Andrew Bynum Will be 100% for Lakers Camp
Andrew Bynum, who seems like he’s been rehabbing for forever at this point, will supposedly be 100 percent come training camp. From the OC Register:
Andrew Bynum is running on the track. He’s hitting the weights. He’s doing basketball drills. More importantly, the young Lakers center shows no signs of any lingering problems from his knee surgery.
Bynum has spent the past month down south, working on his conditioning following surgery in June to repair a partially dislocated left kneecap he suffered Jan. 13. He was cleared to begin drills after a month of rehabilitation, and is expected to be 100 percent for time training camp in October.“Andrew has dedicated another summer to getting into the best possible shape,” Lakers general manager Mitch Kupchak said. “A month ago he was cleared from the knee surgery he had and at that point he began working on conditioning and getting into shape and I thought he looked like he has made progress.”
The article says that Kupchak traveled to see Bynum with his own eyes:
Kupchak didn’t rely on second-hand reports. He traveled to Atlanta earlier this week to check on the fourth-year player from New Jersey and said he liked what he saw.
“I could see improvement in his body, his conditioning and mobility,” Kupchak said. “I didn’t see any signs of effects from the surgery.”
Kupchak said he expects Bynum to report to training camp at full strength, considering camp doesn’t start for another month.
“He told me that he is ready to comeback (to L.A.) to start playing full-court drills,” he said. “He sounded eager to play.”
How huge would it be for the Lakers if Bynum came back at or near the same level he was at last season when he got hurt? They’ll analyze to death, but the question has to be asked: Would L.A. have beaten Boston with a healthy Bynum?
Source: OC Register
August 28th, 2008 at 5:58 pm
Xavier says:
It all depends on his chemistry with Pau, and how would Odom adapt to playing a new position. Would they have beaten the Celtics? Maybe, now that the Lakers have lost Turiaf and the Celtics Posey, a finals re-match would be very intriguing.
August 28th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
dh says:
woo-hoo!!!
to dime’s question: i wouldn’t say it would be an automatic ring with bynum in there, but each game would have at least been closer.
i think the lakers missed bynum’s defensive presence more than anything.
August 28th, 2008 at 6:03 pm
JHov says:
“2008-2009 NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers!” hmmm..that has a nice ring to it! I see that S. Livingston might be in Lakers’camp along with China’s Sun Yue and Kentucky’s Joe Crawford
August 28th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
A-Slam says:
Somehow I remember a center similar to Bynum who was statistically the same but plagued by injury and an overall bust (hint: he was picked second overall in the 1984 NBA draft)
August 28th, 2008 at 6:34 pm
daquest?on says:
@ a-slam dude my parents werent even planning on me to be born. so could u plz tell me and save me the hassle to look for it on wikipedia.
August 28th, 2008 at 6:39 pm
Kermit The Washington says:
A-Slam…NICE ONE, you just might be right about that
I think the Lakers’ window may have closed earlier than people think. I’m the biggest Kobe fan, I think he’s tied with Mike for greatest and all that blah blah blah, but 2008 was our CHANCE right there and we blew it. Something just wasn’t right about that series, I could tell we weren’t in it from the Game 1 player intros. All the Lakers had like no energy, right? What was with that?
August 28th, 2008 at 6:56 pm
Desrat says:
There was something real odd about that last seris. I am a fan of basketball and love a good game (part of growing up in NM, no team is mine). I wanted the Celts to get a chip for KG, Ray-Ray and Doc, but that laker team should have shown better. I doubt that their window is closing. I did wonder if maybe they started to wait for the 09 season six games too early though.
August 28th, 2008 at 7:04 pm
BALLZ says:
A Slam…that was a slightly retarded comparison, Bowie to Bynum. The two players really didn’t have much in common. Bowie (pre-injury) was a finesse touch, high-post passing big (think a healthy Bill Walton), Bynum is at this point still mostly a raw shot blocker/rebounder/dunker, albeit one with great talent who WOULD have made a difference in the Lakes/C’s showdown. Hopefully we’ll find out in June ‘09.
August 28th, 2008 at 7:06 pm
BALLZ says:
Oh btw, Bowie’s injuries, like the compound fracture he suffered at UK were a live TV audience got to see bone protruding from skin, were slightly more severe than Bynum’s.
August 28th, 2008 at 7:14 pm
A-Slam says:
True, but all i’m saying is even though they say Bynum is 100% he still may not be. I mean when he first sprained his knee the first analysis was he’d be out a month. But then that eventually led to the entire season to the point where they said he could play in the playoffs but that never panned out either. So either his sprained knee was pretty bad, or there was something the Lakers managment wasn’t telling anyone
August 28th, 2008 at 7:25 pm
it aint easy being green says:
the celtics were winning that chip no matter who stepped through that tunnel for la. as far as im concerned, pau is softer than baby shit, ya boi bynum is overrated, kobe’s too worried about kobe’s #’s, and beside fisher and lamar, the rest of that team is euro-trash.
August 28th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
doc says:
Damn I thought Bynum would be 97.5 percent.But to answer the question would they have won with Andrew,I have to say no out of respect for that ass whipping Boston put on LA.And I hope neither one of them pricks make it back unless Kobe makes it against Bron.Thats the chip i wanna see.
August 28th, 2008 at 8:56 pm
I Hustle says:
I don’t know if they would have beat the Celts but Bynum wouldn’t get bitched like Pau and Odom did. He plays his size which Pau and Odom didn’t do. I hope he had time to develop more of a post game while he is rehabbing. I don’t think Mr. Odom will be wearing a Lakers jersey much longer, whether thats a good or bad thing, we’ll see. I’d rather have pushed the envelope on the Artest trade offer but Odom still has market value.
August 28th, 2008 at 9:19 pm
Ian the statboy says:
wow u guys really overrate this kid
“bynum wouldnt get bitched like pau and odom” whattt
you guys make it sound like the kid is the next admiral/dream
hes overrated and hell no the series was an ass woopin no way he can change that not even an extra game
August 28th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
A-Slam says:
don’t get me wrong Bynum’s potential is through the roof, his length is scary but seriously his skill set is below dwight howard’s, at least Dwight Howard does a hook shot once in a while. All Bynum does is dunk or putback dunks, at best I can see him being a slighty more offensive oriented Dalembeast
August 28th, 2008 at 9:59 pm
A-Slam says:
and that’s why you dont draft high-schoolers because they are all fuckin raw as hell and no gets drafted for skill anymore it’s always about that fuckin word “potential” most of the time they don’t even fulfill their potential and every year it puts the same teams in the lottery.
August 28th, 2008 at 10:04 pm
tommy the cat says:
The Lakers next year are going to be huge. If they play Bynum, Gasol, Odom, Kobe, Farmar (I think Farmar passes Fisher on the depth chart this year), then they’ve got an average height and weight of 6′8″, 230. There are power forwards in this league who aren’t that big. They’re going to be really tough defensively, and they’re going to get a lot of rebounds. There may be spacing issues with Gasol and Bynum, but I think it will work, and I have a hard time picturing many teams competing with them. I think they’ll win it all, and I’m saying that despite the fact that I think Kobe is severely over-rated.
I think the Lakers would be dumb as hell to trade Odom at this point, not until they’ve had at least half a season seeing how Odom, Gasol, and Bynum work together.
I think it’s interesting to see teams going big after a few years of everyone going small. I hope Toronto will sometimes try O’Neal, Bargnani, and Bosh on the floor together. It didn’t used to be that there were that many bigs who were athletic enough or had sufficient range to make it work, but now it’s not uncommon to have big guys who are either lightning quick (Bosh) or perimeter shooters (Bargnani). It helps that O’Neal is very much a skill player himself.
August 28th, 2008 at 11:22 pm
Jeffoco says:
okkay well people are sayin pau and odom are gonna have to play a new position?
but isnt pau really a four and odom used to be a 3?
pau and odom can still pass and well they have a bigger and better target now
who can and will dunk on anybody near him
and for those who dont know, bynum has been coached by kareem and he was showing signs of the knowledge kareem brought to him until bynum of course got injured
all odom needs to do is develop a beter shot and pau gasol can do his things as normal
kobe will get his!
and fisher/farmar duo will be great
and lakers are champs
if anyone cares to argue with me
go right ahead and say something lol
August 29th, 2008 at 4:37 am
karan says:
kg and celtics would steal beat lakers
August 29th, 2008 at 4:42 am
Coop says:
Hasn’t fat boy been rehabbing since ‘91? haha. Get on with it, dude!
Someone the other day made a great point in that if you swapped Bogut and Bynum then Bynum would be getting practically no pub. Championship? haha er…no.
August 29th, 2008 at 8:25 am
Tom says:
Bogut is a stiff.
August 29th, 2008 at 8:27 am
E$ says:
I can’t wait to hear the excuses on why he not producing when the season starts
August 29th, 2008 at 9:05 am
Coop says:
Tom
Is he? care to venture why you feel that way?
Stats are similar, effect on the team is similar, only thing thats different is level of hype. And, what do you know? Bogut plays in a place that no-ones covers and Bynum plays for hype-mad Los Angeles. Hmm…
August 29th, 2008 at 10:43 am
Ian says:
u r right coop