The Sports Rotation

It's amazing the firestorm of reaction the Lakers signing of Ron Artest has created. Sports writers in LA are already talking about Artest being a chemistry killer and the supposed friction that exist between him and Kobe (which could be further from the truth, considering they are both good friends).

Click to read more ...

Isn't it funny what a difference a few weeks makes.  A few weeks ago, the Denver Nuggets were an up and coming talented team with a dynamic scorer in Carmelo Anthony and a proven floor leader in Chauncey Billups that could look at the 2009 offseason as time to mature.  A roster that someday could compete for an NBA championship.  A few weeks ago

Click to read more ...

Andrew Bynum was supposed to be the X factor this year. His presence alone was going to elevate the Lakers against the Boston Celtics (who was the lone pic to represent the East in the playoffs). It would also serve the purpose of justifying giving a young player with his limited playing time (due to injury, which is never good for a big man) such a lucrative contract in the range of $58 million.

Click to read more ...

It was just 3 days ago that Greg Oden scored "career highs" ( a statement that means little in his first year of play) with 24 points and 15 rebounds in Portland's win over Milwaukee.  I'm sure stats mongers joined Portland fans declaring this to be Oden's coming out party.  But stats don't always tell the full story, especially considering that while Oden controlled and dominated the paint, he did it against the likes of Dan Gadzuric...hardly an intimidating foe.  So one should be little surprised that Oden had such a monster game. In fact if you go back and look at Oden and the teams he has fared well against (the Warriors, Bulls, Clippers, and just recently the Bucks) you'll see that they were games against teams that feature small lineups, or were missing their low post man, as was the case in Milwaukee who was without Andrew Bogut.

Now Andrew Bynum is the "Center of Attention" because by all accounts he had the game of his life...well, actually of most NBA players lives.  While 42 points is nothing to point your nose up in the air about, the Clippers were without Chris Kaman, Zach Randolph, and arguably their best defensive player in Marcus Camby.  And as impressive as Bynum was in taking the scoring load off Kobe Bryant, who is battling a dislocated finger on his shooting hand, Bynum has been somewhat disappointing (his points and rebounds are down from last year) in what many expected to be his break out year.  And that is especially telling with the amount of injuries that the Lakers have suffered and the fact that Bynum was considered the inside low post threat that they were lacking vs the Celtics.

But that's what NBA fans get when looking for the next great big man.  It's not like looking at guards or wing players and projecting their potential greatness.  Their have been a glut of special players who play those positions.  You knew when Dwayne Wade started hitting game winners, and when Lebron James got better with his outside shot that they were going to be stars. But there have been maybe, at best, 6 great centers, all of them dominating early in their careers, and more importantly all of them healthy.  And just when you think Oden might be catching fire, he puts up 10 poimts against Ben Wallace and fouls out.  Looking for Bynum to go on a tear?  He'll cool as soon as Kobe's finger heals.  And until these big men stay healthy we won't ever really know.