Worrying about life reduces your ability to live it. Concern may be necessary to determine what path one must take to conquer worlds, but too much is only cause for more concern and has no benefit. Unfortunately, it seems that falling into this concern is self-perpetuating. Being a better person requires energy and strength that one must dig incredibly deep to uncover. At an earlier stage in life it is often much closer to the surface, but with age comes tragedy, and that courage and strength can wither, disappear, and consume itself so that a new and deeper reserve must be found. Among every person's everyday life is the necessity to improve their own situation on an everyday basis. The motivation to do such is found in the process of mining one's strength and courage; it becomes easier to improve a life with more courage and strength. Likewise, it becomes easier to find the well with a better life. In this sense, it is also self-perpetuating. However, it requires energy and effort that the more negative tailspin does not. The ability to search one's soul and find motivation may or may not be in everyone; it is not clear. Whether it is a part of one's DNA, one's destiny, or is a power that can be found only in spirit, only attempting to do so can find each person their own answer.

Lakers vs. Magic Finals Preview

It may seem odd that I start to write a Finals preview in a year in which my team made an exit before the Conference Finals, especially since one of the teams playing is my team's rival while the other team caused the exit. However, I have become more involved with the NBA than ever following the impressive title defense of my Boston Celtics. This has been a tumultuous season and playoffs full of ups and downs for many teams, mine included, and I hope that the Finals live up to a very exciting playoffs. 

This season's finale will feature a battle between the NBA purebred Lakers, featuring Kobe Bryant, and the newly determined and focused Magic, featuring the freak of a center, Howard. The Lakers lost an embarrasing Finals last year to my Celtics, while the Magic suffered and even more embarrasing defeat last year to the Detroit Pistons after leading the series 3 games to 1.

There are a number of different factors of basketball that affect the game. It can be impossible to determine which are most important to the game which is why it is so difficult to determine a winner in advance. However, it can be revealing to look at each team individually and observe Even if no team ever holds an advantage in every category it may be possible to determine a favorite with this method. I've determined that these ten attrubuts are most important; others may disagree. However, given these attributes, I have attempted to determine a favorite.

-Defense: Magic

The Magic were this year's #1 defense thanks to Garnett's injury. There is no comparison here. The Magic have not been quite as dominant in the postseason, but have played well enough. The Lakers cannot match the shotblocking of Howard, and apart from Ariza and Kobe in stretches, are sub-par defenders on the perimeter.

-Depth: Lakers

This is a blowout. The Lakers bring Odom, a sure starter on almost any team, off the bench. The Lakers bench must outplay Orlando's in this series to avoid an upset.

-Shooting: Magic

This one was really tough. The Lakers are a pretty good shooting team, but the Magic's 3's win this one. Look for the Magic to play outside a little more even in this series.

-Versatility: Lakers

The Magic's Lewis and Turkoglu are nightmares for teams with their unique combination of size and skill. However, the Lakers are even worse. Bryant is too big and strong for smaller guards while being too fast and quick for forwards. Odom's size negates the size of Lewis. Odom is capable of defending Lewis, while Lewis will have a tougher time with Odom inside. Pau Gasol, likewise, can play much further out than most big men and can stretch Howard from the basket.

-Fatigue: Lakers

The Lakers have played decently long series throughout and have had physical battles all the way. However, they have an advantage over Orlando. The Lakers did play tough series against Houston and Denver, but Orlando has had it even worse. They played a tough series against Philadelphia in the first round. They followed this with a seven game series against Boston. Perkins' strength kept Howard working hard and the rest of the Celtics tired out Orlando's perimeter players. They then played a six game series against Cleveland in which they had to guard the most dominant athlete in sports today. After watching Pierce guard Lebron successfully last year, I know how tiring that can be. Also, Kobe took it easy during the regular season in order to save something for the postseason. He similarly picked his spots in the playoffs and distributed to save energy.

-Teamwork: Magic

The Lakers are a strange team. Sometimes they work well together, but it is still Kobe's team whenever he wants. The Magic do a much better job of distributing the ball. They take a lot of threes while sprinkling in enough touches for Howard. The Magic get the nod in this category.

-Experience: Lakers

The Lakers are more experienced at almost every position. They also went to the Finals last year while the Magic were sitting at home.

-Speed: Lakers

The Magic are a fast team. Howard is one of the fastest centers in the game which makes him a nightmare in transition. Alston is faster than Fisher, but the rest of Los Angeles' guards are faster than he is. Pietrus is a great athlete. However, the Lakers hold the edge. Odom is fast for his size, as is Gasol, which will negate some of Howard's advantage over most teams. Bryant is likewise very speedy, and Ariza is much faster than Turkoglu.

-Strength: Magic

This one took some thought, but the mental edge I believe the Magic have in this category gets the nod. Howard's strength inside is unmatched by the Lakers and the size of Turkoglu is hard to ignore.

-Height: Lakers

The Magic are a pretty big team. Lewis is really a 6'9" small forward. Turkoglu plays point at times and is 6'8". However, the Lakers are bigger. Bryant is 6'6", Ariza is 6'7", Odom is 6'10", and the Lakers round out with two 7 footers in Gasol and Bynum. The Lakers get the nod.

The Lakers hold an advantage in 6 categories compared to 4 by the Magic. However, this is not the whole story. Sometimes matchups determine a series.

-Point guard: Magic

Alston and Johnson have an advantage over the Lakers 3. Fisher is too slow to guard Alston and hasn't played well offensively. Alston and Johnson are more experienced and better point guards than Farmar or Brown. Also, Jameer Nelson might make a comeback. Although I sincerely and fully believe he will not be a factor in this series, the potential along with the already given edge gives the Magic a rather large advantage in this series. Also include the effectiveness of Turkoglu when he plays the point in the fourth quarter.

-Shooting guard: Lakers

Bryant is one of the two best players in the world today. This is a clear advantage for the Lakers.

-Small forward: Magic

But it's closer than you might think. Turkoglu is tough to defend. However, Ariza has made great strides offensively with his 3 point shot while playing fantastic defense. Also Odom can move down to the 3 spot.

-Power forward: Lakers

Whether the Lakers play Gasol at the 4 or Odom, they are better than Lewis for this series. Lewis cannot defend either in the post while they can defend Lewis. Lewis might be able to expose an advantage on the dribble if Gasol is at the 4.

-Center: Lakers

I believe that if the Lakers are intelligent, than Bynum can defend Howard. The key to defending Howard is to get beneath him before he can get just a couple feet from the rim. Bynum should have the strength to do this. Also, Howard cannot defend Gasol in the poast as effectively as he normally does. Gasol is too skilled and is quick enough to get points on Howard. Howard is simply too limited offensively for me to give him the edge in this series.

I think it's clear that the Lakers are a better team. Whether they will play like it is another matter. The Magic are hot, and should get at the very least 2 wins in this series. I predict that Lakers win this series in 7 games with a potential for up to 4 road wins in total in this series.