RealGM Articles:Bynum Darkhorse MVP?

[Doormatt]

hell, kobe and shaq were both more important to their teams, and had better seasons than AI that year. shaq had an all time peak and didnt win MVP that year, if you dont see whats wrong with that i dont know what to tell you. and who cares that the heat were below expectations (i dont see how they were), lebron was simply a better player. and if you wanna move the goalposts to "who was more important to their team", then you could easily argue that dirk was far more important to the mavs success than rose was to the bulls (and yes i mean in teh regular season). or even howard being both more important to the magics success, and being a better player.

[HornetJail]

Andrew Bynum won't average 17 and 10 this season. Book it.

Because a) he''ll get less shots in Philly; b) the centers in the East will defend him WAY better than in the West; c) he has no financial incentive to do well this year; or d) all of the above?

Bynum was on a team with Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. Both command lots of double teams, leaving Bynum open for easy buckets. Who on Philly are you going to double-team on a regular basis? Evan Turner? Jrue Holiday? LOL.

[nykballa2k4]

MVP typically goes to best stats on a top team. For Bynum, Tyson Chandler, or any other "dark horse" to get MVP, their team would have to be top 5 record in the league, and they would need to have arguably the best statistical output of any individual in the league. For a center, that would be some portion of the following:
45 combined points/rebounds
4 combined blocks/steals per game
over 60% from the field
being known as the teams defensive anchor

Lets say Bynum gets 25 ppg and 12 rpg with 1 spg and 3 bpg. That makes him a great center, but honestly does not put him top 5 in terms of overall production. Howard as a Laker should be bringing in 22/12/2/4 on a team with a much high win total. Kobe has been preaching to Bynum to be more aggressive on offense. With the same encouragement, Howard might still have better scoring numbers along with better rebounding and block numbers. I just do not see Bynum doing that.

[HornetJail]

For a center, that would be some portion of the following:
45 combined points/rebounds
4 combined blocks/steals per game
over 60% from the field
being known as the teams defensive anchor

We're talking about MVP, not GOAT.

[desertlakerfan]

Andrew Bynum won't average 17 and 10 this season. Book it.

Because a) he''ll get less shots in Philly; b) the centers in the East will defend him WAY better than in the West; c) he has no financial incentive to do well this year; or d) all of the above?

Bynum was on a team with Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. Both command lots of double teams, leaving Bynum open for easy buckets. Who on Philly are you going to double-team on a regular basis? Evan Turner? Jrue Holiday? LOL.

You do know Bynum was the only Laker who saw consistent double and triple teams last year right?

Teams rarely doubled Kobe, and they never doubled Pau.

[nykballa2k4]

2011-2012, Dwight Howard FGA per 36 minutes: 12.6
2011-2012, Andrew Bynum FGA per 36 minutes: 13.6

Bynum got plenty of shots last year. The Lakers did whatever they could to work the ball through him. In games that Kobe was out, his shooting percentage went way down.

Howard - 10.6 FTA per game
Bynum - 5.6 FTA per game

As you can see from the entire picture(not just FGA), Howard got more touches last year as the number one option on a team designed around his strengths(he was surrounded with outside shooters). That should be common sense to people who watched Laker games since Kobe was obviously getting the majority of the looks last year with Bynum eating second.

Bynum will now be on a team like Howard's, one that will have him as the focal point on offense and a team that will have plenty of shooters for him to kick it out to on double and triple teams. I have no doubt that he'll put up better numbers, especially being in the Eastern conference which has fewer quality front courts to face.

He's 24, played 35 mpg last year and didn't miss any games due to injury in a condensed lockout schedule with less time to rest between games. It's his chance to dominate, and if he can lead Philly to a top 3 seed he'll easily be a MVP candidate.

10.5 = 5.25 fga, 5.6 = 2.75 fga so if you assume both played about 36 mpg
Bynum got 3.2 offensive boards last season
Howard got 3.7 offensive boards. That .5 leads to likely .5 more FGA's as his boards led to put back attempts

Math time:
Dwight_____Bynum
FGA 12.6________13.6
FTA 10.6________5.6 (5 fta/2 = 2.5 fga extra for Howard)
ORB 3.7________3.2 (.5 fga he earned on his own more than Bynum)

Overall: Bynum had 1 more FGA per game, factor in FT trips (Howard had 2.5 extra) Howard is up 1.5, factor in ORB and Howard has an overall touch advantage of ONE per game. Even if that one extra FGA always goes in for Bynum what difference does that makes in their comparison?? 21/12 vs dwights 22/14...

[roldy]

Bynum rarely creates for himself. Doesn't get good position. People who say he played with the player with the highest usage rate don't watch Lakers games. They went to Bynum or tried to go to Bynum in the post on an extremely high percentage of possessions only to fail mainly because Bynum couldn't get into good position. This almost always led to Kobe iso which almost always led to a brick. Their offense was absolutely terrible last year. Try to get the ball to Bynum for 15 seconds, if not, pray to God Kobe does not brick (which he often did).

[nykballa2k4]

Because a) he''ll get less shots in Philly; b) the centers in the East will defend him WAY better than in the West; c) he has no financial incentive to do well this year; or d) all of the above?

Bynum was on a team with Kobe Bryant and Pau Gasol. Both command lots of double teams, leaving Bynum open for easy buckets. Who on Philly are you going to double-team on a regular basis? Evan Turner? Jrue Holiday? LOL.

You do know Bynum was the only Laker who saw consistent double and triple teams last year right?

Teams rarely doubled Kobe, and they never doubled Pau.

Pau and Kobe react well to double teams, you are better off letting them get singled and help out after they beat their man. Bynum is like a free candy dispenser in the post when double teamed

[desertlakerfan]

10.5 = 5.25 fga, 5.6 = 2.75 fga so if you assume both played about 36 mpg
Bynum got 3.2 offensive boards last season
Howard got 3.7 offensive boards. That .5 leads to likely .5 more FGA's as his boards led to put back attempts

Math time:
Dwight_____Bynum
FGA 12.6________13.6
FTA 10.6________5.6 (5 fta/2 = 2.5 fga extra for Howard)
ORB 3.7________3.2 (.5 fga he earned on his own more than Bynum)

Overall: Bynum had 1 more FGA per game, factor in FT trips (Howard had 2.5 extra) Howard is up 1.5, factor in ORB and Howard has an overall touch advantage of ONE per game. Even if that one extra FGA always goes in for Bynum what difference does that makes in their comparison?? 21/12 vs dwights 22/14...

Wow.

That's some astute math there, where suddenly offensive rebounds turn into "earned FGA". Im surprised Hollinger isn't calling you up for a intern position....

Fact is, Howard got more touches as the number one option on a team built to counter collapsing defenses with quality shooters. Bynum was the second option behind Kobe who was in full chuck mode last season, on a team with a work in progress offense and a complete lack of quality shooters. It shouldn't take much common sense to realize which player got more touches aka opportunities with the ball.

[picc]

You do know Bynum was the only Laker who saw consistent double and triple teams last year right?

Teams rarely doubled Kobe, and they never doubled Pau.

Huh?

First, nobody on the Lakers was triple-teamed. You're right about Pau not seeing many doubles, but that was a result of becoming the 3rd option and not seeing the ball as much. There's no reason to double him on the elbow outside the paint, and thats where he was because Bynum was getting the post touches.

I dont know why you said Kobe was rarely doubled, he saw at least as many as Andrew, the only difference being he knew what to do when it happened. Which brings up the next point.

Bynum was doubled so frequently because it worked so well. I always said during the season that if he knew how to navigate doubles he'd stop seeing so many of them. With his lack of passing acumen and basketball IQ, sending a double-team at him in the post was like a free turnover for the other team so they pounced on it like rabid wolves.

[eatyourchildren]

Whoa. If Bynum is a darkhorse MVP candidate, why do people keep complaining that the Lakers didn't give up enough to get Dwight?

[ankle420breaker]

He'll likely be the best big man to wear a 6er jersey since sir Charles and I think he makes the 6ers a top 4 team in the East next year, but I don't see him being seriously considered for MVP. He's joining a new system and a new team with 8 new faces. It'll take some adjusting and all the kinks probably won't be ironed out until later in the season.

[cs hauser]

For Bynum to be considered for MVP, the 76ers will need to finish next season with one of the Top 4 best records in the NBA. And that's just not gonna happen.

[markjay]

2011-2012, Dwight Howard FGA per 36 minutes: 12.6
2011-2012, Andrew Bynum FGA per 36 minutes: 13.6

Bynum got plenty of shots last year. The Lakers did whatever they could to work the ball through him. In games that Kobe was out, his shooting percentage went way down.

Howard - 10.6 FTA per game
Bynum - 5.6 FTA per game

As you can see from the entire picture(not just FGA), Howard got more touches last year as the number one option on a team designed around his strengths(he was surrounded with outside shooters). That should be common sense to people who watched Laker games since Kobe was obviously getting the majority of the looks last year with Bynum eating second.

Bynum will now be on a team like Howard's, one that will have him as the focal point on offense and a team that will have plenty of shooters for him to kick it out to on double and triple teams. I have no doubt that he'll put up better numbers, especially being in the Eastern conference which has fewer quality front courts to face.

He's 24, played 35 mpg last year and didn't miss any games due to injury in a condensed lockout schedule with less time to rest between games. It's his chance to dominate, and if he can lead Philly to a top 3 seed he'll easily be a MVP candidate.

How many of those FTA were on "Hack-a-Howard" plays? I seem to recall that Howard got some 39 FTAs in a single game due to constant intentional fouls.

Or how many were on "and-1's" when Howard made a shot and was fouled? And how many were on offensive rebounds, which Howard pulled in at a slightly higher rate than Bynum?

Overall, Howard's usage rate was slightly higher last year than Bynum's (23.6 compared to 21.5), but Howard is also extremely mobile and Bynum not so much. In other words, that small difference could be largely due to Howard doing a better job of getting in position, getting the ball, etc. I don't think there is any statistical evidence that Bynum was somehow ignored last year. In fact, I believe that Bynum had the second most FGAs per 36 minutes of any center in the league.

[Wone]

Bynum is not good enough to be a number one option. His passing game sucks and he is not that good offensively (low post wise).

[Kobeskillz]

I'm interested to see how he does.

I remember Gasol giving him a lot of open shots and dunks. I think Gasol might have been his leading assist man for the year.

[Johnny Firpo]

It would be hilarious if Bynum won MVP, to be honest. Not because he's not a good player, with great potential, but considering his behaviour so far in his career.

[High0ctane21]

Possibly, needs to be a 20/10/2blks guys though to have a chance against Lebron / Durant / Howard / Love/Kobe.

He's already at 19/11/2 with the Lakers. If he wants to sniff the MVP trophy, he needs average 24+ / 12+ and 2+ all while the 76ers finish top 4 in the NBA.

[Walid]

He can win it if Philly is top 3 and he posts stats above 20/12/2/.5/2

[EddieJonesFan]

No.