So his poor shooting night had nothing to do with the fact that for his career he has shot under 40%. And he has had several games these playoffs of 1 for 9 and 2 for 11 shooting when he played 35 minutes plus.

Insanity to ask him or any other Magic player why they had such lousy shooting percentages. They just came off playing a team with a less athletic vein and are now playing a team with faster more athletic members, that are and more typically will close on an open shooter and they will have to adjust to that aggressive , hand in your face type of defender. It is the type of defense that Kobe is already used to. As to being born in the USA or being an NCAA product, I think they are at an advantage when it comes to understanding that despite the shorts and the orange ball, basketball is a phyiscal sport. Don't see enough of that in foriegn ball, yet. Rafer and Dwight and the rest of them need to stop throwing their coach under the bus, it's childish.

They had a better chance of winning with SKIP TO MY LOU in hte line up than NELSON!!!!! Don't fix whatz not broken!!!!

It might be hard to believe, but bringing Nelson back will kill the team's chemistry. Look, Jameer was having a career year before he injured himself. It's downright selfish to ask the team to re-insert him into the lineup when Alston has done a fine job running the point.
Statistically, Rafer Alston is not the best floor general. He shoots poorly, he's not the best passer, but he has been consistent throughout the playoffs with one respect: his team has been winning. The Magic have had 3-4 months to adjust to life without Nelson and have done a fine job without him. To bring him back now is a very, very bad idea.
If the team really thinks Nelson is the missing link, SVG should not have him share minutes with Alston. Use Nelson as a 6th man or shooting guard. I mean, Anthony Johnson has done a fine job as a backup point guard and now he goes to third string simply because Jameer Nelson "wants to play?"
Pay attention to how Stan Van Gundy plays these three in game 2. His decision will ultimately make or break the Magic's chances of winning the championship.

yeah, alston should be the focal point in magic's rotation., nelson just came from an injury., and rafer delivers the shot when magic needed most., but too much kobe.,!!!!!! lakers in game 5... champs

wow...have you ever seen a team blame their coach for EVERY loss?
that used to be a no-no back in the day.

If there's no pouting or getting mad, why did he bring it up? Today's NBA lacks class; Bird and Magic these guys aren't

Unbiased I agree with you in principal. However, the article states that he blames "The Master of Panic" for game 1 of the finals, not of the ECF. I agree in principal, however, that you can't blame the coach for poor shooting!

Oh yeah, it's Stan!--not the fact that Anthony Johnson IS a third string point guard, or that Alston was and is a fill-in. He has done well at that, but he is not in Nelson's class. The Magic's "chances at winning" hinge on them overcoming the big men who are clogging the middle and their defense hassling Kobe.
By the way, has anybody else noticed that li'l Kobe has adopted his big brother's (Shaq)"vampire bite" scowl to show how big and baaaad he is?
So Kobe can't win without Shaq, I guess.

"Master of Panic"? A couch who's team won game 7s against Boston and the Cavs?? Come on. Saying so, especially from the world's largest free-standing whining object, doesn't make it so.

OK, That's "coach." "Couch" is where I "coach" from.

Unbiased-fan- You are insane. Cuttino Mobley is on the downside of his Carreer & should have been an off the bench player but his will desire & ability to spread the floor earned him starts in Hous, Orl & LA with the clippers. He had been to the playoffs at every stop at least once. He is not a point guard, he's a 2 guard.
Baron Davis has led the Hornets & the GS Warriors to the playoffs. He led the Warriors to a 50 win season the following year. He may not be a great shooter, but he is a winner. Anytime you can make a bad team better, you are a winner. Both players just happen to play for the Worst franchise in the league. Not their faults really, just how it worked out.
As for Rafer Alston, he is a decent player who should be a back up PG in the league. STV knmows what he is doing. The blow out was really LA just being LA. Everyone did their part & Kobe was Kobe. Sad it was a blow out, but Kobe was NOT gonna lose that game. STV had to see what Nelson, his allstar & next seasons starting PG had in the tank. Playing him sporadically wouldn't have helped him. Losing game 1 is almost always a given when you play against LA. No harm in trying something new in game one, a game you most likely wouldn't have won anyway. Rafer will be ok, he just needs to stop making excuses & be ready. Just play like he's coming off the bench. Starters complain about bench production often, but when the starters minutes are diminished, they have no clue what to do either. So shut up Raf & just play ball.

Nelson is an awesome player but Alston and Beetle Juice AKA Anthony Johnson have led them to the Finals at the point. Nelson should wait till next year for this many minutes....you don't take a guy who has been injured for 4 months and throw him in against the LAKERS in the finals.... Go Magic.... Prove everyone wrong....

Maybe he has a legitimate gripe. So does Anthony Johnson. They missed his turfness and defense. Jameer played too many minutes. It's too late to change the chemistry of the team. There's not enough time to get used to the change. They should bring Jameer in slowly. A slow steady upward climb in anything. Van Gundy just can't coach.

Remember also that Alston hit 18 and 26 for the Magic in the playoffs including some big shots. He's definately streaky. I agree you can't change his minutes like that and expect his shooting not to sufer. Come in with the same team that got you there coach. It's not all about shooting to win games. Where was A.J. He helped them win too. He shoots 3's sometimes. Ask yourself this, did the team look the same???

"If it ain't broke don't fix it."They would've lost regardless in part because of poor shooting and the Lakers "D."They did very well without Nelson,got to the Finals.It doesn't matter how bad Alston's stats are,sometime it comes down to CHEMISTRY! LAKERS N 6

That wasn't even a game. And LA really didn't even play that well. Expect another huge blowout Sunday. The Magic have one of the easiest teams in the NBA to defend against. Alston is a backup. How many teams has he been on now?
Lakers in 4 in the most lopsided NBA Finals of all time. Average margin of victory at 17 ppg.

A ponit guard first job is to run the offense. Rafer Alston does a decent job of that. If the point guard becomes open, he takes the shot. Rafer is like some many of the Magic players. He is a strek shooter. But unfortunately his streaks are less frequent than the other players. He Rafer is not on a hot streak prior to the 4th quarter, he sits on the bench, and Hedo run the offensive. Jameer Nelson is a much more consistant player than Rafer. He's a better ball handler, passer, and 3 point shooter. As long as the Magic believe Jameer is ready to play, I have no problem with playing him in the finals. That would also free up Hedo as a spot up shooter in the 4th quarter.
I do have a problem with Rafer crying to the media. I guess he will be playing next year for somebody other than the Magic.

Nelson disrupted the team chemistry that they build in the playoffs. They won without him so why bring him back now.

Didn't look like the same Jameer. Wish they would have gone with what worked, and welcomed Jameer back next season, full force.

It is not Alston's game is better than Nelson's but other players will simply lose their rhythm playing with an "unfamiliar" pg. It was very brave for the move but the result showed everything. Stop experimenting in the Finals please.

Why does Alston feel like he deserves to be the starter..... here's a hint Rafer... You are a pro ball player, you just didn't have it in game one and that's it.

The only reason it IS Van Gundy's fault is that he's related to that other Van Gundy IDIOT.

The reason Van Gundy's coaching decisions are always called into question is because he is, as Shaq stated, "A master of Panic". He doesn't have the confidence or patience to make moves in a more methodical way. Why would you change the lineup that got you all the way to the Finals? Why risk further injury to Jameer? Coming back 2 months early to play at this level of intensity is crazy. VG is putting Jameer's entire career on the line just because he's nervous. If he's not careful he'll lose Jameer for next season, lose the finals, and cement his reputation as The Master of Panic. The Magic were 2-0 against the Lakers this season !! If the Coach could grow a set of balls and place a little faith in his team, they could win the whole thing.