Magic over and out

Before the NBA season began, not too many soothsayers picked the Los Angeles Lakers to win the championship. The Sporting News chose Boston over LA in the Finals. Athlon Sports saw it New Orleans over Boston. Sports Illustrated predicted San Antonio over Boston. Slam Magazine went out on a limb and had it LA over Boston.

In this column last Nov. 28, I chose the Lakers over Cleveland.

As it turned out, Orlando – not Cleveland – went to the Finals against the Lakers and in that match-up, I predicted LA to win in five (column last June 2). Five is an ungainly number and a tough call because under the Finals format of 2-3-2, winning in five means not returning to where the series started. I figured if the Lakers took Game 1, the Magic would be severely tested in a must-win Game 2 as it’s extremely difficult to win three in a row against LA even at home.

The conservative forecast was Lakers in six. Even President Obama thought so. Oddsmakers didn’t give Orlando much of a chance.

When the Lakers swept Games 1 and 2, I knew it would be over in five, particularly if LA won either Games 3 or 4. A 3-1 Lakers lead would put too much pressure on Orlando and the Magic isn’t mentally tough enough to come back to win three straight, including two at the Staples Center. That’s exactly what happened in Game 5 yesterday morning (Manila time) as when the Lakers overturned a four-point deficit to lead by 12 at 52-40 in the second period behind a 16-0 blast, Orlando expectedly lost its Magic.

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Despite Alonzo Mourning’s irreverent analysis that Kobe Bryant makes coach Phil Jackson redundant, there was no doubt the Zen Master was in complete control of the Finals. It wasn’t as if the Lakers were on auto-pilot. Jackson spelled the difference which became more evident with Orlando’s Stan Van Gundy’s inability to adjust and coach out of a box. Jackson had timely subs, knew when to hold back his starters and mercilessly attacked the mismatches that his combinations created on the floor.

This isn’t to underestimate Bryant’s impact on the court as the leader and even off the court. There were times that Bryant actually took over from Jackson at the sidelines, particularly during the Denver series, and it was tolerated by the man known as the boyfriend of the team owner’s daughter who happens to be the Lakers executive vice president for business operations.

Jackson knew when to step back and give Bryant his space. He wasn’t insecure about it. Bryant is the Michael Jordan of this era and Jackson won’t dispute the argument that a player of his caliber must be given his freedom or license to go with the flow.

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Jackson was the key to it all and proved his mastery by claiming his 10th NBA crown, the most ever by a coach in history. It would’ve been a nice gesture for Jackson to acknowledge that he couldn’t have achieved the feat if not for Tex Winter’s guidance. Winter was at Jackson’s side through six titles in Chicago and three in LA Now 87, Winter suffered a stroke last April and is undergoing rehab.

This season, Winter spent two weeks of the month with the Lakers as consultant but his presence resonated throughout the season, including the Finals. Bryant himself said Winter played a big role in his early development.

“He’s a basketball purist who wanted the game to be played the right way all the time,” said Bryant. “When I first got here (in LA), he and I used to do individual film sessions pretty much every day and just watch the whole game from start to finish and he would just share his knowledge with me.”

In the Finals, the Lakers still used Winter’s triangle although because of the Magic’s inability to defend, they ran more pick-and-rolls with Bryant and Pau Gasol than usual.

Tomorrow, we talk about Bryant’s future as a playing coach – a way to break out of Jordan’s shadow – and the 10 factors that decided the Finals.