The 2004 NBA Draft marked the biggest influx of high school entries in league history, which resulted in a series of busts, unexpected gems and troublesome stories. Five years ago, the Orlando Magic agonized over the No. 1 pick with high school product Dwight Howard competing with UConn's Emeka Okafor over Orlando's affections. Howard was a rather unknown entity with an amazing body while Okafor just led the Huskies to the NCAA title and had established himself as the most dominant force in college basketball.
Whomever the Magic passed up would land in the lap of a new NBA team, the Charlotte Bobcats. Those two players appeared to be the only sure things in this draft. It was littered with early entries, unproven players and talented youngsters who might have bolted college a year too early. And making decisions more difficult was a slew of high school players who were years away from making an impact.
We turned the 10-minute cooling off period after the Magic-Cavaliers Eastern Conference finals into a 10-hour cooling off period. But there was some mulling to be done.
Which is what the Cavs will be doing all offseason, by the way.
The Orlando Magic already finished two rounds of playoffs on the road, clinching the first in Philadelphia and the second in Boston.
They better do this one at home.
The Magic take a 3-2 lead into Game 6 of the Eastern Conference final Saturday night at Amway Arena against the top-seeded Cleveland Cavaliers, well aware that they might be pushing their road luck if they are forced into a return to Cleveland for Game 7.
"We don't want to go back and play in their arena again,'' said Magic forward Rashard Lewis. "They feed off that crowd there.''
As the NBA Universe tries to adjust to the fact that the team with the best record in the league with the best player in the league faces a 2-1 deficit that would be 3-0 were it not for The Shot Part 11,000, there are some interesting ideas being thrown around as to how the world will right itself, so to speak.
The common reaction is to look to the Cavaliers and ask, "What can they do to get back in this thing?" But instead of attempting to decipher ways to counter the Magic's matchup advantages, or rotation adjustments, or defensive gambles, instead you hear a lot of "Cleveland's shooters have to start making shots."
As if Orlando has had nothing to say about the Cavs' struggles. Just so you're aware, it's not the Fates that have ordained this slump for the No. 1 seed. It's the same principle that got the Cavs that lofty record. Defense.
For all of the Cavaliers' success this year -- both posting the league's best record and winning their first eight games of the playoffs -- the Magic have actually held their own in head-to-head matchups, winning two of three games in the regular season and seven of 10 the last three years.
Much like your 401k, though, past results do not guarantee future performance, but at least the Magic won't come into this series questioning whether they have what it takes to win a single game against the vaunted Cavs, which was exactly the situation the dysfunctional Pistons and the injury-depleted Hawks faced in the first and second rounds, respectively.
ATLANTA -- Some comparisons will last forever: Ginger or Mary Ann, Coke or Pepsi, Hertz or Avis, Rowan or Martin, Wrigley or Fenway.
LeBron or Michael.
How about LeBron AND Michael? And, no, this doesn't refer to the esteemed Mr. James and Mr. Jordan as players, especially since they reached that solar system beyond the basketball elite in different ways.
It's been five months since the Hawks last beat the Cavaliers -- their lone win in four tries in the regular season was on Dec. 13, 2008 -- but after watching the Cavs absolutely destroy the visitors from Atlanta in the first two games of the second round, it may as well be five years.
Cleveland won Thursday's game 105-85, but that doesn't even begin to convey how much they dominated the Hawks. The Cavs had a 30-point lead entering the fourth quarter, at which point Mike Brown pulled all of his starters. The Cavs improved to 6-0 in the postseason, winning every game by double-digits while holding their opponent to 90 points or fewer each time.
Cavaliers 105, Hawks 85: Recap | Box Score Cavs Lead 2-0 | Next Game: Saturday @ Atlanta, 8 PM ET
Perhaps inspired by watching a pair of road teams steal home court advantage on Monday, the Hawks came into Tuesday's game in Cleveland with no fear -- and for at least the first two quarters, the game looked like it'd probably go to whichever team got hot near the end.
Unfortunately for the Hawks, the first two quarters was all the time the Cavs needed to shake off nine days of rust, as Cleveland's modest five-point lead at halftime exploded into a 27-point lead by the final buzzer.
Cavaliers 99, Hawks 72: Recap | Box Score | Scoreboard Cavs Lead 1-0 | Next Game: Thursday @ Cleveland, 7 PM ET
A funny thing happened on the way to the game on Sunday. I left my house intending to go to the Palace of Auburn Hills, and I swear I even remember driving down I-75, exiting at Lapeer Rd. and pulling into the same parking lot I've entered dozens of times this year. Except, well, somewhere along the way, I must have took a wrong turn -- and ended up at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland.
At least, I think that's what happened, because make no mistake, the Cavaliers played a home game as they clinched their first-round series with the Pistons, complete with "M-V-P" chants every time LeBron James took a free throw and loud boos when the Pistons tried to rally late. "It was a little bit amazing, to be honest," said Mo Williams after the game. "Coming out to warm up, you hear all those Cavs fans there and it was kind of a joke going around the locker room, 'Hey man, we're at the Q!' ... I mean, I've never experienced something like that in my life."
The Pistons and Cavs have a lot of history together, which is fortunate, because that's the only thing that makes this series the least bit compelling. The Cavs finished the season as the most dominant team in the NBA, leading the league with a franchise record 66 wins and terrorizing opponents with an 8.9 point differential. The Pistons, on the other hand, posted their first losing record since 2001, winning just 18 times in their last 50 games. This could get ugly.
FanHouse fixes a decade of draft-day blunders in Revisiting the NBA Draft.
We turned the 10-minute cooling off period after the Magic-Cavaliers Eastern Conference finals into a 10-hour cooling off period. But there was some mulling to be done.
The 
As the NBA Universe tries to adjust to the fact that the team with the best record in the league with the best player in the league faces a 2-1 deficit that would be 3-0 were it not for The Shot Part 11,000, there are some interesting ideas being thrown around as to how the world will right itself, so to speak.
FanHouse previews 
ATLANTA -- Some comparisons will last forever: Ginger or Mary Ann, Coke or Pepsi, Hertz or Avis, Rowan or Martin, Wrigley or Fenway.
It's been five months since the Hawks last beat the Cavaliers -- their lone win in four tries in the regular season was on Dec. 13, 2008 -- but after watching the Cavs absolutely destroy the visitors from Atlanta in the first two games of the second round, it may as well be five years.
Perhaps inspired by watching a pair of road teams steal home court advantage on Monday, the Hawks came into Tuesday's game in Cleveland with no fear -- and for at least the first two quarters, the game looked like it'd probably go to whichever team got hot near the end. 
A funny thing happened on the way to the game on Sunday. I left my house intending to go to the Palace of Auburn Hills, and I swear I even remember driving down I-75, exiting at Lapeer Rd. and pulling into the same parking lot I've entered dozens of times this year. Except, well, somewhere along the way, I must have took a wrong turn -- and ended up at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. 
FanHouse previews the 
