(Ron Ron and Gasol Update) Bynum Fires Back At Amare

[omerome]

Sometimes things shouldn't be said and in this case, Amar'e (even if he's right) shouldn't of said it.

BUT...Bynum is the pot to Amar'e's kettle.

[Deeeez Knicks]

Hopefully this motivates Amare for the playoffs.

[I_Love_NYK]

Meh, they can say what they want but theres no way Pau or Bynum could carry a franchise like Amare was at the beginning of our season.

Wow seriously, I think you might have forgotten what Pau Gasol did in Memphis in the West with a team where Mike Miller is your 2nd best player.

2002-2003 50 wins
2003-2004 45 wins
2004-2005 49 wins

Bynum on the other hand should not be the one to talk, however Pau Gasol is not someone who would reply back to the media.

[j4remi]

A) Bynum does have a point...Amare doesn't play defense. He isn't soft though. When has he backed down when a play tried to assert their will? He doesn't shy from physical play unless he's in foul trouble to be honest. He's just a bad defender.

B) Bynum needs to play a full season before making any comments. Especially after the load Amare shouldered this year. Unlike the Lakers, Amare didn't have two 7 footers taking away attention and making the physical toll easier to handle. Amare played out of position against bigger players and managed to stay on the court. So Bynum gets a big STFU.

C) Pau is a finesse player, I wouldn't call him soft any more. He was soft in Memphis and even in that first post season with Kobe but I think it woke him up when they lost. He's a tougher player now...but I'd like to see how he plays in the playoffs without Bynum doing the dirty work. I'd love to see him matched up with a healthy Perkins for a 7 game series and I know KG would LOVE to battle Pau.

D) We don't want to match-up with the Lakers for 7 games...however unlikely it may be...That's one team where the trash talk won't do us any favors and they have so much size we'd be overwhelmed fast.

[j4remi]

Meh, they can say what they want but theres no way Pau or Bynum could carry a franchise like Amare was at the beginning of our season.

Wow seriously, I think you might have forgotten what Pau Gasol did in Memphis in the West with a team where Mike Miller is your 2nd best player.

2002-2003 50 wins
2003-2004 45 wins
2004-2005 49 wins

Bynum on the other hand should not be the one to talk, however Pau Gasol is not someone who would reply back to the media.

Let's not exaggerate about how bad those teams were. They had Bonzi Wells when he was still a pretty good player, Shane Battier before we appreciated his intangibles and Jason Williams when he was praised as White Chocolate.

[thehandler3]

I personally felt Pau shed the soft label a few years ago with his play against Orlando. Those guys living in the past talking about what KG did to Pau two years ago need to stop living in the past. Pau ATE KG last year in the finals. Look at the numbers in the finals last year. He played like a man down low and I felt should have won MVP over Kobe. I wish Amare wouldn't get in these petty war of words he gets into sometimes like last year against Odom (saying he had a lucky game after he grabbed like 18 rebounds against him). Pau has two rings and was a big factor in winning both of those rings. We're trying to get to that level and with Amare's defense or lack there of, I have no problem with Bynum defending his boy.

[I_Love_NYK]

Pau outplayed KG last year in the Finals so he did get his revenge and shed his soft label. All in all Amar'e should take Bynum's comments as a challenge and not as another reason to fire back at Bynum.

[thehandler3]

Meh, they can say what they want but theres no way Pau or Bynum could carry a franchise like Amare was at the beginning of our season.

Wow seriously, I think you might have forgotten what Pau Gasol did in Memphis in the West with a team where Mike Miller is your 2nd best player.

2002-2003 50 wins
2003-2004 45 wins
2004-2005 49 wins

Bynum on the other hand should not be the one to talk, however Pau Gasol is not someone who would reply back to the media.

Let's not exaggerate about how bad those teams were. They had Bonzi Wells when he was still a pretty good player, Shane Battier before we appreciated his intangibles and Jason Williams when he was praised as White Chocolate.

Amare is a better player in my opinion but let's be fair. Those Grizzlies teams were not very good (I mean seriously your bring Wells and Battier as there best players?) Pau was the sole reason why those teams sniffed the playoffs. Yeah they didnt do anything but for the sake of fainess, Amare had a similar team (probably even better team) this year before the trade and we would have most likely been bounced out the first round just like Pau in an inferior conference to how good the West was back then.

[MaseInYourFace]

I would like to see Amar'es original quote but in my personal opinion Pau isn't soft. I've seen him bang and take hard fouls plenty of times. He doesn't shy away from contact in the playoffs. Now during the season it's another story. But He wouldn't be the first nor thte last player that shies away from contact or "paces" himself during the season.

[TKF]

not sure about a few 50 win seasons, I think they won like 45 games the year the went to the playoffs, and lost to Amare's suns... go figure...

He had seasons of 50 and 49 wins. Amare hasn't had any more success carrying a team than Pau has.

I would say look at the suns and their 60+ wins, but I am sure you are going to give nash credit for that...

[j4remi]

Let's not exaggerate about how bad those teams were. They had Bonzi Wells when he was still a pretty good player, Shane Battier before we appreciated his intangibles and Jason Williams when he was praised as White Chocolate.

Amare is a better player in my opinion but let's be fair. Those Grizzlies teams were not very good (I mean seriously your bring Wells and Battier as there best players?) Pau was the sole reason why those teams sniffed the playoffs. Yeah they didnt do anything but for the sake of fainess, Amare had a similar team (probably even better team) this year before the trade and we would have most likely been bounced out the first round just like Pau in an inferior conference to how good the West was back then.

The problem is a lot of cats on the boards forget how good those cats were thought to be. Battier is the perfect glue player but when it suits the conversation, he's nothing. Wells was always a good scorer and contributed to those teams whether you want to acknowledge it or not. They had a good passing PG in J-Will and on top of that Mike Miller playing some of his best ball. Like I said, those teams weren't completely awful. It's not that Pau was on a world beater team, but he had plenty of pieces around him helping out and contributing. Just being honest here, his team was solid.

[TKF]

it is really funny how guys throw out the championship stuff when there is no other defense.. I mean, fisher, ariza, even the bums that ride the bench have rings.. come on bynum, this clown can't even play a full season.. pau is soft, plain and simple..

I disagree with this premise..it basically assumes that the value of Derek Fisher and Adam Morrison's rings are equal to Pau's rings. Pau was maybe the most important reason for 2 LA titles. I hate to admit that, but it's true. It's a guy who was the main interior defensive cog and the second offensive option.

I would say fisher is as important to that team as pau, especially if bynum is healthy... so it is all how you look at it.. As far as a main defensive cog.. please, if not for bynum, the lakers have no advantage over the celtics or magic in the middle..

[I_Love_NYK]

Regardless of the supporting cast Memphis had when Pau Gasol was there. Amar'e should not be calling anyone soft when he himself is soft on defense.

[TKF]

it is really funny how guys throw out the championship stuff when there is no other defense.. I mean, fisher, ariza, even the bums that ride the bench have rings.. come on bynum, this clown can't even play a full season.. pau is soft, plain and simple..

I disagree with this premise..it basically assumes that the value of Derek Fisher and Adam Morrison's rings are equal to Pau's rings. Pau was maybe the most important reason for 2 LA titles. I hate to admit that, but it's true. It's a guy who was the main interior defensive cog and the second offensive option.

Pau Gasol is no "main interior defensive cog".

It's funny that no one remembers but it was well known that the best way to get Gasol off his game while he was in Memphis was to hit him and play him physical early in the game.

Whether Stoudemire should have shut up or not is a whole other story but Gasol is no "stalwart" defensively nor a physical player by any means.

exactly, plus amare was asked about a quote about pau.. the quote was not originally from amare.. He agreed that pau is soft, but also said that he is a good player.. everyone skips that part and is ready to jump on amare.... the truth is pau is tissue paper soft.. his brother is a more physical player than he is by a mile...

[MaseInYourFace]

The big advantage Lakers have is that big ro they have of Bynum, Odom and Pau. It's not really fair to give all the credit to just Pau there. The only team really messing with that was the Celtics. It's the reason OKC got Perk. Look at what they have now to possibly go up against the Lakers, Ibaka, Perk, and Nazr.

[NYK0605]

At least Bynum knows how to rebound.

[thehandler3]

Let's not exaggerate about how bad those teams were. They had Bonzi Wells when he was still a pretty good player, Shane Battier before we appreciated his intangibles and Jason Williams when he was praised as White Chocolate.

Amare is a better player in my opinion but let's be fair. Those Grizzlies teams were not very good (I mean seriously your bring Wells and Battier as there best players?) Pau was the sole reason why those teams sniffed the playoffs. Yeah they didnt do anything but for the sake of fainess, Amare had a similar team (probably even better team) this year before the trade and we would have most likely been bounced out the first round just like Pau in an inferior conference to how good the West was back then.

The problem is a lot of cats on the boards forget how good those cats were thought to be. Battier is the perfect glue player but when it suits the conversation, he's nothing. Wells was always a good scorer and contributed to those teams whether you want to acknowledge it or not. They had a good passing PG in J-Will and on top of that Mike Miller playing some of his best ball. Like I said, those teams weren't completely awful. It's not that Pau was on a world beater team, but he had plenty of pieces around him helping out and contributing. Just being honest here, his team was solid.

I remember those guys. They weren't bad players, Wells was a decent scorer and Battier was coming into his own but for example in 2006 they had CHUCKY ATKINS STARTING at PG. An old Eddie Jones was their third leading scorer and was their second leading scorer in the playoffs. Miller was playing good ball but he was still only a 13 point scorer and was second on their team. J-Will had turned down the white-chocolate act by then but was an average to above average PG at the time. Those teams weren't very good. The only reason they made the playoffs was because of Pau.

[j4remi]

I remember those guys. They weren't bad players, Wells was a decent scorer and Battier was coming into his own but for example in 2006 they had CHUCKY ATKINS STARTING at PG. An old Eddie Jones was their third leading scorer and was their second leading scorer in the playoffs. Miller was playing good ball but he was still only a 13 point scorer and was second on their team. J-Will had turned down the white-chocolate act by then but was an average to above average PG at the time. Those teams weren't very good. The only reason they made the playoffs was because of Pau.

See but that's all I'm saying. They weren't bad players. They were better than most of KG's Minne teams. They were better than Paul Pierce's C's for the most part. It's a bit of revision to act like those teams were god awful. They weren't bad, they just weren't clearly good either. I didn't realize Chucky Atkins started in '06 though...I thought they got Mighty Mouse sans White Chocolate...or was that before?

[thehandler3]

Pau Gasol is no "main interior defensive cog".

It's funny that no one remembers but it was well known that the best way to get Gasol off his game while he was in Memphis was to hit him and play him physical early in the game.

Whether Stoudemire should have shut up or not is a whole other story but Gasol is no "stalwart" defensively nor a physical player by any means.

exactly, plus amare was asked about a quote about pau.. the quote was not originally from amare.. He agreed that pau is soft, but also said that he is a good player.. everyone skips that part and is ready to jump on amare.... the truth is pau is tissue paper soft.. his brother is a more physical player than he is by a mile...

Gasol is a WAY better defender than Amare, its not even close. He's not as easily physically imposed in the post like Amare is. You guys saying Pau is soft are living in the past. Did you watch the finals last year? In a lot of those games, particularly game 7, Bynum played virtuall no minutes in the second half and Gasol was left as the sole big man and did a damn good job. He had 18 rebounds in the deciding game. He's not one to be easily pushed around and doesn't shy away from contact anymore. If this was two years ago, I would agree with you guys but Pau earned my respect the last two seasons.

[thehandler3]

I remember those guys. They weren't bad players, Wells was a decent scorer and Battier was coming into his own but for example in 2006 they had CHUCKY ATKINS STARTING at PG. An old Eddie Jones was their third leading scorer and was their second leading scorer in the playoffs. Miller was playing good ball but he was still only a 13 point scorer and was second on their team. J-Will had turned down the white-chocolate act by then but was an average to above average PG at the time. Those teams weren't very good. The only reason they made the playoffs was because of Pau.

See but that's all I'm saying. They weren't bad players. They were better than most of KG's Minne teams. They were better than Paul Pierce's C's for the most part. It's a bit of revision to act like those teams were god awful. They weren't bad, they just weren't clearly good either. I didn't realize Chucky Atkins started in '06 though...I thought they got Mighty Mouse sans White Chocolate...or was that before?

Mighty Mouse played like 27 games that year and didn't play in the playoffs, I guess he got hurt. Bobby Jackson was the backup. Regardless we'll agree to disagree on how good those guys were. I mean if Mike Miller/Bonzi Wells are your second options, your not winning jack in the playoffs. Lorenzon Wright was playing Center. I mean these guys weren't terrible at the time but that roster flat out isn't getting it done in the playoffs which is why I dont understand why Pau got so much crap for those teams failing. They went up against Dallas when they went to the Finals and San Antonio twice. What was he supposed to do with those guys as his supporting cast.