Before the start of the regular season, the notion of Andrew Bynum being sidelined for a significant period of time was cause for concern for the defending champions. Bynum’s choice to forego surgery on his injured knee until a little over a month into the off-season was viewed as immature and unprofessional by pundits and fans alike.
A near perfect-so-far start to the regular season has the critics mum on the issue of Bynum, some even taking the stance that perhaps the Lakers are better without him. Others could argue that Lamar Odom should retain his spot in the starting lineup and have Bynum come off the bench.
Don’t let the 8-1 Lakers fool you. Bynum is still an integral part of the Lakers squad, a squad that is starting to show vulnerabilities in areas where Bynum’s size and skill can provide a quick remedy.
Lucky for the Lakers, per Phil Jackson, Bynum should be ready to take on basketball-related activities as early as the end of the week. A target date for his return to the starting lineup has been projected on or about the Thanksgiving holiday.
As great as the Lakers have been offensively and in some regard defensively, there’s no matching the Bynum-Pau Gasol front court. It’s the one-two punch that few teams can defend against and the lengthy-duo NBA front offices can only dream to emulate. Inserting Bynum into the starting unit gives the Lakers another big body whose size and shot-blocking ability disrupts the passing lanes, intimidates players against driving inside and can provide help defense. In addition to this, while not having the array of post-moves that Gasol has, Bynum still holds his own on offense and can produce during set-plays.
Next:Bynum’s return will likely send Odom to the second unit Besides adding to the Lakers’ strength inside, Bynum’s return will undoubtedly mark the end of Lamar Odom’s very efficient run as a starter. Moving to the second unit, however, will likely not reduce Lamar’s minutes too much, he could still play over the 30-minute mark.
Having Lamar Odom coming off the bench seems like a bad idea considering his production value—15.9 points per game on 62.7 percent shooting, 69.2 percent beyond the arc and 11.1 rebounds per game—but it may just be the best option for the team.
“I think it’s best for the team,” said Phil Jackson. “I think being the team player [Odom] is he understands that.”
Sliding Odom into “The Renegade’s” rotation will not only give the second unit a boost, but also give them a much needed identity. One of the biggest strengths for the Lakers is their ability to go inside-out, unfortunately that isn’t something that Bynum has mastered quite yet, making it all the more important to have Odom come off the bench as he could add that dimension while the reserves take the floor.
“They have an incredible staring five once Bynum is healthy, and when Lamar [Odom] moves back to the bench, oh my goodness,” Laker legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson told Los Angeles Times beat writer Mike Bresnahan after Tuesday’s game. “Lamar should win sixth man of the year. This guy is playing just unbelievable right now.”
After all, Odom is playing with an entirely new bench, a group very different from the ego-centric “bench mob” of last season. The mostly veteran reserves have proved they’re more into creating space by moving the ball instead of taking quick or ill-advised shots. A perfect fit for the ready-and-willing passer, Odom.
In all likelihood, Odom will still log similar minutes coming off the bench as he did while a starter. Jackson has already pointed out that his plan, once Bynum returns, is to limit his minutes to intervals much like he did during the playoffs. This is to ensure he doesn’t overdo it en route to his knee fully recovering and so that his knee doesn’t stiffen up from sitting on the bench for too long.
Next:Bynum is key to Lakers success on the defensive end
An additional benefit to Bynum returning is taking the load off Gasol, who is the only Laker averaging the highest amount of minutes played. Then there’s the issue of rebounding, particularly on the defensive end, which has become a growing concern for the coaching staff.
As of Tuesday, the Lakers posted the 5th worst defensive rebounding percentage in the league. This doesn’t bode well for the team who can make the claim that they won their 16th championship on the strength of their rebounding alone. A couple of nights ago, an undersized Minnesota Timberwolves team out-rebounded the Lakers 54-42. While they did an excellent job holding the Trailblazers to just two offensive rebounds during the entire first half of Sunday’s game, last Friday they were out-rebounded 49-31 by the Raptors. It’s an un-settling trend and needs to be nipped soon, before it becomes bad habit.
Perhaps part of the blame for the lack of defensive rebounds can be put on the Lakers not being able to maintain motivation and focus, that’s another issue altogether, in the case of Bynum, he will provide that extra man to body-up and prevent the opponent from getting second chance point after point.
In terms of the offense, the Lakers may see a dip in their offensive numbers, which at an average of 112 points per game is a league-best. Indeed, it’s a different offensive flow when Bynum is in the starting lineup as opposed to Odom, but the trade-off on defense is much more vital to the Lakers success come mid-June. Besides, much of the offensive struggle’s the Lakers endured last season was due to poor perimeter shooting. The team should already be looking to add a greater number of high-percentage shots to their offensive repertoire, and if my memory doesn’t fail me, Bynum has no problem scoring in the paint.
It’s not going to be pretty at first. Fans have been down this road with Bynum before. Upon his return, he’ll likely be slow to run down the court, his timing is sure to be off, but should only come in eight minute spurts until he reaches close to 100 percent. After starting the pre-season with constant inquiries about his decision to post-pone surgery, then pushing back his return date, Bynum will want to prove that all his hard work rehabbing the knee has not been in vain.
When Bynum fully recovers, keeping him healthy come play-off time will be imperative for the Lakers. Should that happen, there’s little that can stop them on the road to three-peat.