Pete’s Podium 5-13-09
The Boston Celtics continued to completely take advantage of the Orlando Magic’s inability to close games last night, as they were able to battle back from a 14-point deficit in the 4th quarter and defeat the Magic in a crucial Game 5, 92-88. Many are going to blame this loss on the lack of passes given to Howard in the post, but Dwight has made it a bad habit, disappearing late in games throughout the playoffs. Who is to say he would have even produced if given the ball, as Kendrick Perkins has done a nice job to stonewall Dwight’s post game. But it has become sad watching the magic play hot potato late in the game. It seems that only Hedo Turkoglu has the guts and mental strength to fill this void for Orlando, but defenses have caught onto this and have done a nice job denying him any space. Orlando needs to fix this problem immediately if it plans to evolve and advance, but is this really a fixable problem at this point in the season?
By the way there aren’t many players that you can name that have the skill set to be respected as one of the league’s top talents that have the ability to completely disappear and under perform when it matters most. And one from last night’s game is Rashard Lewis. This guy seems to take advantage of his size and athleticism all game, but as soon as the crunch time comes along he manages to become slow and an atrocious shooter. Lets not forget this guy basically makes Kobe Bryant money, and I hate to pick one guy out and let him have it, but Rashard deserves the criticism.
Dwight Howard definitely took it a step too far in his post game press conference though, as he decided to call out his coach Stan Van Gundy after a tough loss. After failing to stand out once more when the times get tough in the big games, the frustration obviously finally got to the Magic big man. Hopefully he can redeem himself in Game 6 and take it out on his opponents and not his head coach. If not this is going to be the start of a long career of losing for this over hyped big man.
The LA Lakers came out and answered the critics as many thought they would by completely smashing the Houston Rockets 118-78. The Lakers were in complete control by the final minutes of the first quarter and bounced back as well as any team could have following a disappointing showing. Looks as if the Lakers are sure to continue their success in Houston for Game 6 and a trip to the Western Conference Finals.
The All NBA Teams were announced today with the First Team consisting of NBA superstars LeBron James, Kobe Bryant, Dwayne Wade, Dwight Howard, and Dirk Nowitzki.
The Second Team consisted of Chris Paul, Brandon Roy, Paul Pierce, Tim Duncan, and Yao Ming.
The Third Team: Chauncey Billups, Tony Parker, Carmelo Anthony, Pau Gasol, and Shaquille O’Neal.
All worthy selections, but my only gripe is that Shaq has no business being on this third team. He made it just because of his identity, as clear appropriate replacements would have been Danny Granger or Kevin Durant.
Jason Taylor agreed to terms with the Miami Dolphins, signing a one year 1.1 million dollar contract. This is a solid move by the Dolphins as they welcome back a true Dolphin who can help improve the Miami pass rush. Not only that but they did it on their own terms. Taylor will participate in all off-season activities and signed for a bargain of a price. Though Taylor barely produced last season, he is looking forward to having a healthy, happy season where he can not only play for the team of his heart, but can be with his family for the majority of the season.
Lakers were crushed once by Houston. That shows Cleveland may handily beat them