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July 2010

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Jun

4

2009 NBA Finals Preview: Howard v. Bynum

Filed Under Analysis/Commentary, Previews & Reviews, NBA

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OK, OK. Dwight Howard has finally convinced me after his performance in this year’s NBA Playoffs.

Always a dominant force on the boards and the defensive end of the floor, Howard has stepped up his offensive game big time in the playoffs.

While his moves are still a bit limited, Howard’s attitude on this end has changed since calling out Stan Vany Gundy for a lack of touches after falling behind 3-2 to the Boston Celtics in the second round.

Howard has made it clear that if he gets the ball in the paint, he’s going to score or get to the free throw line.

He has been unstoppable in getting dunks, moving across the lane for layups and hitting his little turn around, half hook.

And when Howard’s been fouled, he’s been hitting his foul shots for the most part.

It’s great to see a player like Howard realize how dominant he can be, to see him play through all of the hacking that he’s taking and still dominant.

You could see it in Howard’s eyes in the Cleveland series. Every time he touched the ball, he was not only looking to score but going to score.

With a double double in all but three of his 18 playoff games, Howard is playing with a controlled nastiness and developing into the all-around force that he should be.

With Howard coming of age as a complete dominator, it’s time for L.A.’s inconsistent Andrew Bynum to wake up or be mince meat.

An effective and efficient scorer when he’s aggressive, Bynum is only averaging 6.9 points per game in the playoffs.

This is just pathetic for a talented guy with his size and skill.

After coming back from several knee injuries, Bynum has seemed more interested in fighting about his playing time in the playoffs with Head Coach Phil Jackson than with playing an aggressive game that makes the Lakers very tough to beat when he’s playing well.

Jackson has said that Bynum needs to step up his effort on the defensive end of the court, and now’s the time against Howard and the Magic.

Bynum has the size to at least guard Howard one-on-one. This is important because doubling Howard plays into Orlando’s strength in spreading the floor and shooting the three.

So Bynum needs to come out focused and give an honest effort against Howard. If not, he will be related to the bench, which would mean that Pau Gasol gets the tough defensive assignment.

The Lakers can’t afford to have Gasol in foul trouble, so Bynum needs to be much more effective.

Offensively, the Lakers need to focus on getting Gasol and Bynum early touches.

Bynum seems to be a guy who is more interested when he’s getting scoring opportunities.

Jackson should revert to his days in Chicago when it was a philosophy for his Bulls to get center Bill Cartwright a few early shots to help him get more in the flow of the game.

Edge: Howard and the Magic.

L.A. isn’t going to be able to stop Howard. Yet the Lakers have the big men in Gasol and Bynum to come together and make things more difficult for the Orlando superstar.

Bynum has had a stormy time in his short career in Los Angeles.

After being a lightning rod of criticism for Kobe Bryant, he seemed to be breaking through the last couple of seasons before being sidelined by tough knee injuries.

Now his attitude, motivation and work ethic on the floor are appearing to come off as question marks at the worst time.

If there ever was a time for Bynum to prove himself, it’s in the 2009 NBA Finals against Orlando’s Superman, Howard.