PROTECT THE PAINT

Dwight Howard, Rashard Lewis, and Hedo Turkoglu need to get tough fast, or this series is going to end abruptly. The Lakers have been dominant, and Orlando needs to turn it on yesterday.

The Soft Leading the Soft (AP)

During the Magics offensive set with 10:34 left on the clock of the first quarter, it became apparent to me: The Orlando Magic are a downright soft team.

Rashard Lewis’ weak attempt at a screen, which was a sad excuse for an attempt to free up a teammate, resonates to me the tone of this teams overall flaws , thus setting the tone for the final outcome of game 2 of the NBA Finals, a 101-96 loss in overtime to the Los Angeles Lakers.

Orlando is playing weak basketball. Other than Dwight Howard and Courtney Lee (more on him later), there is not a single player with toughness on the roster.

Howard rebounds and patrols the paint like a man. Lewis and the rest of the Magic, however, have no idea how to do so, rather opting for finesse over strong play.

Dwight Howard’s strength and ability to run the floor resulted in Andrew Bynum sitting on the bench with 7:54 left in the first quarter. Everyone from Lewis, Turkgolu, to “Air France” seem to have no clue, or cannot learn simply by watching Howard, on how to play tough.

With 7:00 remaining in the first quarter, Michael Pietrus attempted to take the ball to the rack tenaciously, and in doing so, forgot that when you outnumber your defenders during a fast break, the smarter play is to draw the defender and pass the ball to your open teammate.

It is called fast break basketball where I come from.I have no clue what they call it in France.

It seems in the few instances that Orlando  plays tough, they sacrifice intelligent fundamental basketball in the process.
Another sign of weakness Orlando is displaying is how they rely on their outside shooting.

Granted, Orlando has shot a ridiculous percentage this year and during the playoffs, but this is the NBA Finals, and there is no way a team is going to win it all relying on 3 point field goals. In the few instances during the game when Rashard Lewis penetrated into the paint he was highly effective.

Lewis did have a great offensive night, but his defense was suspect. If he can change his defensive mentality to match his offensive efforts, he could help Orlando to possibly winning a game.

Orlando could have left Los Angeles with the series tied 1-1. But Courtney Lee allowed the contagious lack of overall toughness from  to allow his game to regress. With 0.6 seconds remaining in regulation time, Hedo Turkoglu lobbed a brilliantly placed alley oop pass. Pau Gasols defensive presence caused Lee from a game winning dunk, to play passive and weak, trying to avoid Gasol, and toss up some god forsaken fledgling attempt at a layup.

I mean, am I crazy, but has anyone else thought that when you are in the NBA Finals, and you are a NBA athlete, you take that ball and ram it down the rims throat as if you mean to kill it? So what if Pau Gasol blocks your shot, if you try to dunk the ball on him, odds are the referees are going to make that call.

You relax at the line, make a free throw, and win the game.

I knew, right from the start, from the weak screen attempt by Lewis all the way to Lee’s weak attempt to win a game, that when you play weak basketball relying on threes  and are afraid to take the ball to the rim like a man, you are not going to win. You do not deserve to win.

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