This guy has quietly put together a pretty good season thus far. He's averaging a double/double and shooting close to 60% from the field. He's improved on every category from last year to this year upset block's (which is just slightly down). He's only 20 years old and has ALOT of up side. Here are his #'s: http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/players/3936 I guess he wasn't playing this off season when he said he is going to work even harder for what Kobe said. Take THAT Kobe!
He isn't there yet, but I'm still a believer in Bynum. If he continues to work hard and matures, he will be an impact player in the NBA in a couple of years and have a very good career.
Kobe hasn't done anything to help Bynum out. Then he goes on record to say that he texted him to apologize. When the media asked Bynum if he had talked to Kobe he said no. Kobe is a selfish prick who only cares about himself.
I've always thought Bynum has great upside. He is still young and for a big man it takes time. Some people claim that he is a bust. That's just too early to make that kind of conclusion. Remember what people said about Yao in his first 3 seasons? (I'm not comparing him to Yao.) He has talent. The only question is his motivation.
Another article on Bynum from SI/CNN: http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/paul_forrester/11/27/bynum.notes/index.html The only thing worthwhile in it is that Kareem looks to Dream to teach Bynum...
Center who was pick #10 that already averages a double-double in 25 minutes; even if he never improves from here on out he's not a bust. Why would anyone question his motivation? All he did this summer was work out and now he's close to being chiseled. His problem right now is that he's not an intimidator on defense. The coaching staff wants to see him lay someone out when they try to dunk on them.
He is very inconsistent. Some people think that he doesn't play hard in stretches. When a guy doesn't give it all on the floor, that's usually perceived to be a motivation problem. My guess is, he doesn't have a mean personality, kind of like Yao and TMac, and people equate it as "soft." And his disappearance act on court is probably the result of the fact that he is still clueless in some situations as to what he is supposed to do. But when he starts to get down the skills, I think he'll be a darn good player.
I don't think he's doing bad at all. Double-double in 25 min. He's only 20. How can anybody say he's a bust??
He's having a good year so far, in limited minutes too. He's a year or two away from being a very good big man.
What happens is Bynum gets down on himself when he plays poorly, things snowball and his effort goes down. He isn't the most mentally tough player out there. Time will tell whether this is just lack of maturity or if it's part of his nature.
Not sure if you guys are watching the same Bynum I have. I've said it last season that he's going to be a 20/10 guy in the next 2-3 years. His biggest problem last year was he was inexperienced and immature and when he got on the court he was trying to dominate right away. He'd take shots way to early and looked uncomfortable, he'd get tons of rookie foul calls trying to block every shot. And his attitude was I'm going to show everyone I'm tough and can take on anyone making much of the plays a personal one-on-one. He played on emotion and the vets took advantage of it. Let's put it this way, he thought he was Shaq. He was demanding this teammates give him the ball each time down and would get fustrated if he didn't get it. Even yelling at his own teammates at 19 being the youngest player on the team! This year he's not wearing his emotions on the outside as much and he seems to have become more of a team player. He's not demanding the ball each time down and he's playing within the game. He's alittle more mature in the sense that he's not taking each posession as a personal one-on-one with the opponent. But make no mistake, he's always been motivated to prove he's the best. He's got a mean attitude but that's what hurt him. He's like that little cocky kid in school that always wants to prove himself to the older guys but no one respects him because he just tries too hard. Well this year he's just listening to the older guys and doing what they say and they are respecting him. He's not playing alot of mins because the lakers have two other centers which are starting capable and have more experience. Brown and Mihm. Brown brings defense and Mihm brings offense. At this moment both are better than Bynum at their respective jobs. Bynum is a better combination of the two but eventually expected to be better than the two combined on offense and defense. Once he gets more experience he'll be a 20/10 guy soon, he still has alot to learn but he's got the attitude to dominate. He's a true center and plays like one. All his moves are 5ft and in. If you watch him this year vs. last year you'd see he's added more finess moves, he's not trying to dunk every shot. He's learning he can't just run over his man because he's bigger. A sign he's maturing faster than most thought he would.
Actually Bynum said that these comments only served to make him work harder to prove people wrong. Secondly and this is from Bynum and has been reported by the LA times that Kobe has been working with Bynum on post moves (kobe's post game and footwork is superb, not used much though) and has been giving defensive tips about his opponent. Prior to the game against the Pacer's, Kobe told Bynum how to guard JO and Bynum came out and shut down Jo completely. Kobe might be selfish but he definitely helps other's besides himself.
I don't think PJ wants him to get worn like last season. He hit a wall last season because of his conditionong and couldn't produce. We are loaded at Center and so Bynum can rest up. It certainly isn't because he is a defensive liability. The defense looks better with him out there than Chris mihm. He actually deters people from driving (yesterday's game against the jazz being the exception) and plays better man defense than Mihm. Kwame is better on him on defense but he is down.
Not much this season. He still puts effort after getting shot blocked. Watch the game against the Pistons when he got blocked multiple times by Amir Johnson and Cheik Samb. Secondly, he is mentally tough. Kobe called him out (Ship his ass out), Says they can't wait him for him to develop. Phil jackson says the same thing, says he doesn't warrant the hype he receives. Yet, he still works hard and produces. I think that shows you he is mentally tough. A 19-20 year old Boy with such big characters against him would naturally be flustered but Bynum took it in his stride and produced.
What are you talking about? He has been the Laker's most consistent player this season. Yeh, check out the numbers. He disappears because the Laker players refuse to get him the ball. Infact, there's a team problem. The team doesn't know how to get the ball inside. Lamar goes downlow, the team ignores him. Kobe goes downlow and he is ignored. Bynum goes downlow he is ignored. You can't expect a big to produce more if he doesn't get the ball. Bynum get's 10-11 points games on dishes from guards and offensive rebounds. We run more plays and he is averaging 15-16 points per game.
Motivation? Huh? All off season Long he worked his butt off. He went to Atlanta to work with a special trainer. When he came back into Los Angeles, he was at El Segundo every day working on his game. Motivation isn't a problem especially if you look at his work ethic. The Kobe comments made sure of it, he said it himself, it made him work harder to prove people wrong.
I don't agree. The only player he yelled at for not getting him the ball was Sasha Vujacic. But he never yelled at any other player nor did he demand the ball last season. I don't know what your talking about. Bynum was timid last season. He didn't even look to score, he'd get the ball and look for cutters and would hold onto the ball for ages and then would be forced to take a horrible hook shot. He has always been a team player. He looks for cutters when he gets the ball. He does what the team requires. If the team requires his shotblocking, he provides it. If the team needs him to be force on the boards, he does it. That's why he said. PJ asked him to own the paint and for the minutes he has played he has done a terrific Job. K brown is a better defender than Bynum. True, much more agile on screen and roles, much better rotator, much better low post player. But you must be confused about Mihm. Mihm is not the Mihm of Old. He has no lift, missing easy Chippies. His passing isn't great. He has a nice hook shot and can hit a midrange jumper but that's about it. Bynum is much better downlow because of his size, much better passer out of the post. His hands are much much better than Mihm's too (there fantastic, best aspect of his game). Bynum is a better offensive player than Mihm. I think stats reflect this clearly.
