Andrew Bynum: 25k fine, 5 game suspension

[DEEP3CL]

Bynum's gonna definitely mature. This is one of those cases where a player is too young and too strong for his own good. It always puzzled me why Bynum continues these forearm body shoves on players that are clearly smaller than him. On one hand, its toughness, but cowardly. It must be frustrating playing next to Kobe and watching him shoot jumper after jumper and fading away in the fourth quarters.

GTFO of here with your Kobe hate

Oh he's more than out ! He was an awful poster.

[Hunter103]

cya Karma_Engineer!

[DrDavid0425]

The Lakers’ retooled defense, adjusted this season in part to better cover the 3-point line, crumbled as Dallas made 11 of 15 3-point shots in the first half: Those 11 matched as many 3-pointers the Lakers had made through the entire 3 1/2 games in the series. Jason Terry tied an NBA playoff record with nine 3-pointers for the game (on 10 attempts), and Dallas’ 20 as a team also tied an NBA playoff record. The second half was worse for the Lakers in another sense: Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum were ejected one after another for violent acts of frustration. Odom, miffed after Dirk Nowitzki spiked Odom’s practice free-throw attempt after Odom came up way short on his first one, made the second and then lined up Nowitzki for a hard bodycheck that sent the Dallas star falling backward. Barea walked toward Odom afterward, mockingly applauding, prompting Kobe Bryant to approach. Then with Barea flying toward a layup moments later, Bynum flew in with a forearm to Barea’s exposed rib area. Both acts were ruled penalty-two flagrant fouls with automatic ejection. Orange County Register

[andrewww]

i have a similar take on bynum's body language as another poster after the ejection:

"When Bynum got himself kicked out ON PURPOSE and then took his jersey off before he even left the Floor... it sure seemed like he knew he would never play for the Lakers again (and is fine with that). Something must be going on in the LAL locker room."'

kind of lbj-esq?

[Brautigan1]

Neither Drew's nor Odom's foul was ejection material .... the NBA is way to soft now. Ron deserved an ejection and suspension, but Odom and Drew just deserved fouls and techs, not ejections and definitely not suspensions.

You are delusional. Seriously, seek help.

[KB24TBOTB]

i have a similar take on bynum's body language as another poster after the ejection:

"When Bynum got himself kicked out ON PURPOSE and then took his jersey off before he even left the Floor... it sure seemed like he knew he would never play for the Lakers again (and is fine with that). Something must be going on in the LAL locker room."'

kind of lbj-esq?

If there is something wrong then I would love to know what it is

[vct33]

Odom definitely deserved the ejection. Especially considering this isn't the first time he's pulled this move.

As for Bynum, 5-10 games next season is certainly deserved and 20 would not be too harsh.

[Base]

Odom definitely deserved the ejection. Especially considering this isn't the first time he's pulled this move.

As for Bynum, 5-10 games next season is certainly deserved and 20 would not be too harsh.

You're just hating here. 5 Games maximum.

Bynum Flagrant foul on Gerald Wallace, 0 Game Suspension
Bynum Flagrant on Michael Beasley, 2 Game Suspension

Flagrant on small old JJ Barea...20 games...lol

The Odom foul, well let's just say a little acting was involved.

[Meatcookie]

Don't know if Odom's was worth an ejection in any other scenario, but the refs were just trying to keep everything somewhat in control. Bynum's was a cheap shot, though if you're going to make a play like that you should do it when it still has a chance to send a message (thinking game 2 second half), likely looking at a suspension.

It's clear this was a distracted team, and as Magic alluded to, it will be interesting to see what comes out of this loss as maybe there was something going on behind the scenes. Do you guys see bringing back both of your bigs next season or dealing one and retooling the roster?

True the refs were trying to get the game finished without more incidents. But when you look at the replay, Dirk wasn't even looking at Odom. The contact wasn't 'that' bad, but when it is that far away from the basket on a guy not even looking at you, the ejection had to be given.

[TruSkool]

just saw it....that was a horrible play by drew....dirk shoulda slapped him

[cavsfan_osiris]

Odom did not need an ejection or fine. Bynum on the other hand should get at least 5 games.

[sweet daddy]

To me, the only questionable thing about Bynum's foul was that it was big on small, and the player was in a position to get hurt real bad. That's it.

Anybody remember the clothesline that McHale put on Rambis in the finals so many years ago? I'm old enough to have been watching that game. That was a brutal play. But, there were lots of Hall-of-Fame, 50 greatest players in that game, and all that happened was a fight broke out. I don't recall any suspensions. People bad-mouthed McHale for having done it, that's about it. That's how they used to play.

Anybody remember Jabbar breaking Kent Benson's jaw out of frustration for getting elbowed and kneed all those years ago? I remember. I remember how Karl Malone used to try to hurt Dirk in his younger years by chopping down real hard across his arms when he'd go up for a shot. Dirk developed a nasty fall-away jumper that's impossible to block as a result.

Very few people know the right time to make plays like that any more. There's nobody around to teach them. Bynum will learn that the time for a message foul is early enough in a series to make a difference, and he'll learn not to do it to little guys, because it makes you look bad. He'll learn.

[Gek]

Meh Raja Bell made a career off of cheap shot fouls like this. He'll get 5 games max.

[ALL HAIL]

To me, the only questionable thing about Bynum's foul was that it was big on small, and the player was in a position to get hurt real bad. That's it.

Anybody remember the clothesline that McHale put on Rambis in the finals so many years ago? I'm old enough to have been watching that game. That was a brutal play. But, there were lots of Hall-of-Fame, 50 greatest players in that game, and all that happened was a fight broke out. I don't recall any suspensions. People bad-mouthed McHale for having done it, that's about it. That's how they used to play.

Anybody remember Jabbar breaking Kent Benson's jaw out of frustration for getting elbowed and kneed all those years ago? I remember. I remember how Karl Malone used to try to hurt Dirk in his younger years by chopping down real hard across his arms when he'd go up for a shot. Dirk developed a nasty fall-away jumper that's impossible to block as a result.

Very few people know the right time to make plays like that any more. There's nobody around to teach them. Bynum will learn that the time for a message foul is early enough in a series to make a difference, and he'll learn not to do it to little guys, because it makes you look bad. He'll learn.

Well said my man. People need to get a grip on the idea that a direct result of that elbow is him being traded. If he's traded it's because the Lakers got the best deal for him over Gasol.

[Mass Rig]

Bynum put himself on the trading block by bringing out in public the "trust issues" thing and with that stupid foul. Truth of the matter is that, while he got better, he was never dominant and never will be (at least in LA).

[Kilroy]

Bynum put himself on the trading block by bringing out in public the "trust issues" thing and with that stupid foul. Truth of the matter is that, while he got better, he was never dominant and never will be (at least in LA).

Bynum did not put himself on the trading block for either of those things... The Lakers are not that insecure...

The interesting part of your post is the question about if he'll ever be a 'dominant' big man... That might actually be a pretty good question, because for a guy as big as him, he sure did get shoved around a lot by smaller guys.

Regardless though, he was our best big man all playoffs... Not really 'Dominant' at any point though.

[dockingsched]

bynum didn't put himself on the trading block, may be in realgm world, but c'mon now.

as far as bynum getting pushed around by smaller guys, did you watch the playoffs? kilroy, where you the one that said bynum had been really inconsistent in the playoffs? if so you continue to be wrong about drew. apologies if it wasn't you.

[Gek]

The only way I see Bynum on the trading block is if he is the thorn that is causing whatever the hell is happening on that team in the locker room.


That's true for any player, outside of Kobe (but I don't think it's him)

[Mass Rig]

Bynum did not put himself on the trading block for either of those things... The Lakers are not that insecure...

The Lakers might not be, but he sure demonstrated that he is. That showed immaturity, and next year he is turning 25. A little old to play big baby.

To me a decision has to be made - who will be our second option (assuming we'll continue with the triangle). It's either Gasol OR Bynum OR Howard. Playing big doesn't pay off anymore. Odom needs to start at the 4, and one of the three guys above should be our go-to-guy at the 5.

[Kilroy]

bynum didn't put himself on the trading block, may be in realgm world, but c'mon now.

as far as bynum getting pushed around by smaller guys, did you watch the playoffs? kilroy, where you the one that said bynum had been really inconsistent in the playoffs? if so you continue to be wrong about drew. apologies if it wasn't you.

No that was me... I stand by it.

I watched every minute of every game and always focus on bigs because I like the nuances of the inside game and because not a whole lot was going on for us outside of the paint.

Bynum was inconsistent... His effort and intensity levels were up and down. There were games where he jumped like Artest for the entire game. He seemed to have a hard time keeping his legs under him and firing.

He was getting pushed around inside. Not every play but a lot more than a 7' 270# guy with proper motivation should be... And a lot more than he was after the all-star break.
He got in a groove for the last 2 games of the NO series but before that, he looked like he was letting Okafor and Landry take him out of his game... And Grey absolutely owned him until he got hurt... and sometimes even after in spot minutes.

Then against Dallas, it was Chandler... And he follows up his 18/12 game against NO with 8/5...
Chandler in past matchups couldn't handle bynum... He'd get in early foul trouble and look completely outmatched... For whatever reason, this time it was different. Bynum wasn't catching the ball where he normally does against him and looked like he was having a hard time battling him for position and rebounds.

He was light years better than Pau... But that doesn't negate the fact that he didn't put out the same effort night in and night out that he did after the all star break.

So my point isn't that Bynum sucked, or that he needed to be traded or that he's not one of the best C's in the league...

My original point was that as well as he played at times, the energy, focus, and physicality levels weren't always were they needed to be in the playoffs...

Playing with an undermotivated pau may have had an effect.