Taking L's

The selfish/failed comeback by the Orlando Magic point guard, Jameer Nelson, was the downfall of game 1. Coming back to a team in the NBA Finals is not a team decision, it is a decision for yourself and personal experience. They simply did NOT need him at all. He disrupted the offensive sets with his over-passing and penetration at all the wrong times. A team should not have to adjust to a point guard that they have not seen touch the court during their establishment in the playoffs...at the climax of their run for the title (which in my opinion was right after game 6 and Dwight Howard dropping 40 points; something I thought he was incapable of doing).

The team was up with Rafer Alston and quickly had the lead taken from them during the 2nd quarter. Los Angeles was able to go on a 40-17 run from the 8:30 mark in the 2nd quarter (a quarter that Rafer did not see the court in) and well into the 3rd quarter. Jameer then checked back into the game in the 3rd and picked up right where he left off... dashed up a quick three while Dwight was gaining post control over his defender... that was unsurprisingly an air ball. On the very next possession he actually attempted to feed the ball into the post, missed his target and threw the ball out of bounds to the camera man.

The reason they made it to the NBA Finals is due to the maturation of their offense in the playoffs; which I think Rafer had a large role in. Jameer Nelson came into game 1 thinking that they still played the same style as they did in the regular season. Random penetration and forced passes at all the wrong times is not what brought Orlando to the finals. As a man, Jameer should have dropped his pride and given Rafer the playing time he earned and deserved in game 1 of the finals. He made it quite clear to Gundy that he was completely ready to make his return, and Gundy had no doubts and full faith in him. This must have had a negative impact on Rafer mentally. Gundy's inability to understand my last point is the real sad thing behind game 1. In the post game press conference, Gundy firmly believed that Jameer did more positive for the team than negative. Jameer came into the game being aggressive (which I don't blame him doing), but at the same time he disrupted the offense and made it even harder for this teammates to adjust to his play. Jameer stated in the post game that he was working on his shooting most of all after sitting out for 4months. Why not work on getting your passes where and when your teammates want them instead? Maybe then you wouldn't have had a -19 rating in 23minutes of play on the court.

In other news:

Mamba drops 40pts, 8assts, 8rbds, 2stls and 2blks.