Posts Tagged ‘Andrew Bynum’

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Blogtable: What’s Next For Lakers?

May 23, 2012  ·  11:36AM

Each week, we’ll ask our stable of scribes to weigh in on the three most important NBA topics of the day — and then give you a chance to step on the scale, too, in the comments below.

Play Lakers GM: What do you do in the wake of another West semifinal defeat?

Steve Aschburner: I start by abolishing World Peace.  Sounds nihilistic, I know. But given the rebuild/retool ahead, they don’t need Metta’s shenanigans. Then I trade Pau Gasol, maybe to Minnesota for Derrick Williams in a package. I rebuild around Andrew Bynum because Jimmy Buss will fire me if I don’t. And I ride out Kobe’s angst or swing a deal for him that makes him happy. If that’s possible in every sense. 

Fran Blinebury: I get on the phone to Orlando and find out if there’s any way to re-start the conversation for Dwight Howard.  Does it take Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol together?  Done.  Gasol is fading into the twilight of his career and for all there is to like about Bynum on the nights he plays, that happens too infrequently.  Howard has his own flaws, but combining with Kobe Bryant puts him back into the championship picture immediately, restores his damaged reputation and transitions the Lakers for the post-Kobe Era.  I also do not sign Ramon Sessions to a long-term contract at significant cost. Not nearly enough bang for the buck.

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Lakers Have No One Else To Blame But Themselves For Latest Playoff Ouster

May 22, 2012  ·  10:14AM





HANG TIME PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS – Before anyone else in Los Angeles points another finger at Pau Gasol, Mike Brown, Ramon Sessions or any of the other convenient scapegoats in the wake of a second straight second-round playoff exit, look in the mirror.

Stare long and hard and ask yourself if you didn’t see this coming. Didn’t you realize last season, when Andrew Bynum was heading to visitor’s locker room in Dallas without his jersey, that this team was fatally flawed and had no chance of overcoming its own internal obstacles?

Like an aging heavyweight champ who gets K.O.’d in his last bout and then comes back into the ring the next time without truly understanding what went wrong, the Lakers got popped against the Oklahoma City Thunder in the Western Conference semifinals. This time, it came by believing in their ability to overcome any obstacle with sheer talent alone.

Avoiding the sweep this time around shouldn’t ease the sting for Lakers fans, either. They knew (better than most) what they saw from this group during last season’s semifinal flame-out against the Mavericks exposed the team’s flaws.

Why would anyone, Kobe Bryant included, be surprised at Gasol’s struggles against the Thunder when you saw him crumble against the Mavericks?

You replaced a living legend in Phil Jackson with a good coach in Brown, but if Jackson couldn’t get this team over the proverbial hump in his final season, why would anyone assume Brown would be capable of pulling it off now? And Sessions was supposed to be the anti-Derek Fisher — a younger, more athletically gifted point guard capable of matching up better against the league’s younger and more athletic guards. He proved to be just as ill-equipped to handle Russell Westbrook as Fisher would have been.

This is a mess of the Lakers’ own making, whether they admit it or not. They are the ones that tossed Jackson’s hand-picked successor, Brian Shaw, aside in favor of Brown. They saw the cracks in their foundation and opted for some instant sealant instead of legit fixes.

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Posted in 2012 NBA Playoffs / Comments (217) /

Lakers Get the Win, and the Redemption

May 19, 2012  ·  3:17AM





LOS ANGELES – No, this was not sound offensive efficiency either, not while shooting 35.3 percent in the fourth quarter Friday. But two nights after the late collapse in Oklahoma City grounded them in self-inflicted wounds, the Lakers came home to Staples Center and won a game because they won the final period.

The Lakers did not commit a turnover the final 2:56, a key in the 12-6 closing run that produced the 99-96 victory and cut the Thunder lead in the best-of-seven series to 2-1. Game 4 is here Saturday night in a rare playoff back-to-back, before the series shifts back to Oklahoma City for Game 5 on Monday.

Just as importantly, the Lakers were 17 of 18 from the line in the fourth. Of course they were. They were nearly perfect the entire night, converting 41 of 42 free throws, and finished the game in appropriate fashion.

“We fouled too many times,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “That’s the bottom line. Forty-two is a high number. It’s more than they average. A lot more than they average.”

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Best Big Man … Where’s Bynum?

May 18, 2012  ·  12:19PM





HANG TIME PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS – Is anyone else still waiting for the recently crowned (at least by some) “best big man” in basketball to show himself in the Thunder-Lakers Western Conference semifinals?

We’ve yet to see the dominant force that Andrew Bynum was billed to be heading into this postseason. You remember the arguments for him overtaking Dwight Howard as the most dominant low-post force in the league. All of that bluster has faded with each minute of decent-but-far-from-dominant outing from the largest man still working in these playoffs.

No one is denying that Bynum has the potential to be whatever it is he wants to be. The talent, skill and behemoth size package remain in place. But this notion that Bynum was going to use this postseason to cement his place atop the totem pole of the league’s best big men has turned out to be little more than an urban myth.

He’s not even the big man having the biggest impact in this Thunder-Lakers series. That honor belongs to Thunder power forward and the league’s shot blocking king Serge Ibaka. In fact, Bynum doesn’t even rank in the top four of big men in this postseason, not with Tim Duncan and Kevin Garnett dominating like it’s 1999 and Pacers All-Star center Roy Hibbert making life miserable for the Heat in the Eastern Conference semifinals.

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Lakers Back-To-Back Against The Wall

May 18, 2012  ·  10:07AM





HANG TIME PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS – If the Los Angeles Lakers are nervous at all about the task ahead — fighting off elimination in the Western Conference semifinals in a back-to-back set tonight and tomorrow at home — they’re doing a splendid job of faking it.

From Kobe Bryant to Andrew Bynum to Pau Gasol to Jack Nicholson (sorry, we threw him in there for effect), there seems to be no worry about anything going wrong in Game 3 tonight at Staples Center (10:30 ET, ESPN). After outplaying the Thunder for 46 of the 48 minutes in Game 2, the Lakers act as if they’ve solved the Rubik’s Cube that is Oklahoma City.

“We know exactly how to defend them,” Bynum said. “We’re actually confident.”

Maybe someone forgot to tell Bynum that the Lakers are facing more than just a survival game tonight; no team has ever come back from an 0-3 deficit to win a series. They’re facing that game with their backs firmly against the wall, on back-to-back nights.

The last time they were in this position was during 1999 Western Conference semifinals — the last lockout-shortened season. L.A. lost Games 3 and 4 to the San Antonio Spurs as Tim Duncan and David Robinson kicked off that franchise’s championship era.

Bryant was a part of that series, but feels one has absolutely nothing to do with the other. In fact, he’s not particularly concerned with the back-to-back set.

“I prefer not to have it” he said, “but I feel well rested. Everybody else feels well rested. We’ll be ready for it.”

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Relentless Thunder Rally, Take Game 2

May 17, 2012  ·  1:09AM





OKLAHOMA CITY – A seven-point lead with two minutes to play and one of the greatest closers in the game wasn’t enough to save the Los Angeles Lakers, not with the Oklahoma City Thunder lurking in the final minutes on their home floor.

Six points from James Harden, two critical turnovers from the Lakers and a Kevin Durant baseline runner with 18.6 seconds to play and a sure-fire, series-equalizing win for the Lakers turned into another shocking comeback win for the Thunder. More amazing is that OKC struggled through its worst game this postseason, yet still stole Game 2 in the final minutes at Chesapeake Energy Arena.

Durant’s free throw with 0.3 seconds left capped a 9-0 run for the Thunder, who won Games 1 and 2 in their first-round series against the defending champion Dallas Mavericks by a combined four points. That might explain why they didn’t panic in those final two minutes.

“I’ve been around these guys four years, and one thing about them is they won’t quit,” Thunder coach Scott Brooks said. “They’re not wired that way. It’s not in their DNA. If it was, they wouldn’t be here.”

The Lakers led 75-68 with two minutes to play with the game seemingly in hand. But instead of the veteran Lakers salting this one away with Kobe Bryant finishing the deal, the Lakers lost control of the game and basically gave it away.

“We’re better than Santa Claus giving out gifts,” said Lakers center Andrew Bynum. “We like giving out gifts. We give out games, contracts and rings.”

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Lakers Have A Plan, Are Aiming To Slow Thunder Down In Game 2 … Good Luck!

May 16, 2012  ·  10:35AM





HANG TIME PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS – The theory makes perfect sense for the Los Angeles Lakers.

Slow the game down, make the Oklahoma City dial it back a few notches and play the half court game that favors the Lakers’ and big men Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum in Game 2 tonight (9:30 ET, TNT) at Chesapeake Energy Arena and all will be right in the basketball world.

The only problem with that theory is that it requires the cooperation of a Thunder team that has been anything but accommodating this postseason. And it also requires an opponent that can exploit the Thunder’s perceived deficiencies in a slow-down game.

The Dallas Mavericks had similar ideas  in the first round after dropping Games 1 and 2 by a combined four points. All they had to do was lock in on Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook and James Harden and force the  Thunder into the uncomfortable position of a grind-it-out, half court, possession-for-possession series. The Mavericks headed back to Dallas for Games 3 and 4 with the blueprint in hand. They never saw Game 5.

The Thunder’s energy and effort overwhelmed any plans the Lakers had for Game 1 to the tune of a 35-point lead and a 119-90 blowout win. It served as a wicked opening statement, too, that the Western Conference semifinals are going to be played on the Thunder’s terms.

The Lakers cannot match the Thunder’s youth, fleet feet or resilience — a day of rest at 23 or 24 is much different from that same day of rest when you are 32 or 33. And according to Kobe Bryant, the Lakers have no intention of trying to do any such thing.

“It’s not a big deal. We don’t worry about matching their energy,” Bryant said. “We just think about slowing them down and playing our style.”

If that “style” includes playing inside-out through Bynum and Gasol, then the Lakers might actually be on to something. Thunder center Kendrick Perkins is a game-time decision with that strained hip.

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World Peace Will Start in Return

May 11, 2012  ·  10:16PM

EL SEGUNDO, Calif. – The Lakers will welcome Metta World Peace back Saturday night in various ways. Coach Mike Brown confirmed before practice Friday at the practice facility that World Peace would start at small forward, a predictable move that sends Devin Ebanks to the bench. Kobe Bryant, meanwhile, may hug World Peace.

The Lakers may have missed the versatile defensive presence as he served a seven-game suspension for an elbow to the head of Oklahoma City’s James Harden, but that’s nothing compared to how much Bryant missed the former Ron Artest, period. That was never more evident than Thursday in Denver, where the Nuggets again jumped L.A.’s lack of focus and energy to score an easy victory and tie the first-round series 3-3, an outcome that prompted Brown and Bryant to call out Pau Gasol and Andrew Bynum in particular for a poor effort.

“I expect him to come out and play with the tenacity that he’s known for,” Bryant said of World Peace in the deciding Game 7 at Staples Center. “He’s the one guy that I can rely on night in and night out to compete, to play hard, to play with that sense of urgency and play with no fear. I’m looking forward to having that by my side again.”

He’s the one guy I can rely on night in and night out to compete….

Blasting at least two teammates while praising another. Precision shooting.

Friday, as he prepared to play for the first time since April 22, World Peace said little about serving the suspension, about watching teammates unable to sustain intensity, even about the praise from Bryant. Maybe he wanted a low profile to have all the focus in Game 7. Maybe he was told to say little. Just as likely, it was simply that kind of moment for a man of many moods.

On his thoughts as he returns from the discipline: “I don’t have any thoughts on that.”

On whether he needs to come back with extra focus since the return is in a Game 7: “No. I’ve been motivated from Day 1. There’s no extra motivation needed. I’m already at the limit.”

On Bryant’s comment: “That’s what he said. I don’t have no comment on that.”

On what the last seven games have been like, the first six games of the circuitous series with the Nuggets plus the regular-season finale: “I can’t remember. It’s the past. It went by. It’s over.”

On whether he will be under extra scrutiny by referees and the league: “That’s not my concern. Not at all.”

It will be one of the Lakers’ concerns, of course. They are obviously aware of the unique moment, as if facing elimination at home after blowing a 2-0 lead isn’t enough. They are also aware that one of World Peace’s clutch moments with L.A. was Game 7 against the Celtics in the 2010 Finals.

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Verbal Shots Fired, Again! Vogel: Heat “Biggest Flopping Team In The NBA”

May 11, 2012  ·  11:34AM





HANG TIME PLAYOFF HEADQUARTERS – Have we learned nothing from the verbal transgressions of others, Frank Vogel?

Did you not see what Kevin Garnett did to the Atlanta Hawks after their co-owner took shots at him on the eve of their Game 6 showdown last night in Boston?

Vogel, the Indiana Pacers’ coach, lobbed the first stone in his team’s Eastern Conference semifinal against the Miami Heat by telling reporters in Indianapolis that the Heat, in so many words, take flopping to artistic levels.

Mike Wells of the Indianapolis Star has the goods:

“They are the biggest flopping team in the NBA,” Vogel said. “It’ll be very interesting to see how the referees officiate the series and how much flopping they reward.”

The Heat, who eliminated the New York Knicks on Wednesday, were fourth in the league in points allowed and fifth in the league in field goal percentage defense during the regular season. They like to swarm to the ball when it’s in the paint.

“Every drive to the basket, they have guys not making a play on the ball,” Vogel said, “but sliding in front of drivers. Oftentimes they’re falling down even before contact is even being made. It’ll be interesting to see how the series is officiated.”

The Heat roster does boast the league’s master technician at drawing offensive fouls, Shane Battier. But to suggest that they have the most accomplished group of actors in the league on that one roster is a bold statement.

Surely, Vogel’s statement was intended for the ears of the officials more than it was a direct shot at the Heat. At least we hope that was the case. We’ve all seen the results of bulletin-board material in these playoffs so far … Lakers center Andrew Bynum said something about close-out games being a breeze and the Lakers have lost two straight games since then.

Then again, Vogel’s team has nothing to lose. Most folks don’t have them upsetting the Heat anyway, so if this is his way of raising the stakes a bit for his team, well, more power to him. (With LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and crew waiting, the Pacers know they have their hands full.)

As long as he knows what he’s getting his team into!

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Posted in 2012 NBA Playoffs / Comments (306) /

Kobe, Brown Call Out Bynum And Gasol

May 11, 2012  ·  6:06AM





DENVER – In even tones but no uncertain terms, greatly raising the stakes without raising their voices, the coach of the Lakers and the star of the Lakers called out big men Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol after the 113-96 loss to the Nuggets on Thursday that forced a Game 7 in the first-round series.

Already facing pressure to step up their play as the Lakers’ advantage of size and inside play goes to waste, Gasol and Bynum were moved even more into the crosshairs by Mike Brown and Kobe Bryant, both clearly frustrated by Gasol managing three points on one-of-10 shooting with three rebounds and by Bynum getting 11 points on four-of-11 shooting. Bynum did have a game-high 16 rebounds, but his series has become a run of nights without focus.

“We’re going to need more out our two bigs,” Brown said as the Lakers faced the reality of going from a 2-0 series lead to a Game 7 in Los Angeles on Saturday night. “They’re our second- and third-best players. We’re going to need a lot more out of those guys in order to win the series. But not just scoring wise. Defensively. Defensively to follow the game-plan discipline and do it with some effort and some energy and really just lay it out on the line.”

Bryant followed soon after.

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