Dwight Howard's Dissapearing Act

According to his post-game mea culpa, Orlando Magic Coach Stan Van Gundy cost his team Game Two of the Eastern Conference Finals by not having the right defensive scheme on the floor to guard against LeBron James' "Are you kiddin' me?" buzzer-beating trey.

Is the coach being too harsh on himself again?

Nah, he really did screw up, and Stan is man enough to admit it.

Asked what he would have done differently, Van Gundy brushed off the question.

"I'm not going there," he said. "We might find ourselves in that situation again."

Really? What could Van Gundy have done differently with his team up by two with one tick left on the clock against LeBron and his posse?

Elementary my dear Watson. 

If you have the NBA's Defensive Player of the Year who goes by the name of "Superman," and he's able to jump tall buildings in a single bound, you would have him contest LeBron's shot right?

Van Gundy must have tossed and turned in bed second guessing himself for not giving Dwight Howard an opportunity to close the deal. Van Gundy had many other options, but he chose to keep them (Gortat, Battie, and Lee) on the bench.

You could make the argument that Van Gundy and the Magic pulled a trick on themselves by making their All-Star big man disappear in the fourth quarter.

After scoring 30 in Game One, Howard mustered just 10 points Friday night as his coach and teammates forgot he existed in the final 12 minutes. No shots and few touches, if any, for D12 in the fourth. Inexcusable!

The Magic pulled the same disappearing act on Howard in losing Game Five against the Celtics during the semis. You'd think they'd learned their lesson. After losing that game against the Celtics, Howard publicly called out his coach for not making the right decisions.

No such outbursts from Superman this time. He didn't have to. Van Gundy had "oops" written all over his face during his post-game interview.

It is evident to some, Charles Barkley of Inside The NBA included (for the record, I have the Magic in six), that Orlando has the winning hand in this series. The Magic appear intent on making it harder on themselves by not playing with a full deck however.

If you have the "Ace" don't keep it hidden up your sleeve!