NBA Finals: Lakers Go up 2-0, Stan “Van Panics” in OT

By: dwil

ABC’s NBA Finals Game 2 telecast begins with… a Big Mac commercial. Here we go.

Rafer begins the game with an ill-advised drive against Pau. KB misses a short J. Courtney Lee scores.

Wow 10:43, already there’s a foul called on Bynum…  FINALLY. On the next possession a moving screen is called on the Magic - Rashard Lewis All Game 1 I begged the officials to call Orlando for this). Ariza - 3…. Nice  shot Dwight….. Pau got fouled and there was goaltending on Howard - hand through the rim (how this shit gets missed is beyond me) and - nothing…. Pau comes back down and hits a sweet lefty layin. Hedo comes back with a wide-open 3. Lee rides KB and cries when he’s caught…..

7:54 and Bynum’s already out w/ 2 fouls. Shit is like clockwork.

Lee gets his second on a phantom call by Tony Brothers. Ariza plays Hedo well. KB gets the ball swiped and Pietrus charges into Derek Fisher. Damn LA misses twice…. Magic miss twice.

WHAT! 3 seconds on the guy posting up and making his move?! Man, that’s rough! Will they call Howard like that? Nice pass from Pau to Lamar Odom on LO’s cut to the rim. Courtney Lee w/ 2 fouls - one a phantom call. Pietrus w/ 2 fouls. One a phantom call. Looks like it’s going to be along night for both teams. Tony Brothers is a fool. But at least Javie will admit when he blows a call - and admit it right on the court to a player or coach.

The game is a bit ragged early on. Neither team is shooting well. It seems like the two days off equals no flow.

Alston drives right into three Lakers standing still and gets a call. The commentators keep talking about so-and-so being an All-Star (Jameer Nelson and Rashard Lewis). Because the players are voted in by It is a fans being an All-Star does not at all validate the worth of a player to his teammates.

Yes! 3 seconds on Howard.

Stupid foul by Gasol on a Marcin Gortat rebound. With Hedo, Rashard Lewis, Courtney Lee, and Mikael Pietrus on the bench, the Lakers must get into an offensive flow and take advantage of playing against reserves. If LA does is not able to gain control of the game, they could well lose Game 2.

Stan Van Gun is pissed and shows it during a timeout. He says his team has seen everything the Lakers do on defense but they are playing the same as they did in Game 1. I think what Stan is missing is that perhaps the Lakers are playing good defense. Fish gets whistled on a 50-50 ball with Howard - ridiculous. Score 13-13. Luke Walton passes up an open J in the lane and passes to LO in the corner. Bad play by Walton.

Lakers shooting 29%. 15-15 after D-Fish J.

WOW! And Javie calls Howard for a moving screen. Mark Jackson calls it a “tough call?!” Is he crazy? I guess he never watches Howard move nearly every time he screens.

6-20. 4-14. Those are the  field goal makes and attempts for the Lakes and Magic, respectively… Poor shooting, indeed.

Howard has his own Vitamin Water commerical. When the hell was that shot?! Yesterday?

Hedo only has one foul, not 2.

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15-15 end of one.

Farmar begins with a J. Tough defense by both teams to begin the 2nd quarter - well, at least LA is tough. Tony Battie deals on LO! WOW! LO with the block on Redick!

Another 3 second call on a guy making a move in the lane???!! WTF is this? Two quick - and one weak - fouls on Walton. Tom Washington, not Tony Brothers. 8:55 left, 21-19 LA. Mark Jackson is correct, LO is the best player on the floor, so far. What’s he got a Gummi Bear stash under his seat on the bench?

Redick misses a J - it’s 24-19 LA. 24-21 Nelson is quick (nice pass to Lewis for an open J). Actually, Nelson has a great, quick first step. Monte McCutchen is the third ref. Javie, Washington, McCutchen.

Lewis take LO off the dribble and scores again… LO gets hit, no call…. Finally, a decisive by Bynum - and a bucket…. Lewis is hot 26-26. Stupid foul by Bynum reaching in from behind on Hedo.

So, Orlando has gone away from the pick-and-roll for the moment and has decided to go Memphis Tigers drive-and-dish. The switch is producing points at the moment. I’m sure Jackson is telling the Lakers to play tough man and forget getting picked. Lewis has 11 points.

Lewis said he signed with Orlando because BIG MEN ALWAYS WIN RINGS (good ones, that is). Ariza hits a 3. Hedo misses Howard knocks the ball out of bounds. Damn, Pau misses an open J…. Fish hit s a 3 - 32-26…. Lewis drills a 3… 32-29…. Hedo misses a step-back J….  Pau draws Pietrus’ third. 

LA is committing three players to the boards to keep Howard off the offensive glass and the Magic center is getting frustrated. Someone fronts him, another player is behind him, and the third gets long rebounds or comes off the weak side to add another pair of hands reaching for the ball. Howard is 1-4 from the floor tonight…. 33-29…

Pau goes 1-2 from the line…. Lewis finally misses a 3 after Redick passes up a short J…. KB hits a 3 - 36-29 1:36 left…. Lewis comes back with a 3…. Pau hits a deuce…. Nice calm passing by LA gets the open look…. Lewis has 4 three-pointers in the quarter…. How Odom forgot about him is beyond me… Gasol apparently slams but the ABC-ESPN-Disney cameras are busy focusing on Lewis sitting on the bench.

40-35 at the half. Lewis scores 18 of Orlando’s 20 second quarter points and has 20 for the game.

Kobe has taken only five shots in the game, so far.

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Magic 12-37, 32.4%; LA 16-38, 42.1%.  Magic - Johnson, that is makes a bold declaration; “Orlando cannot beat the Lakers in a half court game.” He’s right LA will win this game by 10 or 12 unless Orlando speeds up the game. Howard has 11 of the Magic’s 27 boards.LA has grabbed only 17 rebounds. But LA has 12 assists and the Magic have only eight. But the main stat is this: the Magic have turned the ball over 11 times to the Lakers five.

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Half #2

In the locker room Van Gun exhorts his team to play faster. He says there will be a stretch where they hit a lot of shots…. again, he’s wishing because in the 2nd quarter they did hit a lot of shots - but Lewis (8-12) was the only player hitting them.

Ariza allows Hedo to push him off on his way to the rim - again. Ariza  has to use his feet. The crowd is flat and the Lakers are a bit flat. The score is now tied at 42. KB has all the Lakes points (4)… 44-42. KB again - uh oh. 46-43. Pietrus is about to check in. Bad, bad call on Bynum. He jumped straight up and Hedo leans into him to make contact where there was none (of course Mark Jackson says it was a good call and Bynum jumped into Hedo). Tom Washington makes a poor call on Bryant’s steal attempt. 

The flow of the game is picking up - Fisher misses a reverse Turkoglu pulls a dangerous stunt by backing under Gasol to root him out from under the glass….

Howard gets fouled three times w/out a call - Washington again….. and Hedo finally gets called for a foul. He’s one of those guys who should have four fouls by now. The game is getting ragged again - 52-52 LA. Howard gets the ball stolen off a bad pass by Lewis - Ariza - and three Orlando players never cross midcourt. Van Gun calls timeout.

Howard is getting really frustrated because the Lakers are committing two or three defenders to him every time down the floor and they are usually picking Magic players like Alson and Redick and whoever else is shooting poorly to make threes. As a result the Magic aren’t hitting their threes and because of that, Howard is getting no breathing room.

LA’s lead is still tenuous - 54-51 - because they are not making the extra pass…. Nelson travels and Howard moves on the screen and Washington misses both calls. Howard walks twice and the call is missed - Turkoglu hits three to tie the game. The Lakers are missing shots…. Fish is then called for a nothing foul. LA is in the penalty and the Magic have two fouls. Hedo fouls Gasol as he runs by him - no call. Actually, I noticed that Turkoglu has a habit of hitting the man with the ball in the post every time he follows his man along the baseline.

LO hits 59-58 Orlando. Foul on LO as he pulls Gortat to the floor. The only problem is that Javie missed Gortat pushing LO over so he couldn’t get the loose ball. LA is doubling Howard with the wrong man and allowing Turkoglu to get steps on Ariza. Plus, Trevor is looking to shoot passing lanse too often rather than concentrating on Turkoglu.

Ball don’t lie - Gortat misses both free throws. KB hits a J. LA leads  by one. KB takes a 3 - poor shot. Nelson scores 63-60. Fisher comes back with a 3 of a KB assist. Turkoglu with the push on Walton to get space - as usual. Turgoglu has 17 points in the third.

That’s 35 points by two players in the last two quarters for - Lewis and Turkoglu - Orlando to give them a 65-63 lead going into the 4th.

The Lakers need to continue to help Kobe with the scoring because one player cannot beat them in the 4th. Orlando has attempted 22 3s already! (7-22, 31.8%). Suddenly the assists are tied with 15. 10 points 14 rebounds, 4 assists, four steals, and three blocks.

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Nelson misses both free throws……….. LO scores. Bad pass by LO to Bynum on the oop. Howard bulldogs LO on the rebound and goes right over his back and LO gets called for the foul. Hedo misses the first FT - that’s five misses in a row. LO scores again and was fouled but no call. Where the fuck was the rotation for LA? LO again. KB fouled by Pietrus after Lewis miss… 71-68 9:24 left in the game. Gortat misses. Shannon Brown  should have stayed in the corner as KB passes to him but Brown inexplicably cuts to the rim (expecting KB to shoot). Jeff Van Gundy says the mistake is on KB - asshole. In the triangle the third corner of the triangle is the shooter in the corner. No wonder Van Gundy doesn’t run that offense - it’s too complicated for his simple-minded ass.

With 7:30 left Turkoglu, right in in the open pushes Walton with his right arm and Javie lets it go…. Washington makes yet another bad call as Pau blocks Howard but gets whistled for a foul. Then Howard bodies KB out of bounds w/out a call. Lewis hits a 3 and its 77-75 Orlando. The poor officiating at this crucial juncture in the game costs LA at least five points…. Lewis and Hedo have 45 of the team;s 75 points…. 6:11 left. Javie lets three more fouls go for Orlando as Fisher hits the layin. The ball hit Odom’s elbow and Rashard never had the ball to get the foul call - Washington is just a bad official.

Howard finally gets whistled for a push-off foul. Gasol ties the game 4:22 left. Gasol gets whistled as Ariza clearly gets all ball - you can see the ball rotate backwards on the clean strip…. it’s Washington again. 81-79 Orlando. 

Wow are the ESPN commentators rooting for Orlando here? It is interesting that in the second half they have done nothing but openly root for the Magic and call every official call against the Magic a bad call.

Hedo FINALLY gets called for the push-off.

Pietrus fouls out.

3;08 left 81-80 Orlando.

Rashrd Lewis, after stopping his dribble,  hops step spins through a double-team and hits a layin. The score is now tied at 88.

Turkoglu gets the block on KB as the clock runs down. Bryant failed to pass to a wide-open Odom standing in the corner. :0.6 left.

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101-96 OT.

Stan Van Gundy showed why he acquired the moniker, “Van Panic.” When the Magic stepped onto the court to play the overtime period a surprise starter was  on the floor for Orlando. He was J.J. Redick. Van Gundy put Redick in to spread the court even more  to give Turkoglu and Lewis  better looks at the basket.

It was a good move for about two minutes. Even before the Lakers made the necessary defensive adjustments the Magic bogged down in their half court offense. However, to fend off the Lakers Van Gundy reinserted Rafer Alston into the lineup. Alston was 1-8 from the floor during the game and fared no better in the extra five minutes. His task was to run the offense a bit quicker than did Turkoglu. But, in the end, the Alston move was a failure. The one move Van Gundy could have made was to start Jameer Nelson in the OT. Nelson was Fisher’s nightmare cover in both game played in the Finals. All Nelson had to do is beat Fisher off the dribble, cause the remainder of the Lakers to rotate and dish the ball to the nearest open man.

But Nelson never played a second of the OT, the magic stayed bogged down, Pau Gasol ate up Dwight Howard in the OT, and LA took a 2-0 lead in the Finals. And Stan’s ESPN commentating brother, Jeff, has yet to mouth a word of criticism against against his brother.

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Aftermath:

This was easily the best officiated game I watched in the entire playoffs. The poor calls cut both ways. A “DWil DVR Replay” on a foul called on Mikeal Pietrus with 3:35 left in the fourth quarter was another phantom call in favor of LA. Kobe Bryant, the beneficiary of the blown Tom Washington call, missed the first free throw attempt, showing the ball don’t lie on either team. And yes, despite the protestations of Jeff Van Gundy, “He just fell down,” and a few seconds later, “He [Bryant] got the benefit. It happens,” despite the ridiculous remark from Mike Breen, “He just fell down,” and Mark Jackson’s concurring with Breen, “You’re absolutely right about that,”  a DWil DVR Replay look showed that Turkoglu inadvertently tripped and pushed Bryant with 2:40 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Yes, Rashard Lewis walked with 1:34 left, though not in the way I initially described. He actually switched pivot feet and the move was so deft that I really can’t blame Steve Javie or his crew mates for missing the call.

Lewis set the first of his illegal back picks in regulation with 50 seconds left in regulation. He caught Trevor Ariza with a moving back pick screen while Ariza was focused on Hedo. The reason the move is illegal and the reason players do not attempt it regularly is because it is a potential season killer for the defender who runs into the screen and NBA players do share a modicum of respect for each other’s careers. But during the Finals, for some players - obviously Lewis is one - holding the “Bill Russell” (it is no longer the Larry O’Brien Trophy)  is more important than Ariza’s physical welfare. But not only did Lewis set the pick, he then held Ariza, making Lamar Odom appear the defensive culprit on the play.

There was a glitch of some sort in the DVR’s recording of the overtime. Though I set the machine on record for the alloted game time and recorded the following local news program because games invariably run over their alloted time slot, the DVR failed to record the first 4:32 of overtime, so we’ll never know if Kobe touched the ball last or whether Hedo stripped the ball from Kobe Bryant hard enough to pull it forward out of his hand. The ball did not go off of Bryant’s knee, but the question is, did it go off of Bryant’s fingers because it did fly out of bounds horizontally.

But, before that - do not assess blame to Courtney Lee for missing that final shot in regulation. By the time Lee possessed the ball enough to shoot it he was nearly under the glass. By the time the ball was about to leave his right hand he was also forced to begin to duck to keep from hitting his head on the backboard. The angle he had was awful and that he was able to get as close as he did was amazing. 

And for Stan Van Gundy to throw Lee under the bus - as he also did J.J Redick for missing a 3-point attempt and turning the ball over in overtime - in his press conference after the game is another sign that he is not long for the head coaching ranks in the NBA. When asked if he thought that Lee should have made the shot, Van Gundy replied something about Lee having this great look and that Lee “just missed it,” as if the rookie choked.

It is not the first time Van Gundy has pulled this stunt with his players and it probably will not be the last. 

Onto Orlando.

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