A fitting end, wasn't it?

The better team won.

I don’t think anyone can sit here today and not suggest that the Orlando Magic was by far the better team over the course of the Eastern Conference final against Cleveland.

Yes, the Cavs had the best player – except in the most important game of the series, that is – but, no, they did not get anything from anyone else and if the series didn’t underscore the indisputable fact that basketball is first and foremost a team game, I don’t know what will.

So the next time anyone asks you about this guy or that guy being able to “carry” his team or “take it to the next level” please scoff.

And so …

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About last night

Rather impressive

Say what you will about Dwight Howard’s offensive liabilities – and Lord knows his lack of finesse or touch or range is something I’ve harped on incessantly in this little space – but you cannot diminish what he did last night.

The 40 points were a career playoff high but it was more than that. It was the control he showed, no foul trouble, no emotional outbursts, nothing but a businesslike dismantling of an over-matched opponent.

Howard was at his lowest ebb after Game 5 in the Boston series, when he went public with complaints about his involvement in the offence; since then, he’s played like a man possessed and, thanks to a group of teammates who simply didn’t fold when things got tough, he’ll have the game’s biggest stage to perform on.

That’s a pretty good story.

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Shocking but …

Brian’s game story out of Orlando lauds the Magic for what they’ve done.

Brian’s game story out of Cleveland suggests the level of disappointment and sadness around the Cavs has never been higher.

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Where’d he go?

I know defeat stings and failing to meeting expectations has to hurt more than anything you can imagine to a great athlete like LeBron James but the way he handled himself at the end of the game, well, it sucks.

Blowing off the media is one thing – although it’s out of character for him, and he sure seemed to be around every other time anyone ever wanted to talk to him, after wins or losses or at halftime or pre-game.

But to not walk down the court, or even stay on the court to congratulate the Magic? That’s just wrong.

A quick handshake, maybe a quick hug, maybe a word of congratulations to Dwight Howard, a former Olympic teammate. Something.

But nothing? Nothing’s bush league and James is better than that.

I’m sure he’ll get a pass, his teammates were giving him one post-game if you believe the stuff in this story, but we shouldn’t in my opinion.

Yes, you can love his skills and we all do. But no, you cannot excuse the way he handled himself in defeat.

Maybe you do learn more about people in defeat than in victory.

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What’s the future hold?

So, there’s a suggestion that Ben Wallace is contemplating retirement, Anderson Varejao has an opt-out everyone thinks he’ll take (and suggestions he’ll want $10 million a year make me shudder in disbelief) and who knows what they’ll do with the spot currently occupied by Wally Szczerbiak.

General manager Danny Ferry resisted the urge to deal Szczerbiak’s expiring contract at the trade deadline – a decision I am dead certain he regrets at the moment – so now the pressure’s on him to find some way to retool this roster before next season.

Forget for the moment about LeBron and 2010, if the Cavs don’t make some kind of substantial move this summer, I don’t think there’s anyway this group – a year old – can repeat the regular season success it had this season.

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What about 2010?

Call me when it’s 2010. The pages and airwaves are going to be chock full of “What’s LeBron going to do” nonsense. If you want to read it, go read somewhere else, I couldn’t care less until almost a year from now.

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Here are a couple of letters from a mailbag I have to finish off this afternoon or this evening sometime:

Q: Hey Doug, just curious but does Chris Anderson's performance in the playoffs positively affect a player like Mensah-Bonsu's salary? He seems to be proving (again) how valuable energy players off the bench can be.

Matt M, Calgary

A: No, it has no bearing whatsoever on anyone other than Chris Andersen.

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Q: On a scale of 1 to 10, what do you think the odds of Kobe Bryant ending up with a new home this summer are? I know LA is having the success he "said" he wants but I have this feeling that Lebron won't be the one playing in NYC. Remember D'Antoni and him are buds.

John S, Sudbury

A: Zero. None. Nada. Zip. With a gun held to my head and I had to give a percentage, it’d be one millionth of one per cent. And even that’s a stretch.

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So, who wins? Lakers or Magic? Kobe or Dwight? Phil or Stan? The Lakers bench or the Magic subs?

I’m still not entirely sure who I like; thankfully, I’ve got a couple of days to figure it out. And once I talk to various web and paper bosses, we’ll figure out when to write what.

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Raptors?

Oh yeah the Raptors.

I fully expect news in the next 24-48 hours, specifically about coaches but I also think that now that I’ll have a day or so to work the phones, we might find out what transpired in Chicago and how they’re their draft plans are shaking out.

We are getting down to the time they need to start developing a list of candidates in order, hopefully we can shed some light on that before the finals begin.

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Now, it looks like a perfect day coming to go sit on some patio or somewhere to do the mailbag – still gladly accepting letters – while figuring out the pick for the finals and finding an inexpensive way to get to L.A.

If you see a guy in a lounge or somewhere typing, that’d be me. Come on over and say hi.

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Comments

[Ryan]

Read this blurb on ESPN.

"It happened so quickly, was done with such subtlety, that it's possible only a handful of people witnessed it. With 41 seconds left, Howard had the ball in the low post and was turning toward the basket, and Cleveland Cavaliers forward LeBron James grabbed him with both arms and wrapped him up with an intentional foul. Both players dropped their arms, and a quick low-five was discreetly exchanged -- a gesture that seemed congratulatory on James' part, conciliatory on Howard's. "

[Joe T.]

Well, Doug, I disagreed with your prediction so I must now congratulate you for picking Orlando to beat Cleveland. And hey, you got half of your picks right! But now that it's for all the marbles, I can't wait to hear your thoughts on the upcoming Finals. Me? I'm taking the Lakers in six...

And following on from your bit about what the Cavs do in the offseason, I'm curious about the Magic. I'm not familiar with their contract situations but will they be able to keep both Jameer Nelson and Rafer Alston? And if so, who starts? The All-Star or the guy who led them to the Finals?...

[Mr. Cook]

Not normally one for predictions, but here's one for the kids--and remember you read it here first.

Lakers in five.

Of course this is reductionist, but for the Magic, playing the Lakers is like playing the Cavs--where Kobe is a better big game player than LeBron--and then also having to guard everyone else on the floor. Bynum gets killed by Howard? Sure. Lakers have problems closing out on 3 point shooters every once in a while? Sure. But I cannot foresee any kind of scenario where Orlando manages to shut down all the other threats on the team and let Kobe be Kobe (a la the Cavs series) or attempting to shut down Kobe and not get torched by the rest of the Lakers team.

Also, Lakers bench over Magic bench every day of the week.

[KX]

"Their draft plans", not "They're", Doug.

Blogger's note: Already been fixed

[Rob.V]

I didnt catch Lebron walking off without so much as acknowledging any Magic players however that is THE BEST story I've heard in YEARS.

Personally, I wanted the Magic to win because I truly beleive they can beat the Lakers however what Lebron did is not unsportsmanlike... it's the way it should be.

NBA players are too lovey dovey with all their hugging and kissing before (during) and after games. It's a breath of fresh air really.

Oh, and dude! What's with all the bashing of Lebron over the past couple of days???

[DougG]

Orlando has been very impressive, especially Turkoglu and Lewis. They seem to be the kind of team the Raptors might aspire to be, a running team, that can defend and grab rebounds and where almost everyone can knock down 3 point shots. I hope BC takes a serious run at trying to sign Turkoglu this season.

[Gifting Is Legal]

Great effort by Dwight. The Lakers series should be fun with some interesting match-ups.

As for Lebron it's not my place to judge. I've made many mistakes in my life. Thank goodness they were not on stage for the world to judge. He's a good guy who had a moment which will be forgetten very soon. Such goes the fickleness of the masses.

[Harut S.]

Lucky you Doug! Since you're finals bound your travels will now exchange between LA and Orlando, ha! I guess everyone here owes you an apology for passionately doubting your pick on the Magic taking it over the Cavs... too bad the Nuggets didn't win though, Nuggets vs Magic would've been an unpredictable classic! Are you gonna live blog for all the games? Or strictly reporting?

Blogger's note: I'm doing Games 1, 2 and 6, 7 (Dave Feschuk will do Games 3, 4, 5) but the plan is to do live blogs for all games plus the usual game stuff

[David]

Just read some ridiculous report in the NY Daily news that the Raptors are possibly considering trading Bosh. Are you able to confirm that its bogus?

Blogger's note: Don't care about speculation

[Juan]

Doug
in your editorial on LeBron was there meant to be a link to another article where you wrote "the stuff in this story"?

[Kevin Huang]

According to RealGm,
Raptors have acknowledged for the first time considering trading Bosh to Chicago or Detroit?

Blogger's note: It had actually nothing to do with RealGM, which scalped a speculative piece from the New York Daily News

[aditya]

LEBRON IS A FLIRT, WEAR;S A YANKEES HAT AT THE SSEASON ENDING CONFERENCE....WOW...

[A frustrated Raptor fan]

These "the Raptors are privately considering trading Chris Bosh" rumors are completely bogus, am I right? Now why would anyone make up such a rumor the day before Chris Bosh's "big announcement" grr

[A frustrated Raptor fan]

Even if these rumors were true, Chris Bosh for a Boozer or Luol Deng package, are they serious? The Raptor's would covet a much better player if the decided to put CB4 on the market, they guys are idiots. And by these guys I mean Mitch Lawrence of The NY Daily News, the grunt who reported this story in the first place.

[Eric]

I still think that Lebron's supporting cast is not nearly as bad as some claim. I think it has far more to do with Lebron than it does his teammates.

In this league, players like Lebron or Kobe make a lot of their teammates look decent with their spectacular play, but rarely allow any of them the space to look like stars. People complain about how Lebron doesn't have a star to play with but they've been complaining about that every year, in the wake of new off-season additions every year. They even make that complaint in Los Angeles after bad games with Kobe! STILL!

I think this issue has more to do with the stars than the teammates. I can't imagine Lebron (or Kobe) not dominating the ball on every possession at this stage in his career. As such, I can't imagine it's easy to groom his teammates into stars like that. The end result is the same every year: a supporting cast with many, many 'decent' players but no stand-outs.

[aditya]

Frank (Mass.): What was your Finals prediction heading into the playoff? Who you picking now?

SportsNation Ryan Hollins: (3:19 PM ET ) My finals prediction was L.A. and Cleveland. That was a toss-up. I would have given it to L.A. because of Kobe and Bynum coming back from injury.

LOVELY, RYAN HOLLINS DID NOT THINK DALLAS COULD HAVE BEEN IN THE FINALS HEADING INTO THE PLAYOFFS...he pulled a t-mac there who also picked other teams (and not his own rockets) in the finals....

[Pete]

What's Bosh's announcement? Extension? Leaving?

Blogger's note: Can't imagine it's going to be either because (a) he can't sign an extension until July and (b) he can't leave until 2010. But keep waiting.

[montreal raptors fan]

Doug ,

In an interview Bargnani had with the Gazzetta dello Sport about a week ago , he said that he was practicing twice a day in Treviso with the trainer he had when still playing there.

The practices with the national team do not start until July as the italian league is still in the semi finals of the play-offs.

By the way , he also said the Jay Triano had gained the full respect of the players and they all wanted him as the head coach of the Raptors.