Injuries

> On 11/18 it came out that Philadelphia’s Andrew Bynum had further injured his left knee while bowling (the left was the “good knee” up until then) and is out indefinitely. Read that again. Yes a guy with chronic bad knees, who hasn’t appeared in a game with his new team, or even practiced once for that matter, was out having some fun contorting his 7-foot frame to roll a ball on the ground at some pins. WHAT IN THE WORLD WAS HE THINKING? Well as a Laker fan I’m well acquainted with the misadventures of Mr. Bynum. From lifting a playmate on his shoulder while rehabbing to parking in handicap spaces all around Los Angeles to wanting to shoot 3-pointers to taking out his frustrations on J.J. Barea in a playoff game that was over. Drew is…well…frustrating.

Why did he wait until right before the season to have Orthokine treatment in Germany when it’s well known that it takes at least a month to recover from? Why did he have lubricating injections in both knees before he had fully healed from the Orthokine? Why is he growing his hair out like this? Jason Wolf of Delaware Online contacted an internationally respected orthopedic surgeon who thinks Bynum may have osteochondritis dessicans lesions, which depending on the classification (1-4) could mean Drew is already done for the year.

Everyone has an opinion on the situation. You can read ESPN’s Brian Windhorst (he broke the story) here. ESPN also asked a panel of five writers to chime in here (they even touch on his hair). J.A. Adande and Israel Gutierrez go back and forth here. But for my money the Sixers are a playoff team with or without Bynum. Jrue Holiday looks to be on the verge of making “the leap” and they have seven players with a PER of 13.4 or higher. They play defense (don’t miss Andre Iguodala one bit) and seem to have great chemistry. Their weaknesses are rebounding (27th in rebound differential at -3.7) and a complete lack of low post scoring. Obviously a healthy Bynum fixes both of those but at what cost?

When Drew comes back he’s not going bounce right into 20 points, 10 rebounds and 2 blocks. Remember, I’ve seen this movie before…multiple times. It takes Bynum a good solid 3-4 weeks to get back into game shape. His stamina, hands, touch, intensity and focus all need that much time to coalesce into the dominant big man he is capable of being. During that time Philly will obviously need to adjust as a unit and I worry about their chemistry suffering when “Petulant Drew” shows up and doesn’t play hard like he should.

On one hand it could be exactly what they need and on the other it could put their whole season into a tailspin. And I’m not even mentioning the fact that Bynum is a free agent after the season. What is rookie GM Tony DiLeo going to offer him contract wise? How many franchises with enough salary cap space will put maximum offers on the table? The Sixers definitely took a BIG gamble when they acquired Bynum, one that I wholeheartedly agreed they had to take, but right now it’s looking more like craps than a jackpot.

> About a week into the season on 11/7 the Indiana Pacers announced that Danny Granger would miss up to three months after receiving an injection in his left knee to treat patellar tendinosis. There are many strange angles to this story. The first being I would have moved the Pacers down to sixth in my preview if I had this information about ten days earlier. The next is Granger originally hurt this knee in May but opted to do nothing about it until September when he underwent blood-platelet treatment (which didn’t help). The third oddity is I’ve never heard of an injection that A) treats tendinosis and B) keeps you out for three months. Why he waited so long and then decided to go with the relatively new treatment of this mystery injection is anybody’s guess.

On paper Indiana looked pretty good to weather the storm until Danny returned but then the games started. The Pacers are 6-7 with a -0.5 point differential (PD) which is OK until you dig into a bit further. Everyone expected Paul George to explode in his third year moving to his natural SF spot. Well that hasn’t happened as George is shooting a career low 40.9% from the field and has seen his PER drop from 16.55 to 14.94. Next Roy Hibbert has not lived up to his shiny new 4-year/$56 million contract…at all. Hibbert is shooting career lows from the field (39.3%) and free throw line (54.5%) while scoring 9.5 points per game (lowest since his rookie year). Roy’s PER has dropped from a career high 19.35 to a career low 15.07 which makes his $14 million a year salary even worse than it seemed at first. After that Gerald Green, who signed for 3-years/$10.5 million this summer, only lasted three games as a starter and is currently shooting 39.0% from the field and sporting a 9.91 PER (down from 15.88 last season). The only good thing to come of Granger’s injury has been the emergence of third year SG Lance Stephenson. Lance is posting career highs in shooting (48.8%), 3-point shooting (44.8%), rebounds (3.0), assists (2.8), points (7.8) and PER (11.94).

I’m not sure if the Pacers read their own press clippings prior to the season or what, but with Danny out Coach Frank Vogel has to find someone besides David West (who is in a contract year BTW) who can put the ball in the basket consistently. If anything this has shown how valuable Granger really is to Indiana. I still expect the Pacers to make the playoffs, albeit with a lower seed, unless Danny’s mystery injection doesn’t work that is.

> Ten games into their season no club has been bitten by the injury bug harder than the Minnesota Timberwolves. Ricky Rubio (left ACL & MCL) has yet to play in a game, although he has started light practice work. Chase Budinger (left lateral meniscus) will miss 3-4 months and Brandon Roy (right knee) will miss a month. J.J. Barea (left foot) has missed 5 games and Nikola Pekovic (left ankle) 2 games. The good news is Kevin Love (right hand) was able to return in just under five weeks beating his initial prognosis of 6-8 weeks and put up 34 points and 14 rebounds in his first game back. The Wolves signed Josh Howard off the scrap heap on 11/15 to fill in for Budinger and Roy but otherwise they have managed nicely going 5-5 with a +0.5 PD. When/if this group gets fully healthy they are going to be proverbial “team no one wants to play” come the post season.

> San Antonio is having a bit of a crisis at the SF position. On 11/16 it was announced that an MRI on starter Kawhi Leonard showed quadriceps tendinitis in his left knee putting him out 10-14 days. Then on 11/19 backup turned starter Stephen Jackson fractured his right pinkie finger and will miss 4-6 weeks. So on 11/21 the Spurs resigned their 2010 first round pick James Anderson who had been playing in the D-League. Danny Green has moved over from starting SG to SF and Gary Neal has taken Green’s place at SG. I don’t expect this to affect SA’s bottom line that much but look for Anderson and rookie Nando de Colo to possibly get some chances to play backup minutes.

> On 11/17 Cleveland’s Kyrie Irving broke his left index finger and will miss at least a month. The Cavaliers (3-8 & -5.5 PD) aren’t very good with Kyrie and his 20.3 PER so things could get really ugly without him. Second year PG Jeremy Pargo looked great replacing Irving scoring 28 points on 11-19 shooting (4-8 from three) with 5 rebounds and 4 assists in 39 minutes while leading his side to their first win in seven games.

> On 11/13 we had our first in-season trade with Charlotte sending Matt Carroll to New Orleans in exchange for Hakim Warrick. Both guys were in their contract years and are barely regular rotation players anymore, so big picture this deal doesn’t mean much. Carroll was bought out and released by the Hornets on 11/20 and is free to sign with any team (Lakers?) he wants. With Tyrus Thomas (left leg) out for approximately two months the Bobcats are probably Warrick’s last chance to prove he’s an NBA player before Europe or China come calling.

> Sacramento’s DeMarcus Cousins was recently suspended for two games after confronting San Antonio color commentator Sean Elliott in a “hostile manner” after a Kings loss on 11/9. Elliott apparently got upset after Cousins yelled to no one in particular “I’m going to bust his [Tim Duncan] ass” after scoring on Duncan twice in a row and drawing a foul on Tim the very next possession. Then Elliott proceeded to drop these pearls of wisdom after Duncan blocked a DeMarcus shot:

“That’s why some humility is in order. You think you’re dominating Tim Duncan, you get it stuffed right back in your face. Timmy doesn’t like to talk trash. But if guys start talking mess to him, he’s going to respond. All that trash talking was premature. I’m not about to let these guys off the hook. Young ball club should learn from this. Don’t start talking and flapping your gums against one of the greatest players ever. He’s going to make you pay. Tell me who got the best of this exchange.”

I only bring this up because Elliott is one of the worst color guys in all of the NBA. Every call that goes against the Spurs is wrong and Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili regularly walk on water in his eyes. I think Elliott and others of his ilk like Boston’s Tom Heinsohn (he’s not even taken seriously by Celtic fans anymore), Portland’s Mike Rice (every referee has a conspiracy against the Blazers) and Denver’s Scott Hastings (he gets absolutely apoplectic at perceived missed calls against the Nuggets) tarnish their fan’s views on the NBA and their refs. So I applaud Boogie Cousins for doing what every non-SA fan that watches League Pass regularly has always wanted to do…except he forgot to punch Elliott in the mouth after blasting him for being a complete tool.

(This is part of a much larger column I’ve always wanted to write about every TV announcer in the NBA (good & bad) but never get around to typing.)

> The Miami Heat are rolling along at 9-3 with a +4.6 PD (6th best overall) but I’ve noticed something when watching them lately. They don’t play hard consistently anymore. Instead the defending champs tend to coast for three-and-a-half quarters before turning it on mid-way through the fourth. I can’t really blame them since they will likely be playing until late June again, but “flipping the switch” is a dangerous habit for any team to get into.

Shakeup in La-La Land!

On 11/9 the Los Angeles Lakers shocked the NBA world by firing Coach Mike Brown after only five games (he was 1-4).  Then in an equally stunning move they hired Mike D’Antoni to replace him right before midnight Pacific on 11/11 after flirting with Phil Jackson for two solid days.  In between all of this Devin Ebanks got a DUI, Steve Nash’s diagnosis for a non-displaced fracture of his lower left leg went from one week to four and Steve Blake (Nash’s replacement) aggravated a lower abdominal strain that he was trying to play through and will likely miss time too.  Phew, got all that?

At first Brown’s firing seemed a bit rash to me given that he only got 71 total games (42-29) in charge of the team over two seasons.  Then I read that Owner Jerry Buss learned a lesson with Paul Westhead; “When you’re ready to fire someone, don’t wait.”  So rather than give Brown the upcoming six game home stand to right the ship VP Jim Buss and GM Mitch Kupchak decided to drop the guillotine just prior to shoot around Friday morning.

While the timing gave me a little pause, truth be told I didn’t shed a tear for Mike Brown (never liked his hiring in the first place) on his way out of town, nor did many Laker fans in So Cal per my man on the street in LA.  Brown’s offense was as unimaginative for the Lakers as it was for the Cavaliers in Cleveland.  Instead of teammates standing around and watching LeBron James they now watched Kobe Bryant instead.  Brown also somehow managed to reduce Pau Gasol to a non-factor, which should be impossible given the Spaniard’s versatility.  This season was equally as bad if not worse with his ill-fated “Princeton Offense” ironically benefiting no one besides Gasol. 

Mike’s defense, his supposed calling card, was no better either.  In 2010-11, the season before he was hired, the Lakers allowed the sixth fewest points per possession in the NBA (defensive efficiency the stat geeks call this).  The Lakers ranked 13^th in the league last year and were 23^rd this season prior to Brown’s firing.  Over the last two seasons LA has also been the worst team in the league at forcing turnovers too.  Their 12.1 opponent turnover percentage during that span ranks dead last.  In ‘10-11 the Lakers held opponents to the fifth lowest field goal percentage within five feet of the basket and in each of the last two seasons that percentage has increased as well. 

However my biggest pet peeve with Brown were his inconsistent, and often illogical, substitution patterns and the way he doled out minutes.  I mean Kobe averaged 38.5 minutes a game last year and had nothing left for the playoffs.  He also chose to play Troy Murphy over Jordan Hill last season and Antawn “My Most Hated Laker” Jamison over Jodie Meeks this one.  I’m not sure the LA brain trust really fixed this problem but I’ll touch on that later.

After Brown’s ouster the speculation immediately focused on one Mr. Phil Jackson.  You know, the guy with eleven rings as a coach and who also happens to date the owner’s daughter.  Phil met with both Buss’ and Kupchak on Saturday with the understanding that he would have until Monday to give them his answer.  In that meeting Phil apparently asked for five things:

1. To be paid something in the neighborhood of 2-years/$20 million.

2. To have the ability to skip certain road games/trips.

3. To have final say on all personnel decisions.

4. To have the ability to name an Associate Head Coach that would eventually become his successor.

5. To have an equity stake in the franchise.

Contrary to most reports he did NOT ask for the moon, the stars and the sky as well.  Then with his agent Todd Musburger on a red-eye flight to LAX Sunday night Phil was instead woken from his sleep around midnight with a call from Kupchak saying they decided to go with D’Antoni.  As you can imagine this has turned into a round of Phil-said Mitch-said and I don’t really think Phil is crazy enough to think that any team would give him all five of those demands.  If he is, more power to him.  Rather I tend to agree with Yahoo’s Adrian Wojnarowski that the Zen Master grossly overplayed his hand in the initial negotiations and got burned because of it.

In D’Antoni the Lakers get someone who is very familiar with Steve Nash, has Kobe & Dwight Howard’s endorsement and will play the up tempo style that Dr. Buss has been pining for since the Showtime Era ended.  You can expect to see a steady diet of Nash/Howard pick-and-rolls with Bryant in the strong side corner and another 3-point shooter in the opposite corner.  That leaves only Gasol on the outside looking in when it comes to fit, and I expect to see him traded by the 2/21 deadline for a “stretch 4” and some more depth/athleticism on the wings.

D’Antoni’s price tag was much cheaper (3-years/$12 million) than Phil’s and Mike will be a “company man” when it comes to everything else but he’s by no means what I’d consider a perfect fit.  Mike D is known to utilize a VERY short rotation, often times going only seven players deep, relying on his starters to play heavy minutes and carry the load.  LA is far too old to succeed with this approach, but their bench is not exactly deep either, which will no doubt tempt D’Antoni to fall back to what he knows.  Then there’s the whole thing (verified by numerous sources) about Mike going weeks without working on, or even talking about, defense in practice.  While he’ll no doubt improve the offense to staggering levels of effiecency and entertainment, defense wins Championships and D’Antoni has never been past the Conference Finals.

As hard as it may be for some of you to believe neither Jackson nor D’Antoni were the top two names on my list.  Instead I preferred two old dogs that would have appreciated their opportunity and coached to their squad’s strengths rather than make the team fit their system (the triangle/7-seconds or less).  Both Jeff Van Gundy and Mike Fratello are defensive oriented guys whose teams consistently played slow half-court basketball.  They also both always tailored their offenses to their talent on hand.  JVG was my first choice just because I think everything he says about the Lakers on TV is dead on and he has the cache to command the player’s respect (well…maybe not Howard’s).  “The Czar” would have been out of left field for most pundits but he has all the same qualities as JVG minus being Stan’s brother.

In the end LA undoubtedly made the right decision to move on from Brown when they did and only time will tell if D’Antoni is really the man for the job.  Mike just had his left knee replaced on 11/1 and hasn’t been cleared for air travel yet so he may not be roaming the sidelines for another two weeks.  I don’t think the Laker side you see now is the one that will finish the season (sorry Pau…it’s been nice) so they are definitely still in the hunt.  Can they beat Miami though?  I have my doubts…

Deep Breathes...

> I saw four preseason and all three regular season games, and let me tell you, the Lakers have been AWFUL.  They are currently the worst team in the NBA (0-3) and have looked the part to a tee.  Much has been made about Coach Mike Brown using Assistant Eddie Jordan’s “Princeton” offense, and while it hasn’t been aesthetically pleasing, the stats aren’t that bad.  LA is shooting 49.8% from the field as a team (3^rd best in the NBA) while averaging 36 made shots per game and 20 assists, which is not a terrible ratio.  What is killing their offense though are turnovers where they are averaging 19.7 a game (2^nd worst) and an astounding 31.5% of their offensive possessions end in a turnover.  That just has to get better because it can’t get worse…right?

As bad as the offense has seemed it’s really the defense that has been atrocious.  The Lakers are allowing the opposition to shoot 47.6% from the field (5^th worst) and only forcing 12 turnovers a game (tied 2^nd worst).  ESPN’s John Hollinger goes into a lot of detail (insider) but my main take is: What gives Mike Brown?  This is supposed to be his calling card and something that could carry the team as they learned the offense and each other.  But instead it’s just a bunch of unathletic players that have no idea how to work together and rotate “on a string.”  I assume this phase of LA’s game will improve quite soon, but you never know.

My main beef with Brown though, and this is a carryover from last year that has not improved, is his substitution patterns and minute distribution.  In one breath he is preaching patience and in the next he is playing Kobe Bryant 43 minutes in the third game of the season because “We need a win, obviously.”  Huh?  After the game Bryant said his bruised right foot felt like it was “about to fall off” and Kobe asked the training staff for an immobilization boot.  Think about that for a second…if The Mamba asked for a boot he must be in real pain.  Then there’s Dwight Howard averaging 36.7 minutes on a recovering back and lawd only know how much Brown will burn out Steve Nash when he comes back from his broken left leg. 

Let me lay out what the Laker rotation should look like for my man Mike.  The first starters off the floor should be Howard and Nash and they should be replaced by Jordan Hill and Steve Blake.  Next off should be Bryant and Metta World Peace replaced by Jodie Meeks and Devin Ebanks.  Last off would then be Pau Gasol with Howard coming back in for him to end the 1^st & 3^rd and start the 2^nd & 4^th quarters.  Brown should bring back Kobe first, then MWP and then Nash & Gasol.  It really isn’t that hard to figure out and keep Nash’s minutes between 28-32, Bryant’s 30-34, Gasol’s 34-38 and Howard’s in the low 30s until he’s fully fit where it can then go up to high 30s.

You’ll notice I didn’t bring up the name Antawn Jamison and that’s because he’s “turrible.”  If he’s not scoring (which he’s not) he shouldn’t play, it’s just that simple.  He can’t defend anyone and brings nothing else to the table, yet Brown has this crazy idea that Jamison is somehow a SF which is completely asinine.  There is no way…NO WAY…’Tawn is a better option at backup SF than Ebanks…NONE.  Jamison can only play PF at this point in his career, and if Hill stinks I don’t have a problem giving ‘Tawn a chance there.  Just to go out on a positive note I really like Mike giving the nod to 21-year old Darius Morris over Chris Duhon at backup PG in Nash’s absence.

> What is really going on with Eric Gordon’s right knee in New Orleans?  According to GM Dell Demps and Coach Monty Williams there’s no structural damage and he’s missing games because “He probably does feel pain” per Williams.  This led to some bizarre quotes from Gordon this week stressing how his knee injury is legitimate and how he’s happy in the Crescent City.  This summer Eric signed a maximum contract offer with Phoenix and made it known publically that his preference was to be a Sun.  What wasn’t known at the time was that his knee really needed microfracture surgery and he didn’t want to have it done just prior to being a free agent.  If this is true, which I bet it is, that makes the Chris Paul deal one of the worst superstar trades ever.  Chris Kaman is already gone for nothing, Al-Farouq Aminu’s fourth year option wasn’t picked up so he’s likely to follow and Austin Rivers (7.60 PER) hasn’t looked ready for prime time.  Gordon just saw a specialist in Chicago who prescribed 4-6 weeks of rehab and strengthening work because…you know…that always fixes serious knee injuries.  I have a feeling this story isn’t going away until Eric finally agrees to the microfracture procedure.

> 10/31 was the deadline for 2009 draftees to sign contract extensions or become restricted free agents in the offseason and seven of them did.

Blake Griffin (Clippers) 5-years/$95 million (max) – Totally worth the money considering all the interest he attracts off the court.

James Harden (Houston) 5-years/$80 million (max) – I didn’t think he was a max player at first but I might have been wrong.

Ty Lawson (Denver) 4-years/$48 million – A very fair deal for both sides but I bet he would have received a max-offer this summer had he waited.

Stephen Curry (Golden State) 4-years/$44 million – He has produced (21.23 PER last season) but this is a bit of a gamble as the health of his right ankle always seems to be tenuous.

Jrue Holiday (Philadelphia) 4-years/$41 million – IF he realizes his upside this deal will be a steal but if he doesn’t approach a 20 PER over the life of the contract then the Sixers WAY overpaid for him.  I would have done 4-years/$32 million with salaries of $6/$7.5/$8.5/$10.

DeMar DeRozan (Toronto) 4-years/$40 million – This deal is BY FAR the biggest head scratcher.  I don’t think he’s even a $6 million a year player much less $10.  I would have certainly let the market set his value in the offseason.

Taj Gibson (Chicago) 4-years/$38 million – I’m not sure how his agent (Mark Bartelstein) let him sign this deal?  This is a total steal for the Bulls at $9.5 million per year.  I’m positive he would have received a max-offer this summer had he waited.  Instead he probably just extended Carlos Boozer’s career in the Windy City.

> Now that James Harden scored 82 points in his first two games as a Rocket, breaking Wilt Chamberlain’s previous record of 79 set in 1959 with the Philadelphia Warriors, can we all agree that he’s WAAAAAAY better than Kevin Martin?