Monday, June 15, 2009

2009 NBA Champions: Los Angeles Lakers

Congratulations to the Los Angeles Lakers for a well-deserved win over the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals 2009. Congratulations also goes to Kobe Bryant for bringing home his first and well-deserved Finals MVP award together with Phil Jackson reigning over Red Auerbach winning his 10th championship as a coach.

Kudos also goes to the Orlando Magic for giving them quite a scare (well not exactly what anti-Lakers fans expected to be). I hope that Dwight Howard will continue to develop and improve his game more because I see a lot more potential in him. Apart from this, he also needs to develop when to release his own scowl for the game. Even Shaq despite his humorous antics has this game face when pressure settles in. Dwightmare or Superman or whatever you may call him, must be tough enough not only physically but also must be mentally tough and developing more than just hook shots and dunks would become very potent weapons for him.

Anyways, back to the Lakers, this team not only won because of their supposedly natural talent at the offense but also the way they hounded the Magic on defense. It really goes to show that offense wins games and defense wins championships. It will also be worth noting though that in this year's postseason games that the Lakers had, every team that they've fought were just younger in terms of playoffs experience than them. For their first round opponent the Utah Jazz, this team was considered a very tough opponent however they ended the regular season in a downturn and Boozer never really jelled with the team after his injury. He wasn't even thinking of the game, rather he's thinking about his free agency. And for the Houston Rockets, Aaron Brooks had the opportunity to become the starting point guard for the team after Rafer Alston was traded. And yet this was not totally the issue but of course their eternal struggle with the injuries of Yao Ming and Tracy McGrady. This is perhaps the toughest team that the Lakers were dealt with in the postseason though. Despite having a depleted lineup, Scola, Artest and Battier are playoff or perhaps pressure-tested players. Unlike the Denver Nuggets who were developed on the fly at the start of the regular season with the acquiring of Chauncey Billups, the Rockets have always been through the toughest times. Carmelo Anthony isn't a leader yet of his team. He needs to take basketball seriously and with the help of Chauncey, he is definitely maturing not only in his game but also in his character. The Nuggets have succumbed into the hands of the Lakers because they were just happy to be there - to go deep and enter the Western Conference finals for the first time. And finally, the Magic finally have fallen and have shown signs of immaturity against a Finals-tested Lakers. Coaching-wise and character-wise, however strong your team is, you'll eventually fall over the hunger mentality as shown by the Lakers.

So that being said, I consider the Lakers as half-tested yet. Having faced Lebron and the Cavs won't do much damage to them as they'll be eaten by Gasol and Bynum inside. But instead, having a finals match-up between the Lakers and Celtics once again would definitely be a case of champion versus champion. A veteran team against a veteran team who won't be pressured, won't get rattled and won't show signs of maturity. It's a test of mentality and hunger. I'm not saying that the Magic aren't well-deserved of their finals appearance but Howard's maturity has grown one notch higher against a Celtics team they were supposed to beat simply because they are Garnett-less. It's just saying that the Lakers will be tested only in the Finals.

For now, congratulations to the Lakers. I hope they'd get the chance to bring back Trevor Ariza and Lamar Odom for one final chance at a three-peat by Phil Jackson.
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