The "I still believe in Andrew Bynum thread"

[SoCalMike]

Bigs take a longer time to recover from injuries like this, and as i said, it could be both physical and/or mental...

I'd bet that is part of whats going on here.

[MJ(Mean John)]

somewhere, someplace..


lakerfreak is happy.



Drew has been Beasting in the first half.

And then he droped Aaron Brooks!!!



Good stuff!! I guess he's got that MEANJOHN mindset going on! lol

[lakerfreak]

Originally Posted by gts

he's not so good that his talent can carry him through bad times... he is striking me as one of those guys that unless everything is perfect he's gonna struggle... probably just a maturity/experience issue but there's been plenty of players before that just can't deliver unless the planets align...
after 4 years in the league now with a coach like phil and a teamate like kobe you'd have hoped something woud rub off, some form of finding a way to contribute on at least one end of the floor, but he's stuck in that same mode slava used to be in, i score i defend, i miss shots or don't get touches i don't do anything...

i mean the guy is 7'1'' for gods sake just standing there should be good for 4 rebounds, put your arms up and you can get a couple blocks and probably alter another 5 or 6 shots...lol


i'm just not buying the "knee"... yes it's not 100% but if it was that bad the lakers wouldn't let him play...

Its not that the knee is bad, Bynum just isn't trusting it yet. I remember when Odom had a knee injury a few seasons ago...he came back and sucked a little bit and EVERYONE was defending him because he wasn't "trusting" the knee yet.

Bynum has beasted before. You don't think he deserves the benefit of the doubt?

[gts]

Originally Posted by lakerfreak

Its not that the knee is bad, Bynum just isn't trusting it yet. I remember when Odom had a knee injury a few seasons ago...he came back and sucked a little bit and EVERYONE was defending him because he wasn't "trusting" the knee yet.

Bynum has beasted before. You don't think he deserves the benefit of the doubt?

no i don't.. i understand the knee may be giving him problems but that's no excuse for not trying...look at todays game he's active having a great game... he easily could have given the effort in other games..i don't care if he gets 0 rebounds and 0 points as long as he tries.. but in several games he just gave or gives zero effort for some reason.. the fact he can have a big game like today only reiforces my feelings that he sometimes mails it in

[lakerfreak]

Originally Posted by gts

no i don't.. i understand the knee may be giving him problems but that's no excuse for not trying...look at todays game he's active having a great game... he easily could have given the effort in other games..i don't care if he gets 0 rebounds and 0 points as long as he tries.. but in several games he just gave or gives zero effort for some reason.. the fact he can have a big game like today only reiforces my feelings that he sometimes mails it in

Sounds to me like that has to due with age.

Not that he is 21...but he is still immature.

Hopefully he can give 100% every night in night out.

[gts]

Originally Posted by lakerfreak

Sounds to me like that has to due with age.

Not that he is 21...but he is still immature.

Hopefully he can give 100% every night in night out.

that's all he needs to do... the rest will come along if he does that

[lakers4ever]

I truly believe Bynum is just a kid who will be the Lakers next superstar center. Give him a break. He has had very little playoff experience. Many many players have that problem when the intensity of the playoffs start. It is not the same game as regular season. Once he adjusts, and under Kareem's continued tutelage, I think he is going to be unstoppable like a Dwight Howard type of player. He just needs to get a little more muscle which he can definitely do since he is only 22 years old. Don't rag on him. He is a kid.

[alexthegod]

Originally Posted by gts

no i don't.. i understand the knee may be giving him problems but that's no excuse for not trying...look at todays game he's active having a great game... he easily could have given the effort in other games..i don't care if he gets 0 rebounds and 0 points as long as he tries.. but in several games he just gave or gives zero effort for some reason.. the fact he can have a big game like today only reiforces my feelings that he sometimes mails it in

I dont agree with you that he's mailing it in at times, I really believe its all in his head, lets not forget this is the first playoff burn ever for Bynum. Add to that recovering from a knee injury and several months off. He had zero confidence and was on a short leash (still might be). Thats not easy for anyone to conquer let alone a 21 year old kid with no playoff experience. He is working his way through it. He could have just shriveled completely but I think game 7 shows you what kind of player he can be in the playoffs. He finally played with confidence and what a boost for the kid to deliver in his first game 7! I think Phil having confidence to put him out there in a game 7 gave him a needed confidence boost too.

This isnt your normal 4th year player GTS. Kid came in way over his head at just 17 years old and didnt grow up a basketball junkie like Kobe/Lebron/Garnett. HS to the NBA takes longer to grow up to an NBA player with the few exceptions I listed. add to that 2 knee injuries that cost him 60+ games over the past two seasons, and you could say he really has barely a year of NBA experience as a real NBA player. year 3 is when he truely started becoming an NBA player. 85 games and 75 starts over the past 2 years.

As much as we want him to succeed, we have to remember there is going to be a learning curve. Its all about confidence and staying healthy with Bynum. He was just starting to become a monster both last season and this season when his knee injury struck.

This is invaluable experience for the kid. He finally played with confidence in game 7 vs HOU. I think he can build upon it and give the Lakers meaningful minutes for the rest of the post season.