ALL HAIL wrote:Kevin McHale won the sixth man of the year in 1985 and in 1984, the same year they won the championship. He was also named one of the NBAs top 50.
Why was he a sixth man for a few years?
Because KC Jones realized the second unit needed a legit go-to man and they probably wanted the "space" in the starting lineup to get Robert Parish and Bird going before bringing in McHale.
I think the exact same thing about Gasol.
I don't want to limit Gasol's minutes or his overall productivity, I just think that from a psychogical standpoint Bynum and Artest (similiar to Parish and Bird) would benefit from the added offensive space to begin ball games ... that's it.
With more space to operate offensively to begin games, my theory is that they will be MUCH more effective in other parts of their games.
We already know that giving Bynum touches improves his defense and rebounding ... that's pretty much a fact in my book.
So understanding that, we could either say "NO, NO, NO stop being like that and just play solid D, rebound, get your putbacks and two or three chances on the block per game and be happy"
or
we could accept that he is guy that needs to be in some sort of OFFENSIVE rhythm in order to be a monster on the boards and on defense.
Bynum has NEVER been that dude to grab 15 boards and score 8 points. He has always been that dude who is at his best when he is grabbing 12 boards while at the same time scoring 18 points or so.
In each of the past two years Bynum has gone on remarkable runs only to get injured. In these runs over the past two seasons in which he has played the best ball of his career--which earned him that fat contract I might add, he has not been just some role player who comes in and blocks shots and rebounds ... NO!
When Bynum has been at his best is when he has scored the ball first then blocked shots and rebounded second ... fight it if you want to but it's true ... Bynum's offensive role has a profound impact on the overall effectiveness of the other facets of his game.
Humor the dude and let him get his five or six touches to start games without Gasol on the floor and watch him grow into the player that will have the confidence to demand the ball down on the block regardless of who else is on the floor ... dude can really be a beast if we just get him going early.
Somebody please find his stats over the last few months of the past two seasons right before he was injured ... I think those numbers will tell the manner in which Bynum is at his best and most comfortable playing ... I'm guessing that he went on runs in which he averaged nearly 20 a game with close to 12 boards and 2 blocks ... give this dude the ball and the space to operate to begin games so he can slowly begin to beast again ... it will happen!
It sounds like we are catering to bynum way too much in these scenerios. Its not about lableing him a role player, its about what is BEST FOR THE TEAM. You have guys that just like to score, and you have guys that need to do whatever to get that big contract. Bynum has that contract and a championship at 21! Now it is about creating your legacy as a TEAM first by winning more rings ( aka KOBE ) and then when its time, taking the lead role.
He will be plenty involved due to match-ups in his favor or scoring 3 feet away from the cup with a slam when he rebounds. It is extremely important for the TEAM that he anchors the defense. This is our most problematic area. Why sacrifice the chance at greatness and rings worrying about your points when you have a chance to be a factor on both sides and still average double figures?
Everybody on the team is gonna have to sacrifice in order for this to work next year and beyond, Kobe on down. We have too much talent not to be great, but its gonna take alot of dedication to the gameplan.
We need to ride this thing until the wheels fall off.
