Lakers Cruise to 15th Title

The Los Angeles Lakers won their 15th NBA Championship tonight by defeating the Orlando Magic in Game 5 of the NBA Finals. The Lakers seized control of the series with a dominating performance by Kobe Bryant and great shooting by Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom. The Lakers had a balanced team effort throughout all five games with contributions by Pau Gasol, Derek Fisher, Andrew Bynum, and even Luke Walton. The X factor throughout the entire series was the play of Odom and Ariza. They hit big baskets and made life difficult for Turkoglu and Lewis all series long. Fisher found his shooting stroke late in the series and his heroics in Game 4 all but sealed the title. This series was never in doubt and the Lakers should have swept the series. It became obvious that the Magic were overmatched when they shot 63% in Game 3 and still only held on for a four point win. This series exposed Dwight Howard and his limited offensive arsenal. If the Magic are to take the next step to being a championship team Dwight Howard has to become a more complete player.

LeBron James: A Chicago Bull?

After watching the Cavs fall short in the playoffs yet again, I begin to wonder should LeBron James leave Cleveland? Even though Cleveland had the best record in the NBA; it was clear that the Cavs were impostors all season long. The Cavs were at best the 4th best team in the NBA. I rank the 4 best teams in the NBA as follows: (1) Los Angeles Lakers (2) Denver Nuggets (3) Orlando Magic (4) Cleveland Cavaliers. The Cavs are the only team with a superstar who has no help. Kobe has Pau. Melo has Chauncey. Dwight Howard has Rashard Lewis. LeBron has an undersized Mo Williams. While Mo Williams is a nice player, he is not a number 2 on a championship team. So LeBron faces a tough decision; what team could he win a championship with the quickest?

The two most talked about suitors for his services are the Knicks and Nets. Pros: He would be the biggest star in New York and treated as basketball royalty in the largest market in the US. If he resurrected either franchise he would be the man in NY. Cons: He would make less money in annual salary and be further from winning a championship. The Knicks have no legitimate superstar on their roster and are overriden with undersized guards with bad contracts. The Nets do have young talent in Devin Harris and Brook Lopez along with his good friend co-owner Jay-Z. If he joins either team LeBron makes them an instant playoff contender but not a championship team.

I personally think the team that makes the most sense for LeBron would be the Chicago Bulls. The Bulls have a young roster loaded with talent. LeBron could lead MJ's old franchise back to championship greatness. Derrick Rose and Luol Deng have All Star potential that would complement LeBron's game. The Bulls also have John Salmons and the enigmatic Tyrus Thomas. Plus the Bulls will have the salary cap space to sign LeBron in 2010.

Lakers vs. Magic

The Finals matchup is set. The Lakers will play the Cleveland Cavaliers for the NBA Championship. LeBron vs Kobe. Correction. The Lakers will be playing the Orlando Magic for the NBA Championship. The team that no one expected to be here is in the Finals. This should be a very intriguing series and both teams have interesting matchups at key positions.

Point Guard
Rafer Alston vs. Derek Fisher
Rafer Alston is much quicker then Derek Fisher and should be able to penetrate at will against the aging Fisher. Fisher has shown his age during these playoffs and has struggled to find his outside stroke during the playoffs.
Advantage: Magic

Shooting Guard
Courtney Lee vs. Kobe Bryant
This one goes without saying. The Lakers have a huge advantage at this position and the Magic have no one on their roster with the size and quickness to stop Kobe. Expect to see a lot of Michael Pietrus guarding Kobe as he did LeBron in the previous series.
Advantage: Lakers

Small Forward
Hedo Turkoglu vs. Trevor Ariza
Turkoglu is the primary ball handler in tight situations and is responsible for facilitating the Magic's offense. Ariza has the length and quickness to pose problems for Turkoglu. If he can keep up with Melo then he can guard Turk.
Advantage; Magic

Power Forward
Rashard Lewis vs. Pau Gasol
This is an interesting matchup if it ever materializes. Lewis is too quick for Gasol to guard on the defensive end of the court and Gasol is too big for Lewis to defend in the post. I expect Lamar Odom and Trevor Ariza to each spend major minutes defending Odom. If Bynum doesn't play much as he hasn't in previous series, expect Dwight Howard to defend Gasol.
Advantage: Even

Center
Dwight Howard vs. Andrew Bynum
On paper Bynum has the size and skill to defend Howard. But in reality Bynum will spend most of the series in foul trouble and Howard will have his way against the Lakers disappointing big man.
Advantage: Magic

I think that the Lakers will put Bynum on the bench and go small. This means:

1. Putting Lamar Odom on Rashard Lewis.
2. Putting Pau Gasol on Dwight Howard.
3. Having Kobe guard Turkoglu in crunch time.
4. Having Jordan Farmar play major minutes to keep up with Alston.

Lakers Too Soft In The Middle

The one thing that concerns me watching the Lakers play last night against the Nuggets is that L.A. is still soft in the middle. Pau Gasol, Andrew Bynum and Lamar Odom are not physical enough. Countless times I watched Pau Gasol allow his man to get offensive rebounds and easy lay ins because Gasol did not box out. Whenever the Nuggets run the pick and roll Gasol looks lost. He doesn't know whether to come out on the shooter or to roll with the guy setting the pick. So a lot of time he winds up floating in no man's land in the middle of the court. It's pathetic. Andrew Bynum is shooting way to many jump shots for a 7 foot center and is not rebounding or blocking shots consistently. He is playing just like Brendan Haywood. Odom is an enigma. He has too much talent to be as inconsistent as he is on the court. He should be a threat to get a triple double any night but has become quite content at being a bench player. He doesn't play hard consistently. Carmelo and NeNe are going to get there points and rebounds. But there is no reason that Kenyon Martin or Chris Anderson should be doing anything at all against the Lakers front line. They are garbage players.

Lakers Go Up 2-1

All of L.A. should be thanking Kobe Bryant for his performance in Game 3. There has been one constant in this Lakers Nuggets series and that has been Kobe. Kobe has been great game after game. Kobe dropped 41 and hit tough shots down the stretch including a 3 to give the Lakers the lead for good. It didn't matter if it was Carmelo Anthony, J.R. Smith or Anthony Carter; Kobe could not be stopped. On the defensive end Kobe helped frustrate Chauncey Billups into a terrible shooting performance. That was a Mike-like game that Kobe had against the Nuggets. He put the team on his back and carried them to a win.

Lakers Up 3-2

The Lakers blew the Houston Rockets out by 40 points in Game 5 to take a 3 games to 2 lead. The Lakers are going to need a much more consistent effort if they want to win the NBA Championship this season. They seem to think that they can turn it on and off when they want. They do not bring their A game consistently and this can definitely hurt them in the next round. Hopefully they will bring their A game tonight and finish the Rockets off tonight so that this series will not have to go 7. The Nuggets will be a tough out and the Lakers will need to play better to win that series. Denver is playing at a very high level and will beat the Lakers if they suffer the same mental lapses that they have in the previous two series. I am worried about the lack of energy that L.A. has on the defensive side of the court. The Lakers are too big and talented to give up as many points as they do.

Lakers Up 2-1

The Los Angeles Lakers got a big win last night to go up 2 games to 1 on the Houston Rockets. The Lakers beat the Rockets 108-94. Since Game 1 Kobe Bryant has dominated the series and has refused to let the Lakers lose. Kobe scored 40 points in Game 2 and 33 in Game 3 last night. He also added 6 rebounds, 3 blocked shots and 3 assists. Each of the other 4 Laker starters scored in double figures. Jordan Farmar started at the point for the suspended Derek Fisher. For the Lakers to win this series Kobe will need to have 2 more dominating performances because he isn't getting any help from his teammates. Andrew Bynum has disappeared and given the Lakers nothing offensively. Trevor Ariza and Derek Fisher have had trouble with their defensive matchups. The only help that Kobe has gotten in the series has been from Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom. The Lakers have had a tough time dealing with Yao Ming and Aaron Brooks.