duncan228
02-03-2009, 01:43 AM
Edit: Headline change, article is the same.
Bynum out; chance for Spurs?
Spurs say Lakers still team to beat (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Spurs_say_Lakers_still_team_to_beat.html)
Jeff McDonald
OAKLAND, Calif. — In the age of the Internet and 24-hour sports channels, it didn't take long for the news of the day in the NBA to zip across the country Monday, all the way from New York to the visiting locker room at Oracle Arena:
Andrew Bynum, the talented but star-crossed center for the Los Angeles Lakers, is expected to miss eight to 12 weeks with a torn knee ligament.
The diagnosis came after an MRI on Bynum's knee was performed in New York, where the Lakers were set to play the Knicks. Should Bynum hit the least optimistic edge of that timetable, it would put him out for the rest of the regular season.
Heading into Monday night's game against Golden State, the Spurs trailed the Lakers by five games in the Western Conference. If they believed Bynum's latest bout with the injury bug opened a window of opportunity to narrow that gap, they certainly weren't acting like it.
“The Lakers were doing damn well without him,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Monday. “Somebody else will get the minutes, and they'll continue to be tough. They're still going to be the team to catch.”
Bynum was in street clothes last June when the Lakers dispatched the Spurs in five games in the Western Conference finals, sidelined then with a dislocated kneecap.
The 7-foot Bynum, still coming into his own at age 21, is the Lakers' third-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder. In the five games leading up to his injury Saturday in Memphis, he was averaging 26.2 points, 13.8 rebounds and 3.2 blocks.
Lamar Odom would be the likely starter in Bynum's absence, shifting Pau Gasol, another 7-footer, to center. In that, the Lakers would field the same starting five that took them to the NBA Finals last season.
“They'll do just fine without him,” Golden State coach Don Nelson said. “They're doubled-up at that position anyway. Just play the next guy more. They're strong enough to handle one injury — so long as it's not Kobe (Bryant).”
Honor, invite for Parker: Tony Parker was named the Western Conference player of the week after averaging 25 points and six assists in a trio of Spurs victories.
He is the second Spurs player to earn the weekly award this season, joining Tim Duncan, who won for the week ending Dec. 15.
Also on Monday, Parker received his official invitation to participate in the PlayStation Skills Challenge during All-Star weekend. Already scheduled to be in Phoenix to serve as a reserve for the West squad, Parker is slated to face New Jersey's Devin Harris, Chicago's Derrick Rose and Orlando's Jameer Nelson, whose status is in question after separating his shoulder Monday night. Nelson is scheduled to have an MRI on his shoulder today.
Oberto by a bunch of whiskers: Spurs players have eschewed their traditional rodeo road trip beard-growing competition, but you wouldn't know it by looking at the team's resident pair of Argentines.
Manu Ginobili took about a week's growth with him on the road, while Fabricio Oberto hasn't taken a Bic to his beard since mid-December. The backup center now resembles a “Good Vibrations”-era Brian Wilson.
“Fabri's the winner,” Ginobili said. “No question.”
Bynum out; chance for Spurs?
Spurs say Lakers still team to beat (http://www.mysanantonio.com/sports/spurs/Spurs_say_Lakers_still_team_to_beat.html)
Jeff McDonald
OAKLAND, Calif. — In the age of the Internet and 24-hour sports channels, it didn't take long for the news of the day in the NBA to zip across the country Monday, all the way from New York to the visiting locker room at Oracle Arena:
Andrew Bynum, the talented but star-crossed center for the Los Angeles Lakers, is expected to miss eight to 12 weeks with a torn knee ligament.
The diagnosis came after an MRI on Bynum's knee was performed in New York, where the Lakers were set to play the Knicks. Should Bynum hit the least optimistic edge of that timetable, it would put him out for the rest of the regular season.
Heading into Monday night's game against Golden State, the Spurs trailed the Lakers by five games in the Western Conference. If they believed Bynum's latest bout with the injury bug opened a window of opportunity to narrow that gap, they certainly weren't acting like it.
“The Lakers were doing damn well without him,” Spurs coach Gregg Popovich said Monday. “Somebody else will get the minutes, and they'll continue to be tough. They're still going to be the team to catch.”
Bynum was in street clothes last June when the Lakers dispatched the Spurs in five games in the Western Conference finals, sidelined then with a dislocated kneecap.
The 7-foot Bynum, still coming into his own at age 21, is the Lakers' third-leading scorer and second-leading rebounder. In the five games leading up to his injury Saturday in Memphis, he was averaging 26.2 points, 13.8 rebounds and 3.2 blocks.
Lamar Odom would be the likely starter in Bynum's absence, shifting Pau Gasol, another 7-footer, to center. In that, the Lakers would field the same starting five that took them to the NBA Finals last season.
“They'll do just fine without him,” Golden State coach Don Nelson said. “They're doubled-up at that position anyway. Just play the next guy more. They're strong enough to handle one injury — so long as it's not Kobe (Bryant).”
Honor, invite for Parker: Tony Parker was named the Western Conference player of the week after averaging 25 points and six assists in a trio of Spurs victories.
He is the second Spurs player to earn the weekly award this season, joining Tim Duncan, who won for the week ending Dec. 15.
Also on Monday, Parker received his official invitation to participate in the PlayStation Skills Challenge during All-Star weekend. Already scheduled to be in Phoenix to serve as a reserve for the West squad, Parker is slated to face New Jersey's Devin Harris, Chicago's Derrick Rose and Orlando's Jameer Nelson, whose status is in question after separating his shoulder Monday night. Nelson is scheduled to have an MRI on his shoulder today.
Oberto by a bunch of whiskers: Spurs players have eschewed their traditional rodeo road trip beard-growing competition, but you wouldn't know it by looking at the team's resident pair of Argentines.
Manu Ginobili took about a week's growth with him on the road, while Fabricio Oberto hasn't taken a Bic to his beard since mid-December. The backup center now resembles a “Good Vibrations”-era Brian Wilson.
“Fabri's the winner,” Ginobili said. “No question.”