Bynum says knee is getting "worse"

[Arizona's Finest]

http://www.azcentral.com/sports/sun...s-angeles-lakers-bynum-knee-injury-worse.html

http://sports.espn.go.com/los-angeles/nba/news/story?id=5191602

Bynum said he would "back off" during Sunday's practice, and acknowledges he isn't sure how effective he'll be defensively against Phoenix's high speed, pick-and-roll heavy offensive system. On the other end, Phoenix struggles to defend bigger players inside, but if Bynum's mobility is sufficiently hampered, the Lakers may not be able to afford to keep him on the floor to exploit any matchup advantages. In four regular season games against the Suns, Bynum averaged nearly 18 points a game, along with 9.8 rebounds and 1.5 blocks.


I think this is big, especially when you take into account what Bynum has done against us and if you lok at the splits from the first half of the Jazz series to Games 3 and 4,

 

[ASUCHRIS]

Too bad, so sad.

 

[az1965]

Good... but I'm not sure how much to believe these news. He did struggle the last two games. We will see.

 

[mojorizen7]

Well, if this is an accurate report then i can see Lopez getting stronger as the series goes on, while Bynum could get weaker.


I know this is going to sound like Japanese coming from me, but i think ANY way the SUNS can force the LAKERS to matchup with us by going smallish is going to benefit us tremendously(even if Lopez returns strong).

Bynum,Lamar Odum and Gasol up front vs Amare/Lopez/Hill is NOT a good matchup for us any way you slice it IMO.
I would much prefer to see Amare/Frye/Dudley vs a LAKER frontline of Gasol/Odum/Kobe......although Odum is a bad matchup too as long as he shows up.

SUNS need to take one of these three guys(Gasol/Bynum/Odum) out of the equation either by running them into foul trouble,going small,double-teams etc.....maybe Bynum's knee troubles are just one more sign that this SUNS team is destined to catch a few breaks for once rather than be left standing wondering "what could have been?"

 

[az1965]

While we are at it, I hope Kobe's knee locks up

 

[Hayduke]

Asked to pinpoint his biggest concern about a long layoff between games without playing much basketball, Bryant shrugged. "I don't have one. None at all."

Oh please. Try harder why don't you.

Or is he really just that confident?

 

[TJ]

In all seriousness to Laker fans.....

Bynum is 22. He is in his 5th season in the league and has only played more than 65 games once in a season. Just about every single one of his injuries are in his legs. How reliable is he going to be moving forward?

 

[Cheesebeef]

good. that's all I have to say about that.

 

[elindholm]

There's no doubt that the Lakers were premature in giving Bynum his huge extension. They were bidding only against themselves, had plenty of time to wait, and instead got carried away after he put together five or six impressive weeks. I think it was partly to convince Bryant that they believed in Bynum's potential, but now they're paying the price. Their top four players (including Odom) will combine to make a whopping $64.7 million in 2010-11, and the numbers get only higher the year after that. To put that number in perspective, it's enough to put the Lakers in luxury tax territory even if all nine of their other mandated roster spots were minimum contracts.

Of course, since the Lakers have unlimited financial resources, it won't hurt them as much as it would anyone else. But nonetheless, the Bynum contract was a blunder, and a big one at that.

 

[Arizona's Finest]

There's no doubt that the Lakers were premature in giving Bynum his huge extension. They were bidding only against themselves, had plenty of time to wait, and instead got carried away after he put together five or six impressive weeks. I think it was partly to convince Bryant that they believed in Bynum's potential, but now they're paying the price. Their top four players (including Odom) will combine to make a whopping $64.7 million in 2010-11, and the numbers get only higher the year after that. To put that number in perspective, it's enough to put the Lakers in luxury tax territory even if all nine of their other mandated roster spots were minimum contracts.

Of course, since the Lakers have unlimited financial resources, it won't hurt them as much as it would anyone else. But nonetheless, the Bynum contract was a blunder, and a big one at that.

Bynum's contract likely will be Toronto's issue next year.

 

[TJ]

Well, if this is an accurate report then i can see Lopez getting stronger as the series goes on, while Bynum could get weaker.


I know this is going to sound like Japanese coming from me, but i think ANY way the SUNS can force the LAKERS to matchup with us by going smallish is going to benefit us tremendously(even if Lopez returns strong).

Its not Japanese but it's the truth. You want teams to try and match up with you rather than the other way around. The best way to beat a team is to get them out of their element. That is why San Antonio owned us for 7 years. They forced us to play to their strengths and refused to play to ours.

I think if Bynum is no where near 100%, the Lakers are screwed. As it stands, we are over matched underneath the basket. Taking Bynum's 15ppg and impact in the paint out of the equation and it puts more pressure on Gasol and Kobe and weakens their bench that much more. Suns need to take advantage of this opportunity

 

[Absolute Zero]

Isn't this an invitation to run him into the ground? Isn't he going to have trouble staying with the Suns in transition?

 

[mojorizen7]

Its not Japanese but it's the truth.

The joke is that I notoriously loathe smallball for the sake of just having a quicker team on the floor poised to do nothing but pass,run,shoot and give up layups on the other end.

In this case i believe its a good idea however, because this team plays some solid team defense.

 

[ninous26]

I don't belive any of these one bit at all.. With kobe missing practice the other day, bynum hurt and missing practice and all.. I call lies.. Fake news, mind games.. Watch them come out and play strong still. Wasn't their a post a few weeks ago about bynum having a torn meniscus but he's still playing strong?

 

[elindholm]

Bynum's contract likely will be Toronto's issue next year.

You must be suggesting a sign-and-trade for Bosh. If I'm the Raptors, I think very seriously about simply losing Bosh for nothing rather than eat Bynum's contract for the privilege of letting the Lakers get him.

 

[Gaddabout]

You must be suggesting a sign-and-trade for Bosh. If I'm the Raptors, I think very seriously about simply losing Bosh for nothing rather than eat Bynum's contract for the privilege of letting the Lakers get him.

We could always loan them Kerr on a contract basis to show them how to get nothing for something.

If I'm Colangelo, I want Gasol or they can pound sand. And the Lakers just might pull the trigger on that one.

 

[D-Dogg]

If I'm Colangelo, I want Gasol or they can pound sand. And the Lakers just might pull the trigger on that one.

Not in a bajillion years.

Please, don't listen to Ric Bucher...he knows absolutely nothing. It is shocking how often that dude is wrong and retains a job. There is a Bynum camp and a Pau camp in the Laker front office, but there is no way Pau gets shipped out. It's either Bynum or Odom...or nobody.

 

[Sunburn]

Hmmn. Another beneficial, potentially series altering, opposing player meniscus tear. Are the stars aligning for us?

 

[cly2tw]

Well, Bynum has his excuse for being a non-factor already. He will be free of any blame when the Lakers get eliminated in 5-6 games. Who else needs an excuse? Odom, for not starting maybe? Hahah.

 

[hsandhu]

We could always loan them Kerr on a contract basis to show them how to get nothing for something.

If I'm Colangelo, I want Gasol or they can pound sand. And the Lakers just might pull the trigger on that one.

Gasol is clearly better than bosh.

 

[Irish]

Tactically, this series COULD resemble the Blazer series. The Blazers had the size to take Amare out of the equation but did not really have an answer to Frye and Dudley. The plan the Blazers had to make the Suns play slow didn't really work when the Sun decided to send everyboy to boards AND run even after made baskets.

 

[Gaddabout]

Gasol is clearly better than bosh.

That's an affirmed "no duh," but if I were Colangelo, I'd test the waters to see if Jim Buss really is as big of an idiot as people think he is. Allegedly he thinks Gasol lacks intensity.

BTW, I met Jim once at the 7-11 at Dobson and Guadalupe back when the Lakers were in town in 1989. He whipped out his Lakers Visa (not kidding) and paid for a coffee on credit. LOL

 

[Mainstreet]

Tactically, this series COULD resemble the Blazer series. The Blazers had the size to take Amare out of the equation but did not really have an answer to Frye and Dudley. The plan the Blazers had to make the Suns play slow didn't really work when the Sun decided to send everyboy to boards AND run even after made baskets.

Is that you Irish? Long time no see. The Blazers were a very good defensive team. It seems to be the series started to pivot when the Suns shut down Miller.

 

[cly2tw]

Gasol is the ultimate complementary player who can be the difference maker if your defense lets him. Amare proved in our last meeting that he was too quick for Gasol, while Amare's improved defense no longer lets Gasol and Odom outtrick him so easily as it used to be. With Bynum not having excused himself already, I see the size advantage on the Suns side with Lopez coming back to start.

 

[hsandhu]

If we see bynum is limited, i would put lopez on gasol and amare on bynum.

The most effective way to guard gasol is to match his length. Amare will be giving up strength to bynum, but if he is struggling to move the strength advantage may be negated.

any experts out there? can bynum's injury get any better in the next 2 weeks or is the best it can get right now.