NOTES ON THE FINALS

Orlando Magic’s 108-104 game three victory over the Los Angeles Lakers finally snapped their six-game losing spell in the NBA finals, which dates back to the 1995 finals when they were swept by the Houston Rockets. Shaquille O'Neal, Penny Hardaway and Nick Anderson were then the Magic main men

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Rafer Alston and Mickael Pietrus were the big stars in Orlando’s game three win. Magic coach Stan Van Gundy finally stick it out with Alston than playing more minutes with the comebacking Jameer Nelson. Alston pumped in 20 big points in 36 minutes of action as he anchored the backcourt for the Disneyworld outfit. Pietrus scored 18 points highlighted by numerous slams that made the crowd at the Amway arena bursting with excitement. Both Alston and Pietrus contributed in the endgame that broke the back of the Lakers.

It’s nice to see Pietrus finally comes out of his shell with the Magic after languishing behind the shadows of his more illustrious teammates in Golden State. And what a perfect time to unleash his might considering that it is the finals.

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There’s nobody to blame but Kobe Bryant himself in absorbing the game three defeat for the lala boys. KB24 missed a free throw and committed a turn over in the last two minutes which sealed the doom for the Lakers.

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Mico Halili and veteran analyst Andy Jao is the new tandem covering the NBA finals for Solar Sports. They started covering the games live for Philippine TV over C/S-9 during game three. Perennial NBA finals analyst Quinito Henson begged off this time due to a scheduled eye treatment. This is Halili’s first time to cover the NBA finals while it’s the third time around for “Doctor J’ Jao, who also covered the 1997 and 1998 NBA finals between the Chicago Bulls and the Utah Jazz with Henson.

By the way, another Solar Sports TV analyst Jason Webb is also covering the NBA finals live for Basketball TV (BTV) website wherein he writes his NBA diary alongside Halili .

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It’s great to hear that NBA legend Paul Westphal is back in the coaching world of the NBA. According to reports, he had agreed in principle to handle the Sacramento Kings starting the 2009-2010 season.

The ex-University of Southern California hotshot played 12 seasons in the pro league and had seen action with the Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns, Seattle Supersonics and the New York Knicks. He finished his career with a scoring average of 15.6 ppg in 823 outings.

Previously, Westphal also had coaching stints with the Suns and the Sonics and an overall record of 267-159 win-loss slate in 426 games.

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Again, this maybe late but I would like to extend my condolences to the family of the original “Iron Man” of the NBA, Randy Smith. The 60-year old Smith succumbed to a heart attack at the age of 60.

I grew up watching Smith play for the Buffalo Braves in the 1970s and among his unforgettable game was during an all-star outing wherein he scored on back-to-back halfcourt heaves beating the buzzer in the first and second period, respectively.

Smith saw action in 12 NBA seasons for the Braves, San Diego Clippers, Cleveland Cavaliers, Knicks and the Atlanta Hawks. He posted an average of 16.7 ppg in 976 games overall. He was drafted by the Braves in the 2nd round of the 1971 rookie draft.

Farewell, Mr. Iron Man.