Lakers 5-0, and Bynum isn't back yet.

Hawks are 5-0 and and seem to have one guy step up big every night. Last night, Joe couldn't hit the backside of a barn but J Smoove stepped it up.

Blazers look kind of horrible but are somehow 4-1 with only one home game so far. Not sure if its encouraging me or chalking it up to luck and shitty opponents.

stay classy, KG

What I read was that KG called Charlie V cancerous to his team and to the league...not a cancer patient, in which case I'd agree with KG.

There is virtually zero chance that he said that on the court.

After last year's debacle, a 2-2 start for the Nets is pretty sweet (i know, low expectations). But all around I like the players they have a lot better now. Or at least they don't have Josh Boone anymore...I've never seen a 6'10" man miss more open layups in my life. Seriously, even I would have made half those layups he missed.

And Favors is going to be a stud one day. He's looked solid so far. He's still raw, but I definitely see the potential.

yeah i doubt he said that either but villanueva comes off as kind of a lil bitch for tweeting about it.

exactly, keep shit like that private, don't fucking tweet about it, I'm sure worse has been said on the court between players.

j smoove will probably become my favorite player this year

Every year I have to hear about how the Lakers don't have a healthy Bynum. And yet when I see him play, nothing impresses me. It's not like they have no big man without him or something.

Kareem said Bynum had more potential than any young (no-College) center he'd seen. He has shown flashes of power and brilliance, and has consistently been inconsistent. I have no love for him, but he's holds a key piece of the Laker puzzle. He has also been injured forever.

Wasn't Kareem also a huge supporter of Michael Olowokandi?

At this point, I have more faith in Greg Oden becoming an all-star than Bynum.

This is kinda silly. Bynum is only 22 and he has improved every year. He played 65 games last year and averaged 15 points and 8.3 rebounds per game. He also played through serious injuries in the playoffs last year so his toughness is improving. Its not like there are a lot of true centers in the league. Yao Ming is an allstar and I'd much rather have Bynum than Ming. That said, It is reasonable to say that Bynum may never reach the point where he'll stay healthy for all 82 games or be a star in the league (as opposed to an allstar at a relatively weak position).

I'm not saying Bynum is a lousy center, just that every single year people act like he's gona show up and crack the league wide open, and I just don't see that happening. He's a great starting center, but Laker fans need to stop touting him as the future of the Laker dynasty. He's a good puzzle piece, but he has never demonstrated anything resembling the linchpin to build a new team around. 15 and 8 is nothing to scoff at, but it's not like these are

Yao Ming's selection as an all-star his sweet FA to do with his talent (although I'd venture that he earned a selection or two) but more to do with the billions of Chinese people that vote for him (and T-Mac) every year. I don't think anyone would take what's left of Yao over Bynum right now, but there are plenty of true centers that I'd dump him for.

I guess it looked like I was putting him down when I was really saying I see more potential in Oden at the moment. He could bounce back and be incredible, but it seems to me that he's got ways to go.

the way things are going for the Blazers, he'll never come back. just since like Thursday, lost a rookie for the year, a player retired due to heart problems (after only being on the team for about 2 weeks), Rudy out with bad back, Camby out tonight with migraines. some sort of curse. all free agents: stay the fuck away.

Yeah that oberto business was crazy. I always liked him.

well your Oden line is crazy because he's never going to walk again, but everything else, I agree with. Bynum is great to have in a playoff series against a true center, but there's really only one or two of those that they could legitimately face. Other than against Orlando, Boston...ok really just those two teams, they're far better going "small" and not having Bynum in Pau's way around the basket.

If you factor in durability and take out potential, there's probably ten true centers and probably twice that of "forward-centers" I'd rather have on my team than Bynum.

really? Name'em. I came up with Howard & Perkins, thinking they probably wouldn't face Bogut or Brook Lopez in a playoff series. I can't think of any in the west.

Al Horford, Al Jefferson, Joakim Noah, Yao....

You'd really rather have Yao than Bynum?

And the answer to the Bynum question of who you'd rather have as center is, of course, Gasol... which is one reason the Lakers will win it all again this year.

Yao will be hurt and Noah's the only one that will be playing center. I guess you want him to guard Al Jeff, but I expect the Jazz to blow up the team this year. Basically if you're running that team, you're hedging against growth with the Thunder, and they have no real potential big men.

I was just throwing out guys who are playing center right now that I'd take over Bynum....I haven't paid attention to how Yao is playing this year, but if he can possibly get back to some kind of form....I'd take that player over Bynum.

If Scola could become a more consistent scorer, I'd put him on this list. He's probably more of a PF than a C, but hes doing most of Yao's dirty work for him anyway.



Rudy's fun to watch and all, but it's hardly like you're gonna miss that guy, especially as he fucking tried to get out of his contract with homesickness. As far as Oden, he's obviously injury prone, but it isn't like it's been the same problematic, repeated injury (i.e. Bynum's knees). That suggests to me that it's more shit luck than a predisposition to injury.