RealGM

So, I'm in a debate with a friend, over who is currently better, Bynum or Kaman. Not overall potential, as I think Bynum will ultimately be better, but so far, who has performed better and is currently the better player.

so far there is no question that kaman has performed better. personally, having watched basically everyone one of bynum's and kaman's games, kaman really isn't better than bynum. i also think kaman gets a HUGE pass for missing 30 games of the season.

Kaman by so far there should be at least a couple of names in between them on any list of centers. Now for the future Bynum may be, but right now it's Kaman by distance.

I guess it dopends on how you look at Bynum's season. He only played in 35 games but in those games he was definitely better than Kaman was in 56.

I don't really give Kaman the benefit of the doubt either as he is 26 and had been in the league for 4 seasons before this one but had never been anything more than around 10-8-1.5.

I'd take Bynum right now and for the future..

It's really close but i think KamEn is the better player right now.
But Bynum will become better in the future.

Would you guys agree that as of now, Kaman is slightly better, and if not, the difference is extremely small between the two players?

i take the lysdecix

I think Bynum would be rated above him had he played the entire season, seeing as how he was improving drastically every month... But the bottom line is Kaman has proven he could sustain his good play over the course of an entire season while Bynum hasnt... Therefore Kaman is better right now, but I wouldnt be surprised if Bynum is thought of as better by December or January

kaman's "entire season" consists of 56 games. kaman is closer to bynum than he is to playing an entire season.

dcash4 wrote:kaman's "entire season" consists of 56 games. kaman is closer to bynum than he is to playing an entire season.

the only thing is Kaman's 56 games was 16, 13, 3... while Bynum's 35 games was 13, 10, 2... there are other factors here of course like Bynum playing limited minutes and Kaman playing on a bottom dweller with no front court depth... But IMO Kaman proved slightly more this season

i wasn't arguing that. just saying people look at bynum's 35 games and say they can't infer anything from it and then look at a player with just 20 more games played and call him absolutely proven.

Bynum played Kaman pretty well when they were matched up against each other. That is, of course, not taking into context the teams.

But I would say that Kaman is a much more consistent performer than Bynum, and has a much more polished offensive game. I think Bynum's defensive instincts and athletic ability are a lot better than Kaman's, though. Kaman as a 1st and 2nd option is better than Bynum as a 1st and 2nd option. But I think Bynum as a 3rd option is better than Kaman as a 3rd option (as defense becomes increasingly more important the further down the ladder you are).

eatyourchildren wrote:Bynum played Kaman pretty well when they were matched up against each other. That is, of course, not taking into context the teams.

But I would say that Kaman is a much more consistent performer than Bynum, and has a much more polished offensive game. I think Bynum's defensive instincts and athletic ability are a lot better than Kaman's, though. Kaman as a 1st and 2nd option is better than Bynum as a 1st and 2nd option. But I think Bynum as a 3rd option is better than Kaman as a 3rd option (as defense becomes increasingly more important the further down the ladder you are).

I would agree with that. Good perspective on 1st/2nd/3rd options, never really thought of it like that, but makes sense.

Lol, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy.

My argument with a friend, was that, he was claiming that Kaman is no where even near the level of Bynum, and that Bynum is hands down, without question, 100 times the player of Kaman. But then again, he was also arguing that Gasol is a lot better than Brand, Kobe is 1000 times better than LeBron, and Kobe is better than MJ.

deNIEd wrote:I would agree with that. Good perspective on 1st/2nd/3rd options, never really thought of it like that, but makes sense.

Lol, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy.

My argument with a friend, was that, he was claiming that Kaman is no where even near the level of Bynum, and that Bynum is hands down, without question, 100 times the player of Kaman. But then again, he was also arguing that Gasol is a lot better than Brand, Kobe is 1000 times better than LeBron, and Kobe is better than MJ.

your friend sounds like the biggest homer in the world

deNIEd wrote:

eatyourchildren wrote:Bynum played Kaman pretty well when they were matched up against each other. That is, of course, not taking into context the teams.

But I would say that Kaman is a much more consistent performer than Bynum, and has a much more polished offensive game. I think Bynum's defensive instincts and athletic ability are a lot better than Kaman's, though. Kaman as a 1st and 2nd option is better than Bynum as a 1st and 2nd option. But I think Bynum as a 3rd option is better than Kaman as a 3rd option (as defense becomes increasingly more important the further down the ladder you are).

I would agree with that. Good perspective on 1st/2nd/3rd options, never really thought of it like that, but makes sense.

Lol, I just wanted to make sure I wasn't crazy.

My argument with a friend, was that, he was claiming that Kaman is no where even near the level of Bynum, and that Bynum is hands down, without question, 100 times the player of Kaman. But then again, he was also arguing that Gasol is a lot better than Brand, Kobe is 1000 times better than LeBron, and Kobe is better than MJ.

Your friend is obviously an idiot. That being said, I do think that Bynum, in the games he played last year, was a slightly better overall player than Kaman was, in the games he played. To me, Kaman was not much better in 07/08 than he was in 06/07, but his stats were helped hugely by being the only half decent big on the team in 07/08. Kaman is a good rebounder, but very slow and predictable on offense, and is an average man defender. Bynum was the better defender, and put up just as good stats as Kaman when you adjust for minutes played, despite having to share his rebounds with Odom, and having to share his shots with Kobe. Whenever I watched Kaman play, I thought "solid center, but nothing special." He never seemed to really dominate a game on either end of the floor. A number of times when I watched Bynum play, he really took over and dominated for stretches, even against some of the league's top bigs like Amare, Kaman and Bogut. Here's a nice clip of Bynum repeatedly abusing Kaman:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_gH72uDLkg

Just for a reference, Kaman played 37.2 mpg, while Bynum played 28.8 mpg, but if you adjust them both to 36 mpg, their stats are very similar, with the edge to Bynum due to his far superior fg%:
Kaman: 15.7 ppg (.483/.762), 12.7 rpg, 1.9 apg, 2.8 bpg
Bynum: 16.4 ppg (.636/.695), 12.7 rpg, 2.2 apg, 2.6 bpg

Alex_De_Large wrote:It's really close but i think KamEn is the better player right now.
But Bynum will become better in the future.

Why the big e? His name is Chris KamAn.

--------

Kaman on an average night was better last year, but when they matched up against each other I think Bynum played him very well. For next season and the future I'd take Bynum.

The head to head match up was:

Kaman 6-19 (.316) fg, 16 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 18 points.
Bynum 7-9 (.778) fg, 9 rebounds, 3 assists, 1 steal, 6 blocks, 14 points.

Kaman easily

bynum performed will for 3 weeks...

deNIEd wrote:My argument with a friend, was that, he was claiming that Kaman is no where even near the level of Bynum, and that Bynum is hands down, without question, 100 times the player of Kaman. But then again, he was also arguing that Gasol is a lot better than Brand, Kobe is 1000 times better than LeBron, and Kobe is better than MJ.

your friend happens to be Star24 or dexmor by any chance??

http://youtube.com/watch?v=5_gH72uDLkg

Not basing this comparison off of one game but i went to this game last year. And Bynum was completely owning Kaman. Kaman couldn't make any shots on him or do anything against him, until Bynum was taken off Kaman is when Kaman started to be sucessful