Mihm's movement/Bynum's jumper

[joe.linnen]

I didn't get to see the game against the Jazz. I was wondering for the short time that Mihm was in the game. How well did he move? Did he seem to baby the ankle that he injured? I seen the recap and they showed Bynum with a very nice jumper at the free trow line. I was wondering if he did that trought out the game or was it just that one? I'm sorry for posting this if this has already been posted.

[fareweatherfan]

Mihm looked fine to me, although he didn't get much burn and played off the ball most of the time.

Bynum took that jumper you mentioned w/in minutes (if not seconds) of entering the game. It was great to see, he didn't hesitate and ran to the spot as if they had worked on that flash and shoot before.

Very soon after, Bynum got the ball in the low post, guarded by a Utah big. IIRC, he put the ball on the floor, got pushed another foot or so out, and turned to the baseline for a turn around jumper, bottoms.

While its clear Bynum has worked on his jumper, I only saw the baby hook a few times. I would love to see him use it more often.

Also, he got the ball right under the basket a few times and wasn't able to move Utah bigs to get the dunk. He ended up going for off balance soft layups and got blocked a few times. No cause for concern though, it was clear he didn't have game ready leg strength yet.

FWIW I was in row 2 at the free throw line and was able to focus heavily on our inside play. As a matter of fact, I don't even know how our guards played.

[Desiderium]

the problem with mihm is gonna be his defense. all his life he's played as a center and is now being asked to play the pf position...he has to bend his knees and play some D. staying healthy and defense should be his main focus for this season

[lakersfanatic]

Let us hope his foul curse doesn't follow him to PF position also. Bynum will eventually get back into the flow of things and dominant... i want to see him do the sky hook more often also.

Good first exposure.. IMO

[joe.linnen]

I thank you all for the information you've provided me with. I feel that if Bynum and Mihm keep going down the road they're going we'll bring that title home this year.

[Erik Eleven]

Bynum is a man of his word. He said he had worked on his jumper and backed it up, just like he said he shoots free throws better than Shaq, and backed that up, too. Now I want to see him back up 20/10 and his first all-star appearance. The small worry I have with that is that he has to play a whole lot of inside-outside for that to happen — he has to show much greater patience than he did this past Tuesday, which I think he will. He probably needed to get some frustration out in his first game, let it be known that he's indeed back. It seemed as if when he got the ball, he felt that he needed to score, and he forced it a tid bit, in my opinion. He made his shots at a high clip, but they were not the best of shot selections. If he can be more patient and trust that the ball will come back to him once he passes it back out, but in better position thanks to the inside-outside, we'll start controlling the tempo of every game we play. I they do that, we'll be the aggressor and win most games this season, period.

EDIT: Mihm looked very good, I thought. He looked more mobile than I had expected. When he gets his form back into game shape, he'll be an incredible asset to this team. The way he started playing before the injury, he was actually a starting caliber NBA center — a go-to guy for early game scoring. With a healthy Mihm, all of a sudden we're very deep up front.

Too bad we can't trade Radman for a defender. We certainly don't need his spot minutes at PF anymore. Bynum, Mihm, Gasol, Odom, Mbenga, Powell, Giles should eliminate his minutes at the four. In addition to that, he has Odom, Ariza, Kobe and Luke to surpass at the only other spot he could get minutes. It'll be tough for Radman to make the starting line-up, and he knows it. Let's see if we can walk the walk with his defense babble from the last interview. More than anything else, I think he can become a very valuable trade asset this next deadline. There's always a disgruntled one by that time of the season, and shooters will always be a commodity. Look at Szczerbiak. I'd be surprised if he's still a Laker after the next TD.

[laduane1]

AB did miss a lop for a dunk, but it came from someone who will not be with the team. His timing is still not there. Preseason is going to be interesting, still 18 players on roster. Need to see who is going to be cut. Want to see Sun play a few minutes.

[YiYaoYue]

Mihm has always been decent when healthy.... the question is... how many nicks and scratches does it take to bring him down?

[BballFanAddict]

I saw a highlight from the game last night and was impressed with the spin into the lane jumper Bynum performed. I did not realize he possessed such quick and agile footwork. It was impressive. He looked like a graceful PF instead of a bruising Center.

I am really curious to see how Oden and Bynum match up. Will Oden try and bruise Bynum and bang him to get low post? Will Bynum be able to stop him? Will Bynum do the same to Oden, or will he use a more agile, finesse approach to go around him and or shoot over him?

I guess the question for me is whether or not Bynum is a banger or a finesse player. I would guess he is capable of both.

For now, it seems Oden is purely a power player. He reminds me of Shaq-lite and or Sabonis, in that they used their size and strength to score at the rim.

Getting excited for the 28th. Worried we will be missing a few starters due to injury, but hoping for a great game none-the-less.

[Kobay]

Mihm is complete molasses. Shawn Bradly is a Porsche compared to Mihm.