<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post"> EL SEGUNDO - Mom sits in her seat at Staples Center and watches her "baby" play for the Lakers, wondering like everyone else how Andrew Bynum has come so far so fast at such a tender age. Mom beams with pride when talking about her son and his accomplishments. She has a soft, friendly voice and is quick to laugh, just like her son, now in his second year in the NBA. Janet McCoy has seen the tremendous strides in her son, the confidence that exudes out of his 7-foot, 285-pound 19-year-old body. And in her easy, likeable manner she explains why she believes Bynum has found a measure of success this season after barely being a blip on the Lakers' radar screen last season. "Well, he's been off the bench," McCoy said, smiling. "That's one thing. He rode the pine a little long for me." So, there you have it, right from a mother's mouth, from a mother who doesn't miss home games and watches all the away games, from a mother who moved from New Jersey to Los Angeles to be with her son. Although getting more playing time has been a big factor in Bynum's tremendous growth in such a short period, some of the credit also goes to his personal tutor -- Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. The two of them have developed a bond over the two years the former Lakers and Hall of Fame center has been a special assistant coach with the team. Abdul-Jabbar had hoped Bynum would get regular playing time last season -- more than the 7.3 minutes in 46 games. But Bynum was behind starter Chris Mihm and backup Kwame Brown so there wasn't enough time for all three. Bynum kept working and listening to Abdul-Jabbar, and Abdul-Jabbar kept teaching, explaining and sharing his wisdom with his prot?g?. The results have been surprising, especially when he started the first 14 games before losing the job back to Brown. Bynum is sixth on the team in scoring (7.4), third in rebounding (5.5), third in field-goal percentage (55.4), third in free-throw shooting (76.3) and first in blocked shots (1.4). "I can see the errors he's making and talk him through that and move on," Abdul-Jabbar said. "That shortcuts the time, the learning experience. He didn't get the playing time last season. So the only thing we needed was to couple that (learning experience) with playing time. The experiences that he's having on the court are reinforcing what I'm trying to teach him. So he has eliminated a lot of time most people need to learn at any position." </div> Source
