It is my hope that the fans of the National Basketball Association will still tune in to watch the NBA Finals. The league did not get their most desired Kobe-LeBron showdown, but they did get the two best teams in Los Angeles and Orlando. In my opinion, it should be one heck of a series.
Both teams are loaded with offensive weapons and both tend to concentrate on basketball plays rather than the goon tactics that can sometimes dominate the postseason. Not that we won’t see the occasional elbow (thank you, Dwight Howard) or dust-up in the heat of championship competition, but the Lakers and the Magic can both be best described as finesse teams that concentrate more on putting the ball in the basket than putting their opponents on the floor. This should make for some entertaining hoops.
Kobe Bryant is back to try to prove that he can lead his own team to a championship, so he has much to play for. The Lakers are a little tougher and battled-tested than the one that got slapped silly by the Boston Celtics last year in six games. They will enter the Finals as the favorites, but they could struggle if Pao Gasol and Lamar Odom turn back into shrinking violets like they did in the ’08 Finals. What they did against Denver in the last two games of the Western Conference Finals makes the Lake Show truly formidable.
Meanwhile, the Magic would love nothing better than to shut down the other half of the Nike-sponsored LeBron-Kobe puppet show.
I’m enjoying Dwight Howard’s emergence in the postseason because it brings the classic big man back into the focus. With Shaq and my man Tim Duncan getting older, the dominant big man was becoming an endangered species as more big men tend to want to act like small forwards (sigh). I’m still old-school. I love the big guys. You still win championships playing inside-out and that is what Orlando does with young Dwight in the middle. And just think, he’s only 23 and he’s not even close to reaching his peak as a player. The Magic brass has surrounded Howard with a band of 3-point marksmen. They remind me of Houston’s championship teams of the mid-1990’s with Hakeem Olajuwon.
I am hoping for a seven-game series. I’m also watching the two big Euros very closely in this one. Pao Gasol of LA and Hedo Tukuglo of Orlando have been big in the playoffs. However, which big European softie is going to man up and become a true force in the finals? That could really determine who wins this thing. I’m also anxious to see if Andrew Bynum is up to the challenge of dealing the Dwight Howard. Superman is no playmate.
I’ll take the Lakers in seven entertaining games.
Ole Ms.
Former Central Visual & Performing Arts track standout LaJada Baldwin continued her collegiate excellence by winning the 400-meter dash at last weekend’s NCAA Mideast Regional in Louisville. A sophomore at the University of Mississippi, Baldwin won the race in a stadium-record time of 51.99 seconds. She also anchored the Ole Miss 4×400-meter relay team to a fourth-place finish. Baldwin is also the Southeastern Conference champion in the 400. She will compete in the upcoming NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, which will be held from June 10-13 in Fayetteville, Ark.
Monai to Maryville
McCluer South-Berkeley girls basketball standout Monai Douglass recently signed a letter of intent to attend Northwest Missouri State University in Maryville. The 5’7” Douglass was a four-year starter for the Bulldogs. As a junior, she helped Berkeley to a third-place finish in the Class 4 state tournament. As a senior, Douglass averaged 10 points, 2.5 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. She is the daughter of former McKinley High and Saint Louis University star Monroe Douglass.
River City Hoop School
A couple of fine young graduates of Cardinal Ritter College Prep are putting on a basketball came, presented by the River City Hoops organization. The “River City Hoop School” will be held for youths between grades three and 10. Sessions will be held from June 15-19 and Aug. 3-7 at Cardinal Ritter (701 N. Spring Ave.). The camp directors are Brian Brown and Jaime Price. The campers will also get expert instruction from former area basketball standouts such as Chris Carrawell, Justin Tatum and Randal Falker. The cost for each camper is $99 for one session and $175 for both session. For more information and to register, you can go on-line at www.rc-hoops.com or call Brian Brown at (314) 825-0280 or Jaime Price at (314) 960-0265.
(You can follow Earl Austin Jr.’s blog at stlouisbasketball.com. Earl will appear at Not Just a Book Store, 5892 Delmar Blvd., on Saturday, June 27 for a book signing featuring his book, “The PHL in the STL”).