2009 NBA Finals Lakers vs. Magic (All games on ABC) Who wins the NBA Championship and in how many games?
Can't believe that, if won't be Kobe, it'll be Rafer who'll be bringing home a championship ring. RAFER. How great it is to be in the East.
Game 7, Rafer Alston offensive rebound, game winning shot, putback. Dwight needs to pimp Bynum's ass hard this series to force a Howard vs Gasol series. Magic doesn't have the depth to guard Gasol (Stern's gift to Fakers).
I honestly have no idea, because goddamnit, I have no clue how the Magic will shoot the 3. I am favoring the Lakers, but I would not be surprised in the slightest if the Magic win.
This will be such an interesting series. How will the Master of Panic fare against the Zen Master? (Mike Brown has been thoroughly exposed as an elite coach)
Fakers in 5. Magic's offense lacks of execution and discipline. Phil will kill them anyday of the week. Phil, please retire. I just can't bear the luck Phil have. Even when the Fakers were hopeless, Chris Wallace handed u Pau Gasol to get u another run.
plus the lakers can match magic's size. i mean, the magic play 2 6'10 forwards with dwight, and the lakers can match them with bynum, odom, and gasol. kobe has the advantage at the 2 spot and i'd say the pg is even. bench goes to the lakers. on paper, lakers are a better team, but then again, if the magic are hitting their 3's, maybe there's a good possibility of an upset.
One thing I guarantee you is PJ will disregard Rafer's outside shot and they will bait him into shooting as much as possible. I predict he will be a bricklayer each game. Pau or Bynum (whichever guy is not guarded by Howard) will have the opportunity to go ballistic against the Magic because neither Rashard Lewis nor Turkey-Glue can hope to guard either one in the low block. On the other end, it's imperative Rashard or Hedo go back at them hard on the other end. Howard will have a lot tougher time on offense because both Bynum and Pau can guard him better than Big Z or Varajao. They will foul him hard (especially Bynum) and test his maturity and ability to hit FTs. Big Z played very soft this series, even by his own standards. I missed big chunks of some of the games, but I don't remember Howard taking many very hard fouls. The Cavs did not bring any toughness at all against the Magic. The Lakers will punish Howard to throw him off his game. On the other end, Pau has the moves and quickness to draw fouls and Howard must use his head and not go for fakes. If Kobe continues his hot shooting, he will toast Pietrus and whoever else just like he did Denver. To save energy, I wouldn't be surprised if PJ puts Kobe on Rafer so he can rest on defense. (Then again, Courtney Lee isn't exactly a scoring machine so maybe not). 3-point shooting may ultimately decide this series. If the Magic free-stroke against the Lakers like against the Cavs, they have a very good chance to win. I doubt they will. Ariza will have lots of open looks and it's important he continue stroking. Nobody knows which Lamar Odom will show up from game to game. Nobody on the Magic is capable of keeping up with him if he plays well. The Magic will need Pietrus to keep shooting well since nobody else on their bench is worth a plugged nickel.
