Here’s what went down Wednesday on Gambo & Ash…

Magic Act…The Magic pulled away late and beat the Lakers in Game 3 of the NBA Finals Tuesday night in Orlando.  It marked the first NBA Finals victory for the franchise.  G&A were impressed with not only how well Orlando shot, but their balanced scoring last night.  What were even more surprising were Kobe Bryant’s game-long struggles.  He missed 5 free throws and committed a key turnover late, which essentially put the game out of reach.  Ash isn’t sure what the Magic must be thinking - they played their best and had to hang on at the end.  Gambo is having trouble getting excited about this series and believes the title is the Lakers’ to lose.  He’s simply not sold on the fact that Orlando is a championship-caliber team…even after dismantling the Cavs in the Eastern Conference Finals.  The guys discussed CBS SportsLine columnist Gregg Doyel asking Jameer Nelson to “shut it down” following last night’s win.

Cardinals head coach KEN WHISENHUNT shared his thoughts on OTA’s, which wrap up later this week in Tempe, the recent signing of Adrian Wilson, Matt Leinart’s new attitude and what he and staff are focusing on with training camp less than two months away.  Whiz, who has two years left on his deal, isn’t concerned about getting a new deal, even after leading the once punchless franchise to the Super Bowl this past season.

Too Early?…Ken Whisenhunt told Gambo & Ash he hasn’t thought about getting a new deal and wants to focus on re-signing the Cards players before himself.  G&A applaud Whiz for his selflessness, but would like Cards’ ownership to step up and get a new deal done now while the Red Birds can seemingly do no wrong and training camp about a month and a half away.  Ash thinks Whiz is insistent on following the Steelers philosophies both on and off the field.  Whiz says this (a re-worked deal) isn’t a big deal, but should it be?  We discussed.

Arizona State Director of Athletics LISA LOVE checked in for her weekly visit.  The ASU baseball team is off to Omaha, Nebraska for the College World Series.  They’ll open with North Carolina on Sunday.

Frozen Future…The future of the Phoenix Coyotes is uncertain as ever.  Season ticket holders are taking a wait-and-see attitude and the City of Glendale is pulling out all the stops to keep BlackBerry millionaire Jim Balsillie from moving the team to Canada.  Balsillie even has a website (www.makeitseven.ca) encouraging fans to design their own jersey for the possible new team.  Jobing.com Arena and the City of Glendale have their backs against the wall in this terrible economy.  Ash wonders if there’s that big of a need to bring a team to southern Ontario - especially since there are already six teams in Canada.  Gambo doesn’t think it looks good for the ‘Yotes to stay in Glendale.

Our ESPN baseball insider TIM KURKJIAN checked in to discuss the big Yankees - Red Sox series, as both teams are dead even at the top of the AL East, his thoughts on the MLB draft and if the Nats can sign Stephen Strasburg, the latest on the Diamondbacks, and Manny Ramirez speaking publicly for the first time since his suspension.

Dread(ful) Comments…Suspended Manny Ramirez spoke out publicly for the first time saying, “I didn’t kill nobody.  I didn’t rape nobody, so that’s it.”  Classy comments from a player who seemed anything but remorseful after being suspended 50 games for steroid use.  The guys concur Manny should have never spoken publicly - especially without consulting Scott Boras or an advisor within the Dodgers organization.  ManRam has done everything to stay out of the spotlight as the Dodgers have increased their lead in the NL West without Ramirez except making stupid, insensitive comments like he did Tuesday.

“Westy” heading west…The Sacramento Kings hired former Suns’ coach Paul Westphal.  Ash is somewhat perplexed why the Kings would go in this direction, but likely feels they made the hire because they couldn’t wait much longer after Lakers’ assistant Kurt Rambis turned down the job Tuesday.  Gambo is happy for Westphal and thinks the low expectations in Sac-town could work in his favor - especially with a high draft pick and some good young talent like Francisco Garcia and Kevin Martin.

We were joined by the great PETE ROSE.  The 3-time World Series champ, 1973 NL MVP and 17-time All-Star reflected back on his career and how the game of baseball has evolved since he played.  The all-time hits leader collected 4,256 knocks and had a lifetime batting average of .303 during his 23-year career.

Short show Thursday after day baseball at Chase Field…we’ll be joined by Hornets’ All-Star Chris Paul