Empty the Bench

- Lakers’ youngster Andrew Bynum, playing in his third NBA season already and still just 20-years-old, must be at least somewhat devastated by the the injury to his left knee that’ll keep him out for about 2 months. It’s important for this franchise center to keep it all in perspective, though, and realize that these things happen and that it’s not as serious as, say, what happened to Shaun Livingston last year. Detroit Pistons rookie guard Rodney Stuckey was also sidelined for 8 weeks this season, and his positive outlook during those dog days of rehab is one Bynum would also be well served to adopt (under the “Ahead of Schedule” subhead).

- With so many teams in flux–some wildly underachieving, others surprisingly in the market for added depth as they fight for a playoff berth–TrueHoop’s Henry Abbott looks at ten teams he feels are most likely to make a move as the February 21 trade deadline lurks just off in the distance.

- Fantastic column (as they usually are) today from Yahoo!’s Adrian Wojnarowski, who finds somewhat of a light amidst the darkness of the Chicago Bulls’ disappointing 14-21 season. Surprisingly, Wojnarowski points to the recent player-induced suspension of unprofessional rookie Joakim Noah as a strong sign that, perhaps, this team is finally finding some leadership they can buy into–it starts within themselves, and is supported by interim coach Jim Boylan.

- For once, the New York Knickerbockers made headlines recently for something other than sexual harassment, team brass berating fans, season-ticket holder protests, or just plain sucking. My radiant girlfriend and I were on hand at the Garden to see my beloved Detroit Pistons embarass themselves on Sunday to the tune of an improbable 89-65 ass-whooping, a game that brought out all the pent-up frustration from the Knicks fans surrounding us (”Hermann, you SUCK!” “New York Giants!” “Cowboys SUCK!”). As Chauncey Billups later said, they “couldn’t throw a rock in the ocean.” Nobody on this team made excuses, but NBAstuffer.com took the opportunity to look at team’s records in the last game of at least a three-game road trip. He found that in such scenarios, teams have a collective 19-37 record, so maybe Zeke shouldn’t take too much credit for that win, eh?

- Yeah, I was wondering about this as well.

- Even the most casual of NBA observers know that Shaquille O’Neal is a fattened shadow of his former self this season, and that by no circumstances has he turned in anything close to an All-Star caliber season. Everyone, that is, except his coach, Pat Riley, who yesterday made a rather befuddling plea for the media to help ensure O’Neal’s streak of always making the Midseason Classic stays intact. As my ETB cohort Andrew said today, “there are so many things wrong [with Riley’s comments], it’s hard to even explain.”

“Obviously, Howard is head and shoulders, numbers-wise and everything, above everybody else,” Heat coach Pat Riley said. “But this is a media thing, that if there was enough compassionate media members who wanted to do that, see him in, they could get a groundswell of support for the coaches to vote him on. I think he deserves it. After all, it’s what the All-Star Game is all about. I would support that.”

Actually, no, Pat, that’s not what’s it’s about–the All-Star game is about rewarding those players having above-average campaigns this season. Not last year, not the year before, not 10 years ago.

- Depressed Fan scores an interview with new Philadelphia 76ers GM Ed Stefanski (and makes the most of his opportunity).

- It looks like the guy Kevin McHale acquired in a draft-day swap for Brandon Roy last year, Randy Foye, is coming along nicely in rehabbing his troublesome left knee that’s kept him off the court all season thus far (and has allowed Randy Wittman to play *cringe* Sebastian Telfair damn near 40 minutes a night *cringe*). Kent Youngblood reports for The Star Tribune that Foye has experienced no setback since returning to practice this week, and could travel with the team on their three-game road trip that kicks off on Friday. Here’s to you, Mr. Foye–get well soon and stay that way.

- Sacramento’s Kevin Martin has now played twice since returning to the lineup from a groin injury that sidelined him for 17 games. It’s safe to say there’s no rust: 21-25 FG, 3-3 three-pointers, 19-21 FT, 64 points. In two games. Wow. Welcome back.

- Rasheed Wallace, Master of the Basketball Trick Shot, below.