Should the Los Angeles Lakers bench center Andrew Bynum until the NBA Finals?
The 22-year-old has been battling a knee injury that will require surgery in the offseason and was a non-factor in the Lakers Game 3 118-109 loss.
Bynum had just two points, two rebounds and four fouls in only seven minutes of action Sunday night.
“I don’t believe that’s going to happen,” Bynum said on head coach Phil Jackson sitting him. “That’s probably more so to motivate me and try to get me to play. [My knee is] all right. I’m doing OK. I’m dealing with it so I can play basketball … I got to be out here. I got to go play.”
If Bynum sits, it weakens the Lakers bench as Lamar Odom will be forced into the starting lineup. Plus, containing Amare Stoudemire would be an issue as evident by his 42-point performance.
But if Bynum does play and is unable to go in the NBA Finals against the Boston Celtics (Sorry, Orlando), the Lakers don’t have a shot.
Do you think Bynum should sit the rest of the Western Conference Finals?
Published by Marcus Vanderberg on Wednesday, May 19, 2010 at 6:07 pm.
Just in case the Los Angeles Lakers needed anymore bulletin board material for Game 2 on Wednesday night, Phoenix Suns forward Amare Stoudemire gave it to them.
“I’m not giving him no hype right now; he had a lucky game in Game 1,” Stoudemire said Tuesday after practice at Staples Center. “We just got to make sure we box him out. I think I focused so much on [Pau] Gasol and [Andrew] Bynum to where he snuck in there and got 19 boards, so now we just got to make sure there’s three guys out there that can rebound well [when] adding Odom. So, we got to do a better job on them.”
A day later, Stoudemire was standing by his comments and not backing down about what he said about Odom.
“Nah, I’m gonna always be myself. That’s just my character,” Stoudemire said. “It’s just what I was feeling.”
If 19 points and 19 rebounds is luck and not skill, how do you explain Stoudemire’s three rebound performance in Game 1?
Hey Lamar, if you want to get in his head tonight, how about you whisper a little something about Amare’s mama.
Published by Marcus Vanderberg on Thursday, April 29, 2010 at 12:59 am.
Orlando Magic center Dwight Howard didn’t learn his lesson the first time.
For the second time this season, Howard was fined $35,000 for criticizing the officials – - this time on his blog.
“I’m not looking to say anything to get myself in trouble with the league, but I just don’t see other star players getting called for fouls the way I get them,” Howard wrote on his blog. “No star player in the league is outta games the way I am.” “I mean, it was almost comical at times how I was getting fouls called on me. There was nothing I could do [out] there and I felt like I couldn’t even move without getting that whistle blown on me.”
Yes, boys and girls, that’s all it takes for a $35,000 fine.
Howard’s comments come after Magic head coach Stan Van Gundy and Matt Barnes were also hit with $35,000 for criticizing officials.
Fellas, it was the Charlotte Bobcats. Shut up already.
Save your money for Cleveland or Boston – - not on a team that you swept in four games.
Published by Marcus Vanderberg on Monday, April 19, 2010 at 5:59 pm.
The Boston Celtics will be without Kevin Garnett Monday night following a one-game suspension after elbowing Miami’s Quentin Richardson.
But surprisingly, the trash talking forward wasn’t surprised by the NBA’s decision to sit him.
“No, I wasn’t surprised at all, to be honest,” Garnett said. “I told my man, [Celtics vice president of media relations] Jeff Twiss, when we were talking that I just want my message to be done, and all of this to be over with. My message here is: Whoever it is, my teammates, [Celtics coach] Doc Rivers, or anyone in the organization, I want them to know I got their back.
“The elbow wasn’t deliberate. The league does what it has to do to set the tone. I respect that. It’s time to move on and get back to a wonderful series.”
Garnett’s act is getting old at this point. You have to know better as you’re putting your team in a bad spot heading into Game 2.
Maybe Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah was right when he referred to Garnett as a “dirty player” over the weekend.
Published by Marcus Vanderberg on Friday, April 16, 2010 at 2:10 am.
You ever wanted to know how Phil Jackson has 10 NBA championships?
It’s the little things that often go unnoticed (unless you’re the NBA front office) like planting the seed that Oklahoma City Thunder forward Kevin Durant gets too many calls from the refs.
“As far as the calls that he gets on the floor, I think a lot of the referees are treating him like a superstar; he gets to the line easy and often,” Jackson said on Tuesday.
The Thunder will take on the Los Angeles Lakers in the opening round of the NBA Playoffs on Sunday.
Durant went to the line an average of 10.3 times per game this season – - the same number as LeBron James his third year in the NBA.
The NBA doesn’t appreciate when you criticizes their officials so Jackson was slapped with a $35,000 fine.
When Durant was informed of Jackson’s comments, the scoring champ said he felt “disrespected.”
“Because it’s taking away from what I do,” Durant said. “That’s part of my game, getting to the free-throw line and being aggressive. If you say that I get superstar calls or I get babied by the refs, that’s just taking away from how I play. That’s disrespectful to me.”
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