Bynum: Slump is in my head

The Skyhook · Post #1 » by **The Skyhook** » Fri May 8, 2009 11:51 pm

Bynum's saying how is slump is more of a mental then physical thing

http://basketball.realgm.com/src_wireta ... n_my_head/

magic1fan · Post #2 » by **magic1fan** » Sat May 9, 2009 2:23 am

i wish that were the case. it's obvious thathe doesn't have the same explosiveness that he had before the injury. a great example of this was the lob that luke threw him in game two and he couldn't convert. before the injury that was two points guaranteed...

KObe Bryant · Post #3 » by **KObe Bryant** » Sat May 9, 2009 5:55 am

True. Obviously, that's the reason. In the last 4 games of the season, he averaged a double-double and I've not heard any news that he was injured again. It must really be mental. He's not ready for a much more physical playoff experience.

Dr Aki · Post #4 » by **Dr Aki** » Sat May 9, 2009 8:20 am

those 4 games were fools gold

he was playing against teams that might have mailed it in or against units that coaches thought they could experiment with going into the playoffs

kevin_405 · Post #5 » by **kevin_405** » Sat May 9, 2009 2:37 pm

Bynum is a kid playing basketball .. every game he makes a different mistake .

Round 3 game he was setting moving screens lucky he was not getting called.

Post #6 » by **semi-sentient** » Sat May 9, 2009 4:31 pm

I loved what the commentators had to say yesterday, particularly Jackson and Van Gundy.

His role is so simple that he should not be feeling any pressure. The focus is not on him, and no one expects him to contribute anything major on offense. On defense, it's a different matter, but being that I used to pride myself in playing defense (as a PG), I can tell you that all it takes is effort and focus.

These excuses for him being young aren't flying with me either. Like Van Gundy said, he's still cashing his check isn't he? He's being paid to do a job, not to cuddle up with players who will tell him everything he wants to hear to boost his confidence.

Having said that, I think he has shown flashes of great defense in this series (in addition to quite a few boneheaded plays), so he's at least starting to make an impact now. Perhaps his timing and conditioning aren't quite there, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now. Although he only played 12 minutes, I liked what I saw in Game 3. He was out there contesting shots, rebounding, and denying Yao the ball which is precisely what we need from him. If he keeps that up his minutes will most certainly increase and we can give Pau more rest.

Speaking of that, I think Phil should bring Bynum in late in the 1st quarter so that Pau can be out there with the 2nd unit. We should always have 2 starters on the floor. Rolling with Brown, Vujacic, Walton, Odom, and Bynum is nerve racking as hell.

Post #7 » by **dockingsched** » Sat May 9, 2009 4:53 pm

i like that bynum walked the walk after doing all this talking. his defense are rebounding was very good. offensively, he actually passed out of the post almost every time. i think he shot the ball every time he got it in the first two games.

Sedale Threatt · Post #8 » by **Sedale Threatt** » Sat May 9, 2009 5:10 pm

I thought Andrew was pretty solid last night. Could have been a tiny bit more active, as always, but otherwise he did what we needed him to do. He just didn't get the minutes, and those will come as long as he keeps focusing on D and rebounding.

dalekjazz · Post #9 » by **dalekjazz** » Sat May 9, 2009 7:56 pm

Jerry Sloan's famous quote might be applicable at this time:

"I don't care if he's 19 or 30. If he's going to be on the floor in the NBA, he's got to be able to step up and get after it. We can't put diapers on him one night, and a jockstrap the next night. It's just the way it is.

AmusingFiddle · Post #10 » by **AmusingFiddle** » Sat May 9, 2009 11:02 pm

kevin_405 wrote:Bynum is a kid playing basketball .. every game he makes a different mistake .

Round 3 game he was setting moving screens lucky he was not getting called.

We need to stop using his age as an excuse. He has been around veteran players/coaches (legends if you will) to learn by now what it takes. However, IMO he may be physically healed but not in physical shape to play basketball let alone playoff basketball. Remember Ariza during the playoffs last year?

magic1fan · Post #11 » by **magic1fan** » Sat May 9, 2009 11:34 pm

semi-sentient wrote:I loved what the commentators had to say yesterday, particularly Jackson and Van Gundy.

His role is so simple that he should not be feeling any pressure. The focus is not on him, and no one expects him to contribute anything major on offense. On defense, it's a different matter, but being that I used to pride myself in playing defense (as a PG), I can tell you that all it takes is effort and focus.

These excuses for him being young aren't flying with me either. Like Van Gundy said, he's still cashing his check isn't he? He's being paid to do a job, not to cuddle up with players who will tell him everything he wants to hear to boost his confidence.

Having said that, I think he has shown flashes of great defense in this series (in addition to quite a few boneheaded plays), so he's at least starting to make an impact now. Perhaps his timing and conditioning aren't quite there, so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt for now. Although he only played 12 minutes, I liked what I saw in Game 3. He was out there contesting shots, rebounding, and denying Yao the ball which is precisely what we need from him. If he keeps that up his minutes will most certainly increase and we can give Pau more rest.

Speaking of that, I think Phil should bring Bynum in late in the 1st quarter so that Pau can be out there with the 2nd unit. We should always have 2 starters on the floor. Rolling with Brown, Vujacic, Walton, Odom, and Bynum is nerve racking as hell.

this post pretty much sums it all up...

TXSun · Post #12 » by **TXSun** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:15 am

nah man your clumsy ass is up rihanna's rear. just concentrate in bball, that's what you are paid millions to do. Bynum's game always finds a way to fadeaway.

LAKESHOW · Post #13 » by **LAKESHOW** » Sun May 10, 2009 4:29 am

slump my ass. hes gotta ball right now. we aint got the time to figure it out, get in the game and go full throttle.

NetsForce · Post #14 » by **NetsForce** » Sun May 10, 2009 5:43 am

I would consider starting Bynum again just because the duo of Bynum and Gasol up front would be too much for the Rockets to handle, it'd be an offensive rebound field day, which is particularly good as offensive rebounding as a big man is generally one of the easiest ways to get easy buckets.

TylersLakers · Post #15 » by **TylersLakers** » Sun May 10, 2009 6:21 am

We have to figure out a starting lineup - and stick with it.

If Drew is going to be in the second unit.. He needs to get more than 10 minutes a game. Especially when he's working his arse off on defense as he was during Game 3. Phil is so stubborn that he has to play Gasol 36+ minutes, same with Odom. And when Bynum comes off the bench.. there's just not many minutes for him in the front court, especially when he refuses to play the Gasol/Bynum front line.

Mamba Venom · Post #16 » by **Mamba Venom** » Sun May 10, 2009 12:08 pm

He will be better next year he is a PLAYOFF ROOKIE

TXSun · Post #17 » by **TXSun** » Mon May 11, 2009 12:24 am

you guys are better off trading this guy. I mean is you want another 'ship now. if not just be patient with the guy, he's only 21 and injure-prone. 1 full season, injury free might do it.

The Skyhook · Post #18 » by **The Skyhook** » Mon May 11, 2009 9:18 pm

We should get Bynum going early in this game. Maybe if he can score a bunch he will gain some confidence. If the slump is really in his head then allowing him to score might just pump him up and cause him to start moving around and not play in "slow motion". Its almost like he feels like his knee will give out under him. But if he begins to score then maybe just maybe he will feel like everything is all good again and not be scared to go full force.

kobe808lak · Post #19 » by **kobe808lak** » Mon May 11, 2009 11:22 pm

nastneemz81 wrote:We should get Bynum going early in this game. Maybe if he can score a bunch he will gain some confidence. If the slump is really in his head then allowing him to score might just pump him up and cause him to start moving around and not play in "slow motion". Its almost like he feels like his knee will give out under him. But if he begins to score then maybe just maybe he will feel like everything is all good again and not be scared to go full force.

Phil needs to have some confidence in bynum so he can finally feel confident in himself again.. When your own coach has no faith in you how can you play confident basketball. I am not sayin drew has been play great ball but he played 12 mins in a blowout game sunday... give the guy some more minutes..

The Skyhook · Post #20 » by **The Skyhook** » Tue May 12, 2009 1:55 am

kobe808lak wrote:
nastneemz81 wrote:We should get Bynum going early in this game. Maybe if he can score a bunch he will gain some confidence. If the slump is really in his head then allowing him to score might just pump him up and cause him to start moving around and not play in "slow motion". Its almost like he feels like his knee will give out under him. But if he begins to score then maybe just maybe he will feel like everything is all good again and not be scared to go full force.

Phil needs to have some confidence in bynum so he can finally feel confident in himself again.. When your own coach has no faith in you how can you play confident basketball. I am not sayin drew has been play great ball but he played 12 mins in a blowout game sunday... give the guy some more minutes..

If Lamar can't play at all or plays limited minutes then Phil will have no other choice but to go with Bynum.