- Chris Kaman continues to feel frustrated by the inconsistent playing time he is receiving, from Bill Oram of The OC Register: “Frustrated Chris Kaman on ankle/9 minutes: “You play pretty decent the game before, it’s like there’s no benefit. Throw it out the window.”
- Something is not right with Xavier Henry’s lateral meniscus. He looks to be re-evaluated within the next two weeks, according to Eric Pincus of Los Angeles Times: “Xavier Henry diagnosed with a bone bruise and “abnormality of lateral meniscus” by Dr. Steve Lombardo – to be re-evaluated in 7-10 days.”
Kevin Ding of Bleacher Report ripped Pau Gasol for sitting out games with a cold and not having the proper drive to win: “Pau Gasol has missed three of the past five games with an “upper respiratory infection.” That’s the nonspecific term generally associated with the common cold, minor viruses or bacteria. In any case, the glorified sniffles diagnosed by a doctor have caused Gasol to be so physically devastated that he has missed games over a span of—wait for it—nine days. He missed the Los Angeles Lakers’ Dec. 21 loss to the Golden State Warriors. He missed the Lakers’ Sunday night loss to the Philadelphia 76ers. And he’s missing the drive to compete, much less the will to win.”
Eric Bledsoe admits that moving away from the Los Angeles Clippers was the best thing for his career, from Ramona Shelburne of ESPN: “I didn’t want to leave, but it was one of those situations where it was probably for the best,” Bledsoe said. “I wasn’t going to play in front of Chris. I knew that. He’s an All-Star. He’s achieved every goal. He’s a winner. I could’ve played alongside Chris. But at the end of the day I wanted a chance to run my own team.”… “I was trying to do so much in the little time I had,” Bledsoe said of his first three years in the league. “Some plays I’d try to do too much. Now I get to just play.”
Mike Brown may be looking to play Anthony Bennett a little more, according to Jason Lloyd of Beacon Journal: “The Cavs are committing significant minutes to Bennett moving forward, which is why Mike Brown acknowledged Sunday that he needs to give Bennett time to play through inevitable mistakes. “I have to continue trying to have patience with him,” Brown said. “This is an opportunity for him to go out and play some minutes and show what he’s capable of doing.”… “I’m still clueless about this whole thing,” Bennett said. “I’m still trying to learn a lot. I can still learn from my teammates, from the coaching staff, watching film. I just feel like this whole league is all about learning, just going out and playing.”
According to Marc Stein of ESPN, the Los Angeles Lakers engaged in talks with the Brooklyn Nets for a trade involving Pau Gasol and Brook Lopez: “Pau Gasol for Brook Lopez? It would seem, on the surface, that merely posing such a question is a moot point given that Lopez is out for the season after re-breaking his troublesome right foot. Beneath the surface, though, there are at least two reasons to address it here: 1. Sources with knowledge of the discussions told ESPN.com that the Lakers did indeed engage the Nets earlier this month in some exploratory talks to see if Brooklyn had interest in such a swap. Sources say that the Nets balked at the idea when it was presented before Lopez’s injury, but it’s still noteworthy if it happened.”
Josh Smith is unhappy with Mo Cheeks’ decision to bench him to start the third quarter against the Washington Wizards, from Vince Ellis of Detroit Free Press: “I live to play this basketball game,” Smith said in the Verizon Center visitor’s locker room. “It’s an honor for me to play it. When anybody challenges or anything about the fact about me not wanting to play I take real offense to it… “I mean it’s unfair because as I told you before I play this game hard each and every day,” Smith said. “When I younger I would play this game for free year round. This is what I love to do so why wouldn’t I want to come out here and try to put my best foot forward every time I step out on the court.”
James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. You can find him on twitter @SheridanBlog.
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Kobe Bryant may get all the media attention, but easily the biggest injury so far this season (depending on whether Rose makes a full comeback) wasn’t even mentioned. That is the 3rd fracture, in the same area of the right 5th metatarsal, to Brook Lopez – the best offensive Center in the NBA, with his defense improving now that he had been healthy.
No matter what the Nets record was, they had (and still have) a chance to finish forth in the East, and would have been a feared team in the playoffs if Kirilenko were to return with Brook, DWill, Pierce, Blatche and Joe Johnson (KG, may he RIP).
I’m still waiting to find out if the reason for the past 2 fractures was a result of the Screw placed in Brook’s foot, to promote quicker healing. This past summer, the original screw was found to be bent, but the larger screw they replaced it with may have been the culprit this time. Hopefully we will find out after the Jan. 4 surgery, whether there are plans for Lopez to resume his career in less than 1 year (he would be just age 26 then), without the aid of any screws.
Never thought KG would look so done after what he did last season. Pretty shocking.
KG looks Weak more than anything; doesn’t want to push people around. Its a challenge for him to be able to get easy buckets inside.
Its what I would expect with someone recovering from Mono (as happened to Brook 2 years ago).
Pierce has been playing with injuries (still has a broken hand), but its mostly less quickness, on defense, where PP has hurt Nets.