Orlando Gags Away Game 4, Likely the Series

Orlando's Game 4 overtime loss to the Lakers on Thursday night has to be considered one of the worst losses in recent NBA Finals history. The Magic had numerous opportunities to win the game but failed time after time and now are one loss away from elimination. Orlando's free throw woes became contagious in the 4th quarter as Turkoglu and Howard bricked numerous free throw attempts. Howard's 2 misses from the charity stripe with 10 seconds left in the 4th gave LA a chance to tie and they took advantage. Ironically Howard's missed FT's will go down as the most infamous missed FT's in NBA Finals history since Orlando's Nick Anderson missed 4 consecutive FT's down the strecth in Game 1 of the 1995 NBA Finals.

With a 12 point lead at halftime, Orlando should not have allowed the outcome of the game to hinge on some missed FT's. The Magic came out uninspired from the start of the 2nd half and quickly ceded control of the game to the Lakers who seemingly erased that halftime lead effortlessly. Watching the game on television, it appeared that there was a lack of energy in the building from the Orlando fans in the 3rd quarter and this could have contributed to the Magic's lackluster 3rd quarter play. The Magic were also hurt by the disappearance of Rashard Lewis who scored only 3 points in regulation. Lewis has been, in my opinion, Orlando's best scorer throughout the postseason and his scoring was missed throughout Game 4.

Orlando's 19 turnovers were a problem throughout Game 4. Rooting for Orlando, it was also frustrating to see the Lakers get numerous second chance opportunities on the offensive end. So many key Lakers possessions were prolonged by offensive rebounds and loose balls that eluded the Magic during broken plays and scramble situations.

Other notes from Game 4:

• Orlando's final possession of the 4th quarter with 4.6 seconds left was atrocious. With the Magic having made so many clutch shots in these situations throughout the playoffs, I had a good feeling that the Magic would win on their final shot. Alas, they struggled mightily inbounding the ball and were stuck with a panicked Mickael Pietrus forcing up a difficult shot. If you recall Denver's turnovers in similar situations in Games 1 and 3 of the Western Conference Finals, the Lakers out-of-bounds plays defense has now helped them win 3 huge games in the playoffs.
• Trevor Ariza continues to play at a surprisingly high level. Ariza shot less than 32% from the 3-point line during the regular season, yet is shooting 48.1% from behind the 3-point line during the playoffs and has made a few big shots. Ariza also has done a lot of the little things well including his defense and rebounding. Although I do want to point out that Ariza has been illegally riding, touching, and hand-checking Hedo Turkoglu all series long when Turkolgu has had the ball. While I am the first guy in the world to complain about ticky-tack fouls, Ariza has been unfairly gaining an advantage with his defensive tactics and should be whistled for the appropriate fouls.
• While Orlando's and Jameer Nelson's defense of Derek Fisher on his game-tying 3-pointer wasn't the greatest, I can still live with the Lakers having that shot. The Magic did the right thing in forcing the ball out of Kobe Bryant's hands and Fisher made a shot that wasn't as easy as it looks. In addition I did not think that this was the best time to use the strategy of fouling with a 3 point lead because the Magic had been struggling from the FT line and there was still about 6 seconds left when Fisher took that shot. Sometimes you have to live with your opponent making a difficult shot.

Random Musings

Here are a few random thoughts from the past few days in sports:

• The Penguins 4-2 victory in Game 3 of the Stanley Cup Finals last night will hopefully add some juice to the series. The NHL Playoffs had seemingly peaked a few weeks ago at the conclusion of the 2nd round with three great 7-game series and an equally entertaining 6-game series. The conference finals and the first 2 Stanley Cup Final games had been lacking drama and been somewhat anti-climatic. Game 3 was an entertaining, back and forth game and it at least gives the impression that the outcome of the series is in doubt. The Penguins netted 2 power play goals and rode their raucous home crowd to the big victory. Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby even got on the scoring sheet for the first time this series with 3 assists and 1 assist respectively. If the Pens can win Game 4 on Thursday night to tie the series, we should be headed for a quite a finish to the series.
• Mark Teixeira caused a bit of ruckus last night during the Rangers-Yankees game when he threw a hissy fit after being hit by a pitch for the 2nd time of the game by Rangers pitcher Vicente Padilla. Teixeira thought it was intentional and proceeded to stare and jaw at Padilla before finally walking to 1st base. Teixeira, noticeably agitated, then broke up a potential double play by sliding hard into shortshop Elvis Andrus. While I would usually encourage plays like that, Teixeira's slide was borderline dirty. This was now the 2nd time in the past few weeks that Teixeira had a temper tantrum. He was upset when Carlos Gomez of the Twins made contact with his arm on a couple of plays at first base. How dare anyone make contact with the immortal Mark Teixeira. Do Padilla and Gomez know that Teixeira will be making $180 million over the next 8 years? I also love Teixeira's postgame quote last night when he said "We did the talking with our bats." Not really Mark since you were talking trash at Padilla as soon as you were hit. Teixeira has quickly blended in with New York to become an easily hateable Yankee.
• The semifinals of the French Open are set with Roger Federer being the only one of tennis's Big Four remaining. Federer has now reached the semifinals in 20 consecutive grand slam tournaments which is an extraordinary achievement and one of many reasons that I believe he is the greatest player of all-time. Federer had an easier than anticipated match with Gael Monfils in the quartefinals and will play Juan Martin Del Potro in the semifinals, a guy who he has dominated in the past. Federer has won all 12 sets he has ever played against Del Potro including the 6-3, 6-0, 6-0 whipping he administered in the quarterfinals of this year's Australian Open. With the other semifinal featuring surprising Robin Soderling and Fernando Gonzalez, Federer has an excellent chance of completing the career Grand Slam and tying Sampras' career grand slam record of 14 titles. A Sunday morning championship match at Roland Garros with Roger Federer seeking history would be must-see television for even casual sports fans.
  

MLB Red Hat Disaster

I'm sure that there were many of you out there who were irritated by the red hats that were worn by all MLB teams on Memorial Day. The red hats were worn to "honor" America on Memorial Day, but all they did was make a mockery of the teams and the players wearing them. If I was MLB I would seriously consider abandoning the red hat promotion which is also scheduled for July 4th and September 11th. The person who was responsible for the idea should also be fired immediately.

The idea to dress every team in a red hat irregardless of the teams' color schemes is mindless. You don't need any fashion sense to realize that. Seeing teams like the Mets, Yankees, Orioles, etc. with clashing red hats was uncomfortable to watch. The players looked like absolute buffoons. If MLB wanted to honor veterans and fallen soldiers on Memorial Day, they should have had the teams wear understated patches or ribbons. The red hats are similar to the pink bats and arm bands worn by many players on Mother's Day to honor mothers and bring awareness to breast cancer. Just because it's for a good cause, it doesn't give MLB carte blanche to pull whatever dumb stunt they please. Many fans including myself were not able to enjoy the games as much on Memorial Day or Mother's Day because of the terrible asthetics and the fans should be respected more than this and not be subjected to disasters like this.

Ranking the NBA Finals of the 2000's

In anticipation of this year's NBA Finals, I thought it would be an opportune time to rank the NBA Finals of the 2000's from the best series to the worst series. The rankings are based on the competitiveness and entertainment value of the series.

1. 2000 - Lakers over Pacers in 6 games: This was an unheralded great series as it pitted 2 outstanding teams against each other with both teams playing at a high level. This was 1 of only 2 NBA Finals matchups of the decade that had the #1 seed from each conference. (Boston-LA 2008 was the other.) While this series did have a couple of blowouts, it is the greatness of Games 4 & 6 that earn it the #1 ranking. Indiana tied Game 4 in the final minute of regulation on a 3 pointer by Sam Perkins, but could not pull out the victory in overtime despite Shaq fouling out. Reggie Miller missed a potential game-winning 3 pointer in the final seconds and fell into a 3-1 series hole. After Indiana ran to a blowout victory in Game 5, they pushed the Lakers in Game 6 in a back and forth battle that was one of the best games that I have witnessed. The Lakers ultimately won the game and the NBA title in a well played series.

2. 2008 - Celtics over Lakers in 6 games: The Celtics and Lakers renewed their 1980's rivalry in a much anticipated series that was characterized by big leads and big comebacks. In Game 2 the Lakers cut a 24-point 4th quarter Celtics lead to 2 before Boston made plays in the final minute to seal the win for a 2-0 series lead. After winning Game 3 the Lakers looked poised to tie the series, holding a 24-point lead in the 3rd quarter of Game 4. All of a sudden the Celtics stormed back and ended up handing the Lakers a devastating loss. Game 5 also saw the Lakers run out to an early 19-point lead that was erased by Boston. The Lakers regained a 14-point lead in the 4th quarter only to see the Celtics come back to tie the score, although the Lakers persevered to win and force the series back to Boston. Boston blew the doors off the Lakers in Game 6 and the Lakers never mounted a comeback, losing meekly 131-92. Paul Pierce was tremendous in this series, displaying his great all around ability: scoring, creating for teammates, rebounding, great on-the-ball defense.

3. 2005 - Spurs over Pistons in 7 games: While this was the only series of the decade to go the full seven games, the first four games were blowout victories by the home team. Game 5 finally provided some drama with Robert Horry hitting a memorable 3-pointer in the final seconds of overtime to give the Spurs a 1-point victory. Games 6 and 7 were very entertaining affairs with the lead changing hands countless times throughout. The Spurs ultimately prevailed in Game 7 however, behind Finals MVP Tim Duncan's 25 points and Manu Ginobli's 23 points as Detroit was denied back-to-back championships.

4. 2003 - Spurs over Nets in 6 games: The Spurs and Nets played a competitive, though not particularly pretty, series. The games were low-scoring with only instance of a team reaching 100 points in a game. Tim Duncan had a great series including a dominant Game 6 effort with 22 points, 20 rebounds, 10 assists, and 8 blocks.

5. 2006 - Heat over Mavericks in 6 games: This was a decent series but it gets demerits because of the terrible officiating of the series. Miami's championship is probably the most tainted title in NBA history because of the special treatment that Dwayne Wade was given by the officials. The foul call that Wade received in the final seconds of Game 5 from Bennett Salvatore singlehandedly and unfairly took the victory away from Dallas. Keep in mind that this was only one of many questionable foul calls made throughout the series. Wade shot a staggering 97 free throws in the series. He averaged over 16 free throws per game!

6. 2004 - Pistons over Lakers in 5 games:

7. 2001 - Lakers over 76ers in 5 games:

8. 2002 - Lakers over Nets in 4 games:

9. 2007 - Spurs over Cavaliers in 4 games: This Cavs team was the worst team to make the NBA Finals in my 17 years of following the NBA.

Lakers vs. Magic - The Real Dream Matchup

After Dwight Howard and the Orlando Magic finished off Lebron and the Cavaliers in Game 6 on Saturday to win the Eastern Conference title, we heard a lot of talk about how disappointing it was for the NBA to be deprived of the Kobe-Lebron "dream" NBA Finals matchup. The television ratings will suffer, there will be far less buzz, Nike's Kobe-Lebron puppets ad campaign is ruined, yada, yada, yada. Count me among those who are sick and tired of hearing about television ratings and their relevance in sports today. Whenever we reach a championship series/game in sports today, there is inevitably a discussion of how the television ratings will be and how big or small the markets of the teams are. TV ratings are a good indicator of how many casual fans and women are tuning in and the higher the TV ratings, the higher the league's bottom line will be. The hardcore fans are hoping to see a competitive series and a high caliber of play, and they will be tuning in regardless of how "attractive" the matchup is on paper for the casual fan. The less I hear about televison ratings, the better.

As for the Lakers-Magic matchup, this appears to have the makings of a great series and in my eyes it is the real dream matchup for the NBA. On one side we have the powerful LA Lakers, with their now 30 NBA Finals appearances and their legendary coach and superstar player that many, including myself, love to hate. On the other side we have the Orlando Magic who have never won an NBA Finals game playing in a town known only for Disney World with their Mickey Mouse team name and their sweaty, overweight, "everyman" head coach. For the impartial fans the Magic are the easy team to root for and their bandwagon is filling up fast with myself included as a passenger.

On the court the Magic appear to have the talent and depth to knock off the Lakers. The Magic have been very impressive thus far in the postseason with their ability to knock down the 3 point shot at a high percentage. With contributions from Rashard Lewis, Hedo Turkoglu, Rafer Alston, Mickael Pietrus, and Courtney Lee, the Magic present matchup problems on the perimeter for a Lakers defense that has been carved up at times this postseason. Then consider Dwight Howard who really increased his scoring output against Cleveland and even shot a solid 70% from the foul line in the series. Howard is commanding double teams which is ideal for the Magic with their plethora of accurate 3 point shooters. Orlando had no trouble breaking down Cleveland's highly rated defense in the East Finals and I think Orlando's offense will continue to thrive against Los Angeles.

The Lakers advantage obviously is Kobe Bryant who despite being an arrogant, moody SOB is a tough player to defend and he has the ability to singlehandedly carry the Lakers and get them a title. Unlike Lebron and the Cavaliers, however, Kobe has an elite player alongside him in Pau Gasol. The Lakers' role players, in my opinion, are not anything to write home about. Derek Fisher is only good for hitting wide open jump shots, Bynum is too often invisible on the court, Ariza is overachieving, and I do not think highly of either Shannon Brown or Jordan Farmar.

My pick for the series is the Magic defeating the Lakers in 6 games. The Magic remind me of the 2004 Pistons with their balance, depth, and the way they have been unheralded throughout the season. Those Pistons were also underdogs in the NBA Finals and East Finals, yet pulled the upsets in both. I see the Magic doing the same.

Welcome to the Site

Welcome to The Wizard of Sports. My name is Anthony Salvaggio, aka The Wizard of Sports, and I created this blog to deliver entertaining sports commentary to passionate fans. I have been following sports closely since my early childhood and I hope to share my opinions and knowledge with others who share the same appetite for sports as me. The Wizard of Sports is the nickname that was given to me by my family and friends because of my sports trivia prowess and my ability to recall facts about games and seasons past. I have also been referred to as Rain Man (I like to think that that is intended as a compliment.) I even had the chance to showcase my abilities on ESPN's Stump the Schwab game show, but unfortunately I flamed out in the first round of the show, which is a moment I still rue to this day.

If I had to rank my favorite sports I would have to list college football and college basketball as my two clear favorites. After that, it would probably be a tie between the NHL, MLB, tennis, golf, NBA, and NFL. (Ranking my favorite sports is akin to asking someone to name their favorite son or daughter.) I also follow the Olympics and World Cup of soccer closely. The Wizard of Sports blog will cover all of these sports and will also follow some of the peripheral sports from time to time.

Once again, welcome to the site and I hope you enjoy it. I encourage you to leave comments and/or email me with feedback. My email address is NJDevils015@aol.com. Thanks for visiting.