Andrew Bynum was in the middle, surrounded by the Lakers second unit, when the Lakers went on a 17-0 run that gave the Lakers a 16-point lead early in the fourth quarter in Indiana last night.
And he didn't appreciate coach Phil Jackson not showing much faith in his younger players when that lead was cut to 8, choosing instead to bench them in favor of the starters midway through the fourth.
“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. “(The first unit) didn’t get any rebounds (after that). I don’t know what to say about that. We didn’t play well. I not saying say that. But in the fourth quarter, the second unit put a nice run together and I think we all should have been rewarded by being able to stay out there on the court.”
The lead started to slip away when the Lakers second unit started treating the ball carelessly, with four quick turnovers that led to the momentum change. Jackson likes to let players figure things out for themselves, but he also likes to win games, so going back to the starters to stem the tide made sense at the time.
Problem is, that didn’t work this time.
Bynum has a point about the rebounding problems, but that was happening when he was on the court as well. In fact, Bynum was on the floor for the final 45 seconds of the game, but on the final play he doesn’t move fast enough while Kobe and Trevor Ariza try to block T.J. Ford’s layup (a shot he misses) to get a body on Troy Murphy as he goes in for the game winning tip.
You've got to love the passion of Bynum, that he wants to be out there and make things happen when it matters. He just needs to make things happen when it matters first.
