Orlando Magic Blog – Page 66 – NBA Blog

Soccer helped Kobe Bryant footwork

Los Angeles Lakers star Kobe Bryant played soccer as a kid, and it likely helped his footwork in basketball. The New York Times (Jonathan Abrams) reports:

Bryant took baby steps toward learning those moves while playing soccer in Italy, where he spent a chunk of his childhood and his father, Joe Bryant, played basketball. Playing soccer, his feet touched the ball as much as a basketball now meets his hands. … “I’ve always worked on it, always worked on it since I was a kid,” Bryant said. “I just watched different players — Olajuwon, Michael, Charles — and just all kinds of footwork and just tried to emulate them. Playing soccer, I think, had a lot to do with it as well. It’s just growing up overseas.”

Bryant is currently up against the Orlando Magic in the NBA Finals. Here’s Magic swingman Mickael Peitrus, as quoted by the New York Times:

“He has great footwork; he has great body control,” said Pietrus, who guarded LeBron James in the Eastern Conference finals only to have his hands full again with Bryant. “He has great everything. Compared to LeBron, he’s very different because he’s moving a lot and he knows how to get you unbalanced to make his shot. He’s Kobe Bryant, so I’m not surprised.”

Watching what Bryant does on a basketball court is a thing of beauty. Be sure to catch the rest of the NBA Finals, before the long off-season begins.

NBA luxury tax to continue

The Deseret News (Tim Buckley) reports: If the Jazz choose to wade into NBA luxury-tax territory — something they’ve said they’re willing to do if need be next season — they won’t be getting a bailout. League Commissioner David Stern told reporters covering the NBA Finals in Los Angeles this week that there are no plans to temporarily shelve the tax, even in light of the country’s current economic plight. “No,” Stern said when asked at his annual Finals news conference, “there’s no contemplation of eliminating or reducing luxury tax.” The tax — part of the current collective-bargaining agreement between the NBA and its players union — is levied upon teams that exceed the league’s maximum team-payroll threshold, which has not yet been determined for next season. It amounts to a fine of $1 for every dollar over the threshold, plus a ban from sharing with under-the-threshold teams in distribution of the taxes that are collected.

Kobe 40, Lakers beat Magic in Finals Game 1

The AP reports: Kobe Bryant, playing like a man possessed, scored 40 points and the Los Angeles Lakers, who have waited nearly one year for a chance to erase bitter memories of a Boston beatdown and a championship they felt belonged to them, pounded the Orlando Magic 100-75 in Game 1 on Thursday night… Not even the return of All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson from a four-month layoff following shoulder surgery could help the Eastern Conference champions. Orlando center Dwight Howard was engulfed by two and three Lakers every time he touched the ball and scored 12 points—10 on free throws—on just 1-of-6 shooting… The Magic went just 8-of-23 on 3s and shot only 30 percent overall… Bryant, who added eight rebounds and eight assists, knows the Magic are still dangerous.

The AP reports: Bryant usually waits until the final quarter to close out his opponents but he buried the Magic with an 18-point third quarter in front of a sellout crowd of 18,997 at Staples Center on Thursday. “I was taking what they gave me. They want to back off and give me a shot, I am happy to take it,” Bryant said. “We wanted to keep our energy up and make sure we stayed the aggressor.” Pau Gasol had 16 points and Lamar Odom 11 points and 14 rebounds for the Lakers, who trying to make amends for losing in last year’s final to the Boston Celtics. Bryant, who wants to prove he can win an NBA ring without former Lakers teammate Shaquille O’Neal, showed once again that he can raise his level of play and intensity with each new playoff series.

The AP reports: The Lakers shot 46 percent from the field and 15-of-18 from the free-throw line as they smothered Orlando’s three-point shooters. The Lakers took the lead for good 34-33 on a Bryant jump shot with 7:05 left in the first half.

The AP reports: Stan Van Gundy surely wanted to put his hands over his eyes in the fourth quarter Thursday night as the Los Angeles Lakers mopped up what was left of his Orlando Magic. He had seen more than enough of Kobe Bryant, more than enough of a surprisingly tough Laker defense that kept Superman from getting airborne. “There was nothing I liked,” Van Gundy said. “What was there to like?” David Stern might have said the same thing. The NBA commissioner did his best just before the game to hype the finals as a fitting climax to one of the league’s best seasons ever, though he was probably secretly waving the pom-poms for the Kobe-LeBron matchup that never came.

The AP reports: All-Star point guard Jameer Nelson returned to the Orlando Magic for Game 1 of the NBA finals, playing the entire second quarter before struggling in the second half against the Los Angeles Lakers on Thursday night. Nelson finished with six points on 3-of-9 shooting in 23 minutes of the Magic’s 100-75 loss. “I thought he played well in the second quarter. I was happy. I thought he was getting in the paint on his pick-and-rolls,” Magic coach Stan Van Gundy said. “I thought he was making really good plays.”

Comcast, NBA Digital enter NBA TV-related deal

Comcast Corporation (Nasdaq: CMCSA, CMCSK), the nation’s leading provider of entertainment, information, and communications products and services, has entered into a long-term agreement with NBA Digital to expand its distribution of NBA TV, providing live games, original programming, and exciting video on demand (VOD) and broadband content to millions of customers.

Comcast will make NBA TV, the league’s 24-hour digital television network that offers more than 100 live NBA games, available to millions of Comcast’s Digital Classic customers before the 2009-10 NBA regular season. Additionally, these customers will have access to a wide array of NBA content On Demand, including Top 10 Plays of the Night, nightly game recaps, basketball news of the day, and NBA Entertainment-produced specials. Comcast will also offer NBA content on its online properties, including Comcast.net.

“We appreciate the commitment of our longtime and valued partner Comcast to expand NBA TV’s distribution and provide more of its customers with the network’s wall-to-wall NBA coverage and innovative programming,” said NBA Deputy Commissioner and COO Adam Silver. “Through this agreement, millions of additional fans will be able to experience NBA TV’s more than 100 live NBA games, its signature studio shows and Emmy award-winning on-air talent.”

“We are excited to bring more NBA action live, on demand, and online to our Digital Classic customers,” said Matt Bond, Executive Vice President of Content Acquisition at Comcast Cable. “Whether a fan of the hometown team or one of the NBA’s incredible players, our customers will have access to all of the great NBA moments in time for next season.”

Comcast will continue to offer NBA LEAGUE PASS, the league’s subscription package that provides subscribers with up to 40 out-of-market, live NBA games each week. As part of the package, subscribers will have access to NBA games online at no additional cost through NBA LEAGUE PASS BROADBAND.

“This is a perfect marriage of two multiplatform strategies,” said NBA Digital Senior Vice President and General Manager Bryan Perez. “Through this expanded agreement, NBA Digital and Comcast will deliver millions of fans the finest in NBA content via broadcast, VOD, and broadband distribution.”

Kevin Garnett guarantees next two championships

The Boston Globe reports: Kevin Garnett’s recovery from right knee surgery apparently is going well. Garnett expressed optimism in a recent conversation with team owner Wyc Grousbeck, who spoke yesterday at a corporate sponsorship event at the Boston Harbor Hotel. “I talked to [Garnett] and he guaranteed the championship in 2010 and in 2011,” Grousbeck said. “He was as fired up as he’s ever been.” Doctors removed bone spurs from Garnett’s knee May 26. He is expected to be ready for training camp in late September.

InsideHoops.com editor says: I have as much faith in Kevin Garnett and his awesome talent and fire as the next super good-looking, witty, famous pro basketball analyst, but such “guarantees” shouldn’t really be taken seriously. It’s fun to talk about, though. And on a side note, I guarantee I’m about to dominate this glass of chocolate milk.

WNBA teams selling advertising on their uniforms

The New York Times reports: The Phoenix Mercury’s new uniform no longer has the words Phoenix or Mercury. Instead, the W.N.B.A.’s Mercury appears to have been renamed LifeLock, with the 10-inch-by-4-inch name of the identity-theft protection company stretching across the team’s jerseys. A small Mercury logo (the planet, with an M) appears like a badge on the upper left of the jersey. Taking a cue from international sports, where displaying corporate names on jerseys is standard, the Mercury on Monday will announce a three-year deal with Tempe, Ariz.-based LifeLock that is worth at least $1 million annually… During an off-season when one franchise, the Houston Comets, folded and the remaining 13 cut their rosters to 11 players from 13, the W.N.B.A. authorized its teams to let companies place their names on the players’ jerseys as part of broad sponsorship agreements. At least one other team is close to a similar deal.

InsideHoops.com editor says: There isn’t anything surprising or shocking about this, though it’ll still be interesting to see with my own eyes for the first time. Because, while viewing it, I’ll be pondering the obvious: Will NBA teams do this, eventually?

Read fan reaction and discuss your own opinion in this forum topic.

Howard scores 40, Magic beat Cavs, advance to Finals

The AP reports: Overlooked and begging for respect all season, the Orlando Magic can no longer be ignored. After 14 frustrating years, they’ve returned to the NBA finals. Dwight Howard dominated inside for 40 points, Rashard Lewis added 18 and the Magic, a team that can make 3-pointers drop from thin air, hit 12 in a 103-90 victory over LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals on Saturday night. The Magic will be making their first finals appearance since 1995, one year before Shaquille O’Neal bolted as a free agent for Los Angeles, leaving this Florida franchise in ruins… James scored 25 in his worst game of the series, but the 24-year-old was magnificent for most of it, adding to a legacy still in its infancy. But the league MVP had to do most of it alone, as Mo Williams lost his shooting touch and Cleveland’s bench was badly outplayed by Orlando’s reserves. Delonte West added 22 and Williams 17 for Cleveland, which went 0-5 in Orlando.

LeBron triple-double, Cavs beat Magic 112-102

The AP reports: With Cleveland’s wondrous season on the line, LeBron James had 37 points, 14 rebounds and 12 assists, and Mo Williams, who boldly predicted his team would come back and win this tight-as-can-be series, added 24 points in the Cavaliers’ 112-102 victory over the Orlando Magic in Game 5 on Thursday night… James scored 21 points in the second half—17 in the fourth quarter—and had a hand in 29 of Cleveland’s 34 points in the final 12 minutes. Hedo Turkoglu scored 29 to lead Orlando, and Dwight Howard had 24 and 10 rebounds before fouling out with 2:22 remaining when he was called for his sixth personal foul while trying to stop James on a drive.

Fans discussed the game live as it happened in this forum topic.

Conference Finals: History sides with Lakers, Magic

If history were grading Orlando’s chances of advancing to The Finals, it would give the Magic an A. According to the Elias Sports Bureau, all time in the postseason there have been 187 best-of-seven playoff series in which a team has taken 3-1 lead. That team has advanced to the next round 179 times or 96 percent. Orlando has won five games on the road during the playoffs, the most wins away from home during a single postseason in team history (previous high was four in 1995). The Magic clinched its first round series with a win at Philadelphia in Game 6, and advanced to the conference finals with a Game 7 victory in Boston, marking the fourth and fifth times that Orlando won a series-deciding game on the road. All time in the playoffs, however, Cleveland, is 42-25 (.627) at home, including winning of eight of its last nine playoff games at The Q. Orlando is responsible for the lone loss, besting the Cavaliers in Game 1. Since the 2006 postseason, the Cavaliers are 21-7 (.750) at home, which accounts for the second most home wins in the postseason over that span behind San Antonio (22-7).

The Los Angeles Lakers took another step towards advancing to their second straight Finals by defeating the Denver Nuggets 103-94 in Game 5 yesterday to take a 3-2 series lead. Teams with a 3-2 lead are 193-33 (.854) all time, with 122 of those series ending in six games. Of those 122 Game 6 wins, more than half (69) came on the road. The last team to win a series after trailing 3-2 was the San Antonio Spurs, which defeated the New Orleans Hornets in last year’s conference semifinals.

Notable: There have been 20 games this postseason decided by three or fewer points, surpassing the previous high of 19 (2006). Orlando has played in seven of those games, winning three.

–NBA News

NBA rescinds Game 4 technical foul against Dwight Howard

The Cleveland Plain Dealer (Brian Windhorst) reports: The NBA announced this afternoon that is has rescinded the technical foul called on Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard in the second half of Tuesday night’s Game 4 win over the Cavaliers in Orlando. Howard was called for his sixth technical of the postseason when he taunted Cleveland’s Anderson Varejao after completing a layup, despite Varejao wrapping him up in a bear hug under the basket.

InsideHoops.com editor says: That ridiculous tech needed to be rescinded. I’m glad the league did it. The absurd techs being tossed around at any player who shows the least bit of emotion is really angering just about every fan and reporter I know of. Basketball is an emotional sport. Sports in general are emotional. A little bit of taunting, some fist-pumping, a bit of finger-pointing, enthusiasm, etc. are all part of basketball and make the game way more fun.