Golden State Warriors Need To Throw the House At Andrew Bynum

Andrew Bynum is available for trade, or at least we think he is after a "bush league" foul on the Dallas Mavericks' J.J. Barea, paired with speculation that Dwight Howard may be heading west to Los Angeles has sent the NBA media's minds wandering.

Bynum's departure from Game 4 of the Lakers/Mavericks series seemed almost Lebron James-esque. James left his last game as a Cleveland Cavalier in much the same way Bynum did, with their shirts off as if to say "I'm done with this."

Whether Bynum meant to evoke that image or not, we will not know. But it is the Howard heading to L.A. speculation that may play the biggest role in whether or not Bynum is a Laker next season.

If the Lakers pursue Howard, then they will need room at the center position, and Bynum would see to be the odd man out.

If this is the case, teams will be sprinting to acquire Bynum. The 23-year-old big man boasts the defensive and offensive abilities that not many players his size own, which makes him a hot commodity if he is available.

If there was ever a team that needed a center with his set of skills, it is every team, but the Golden State Warriors need him most.

A player like Bynum could put the Warriors over the top in the Western Conference and into the playoffs most certainly.

The talk has always been about how the Warriors need a big man to build around, and the opportunity to get a big man with his ability does not get much better than this.

The Warriors need to throw the house at Andrew Bynum and the Lakers.

By the house, I mean anything.

Monta Ellis or Stephen Curry, you name it, the Lakers get it in exchange for Bynum.

It has come to a point with the Warriors that they cannot win with a stellar backcourt. They need a legitimate center if they want to win. And his name is not Andris Biedrins...

A frontcourt of Bynum and David Lee is a duo the Warriors can build around. Building around Ellis and Curry is not. It's been proven with 36 wins this season, and less the season before.

Just a possibility, but Curry, Dorell Wright, Lee and Bynum sounds a lot better than Ellis, Curry, Wright and Lee.

I am not saying that Ellis is on his way out of Golden State, but if the Warriors want to acquire Bynum, either Ellis or Curry, plus a package of players and draft picks, will be L.A.-bound.

But it's worth it.

Give the Lakers what they want because an opportunity to snag a center of his caliber does not come along that often, especially for a team that has not had a legitimate center since Nate Thurmond in 1976.

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Decisions Aplenty As the San Francisco Giants Get Healthy

San Francisco Giants' manager Bruce Bochy will have some decisions to make in the coming days and extending for the next several weeks.

The Giants are finally getting healthy again.

The injuries started back on Opening Night when Andres Torres got injured and ended (knock on wood) with Pablo Sandoval's injury two weeks ago.

On Tuesday, both Torres and Mark DeRosa were activated off the DL and available to play the field. But where?

Torres will be starting in the outfield somewhere, but that is as much as we know for now.

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San Francisco Giants and San Jose Sharks Have Two Very Different Weekends

It was a tale of two Bay Area teams headed in two very different directions this past weekend.

The San Francisco Giants swept the division-rival Colorado Rockies, and the San Jose Sharks are headed back to Detroit after not being able to close out the Red Wings series in Games 4 or 5 on Friday and Sunday.

Resurgence in San Francisco, and panic an hour south in San Jose.

It's hard to say which is a bigger surprise in the Bay Area, the Mike Fontenot-lead Giants gaining ground in the NL West by sweeping the Rockies after such a tough stretch of bad breaks, or that the Sharks have lost back-to-back games for the first time since February and are suddenly in the middle of a real series in which they seem to be the team currently on the short-end.

Coming into this weekend, Sharks' fans were thinking about the Conference Finals. Now, they're thinking of a possible Game 7 in the Conference Semi-finals in which pucks can bounce in any direction.

To add more fuel to the fire, Versus analyst and former Shark, Jeremy Roenick, has put Patrick Marleau on blast for "not showing heart."

I want to disagree with Roenick, but Marleau has zero points in this series. Whether that has to do with heart is up to you.

The comment by Roenick can either fuel Patrick Marleau or cause him to press, and for the Sharks' season's sake, I hope it's the former.

Just an hour north, the Giants may have finally arrived in the 2011 season.

After the Giants' offensive struggles, the Miguel Tejada issue and recent injuries to both Andres Torres and Pablo Sandoval, the Giants have turned to Mike Fontenot for their resurgence?

Fontenot, paired with a good outing from starting rotation fill-in, Ryan Vogelsong, and timely hitting from Cody Ross on Sunday, has suddenly given life to San Francisco with a sweep of the Rockies, including two of the walk-off-win variety.

It was a weekend good enough, and clutch enough, to get this team back on track while they await the returns of Torres and Sandoval.

Torres is expected back Tuesday.

But two problems have arisen for the Giants, despite a three-game sweep of the Rockies. But these may ultimately be good problems to have.

Fontenot or Tejada, when Sandoval comes back?

Vogelsong or Zito, when Zito is healthy?

We will have to wait for the answers to those problems.

Despite a good weekend for the Giants, the overall morale of the Bay Area may be a little nervous today.

The Sharks, who on Thursday could not be touched, have been rattled and panic is currently setting in in San Jose.

The NHL Playoffs are a cruel mistress and the Sharks are feeling just that way on their flight back to Joe Louis Arena in Detroit for Game 6.

The story for Game 5: The Sharks could see the Conference Finals in sight after two periods, but playing tight in the third period is no way to move on this time of year, and it ultimately cost them the game and a ton of heartache for the next 48 hours.

After Game 2, there was no way the Sharks were going to lose four of the next five games.

Now, the Red Wings are half-way there, and a Game 7 does not seem too far off.

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Jonathan Sanchez Disappointing as the San Francisco Giants Head Home

Jonathan Sanchez has walked 12 batters in his last two starts and the San Francisco Giants could not sweep the New York Mets at Citi Field on Thursday afternoon.

It will be a much-needed homestand spanning seven days for the Giants, in which they will see NL West rivals Colorado Rockies and Arizona Diamondbacks take the field at AT&T Park.

This was not the most successful roadtrip for the Giants. They finished the trip with a record of 5-5, and saw Pablo Sandoval go down with injury, while encountering two rather disappointing outings from starter Jonathan Sanchez.

Giants' analyst Mychael Urban summed it up best when he commented after the game that Sanchez just "wasn't making adjustments," and that pitching coach Dave Righetti must be wondering "how to get through to this guy."

Sanchez surrendered five runs on five hits through five innings, including walking another six batters on Thursday.

That outing followed up his start on April 30th, where he only let up one run on two hits through five innings, but walked six batters in the process. Sanchez's record was 1-1 on the roadtrip.

There are obvious mechanical problems with Sanchez at this point, as can be seen with the surplus in walks. Rest assured, Righetti will be working very hard with him before his next scheduled start in order to fix what currently ails Sanchez.

It seems like the Giants just need a home-cooked meal right now. At 15-16 on the year, this homestand against two NL West opponents seems like as good a time as any to get back on track.

One good thing that came from this roadtrip that seemed to last forever was the resurgence of Mike Fontenot, who has seemingly replaced injured Pablo Sandoval in the line-up and on the field at shortstop.

Fontenot has bat .350 in his last six games with seven hits and a homerun. Looking at he Giants' offense over this last week, it would be safe to say that Fontenot was the only source of offense.

Matt Cain will be on the hill on Friday night against the Colorado Rockies in what will prove to be an early season test for the Giants as they look to rebound from a very disappointing roadtrip in all aspects.

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Devin Setoguchi and the San Jose Sharks Continue OT Success; Take 3-0 Series Lead

It took a Devin Setoguchi hat trick, including the overtime clincher, to push the San Jose Sharks past the Detroit Red Wings on Wednesday night. The Sharks continued their perfect streak of overtime wins, now five of five, and put the Red Wings into a huge 3-0 series hole.

Instant classic.

Arguably both teams' best efforts of the series, the Sharks managed to get by the Red Wings with solid goaltending from Antti Niemi and a little hockey luck.

Everyone knew the Red Wings would come out swinging in Game 3, being down 2-0 in the series, so it was no surprise when Sharks' goalie Niemi was swamped with a flurry of shots early in the first period. Fortunately for the Sharks, Niemi was perfect in net for most of the period, making several superb saves and keeping the Sharks mentally in the game.

With Niemi's incredible saves came frustration from the Red Wings and they picked up a penalty, which lead to a Setoguchi goal, his second of the playoffs.

Niemi remained superb in net, but his opponent Jimmy Howard matched him shot-for-shot in the first period, stopping 12 shots to Niemi's 11.

The Sharks looked to hold a first period lead when Nicklas Lidstrom scored for the Red Wings with 19 seconds to go in the period, tying the game at one apiece.

Both teams came out firing in the second period with a the pace of play being extremely quick, which led to scoring opportunities aplenty.

The Red Wings took momentum when Patrick Eaves scored at 13:59 of the second period. It was soon followed by another power play goal by Setoguchi, but this time he threw Howard a little off-speed and it got by for Setoguchi's second goal of the game.

Still, the Red Wings dictated the pace of play in their home arena. Pavel Datsyuk continued his phenominal series with a power play goal of his own at the end of the second period, and the Red Wings took full momentum into the 3rd period.

But it was the Sharks who had the early opportunities to start the third period. Howard continued his brilliance in net stopping a flurry of shots from the Sharks keeping the Red Wings with the advantage on the scoreboard.

Again, the Sharks continued to strike, and with seven minutes to play, urgency set in.

With four minutes to play, a scuffle to the left of the net resulted in Kyle Wellwood throwing the puck in front of the net and into Dan Boyle's lap. He would strike top-shelf over Howard's glove to tie the game at 3-3.

The game went to overtime.

An early holding penalty lead to a hard-earned Sharks penalty kill thanks to save after save from Niemi.

That shift in momentum would lead to a Setoguchi goal halfway through overtime giving the Sharks the 3-0 series lead.

The goal gave Setoguchi a hat trick for the game, as he scored three of the Sharks' four goals.

For the Red Wings, this one will hurt.

Several opportunities to score during regulation, including the power play to start the overtime period, did not ignite the score sheet for the Red Wings.

For the Sharks, it was their play on the defensive side of the puck that got them this win. A strong penalty kill in overtime, as well as a solid Niemi in net constantly switched momentum in the Sharks favor during the game.

At the end of overtime, it was either going to be a whole new series or the nearing end of one.

I'd say, with the Sharks effort tonight, the Red Wings will need to pull something out of a hat to get back into this series and stop the seemingly destined San Jose Sharks.

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San Jose Sharks...Torture?

The San Jose Sharks currently hold a 2-0 game lead over the Detroit Red Wings in the Western Conference Semi-Finals. The Sharks seem to have nothing holding them back from reaching the Western Conference Finals in back-to-back years.

But what has some people doubting how far the Sharks can go is history.

The Sharks fall notoriously short when it comes to pursuing the Stanley Cup in April and May. Year after year we see the Sharks become the favorite to win it all, and then see them falter when it comes to crucial games and series.

The Sharks have never won a Stanley Cup, let alone get to the Stanley Cup Finals.

Remind you of another Bay Area sports team?

The Sharks are drawing a lot of comparison to the 2010 World Series Champion San Francisco Giants, who reside just about an hour up the street from HP Pavilion.

The Sharks tend to play very close games, much like the Giants of 2010, and as a result, the Sharks are four for four in overtime games in these playoffs.

Torture.

Also, The Giants had never won a World Series since their move to San Francisco in 1957, and the Sharks have never won a Stanley Cup since their expansion into the NHL in 1991. Although, there have been several chances.

The Giants played the underdog role in 2010 and shocked the baseball world by defeating heavyweight after heavyweight on their way to a World Series title. And even though the Sharks did finish second in the Western Conference standings, history would still suggest that they are underdogs to win it all this year, despite very good play to this point in the playoffs.

But what may draw even more similarities to the Giants of 2010 is the players that the Sharks have picked up during this season, and who have played huge roles in getting the Sharks to this point.

Kyle Wellwood is to the Sharks as what Pat Burrell was to the Giants.

I'll do you one better.

Ian White is to the Sharks as what Cody Ross was to the Giants.

It is well-known that Burrell's sudden resurgence in power since the Giants picked him up mid-season of 2010 helped the Giants reach the playoffs. It is also well-known that Ross's series against Doc Halladay and the Phillies helped the Giants reach the World Series.

Mid-season pick-ups Wellwood and White have done much of the same for the Sharks, but solely in the playoffs.

The Sharks were locks for the playoffs a long time ago, but it is Wellwood and White's play in the playoffs that has the Sharks seeking the Stanley Cup Finals in 2011.

Think about it. Wellwood was released by the Vancouver Canucks in 2010 and was forced to play in the Russian KHL only to be picked up by the Sharks to help solidify the four lines.

Remind you of anyone? Maybe Aubrey Huff, who no team wanted in the off-season, or even Cody Ross, who was placed on waivers by the Florida Marlins towards the end of the 2010 season only to be picked up by the Giants for help off the bench.

Wellwood now has one goal and three assists with a +/- of 6 in these Stanley Cup Playoffs.

White, in the same way, has been a huge boost in helping to solidify the lines on defense. He has one goal and five assists, while sporting a +/- of 6, as well, in these playoffs. Not to mention having instant chemistry with fellow line-mate Niclas Wallin.

You can even throw Ben Eager in there as a physical reason as to why the Sharks are playing well right now.

Although the Sharks and Giants draw several similarities, the NHL playoffs may be a much different beast than the MLB playoffs. Things can change at any moment in these NHL playoffs, and the Giants seemed like a team of destiny from the very beginning.

That is not to say the Sharks do not feel like a team of destiny, as well, but the Sharks have been here before, and this year it is time to produce a Stanley Cup. There will be plenty of time to be crowned a "Team of Destiny" later.

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San Francisco Giants: Pablo Sandoval's Injury Could Not Come at a Worse Time

Have the San Francisco Giants hit rock bottom yet?

Sure, that may be taking it a bit too far, but these are the World Series champion San Francisco Giants we are talking about. Not only is their hitting not getting it done as of late, but the pitching isn't too hot either.

Now, third baseman Pablo Sandoval is out 4-6 weeks with a broken wrist. He will have surgery today, May 3rd, or so he tweeted... I mean twittered...I don't know.

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