The Finals Countdown: 8 Keys to Championship Glory

With tip-off just hours away, let’s not waste anytime and take a look at the key elements of this series that will decide the eventual NBA Champ:

1. To double or not to double? – How the Lakers defend Dwight Howard is likely to define the series.  The Celtics mostly defended him one-on-one and nearly beat them but the Cavs double-teamed him constantly and lost despite one of the greatest individual playoff series performance ever by LeBron James.  The answer seems clear that the Lakers should avoid doubling down on Superman, but they may lack the requisite personnel to contain Howard on an island.  That is unless Andrew Bynum decides to stop being a stiff for the next two weeks.  If Bynum fails then get ready for the Bynum-Powell-Mbenga foul parade Plan B to go into effect.



2. The elephant in the room – Jameer Nelson is increasingly likely to play, but still no sure thing.  If he does play will he be effective or will he just disrupt the Magic’s chemistry?  Both teams have to be at least a little bit scared and a little bit excited to see him on the floor.
3. Lamar Odom vs. Rashard Lewis – Shard has been a walking match-up nightmare for Orlando’s opposition, but Lamar Odom couldn’t be a more perfect player for the Lakers to attack him with, that is if Odom is up to the task.  He has the agility to negate Lewis’ quickness on offense and the size and skill to punish Lewis on defense.  All Odom has to do is sustain his focus for the next two weeks.  That should be easy enough, right?  Umm, yeah, right.



4. Just happy to be here syndrome -The Magic have shown remarkable poise and maturity for a team that largely has no real post-season experience, but the NBA Finals is an entirely different animal.  Even though winning the ring is the ultimate goal of any team, many a Finals entrant has fallen victim to the trap of considering their season a success by just reaching the Championship round.  We all know that won’t be a problem for the Lakers, but nobody would at all fault Orlando if they fell into the age old trap.
5. The Van Gundy factor – Is Stan Van Gundy really up to the task of coaching in the Finals?  He has long been considered a weak link for the Magic but hasn’t done anything detrimental so far.  But there is a reason that Shaq calls him “Master of Panic.”  Coach Hedgehog is going to have prove the doubters wrong in this the most pressure-filled coaching situation of his career.
6. Shoot ‘em up – Everyone knows the Magic can shoot the lights out from downtown, but what about the Lakers?  Their crew of long-distance marksmen are in dire need of a sight adjustment.  Derek Fisher and Sasha Vujacic have been particularly terrible but that hasn’t stopped them from firing away.  If they don’t find some semblance of their former accuracy, they might just shoot the Lakers right out of the series.



7. All Gasol, all the time – Gasol is going to have to spend a lot of effort on defense switching between guarding Rashard Lewis and Dwight Howard.  Phil Jackson has shown no qualms about playing Gasol so many minutes that even his beard starts to sweat.  After a long and grueling season, Gasol could run out of gas any game now and it is up to Phil Jackson to find a way to keep him fresh and productive.
8. Ghosts of NBA Finals past – The Lakers have lost in their last NBA Finals appearances (not that any of you needed to be reminded of that) and they still haven’t fully shown that the issues that cost them those titles are behind them.  All the pressure is on them as the heavy favorite and they need to forget about their past failures if they want to get the monkey off their back this time around.

Tags: Analysis, Derek Fisher, Dwight Howard, Jameer Nelson, Kobe Bryant, Lamar Odom, NBA Finals, Orlando Magic, Rashard Lewis, Sasha Vujacic, Stan Van Gundy