December 3, 2008 9:00 am  |  48 Comments

Andrew Bynum Doesn’t Understand Phil Jackson’s Late-Game Thinking


by Marcel Mutoni

As you know, the Lakers suffered their second loss of the season last night, on an improbable last-second tip by Troy Murphy. What bothered Andrew Bynum the most about the game wasn’t the miracle tip, instead it was his coach’s substitution pattern late in the game.

Bynum, who played a strong game with 17 points and 9 boards, was critical of Phil Jackson’s decision to pull the second unit (of which Andrew was a part of) midway through the fourth quarter.

From the LA Times:

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“The second unit played well, got a 16-point lead in the fourth quarter. We were all taken out with six minutes to go in game,” Bynum said. “We didn’t get any rebounds [after that]. I don’t know what to say about that.”

He was asked why he was taken out of the game, considering how the Pacers out-rebounded the Lakers 50-41 overall and 19-8 on the offensive end. “I don’t know,” Bynum said. “That’s a question for Phil.”

For his part, Phil explained that he yanked the second unit in favor of his starters because those guys had “fiddled away” the comfortable lead. He might want to listen to his young center, however, and strongly consider the rebounding factor late in the game tonight in Philly.

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This story is filed under: NBA, The Wire, Top News

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  • thejoshsays Posted: Dec.3 at 9:03 am
    Bynum’s a beast

  • riggs Posted: Dec.3 at 9:06 am
    now he’s being outcoached by his young center. DAMN

  • Jiggy Posted: Dec.3 at 9:08 am
    Just shut up and get ready for the next game. Go Lakers.

  • Clay Posted: Dec.3 at 9:08 am
    and how many rings does coach bynum have again? nuff said

  • Jolst Posted: Dec.3 at 9:16 am
    Rings doesn’t mean you never make mistakes, Clay.

  • DDB Posted: Dec.3 at 9:17 am
    They won’t need to worry about rebounding tonight. It will be blowout city.

  • Ryan Jones Posted: Dec.3 at 9:20 am
    Boring. Let’s hear more about the 2010 free agent class!

  • Mo Charlo Posted: Dec.3 at 9:25 am
    Troy Murphy’s going to write a rap song about his game-winning tip-in.

  • TADOne Posted: Dec.3 at 9:34 am
    Nice to see young Andrew make it rain in other ways.

  • ClydeSays Posted: Dec.3 at 9:55 am
    Hey Andrew, Don’t get into a p!$$ing match with Phil. You’ll never win. Plus he’ll write a chapter about it in his next book.

  • Jamo Posted: Dec.3 at 9:58 am
    Here’s another young, dumb fool opening his mouth instead of just appreciating the blessing of playing ball for money. The biggest problem with this generation is NO Discipline. We can thank all their parents and our system of not making youngsters earn what they get. Instead they’re given things that they don’t earn and are paid way too much money to play a damn game! Let’s boycott the games and see what happens.

  • MeloMan13 Posted: Dec.3 at 10:05 am
    LOL @ Ryan
    aslong as its not about bosh its all good

  • Cub Buenning Posted: Dec.3 at 10:20 am
    Young, unproven “superstars in training” questioning Hall-Of-Fame coaches, again?!?!? I love this game.

  • SWIFTboy Posted: Dec.3 at 10:25 am
    Phil Jackson somehow manipulated the situation so that Andrew would say exactly that, as part of a greater master plan.

  • mat smith Posted: Dec.3 at 10:28 am
    yeah Drew, what does Phil know anyway? oh, maybe shutup….

  • grenner Posted: Dec.3 at 10:52 am
    Maybe phil jackson thought bynum was gary coleman from different strokes. I’m always confusing the two

  • The Savior vs. The Zen Master « RedsArmy.com: The Voice Of Celtics Fans Posted: Dec.3 at 11:29 am
    [...] (via Slam Online) [...]

  • ciolkstar Posted: Dec.3 at 11:31 am
    Danny Granger dropped 32 4 and 5 (with four 3s)on an off shooting night. The kid is a star in the making, and already a star-level talent. There’s no team in pro sports that I root against as much as the Lakers. SO glad to see them lose, especially to a young team like the Pacers.

  • ciolkstar Posted: Dec.3 at 11:33 am
    I think the Lakers win tonight against the 76ers, but they definitely will need to hit the glass. Philly has one of the top rebounding margins in the L right now. Thad Young needs to have a bounce back performance tonight, I’m looking forward to seeing him and Ariza matched up.

  • Sesa Posted: Dec.3 at 11:39 am
    Nobody understand what Coach KFC is thinking, but at least he is a proven coach. Even though probably he made mistakes, the team have to live with it. Anyway, I really don’t like Bynum’s help D

  • Co Co Posted: Dec.3 at 11:56 am
    This is sorta unrelated but addressing Cub’s comment indirectly, no one ever questions Phil’s line-ups and sometimes, not too often but sometimes they are bad. I remember watching a playoff game I forget which one but the Lakers were playing Phoenix and they were down twenty early and he had a lineup on the floor that didn’t have 20 points combined and I thought well how the hell are they supposed to get back in the game.? I and a few others who watched noticed it, but no one ever mentioned it. We all came to the conclusion that no one really questions Phil’s coaching moves lately. Not that Andrew necessarily has the right, but someone has to sometime.

  • sab Posted: Dec.3 at 11:56 am
    lol @ SWIFTboy. hopefully this is the start of the wheels falling off the Laker train! (we can dream…)

  • maio Posted: Dec.3 at 12:05 pm
    Phil Jackson’s in-game coaching has often been suspect to me. If they win the championship in the end, however, he can say they lost some games on purpose and disguise it as brilliant coaching strategy.

  • Allenp Posted: Dec.3 at 12:18 pm
    That’s right. Players should never question their coaches, what do players know about the game? It’s not like players ever go on to coach in the NBA.
    Wait….
    Actually, Bynum sounds like he has a point. The Lakers got killed ont he glass by the Pistons too in their only other loss and that was because Bynum sat for way too long. But, Phil does have a quiet a few rings, so I guess he’s never wrong.

  • RV Posted: Dec.3 at 12:23 pm
    well they DID get beat on a tip in off an offensive rebound…..

  • Jackie Moon Posted: Dec.3 at 12:37 pm
    Bynum should be in with Gasol, Kobe, Ariza, and Odom when the Lakers absolutely need a stop.

  • underdog Posted: Dec.3 at 12:54 pm
    Phil is human too.

  • Michael Posted: Dec.3 at 2:16 pm
    By the time Phil had taken the bench out of the game they had given that 16 point lead back.

  • albie1kenobi Posted: Dec.3 at 2:39 pm
    i dunno. the celtics lost at indiana too. maybe larry bird suited up without anyone noticing and played the giant-killer role?

  • tealish Posted: Dec.3 at 3:49 pm
    Sure question the coach in the media because he was probably wrong. Or you could do it behind closed doors, you know, to show the guy who’s running out of fingers for rings at least that much respect.

  • Allenp Posted: Dec.3 at 4:46 pm
    Tealish
    Actually, you’re right. He should have brought up his concerns in a private meeting with Phil. All coaches and players should avoid having public disputes through the media. I do not understand why basketball teams do not teach players how to handle interviews better.

  • Young Chris MP3 Posted: Dec.3 at 5:43 pm
    Personally, I think Bynum was over-hyped over the summer. Dude is as inconsistent as ever, but is fortunate to hide it behind Pau Gasol and Lamar Odom’s Sixth man role…

  • LA Huey Posted: Dec.3 at 5:59 pm
    “another young, dumb fool opening his mouth instead of just appreciating the blessing of playing ball for money.”
    Here’s another hater that doesn’t seem to realize how much work you have to put in just to get to the L, to make a name for yourself, then to maintain that name once everyone knows you…

  • iLL wiLL Posted: Dec.3 at 6:13 pm
    Bynum did have a point there. Bynum was part of that huge run where he was rebounding and scoring, so yeah, he’s got a point there. The question should be why the hell Lamar Odom was out there in crunch time.

  • Moose Posted: Dec.3 at 8:25 pm
    Bynum’s barely a month older than 20. He shouldn’t say anything until he’s a 10 year vet who’s had a steady career.

  • ANC Posted: Dec.3 at 8:30 pm
    lol somebody needs to learn some humility. big talk from the kiddie.

  • Will Lee Posted: Dec.3 at 8:44 pm
    its just one game, forget it

  • Bostwik Posted: Dec.3 at 9:43 pm
    They lose their second game, so now it’s time to bash the coach because everything is going downhill?

  • cedric Posted: Dec.3 at 9:45 pm
    phil is an idiot.i think he should be replaced he only got those 9 championships cuz he got the best players on his team.phil is an idiot period.

  • alan Posted: Dec.4 at 12:27 am
    Bynum has a point which Phil has to look into. Sometimes losing by slim margin or by a rout is a coach’s call. Some lakers’ debacles were due to phil’s poor coaching. Can’t understand how his mind works at times.

  • cvylakers Posted: Dec.4 at 1:16 am
    the lakers should have protected their lead in the first place…
    anyway, they’d bounce back pretty soon…

  • Sean Posted: Dec.4 at 1:55 am
    I don’t think many people, who responded on here, actually read Bynum’s quote. By the quote all he said was that the 2nd unit got the lead & doesn’t know what happened on the boards after they were replaced. He also was ASKED why he was subed out & all he said is “I don’t know”. I think people are making it a little bigger then what it is.

  • Anton Posted: Dec.4 at 2:24 am
    this is like a breakthrough, the Pistons beat the Lakers so other teams see that it can be done

  • Dacre Posted: Dec.4 at 3:41 am
    cedric says:
    phil is an idiot.i think he should be replaced he only got those 9 championships cuz he got the best players on his team.phil is an idiot period.
    ________________________________________________
    so based on that reasoning….he’s going to get another ring by having Kobe again THIS year…?

  • Kurt Posted: Dec.4 at 6:43 am
    Sorry, folks, but just because Phil has 9 rings, doesn’t mean he never makes a mistake. Lest you forget, he has lost his last 2 NBA Finals (and no rings since 2002). I watched the game, and without noticing Bynum was out, I did notice what was making me the most frustrated was how many offensive rebounds the Pacers were getting. Then I noticed this article, and Bynum clearly has a point. Bynum brings something to the Lakers they desperately needed during last year’s Finals. They will learn from it, and I still see them winning 70 games this year.

  • laurs8 Posted: Dec.4 at 7:12 am
    nobody’s fault… you can’t blame bynum for saying that… but still, he has to have respect. and realize that phil knows what his doing.

  • maio Posted: Dec.4 at 10:44 am
    Well of course people are making this bigger than it is - that’s exactly the reason why half-”edjakated” people can make millions playing basketball. The whole thing is based on this very principle, right?

  • andrew Posted: Dec.4 at 11:29 am
    I don’t know why jackson took him out. I can understand for a rest, bu when ur getting killed on the boards and u have a person like bynum y bot put ihm in he’s a beast. also the other players should look at it liek it ehir fualt their the ones who dind’t box.

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