Great article and I agree it isn't all Bynum's fault. With players like KD, WB and Harden, he has to be concerned about them turning the corner and getting all the way to the rim The curse of the big, slow guy.
Right, that's Lakers' main defense weakness in half court. They need to change it up and hope westbrook/durant start missing those shots. And that's why Howard is a much better player than Bynum still. He doesn't get exploited.
No post defender likes coming out high, so this is a strategy that works well against nearly any traditional center. I don't think Bynum is very committed or engaged on D, though. He's a workhorse on the boards and will actively challenge shots, but too often he seems to slow trot in transition or in rotations. He's learned to get into proper positions, but is usually detached doing so - not trying to D up his man, just move to where he's being told to go. But again, he's not a forward, so that's not atypical. It is going to sting the Lakers if Gasol and Bynum continue to be so ho-hum on D. It cost them against the Nuggets, and there's no way they can get away with "acceptable effort" against OKC.
The Lakers dealt with this for years with Shaq and won championships, but Bynum is not close to a prime Shaq on offense.
