FanHouse TexWinter

Tex Winter, Phil Jackson's longtime assistant coach and the father of the vaunted triangle offense, has been hospitalized after suffering an apparent stroke this weekend, according to the Los Angeles Times. Winters was in Kansas for a reunion at Kansas State, where he coached the men's basketball team to the 1958 Final Four, when it occurred.

Winters, 87, only spends two weeks a month working with the Lakers, so his absence shouldn't necessarily disrupt their game-day routine tonight in Salt Lake City, although his condition undoubtedly weighs on the minds of the team.

St. Mary's looked like the best team in the West Coast Conference on Thursday night. At least for a half. The Gaels were rocking in Spokane, and it appeared that there might have been a changing of the guard right there in front of the Kennel Club.

But then the game turned on Patrick Mills' right wrist. Literally. Mills injured his wrist and did not return for the second half. Neither did St. Mary's mojo. Gonzaga took advantage of the situation and went on to win, 69-62. The Bulldogs ended the Gaels' 15-game winning streak.

St. Mary's put in a valiant effort without Mills, but there were stretches where the team obviously missed Mills' leadership. Or his ability to take the big shot. There was a time in the second half when it looked like nobody on the court wanted to shoot the ball for St. Mary's. Shot-clock violations or desperate 3-point shots taken well beyond NBA range probably wouldn't have happened with Mills in the game.

But the truth is, you have to win with the guys on the floor. Losing Mills was an obvious setback, but guys like Diamon Simpson and Omar Samhan needed to take control on the floor. They never did, at least not before it was too late.

Mills' wrist is going to be one of the top stories to follow in the coming days.

One of the most amusing compelling stories of the offseason has been the wait for Andrew Bynum to return to the lineup and destroy everything in his path in pursuit of his destiny as the best center in the NBA. Well, okay, the most recent wait . Ask anyone that's big on statistics, as most of the NBA scribes are, and they'll tell you that Bynum was on pace to produce simply devastating numbers last season based on his thirty five games of action, and his projected path of development through his early years. Of course, then he suffered a severe knee injury. But it's no big deal, because he definitely made his estimated return of March. Well, okay, April. Well, okay, the second round. Okay, no, he had surgery again and was out until this season. But seriously! When he gets back, you're all on notice!

Unfortunately, based on the word coming out of Lakers camp via the OC Register's Kevin Ding, Bynum's a little behind schedule on that whole "next Kareem" thing. As in, he may not start. The wunderkind is apparently having issues meshing with Pau Gasol, and Lamar Odom has outworked him in training camp. The issue, at least according to Tex Winter, is one of effort.

"He's just not exerting himself, maybe," Winter said. "And most of the other guys are. I think he just needs to play a little harder."

Bynum has said himself that practice work hasn't had him completely riveted.

"This is the first year where it's kind of a little bit boring just because we have to run through the same stuff we already know," he said.

Elie Seckbach, the Embedded NBA Correspondent, brings his exclusive NBA reporting to FanHouse. Check back here regularly for more videos.

It took 12 long seasons but NBA star Kobe Bryant in now the MVP of the NBA. In this video, we hear from Kobe, his teammate and friends. Around 3:30 into the video, we find out if Kobe's friend and NBA Star Andre Iguodala can jump over an Aston Martin.


AOL Video link. Youtube link.

Now, I like to think that I know a thing or two about the NBA. However, I'll confess to not having a comprehensive grasp on Tex Winter's triangle offense. Luckily, the immortal Forum Blue and Gold has done us all the great service of explaining it, once and for all. Renato Afonso gives us the basics, the roles, and most all else you could want to know.

In my humble opinion, this is the key passage:

The triangle is actually a system where players may choose different ways to start the play and exploit every mismatch that exists if they want to. Each option implies the existence of well defined places that players can occupy almost at will, as long as everyone adjusts accordingly. And each option has a certain degree of freedom that can and should be exploited by the offense.

Also, this isn't just a tutorial. Afonso's got some points to make: Jermaine O'Neal isn't a true center, and thus wouldn't fit the triangle well. Within this system, it's on Kobe to "[bring] this roster to the next level." And given the ideal personnel, the triange isn't as good as a pure flex. What I'd still to know is whether the triangle masks or exposes role players' weaknesses. It seems to be some of each, but on this current Lakers team, we're seeing mostly the latter.

(Thanks, SLAM.)