i always thought they should've waited.....Bynum is okay, but I'm not seeing the big fuss over him....Can we even say he's a top 5 center in the league currently???...Yao, Howard, Shaq, Kaman and Big Z are better for sure imo....
I'd still take him over Kaman and Big Z. The problem with Bynum is he's not focused. He picks up stupid fouls which takes him out of the game early. Another problem is the team. They need to get the bigs involved instead of settling for threes or jumpers all the time. When they go to him early and he gets his touches offensively, he's much more aggressive and plays a lot better. Another problem with Bynum is motivation. He seems to get up for big games, but sometimes he just seems lazy and unfocused (like the rest of the team). The extension is not the problem. I prefer giving him the extension rather than waiting until this offseason, because it will only put more pressure on him to perform. With that being said, he has put together a nice stretch of games lately, and hopefully he'll continue. The extension does not worry me, neither does his play. He's 21 years old and he's only going to get better. Bynum also does things that does not appear on the stats, like playing defense.
I would hope nobody had ideas Bynum would be worth his contract this year. Lakers took a risk on his knee so the didnt have to pay more later. He is still 21, he is only 3+ months into his first season as a featured player...he will be fine. Give him some time off at the All Star break, more time to mesh this offense together and he will be fine. He didnt have to compete with another 7 footer for points and rebounds last year....give it time
Good point about Pau. People fail to realize how big of an adjustment it is to share the paint with another big as talented as Pau. It certainly changes things quite a bit. Beyond that, this season he's only getting paid around 2 million, so he's very well worth it.
I'd put him ahead of Kaman & Big Z at this point. I do see the potential in Bynum's game. He's athletic for a player his size, has great hands, and can score with either hand. At some point though I don't want to talk about his potential and I want to see Bynum start dominating the paint. He still needs to learn how to hold position and use his leverage and length to his advantage. Post defenders are moving him around too easily. Bynum needs to work on his core strength more so he can plant his ass in the paint and then walk his defender under the rim and flush it on them. I don't think they rushed into signing him and the Lakers got him for a favorable price. He just needs to get more enthusiastic about playing basketball. He has looked better the last two games though.
I disagree. Bynum generally gets good position, but doesn't get the ball. When he does have good position, he usually gets thrown a terrible entry pass that leads to him being pushed out of position. I can't put that on him. If we would give him the ball when he has position with a good entry pass, than I think we'd see him produce better.
Jackson, Rambis, and Kareem all have said that Bynum is setting up too high. They've been trying to drill it into him to try to setup deeper and stay there, but it hasn't registered yet. So I think you're in a minority in that assessment. Shape is right, Bynum isn't getting the positioning he should for a guy his size
^ Yeah, without question it's Bynum not getting good enough position deep, Jackson in particular has been critical of him publicly about that. That said, I've been mildly disappointed with Bynum this season. Probably related to a new role this season with Gasol now taking a lot of post touches. However, I like that his energy and movement these last few games have been very noticeably improved, which I think shows that he's going to get back to where he was in January of last season. Lakers will be beastly when he's back to that form.
these questions arer being asked too early, the post-season will be the time to ask whether bynum has lived up to his contract. i think he fact that we have the best record in the west, and in the league (tied with the cavs) that bynum is certainly pulling his weight. ofcourse there are things he could focus on more, but at this point in the season, id like to continue to watch this 21 year old grow and develop over the season naturally, going into the playoffs after a season of learning what works best for him and the team, learning his weaknesses, doing what is wrong so as to find out what not to do is whats happening right now, yes he should have his head in the game more, but that will come, this is a very bright, intelligent young guy who has an enourmess talent and once he has gone through this season fully, then i think he will show us how he deserves that contract.
Bynum could work harder for better position, but a lot of times Phil has him in the high post and Gasol in the low post? Why is that?
They prefer running the offense through Pau more. I'm not sure if the coaches want Bynum in the high post when Gasol is going to work and would prefer he move without the basketball by diving to the hoop to receive a pass if Pau is doubled, or to clean up the offensive glass for easy putbacks. He's been stagnant when he doesn't have the ball in his hands. I'm sure they'll figure it out in the second half of the season. Remember the offense the Lakers used during the playoffs with the quick attack? It had two options. Option 1 was Kobe attacking the paint then passing it off to Odom who would then get it inside to Gasol when the defense rotated. Or it would be Odom attacking passing to Pau who would lob it to Kobe diving in. It was unstoppable and demoralizing for the defense because it resulted in dunks or and 1's. I think we'll see Bynum go off when the Lakers start using this attack. There's a lot of timing involved and right now they don't have it with the starting 5.
the problem i have with Bynum is the fact that he holds the ball like a guard. He has a tendacy to pull the ball down to his waist in high-post situations which makes it much more difficult for him to pass the ball out and look over the D. The elite centres like Dwight and KG always have the ball over their head and find ways to create when in that situation. His positioning isn't half bad, but when he has the ball on offense, the IQ is lacking at times.
Bynum has a way to improve before he is worth the contract they gave him. I personally feel like it didnt make sense to extend him early, but I can understand why they did. A small reduction in price, and it give Bynum the confidence to go out there and rebound and block shots without having to worry about getting a lot of points. He doesnt need to think about increasing his value for free agency and that should make him relax into his role easier.
Another bad habit I noticed was Bynum jumping out of position to receive the entry pass. He kept doing it in the Miami game and took himself 3 feet away from his initial spot everytime. He got away with it in the game simply because Miami doesn't have the size to deal with him, but he needs to root himself and shield the defender or force the defender to get called for a reach-in foul. I love his tenacity in the Miami game though, hopefully it carries over in this rough stretch of games ahead of us. Houston, San Antonio & Orlando. He'll be facing some of the better big men in the league.
