Brothers?

Or the same person....? Come to think of it, I've never seen them both in the same room at the same time.

Dragon Slaying

The Lakers, Spurs, Blazers, Nuggets, Jazz, Suns and Mavs have all been staples of the Western Conference playoffs the last decade or so. This lack of diversity in the Playoff gene pool has led to some great playoff games, great meltdowns and a great set up for this year. The late 90's proved to be the same kind of scenario in the Eastern Conference with the Knicks, Bulls, Pacers, and Heat. Coming from those series were a number of great Jordan moments, Reggie's theatrics and heroics versus the Knicks, and the Playoffs best announcer, Jeff Van Gundy, clinging to Alonzo Mourning's leg. It seemed that every year a Heat/Knicks matchup was inevitable, because it was. From 1997-2000, they met every year in the Playoffs and played the maximum number of games each series, with the clinching game of the series being decided in the closing moments of the game. Miami only beat the Knicks in one of those four series, the first one in 1997. After that, the Knicks became Miami's dragon; the naturally sworn enemy and inevitable matchup for the Heat, a matchup they could never overcome.

The Heat went through another stretch, although much shorter and less dramatic, when a matchup with the Detroit Pistons seemed destined every year. This may have had more to do with the Pistons versus Shaquille O'Neal (dating back to their upset of the Shaq/Malone/Kobe Lakers), but it was the Heat's dragon to slay if they wanted to win a championship. This year, the west is full of such destined matchups. Mavs/Spurs. Jazz/Nuggets. Suns/Spurs. Jazz/Lakers (potential). Suns/Lakers (potential). Lakers/Spurs (potential). Jazz/Spurs (potential). Its almost a paper/rock/scissors set up. Spurs own the Suns, Lakers own the Jazz, Spurs own the Lakers, Lakers own the Suns, and for the sake of the analogy lets just say the Jazz own the Suns. Each team seems to have a date with destiny, a passage though fire, or any other cliched hero/dating reference. Somebody is going to have to slay their team's figurative dragon.

Who wins in all this melee? We do. The way the first round has gone, we can almost assume that round two will be turned up to 11. I'm still hoping that Kevin Durant walks on water for the next two games of the Lakers/Thunder series, but if not it doesn't mean that the best basketball is behind us. Rather, its yet to come.

The Finals, pt 1

You can only assess things after two games in a long series. I've said it before and this is me saying it again.

That said, I was a little concerned after Game 1 with the commentary from the Dream Crew. So I decided to do a running diary of sorts, following the game and the commentary of Breen, Van Gundy and Jackson. I wanted to be sure that the best were bringing their A game to the Finals just as they expect both teams to do.

(Just one quick thing before the Calls of the Game. I don't need to see anymore graphics about Kobe in Game 1. We get it. Kobe scored 40 points. They guy took 34 shots. 34. And about half of those came with his team already up 15 points. The Greatest Front Runner)

Here are the calls.

"A brick from Vujacic in the corner." (Breen)

Things are starting off good in so many ways.

"The Magic need a solid game from Lewis or Turkoglu, not a great one just a good one." (Breen)

Is this telling you how terrible the Magic played in Game 1 or does it say how shallow the Laker team is?

"Orlando needs a guy who can get his own shot." (JVG)

They also need a guy who can take a charge.

"Dwight Howard is a rarity. He does not curse, he does not swear." (Breen)

I think this was meant as a compliment, but I think it is telling of Howard's aggressiveness.

"They [Magic] should have gone inside and shot a layup." (JVG)

Which game does this relate to?

Kobe makes two shots in two possessions and then this follows.

"Here he goes." (Breen)
"Courtney Lee is thinking 'Oh no not again'" (Jackson)

Then Kobe goes on to score 10 very overstated points in the third while Hedo score 14 extremely understated points. They are approaching the Doug Collins Zone of Superstar Favoritism.

"These are the worst fast breaks I have ever seen." (JVG)

Now there's the JVG we love. Calling it like he sees it.

The moment we've all been waiting for....The Phil Interview.

Coach you talked abou tgetting a flow in that last timeout. How do you do that?

You move the ball.

"JJ Reddick ties the game with 2:19 to play!" (Breen)

I think he was more surprised than excited.

"How many guys say 'Dwight Howard, bail me out?'" (Jackson)

The entire Magic team. On the defensive end.

"Hedo plays defense on Bryant one on one and says 'Hedon't'" (Jackson)

The gem of the night.

OVERTIME. I'm just going to watch this now. But I'd say the Dream Crew is doing an above average job. They've got the Finals jitters out....and it seems Orlando does too.

One last note, I love that Stan Van Gundy was holding a cup of Gatorade in his hand as he watched that final play happen.