NBA: On Bynum, Holiday sticks to party line

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PHILADELPHIA ? Between the interview sessions, the ticket requests, and the superstars with whom he shared the bench, there was plenty to inundate Jrue Holiday at the All-Star Game.

Then the Andrew Bynum inquiries came rolling in.

?Y?all don?t understand how many questions I got about Andrew,? Holiday said.

And how did Holiday answer those questions?

?It?s the same answer,? he said. ?You see him in practice some days. Some days, he?s taking it a little slower. And then other days, he?s looking like a beast.?

Holiday, the Sixers? star-on-the-rise point guard, talked glowingly over the weekend of Bynum, the All-Star for whom they traded last offseason. Bynum did not address reporters following practice, breaking a streak of six consecutive Mondays on which he provided rehab updates on his left knee.

From Holiday?s point of view, getting Bynum back in the lineup for the proverbial second half of the season ? 31 remaining games, including 19 on the road ? isn?t nearly as paramount as getting Bynum back healthy.

?I want him to be healthy. I think every year I?ve heard of Andrew, something has happened,? Holiday said.

Then, Holiday spoke from personal experience.

?Obviously the trainers we have, and me being hurt this year, I came back healthy,? said Holiday, who missed four games in December with an ankle injury. ?I want Andrew to come back healthy ? if it?s this year, if it?s next year, if he so happens to stay here.?

It?s seldom that anyone within the Sixers? camp speaks about Bynum in the future tense. The center, who has yet to practice, is making $16.5 million in the final year of his contract.

Holiday said he?s encouraged any time he sees Bynum as active as he was Monday at PCOM, in the Sixers? first practice since the All-Star break. Bynum was moving pretty well, taking the ball in the high post on pick-and-rolls, driving, dunking. Of course, none of that was with a defender in his face, so take that for what it?s worth.

But ?
?How he moves, it looks like a train coming at you. That?s pretty scary how much mass he has,? Holiday said.

The Sixers have given no indication that they?re prepared to remove the ?no timetable? banner from Bynum in regard to his return. He?s still at least 10 days away from cracking the lineup whenever he begins engaging in 1-on-1 or 3-on-3 workouts, which he?s yet to do.

As for Holiday?s description of Bynum as a beast, Sixers coach Doug Collins backed it up.

?He can do that,? Collins said. ?The question is going to be, at some point in time, getting out there. Right now, he has not done anything with contact.?

Visit Christopher A. Vito?s Sixers blog at delcotimes.com for more coverage.

Source: http://www.timesherald.com/article/20130218/SPORTS03/130219553/nba-on-bynum-holiday-sticks-to-party-line

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