When the New York Knicks acquired Andrea Bargnani from the Toronto Raptors over the summer, plenty around the league questioned the move. The former No. 1 overall pick has built a reputation over the years as a “soft” big who can’t rebound, defensively unreliable and isn’t efficient enough on offense – all things that the Knicks actually needed to improve on from last season. So when all these things appeared to be true through his first four games of the season –
When a player suffers a devastating injury or has a debilitating condition, one of two things usually happen: he works his way back and comes back stronger than ever, or shows that he is no longer the player he once was. There are different ways of going about such situations. When you look at a guy like Amare Stoudemire, whose troublesome knees seem to require surgery every time he seems ready to get back into the swing of things, he finds
When a contender like the Houston Rockets are hosting a Los Angeles Lakers team at home without Kobe Bryant, you expect them to walk away with an easy win. That should especially be the case when the Lakers’ two best players – Steve Nash and Pau Gasol – look like a very old shell of themselves. Instead, Houston allowed the Lakers to get out to a 36-19 lead in the first quarter and had to play catch-up for most of the
We’ve heard plenty about the issues Dwight Howard had with Kobe Bryant over the summer, and why he wasn’t happy playing with the demanding superstar. With the center back in town to face the Los Angeles Lakers – he already heard plenty of boos while playing in Staples Center against the Los Angeles Clippers this past Monday – perhaps it’s finally time to close this chapter of his story for good, for both himself and everyone else around the league. STORY
When it comes to a discussion involving the Defensive Player of the Year award, no one gets more excited than Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert. Many around the league believed that Hibbert was one of the best – if not the best – defensive centers in the league last season. His 2.6 blocks were good for fourth best in the league, but blocking shots was far from the only thing he did as the defensive anchor of the team. His ability
With Kobe Bryant out for the foreseeable future, Pau Gasol was supposed to be the No. 1 option for the Los Angeles Lakers to begin the season. Many wondered if the center would recapture his once-dominant form in a wide-open Mike D’Antoni offense. Thus far, the results have been spotty. Gasol’s work on the glass has been there through the first five games, averaging an impressive 10.4 rebounds in just 27 minutes of play. The ability to score has been another story,
There have been some real surprising early returns to begin the season, starting with Andrew Bynum and Russell Westbrook. No one expected the center back any time soon, and Westbrook was supposed to be out for at least the first month of the season. Or was he? See what the point guard had to say about the timetable for his return, how Bynum’s knees have been feeling since his return, what LeBron James is set to accomplish and more below. STORY
The Cleveland Cavaliers have been in a funk since the departure of LeBron James and haven’t been close to sniffing the playoffs over the past three seasons. With emerging star Kyrie Irving leading the way, though, they are looking to change that pattern this season. They’re also hoping Andrew Bynum will eventually come around to becoming a full-time starter for them to form a dangerous tandem between the point guard and the center. Things have looked reasonable so far, as