Laker Nation, and some clippers talk too!

We are now 24 hours removed from the NBA finals were all our questions about the season have been answered, except for stuart scott's, "the lakers are 15/15 in NBA championship series" comment.

Were the Lakers the best team in the NBA this season?

- As painful as it is to admit this, yes they were. By simply running away with the western conference and posting a 4-0 record against Cleveland and Boston during the regular season, its hard to argue that they were not the best. However other teams have hope in the future because according to espn beating the lakers is as easy as giving candy to an Odem. You may never see a more rediculous excuse for poor play in any sport than what we witnessed with Lamar Odem and his candy eating problems. When he is on however, and Fisher isn't pretending to be a seasoned vet from the 80's, and Llama, (Pau Gasol) is pretending to be aggresive, and Kobe doin work, is doin work they are as close to unbeatable as a team is going to get.

Will Hedo stay in Orlando?

- Odds are he will, but it is confusing that a star on a team in the finals opted out of his contract in game three. In all seriousness though he opted out a mere eight or so hours after the game five loss, which raises more questions than answers. Hedo is in a dilemma here. He can stay in Orlando and make around seven million next season, then enter the 2010 free agent pool, along with every other top 20 player in the league, or he can stay a free agent now and get a better deal with another team. The flaw in the latter is that no team is going to offer a contract that Hedo wants because almost every team is saving money for after next season. If Hedo goes back to Orlando and then enters the 2010 pool he is guarenteeing becoming a teams, "next best thing" pick-up which would hurt the soft 6"10s feelings. Long story short, i think he stay's.

With a tenth title, does this make Phil Jackson the best coach in NBA history?

- Numbers make it tough to argue but I will say no. Ten titles had been an impossible milestone but they way he won them has to take a little of the glory away from him. He took Jordan to six titles, kobe and shaq to three and kobe alone to one. The 08-09 was by far the most impressive and makes Phil deserve as much credit as he gets but there is still no way you can put him ahead of Red Auerbach. Red built dynasty after dynasty with the same team over an extended period of time either coaching or working in the front office. He also revolutionized the game we have today by drafting the first african american and having the first starting five all of african decent. Phil revolutionized the triangle offense, something 95% of sports fans probably can't describe. Phil also took huge advantage by having Jordan during the NBA's worst years, the 90's. With the exception of Karl Malone, regular season hero, playoff choke, there was very little competition for the better half of the decade. To make a better metaphor, if football was as bad as the NBA was in 1998 Ryan Leaf would not only not currently be fleeing from the law but looking at four or five superbowl rings. One stat that many people fail to remember however about Phil Jackson is that as a coach, he's never missed the postseason! Give me one more ring Phil and you'll have my support hands down as the best coach in NBA history.

Is stan Van Gundy a choke?

- After this postseason Shaq has been proved wrong by calling Gundy a choke. Orlando simply ran out of gas, while constantly shooting themselves in the foot, and while watching other teams hit buzzershot after buzzershot on them. He has nothing to be ashamed of; except that haircut he got for the finals.

Will Blake Griffen lead the Clippers to the postseason?

- No. Sorry thats it. Go to wikipedia and look at the Clippers history. Not much to be proud of since they played in Buffalo. Yes they played in Buffalo, then San Diego. Actually they have nothing to be proud of. Maybe they should play a few home games in Toronto.

Tell me about Farvs shoulder!

- I have lost so much respect for this former icon that i will continue to spell his name Phenetically instead of how it's supposed to be spelled. However a return to the NFL's Vikings should lead to a late season Lions win.

Bet of the day:

Royals (-140) over the Diamondbacks...

The King

Orlando 107, Cleveland 106
Cleveland 96, Orlando 95
Orlando 99, Cleveland 89
Orlando 116, Cleveland 114 (OT)
Cleveland 112, Orlando 102
Orlando 103, Cleveland 90


the King. ( not the horse from entourage )


With the elimination of the Cleveland Cavs from the postseason sinking in, more and more questions continue to be raised. Mostly, "How?" The simple answer is that Orlando was better but that topic is boring. Here are the questions I am interested in.

1. Is Mike Brown the single worst coach of the year in sports history?
- For the NBA it is tough to argue this fact. Sam Mitchell won three seasons ago with Toronto with only 47 wins and a first round loss to the nets but i guess the argument is that he took a bad team, and came out on top in a bad atlantic division. With that exception every other coach has a good resume. The NFL certaintly picks deserving coaches of the year, every year. Baseball has a great history of picking the most deserving managers with the least emphasis on record. Joe Girardi, depsite how confused he looks in New York now, won the award in in 2006 with Florida with 78 wins, and a fourth place finish in the NL east. But what he did that year with a payroll similar to that of a McDonald's staff was unbelievable. Mike Brown won 66 games this past season, the best in the NBA, followed by two sweeps in the first two rounds of the playoffs. He was a great actor pretending he knew what he was doing this entire time, but then came Orlando. In game one we pretended that no one came to play except Lebron. In game two Stan Van Gundy literally gave away the game by not having Rashard lewis 6'10 in the face of Mo Williams 6'1 while leaving Lebron to come off a simple screen in single coverage to hit an open shot. Once again, Mike Brown blew a big lead, but still, no one noticed. Once Orlando got home, they played very well and took some close games, and went up 3-1 in the series. Still, Mike Brown is off the hook. Game five however, despite winning will be the demise of this coach of the year forever. In a close game at the start of the fourth quarter Mike Brown said to his guys, "Listen, i have this idea. We're gonna go one on five for the next twelve minutes." Of course Mo, big scary white guy, my hair is my ego Varejao, and old herpie face had no problem with this plan, since none of them want to shoot under pressure. Somehow Lebron won the game by himself, with Mike Brown standing in awe. So how does Cleveland and Mike Brown feed off the momentum? By giving up in game six. Lebron couldn't even score 40! The 2008-2009 Cavs may have had the most talent any team Lebron will ever have, but the lack of a coach cost him a championship.

2. Is Stan Van Gundy actually a good coach?
- We will find out alot more in the finals, but this is slowly becomming a fact. The Magic are a good team, but they don't have what past championship teams do have. It seems like the magic just launch threes all game, and this is actually a true statement, but even though it's fourty of so threes, they all have something in common. They are open threes! Game time adjustments are one thing but coaching is a 24-7 job that Stan is on top of. When cleveland was down two with a second left, the whole world knew who was getting the ball. Same scenerio for Orlando in game four, and I guarentee that only Stan and five Magic players knew what was going to happen. Van Gundy may make a mistake here and there but the big picture is that they are going to the finals. Final answer, Van Gundy has proved himself.

3. Does Lebron deserve this heat for not shaking anyones hand after game?
- Well the first thought clearly is yes, but then after you think about it, you have to still say yes. I understand that he is a "competetor" and "passionate" but this is two years in a row now. When you loose you congradulate your opponent. No one enjoys doing it, except Delonte West, but that's mostly because he likes taking his shirt off on TV. The critizism may be a bit blown out of proportion but he certaintly deserves most of the heat.

4. With this being the most dissapointing loss of Lebrons career, does it guarentee an exit from Cleveland after next season?
- Obviously next years outcome is important but I think this is it. Loosing is bad enough, but now that teams know how to beat him, Cleveland isn't going win. The magic didn't just take Lebrons best chance for a ring, but now, possibly his only. You let Lebron do his thing, you just shut down everyone else. This new defense that Van Gundy established perfectly means Lebron needs more help. However this talent isn't out their because every other star needs the ball in the fourth quarter. Lebron being as immature as he is probably won't understand that Cleveland is the best fit for him. That Organization will do everything to make a winner but Lebron doesn't care. He actually thinks leaving will make things better. Cleveland has a great sports history with greater dissapointments, so loosing this year wasn't the end of the world for the city. Once Lebron tries to pull these loosing stunts in New York, he will be eaten alive by the media. Short answer, he's gone, the question is where?

5. How long are Lebron appoligists going to defend him?
- For ever. Lebron isnt just a legend to some people, hes a way of life. You have to defend your team as a fan, but you can only go so far. Pierce shouldn't have sat on a wheel chair in the finals. I said it. Your turn Cleveland.

6. Will Quentin Richardson change his number 23 for Lebron when he goes to New York? If not, what will Lebron wear?
- My last question is clearly the most interesting. This clash can easily go either way. Will Lebron fight Q? Di antoni will probably make Q sit out the entire year and then buy out his contract if he doesn't give up his number. I can actually see the Knicks cutting Q just because of this situation. However if Lebron does grow up in the next year and change his number, what would it be? does he try to one up Jordan and do 24, does he predict his future rings with the number 0, or does he just quit and play football for some reason?