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The playoffs are over, finally. And for Magic Nation, this has been the longest post-season... Ever. Taking the Lakers to 5 games in the Finals is one better than the 95 team did, so hooray for that. We've learned a lot about basketball, our players, our coaches, our fans, our city, not to mention the NBA, officiating, LeBron, Kobe, and Tiger. Even though it all just ended last night, we've thought a bit, and come up with 40 Things We Learned in 40 Nights.
1. I am almost glad the Magic didn't win The Finals, because if they did, then I would have had to deal with Stuart Scott standing up there with our players. It baffles me how that guy stays employed.
2. Kevin Garnett deserves zero respect. I have never seen someone act so childish, silly, unprofessional, stupid, unclassy, immature, and dumb as this guy during the second round. Boston fans should be embarrassed.
3. It's nice when the whole town gets behind your team. Driving through town and seeing bumper stickers, car flags, signs on businesses, billboards, massive banners on the side of skyscrapers, t-shirts, hats and all sorts of other Magic gear is rewarding. It's the since of a shared goal - a shard purpose - that people can collectively root for our guys.
4. If you don't watch in HD, Courtney Lee looks a lot like Rip Hamilton.
5. LeBron knows how to make a fool out of himself.
6. Rajon Rondo is dirty.
7. Reggie Miller makes a human being's ears bleed.
8. Pau Gasol is an absolutely fantastic big man
9. I always thought Trevor Ariza and 3 pointer would be an oxymoron.
10. Words cannot describe how much I enjoyed the Marc Jackson experience including my personal favorite hand down man down.
11. Lebron James needs a big man like Shaq to guard Dwight
12. I am pretty sure that Maurice Williams has moved out of the guarantee business. Really, this guy proved that 1) He is an average player without LeBron beside him 2) He really doesn't know when to be quiet, and 3) The coaches were right for leaving him off the All-Star team.
13. Delonte West needs Carmex.
14. One of my 3 year old daughters was able to point at SportsCenter and say daddy there is your team.
15. Andre Miller was right. This team is much better without Dwight!
16. I really do not think Rafer Alston is going to be comfortable backing up Jameer. Skip was a good filler, and Orlando doesn't make it to the Finals with a PG slot filled with Anthony Johnson and Tyrone Lue, but it would have been interesting to see this team with a Jameer Nelson playing up to form.
17. Bandwagon fans are funny/annoying/necessary in any playoff run. I mean even my mom was watching and rooting for the Magic. But their money is good.
18. Stan Van Gundy is an excellent coach. He might not have a nice voice, he might sound like he is panicking a lot, but hey that's just his tone of voice. He even made a few decisions during the Finals, and these playoffs, that could be second guessed. However, there is no way this team makes it as far as it did with out SVG.
19. On that note, Stan Van Gundy will never get sponsored/dressed by the Men's Warehouse. It just won't happen.
20. Ticketmaster and the NBA suck at playoffs/finals ticket sales. 1,000 tickets for sale to the public? I mean really only 1,000. Jesus why did I even try.
21. Only superstar shooting guards and small forwards get "star" calls in the playoffs. If you are a "Super Star" SG or SF, just lower your head, go to the basket, and throw your hands up in the air. You will get the call
22. You don't always have to end a season with "We are x number of pieces from a championship."
23. Regardless of how ready a player may think he is, 4 months off is too much rust to shake off for a 7 game series.
24. I still like Trevor Ariza.....dammit.
25. "Fans" should be required to at least visit the city of the team the choose to cheer for...I'm talking to you Mr Lebron James jersey in section 226 row Q.
26. Star Big Man will get offensive fouls called almost every time. They can get hit, hold, slapped, raped, pulled and anything on the court, and nothing happens.
27. The Closer, Raising the Bar, HawthoRNe, House of Pain and Meet the Browns are all about to start season's on TNT or TBS...apparently TNT knows drama, while TBS is very funny.
28. Charles Barkley was the smartest commentator/analyst on TNT. Charles Barkley. Think about that one for a second, let it sink in. Scary right?
29. The national media doesn't care about any team not named Lakers, Celtics or LeBrons. It will be interesting to see how the Magic will be treated next year.
30. Dwight Howard has now been more successful than Lebron James in the Finals.
31. Dwight Howard has done more things at his age than Shaq did as a Magic player. And speaking of Shaq, the guy is funny and entertaining, but it's obvious that he is trying so hard to stay in the spotlight now that his game isn't enough.
32. Eddie House has lice. Rafer was just being helpful.
33. Joey Crawford needs hugs. Speaking of officiating, it was horrible. You can make an argument for one call here and there that should have gone one way or the other, and that's fine. But the important thing here is there was ZERO consistency. If only the officials called it the same way from game to game, much less from quarter to quarter, it would be much easier for players, coaches, and fans to adjust.
34. Kobe wanted it. Really bad. (Insert tasteless "She wanted it. Really bad." / Kobe sexual misconduct joke here)
35. People will chant "MVP" for a player even though the award has already been won by a different player.
36. Jeremy Richardson wears suits
37. JVG & SVG are 2 of the most entertaining people on the planet.
38. Courtney Lee is not afraid to do the dirty work. From the Philly series, and even after his miss in Game 2 against LA, it is obvious that Otis made the right choice when selecting the shooting guard from Western Kentucky in last years draft. The Kid can play ball.
39. The Puns are a little less boring when your team makes the NBA Finals.
40. And finally, number 40... The NBA playoffs are about 15 days too long.
Since we had so much fun coming up with this list we decided to reward the dozens of Puns followers with ten more leftover thoughts...
41. Half the media credentials went to people who have no business being there, have no connection to either team, and didn't even bother to make it out behind the media/tunnel area.
42. Magic fans in the general vicinity of the ESPN studio setup are more concerned with getting Magic Johnson's attention than with watching their team play.
43. With the exception of the previously mentioned Johnson, ESPN has managed to assemble the absolute worst studio team in the history of broadcast sports. That is not an exaggeration and it is beyond debate.
44. Despite losing in the Finals, the Orlando Magic showed that you can win and excell in the playoffs with an unconventional offensive scheme.
45. Chauncey Billups is a top-3 point guard.
46. The 2009 NBA Playoffs demonstrated that, yet again, the referees have way, WAY too much influence on the outcome of games. I don't have a solution to the problem, but everyone can see it.
47. With the exception of the solid core, the Orlando Magic fanbase has some strides to make before it can be deserving of the great, great team it gets to cheer for right now.
48. Kevin Garnett and Shaquille O'Neal may be great players and champions, but they are petty, petty people who seem to only have one positive quality about them: being tall.
49. The ability to stand at a line 15-feet from the basket and consistently put the ball in the net is extremely underrated. Magic fans are becoming more and more aware of this fact.
50. As fun as this season was, and as much as the Orlando Magic accomplished, I learned that this team is dedicated and hungry enough that next season could be even more special. I'll back it up with this: Game 1 of the Eastern Conference Finals will be played in the O-Rena. I won't go any further than that and I'll leave it to you, loyal Punny, to decipher what that means.
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