Basketball Pass

23 April 2008 | Los Angeles Lakers | Shooter

I couldn’t believe my eyes when reading an article from Stan McNeal over at SportingNews.com where he explains how Andrew Bynum is the missing piece for the Lakers title bid.

In the article Mr. McNeal writes:

“Before getting hurt, Bynum had emerged as the Lakers’ second-most valuable player. But without him the team has hardly fallen apart. The Lakers, 25-11 before Bynum went out, closed 32-14 to win the tightest Western Conference regular-season race ever.”

The Lakers kept winning games because Lamar Odom finally broke out of his slump (most likely due to Bynums exit and Gasol joining the Lakers) and the most obvious reason is the acquisition of Pau Gasol the first real center since Shaq! If the Lakers hadn’t acquired Pau Gasol the Lakers would not have even come close to the first seed in the Western Conference Playoffs.

“All the preseason dysfunction caused by Kobe Bryant’s trade demands has long since dissipated, and the dire predictions of a long, difficult season have been proved wrong.”

The dissipation of Kobe Bryants trade demands are largely if not ENTIRELY due to Andrew Bynum not playing right now and the acquisition of Pau Gasol. Kobe Bryant is no longer thinking about trades because of the future with Pau Gasol, NOT the future prospect of Andrew Bynum. Kobe Bryant could care less about Andrew Bynum returning as there is no chance in hell that Bynum will come back at any other position other than back up center to Pau Gasol. And as soon as Bynum starts stinking up the joint you can bet Kobe will be yelling at Phil Jackson to yank him out and put Gasol back in.

“With Bynum’s availability more doubtful by the day—entering the week, the team didn’t know when he’d be cleared to practice again—the Lakers have to be asking themselves if they can win a championship without their biggest defensive presence.”

The Lakers are thinking “THANK GOD BYNUM IS GONE AND GASOL IS ON OUR TEAM! NBA FINALS HERE WE COME!” You honestly think this Laker team is giving a second thought to the absence of Andrew Bynum?

“They added former All-Star power forward Pau Gasol in February, and he has proved to be a more than capable second option playing out of position at center.”

Pau Gasol has never been and will never be a second option at center for the Lakers! EVER!

“point guard Derek Fisher says. “We’ve been able to find a pretty high level of play with him (Andrew Bynum) out, so we have to fix our minds on the fact we’ve shown we can play against the best teams when we come with our best effort. Whatever his prognosis is, whatever happens with him, is kind of an addition.”

Exactly see what I mean! DFish says it as plainly as possible that they are playing at much higher level and don’t need BYNUM!

“If Kobe wins the MVP, he should give a big thanks to Bynum,” a Western Conference scout says.”

What was this “scout” smoking? Let me play out the scenario of what will happen IF Kobe Bryant wins the MVP. Kobe will accept the trophy, smile for the cameras, go home look into the first mirror he can find and thank himself! The thanking himself will then be followed by a lot of self hugging. Kobe Bryant is no way going to thank anyone else let alone Andrew Bynum.

I love the Lamar Odom quote:

Adds Odom: “We think we can win every game we play no matter who’s out on the court.”

Lamar is loving the fact that he is playing high level basketball with real veteran professionals and not rookie hacks like Andrew Bynum.

I can’t believe Stan McNeal gets paid to write sap love stories. If you are on the “I love Bynum” bus then head on over and read Stan McNeals article.

(Article Link) http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=403480