ORLANDO -- They're as different as Yoda and Danny DeVito, the Grateful Dead and Weird Al Yankovic, a complete mismatch in wisdom and savvy and diamonds on their fingers. Just because Phil Jackson evokes the appearance of a half-asleep grandfather waiting for his Metamucil doesn't mean he isn't in complete control of his scene. And just because Stan Van Gundy is running around and howling like a crazed banshee doesn't mean he has a clue.
If the Lakers win another championship Sunday night, Game 5 of the NBA Finals might signify the end of Jackson's spiritual, never-boring adventure through coaching. Yet even as he stares down his 10th crown -- which would push him past one of his biggest critics, the late Red Auerbach, as the most decorated of all pro basketball coaches -- he keeps absorbing potshots from snipers who think he's cruising through a career as an opportunistic fraud.
Bloggers knee-jerking on the phone + roundtable style = RoundCast.
Wrapping up Game 2 of the NBA Finals, Gary Washburn and Matt Moore joined me to break down all the action. J.J. Redick's play was defended, as was Stan Van Gundy's handling of his point guard rotation this time around.
The big topic, though, was Dwight Howard, and whether or not he needs to dominate -- on both ends of the floor -- for the Magic to have a chance to get back into this series.
All that, plus we take a look into the future and see what might happen as the series shifts to Orlando. Will the Lakers pull off the sweep? Can the Magic win four out of the next five games to get the title? Give us a listen, and find out for yourself.
There isn't really a nice way to put this, so I'm just going to lay it out there: Stan Van Gundy created a real mess with the way he handled the Magic's point guards in Game 1 of the NBA Finals. And now it's on him to get it cleaned up in time for Game 2 Sunday.
The problem is, there's no easy way to do that. Between Jameer Nelson playing 23 minutes, Rafer Alston blaming his extended time on the bench for his poor shooting, and Anthony Johnson picking up a DNP-CD, Van Gundy might just have too many issues to resolve as his team prepares for round two against the Lakers.
LOS ANGELES -- It's almost a cliche the way he has embraced his every locale, living not only the dream but the time and the place. The world's most interesting man? Rather than that phony-suave goofball in the Dos Equis ads, I'll nominate Phil Jackson, who morphed from a free-love, New York hippie in the '70s to a Midwestern family guy in the '90s before migrating to California and -- what else? -- shacking up with the boss' much-younger daughter in a house by the sea.
Amid his radical lifestyle shifting, he has found time to become the gold standard of modern coaches in pro sports, now approaching his 10th NBA title in a career that looked bleak when he was coaching the minor-league Albany Patroons and driving their van on road trips. You hate to tell a legend when it's time to retire, especially when he's at the top of his game. But the perfect ending for Jackson would be to let the purple-and-gold confetti fall on his silver mane, celebrate his fourth crown in 10 years with the Lakers, appreciate his psychological work in transforming Kobe Bryant from a superbrat to an all-time maestro and depart in style as the league's ultimate coaching champion.
Bloggers knee-jerking on the phone + roundtable style = RoundCast.
A lot of things went wrong for the Orlando Magic in Game 1 of the Finals, and Matt Steinmetz and Matt Watson joined me to break them all down in this edition of the RoundCast.
We discussed Dwight Howard's single field goal, and Kobe Bryant's dominant performance, and wondered whether Stan Van Gundy will stick with a single-coverage defense on Bryant as the series goes on. But the hot topic was Jameer Nelson's 23 minutes in his first NBA game in four months -- I thought it was a mistake, while Watson and Steinmetz weren't so sure.
All that, plus our thoughts on how the rest of the series will play out, beginning with Game 2 on Sunday.
The FanHouse Podcast: Because bloggers are much sexier on the phone.
The NBA Finals start tonight and FanHouse columnist Kevin Blackistone is in Los Angeles for Game 1. Before heading to the Staples Center he talked to Will Brinson and Ryan Wilson about what the Magic will need to do to have a chance in the series (apparently, "more J.J. Redick" isn't the correct answer).
Kobe Bryant is the main story, but Kevin also discusses what this could mean for Stan Van Gundy's legacy (while also making the astute observation: "Do we really know that Stan and Jeff are brothers?").
The conversation then turned to the news that Rodney Harrison will join NBC's Football Night in America and Kevin points out that a player suspended for using HGH would never get a studio gig in baseball. We also touch on drug-testing in NASCAR, before Will wonders if Tom Glavine got a raw deal in Atlanta.
Here's a nice little mix from the NBA of some of the funnier highlights from this year's postseason press conferences. Besides the irony of LeBron James saying that "talking is what he really does," there's some good stuff from Gregg Popovich wondering if he's getting "punk'd," and Stan Van Gundy using the proceedings to ask a local high school to vote for his daughter for student council.
The real stars though are Ron Artest, Aaron Brooks (or at least his choice of attire), and Yao Ming, who in my opinion delivers the funniest line of them all as the clip comes to an end.
The Larry O'Brien itself is plenty of motivation for the participants in the 2009 Finals. But there will also be a few individual goals driving those involved.
Dwight Howard: Everyone marks Kobe as the NBA's preeminent love-him-or-hate-him player, but D-12 earns a fair amount of vitriol, whether for his lack of refinement in the post, his Shaq II free throw stroke, his alleged faux-choir boy persona or the sentiment that slam dunk stardom has rendered the D.P.O.Y. publicly overrated. Let's just say those Patrick Ewing comparisons (ahem) would disappear with a ring.
Hedo Turkoglu: Like kindred spirit Lamar Odom, Hedo will be a free agent signing his last long-term, high-dollar deal this summer. A marvelous turn which began in Game 7 against Boston could land Hedo near the top of the offseason ledger, above everyone but Carlos Boozer. Turk needs a good Finals series to keep that hope alive, though.
Besides being one member of the three-pronged announcing team that will cover every game of the NBA Finals for ABC, Jeff Van Gundy just happens to have the same last name as the head coach of the Orlando Magic.
Stan Van Gundy is Jeff's older brother, but according to the network, there's no conflict of interest -- despite the fact that Jeff has come right out and admitted that he'll be rooting for the Magic to take home the title.
ORLANDO -- They're as different as Yoda and Danny DeVito, the Grateful Dead and Weird Al Yankovic, a complete mismatch in wisdom and savvy and diamonds on their fingers. Just because Phil Jackson evokes the appearance of a half-asleep grandfather waiting for his Metamucil doesn't mean he isn't in complete control of his scene. And just because Stan Van Gundy is running around and howling like a crazed banshee doesn't mean he has a clue.
Wrapping up Game 2 of the NBA Finals, 
There isn't really a nice way to put this, so I'm just going to lay it out there: 
A lot of things went wrong for the Orlando Magic in Game 1 of the Finals, and Matt Steinmetz and Matt Watson joined me to break them all down in this edition of the RoundCast.
The 
Here's a nice little mix from the NBA of some of the funnier highlights from this year's postseason press conferences. Besides the irony of 
The Larry O'Brien itself is plenty of motivation for the participants in the 2009 Finals. But there will also be a few individual goals driving those involved.
Besides being one member of the three-pronged announcing team that will cover every game of the NBA Finals for ABC, 
