Against the Spurs, Bynum had 10 points, 10 rebounds, 6 assists and 3 blocked shots in 29 minutes of play. That’s not terrible considering he sat out the previous night with a bone bruise, and could’ve possibly still been feeling the effects of the injury. Just one problem. He was nowhere to be found in the final seconds when the game was ultimately decided. Instead of being on the court, he had a front row seat on the bench to watch Lamar Odom forget to box-out Antonio McDyess who had the last second, buzzer-beating tip-in for San Antonio.
What good is your starting center if the coach doesn’t feel confident to leave him in the game during crunch time situations?
“I wasn’t, and I’m sure he wasn’t, happy with the game he played on [Thursday night against San Antonio]. He wasn’t active enough. He got some shots blocked. Some things happened that weren’t positive for him out there, but he said he was ok [physically]. That was the best part.”
Bynum missed the first 24 games of the season while he recovered from off-season surgery in his knee. Any day now, he’ll get his conditioning back. At least that’s what the Lakers coaching staff keeps telling us.
Bynum’s defensive numbers have been okay, definitely nothing to merit an invitation to All-Star weekend or anything, but there’s definitely room for improvement and it all starts by doing something as simple as running the floor. You can’t defend shots if you’re the last guy to cross the half-court line fast enough towards the other team’s basket.
“Drew, historically he’s been good at running, post-sprinting,” Jackson said. “He hasn’t done much of that lately, and that’s an important part we have to get back.”
Next: Getting back on defense is just one area of improvement for Bynum
