game 4 takeaways

first, for full disclosure, i put $50 on the magic to win the title at the beginning of the playoffs. in general, i'm a reasonable fan, one that can usually see when things should go fairly in the direction of the team other than the one i'm rooting for. that said, i've had more trouble than usual in doing so while pulling for the magic in this playoffs.

- how many times are the magic going to get burned on last second shots? of orlando's 10 losses in the playoffs so far, 5 have involved either a game-tying or game-winning shot as time ran down. and in at least one of their wins, they've had a team tie the game at the end of regulation only to win it in OT. granted, they've hit a few game-tying and winning shots too.

- hollinger wrote about this in his per diem, but why wasn't courtney lee in the game to defend what was to be the game-tying three by derek fisher. i'd say the same thing for the 91-91 possessions in OT.

- was that an offensive foul on kobe when he elbowed jameer nelson in the face as nelson came down for the double team? of course, fisher, then left wide open, hit a critical three to give the lakers the huge edge in OT. i'm really asking, because i don't know what rule applies here.

- there were a couple egregious botched calls in OT. the one where pau gasol got whistled for a foul while battling for a rebound with dwight howard (howard would eventually hit one of two free throws to tie the game at 91) probably should have been a no-call, but if a foul occurred either way, it should have been howard. also, trevor ariza coming from out-of-bounds to grab an offensive rebound (prior to fisher's OT three).

- i love the NBA and think this has been the best playoffs in recent memory. but there are some serious rule changes the league should implement (the ridiculous age-limit for one, but i'm talking about game rules here). i've mentioned that there should be halftime and post-game reviews for flops already. but please, let's do something ridiculous about the intentional fouls that take place on fast breaks and under the basket. what value does it bring to the game when you allow the defender to grab with both arms the person going up for a dunk? does anyone really want to see the free throws instead of the dunk? for that matter, why are we rewarding the defensive team for a breakdown, rather than the offensive team for executing well? in a league that fears extending the game (their argument against replay) like the bubonic plague, why do they allow these unnecessary fouls to happen?

yes, i am referring to kobe wrapping up howard on the final play of regulation. but can you disagree with the principle?

- keeping on the rules thread, it is not a foul when a little guy runs into a big guy setting a screen and gets knocked to the ground. this happens all the time. it doesn't matter if the screener is set or not, it's like there is an exception to the rules of a legal pick when the screened player gets hit too hard.

- tony battie played 12 mins yesterday, marcin gortat played 4. playing gortat and howard doesn't work perfectly on offense, as they don't get the spacing they need to run. i get that. but the only thing gortat brings to the table that battie doesn't is delusional confidence in his 18-ft jumper -- which makes me cringe every time he launches it.

in a similar vein, hedo needs to play more than 40 minutes in an OT game. you look at all the rest of the top players, and they're in the 45+ range.

- finally, a few scouting reports. jj reddick seems to be an underrated athlete and defender. his effort level is high, he's fundamentally sound, and doesn't go for ball-fakes very often. he did an impressive job in his short stints covering kobe. on the other hand, he does not appear to be as good a shooter as he's given credit for...

pau gasol is actually quite strong holding position in the post and a really good defender. howard is often unable to back him down, all of which makes his flopping -- when it gets called -- all the more ridiculous.