Photo. MannionIt’s kind of crazy that we’re talking like this about the Lakers and it’s not because they lost Kobe. The L.A. Times Lakers Blog says today that L.A.’s season basically depends on when Andrew Bynum returns and how long it takes himself to get back into the form we’ve been seeing from him over the last few weeks. If he doesn’t jump right back in? Then apparently the Lakers are a wrap:
Not to be a total downer, but the lofty dreams Lakers fans have conjured over the highly successful first 37 games of the season- I’m talking about winning the Pacific, maybe even the Western Conference- are officially out the window with the injury to Andrew Bynum. The growth in his play and his influence on games is the single greatest factor in L.A.’s improvement this season, and without that production in the lineup, they’re simply not going to win as many games. Hopefully he comes back with enough time left in the season to regain the sort of form he was showing up until Sunday. If he does, the Lakers have a chance to make some noise in the postseason. If he doesn’t? They’re a whole lot more like the teams of the last couple seasons… and we know how that turned out.
Writer Brian Kamentzky goes on to say later in the post:
Realistically, the Lakers aren’t going to finish near the top of the conference anymore. They no longer have that x-factor pushing them up with the big boys in Bynum, who provided a true inside-out attack that helped create cleaner looks for everyone and a growing presence on the defensive end. What they can do is not completely abandon those things that have made them successful this season, even if their ability to execute at a high level is diminished. And remember, guys like Sasha and Vlad should give a little more depth to the rotation once they’re healthy.
Bynum’s been awesome this season, no doubt. But is the Lakers’ situation today that much different than it was, say, a week ago? L.A. has a huge nine-game road trip coming up - that will shed a lot of light on what this team can do without Bynum.
And if it’s a disaster? You have to think the Kobe trade drama will heat up quickly again…
Check out the full blog post HERE.
January 16th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
Bust Jlaze says:
that got ugly REAL quick. Kobe just can’t catch a break, can he…if they end up in that low seed again, and have to face San Antonio or another west juggernaut in the first round, it’s a wrap. Chris Webber, don’t fail me now! Now they REALLY need to pull off a big trade before the deadline.
January 16th, 2008 at 12:32 pm
Myrie says:
KOBE BRYANT. This guy is the single reason why LA has a chance to win EVERY game they paly; reg season or post season. He may not make teammates better, but dammit he makes your TEAM better.
Not having Bynum for a while will hurt, but the other role players just gotta step up, play smart and execute. The reason for their early success was/is their bench play anyway.
January 16th, 2008 at 12:37 pm
GEE ...this ain't even my church says:
All you need is Kobe to get you there, but once in the playoffs you do need more help to get you over some humps. Miraculous happens every once in a while but I doubt even James gets back to what he did last year.
Sure Bynum is doing great, but everyone knows all things hinge on Kobe in L.A. and for their sake they better hope he doesn’t get traded by the deadline.
When is the deadline anyway? Cause we need some major trades to go down this year the NBA is missing that this year.
January 16th, 2008 at 1:06 pm
AY says:
bynum being out 8 weeks, that means he’ll come back with 5 weeks left on the schedule. It’s not like he had surgery; his knee is slightly out of place. He can still do low impact exercise to keep in shape like swimming, he doesn’t have to relearn how to walk, he’s going to have something like braces on your teeth to get it back in place. As long as they get into the playoffs, the lakers will be fine; beating any of the teams in the west will be difficult. Portland? Denver? Golden State? Utah? New Orleans? Houston? First round isn’t going to be cake with a higher seed anyway.
And realistically, lakers weren’t going to go all the way anyway, and don’t need to. The second banana has had essentially ZERO playoff experience; you don’t think the lakers might have a bit of an issue when teams soft double bynum with a zone because he can’t pass? Player-specific adjustments are only coming in playoffs, and they just don’t have enough experience as is. But the lakers only had to get past first round, gain a ton of experience for bynum and show kobe that they’re right there once bynum gets another year; their demise is greatly exaggerated.
January 16th, 2008 at 1:40 pm
K-Dizzle says:
Someone please tell the writer of this story, Chicken Little, that it’s ok for the Lakers to actually lose a game before the end of the world should be typed out. Last I heard, we still got the best player in the world and LA’s built up enough of a cushion that even if we fall to 5,6 or 7th place and get a favorable matchup like Phoenix, i’d be ok wit it. Bynum’s gonna be back with enough time to get back into the swing and he’ll be rested as the other bigs in the league are beatin each other up
No worries
January 16th, 2008 at 1:54 pm
Logan Light says:
K-Diz: I wouldn’t say no worries… True, Kobe is reason enough to think that the Lakers and stay atop the conference, but what concerns me is not how good Bynum was playing, but the hole he leaves behind. Kwame Brown can no way lay a finger to how well Bynum was playing… maybe he could, but I’m positive it would slip right off.
You do make a good point about being rested though. It should be interesting to see if his confidence will be rocked.
January 16th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
Myrie says:
ON A SERIOUS SIDE NOTE……
What is this about Nene Hilario having a testicular tumor? Possibly cancerous?
Yikes!!
January 16th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
GEE ...this ain't even my church says:
Please someone answer him
January 16th, 2008 at 5:46 pm
CHANGMACHINE says:
funny how no one expects anything from Kwame. If you are reading this Kwame, I think you are a sh*t cu*t for not stepping up with your talent. You may have small hands but damn it man, you suck.
January 16th, 2008 at 6:18 pm
Marshall says:
I think a lot of you guys are so blinded by Kobe love that you are seriously underestimating how important Bynum now is to this team……With Andrew able to play, we can potentially go all the way to the finals…Without Bynum, we’ll be lucky to get out of the first round…..The impact he has on this team goes way beyond his numbers and as good as Kobe is and this young roster is becoming, they can’t go far without a legit center…let alone one as good as Bynum is becoming…
This is not a slam against Kobe, but I think we’d be better off the next 8 weeks if he was out and Bynum was in.
January 16th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
K-Dizzle says:
Marshall
now that is just silly. Bynum without Kobe is just Al Jefferson in Minnesota. Great numbers, no wins. Don’t fall in love with the fresh and new and forget the engine that runs the machine. Bynum can be replaced by two guys steppin up their games for the next 2 months which will benefit the team headin into the stretch run. Kobe is irreplacable
Logan
you right.
No worries might be a little too silly.
What i should have said was hopefully, Kwame can give a performance like he did in the first game with that double-double then Ronny can give some juice off the bench for the next 8.
January 16th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
Marshall says:
I’m pretty sure time will prove you wrong K-Dizzle….I’m not saying Bynum has reached anywhere near Kobe’s level of play….yet…..but he is already one of the best centers in the league and there is no such thing as a team or offense that is not greatly improved with a strong center…..Kobe is not the reason this team is playing better this season….It’s not difficult to see the improving record of the Lakers closely paralleling the improvement of Bynum…
January 16th, 2008 at 10:01 pm
kowtz says:
Mrshall:
“Kobe is not the reason this team is playing better this season….”
I do suggest you think this over…
LA good play = Bynum improvement = KOBE Summer DRAMA….
And even if Bynum blossoms to SUPERSTAR STATUS? instead of Al Jefferson, he would just be Kevin Garnett in Minnesota…
And unlike KB24… Bynum is compared to great players… while other players are being compared to KB24…
KB24 is sometime compared though… the succesor of the GOAT…
and for “there is no such thing as a team or offense that is not greatly improved with a strong center…”
who would you rather lose then? KB or Drew?
January 17th, 2008 at 1:24 am
tbeezy says:
The lakers had a very similar record to this last year and basically were running with the same lineup they have now without Bynum. If the rest of the team can stay healthy (knock on wood) then they could still remain a top seed. With a starting five of kobe, odom, walton, brown, and smush the lakers were 23-11 last year until the injuries took down walton and odom. Throw in the fact that Fisher is a huge upgrade over smush and the lakers could still win 60-65% of their games. Which would put them in good position to get a top 4 seed.
The worst part of the injury is that instead of trading for a good player by using Kwame’s expiring contract, the lakers will be stuck keeping him.
January 17th, 2008 at 1:54 am
mr.fresh says:
Kobe is the best player in the world, but without a big man to control the middle, the lakers will be one and done…thank you
January 17th, 2008 at 3:08 am
kowtz says:
I don’t thats arguable mr. fresh… I mean any team who cannot rebound and defend the paint, can never be successful…
So if you are saying Lakers need rebounding and Paint defense… definitely…
It’s just that from what you wrote, LA needs a scoring bigman… NOT!
Bad Boy Detroit, Dr’ J’s PHI, heck even the showtime lakers did not need a scoring big in the paint…
THety just need a rebounder and stopper in the middle… I bet put in Joakim Noah and Tyrus Thomas in LA, they’d be serious contenders…
January 17th, 2008 at 8:49 am
jjankechu says:
damn, did bynum die or something? in case you’re too retarded to check the calendar, bynum will be back before the playoffs start.
January 17th, 2008 at 10:22 am
Marshall says:
Well said, mr. fresh….it’s all about controlling the middle..
Kobe has been great for the past several seasons and we’ve seen how far he can take us alone….The addition of Fish and the improvement of Farmar have been important to this team, but anyone who doesn’t see the success of this team riding on Bynum’s knee hasn’t been watching…Having a center the caliber of Andrew ( and he’s only getting better !! ) makes everyone else’s job easier and that’s part of why the team has improved as a group…Even though Kobe will never apologize for his self-centered tantrum and for turning his back on his team and fans, he’s still smart enough to know what he has in Drew….even if he wasn’t smart enough to see it a few months ago….
January 17th, 2008 at 4:08 pm
doc says:
Doc won with Moses and the Lakers won with Wilt Kareem and Shaq. So Kowtz thats BS
January 28th, 2008 at 2:11 am
Adir says:
Marshall: Its clear youre right. The lakers would not be 2-5 right now if it was Kobe who went down instead of Bynum. Yeah, Kobes a great player and all, but he isnt a leader, and he isnt nearly as valuable to the Lakers as Bynum is.
February 23rd, 2008 at 12:43 pm
tim says:
You probaly feel pretty stupid now, after looking back at your ignorant article. Where do you get off even thinking that to be the case. Here we are tied for first, months later. Truly bad article and really bad writer.