Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke asked readers in his column Tuesday to give him a moment, “one defining Andrew Bynum moment.”
Okay Mr. Plaschke, how’s April 14, 2009.
It was the last game of the regular season, and only Bynum’s fourth game back in the lineup after missing 32 due to injury. The Lakers faced the Utah Jazz, a team they would meet a week later in the playoffs. Half-way into the first quarter, Derek Fisher found Bynum for the alley-oop dunk over Corey Brewer. The dunk was so poignant, so emphatic that Staples Center crowd roared with genuine emotion and relief.
With one huge rattle of the back-board, Bynum’s play was reminiscent of just how well he was performing pre-injury. The crowd infused by the excitement of things to come, of Bynum re-visiting his enormous potential. He ended the night with 22 points.
Eight weeks or so later, the Lakers were parading around Figueroa Street with the Larry O’Brien Trophy in hand.
A few extra hash marks in the loss column, all of a sudden the Lakers with all their size and strength find themselves having to fight off trade rumors. One day they’re the most threatening club in the league, the next they’re incapable of playing cohesive basketball and a change must be made to move forward. It’s too bad basketball pundits can’t make up their minds.
So what if Bynum’s name, over the last couple of years has been synonymous with injury. He’s overcome it in the past and the Lakers have still been able to win championships with him only contributing limited minutes on the floor.
The only time he couldn’t deliver was in 2008 when he was unable to play. Let’s not forget, as detrimental to the team as his injury was that year, had he not gone down, the front office may never have been prompted to make a trade for Pau Gasol.
Next: Trade should be last thing on Lakers’ minds
Trading expiring contracts, draft rights and picks for a proven All-Star in Gasol was a coup. Turning your back on potential, team chemistry and an unmatchable front court for an All-Star on offense who’s questionable on defense in Carmelo Anthony? That’s a cop-out.
For the record, the Lakers haven’t let the trade talks faze them in any significant capacity.
“I let Mitch [Kupchak] do his job,” Kobe Bryant told 710 ESPN’s Mason & Ireland. “He’s done a fantastic job to this point in making key acquisitions for us, building this championship team so I just let him do his job. My role and responsibility is just to manage the team that I have assembled.”
Yes, the Lakers of late have had their share of struggles. Trading a so-far injury ridden 23-year-old center, Andrew Bynum, for a score-at-a-moments-notice player like Anthony looks very attractive in theory. In practice, however, shaking up the complexity of this team so drastically puts the Lakers back at square one. The triangle isn’t for everyone and the Lakers struck gold when Gasol was able to be integrated into the lineup so quickly, but it could be a different story with Anthony altogether.
Assuming the Lakers keep the pieces they have now, they face several challenges in route to getting themselves playoff-ready. The long-term fix to get them back on track would be to simply work-out the kinks and focus on execution. The quick-fix, or at the very least a jolt of confidence would be a win against a title contender.
Next: A win against the C’s will boost the Lakers’ confidence
The Lakers have underperformed for the majority of games in which they are pitted against the best teams in the league. Most recently, against the San Antonio Spurs, even in the loss they at least showed progression.
“The season is an evolution, you know the team, you know how well the team comes together and in the past couple of years particularly in the big games we’ve responded…this year it hasn’t been there,” added Bryant. “We’re not starting a playoff today, we wish we could turn things around by flipping a switch, but it doesn’t work that way and you have to continue to grind and work through it.”
Bryant preaches patience. It’s not just a means to an end and every game against an opponent acts as an opportunity for the Lakers to get better. You don’t get to be at the level that the Lakers are currently at by doing just enough to get by and dialing up the intensity during the playoffs.
“It’s about getting better. You want to win those games and it’s upsetting to me, trust me, more than anybody else and when we can’t win those big games and beat those top teams,” continued Bryant. “At the same time, we know what we’re doing, we know what we’re working towards, and we have complete confidence in our ability and that we’ll be ready to go [in the playoffs].
“It’s easy to get frustrated with how things have been going, but you have to have patience. I think having won three in a row before I can understand kind of what was coming down the road. You want to continue to drive guys and push them hard, but at the same time understand that it’s a process.”
Next: What can the Lakers do to beat the Celtics?
The next process in getting the team playoff ready would be to get a convincing win against the one of the league’s elite. The Lakers will get a chance to do so against Boston, a team that in Bryant’s mind is currently atop the NBA as far as execution.
“The [Celtics] understand us very well, obviously having played them in the finals in a seven-game series and the history that we have. It’s a challenge for us to out-execute them, kind of out-think them and out-tough them…that’s the biggest challenge for us.”
If it is about getting better, hopefully the lessons learned roughly ten days ago during their first meeting with Boston have stuck with the Lakers.
Less Bryant, a better defensive effort and definitely more output from their other seven-footer, Gasol.
Recently, Gasol has come under fire for his lack of aggression against Boston. It prompted Bryant to have a one-on-one talk with him about being a more dominant player and even went so far as to say that he needed a little more “black swan” in him rather than a “white swan.”
“[Gasol’s] such a nice guy and that’s his nature, that’s who he is,” said Bryant. “I want him to be nasty and understand that it’s okay to be nasty sometimes because that’s what we need from you and it doesn’t change who you are at your core as a person.”
Aside from Gasol, tonight’s game also gives Bynum a chance to show why to win a championship the Lakers’ front court must remain in tact. Defensive rotations, offensive executions, floor spacing, rebounds, and limiting turnovers are all keys to victory against the Celtics.
All of these are facilitated by having the two seven-footers on the floor.
What about the playoffs Kobe?
“Come on now, you know me. We’ll be ready, trust me.”