did he make Davis cry with what he said?
The most loveable player in the NBA has spoke. Discuss.......
The Celtics grimaced and took it like the professionals they are, giving the Lakers credit.
Well, all but one Laker.
The exception was Andrew Bynum, who missed last spring's series, whose modest line -- nine points, seven rebounds, two blocks -- doesn't measure his impact.
Nor were the Celtics about to acknowledge it.
Does Bynum make a difference, Kevin Garnett was asked.
"No," Garnett said.
Compared with last season's team?
"No."
It's not a shock to run into another 7-footer?
"It's not a shock because our defensive assignments are made if it was Chris Mihm, if it was Andrew Bynum, if it was Pau at the five and Lamar at the four," Garnett said. "Our defensive assignments don't change no matter who's there. . . .
" , it could be Shaq. Our defensive assignments are what they are."
Agreed.
Bynum is really a tool. He hasn't done anything to impress anybody.
Im no one to defend LA but Bynum made a MINOR difference that KG has to acknowledge.
Yeah... tooling it up at pretty much the same clip as TD.
Player G GS MPG FG% 3p% FT% OFF DEF TOT APG SPG BPG TO PF PPG
TD 29 29 35.2 .513 .000 .692 2.70 7.90 10.60 3.2 .48 1.72 2.14 2.60 20.4
AB 29 29 28.7 .540 .000 .673 2.90 5.40 8.30 1.6 .48 1.86 1.76 3.20 12.3
Lies, damn lies, and statistics.
He can't stay on the floor longer because the coaches think he doesn't play well enough on D. He hasn't shown the stamina or the consistency to play extended minutes and continue to be productive. He is like the 3rd or 4th option on offense; heck Fisher probably has more FGA than him.
None of these are captured in the stats. Tim Duncan is worth 10 Bynums and then some.
Bynum helps LAL against BOS immensely.
For starters it moves Garnett OFF of Lamar Odom and forces him to defend Pau Gasol. Garnett cannot cheat off of Pau the way he could off of Odom because Pau's midrange game is very good. This means Garnett cannot play free safety like he wants to and limits the effectiveness of their interior defense.
Almost as important it keeps Kendrick Perkins off the glass. He is quite frankly a beast that neither Odom nor Gasol could ever contain, but Bynum is bigger/stronger/longer and can ensure that Perkins is limited on the offensive glass. This means less 2nd chance points, again huge difference.
On offense I agree that Bynum doesn't impact the game as much. His post up game is not polished at this point and he cannot get good position most of the time. But this is not his role at this point in time, he is the 3rd/4th option on offense. It's only a matter of time before Bynum develops his post game though, and when he does he will take the Lakers to the next level.
He's 21 comming off a major injury. A work in progress. Good points on the stamina and consistency. We dont need him for offense. His role as PJ has stated is to play interior D and block or alter shots. In no way was I trying to diminish TD's worth... just making the point that AB isn't quite the tool some idiots project.
Well, there was one play where Rondo got free under the basket and had his layup rejected by Bynum. Andrew also caused the Celtics to alter some of their shots, but that isn't in the boxscore. The other missing piece from last year's playoffs was Ariza, who made two baseline saves, one leading to a basket by Vujacic and a foul shot too.
The two of them are enough to get the Lakers by the Celtics if we play them in June.
Bynum is OK but no where near the jerk off fest Laker fans where having last year.
Some Laker fans exaggerate what he can do, but in reality, he just has to do a little. Gasol goes to his natural position, and two of the big three, AB, PG, and LO are always on the floor. Without Drew, every time Pau or Lamar rested, we could only have one big on the floor, thus enter Mbenga or Turiaff. We feel we can beat Boston if we play them in June with Bynum and Ariza in the lineup.
I watched the game and saw this as well. It's not so much what he does, but what BOS can't do with him on the floor. IMO, he's overrated, but he will help.
Bynum is overrated somewhat. Lakers fans are in for a shock if they think he is going to lead them to a Finals win. It all begins and ends with #24 who was M.I.A in the Finals. If the Lakers get back to the Finals.
Hes a bigger, stronger, better version of Tim Duncan.
Who said he was going lead? Most Laker fans realize his abilities. He is simply a missing piece we needed. We played last year without a center. Just because we said that with Bynum and Ariza it could have been different last year in no way implied he or they were going to lead us. It's all the haters who blew that out of proportion...
bynum imo was a factor some things dont show up on stats sheets.
Bynum is going to improve as the season goes on. What you see now is not what you will see come June.
IMHO when he plays with effort and intensity he gives the Lakers all they need to beat a team like BOS.
those 2 block shots in the 4th helped.
So you're saying you're confident enough to give the ball to Bynum in crunch time since you're comparing him to TD? You cant depend on stats alone, its the IQ and winning instincts. Bynum is one of a strong player though.
At this point no. I wasn't comparing AB to TD as far as experience or grit. Just pointing out to the s that hes not the tool they say he is. I would though take Bynum with the game on the line at the free throw line over TD.
Thats nice of Kevin to say. But the fact is without the contributions of both our "new" players, Bynum and Ariza, we don't win that game. He can keep telling himself that though and it won't erase the loss.
He can also keep telling himself that Drew and Trevor won't continue to get better as the year goes along. That might help too.
I can understand why KG would deny it. If he admitted that Bynum had an impact on the game, it would have put an * on the Ring.
KG + Perkins can't cannot produce enough to offset Pau/Bynum.
Bynum can't make any difference buy his age can do. The lakers are younger so the lakers become more experienced and sophisticated than last year, but the celtics get one year older (of course Rondo is exception, just in terms of the big three). The lakers will have a bigger chance to win the final than last season, if they can break into the finals. but the celtics are still more likely to win the championship again.
KG didn't want to give credit for those things, but it allows Gasol and Odom to play their natural positions.
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