http://www.latimes.com/sports/basketball/nba/la-sp-lakersfyi4-2009jan04,0,7689733.story Bynum has been struggling lately. He isn't rebounding and isn't playing aggressively. He still anchors our defense and does a good job doing so, altering and blocking shots, but I want to see more aggression from him. Offensively, I'm not too worried because I didn't expect him to become a huge weapon this year with the personnel we have. But he's been disappointing on the boards. Coming into the season, Phil told him his main focus we be defending and rebounding. He's done alright patrolling the paint and altering shots, but he needs to step up on the boards. He only had 2 rebounds last night, and for somebody his size, that is unacceptable. As Phil stated in the article, Bynum looks like he's just going through the motions right now. He's not being aggressive, he's just moping around. The knee is not an issue. Physically he is fine (as stated by the article), he had a monster alleyoop from Fish last night, but mentally he is not there. He had a nice stretch of games earlier on in the season, but has fallen off since. Hopefully he picks it up soon. We face the Blazers tomorrow, and Oden is getting more and comfortable in this league. Should be interesting. Someone needs to get in his face and motivate him!
Dont ever put the words "Bynum" and "out" in a title of a thread unless you mean it...Its very scary after the first quick glace ...as for Bynum...growing pains...lets just hope he is playing his best when it really really counts
What's disappointing is that he doesn't seem as motivated. Good to hear that it's probably nothing physical. But at the same time, terrible to hear that he's lacking in energy (which is obvious if you just watch games). Overall, if it's a mental thing, it's got to be addressed. If he can't light a fire under his own arse, someone else has to. There's no reason he shouldn't be thrilled about his situation with the Lakers, he gets plenty of opportunities to take over offensively with the 2nd unit (for example, the first several minutes of the 2nd quarter recently).
Haha I feel you Rizzle. I share the same sentiments. He was doing very well for string of games early on in the season, he looked like he was getting his form back. Then he had a couple of games where he got into foul trouble early, and didn't really contribute much. It all went downhill from there. He's still a very important part to the team. His presence cannot be replaced, but he needs to gain more focus and go out with some aggression.
I see two things. One is he can't stay on the floor due to fouls, so he's often out of rhythm. The other thing is with Pau in there, he's has to spend a little more time away from the basket then last year, which he still needs to get accustomed to. I'm not concerned at all about his offensive output, but I do find it distressing that his defensive rebounding is down from last year. That one, I can't explain, and that is one of the more important things he brings to the table.
He will be fine. He's finally getting back to 100% mentally and physically. Now that he is back to "getting it" he's now getting a little worn out. I expect him to do consistently great after the AS break.
