Having had time to reflect on the 2009 Finals I’ve come to a conclusion on what they really were. Not Kobe’s vindication, or Phil’s coronation. But something else: an anticlimax. There were at least four series that were more entertaining during these playoffs – Boston v Chicago, Houston v LA, Orlando v Boston and Orlando [...]

(AP Photo/David J. Phillip)
Hard to believe really, that I just watched a replay of the last game of the season. No more games on Foxtel or One. No more huddling around laptops at work with Justin TV streaming during lunch breaks. No more alt-tabbing frantically as the boss walks past your desk. The last Finals [...]

image via nbamusings.com
ONE: Thought I’d start with a smattering of post Game 4 links highlighting what a roller-coaster of emotions these Finals have been:
- Third Quarter Collapse feels the pain
- Forum Blue and Gold is still buzzing
- The Orlando Sentinel blames Nelson’s return (me too!)
- Silver Screen and Roll writes 3,500 words to stick up [...]

(AP Photo/Chris Graythen, Pool)
So it happened again. In last year’s Finals Game 4 we saw the Celtics historic comeback, an improbable win snatched from the jaws of defeat, a 48-minute nightmare that LA would wake from only to see the insurmountable 3-1 deficit staring back at them. It happened again this year, not a comeback [...]

Some quick thoughts on Game 3, which I watched last night.

MORE SHOTS FOR GASOL MORE SHOTS FOR GASOL MORE SHOTS FOR GASOL MORE SHOTS FOR GASOL MORE SHOTS FOR GASOL MORE SHOTS FOR GASOL MORE SHOTS FOR GASOL MORE SHOTS FOR GASOL MORE SHOTS FOR GASOL MORE SHOTS FOR GASOL MORE SHOTS FOR GASOL MORE [...]

AP Photo/Matt Sayles
The Orlando Magic were within inches of leveling this series at 1-1. Inches of Courtney Lee’s layup dropping through at the buzzer in regulation. Inches within a Dwight Howard deflection of a Kobe pass to Gasol that resulted in the game-sealing three point play. Make no mistake, this was a game that could [...]

AP Photo/Chris Carlson
I watched parts of Game 1 Friday afternoon at work, trading emails with a few friends about a possible Magic upset, before heading out to a farewell lunch. I checked the scores later on my phone – in the space of one quarter the game had been blown to high hell. Curious to [...]

Pau Gasol is an underrated defender. While Bynum will get the starting nod on Dwight, I expect him to rack up fouls quicker than it takes Dan Hung to whip up his salty squid. So Gasol will find himself defending Dwight for most of the time, and this isn’t a terrible mismatch for the Lakers [...]

It always amuses me when I read a playoff series preview, how people do the position vs position thing, coach vs coach, bench vs bench, and then make some sort of conclusion that amounts to adding up points accrued along the way. Hell, it’s the easiest way to do it, and without trawling through two [...]