Bynum Inj. Update: espn - bynum WILL play thursday p.15

[dockingsched]

guy was just joking.

anywhoo, if i've learned anything, its that bynum never has any idea about how his injury is REALLY improving. after each injury, post game, everything is cool, BLAM, out 8 weeks minimum. during rehab last yr, everything is looking good, BLAM, out for the yr.

[MikeyMike]

He wont be back til finals.

[rand0m]

With this injury, if Drew isn't cleared to play by the finals then he definitely deserves the slower healer label...

[microfib4thewin]

With this injury, if Drew isn't cleared to play by the finals then he definitely deserves the slower healer label...

Or maybe the medical staff is just incompetent. Walton had so many freak injuries last year and Mihm actually needed to perform an ankle surgery even though he was cleared to play in the preseason. You wonder if they were just rushing players instead of doing their job.

[Mamba Venom]

Medical staff in LA got spoiled w/ Kobes toughness. He could lose a leg and walk it off...?!?

Bynum needs to be back for spot mins last game of the season, needs to play 10 mins in the 1st round, 15 in the 2nd and 25 thereafter.

GO LAKERS !

[lake_fan24]

The Orange County Register reports that Bynaum (knee) may return to the Lakers' lineup by March 30. (Mar 4)

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/players/p ... yerId=2748 ( check status )

so i guess this means hes ahead of schedule?

[dockingsched]

here's the article:

http://lakers.freedomblogging.com/2009/ ... ace/13077/

Drew Gooden is a Spur (or will be by the end of today.) Joe Smith is a Cav (ditto.) And the Lakers are happy with what they have.

Although the Lakers had discussions with representatives for Smith, the 14-year veteran decided to head to Cleveland, according to several reports. But the Lakers are far from upset, even though they could have used another big body inside.

“We like what we’ve got,” Phil Jackson said. “We don’t want to change the chemistry. We’ve got such chemistry on this team. We can use a big guy, but we anticipate Andrew (Bynum) is going to be back and give us some help in the last month of the season.”

Bynum, who suffered a torn medial collateral ligament, could return to the team as early as March 30. The Lakers are 13-3 since he went down Jan. 31.

a march 30th return puts him at about 8 weeks and a few days, so no, not ahead of schedule. lakers play the 31st, not the 30th, so that gives him 8 games to get back into shape.

[semi-sentient]

That means he's right where he should be. Assuming that he does come back on March 30th, that will be 8 weeks and 3 days, which is a best case scenario seeing as how they predicted 8-12 weeks originally.

[iamworthy]

What kind of expections should I/we have on Bynum when he comes back. Last injury he was out for like 9 months, and it took him about what....40 games to get back to where he was. This is about 8-9 weeks off, Im trying to figure out what he will bring to the table come playoffs.

[aroba]

... do we need him? I don´t think so. We´re playing our best basketball without him...

Are you saying we can afford to trade him? What did he average before he went down again? How many blocks? How many rebounds?

If you don't like him back in the starting line-up because Gasol is now flourishing offensively at the five spot, then maybe you should propose Bynum coming off the bench. But saying we don't need him is insanity. He's our defensive anchor. Gasol is not.

Against Cleveland, Jazz, Celtics, Orlando et cetera, Bynum will singlehandedly change the opponent's game plan altogether.

Okur is much stronger than Gasol, but has nothing on Bynum. Enter Bynum and all of a sudden Okur won't be able to stay on the floor. With Gasol guarding Okur, Memet will push Pau out of the paint all night and then on the other end shoot weak side threes all night long, and make life hard for Gasol.

Gasol can't defend big Z very well either because of Z's length, he's not strong enough to D up Perkins, he has no chance in hell guarding Dwight. Bynum always plays great against Duncan. How exactly do we not need him? You mean on offense?

It's not about offense. This game is won with defense.

Double E, I get that, but isn't Pau just as long? I assume that would (worst case scenario) be a wash due to the length between the both of them. Z probably has an advantage in strength but the length looks just as much.

Last year Gasol played center vs Howard and did it great (Howard was fouled out, could not defend Gasol either and had lenght problems on offense). This year Howard played center vs Bynum...and we lost both games.
Last year we also won the Utah jazz round with Gasol vs Okur. Gasol is just too fast to have any problem with Okur outside range....IF Odom and the rest cover Boozer properly, of course.

On Z. I cant' argue, because I don't have any data. But anything could happen.

The question is: Gasol playing great, being WPOM and stuff, playing center wich is not his true position....and still gets so many doubts from fans.

Lakers starting five plays better with Gasol at center because, Gasol passes and sees the floor much better than Bynum. And that's key factor for centers on triangle post offense.

[semi-sentient]

What kind of expections should I/we have on Bynum when he comes back. Last injury he was out for like 9 months, and it took him about what....40 games to get back to where he was. This is about 8-9 weeks off, Im trying to figure out what he will bring to the table come playoffs.

I think that depends on how Phil utilizes him. It would be a mistake, IMO, to insert him into the starting lineup this season. We could REALLY use some help on our bench, and that's where I think Bynum can really be effective for us upon return. Our starters are capable of playing very good defense even without Bynum, but our bench? They are having a tough time holding leads due to poor defense, turnovers, and a lack of offense. Bynum fixes 2 of those 3 issues immediately and Pau/Odom get plenty of breathers.

[semi-sentient]

On Z. I cant' argue, because I don't have any data. But anything could happen.

Gasol has gotten the best of Big Z far more times than not. Although Igs had himself a nice scoring game last time out it doesn't follow the trend of Gasol outplaying him.

In 9 games:

Code: Select all

    Gasol: 23.7 PTS (.594 FG), 8.2 REB, 3.6 AST, 0.9 STL, 1.7 BLK, 3.2 TOV
Ilgauskas: 15.1 PTS (.473 FG), 7.7 REB, 1.4 AST, 0.1 STL, 1.2 BLK, 2.1 TOV

It should be noted that Gasol did play 9 more minutes on average, but that's because he can. Whatever the case, he's owned him for the most part.

[SOURCE]

[That Nicka]

Last year we also won the Utah jazz round with Gasol vs Okur. Gasol is just too fast to have any problem with Okur outside range....IF Odom and the rest cover Boozer properly, of course.

Gasol actually defended Boozer and Odom defended Okur more often than not...

I think that depends on how Phil utilizes him. It would be a mistake, IMO, to insert him into the starting lineup this season. We could REALLY use some help on our bench, and that's where I think Bynum can really be effective for us upon return. Our starters are capable of playing very good defense even without Bynum, but our bench? They are having a tough time holding leads due to poor defense, turnovers, and a lack of offense. Bynum fixes 2 of those 3 issues immediately and Pau/Odom get plenty of breathers.

With the starters Bynum gets really easy buckets.. basically all dunks... With the 2nd unit he would have to create more, but he does have a certain chemistry with Farmar... Farmar always gets him easy buckets... And Phil would probably continue to play Lamar with the 2nd unit who's a really good interior passer... Regardless, one of Pau/Lamar should be able to be in the game at all times... and hopefully 2 of Pau/Bynum/Lamar for 48 minutes during the playoffs... There are pros and cons of both, cant really go wrong either way.. But I would like Bynum to close out games... he simply protects the basket better and is a better free throw shooter than Lamar which is important in the clutch

I think also I would like Bynum to start if we meet either of Boston/Cleveland... for matchup purposes
have 2 7-foot shotblockers waiting on LeBron is invaluable and Perkins pushes Gasol off his spot and Gasol defends KG well anyway.. So we can match up more traditionally with Bynum on Perkins and Gasol on KG

[kevin_405]

Bynum is going to be worse than what Ariza looked post his surgery last year.. why because he has is bigger so it will take some work for him to get back to the strength required to play at NBA level..

I cant see Bynum making much of a contribution this year.. Yes Bynum would have helped but Gasol , Odum and Powell can more than make up for Bynum.. The key addition from last year is Powell who is an improvement over Thuriaf... the guy is a beast on the boards..

A fit Bynum would have been the difference maker.. a unfit Bynum will be a liablity at worst or at best a 2nd grade bench player..

Our real hole was the PG spot and we should have made a move for Stephan Marbury....

Medical staff in LA got spoiled w/ Kobes toughness. He could lose a leg and walk it off...?!?

Bynum needs to be back for spot mins last game of the season, needs to play 10 mins in the 1st round, 15 in the 2nd and 25 thereafter.

GO LAKERS !

[semi-sentient]

I don't think Bynum is going to be THAT bad. It's not like he's going to forget how to play basketball or anything. 8 weeks is a long time to miss, but he would have 8 regular season games to help get him back into shape going into the playoffs where he'll get stronger with each passing series. If he plays the reserve role, then he'll be just fine as his primary function will be to defend and rebound the ball. I have no doubt that he can score on his own here and there as well, it's just a matter of getting his timing back. It's not like he needs to throw up 15/10 to be effective. I'd settle for 10 points off the bench with 5 or 6 rebounds and a Shannon Brown or two.

[vinnycorleone]

Bynum will need atleast a playoff series or two to get back to basketball shape.

I just hope he hasn't forget that he is our defensive anchor not our offensive anchor

[hermes]

starting out on the bench would be best, don't rush anything at the end of the regular season
just work on getting him back into the flow and as ready as he can get for the playoffs

[kevin_405]

It is wishful thinking.. Bynum took well over 30 games before he started contributing in good numbers.. Mind u this was after a good 9 month rest after surgery.. Do u really think he will have the touch in 10-15 games, especially since his conditioning would also have dropped.

I don't think Bynum is going to be THAT bad. It's not like he's going to forget how to play basketball or anything. 8 weeks is a long time to miss, but he would have 8 regular season games to help get him back into shape going into the playoffs where he'll get stronger with each passing series. If he plays the reserve role, then he'll be just fine as his primary function will be to defend and rebound the ball. I have no doubt that he can score on his own here and there as well, it's just a matter of getting his timing back. It's not like he needs to throw up 15/10 to be effective. I'd settle for 10 points off the bench with 5 or 6 rebounds and a Shannon Brown or two.

[Danny Darko]

It is wishful thinking.. Bynum took well over 30 games before he started contributing in good numbers.. Mind u this was after a good 9 month rest after surgery.. Do u really think he will have the touch in 10-15 games, especially since his conditioning would also have dropped.

I don't think Bynum is going to be THAT bad. It's not like he's going to forget how to play basketball or anything. 8 weeks is a long time to miss, but he would have 8 regular season games to help get him back into shape going into the playoffs where he'll get stronger with each passing series. If he plays the reserve role, then he'll be just fine as his primary function will be to defend and rebound the ball. I have no doubt that he can score on his own here and there as well, it's just a matter of getting his timing back. It's not like he needs to throw up 15/10 to be effective. I'd settle for 10 points off the bench with 5 or 6 rebounds and a Shannon Brown or two.

I think that's pretty realistic out of him. 10 pts 6 rebounds and some D doesn't sound like the 20 and 10 he started putting up, let alone 40 pts.

[TonyMontana]

Lets just hope he's back in time for the playoffs and he is healthy and if he's not lets not risk any further injury by rushing him back.