He had his troubles with Philadelphia, but Evan Turner said Andrew Bynum impressed: “”He looked like the best big on one leg,” former Ohio State star and Sixers starting small forward Evan Turner said. “He was obviously talented, obviously really smart. I could see why all the hype about him is what it is. He was cool when he was around. I always thought he was a pretty nice guy. “He just had rough luck. You know what I’m saying? That’s a big human. I always said about him and [former Ohio State star Greg Oden, whose career has been derailed by injuries] people aren’t meant to be that big. Obviously if it wasn’t for injuries, I think they’d already be sliding [Bynum’s] name into the Hall of Fame right now. He’s that good.” Turner said he felt bad for Bynum and Oden and players like them who can’t play for reasons out of their control. “That’s horrible, especially when you’re stopped from playing the game you love,” Bynum said. “It’s really not his fault. That’s how it goes. I definitely feel bad because obviously there’s so much more he can really do. Obviously people are going to remember Andrew Bynum, but the injuries kind of plague it a little bit.””
Despite early season struggles, the Knicks do not plan on making a roster move: “”We’re going to stay where we are,” Woodson said, adding, “right now bigs, they’re scarce. It’s hard to find them. If you guys know of any let me know because they’re hard to find. They really are.” The Knicks will turn to Andrea Bargnani, Kenyon Martin, Amar’e Stoudemire andCole Aldrich to fill the void left by Chandler, who will be out 4-6 weeks with a fracture in his leg. Of course, if things don’t go well, the New York brain trust could change its mind. We detailed what the Knicks may be in store for with Bargnani at center here. Both Martin and Stoudemire are on minutes restrictions. The medical staff has recommended the minutes restrictions to help Stoudemire and Martin remain healthy over the course of the season. Woodson hopes that Stoudemire, who has been limited to 10 minutes, can play 15 on Friday. He hopes that Martin can play 17-18 minutes against the Bobcats. The 35-year-old power forward played 18 minutes on Tuesday against Charlotte. Woodson said that Aldrich, who has not played in the Knicks’ first four games, could be in the rotation against the Bobcats. “We got to figure out how to get a win tonight,” the coach said.”
LeBron says he has been battling back pain for weeks: “James has been dealing with lower back soreness for a couple of weeks, which explains why the NBA’s four-time MVP has said multiple times in the early going of this season that he’s working his way to 100 percent. He revealed specifics about the issue Thursday night after scoring 18 points to help the Miami Heat top the Los Angeles Clippers, 102-97. ”I’ve had a history of it, but I always keep a good eye on it so I should be all right,” James said. ”It ain’t a great feeling, I’ll tell you that – especially at nighttime when you’re trying to sleep.” James has worn heat packs to keep his back loose at times through Miami’s first six games, and this is not the first time that he’s dealt with back problems early in a season. He began applying the heat packs after diving for a loose ball in the first quarter of the win over the Clippers, on a play where he got off the court shaking his left hand.”
One of the few rookies who has stood out this season has been Victor Oladipo: “However, the newfound attention and respect hasn’t changed his mentality. He still views himself as an underdog who is determined to silence all of his doubters. In addition to Oladipo’s physical gifts and intangibles, he has an unwavering competitive nature and strong work ethic. He wants to be great, and won’t be satisfied with anything less. “I think I’ve done pretty well, but I still got a lot of work to do,” Oladipo told HOOPSWORLD. “Greatness doesn’t come overnight, so I just have to keep working. … I still have a lot to work on. I just have to keep reading and learning how people are playing me. I’ve learned a lot. A lot. Now, I’m just trying to continue learning every day, keeping an open mind and open spirit and trying to enjoy it along the way.” Oladipo has excelled against NBA competition at every turn. He shined during pre-draft workouts, which catapulted him up draft boards. During the Orlando Summer League, Oladipo was impressive while playing both guard positions, averaging 19 points, 4.3 rebounds, five assists and three steals. In eight preseason games, Oladipo averaged 13.8 points, 5.6 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 1.6 steals. Now, he has followed up his strong exhibition performances with excellent play in the regular season. Through five games, Oladipo has averaged 13.2 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.6 assists, 1.8 steals and nearly one block in just 27 minutes off of the bench.”
The Los Angeles Clippers have not made Charles Barkley a believer: “”They’ve got the toughness of a flea and the toughest guy on their team is 5-7,” said Barkley, referring to Chris Paul, who is actually listed at 6 feet. “They are soft and they’re only going to go as far as Blake [Griffin] and DeAndre [Jordan] take them.” Barkley wasn’t done. Numerous basketball pundits have said the Clippers are a championship-caliber team because Doc Rivers is their coach, Paul is one of the NBA’s best point guards and because their roster is loaded with talent. What does Barkley think about the Clippers’ chances of winning an NBA title this season? “The Clippers can’t win a championship,” Barkley said on the telecast. “I know that already after [six] games. They don’t have a half-court game. Miami took the ball out of Chris Paul’s hands and [the Clippers] had no idea how to get a basket.””
The Pacers may have locked up Paul George, but now they have to worry about Lance Stephenson: “Stephenson wants to stay with the Pacers, and his wish could very well come true. Although the Pacers have roughly $60 million in salary committed for the 2014-15 season —including huge contracts belonging to Paul George and Roy Hibbert — when Stephenson hits the open market, Indiana can theoretically offer him a deal up to five years while still avoiding the NBA luxury tax. “I wouldn’t want to leave a good team like this. I definitely would love to come back,” Stephenson said. “I just love the city. I love the team. I love who I play with and I feel like we’re a young group and I think we should stick together.””
While Bobcats’ coach Steve Clifford has heart procedure, Patrick Ewing gets his chance: “”It’s definitely not the way I wanted to start my head coaching career with him being in the hospital,” Ewing said before the game. Ewing said he spoke with Clifford on Friday and he’s optimistic that Clifford will be out of the hospital shortly. “He sounded good, cracking jokes, trying to calm me down. He’s ready to get out,” Ewing said. Clifford is the second coach in the four major sports to be hospitalized in recent days. Denver Broncos coach John Fox was admitted with chest pains last week after experiencing pain on the golf course. “I just think sports, coaching in general, playing, physically you’ve got to try to keep up,” Knicks coach Mike Woodson said. “When stuff like that happens it scares me because I’ve seen it on the players side when I lost a player (Atlanta’s Jason Collier) due to a heart attack. That’s tough.””
Ben Baroff is a basketball journalist who blogs for SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
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