Report: Bynum could return before regular season ends

[Covert Rain]

i have a total of 0 reasons to believe that the suns will eliminate the lakers this year.

Then you have not been watching. I probably agreed with you 2 weeks ago. However, this team appears to be getting better and better. I will probably have a better feel where things stand in a week. If they continue to get better, I am not worried about the Lakers.

I am more worried about a team that can get hot in a 7 game series playing small ball. Like we used to do to other teams in the past.

I think the Suns could be a dangerous playoff team indeed, if everything clicks at the right time. They have the pieces to be quite dangerous, and if Shaq is healthy he'll give his all in the postseason.

Against a fully healthy Laker squad, I am not terribly concerned though. Of course anything can happen, and we won't be "fully" healthy for a while.

However, I find the assumption by some Suns fans that they will just stomp the Lakers to be myopic.

It's been a good match-up to watch in the playoffs. I would love to see it again this year. If the Suns continue to improve and we continue to get what we are getting from Shaq, I am confident in a series versus the Lakers. By no means will a series match-up be a stomp one way or the other.

Judging by how the lakers have beaten the suns with Bynum in the lineup as well as without him there, i think they will easily be the favorite to win. If the lakers stay healthy, they are the last team in the west that i want to face.

arwillan, sometimes your out in left field. The team the Suns are rolling with now is not the same team the Lakers played last. You obviously couldn't make your living as a Vegas Odd maker if you believe that load a crap.

he's right, to an extent. Amare can not guard Pau, and Pau can not guard Amare. i see nothing wrong with that statement.

Except I have seen times when Amare has shown flashes of playing good defense. I have never see that from Pau.

 

[arwillan]

Then you have not been watching. I probably agreed with you 2 weeks ago. However, this team appears to be getting better and better. I will probably have a better feel where things stand in a week. If they continue to get better, I am not worried about the Lakers.

of course i've been watching, every single game as a matter of fact. i know the team has been getting better, but i haven't seen us play the lakers since we've been better so it's hard to measure if we are any better of against the lakers. I will agree with you that we are better off now than before, however.

It's been a good match-up to watch in the playoffs. I would love to see it again this year. If the Suns continue to improve and we continue to get what we are getting from Shaq, I am confident in a series versus the Lakers. By no means will a series match-up be a stomp one way or the other.

i agree that there will be no stomping either way, but i think the lakers have the advantage. The only time out of 4 games that we beat them this year was when they were without bynum and pau. As long as they've had either of those guys in the lineup, they've beaten us. For that reason, i think they would beat us in a 7 game series- probably in 7 games. It would be close, though.

arwillan, sometimes your out in left field. The team the Suns are rolling with now is not the same team the Lakers played last. You obviously couldn't make your living as a Vegas Odd maker if you believe that load a crap.

good thing i'm not into gambling then i think most basketball fans, excluding suns fans, would agree that the lakers would be the favorite in a 7 game series with us. That isn't to say that we couldn't possibly win, it just means they have beaten us consistently this year. The only thing we can really use to predict how we will play them in the playoffs is how we played them in the regular season, which certainly doesn't indicate good news for us.

Except I have seen times when Amare has shown flashes of playing good defense. I have never see that from Pau.

he has played good defense at times, yes. But then he also can go out and get 5 fouls against a crappy front court like he did last night. Which amare will show up in the playoffs? nobody knows. Like Donald said, amare will outscore gasol, but gasol will also make amare play defense.

 

[Andrew]

Saying Bynum can outright handle Shaq is moronic. Shaq has about 100lbs on the guy and can clearly get ANYTHING he wants. The only way Bynum can burn Shaq on points is if he has a killer jumper. Quite frankly, I don't know if he does. Never really watched the guy, came off extremely COCKY to me on draft day when he disrespected the best big man in the league.

 

[arwillan]

Saying Bynum can outright handle Shaq is moronic. Shaq has about 100lbs on the guy and can clearly get ANYTHING he wants. The only way Bynum can burn Shaq on points is if he has a killer jumper. Quite frankly, I don't know if he does. Never really watched the guy, came off extremely COCKY to me on draft day when he disrespected the best big man in the league.

Shaq actually only has 40 lbs on him. Shaq can't get anything he wants, actually. Sometimes when he does get a good shot, he misses it anyway. He is far from what he used to be, let's be realistic.


And no, Bynum doesn't have a jump shot.

 

[Trophytown]

you call it realistic, i call it negative and pessimistic.

realistic would be, yea the lakers are defiantly improved and if we meet in the playoffs its going to be a huge test.

im not going to sit here and tell you why i think the suns have a chance to beat the lakers in a 7 game series, the roster, our playoff experience and the addition of shaq should speak for itself.

Funny that you fail to mention anything about coaching. Coaching amounts to a lot in a 7-game series.

How do you think Nash would hold up under the pressure defensively of having to guard Kobe or Lamar in the post ? You could see it if LA decides to roll out a lineup of Pau, Bynum, Radmonovic, Kobe and Odom. How does D'Antoni account for defending that ? Nash will need help.

Just like u have Amare as a mismatch, the Lakers can toy with its lineup too and have an immense size and strength advantage at the PG position.

Dont overlook coaching/schemes.

 

[Chaplin]

Funny that you fail to mention anything about coaching. Coaching amounts to a lot in a 7-game series.

How do you think Nash would hold up under the pressure defensively of having to guard Kobe or Lamar in the post ? You could see it if LA decides to roll out a lineup of Pau, Bynum, Radmonovic, Kobe and Odom. How does D'Antoni account for defending that ? Nash will need help.

Just like u have Amare as a mismatch, the Lakers can toy with its lineup too and have an immense size and strength advantage at the PG position.

Dont overlook coaching/schemes.

Why in the world would Nash be guarding Lamar Odom? What made you even consider that as a possibility?

And Radmonovic is one of the Lakers I fear the LEAST. We played a lineup of Nash, Grant Hill, Boris Diaw, Amare and Shaq last night, and they did pretty well. I'm certainly not afraid of the Lakers "big" lineup.

 

[nashman]

So the Lakers are gonna roll out a lineup without a PG huh? Then I supposed we could do the same and have Diaw, Amare, Shaq, Hill, Bell on Kobe and Diaw could handle the ball as well as Hill. Thats pretty absurd and is not gonna happen but hey your a lakers fan I expect the homerism that is you guys think you have a better team now than the Suns. The Suns are the reigning champs of the conference and until you take it from them or actually win a playoff series the Suns are still the better team, take what you want from your regular season so far the Suns are only getting better can you say the same about the Lakers...nope!

 

[Chaplin]

So the Lakers are gonna roll out a lineup without a PG huh? Then I supposed we could do the same and have Diaw, Amare, Shaq, Hill, Bell on Kobe and Diaw could handle the ball as well as Hill. Thats pretty absurd and is not gonna happen but hey your a lakers fan I expect the homerism that is you guys think you have a better team now than the Suns. The Suns are the reigning champs of the conference and until you take it from them or actually win a playoff series the Suns are still the better team, take what you want from your regular season so far the Suns are only getting better can you say the same about the Lakers...nope!

Unfortunately, based on the season record, the Lakers certainly have the upper hand and would be favored on almost any scorecard in a series with us.

I think the Suns, who are built for the playoffs now, would take it, but it's naive to think the Suns have any kind of advantage right now.

 

[nowagimp]

That isn't to say that we couldn't possibly win, it just means they have beaten us consistently this year. The only thing we can really use to predict how we will play them in the playoffs is how we played them in the regular season, which certainly doesn't indicate good news for us.

with all the changes, its hard to say the lakers an suns series this year has been meaningful in predicting a playoff matchup.

In game one: amare was coming off the scope and grant hill was firing up threes from the perimeter and not in suns shape(his own admission about the first 6 weeks of the season). Also the lakers were without odom and the suns appeared to have a letdown while trying to incorporate new pieces. the suns were with marion and an injured raja bell(bum ankle) and without shaq and giricek. I dont see how that game could have been more misleading. If you remember early in the year, amare couldnt hold his rebounding position against anyone and couldnt successfully execute faceup moves against mediocre defenders. He made everyone look like a hellacious rebounder. Amare scored 7 pts on 2-10 and ONE rebound in 24 minutes! Bynum scored 14 pts. Oh and it was the second of back to backs for the suns and amares gimpy knee.

In game 2, the lakers won on christmas with kobe g3tting 38 and bynum having a great game, 28 points(11-13), 12 boards. Amare had 19/6. the suns missed 11 FT's and lost by 7.

game 3 was shaqs first game off his 2 months of activity (that we all know about), with bynum being out and pau in.


Im not sure what trend or commonality can be used in those games, except that nothing stayed the same for even those games.

1) big changes in key players for both teams just in those 3 meetings

2) Rajas defense looked pretty bad all year until very recently. He was abused by guys like Roy and kevin martin that he most recently has shut down.

3) the suns in the paint defense and FG defense has changed dramatically since the last laker meeting. They have added giricek, who is shooting 53% FG's off the bench.

I was one of the first ones to say that when the lakers got pau, that they were the team to beat in the west, look it up here. But that was before bynum went down with a nasty knee injury. If you assume that bynum comes back healthy and fit( a huge IF), they are the most talented squad out west. But I think thats a much bigger assumption than any assumption about whether the suns are much better over the last 10 games.

So I expect the lakers to be a very good team come playoff time, but the likelihood is that bynum will not be fully recovered. He hasnt even done any non contact layup drills yet.

At this point, I have the utah jazz as the best team in the west. That can change of course, but the west is very unsettled right now, and the lakers are one of those teams in a state of flux.

 

[Covert Rain]

of course i've been watching, every single game as a matter of fact. i know the team has been getting better, but i haven't seen us play the lakers since we've been better so it's hard to measure if we are any better of against the lakers. I will agree with you that we are better off now than before, however.

Your being a tad contradictory. On one had the Suns have no shot and you see "Zero" reasons. On the other hand you say it's hard to measure and really don't know. It can't be both. Just say your undecided..it would be less confusing.

good thing i'm not into gambling then i think most basketball fans, excluding suns fans, would agree that the lakers would be the favorite in a 7 game series with us. That isn't to say that we couldn't possibly win, it just means they have beaten us consistently this year. The only thing we can really use to predict how we will play them in the playoffs is how we played them in the regular season, which certainly doesn't indicate good news for us.

You can't predict anything at all at this point. Your talking about 2 different teams. Your talking about a team that tried to incorporate Shaq without changing the system. He was out of place, didn't know the system, didn't know where to go and it cascaded to the rest of the team.

D'Antoni has now admitted to changing the system up for Shaq, inserting plays for him in the last week and tweaking things a bit. I can tell the difference...can't you? Now factor in that Amare is playing out of his mind. Offense..clicking. Offensive Rebounding...up. Defensive rebouding...up. Blocks...up. Opposing FG% way down.

What about that says same team? Doesn't sound like any Suns team I know.

he has played good defense at times, yes. But then he also can go out and get 5 fouls against a crappy front court like he did last night. Which amare will show up in the playoffs? nobody knows. Like Donald said, amare will outscore gasol, but gasol will also make amare play defense.

Betting on who would get into foul trouble first (despite Amare's problems sometime), I will put my money on whoever is guarding Amare. Amare might get into foul trouble but I bet the other guy does too. Amare's trips to line have increased with Shaq..meaning he has been unguardable at the PF position.

Shaq actually only has 40 lbs on him. Shaq can't get anything he wants, actually. Sometimes when he does get a good shot, he misses it anyway. He is far from what he used to be, let's be realistic.

40 pounds banging on you over an entire game?? That's more then enough.

Also, Shaq is 4th in the league in FG% by the Center position. His current FG% is .607 which is above his career average of .580. So he might not have the same moves around the basket, he is clearly making up for it by attempting to play around the bucket more and picking his spots.

So, yes lets be realistic. He is scoring less but when he decides to score, he is getting what he wants down low based on the numbers.

 

[arwillan]

Your being a tad contradictory. On one had the Suns have no shot and you see "Zero" reasons. On the other hand you say it's hard to measure and really don't know. It can't be both. Just say your undecided..it would be less confusing.

sorry for being unclear. i meant i have 0 reasons to say "yes, the suns will beat the lakers in a 7 game series". other than the regular season, i have 0 reasons to think that the lakers will beat the suns. for the regular season alone i give them the edge in that series. but as i said earlier, it would be close and not a stomping either way. A bunch of fans seemed so convinced that we would absolutely without question beat the lakers in a series, and i disagree with that. That's why i said i, and probably every other suns fan, have no reason to believe that either side would win decisively. If anything, the edge goes to the lakers. That's all i'm saying.

I was unaware shaq had been so effective from the field until i read your post, that's very interesting. Maybe it's just i don't remember him making as many shots as he does, but that's certainly interesting. I was definitely off base with my thoughts of shaq on offense. I still think Bynum will be able to play him just fine, however.

 

[Bufalay]

This is out of control. I only posted this article so that I could replace the original photo of Bynum with one of Bynum and his twin brother Tracy Morgan.

 

[Covert Rain]

sorry for being unclear. i meant i have 0 reasons to say "yes, the suns will beat the lakers in a 7 game series". other than the regular season, i have 0 reasons to think that the lakers will beat the suns. for the regular season alone i give them the edge in that series. but as i said earlier, it would be close and not a stomping either way. A bunch of fans seemed so convinced that we would absolutely without question beat the lakers in a series, and i disagree with that. That's why i said i, and probably every other suns fan, have no reason to believe that either side would win decisively. If anything, the edge goes to the lakers. That's all i'm saying

Now that makes sense. OK, now I understand what you were saying. Still don't agree with the Lakers edge. Give me a week though..I might change my mind.

 

[arwillan]

Now that makes sense. OK, now I understand what you were saying. Still don't agree with the Lakers edge. Give me a week though..I might change my mind.

i might change my mind within the next week as well

we have some very good teams left to play before the end of this year, it will show us a lot about the team. How we bounce back against Detroit will definitely be a good bench mark.

 

[D-Dogg]

I was one of the first ones to say that when the lakers got pau, that they were the team to beat in the west, look it up here. But that was before bynum went down with a nasty knee injury.

That's pretty odd since Bynum went down with an injury, then a couple of weeks later the Lakers made the trade for Pau. Pau and Bynum have not played together. Yet the Lakers were best in the West with Bynum, then faltered and reclaimed best in the West with Pau.

Pau will be back soon. Bynum soon after. Ariza first round of the playoffs. Mihm actually might be back next week too. Lakers are getting healthy, hopefully, just in time for the season to really start.

 

[Trophytown]

So the Lakers are gonna roll out a lineup without a PG huh? Then I supposed we could do the same and have Diaw, Amare, Shaq, Hill, Bell on Kobe and Diaw could handle the ball as well as Hill. Thats pretty absurd and is not gonna happen but hey your a lakers fan I expect the homerism that is you guys think you have a better team now than the Suns. The Suns are the reigning champs of the conference and until you take it from them or actually win a playoff series the Suns are still the better team, take what you want from your regular season so far the Suns are only getting better can you say the same about the Lakers...nope!

The Lakers run a triangle offense that isnt predicated on having a conventional pg. Ron Harper, Brian Shaw, even Luke Walton have manned the point in this offense. That person doesnt need to be ball-dominant in order to play the position. Phil loves big guards and hasnt hesitated to use size at the position. So if youre compelled to believe that all PG's need to be of the mold of Farmar or Fish, then YEAH...........we can roll for stints of a game without a PG.

Im not gonna get into a who-can-piss-further contest with you either when you throw out the "reigning conference champion" bit. You can have the conference title which you still dont hold claim to (Spurs are reigning World title and Western CONF title holders). If its the Pacific Division title your talkin about, then go ahead, be my guest and proclaim it for all the world to witness. This run is all about O'Brien hardware and nothing tastes sweeter. Keep touting the accomplishments of the last two years.........makes u feel better i guess. Remember this: There AINT no more Smush, Kwame, or Brian Cook. Those parts have been upgraded with parts that have more skill and higher basketball IQ, not to mention more athleticism. And yeah, im quite confident the outcome will be much different this time around.

 

[arwillan]

The Lakers run a triangle offense that isnt predicated on having a conventional pg. Ron Harper, Brian Shaw, even Luke Walton have manned the point in this offense. That person doesnt need to be ball-dominant in order to play the position. Phil loves big guards and hasnt hesitated to use size at the position. So if youre compelled to believe that all PG's need to be of the mold of Farmar or Fish, then YEAH...........we can roll for stints of a game without a PG.

Im not gonna get into a who-can-piss-further contest with you either when you throw out the "reigning conference champion" bit. You can have the conference title which you still dont hold claim to (Spurs are reigning World title and Western CONF title holders). If its the Pacific Division title your talkin about, then go ahead, be my guest and proclaim it for all the world to witness. This run is all about O'Brien hardware and nothing tastes sweeter. Keep touting the accomplishments of the last two years.........makes u feel better i guess. Remember this: There AINT no more Smush, Kwame, or Brian Cook. Those parts have been upgraded with parts that have more skill and higher basketball IQ, not to mention more athleticism. And yeah, im quite confident the outcome will be much different this time around.

we don't have the conference title. we haven't in the past two years either.

 

[joshstmarie]

is it just me or does arwillian back off alot of posts and says, "oh well this is what i meant"?

 

[arwillan]

is it just me or does arwillian back off alot of posts and says, "oh well this is what i meant"?

nice grammar, pal.

who is this "Arwillian" fellow? i searched, but could find nobody with that name. Now is it just me, or does everything i clarify make everything i said before make more sense? No, that's not just me. That much is clear. I invited you earlier to use the ignore function if you don't like what i say, and i would like to take this opportunity to invite you again to do so. Rather than make stupid posts (such as your last one) which have no purpose and contribute nothing to the topic at hand, why don't you just ignore me and move on?

 

[joshstmarie]

nice grammar, pal.

who is this "Arwillian" fellow? i searched, but could find nobody with that name. Now is it just me, or does everything i clarify make everything i said before make more sense? No, that's not just me. That much is clear. I invited you earlier to use the ignore function if you don't like what i say, and i would like to take this opportunity to invite you again to do so. Rather than make stupid posts (such as your last one) which have no purpose and contribute nothing to the topic at hand, why don't you just ignore me and move on?

its not that i dont like what you have to say, its just that im calling you out on it because its rubbish. you post....i reply, its that simple.

you had no problem acting all high and mighty with your argument earlier with me but once everyone else jumped in and shut your argument down you say "oh wait you must have misunderstood me, THIS is what i meant", when in fact it isnt because you responded to a few peoples post before you finally decided that what you said "had another meaning".

you said the suns have zero reason to make you think we had a shot at beating the lakers, everyone proved you wrong (or at least made it look like an idiotic statement) and you and you changed your tune, simple as that.

my grammer is fine, you got my point and you obviously know who the post was directed at... i invite YOU to use the ignore button if you cant handle the debate.

 

[mojorizen7]

 

[arwillan]

its not that i dont like what you have to say, its just that im calling you out on it because its rubbish. you post....i reply, its that simple.

you had no problem acting all high and mighty with your argument earlier with me but once everyone else jumped in and shut your argument down you say "oh wait you must have misunderstood me, THIS is what i meant", when in fact it isnt because you responded to a few peoples post before you finally decided that what you said "had another meaning".

you said the suns have zero reason to make you think we had a shot at beating the lakers, everyone proved you wrong (or at least made it look like an idiotic statement) and you and you changed your tune, simple as that.

my grammer is fine, you got my point and you obviously know who the post was directed at... i invite YOU to use the ignore button if you cant handle the debate.

that's where you're wrong. i never said that i have 0 reasons to think we have a shot at beating them. i said i have 0 reasons to think we will beat them. I further explained that in my later posts, as apparently people took what i said to mean that there was no way we could beat the lakers. That isn't what i think at all. I simply think we are the underdogs in that match up, and i have given my reasons for thinking that way. You are the only one who doesn't seem to be able to understand what i meant by that. Hopefully by going back and reading what i said again that will be fixed. I have never change my opinion on anything i have said thus far about a potential lakers vs. suns match-up. My argument was never shut down. Opinions are impossible to disprove, in case you weren't aware of that. i said that i did not think (meaning that it is my opinion) that we would not beat the lakers in a 7-game series. At this point in time, you can not prove me wrong. Now go back and find any part of my argument that has changed over the last handful of posts. i can guarantee that you will not find anything.


EDIT: my post said "...0 reasons to believe the suns will eliminate the lakers this year". Read it a million times if you want, it will never say that they have no chance. It only says i don't believe they will. If there's something wrong with that statement, please let me know. If i was trying to change what i said to avoid being wrong or proven wrong, i could have said "i meant they won't eliminate the Lakers because they won't even play them". But i didn't say anything of the sort, and i won't say anything of the sort. I 100% stand by what i said.

 

[arwillan]

Your being a tad contradictory. On one had the Suns have no shot and you see "Zero" reasons. On the other hand you say it's hard to measure and really don't know. It can't be both. Just say your undecided..it would be less confusing.




You can't predict anything at all at this point. Your talking about 2 different teams. Your talking about a team that tried to incorporate Shaq without changing the system. He was out of place, didn't know the system, didn't know where to go and it cascaded to the rest of the team.

D'Antoni has now admitted to changing the system up for Shaq, inserting plays for him in the last week and tweaking things a bit. I can tell the difference...can't you? Now factor in that Amare is playing out of his mind. Offense..clicking. Offensive Rebounding...up. Defensive rebouding...up. Blocks...up. Opposing FG% way down.

What about that says same team? Doesn't sound like any Suns team I know.



Betting on who would get into foul trouble first (despite Amare's problems sometime), I will put my money on whoever is guarding Amare. Amare might get into foul trouble but I bet the other guy does too. Amare's trips to line have increased with Shaq..meaning he has been unguardable at the PF position.



40 pounds banging on you over an entire game?? That's more then enough.

Also, Shaq is 4th in the league in FG% by the Center position. His current FG% is .607 which is above his career average of .580. So he might not have the same moves around the basket, he is clearly making up for it by attempting to play around the bucket more and picking his spots.

So, yes lets be realistic. He is scoring less but when he decides to score, he is getting what he wants down low based on the numbers.

that is probably true that amare's defender would also get into foul trouble. the problem i see with that is that the Lakers have some depth in the front court when healthy, and we really don't.

 

[Andrew]

Shaq actually only has 40 lbs on him. Shaq can't get anything he wants, actually. Sometimes when he does get a good shot, he misses it anyway. He is far from what he used to be, let's be realistic.


And no, Bynum doesn't have a jump shot.

It has to be more than 40 lbs. Shaq can clearly dominate the paint if Bynum is on him. Clearly dunking at will when down low. It is clear as day, he can move Bynum without exerting any energy. He might be far from what he used to be, but today's Shaq clearly is more dominate than a teenager.

 

[DevonCardsFan]

that's where you're wrong. i never said that i have 0 reasons to think we have a shot at beating them. i said i have 0 reasons to think we will beat them. I further explained that in my later posts, as apparently people took what i said to mean that there was no way we could beat the lakers. That isn't what i think at all. I simply think we are the underdogs in that match up, and i have given my reasons for thinking that way. You are the only one who doesn't seem to be able to understand what i meant by that. Hopefully by going back and reading what i said again that will be fixed. I have never change my opinion on anything i have said thus far about a potential lakers vs. suns match-up. My argument was never shut down. Opinions are impossible to disprove, in case you weren't aware of that. i said that i did not think (meaning that it is my opinion) that we would not beat the lakers in a 7-game series. At this point in time, you can not prove me wrong. Now go back and find any part of my argument that has changed over the last handful of posts. i can guarantee that you will not find anything.


EDIT: my post said "...0 reasons to believe the suns will eliminate the lakers this year". Read it a million times if you want, it will never say that they have no chance. It only says i don't believe they will. If there's something wrong with that statement, please let me know. If i was trying to change what i said to avoid being wrong or proven wrong, i could have said "i meant they won't eliminate the Lakers because they won't even play them". But i didn't say anything of the sort, and i won't say anything of the sort. I 100% stand by what i said.

Dude you are way to negative. I see if you guys were Cards fans why you would be so pessimistic, but the Suns were one cheap shove away from beating the Spurs last year and making the finals, last year and they are better equipt to do so now. Amare is at his normal spot and is just a Monster, he is replacing Marion who would turn into a Little girl come playoff time!! Factor that in Amare in the playoffs against Zero playoff experience Gasol. Suns now have Hill and Shaq's vet experience and defense come playoff time as well, GG was a compotent starter, Diaw no longer has to play as a big man solo as well. Diaw is always out there with Shaq, Amare or Skinner, we do not have to worry about that little girl being man handled in the post anymore. Your negative outlook is lame, Quit screaming the sky is falling, You act like the Suns suck!!