Don't Blame Lee - June 7, 2009

Superman to the rescue?

For those few gut wrenching moments during Hedo Turkoglu's alley-oop pass to a wide open Courtney Lee, with less than a second left in regulation in Game 2 of the NBA Finals, the Lakers looked as if they might actually be in for a series.

But Lee missed and experience proved to be too much in overtime as the Lakers won 101-96.

It was a masterful play drawn up by a great coach. But the Magic just couldn't pull the win out of the hat at the Staples Center. While that final play was one big blunder, it is all too convenient to blame Lee for the Magic's loss. C'mon! Lay off of the man! The numbers show that Lee's fumble wasn't the only thing that sent the Magic back to Orlando down 0-2.

Twenty (20) total turnovers. Turnovers never help a team. These twenty, seven of which came from Dwight Howard, seemed to have been a huge contributor in the Magic's loss. Now while Kobe Bryant also had seven, his supporting cast limited their turnovers to five.

One (1) season, or the amount of seasons Courtney Lee played in the NBA. While the rookie has been a constant contributor and an important asset in the Magic's magical run to the NBA Finals, the one flaw in Stan Van Gundy's final play seems to be that he trusted a rookie. Really Van Gundy? The kid is in Hollywood. Too many pretty women in the stands for him to concentrate - and I don't blame him! (See below).

Rihanna was among the slew of celebrities in the stands. Distract much?

Eight (8) points. We may have found Superman's kryptonite. His two PG's. While Rafer Alston and Jameer Nelson jockeyed for playing time this game, they amounted to a total of eight points this game. Its hard to say who was less effective this game, but its seems clear that Van Gundy dropped the ball on this one. Why is Nelson playing? Clearly, Van Gundy has pushed Alston to sucktown by playing the rusty guard. Now while I applaud him for his guile this game, I will never understand why he decided to mess with the team chemistry and play Nelson. Never.

Zero (0) wins. That is how many games the Orlando Magic have won in the NBA finals. Ever. Compare that to the Lakers 14 NBA championships. Hmm...

Now while I hope that the Magic will be able to alter that particular statistic and win a game, it doesn't seem likely. The Magic are a dejected bunch after this loss and despite all their mistakes, we all know that this game was more than winnable.

And, while I don't think you should put any blame on him, I guess no one knows that more than Lee.