Yeah, Derek Fisher was the hero. He made two monumental three-point field goals.

But come on, the whole NBA Finals went right down the drain when Dwight Howard couldn’t get just one of two free throws to go down with 11.1 seconds to play in regulation. Or, you could even say when Hedo Turkoglu couldn’t make more than one of four free throws during a stretch late in the fourth quarter.

I have never been able to understand this stuff. I mean, none of those guys “choked” the free throws. They weren’t short or way off — they just flat missed them. Professional players. GREAT professional players. Superstars. And a guy can’t get one out of two free throws to go in.

But this is nothing new in basketball. Folks, Wilt Chamberlain couldn’t make free throws, either. Shaq obviously never could. A lot of players — particularly big players — have trouble with free throws.

It’s all hard for average people like us to understand, though. Free throws. You can teach non-athletes to make free throws. It’s just practice. Repetition. Concentration. Focus. Whatever.

Dwight Howard – just make one of them and you have the NBA Finals tied at two games apiece and anything can happen. You have the Lakers doubting themselves. You have a real shot at this thing.

But you missed them both and the whole thing is pretty much finished. Oh, you’ll win Game 5, but the Lakers won’t waste any time wrapping it up in six, as predicted. But it all could have been different.

Just a free throw. Man, just make one out of two, Dwight.

(AND A SIDEBAR: What irks me, too, is that now we’ll have to forever hear that the Magic didn’t win this series because they didn’t have the go-to player who can get his own shot on offense . . . the guy who can run that clear-out, 1-4 thing at the end of games… yeah — that’s why they didn’t win. Uh, no — don’t overthink this thing. They missed 15 FREAKING FREE THROWS to lose Game 4 and they missed a layup at the buzzer to lose Game 2.)

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Tags: Derek Fisher, Dwight Howard, Dwight Jaynes, Los Angeles Lakers, NBA Finals, Orlando Magic, Shaquille O'Neal, Wilt Chamberlain

All over the place I’m reading stories that Kobe Bryant must, for some reason, validate his place in history by winning a championship without Shaquille O’Neal around to help him. And that’s what this NBA Finals is all about.

And that is so ridiculous.

My goodness, Michael Jordan never had to win one without Scottie Pippen. Bill Russell didn’t have to win one without all those great players he had alongside him in Boston. Magic Johnson didn’t have to grab one without Kareem and Worthy.

I really don’t understand why Kobe suddenly has to win “his own” title to someone cement his legacy. Come on, folks — I don’t think MJ ever won an NBA title with a supporting cast as weak as the one Kobe has right now. I mean, this Laker team isn’t exactly Kareem, Worthy, Byron Scott and Magic, is it?

Basketball is a team game. Ask Wilt Chamberlain (well, he’s dead, but you know what I mean). Oscar Robertson, ask him. You need talented players, plural, to win titles. The NBA does all it can to make it seem as if it’s just one man on these teams. There’s way too much of that “Kobe vs. LeBron” and “Garnett vs. Howard” marketing junk going on as it is. And people actually fall for it. They think if the Lakers lose this series, it falls totally on Kobe’s shoulders.

Don’t get roped into it. It’s the Lakers vs. the Magic. Period. The great players play a big part in it, but they aren’t the whole show. Didn’t we learn anything from LeBron’s conference finals last week?

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Tags: Dwight Jaynes, Kobe Bryant, Magic Johnson, Michael Jordan, NBA championship, Oscar Robertson, Scottie Pippen, Wilt Chamberlain

I think Greg Oden is doing a good job of watching the NBA game and picking up things as he goes. But one thing that Joel Przybilla does that I wish Oden wouldn’t do is try to draw charging fouls.

I’ve never liked seven-footers flopping, anyway. I don’t remember Bill Russell, Wilt Chamberlain or even Bill Walton doing that. I think big guys would be wise to keep distance from players driving to the hoop, then block their shot — rather than attempt to take a charge.

Oden doesn’t need all that body contact. It’s how the last injury came about. Heck, more than half the time he isn’t going to get the call, anyway.

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Tags: Bill Russell, charging fouls, Dwight Jaynes, flopping, Greg Oden, Joel Przybilla, Portland Trail Blazers, Wilt Chamberlain

Hard to believe, but there is an entire generation of basketball fans growing up thinking that when you introduce a team prior to a game, you must turn off the lights in the arena, play loud music, put together an elaborate video presentation, shoot off a few fireworks and then watch as the players leap in the air and bump butts with each other, or dance around, or whatever, as they are introduced. They look like a bunch of guys who just heard they won the lottery — or a date with Tony Parker’s wife.

I’m seeing a lot of acrobatics by the players and I would suggest it’s gotten to the point when somewhere, someone is going to sprain his ankle or blow out a knee just running toward the team huddle and leaping up to bump chests, hips or rear ends with a teammate — all of that, by the way, stuff that would make you an outcast when I was a kid. And no, I’m not one of those grumpy old guys who is yelling at the grandkids, “You’re going to put your eye out with that thing,” everytime I see them running around with a carrot stick in their hand.

Hey, all I’m saying is that it makes more sense to jump around like a fool when you have something bigger to celebrate than hearing your name on a loudspeaker.

I’m not going to even suggest players should stop doing that stuff – that train left the station quite a while back. I’m here merely to point out that it hasn’t always been that way. I mean, can you imagine Bill Russell, for example, being introduced prior to the game and then skipping into the huddle like Rasheed Wallace and then leaping up and planting a big butt bump on a teammate? He’d sooner retire. Same with Wilt Chamberlain, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar or any number of other great — yet dignified — players. I crack up when I try to picture Russell jumping up and bashing butts with Bob Cousy prior to a Celtics game.

I come from the days when cool was the rule, folks. You walked out, shook a few hands. absorbed the applause and then played the game. This brings us to Greg Oden, which a lot of discussions seem to do around here. I recently heard someone saying he didn’t look too “pumped up” or “excited” about games because during the player introductions he just kind of trotted out and slapped a few hands.

God love you, Greg. Maybe it will start a trend. Save every ounce of energy for the games. Protect your body to better withstand the punishment you get every time someone passes you the ball. Be cool . . . and let the other teams win the intros.

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Tags: Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Greg Oden, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, NBA player introductions, Wilt Chamberlain