Disney Land vs. Disney World

So it's all comes down to this. After all the hype around the match up of the "Puppets", Superman came and "reigned" on every one's parade. After doubting the Magic in every series, they climbed to the top of the mountain and are now facing my squad in the finals. I never really considered this match up and didn't gain any respect for them until they won game 7 in Boston and later on usurped King James. Now that it's all settled, the battle that I never imagined poses some very intriguing match ups in the finals.

As I've said time and time again, my lack of respect for the Magic came from the fact that they shot so many threes. And we all know the old cliche "Live by the three, die by the three." Well so far the only ones getting murked by the long ball have been Orlando's opponents. They have one of the most well executed offenses in the league. I've rarely seen them take forced shots or launch any prayers towards the basket. Their buckets come from a carefully orchestrated offense my the seemingly mad and emotional Stan Van Gundy. Say what you want about the man, but dude can coach. He basically has them playing European style hoop with a dominant big man in the roaming the paint.

Orlando posed a lot of match up problems for Cleveland. They had no answer for Rashard Lewis, they gave up too many open threes, and Dwight Howard really didn't have to guard anyone. Those same luxuries wont be prevalent against the Lakers. Yes, Lewis is still a tough cover, but now he actually has to guard one of the best offensive weapons in the L on the other end. So while Lewis can lure Gasol out to the perimeter, Pau can punish him in the paint. Orlando did beat the Lakers 3 out of the last 4 meetings, but in two of those games Jameer Nelson was their leading scorer proving their inability to stop quicker guards from torching them. Supposedly Nelson is supposed to play in the finals, but if he does he'll be nothing more than an emotional boost. I cant imagine him playing that well after missing half of the season. (Rafer Alston can't be too excited about this)

This is going to be a very exciting finals. We get to see Kobe on a mission to get his fourth ring; the one that everyone who knows nothing about basketball feels he needs to win without Shaq. The big questions is rather his teammates are gonna show up this year to give him some help. He can only control so much. Historically, the dominant big man has taken home the ring for the last decade. With the exception of Jordan, most teams require a force in the middle to hoist the Larry O'Brien trophy. Hopefully Kobe can follow in his idols footsteps.