Bynum Inching Closer to Return

[RedBlackAttack]

According to Akron Beacon Journal beat reporter Jason Lloyd, Mike Brown said Bynum has been practicing 5 on 5 full contact for over a week and he's now a "day to day situation."

[It's A VC3!!!]

I thought he was going to play against the Nets on Wednesday. Guess not. Should be an easy win then. Still can't sleep on the Cavs though.

[Meticode]

I thought he was going to play against the Nets on Wednesday. Guess not. Should be an easy win then. Still can't sleep on the Cavs though.

I was hoping not. If he is ready to play the last thing I want them to do is rush him back. Ideally to me I'd like him to be 95% healthy right now with the other 5% juts being in game shape and to ease him back into the game a couple minutes at a time.

[Meticode]

I thought he was going to play against the Nets on Wednesday. Guess not. Should be an easy win then. Still can't sleep on the Cavs though.

Damn...cocky as f*ck!

[It's A VC3!!!]

Damn...cocky as f*ck!

How am I cocky? First, I said "without Bynum" it should be an easy win which means that I respect the Cavs as a serious competitor "with" Bynum and two, I said "still can't sleep on the cavs".

I'm not saying that the Cavs are atrocious, they are a good team and a possible playoff team but I don't know if they can beat the Nets.

[Mr. Incredible]

If he can play this year, the Cavaliers will be tough to deal with on a nightly basis.

[Nero Tulip]

At this point when people mention Bynum I first think they're talking about Will.

[EllEffEll]

Deep down, I get the feeling he really doesn't love the game. Wouldn't surprise me if he hated it, but just can't turn down the money. After his suspect knees, his biggest issue lies between his ears. Damn shame. A motivated Bynum is top shelf quality. I would love to see what he could do if he was a total gym rat.

[RedBlackAttack]

Deep down, I get the feeling he really doesn't love the game. Wouldn't surprise me if he hated it, but just can't turn down the money. After his suspect knees, his biggest issue lies between his ears. Damn shame. A motivated Bynum is top shelf quality. I would love to see what he could do if he was a total gym rat.

It's all just hearsay at this point, but there have been rave reviews out of Cleveland all offseason about his progress and commitment. I would agree with your assessment about Bynum up to this point in his career. Since we haven't seen him on the floor yet in Cleveland, we really can't take that stigma away from him.

But, just his weight loss alone has been pretty noteworthy in the last few months. He looked like the stay puffed marshmellow man at his initial presser. He looked noticeably better during the team photos and, in his latest video/photos of his practices, he seems to be in pretty damn good shape all things considered.

[DukeDelonte13]

How am I cocky? First, I said "without Bynum" it should be an easy win which means that I respect the Cavs as a serious competitor "with" Bynum and two, I said "still can't sleep on the cavs".

I'm not saying that the Cavs are atrocious, they are a good team and a possible playoff team but I don't know if they can beat the Nets.

eh, they beat the celts their first game after Lebron dipped so i wouldn't be shocked if the cavs pulled it off. I wouldn't put money down on it though.

Deron will get his for sure. Cavs starters match up well against the nets starters for the most part.

Nets bench has the advantage.

[Nick Young]

Deep down, I get the feeling he really doesn't love the game. Wouldn't surprise me if he hated it, but just can't turn down the money. After his suspect knees, his biggest issue lies between his ears. Damn shame. A motivated Bynum is top shelf quality. I would love to see what he could do if he was a total gym rat.

This is truth. His dream was to be an engineer in highschool. He only started basketball like his second or third year due to a massive growth spurt. Too bad because he's obviously insanely talented, in terms of athleticism and the high level of skills he's developed in such a short time.

He is the most highly skilled center in the league IMO, much higher skilled then many centers who have been playing ball for their entire lives.

But yeah, Im pretty sure he worked hard, got the fat near max contract, and then stopped caring, because his hearts not really in it. He obviously had to work hard to develop such a diverse and effective offensive game in such a relatively short amount of time.

Too bad. Hope he proves me wrong because he's one of my favorite players to watch in the league in the post.

[toneloc103]

I thought he was going to play against the Nets on Wednesday. Guess not. Should be an easy win then. Still can't sleep on the Cavs though.

This cat... I am still not sure about all the hype with the Nets. It aint like Garnett and Pierce got younger. Deron always breaks down, and so has JJ in these past few years. If all those cats were prime, I would understand but these fellas are all old, toothless lions. They might start the season fast, but I dont see them maintaining.

[Nick Young]

This cat... I am still not sure about all the hype with the Nets. It aint like Garnett and Pierce got younger. Deron always breaks down, and so has JJ in these past few years. If all those cats were prime, I would understand but these fellas are all old, toothless lions. They might start the season fast, but I dont see them maintaining.

Nets are an elephants graveyard, Deron is one of those elephants who became an elephant prematurely.

[LA_Showtime]

Deep down, I get the feeling he really doesn't love the game. Wouldn't surprise me if he hated it, but just can't turn down the money. After his suspect knees, his biggest issue lies between his ears. Damn shame. A motivated Bynum is top shelf quality. I would love to see what he could do if he was a total gym rat.

Bynum is a total gym rat. Did you not see how raw he was coming out of high school? Have you not seen him come back from countless knee surgeries? You don't dramatically change your body, improve your game, and come back from multiple surgeries if you aren't a gym rat, period. At this point it just seems like Bynum understands his body might not hold up, and he's at peace with it.

[RedBlackAttack]

This cat... I am still not sure about all the hype with the Nets. It aint like Garnett and Pierce got younger. Deron always breaks down, and so has JJ in these past few years. If all those cats were prime, I would understand but these fellas are all old, toothless lions. They might start the season fast, but I dont see them maintaining.

What the Nets should do is sit back and relax in the regular season. They really just need to coast into the playoffs and not worry about getting the highest seed possible. I think holding back PP and KG enough so that they're fresh while still building some chemistry with their new teammates is the way to go.

That's why I don't think they're going to be a juggernaut in the regular season. At least, if they're smart they won't try to be one.

If they took this route, I think they could cause some real problems for teams in the playoffs. If they go for a Top 3 seed in the East, they're not going to have much left.


Anyway, this is a conversation for another thread I guess.