it's crazy to me that players can psyche themselves out so easily when it comes to what they do best. i'm speaking of both oden and bynum at this point, both of them are big, strong, skilled, and athletic, but when it comes down to it, it seems like so much of it is mental for them. we all saw oden struggle at times and seem so down on himself this season, and it appeared to affect his game. not saying thats why he struggled, but i'm sure most would agree it appeared that way. now with bynum, it seems like he is going through that exact same thing right now. his heads down, doesn't look aggressive on the court, and seems just as lost as oden did at parts of the year. is this something that can be overcome? or are oden/bynum both going to be on these rollercoasters for their careers as their confidence shoots up and down? personally, i'd love for both of them to hit their potential and watch them go at it for 10+ years, hoping that oden has the higher ceiling
I still think Bynum is playing injured. And with Oden, players coming off microfracture always say that the first year back, they're usually a bit scared to twist and turn and be more mobile around the hoop.
Plus Oden was a rookie. A young rookie with a lot of expectations on him. Add that to the injury and not playing for a year is it any surprise he had mental up and downs? Bynum I don't know enough about, but I'll take Darizzle's opinion on him since he's a Laker fan.
Both guys are thinking too much, and just not playing loose. I also noticed that Dwight Howard still picks up a lot of the same stupid fouls that Oden was getting, especially with bodying the small guys on the perimeter. The difference being, he gets about 25 points and 12 rebounds while getting in foul trouble.
Oden was playing injured for the last part of the year too; the bone chip I can guarantee was still bothering him.
The best players have the best mental strength. Brandon Roy has talked about this several times, about how he started to believe that he could be an elite player. Roy's best weapon is his brain. This is one reason why coaches are so careful with young players. You want them to have success in small bits so they build that mental strength over time. There are the exceptions, these are the guys that are wired to be the best of the best. It is never good to evaluate someones mental strength when they are coming back from injury because they are unable to focus without that fear of getting hurt again. I say give Bynum the summer and see how he is next year. Oden will be fine, his per was 18, and he was never at full strength.
I don't think inexperience and mental weakness are the same thing. Maybe they have some correlation, in that with experience sometimes players get more consistent/mentally tougher, but beyond that I don't see much linking them. A lack of knowledge of how to play at the NBA level (whether from skill or how the refs call the game, or whatever) isn't the same as folding like a house of cards when the pressure is on. Bynum and Oden are both young and both are inexperienced. Might they be choke artists? Sure. I just don't see that there's enough evidence for that with either of them, though... Ed O.
