Andrew Bynum last night.

[moiso]

I agree that this kid can be scary good.  Okafor and Horford aren't even close to this guy's level both on skill level at the present time and definitely not future potential.  I love Jefferson's offense, but Bynum plays both ends.  He is enormous, his hands are incredible, his shooting percentage is incredible, and he fits in with a team concept.  Plus he's not yet 21.  The guy is the future of the center position along with Dwight Howard, and perhaps Oden if he ever stays healthy.  There are a lot of good 6'9 players, there are not many gifted 7'1" guys.

[LarBrd33]

Seriously though.    If he returns to the same form he was prior to his injury, he absolutely unquestionably helps that team.  

In the last 11 games Bynum played last year... 10 were victories.  The only loss?   To Boston.   That's our only hope, really.  Bynum had a terrible game against Boston and fouled out in 22 minutes.   The hope is that Perk can limit him.   But it's important to note that a little guy named Pau Gasol wasn't on the team at that point.

Just check out his game log from last year:  http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/pgl.cgi?player=bynuman01&year=2008

Look at the kind of numbers he was putting up during that pre-injury stretch.  

We're celtic fans.  We can grasp at straws and say "well Tony Allen was putting up 20 points and 5 steals a game before his injury"... I'm with you on that.   But Bynum is a beast and you can't brush aside how his improvement transformed that Laker team from "Kobe has no teammates... he hates it... he wants to go to Chicago" to... "Kobe loves his teammates.  He's a team oriented player... the Lakers are contenders and he's never been happier"

[NoraG1]

Until Bynum does this for at least a year consistently he should not be hyped like he is. Ity is nothing short of ridiculous. He has not done anything but have a small sample size of good games. Portland had a nice run last year for a stretch last year. Guess what? Didn't even make the playoffs. Bynum has to do well for a whole season at least imo. Even then the hype is a bit much. He is yet to prove he is the next Shaq bujt biy are they hyping him up to that level. I find it annoying the way the media does this.

[Redz]

It took me until about 1990 before I could admit Magic Johnson was a decent basketball player.  Bynum's going to have to work me over a bit more. 

Gotta wear blinders on this one.

[nickagneta]

Someone please explain to me how Bynum is being considered close to All-Star level already with his numbers that he sustained for all of ...what...20-25 games last year when Al Jefferson, who is only two years older than Bynum, has averaged 16/11 and 21/11 while playing 140 games over the last two years and hasn't even gotten close to an All-Star game? And very little mention as coming close to an All-Star game?

Al Horford was 10/10 while playing in over double the games that Bynum played in last year and was a beast in playoff ball and I hear very little chatter about All-Star game level play for him. Emeka Okafor has been a double double machine for 4 years and I don't hear too much chatter about All-Star level play about him. Andris Biedrins has been a double double guy for two years, where is his hype?

All these guys are pretty young as well and yet the national media barely mention them much less anoint them to All-Star level and they have resumes that to this point far, far exceed that of Bynum. The point is that yes, Bynum has a raft of talent, but hasn't proven that he can sustain it for anything more than a high school length season.

I think the national media need to step back and come to reality with this guy and let him prove his hype and let him earn his stature before handing him over as the main reason for the Lakers to become the next 73 win team with a 16-0 run through the playoffs to greatness. Am I exaggerating the amount of hype this team gets, [dang] straight I am but no more so than the media exaggerates Bynum's abilities when there are some much more deserving players out there that deserve the press than does Bynum.

Nick i'll try my best to explain.   Bynum inpacts the game on offense and defense.  He's got rare gifts, is quick, big and nasty.  He started off last season slow, but by the time the Lakers started rolling he was putting up like 18 points, 12 rebounds 2 blocks and 70% shooting pretty consistently.  His play was enough for Kobe to go "n/m on the trade request... I'm good..."  

I for one will not be one of the foolish Celtic fans who will be downing tons of crow in a few months when this kid has helped the Lakers look completely dominant.   Everyone ease off on your "Bynum stanks" comments... he clearly doesn't.  Just hope somehow Perk can contain him, because that team has the potential be scary good this year.  Scary good.

While I agree that he has a bunch of talent and will get better, especially considering he will be getting such little attention his way defensively as teams find ways to stop Gasol and Kobe I wonder just how good he would be if not on the Lakers.

His last 10 games played, just to set the record straight, he averaged 15.3PPP, 10.4 PPG, 2.0 BPG while shooting 70%. While the opposition is concentrating on other great players it's real easy to shoot over 60%, just ask Kendrick Perkins. But his opponents averaged 12.5 PPG, 9 RPG, 1.3 BPG while shooting 48%. That to me doesn't equate to great defense considering some of the guys he played against were Perk, David Lee, Bogut, Okur, Jermaine O'Neal, and Dalambert, none of which are considered offensively great.

Listen, I'm not foolish, I know that he will succeed with that team. How could he not? But if Okafor, Horford, Biedrins, or Jefferson on that team instead of Bynum would they be putting up numbers that were any different? I seriously doubt it and would hypothesize that almost all of them might just have better numbers.

[KCattheStripe]

Seriously though.    If he returns to the same form he was prior to his injury, he absolutely unquestionably helps that team.  

In the last 11 games Bynum played last year... 10 were victories.  The only loss?   To Boston.   That's our only hope, really.  Bynum had a terrible game against Boston and fouled out in 22 minutes.   The hope is that Perk can limit him.   But it's important to note that a little guy named Pau Gasol wasn't on the team at that point.

Just check out his game log from last year:  http://www.basketball-reference.com/fc/pgl.cgi?player=bynuman01&year=2008

Look at the kind of numbers he was putting up during that pre-injury stretch.  

We're celtic fans.  We can grasp at straws and say "well Tony Allen was putting up 20 points and 5 steals a game before his injury"... I'm with you on that.   But Bynum is a beast and you can't brush aside how his improvement transformed that Laker team from "Kobe has no teammates... he hates it... he wants to go to Chicago" to... "Kobe loves his teammates.  He's a team oriented player... the Lakers are contenders and he's never been happier"

13/10/2 is not a beast, it's Andrew Bogut with more Blocks and less points.

[LB3533]

Lakers just gave Bynum an extension worth about 14 million per for 3-4 years.

Bynum was looking for 17 per, I didn't think he'd get close to 17...I was thinking 11 or 12 million and even that was over paying......

Al Jefferson's 5 year 65 million is a bargain.

[KCattheStripe]

In the last 11 games Bynum played last year... 10 were victories.  The only loss?   To Boston.   That's our only hope, really.  Bynum had a terrible game against Boston and fouled out in 22 minutes.   The hope is that Perk can limit him.   But it's important to note that a little guy named Pau Gasol wasn't on the team at that point.

The eleven games they played were against:

Phi: 24/11/2/ (Dalembert Guarding?)
NYK: 13/8/1   (Curry and Randolph)
PHX: 28/12/2  ( Amare and Marion?)
Utah: 10/9/1 ( Boozer and Okur)
Bos:  8/2/1  (Perkins and Garnett)
Phil: 17/16/3 ( Dalembert)
Indy: 23/13/4 ( Troy Murphy and half-hearted/half-kneed JO)
Mem: 12/9/1   ( Pau and Darko)
NOH: 17/9/3   ( Chandler and West)
Mil: 25/17/3   (Bogut, Villanueva, Yi , Gadzuric and the kitchen sink)

Anytime during that stretch when he matched uo against bigs who couldn't match his size, quickness or attitude, he dominated. But if you put him against a big, or pair of bigs, who matched one of those qualities, he wasn't as effective. The one exception is the Hornets game, which did impress me.

I'm not saying he's not talented, I'm just saying that developmentally, coupled with the injury, he's not a dominate force yet.

[crownsy]

Someone please explain to me how Bynum is being considered close to All-Star level already with his numbers that he sustained for all of ...what...20-25 games last year when Al Jefferson, who is only two years older than Bynum, has averaged 16/11 and 21/11 while playing 140 games over the last two years and hasn't even gotten close to an All-Star game? And very little mention as coming close to an All-Star game?

Al Horford was 10/10 while playing in over double the games that Bynum played in last year and was a beast in playoff ball and I hear very little chatter about All-Star game level play for him. Emeka Okafor has been a double double machine for 4 years and I don't hear too much chatter about All-Star level play about him. Andris Biedrins has been a double double guy for two years, where is his hype?

All these guys are pretty young as well and yet the national media barely mention them much less anoint them to All-Star level and they have resumes that to this point far, far exceed that of Bynum. The point is that yes, Bynum has a raft of talent, but hasn't proven that he can sustain it for anything more than a high school length season.

I think the national media need to step back and come to reality with this guy and let him prove his hype and let him earn his stature before handing him over as the main reason for the Lakers to become the next 73 win team with a 16-0 run through the playoffs to greatness. Am I exaggerating the amount of hype this team gets, [dang] straight I am but no more so than the media exaggerates Bynum's abilities when there are some much more deserving players out there that deserve the press than does Bynum.

Nick i'll try my best to explain.   Bynum inpacts the game on offense and defense.  He's got rare gifts, is quick, big and nasty.  He started off last season slow, but by the time the Lakers started rolling he was putting up like 18 points, 12 rebounds 2 blocks and 70% shooting pretty consistently.  His play was enough for Kobe to go "n/m on the trade request... I'm good..."  

I for one will not be one of the foolish Celtic fans who will be downing tons of crow in a few months when this kid has helped the Lakers look completely dominant.   Everyone ease off on your "Bynum stanks" comments... he clearly doesn't.  Just hope somehow Perk can contain him, because that team has the potential be scary good this year.  Scary good.

It would be tough to ease off those statements, as the majority of this thread has never made them in the first place.

All were saying is that the hype, while it may turn out in the long run to be justified, based on bynum's undeniable physical gifts, is so over the top its gotten commical.

This is a kid who has played at a consistent level for 25 games if your nice to him.

Saying he's over hyped isn't the same thing as saying he sucks, as you seem to have equaited our statements as. But don't tell me that ESPN and TNT pushing the "bynum might be the best center in history!!!!" agenda down my throat is justified by 25 games over 3 years, while guys like horford and jefferson get tagged as "guys with tremendous potential, but need to show consistanciy before we can call them stars" as the ESPN crew tagged al last night.

If he keeps this up all year, i won't be eating crow either, as he will have used his talent and lived up to the hype. but no, im not willing to declare him shaq 2.0 after 2 games, one against what i consider a terrable clippers team, sorry.

[Edgar]

Still too much moneyfor him...
I wanted the Lakers to spend even more tough!!  

[NoraG1]

Someone please explain to me how Bynum is being considered close to All-Star level already with his numbers that he sustained for all of ...what...20-25 games last year when Al Jefferson, who is only two years older than Bynum, has averaged 16/11 and 21/11 while playing 140 games over the last two years and hasn't even gotten close to an All-Star game? And very little mention as coming close to an All-Star game?

Al Horford was 10/10 while playing in over double the games that Bynum played in last year and was a beast in playoff ball and I hear very little chatter about All-Star game level play for him. Emeka Okafor has been a double double machine for 4 years and I don't hear too much chatter about All-Star level play about him. Andris Biedrins has been a double double guy for two years, where is his hype?

All these guys are pretty young as well and yet the national media barely mention them much less anoint them to All-Star level and they have resumes that to this point far, far exceed that of Bynum. The point is that yes, Bynum has a raft of talent, but hasn't proven that he can sustain it for anything more than a high school length season.

I think the national media need to step back and come to reality with this guy and let him prove his hype and let him earn his stature before handing him over as the main reason for the Lakers to become the next 73 win team with a 16-0 run through the playoffs to greatness. Am I exaggerating the amount of hype this team gets, [dang] straight I am but no more so than the media exaggerates Bynum's abilities when there are some much more deserving players out there that deserve the press than does Bynum.

Nick i'll try my best to explain.   Bynum inpacts the game on offense and defense.  He's got rare gifts, is quick, big and nasty.  He started off last season slow, but by the time the Lakers started rolling he was putting up like 18 points, 12 rebounds 2 blocks and 70% shooting pretty consistently.  His play was enough for Kobe to go "n/m on the trade request... I'm good..."  

I for one will not be one of the foolish Celtic fans who will be downing tons of crow in a few months when this kid has helped the Lakers look completely dominant.   Everyone ease off on your "Bynum stanks" comments... he clearly doesn't.  Just hope somehow Perk can contain him, because that team has the potential be scary good this year.  Scary good.

It would be tough to ease off those statements, as the majority of this thread has never made them in the first place.

All were saying is that the hype, while it may turn out in the long run to be justified, based on bynum's undeniable physical gifts, is so over the top its gotten commical.

This is a kid who has played at a consistent level for 25 games if your nice to him.

Saying he's over hyped isn't the same thing as saying he sucks, as you seem to have equaited our statements as. But don't tell me that ESPN and TNT pushing the "bynum might be the best center in history!!!!" agenda down my throat is justified by 25 games over 3 years, while guys like horford and jefferson get tagged as "guys with tremendous potential, but need to show consistanciy before we can call them stars" as the ESPN crew tagged al last night.

If he keeps this up all year, i won't be eating crow either, as he will have used his talent and lived up to the hype. but no, im not willing to declare him shaq 2.0 after 2 games, one against what i consider a terrable clippers team, sorry.

Well said about what ESPN are saying about Bynum and then about Jefferson and Horford. Someone needs to point out to them how ridiculous they are acting. Is it because Bynum is on the media darling Lakers? Seems like it.

[cordobes]

I think that when people stress the importance of Bynum for the Lakers, and how much he'll help them, they're not exactly saying that Bynum is already a dominant player (although he's very close to be one, IMO; stats don't make him justice because he's already a defensive force - way better than Horford, let alone Jefferson).

It's not "Bynum will put the Lakers over the top because he's just that good" rather "Bynum will put the Lakers over the top because he's already good enough to have the kind of impact the Lakers need".

Fair deal for both parts, in my opinion.

[Chris]

Well said about what ESPN are saying about Bynum and then about Jefferson and Horford. Someone needs to point out to them how ridiculous they are acting. Is it because Bynum is on the media darling Lakers? Seems like it.

I think it has much more to do with the fact that he is a true 7 foot center with the potential to be a franchise player.  There simply aren't many of those anymore.  It is the same reason Oden gets all the attention he does.

[NoraG1]

Well said about what ESPN are saying about Bynum and then about Jefferson and Horford. Someone needs to point out to them how ridiculous they are acting. Is it because Bynum is on the media darling Lakers? Seems like it.

I think it has much more to do with the fact that he is a true 7 foot center with the potential to be a franchise player.  There simply aren't many of those anymore.  It is the same reason Oden gets all the attention he does.

Well, potential is great but I want a bigger sample size of consistency then he has to have all the hype. I just don't think it should be handed out as easily as it is lately imo.

[Chris]

Well said about what ESPN are saying about Bynum and then about Jefferson and Horford. Someone needs to point out to them how ridiculous they are acting. Is it because Bynum is on the media darling Lakers? Seems like it.

I think it has much more to do with the fact that he is a true 7 foot center with the potential to be a franchise player.  There simply aren't many of those anymore.  It is the same reason Oden gets all the attention he does.

Well, potential is great but I want a bigger sample size of consistency then he has to have all the hype. I just don't think it should be handed out as easily as it is lately imo.

I don't disagree, but I just don't think it is only because he plays for the Lakers.  The fact that he plays for a contender certainly makes a difference, but it has much more to do with being a talented 7 footer.