notinbtnet wrote:Actually, what has been evident to me about Bynum is that since injured his foot in the New Jersey game on November 25th, he AND the team have not been the same.
(1) In the 13 games prior to the injury, Bynum averaged 2.38 blocks per game and contested seemingly every foray into the paint. He had at least 1 block in every game and had 3 or more blocks in 8 games. In the 13 games since, Bynum has averaged 1.31 blocks. There have been 6 games where he had 0 blocks. In addition, Bynum has seemed a step slow on the defensive rotations, stopped helping on the weak side, half-assed his way back on defense and has seen his overall defensive impact reduce significantly. Plus before the injury, Bynum won EVERY opening tip. Since the injury, I can recall a bunch of games where he did not win the tip.
In addition, I have seen Bynum's aggressiveness reduce on offense as well. Instead of trying to dunk the ball in the paint, like he was earlier in the season and especially during his monster streak last year. I have seen Bynum resort to baby hooks, step backs, and little flips far TOO often lately. In turn, this has seen his turnovers increase from 1.58 per game to 2.17 per game because he is bringing the ball down too often and/or not exploding to the rim, but fading away or trying to maneuver around his defender.
2) Bynum's increased ineffectiveness has in turn severely impacted the overall team defensive productivity and also impacted our record. The Lakers started the season 12-1 and were giving up 92.69 points per game. Since then, the Lakers are 9-4, while giving up 103.31 points per game. While the team's overall defensive intensity has slipped since the second half of the 1st New Orleans game, which is when I feel the team started buying into their own hype, they were still playing solid defense. This defense was anchored by Bynum becoming that presence in the paint. Teams were scared to drive into the paint. Chauncey Billups and Devin Harris had a couple of their worst games of the season during that period.
Since that time, the Lakers have constantly gotten burned in the paint. Bynum's reduced mobility has really exposed the soft perimeter defense played by both Fisher and Farmar all season. With Bynum's rotations slowing down, the opposing guards are able to attack the basket at will to either lay the ball in or find easy shots for their teammates.
Bottom line is I am not sure how badly Bynum is hurt, but his injury is definitely impacting his overall game. I think that for this team to have any chance to make a title run, Bynum needs some time to let his foot heal. The fact that he is trying to play hurt speaks volumes, but I think at this point it is harming the team more than helping. That is my 2 cents.
That's the kinda insight we need. I forgot about Bynum's injury but AB has been playing different for a while. I'm sure everyone has noticed he hasn't been getting as much lift when he's around the rim. Instead of dunking the ball he's been flipping up shots.
Perhaps they should just shut him down and do the surgery......
