Dwight - Beast or No Beast?

Well tomorrow is the big day in Hoopennium history. It's the day which we really attack this thing and get things in motion more than they already are. I'm excited but nervous at the same time, hopefully things begin to carry the way they should. Now let's talk a little NBA..

I must say I am pretty surprised the Cavs bowed out as easily they did, but looking at the series they had with the Magic, I guess it was pretty clear that the Magic was the better team and deserved to win the series. I predicted on my twitter before Game 6 that the Magic would win behind 20 and 15 from Dwight and boy did I underestimate Dwight. Instead he finished with 40 points in just a truly dominating performance. The Magic really present some defensive dilemmas for any opposing teams. Double Dwight and now your leaving three to play four and are vulnerable to giving up rotation threes. Leave Dwight alone and single covered and well..he's going to score 40. Especially with Big Z or Anderson Varejao guarding him.

Here's where the NBA and the media is an interesting thing. The series before you had Kendrick Perkins doing more than an adequate job on Dwight, pushing him away from the basket, and forcing Dwight to try and score on moves going away from the hoop, ala running hooks. Somewhere in the middle of that series it was deemed by most that Dwight had no post game and was at times a detriment to his team when he got a touch in the low post. I remember reading something during the Sixers series in which someone was making the case that the Magic were actually better off with Gortat in the lineup. Now fast forward to Game 6 and Howard goes off for 40 points and now he is talked about as being dominant in the low blocks. If nothing else its an interesting argument.

How does all this factor into the finals matchup with the Lakers? Well lets look at the players that will potentially be covering Howard and how they matchup: Dwights measurables courtesy of ESPN.com. (Dwight Howard player page) 6-11, 265. Playoff Averages 18 games, 21.7 ppg, 15.4 rpg, 2.2 bpg.

Andrew Bynum - 7-0, 285. Playoff Averages 18 games, 16.9 mpg, 6.3 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 1.0 bpg. Sounds weird saying it, but Bynum may be the key to things for the Lakers, at least on the defensive side of the ball. The key to defending the Magic is staying home on their shooters and single covering Dwight, but as we saw in Game 6, when he is physically superior to his opponent he is just too overpowering to stop. Bynum though presents the combination of girth (similiar to Perkins who held Dwight to 16 ppg in that series) to push Dwight away from the hoop just a littler further before his first touch. He also then has the height and length to contest Dwights hooks, providing he has the lateral quickness to stay in front of him. I think it is interesting how the Lakers fans perception was that the difference between this years playoffs and last years playoffs was that this year they were going to have the services of Bynum. Then the playoffs started and Bynum found his minutes diminishing and his confidence shrinking, only to now be thrust back into things and considered a major piece. Bynum is going to get his fair shot here in this series to prove his true worth. While Howard has firmly established himself as the best young center in the game, and probably best center in general in the game, Bynum has a real shot to establish himself as a playoff performer in this series.

Pau Gasol - 7-0, 250 lbs. Playoff averages 18 games, 39.9 mpg, 18.2 ppg, 11.3 rpg, 2.0 bpg. Gasol is going to be an interesting matchup playing Howard. While he certainly has the length and lateral ability to give Howard some trouble, he certainly lacks the power to bump Dwight off his spots and disrupt him that way. Also Gasol is not known as much of a "banger" and his toughness will once again come into question here. Now assuming the Magic start Alston, Pietrus(Who I think will get the start of C. Lee, to cover Kobe), Turk, Lewis, Howard, question is how do the Lakers counter? Do they counter with a lineup of, Fisher, Kobe, Ariza, Gasol, Bynum? With that five you have Fish on Alston, Kobe on Pietrus, Bynum on Howard, but then what do you do with Gasol and Ariza? Either way you go you're going to have Gasol in an un-favorable matchup covering a perimeter player. Or if your Phil Jackson do you start Odom instead of Bynum and then allow Gasol to play behind Howard where he's at risk to get into early foul trouble? Some interesting choices lie ahead.

DJ Mbenga - 7-0, 255 lbs. Playoff Averages 4 games, 2.5 mpg, 0.5 ppg, o.5 rpg, .25 bpg. While Mbenga certainly hasn't played much at all this playoffs or regular season for that matter, Mbenga has one basic thing going for him which provides him with some value...6 personal fouls. I hate to downgrade a professional basketball player to just 6 personal fouls, but let's be honest, thats all Mbenga has going for him (Does anyone remember Elden Campbell in the Lakers/Pistons final in 2004?) Now I am not suggesting that Mbenga will play much in this series either, but the one notion about covering Dwight is to wrap him up and make him earn his points at the line, though Howard is shooting .647 from the foul line in the playoffs and came off 70 percent shooting from the line in the Cleveland series in which he was sent to the line 67 times, the most in his three playoff series. I still agree with when the time presents itself to have Mbenga go in there, bang Dwight, and then wrap him up and see if he can continue his hot shooting. Now the Lakers need to do a better job than Cleveland did of fouling and not allowing Howard to get the ball above his head when from there he can still finish the shot, and attempt to score 3 points, as opposed to fouling him and him scoring either 0, 1, or 2 points.

In true man to man situations these are the players on the Lakers roster who are best equipped to play Howard. In a pinch I suppose you could play Odom sparingly on him, but I just worry about the other 4 players on the court for the Lakers if that was the case. Also keep in mind that the Lakers play that sort of hybrid man/zone defense in which they send another defender (usually a big) to the ball side and then zone up the weakside, however, that is used more in wing isolations which the Magic do not do so much.

Should make for an interesting series full of adjustments, but the I think the Lakers are little thin in front line depth, so it would be in the Magic's best interest to go into Dwight early and often, putting the pressure on Gasol/Bynum to play Howard without fouling him.

One other quick thought about Lebron James. I'm pretty surprised there hasn't been much backlash for his actions after Game 6, and if there has been, I haven't seen the articles so please send them. Now I can understand not shaking hands, and while I don't agree and think it makes you look a little immature, I understand it. I don't understand though how he did not face the media. Facing the media is a part of being a professional and should be done when things are good or bad. I think he owed it to his fans or witnesses to be accountable for the series. I also think its interesting and is a topic to discuss in more detail maybe further in media perception. Now what is the general attitude of anyone involved if Kobe Bryant did the same thing? I'll tell you..Kobe would be villified. How about Michael Jordan? MJ would probably be praised for being an ultimate competitor. So its interesting the way the same action can be spun in three different directions. If I had one tip for the Cavs though and Mike Brown (if he keeps his job, COY and canned in the same year?) it would be this: Next year, when breaking your huddles, mutter this phrase...All Business on three, 1, 2, 3..All business!! I think the Cavs and LeBron in particular need to take a little more of a "business like" approach to the season, and a little less pre-game posing and gametime posing after big plays. Here's the thing Lebron, we get it. You're an amazing physical specimen, with gifts given to you that no other basketball player has ever had. You have the combination of size, strength, athleticism and basketball skill that is basically unheard of. We get it. In Game 1 Lebron had this stretch in the second quarter of three plays: an open court monster dunk, then he came down on defense and stuffed Dwight Howard on a weak side block in which he fell over, the Cavs brought the ball up the court and then hit James who was trailing the play for a knockdown three in which basically tore the roof off the building. James then after the ensuing Magic timeout was walking along the sideline hamming it up for the crowd. Oh yeah, the Cavs lost Game 1, and the series. Like I said, we get it Lebron. Next year I'd like to see more of a "we've been here before approach" and less of a "I'm the best in the world and I'm going to show off like I am approach".