LA Times: The poise was in purple

Mamba · Jun 12, 2009

The Lakers stayed composed. They never panicked. They never got overly excited until that last dunk.

I just think the Magic's inexperience showed.

The great thing that Derek Fisher did was stay in good shots. He really wasn't shooting the ball great throughout the series -- he was shooting just OK. But he also took good shots. When you take good shots, they even out.

I was surprised he was able to shoot the ball. I thought they would foul him. The only thing that could really beat you was the three. When he was bringing it up, you're supposed to grab him. I was surprised they let him shoot it.

But the Lakers are composed. They don't panic. Sometimes that's a little bit arrogant. They don't panic. I didn't think they would lose it.

You could see the calm before the storm, so to speak. You could see it coming.

They made the Magic do things that made Orlando uncomfortable, whereas I didn't think the Lakers were that uncomfortable all night.

The other thing I'm surprised about is that Rafer Alston didn't play late. I mean, he played so well the first three quarters. Jameer Nelson made a couple of nice passes but gave them no offense.

I've been on a team that actually came back from being down 3-1, but not under these circumstances, meaning you had to go in the other team's floor and win two. This is going to be a very interesting task, a daunting task.

I think the Lakers are a better team. I thought that from day one. I thought they were the best team in basketball. But a lot of times they are so good that things come easily and then they get complacent.

My dad used to have a saying: "It's hard to work hard when you're sleeping in silk robes." The Lakers have silk robes. They have so many weapons to come at you with, sometimes they get complacent.

But their antennas are up now. This is the NBA Finals. Orlando has knocked out one of the puppets, in LeBron James, so it knows it needs to be ready to play. The fans want to see sweeps. That's not going to happen.
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http://www.latimes.com/sports/la-sp-kenny-smith-finals12-2009jun12,0,4814263,print.story

Mamba · Jun 12, 2009

Stan Van Gundy refused to agree that experience was a factor here. He was livid when asked about it.

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LA Times: The poise was in purple

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