Bynum was arguably our worst player tonight and I can't help but wonder if this contract negotiation is effecting him on the court. The deadline is this Friday for the Lakers to get a deal done before he becomes a restricted free agent this summer. We saw how stalled contract talks destroyed the Bulls season last year after both Luol Deng & Ben Gordon felt disrespected by their team not giving them the money the wanted. Bynum's only 21 and he's saying all the right things, but I'm worried about his agent putting the wrong thoughts in his head. His agent hasn't shown any class and comes off desperate to me in trying to get a deal done. There was already friction last summer when the Lakers got pissed about Bynum rehabbing in Atlanta with his own trainer, instead of being in LA under the watchful eye of Laker doctors and trainers. Tonight was supposed to be the begging of the much anticipated Bynum vs. Oden showdown. Bynum looked good winning the tip at center court, but his first shot of the game was rejected by Oden and he didn't do much until garbage time. Bynum also celebrated his 21st birthday last night and maybe he drank too much? I'm re-watching the game right now and I don't like Bynum's body language in this game. He doesn't look pumped up like the rest of his teammates and looks dumb struck. We'll have to keep an eye on this situation the rest of this week and see how things play out. He certainly didn't do anything tonight to warrant a max deal from the Lakers. Is he being pressured by his agent to WOW the Laker fans and front office in the next couple of days? Bynum was rushing his shot all night which is really uncharacteristic of him. He's usually very patient and uses two or three moves on his defender to get a rhythm and shoot a high percentage shot. He also didn't get after it on the glass. He was jumping and chasing down rebounds like he did in preseason. He was flat footed and a few rebounds he thought he had were knocked loose from his hands by Blazers flying in looking for second chance opportunites. Do you think Bynum has lost focus because his contract talks aren't going the way his agent wants?
I think you're completely over analyzing. I was worried, too until I told myself, "It's one game out of 82." Bynum will be just fine. I have the same worries about the contract talks lingering in his mind, but I don't think that will. It was his first regular season game since February? It's going to take some time for him to get his legs, timing, and rhythm back on that court during the regular season. If you're worried about Bynum--worry about Farmar and Sasha, as well.
I thought it was nerves too. Look at Oden. I'm sure he could've done a bit better today, but he was kinda spooked. Same with Bynum. First of all, this is his first game back at Staples, in front of the home crowd, in how long? He must've been nervous, especially with all the expectations put on him this year. Not to mention he also probably isn't 100% yet. Give him some time and he'll improve. I'm not going to worry about this now, but if this thing continues, and he doesn't show any improvement, then yes, maybe we start to worry. Not now. It's the first game of the season. We destroyed one of the most hyped up teams in the offseason. Just enjoy it
Maybe, maybe not. It depends if Oden can stay healthy and live up to expectations his rookie year. He doesn't have to be great, just solid. I see the Blazers as a team full of young talent, but they're like a developmental team (no offense). A lot of potential, but that's it. Potential. They may be good in the long run, but I dunno about now. I still think the bottom of the west is wide open, and they have a good chance at making it. But hey, first game of the season, so we can't take much substance from such a small sample size... I just wonder about the future of the Blazers. Sure, they have a lot of young talent, and their owner is one of the richest people in the world. But you can only play so many players a night, so many minutes per player. They aren't gonna be able to keep everyone. Just saying, I see playing time becoming a problem in the future if everyone develops... On the other hand, we won!
They ran into a juggernaut tonight. I think they'll make the playoffs, but the Lakers are on different level right now from most teams in the league. PJax worked the shit out of this team during the offseason because he wants home court advantage for the entire pre-season. He had the guys doing two a days to get them in shape from day one. The past few seasons, PJax has used the 1st half of the season to experiment with rotations and to get his players conditioned for the playoffs. It's one of the reasons the Lakers were so inconsistent from game to game and were frustrating as hell to watch. PJax also added a quicker attack offense and is using a lot more zone schemes on the defensive end to take advantage of the rule changes. Our length and versatility to switch a forward on a guard or our guard on a forward is allowing our guys to be a lot more aggressive on defense this year and they have the green light to gamble a little more trying to force turnovers. Portland didn't know what hit them tonight. They made a few adjustments at halftime, but Kobe went into attack mode and broke their momentum. The Blazers have a brutal schedule to start the season and a lot of people are going to write them off, but I think they'll figure it out at some point and will make the playoffs with or without Oden.
Portland has no inside presence. Even if Oden is healthy, his offensive game is so raw that he won't help them offensively. They rely too much on their perimeter game and that will only take them so far. I"ll take: the Lakers, Spurs, Rockets, Mavericks, Hornets, Nuggets, Suns, and Jazz (no particular order) over the Trail Blazers this year.
^Nuggets are going to be trash this year, no way they will be better than the Blazers, even without Oden. As far as the topic, I think Bynum's timing is still pretty off, and I think that had a lot to do with him not being able to snatch those lobs and rebounds. But moreso, it looked like tonight's struggles were of him being in spots of the floor he's not use to being in. With Gasol in the paint with him, Bynum is finding himself in more faceup positions then he has in the past, and I think he's still lost in that regard. He took a couple of jumpers, which is just not his game, and he caught the ball at the elbow a couple of times and looked indecisive. Defensively, he was moving well, but he was jumping for fakes a lot as well. Like mamba said, it's 1 game. Lets give him a few more games before we get concerned.
Yeah I have Portland being better than Denver as well. If Portland can't step up as the clear front runner between it and Denver, then the 8th seed is a three team race between Portland, Denver, and the Clips (If Baron stays healthy all year).
He did look rusty and kind of raw, I just wouldn't make too much of it though. FWIW, he looked amazing in the last pre-season game, lol. I think the kid has it in him.
I think people had expectations that where too high for Bynum. i do think he can develope into the beast we all want from him, but it is going to take him some time to get back in the groove. He needs to get his legs and timing back. Then he will be dominant. He was just learning how to dominate when he got injured and I expect that he is going to have to relearn it. He will. Let other teams tremble in fear . . . Bynum will get much better.
