Beat LA 11:02 A.M. - The Big Men

Back on November 23rd the Lakers lost to the Celtics in Boston. In the battle of the young centers Kendrick Perkins came out on top with 21 points (a career high), 9 rebounds and, perhaps the key to his entire evening, 1 foul. Furthermore, Perk shot 8-10 from the field and 5-6 from the line. Meanwhile, Andrew Bynum, plagued by early foul trouble, finished with 4 points, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal and a block. I attended the game and a couple things stood out from that evening. First Bynum is massive. Big hands, long arms and a legit 7 footer to boot. The second is that there may not be another Celtic that the core fans are less realistic about than Perk. Don't get me wrong I'm part of the problem. Yet even I was blown away as I listened to a post game show on the drive home and heard several callers describe Bynum as a bust compared to Perk who they viewed as one of the better centers in the Association. Once again I'm a big Perk fan. But he still brings the ball down way too often, has struggled catching passes and loves to back down players and throw that jump hook almost exclusively. For the record neither Bynum nor Perk has a low post game like Al Jefferson or Zach Randolph. Their best games tend to feature a lot of high percentage shots created by their teammates. Long story short Bynum has been getting better by the day since the last time these two teams met. That Christmas game against the Phoenix Suns is an excellent example. So in addition to handling his role as an enforcer, something he has been quite busy with recently, Perk must also battle Bynum to a stand still. It's just one of the reasons I'm fired up for this game.