the Phoenix vs Los Angeles series.

I want to start by saying that this series will be over in 6 games, I cannot see any reason to believe otherwise. The Suns have been sensational to date but I’ve seen too many Laker teams, and more importantly Phil Jackson teams get 2-0 leads in the past and often finish up 4-2. With the home court advantage, the Lakers will win a home and then win the one game they need in Phoenix. Kobe Bryant has been sensational in this series also. His numbers are sky-rocketing and it almost feels like that “you’re nothing without me” swagger has truly disappeared for good. Player like Shannon Brown, Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum are being empowered by their leader to score and Bryant’s assist numbers are reaping the benefits.

The Suns have been great and Amare’ Stoudemire is certainly not doing his free agency value any harm with his play. The Lakers always seem to have trouble guarding quick/smart point guards though, and given the right cards falling on the right night, this may go to Game 7 but honestly I doubt it. Even my boy Channing Frye found a way to break out of his slump. Good to see the Doubting Thomas Award is getting a good run in Phoenix this post season. (Note: Paging Danilo Gallinari and Corey Brewer?)

Now for the East, and all I can say at this point is…

WTF?

Some of Rajon Rondo’s play in Game 3 was arguably some of the best and most entertaining Basketball I’ve seen, ever. The diving on loose balls, the drives, the pull-up jumpers.. Amazing! It turned a blow out into an entertaining game somehow! Sure, the Celtics dropped one in Game 4 but surely they would just steam roll their way over Orlando in Florida? Right?

<insert 2nd WTF>

Orlando win comfortably, Kendrick Perkins gets ejected, picks up his seventh Technical foul and subsequently may have suspended himself for Game 6, Glen Davis gets knocked out by a D12 elbow and Marquis Daniels is concussed! What else???

So for the first time in recent NBA history, we have a team that has been down 0-3 now genuinely holding the advantage in the series if they win on Friday night. Unbelievable.

If I am Doc Rivers, I am very concerned with what’s going on here. Now you know I don’t rate Orlando and probably never will but the Celtics are such a good team that if they are without key players, things don’t turn out so good for them. If they lose Perkins AND Davis for Game 6 I actually think the Magic, and more importantly Dwight Howard will completely overpower them. I believe this game, (if Perkins and Davis are out) will be a career-defining moment for Dwight Howard. If he cannot put his team on his back and lead on this particular stage, then my theories about him (and other Magic players) holds up and Dwight will never lead a team to a Championship. If he steps up now, OWNS Game 6 and then leads in Game 7, I will forever be impressed.

Ladies and Gentlemen, stepping to the stage…

Mr Dwight Howard.

No matter how this thing shakes out, we’re going to imitate history or create it:

Los Angeles vs Boston – The 2008 Remix

Los Angeles vs Orlando – The 2009 Remix

Phoenix vs Boston – The 1976 Remix

Phoenix vs Orlando – The first NBA title for one of these franchises.

Who else is excited?

Dwight looking happy after a big win

Heyyyyyy wooorrrrrrrlllllddddd!!!
Well, we took care of business today against Atlanta.
I’m not here to gripe and complain because we won and won big and that was the goal all along. I’d just like to say to Mr Stern and the Officials, thanks yaw’ll for letting me rock it for more than 20 mins a game. Now yaw’ll see what I can do when you let fouls go. I know I still fouled people, but if you don’t call them I can be a legitimate superstar in this league.
Like I have said dozens of times already, this is about so much more than just me and me being frustrated. We’re trying to win that gold ball and bring that ‘chip back to Orlando for all the Magic fans out there, and if yaw’ll are calling every foul I commit then we can’t get it. Now yaw’ll finally stopped disrespecting my game we can do that!
I was talking to Pat Ewing about my foul trouble and he said he never had foul trouble like me. Perhaps that’s coz people didn’t bounce off Ewing like they’d been hit by a freight train.
Now the Officials are taken care off, I only need the ring to stop disrespecting my game yaw’ll. The way the ring just bounces every second free throw away, well it’s just wrong man. Anyway, I gotta go lift some more. Peace out!!! DWIGHT

Just kidding Dwight, I love your game, but after complaining so hard last week (and giving up a decent wad of cash), I hope you come out in praise of everyone, including the refs, after such a big win.

Results:

Orlando def Atlanta 114 – 71

Los Angeles def Utah 111-103

• Mario Chalmers playing Rondo very well on both ends. Not to a standstill, but negating Bostons advantage at the 1 to a certain degree.
• Just saw the most amazing ad. Well played ESPN, well played.
• It’s been spoken about to death, but Garnett just can’t get up. As a massive fan of KG, it hurts my heart to see, as he misses yet another lobbed dunk.
• In related news, Michael Beasley is looking good defensively against KG. Michael Beasley! OMG.
• Mark Jackson… speaking in stages… adding nothing to the coverage…. Momma there goes that man.
• Miami showing life with 8 mins to go. They can’t win this series but they are trying. And this is one big showcase for potential free agents suitors.
• Finally Wade getting some help from Beasley. Showing what he can do offensively.
• Garnett’s turnaround, with or without knees, still unstoppable.
• The Miami crowd is just awful. If you can’t get excited to see Dwyane Wade, you don’t deserve an NBA franchise.
• Pierce is a great closer. Very calm with a lead. He’s still an actress though.

Mavs @ Spurs

• Jason Terry is an overrated talent in my opinion. So one dimensional.
• Haven’t seen a crowd shot of Eva Longoria yet and it’s quarter time. Amazing.
• Shawn Marion still has the ugliest jumpshot in the NBA. I hadn’t seen it in a month or so, and it’s jarring.
• DuJuan Blair is just full of energy. Impressive player. Sure makes do with no knee cartlidge.
• George Hill just doesn’t back down. What an impressive sophmore season he’s had.
• Amazing how much Dallas is relying on J.J. Berea. Not that he’s playing well, but he’s played the entire second half.
• Jason Terry and his one dimension ability just isn’t performing well tonight. Without Dirk, the Mavs would be destroyed.
• George Hill just abuses Jason Terry on the drive. Isn’t Terry supposed to be the JET?
• Nowitzki as good, or better, than his MVP season. So impressive tonight. Hitting tough shots, playing the angles and contributing in all the little ways.
• It just feels like the Spurs will win this close one. They have the swagger. TP feels it, George Hill feels it. Everyone else playing their roles.
• Way too much talk about how physical Nowitzki is being defender. He is a bigger actress than Paul Pierce, which is saying something. Dirk is excelling though.
• Tim Duncan from the high post is just incredible. Not a look we see from him often, but wow. So controlled. Directs every player on the floor and makes the right call every time so far. He can really hurt the Dallas zone from there.
• I try to hate on Jason Terry, but he hits big shots. Being clutch is a skill. Cold blooded.
• Manu Ginobli is one hell of a creator, with one hell of a bald spot.

Nuggets @ Jazz

• Came into the game late after watching Mavs/Spurs but no one but Melo and Billups showing up at all
• Melo on the bench with 5 fouls. The last one was silly, that’s for sure.
• JR Smith has the worst tattoos in the NBA. His only competition is Chris Anderson. Can anyone think of worse?
• Warning: Immature thoughts, but Carlos Boozer looks like he’s taking a dump when he goes to the line. What is that motion all about?
• Deron Williams banks a three, and doesn’t even smile to himself. No one in history has ever intended to bank a three, but I like his intensity.
• This game is over. 22 points, 8 mins to go. Safe to say Utah is not missing the huge defensive contributions of Memo Okur.

When you look back over some of his actions and reactions over the course of his career, you could see a child in a man’s body… well, quite literally. The “global icon” comments, the low percentage contested jump shots, the pre-game “photo shoots” with team-mates, the infamous Orlando “walk-off” after last year’s playoff defeat, it all reeked of a kid who certainly knew how to play but didn’t know how to handle himself.

Now look at how he’s dealing with the Joakim Noah inspired “Cleveland sucks” bait.

LeBron’s response?

“I have nothing bad [to say] about Chicago, and I’m not saying that because of what he said about Cleveland. I’m dead serious. We all love Chicago.”

For the first time in LeBron’s career, I am genuinely about to consider myself a WITNESS.

I’m an old fashioned fan and have genuinely loved the NBA for over 20 years now. I have developed likes, dislikes and general opinions/relationships regarding many players and teams. I was a fan when Isiah continued to run on that broken foot, I was watching when it was all about MJ vs Clyde in the NBA Finals, I watched Barkley’s dream fade on a John Paxson three-ball, I’ve lived through the lock-out, the Lakers dynasty, the Artest vs Crowd debacle, the Knicks failures and the emergence of the Bobcats.

Many stories and milestones both good and bad have intrigued me over the years, but none is more captivating than the current journey of LeBron James.

This guy has the size and shape of Karl Malone, the shooting touch of an insanely more athletic Larry Bird, the killer instinct of Michael Jordan, the dunking capability of a Shawn Kemp/Vince Carter hybrid and the passing skills of Magic Johnson. If I see him go to the sky hook in a pair of goggles this post-season, I’ll basically pass out and flat-line. I mean this in no way metaphorically.

Forget the direct comparisons like “who’s better, LeBron or MJ?” or the “Wade won a championship first!“ arguments, this guy has a piece of everyone legendary running through his veins. I’ve been a massive Kobe Bryant fan for a long time now and always find a way to include him in the “best players of all-time” conversations. I think his ability to get the job done through injury, distraction and/or lack of back-up makes him one of the best ever. I have also mounted a pretty simple argument that Kobe could always be considered higher on the food chain than LeBron until James won at least one championship ring. (Let alone four of them…). The arguments are what makes watching and being a fan of this game so much fun. Where would we be without the David Robinson vs Hakeem Olajuwon debates? Or the comparison of value between Robert Horry vs Dennis Rodman? (Stay tuned for that story soon from 2soth!).

The fact of the matter is, we have all been witnesses to the talented, yet frustrating caterpillar who has taken the league by storm. Last year’s playoff defeat may turn out to be the metaphoric “cocooning” of LeBron. Will this season prove to be the emergence of the LBJ butterfly?

One thing is for sure, there is no more “warm-up” time for LeBron James. The time to win is now.

Or…

Try this on just for fun…

Is LeBron James simply a front-runner? Does he only appear to be the best when he’s winning? Is he the Chumbawamba of the NBA?

Let’s face facts here, this playoff run is the most important basketball adventure of LeBron James’ career. He’s got a highly talented, experienced, multi-skill set team that has beem hand-picked to beat the Orlando Magic and Boston Celtics. The 2007 journey into San Antonio was a youthful, exuberant NBA Finals failure of epic proportions. No one can call that journey a “stepping-stone” because a stepping stone is not navigated by going backwards. The 2008 and 2009 Cleveland Cavaliers teams both produced worse outcomes than 2007 and did not handle favouritism well. Sure, the Cavs have a 2-0 lead in the first round against Chicago, but the “real” Playoffs don’t start until they travel to Atlanta in Game 3 of the Conference Semi Finals in about a week and a half.

So buckle your seat belts, grab the remote and be a witness to not only the possibility of LeBron James’ first title, but the beginning of the run that puts LeBron on top of the entire pile by career’s end.

Massive call.. but we’re dealing with a massive player.

Feb 16th saw Caron Butler welcome himself to his new team with a commanding but poultry 4-16 shooting night, Erick Dampier still garnered over 30 minutes of playing time and the Mavs shot just over 32% on the road against the red hot Thunder. Result? A thirteen point loss and the excuse of “new-look Mavs” the only thing left to keep spirits up heading into their next game.

From then, the past seven games to finish off February have been a blue and white blur of pure awesome as the Mavericks have accepted the challenge and built an undefeated run with the following scalps, (in order);

• Phoenix
• @ Orlando
• Miami
• Indiana
• Los Angeles Lakers
• @ Atlanta (OT)
• New Orleans

The Mavericks face another tough test tonight against the always home strong Bobcats, but if they get past Charlotte the run could quite feasibly stretch beyond 14 the way they are playing.

Let’s take a look at their upcoming schedule:

• @ Charlotte
• Minnesota
• Sacramento
• @ Chicago
• @Minnesota
• New Jersey
• New York
• Chicago
• Boston
• @New Orleans

That’s eight out of the next 10 games being extremely winnable for Dallas the way I see it. Even Boston aren’t looking too great at the moment. Imagine if they were to win all ten? ESPN will be going crazy and I will be nodding my head and pointing to my other blog entry. They seem to be in a great groove since the acquisitions and playing some really exciting Basketball. I think Brendan Haywood, DeShawn Stevenson and Jason Kidd have looked the most improved.

Is Jason Kidd finally marching toward a Championship ring?

I ask again, could this finally be the “right stuff” for the Mavericks?

The Dallas crowd booed Dwyane Wade during the All-Star Game last month and for good reason. He was once again laying down the Basketball smack in the Big D. These fans should be respected not ridiculed for not letting that kind of thing slide, and yes even in an All Star Game! It seems like forever ago now but it’s only 4 and a half years since either Wade took over or Dallas choked in the 2006 NBA Finals… Whichever way you look at it.

Although I’ve never been a big fan of the Mavericks, I must say that trade definitely pricked my ears up. I was quite comfortable in stating what I believe to be the obvious…

The Lakers’ supposed “free run” to the 2010 NBA Finals has just been erased. They’re definitely going to have to earn it now.

I’m excited.

DeMar DeRozan executed a really nice windmill dunk in the first round. Trailing behind teammate Sonny Weems along the baseline, DeRozan caught a lob pass off the side of the backboard and threw down the windmill for the contest’s only 50. Nate Robinson did what he does best… a 20ft high lob, two-foot takeoff, catch and finish. But c’mon, this had no energizing feeling, no suspense, in fact really no presence at all. Even Kenny, Charles and company on TNT were declaring the competition a yawn-fest after the first round.

Smile! You may have just killed the Dunk Contest!

I have to be especially critical of Nate Robinson. While he executed dunks in far less time than in his past years and simply did enough to win, he once again brought nothing new to the table. He didn’t earn this win, he was simply up against a wide-eyed and unprepared rookie, a half-asleep Bobcat veteran with eyes on an All-Star Game appearance and an LA Laker who was just simply disappointing and far too indecisive. There was absolutely NO ENERGY in this contest at all. There was no rivalry, no suspense and seemingly no real sense of urgency to beat a rookie Toronto Raptor in the final round.

I’d also like to bring everyone’s attention to judges Mark Aguirre, Rolando Blackman and Derek Harper who were great members of the Dallas Mavericks organisation, but never really set a crowd on fire by dunking the Basketball. Dominique Wilkins and Spud Webb were obviously chosen due to their battle in the 1986 contest in Dallas’ last turn at hosting the All Star Weekend.

In a time where fans should have far less digital influence on the game, (i.e. All Star participant voting) I found it gut-wrenchingly awkward that the final score was displayed as a 51-49 percent win to Robinson. Only the story of a 3-time champion could save this from ending in some sort of mass-suicide by most of the paid-up patrons and NBA officials alike.

Even Dikembe Mutombo would’ve sat motionless during this contest.

What really caught my attention though was Robinson’s post-debacle comment to Cheryl Miller. He mentioned that “they” didn’t allow the use of any props this year.

What the eff? And who is “they”?

One can only assume he meant the NBA in general but surely even they are not silly enough to not realise the reality here. The main catalyst to the re-discovered excitement and drama of the Slam Dunk Contest over the past couple of years has been the use of props and storylines. Why the hell couldn’t the players use props??

This is the only prop Nate Robinson got to jump over last night...

Another question I have is when were the players notified of this “rule”?? I mean, judging by the quality, (or lack thereof) of the dunks performed, I’m guessing they were told less than a week ago and had prepared absolutely nothing else at all.

With David Stern’s comments over the weekend regarding the NBA’s likelihood of posting a $400m loss this season, is it possible the NBA just simply cannot afford a fake phone booth prop, a mask or even another cupcake? I mean really… How much does the guy who brings out the 12 foot hoop actually charge per hour?

I want to see Nicholas Batum dressed up like Bat-Man, I want to see Andre Iguodala in an afro wig re-create Doctor J’s brilliance, I want to see a 13ft hoop, I want to see two designated “Dunk Captains” choose their respective “Dunk Squads” and go at it, I want to see the established stars team up with the young blood to raise the roof off the stadium!

Nate Robinson and Dwight Howard had truly started/resurrected something “super”  over the past couple of years and tonight the whole concept took a monumental step backwards.

Whoever is ultimately responsible for this has done every NBA fan a huge dis-service. Cross the Dunk Contest off your calendar for next February. It seems the only thing that could save it at this point is a visit by a certain Cleveland Cavalier.

PS – LeBron, don’t make promises you can’t keep.