Bynum Looks Good

Bynum Looks Good
-By Doug Krikorian, Staff columnist for the Presstelegram.com
November 1, 2006

After the 19-year-old center of the Los Angeles Lakers, Andrew Bynum, collected 20 points and 14 rebounds Tuesday evening against the Minnesota Timberwolves, I called Mitch Kupchak late Wednesday afternoon and said to him, "Mea culpa, mea culpa. I'm wrong. You're right. I guess Andrew Bynum can play, after all."

The Laker general manager isn't exactly known for having a wicked sense of humor, but he responded by saying, "Well, you're in the newspaper business."

And, on the other hand, Mitch Kupchak is in the basketball business, and just might have known what he was doing when he made Bynum his team's first pick in the 2005 NBA draft, even though I thought he had made a colossal miscalculation after observing Bynum's erratic work last July at the Walter Pyramid during the Summer Pro League.

In fact, I was so unimpressed by Bynum that I came out in these pages, and dismissed him as a bust, which might have been a slightly premature assessment in light of his production so far this season as he fills in for injured centers Chris Mihm and Kwame Brown.

clearly, Andrew Bynum has taken advantage of his opportunity. He's definitely ahead of the curve

"I'd love to think he'll continue to improve. But I don't know that for sure. I do know he works hard. He's bright. And he seems to want to compete. We'll wait and see how things play out."

Alas, they didn't play out well a few hours after I spoke to Kupchak for Andrew Bynum in Portland, as he managed only two points and five rebounds in 20 minutes before fouling out in the Lakers' 101-90 loss, their second of the season against four victories.

A couple of other draft selections by Kupchak also have had their moments in these early stages with the Lakers.

The 6-foot-10 second-year forward from Gonzaga, Ronny Turiaf, has triggered two of the team's wins with his inspirational play off the bench.

Turiaf reminds me of a bigger, more athletic A.C. Green," I told Kupchak.

"Interesting description," acknowledged Kupchak. "I hope it's right. A.C. had a long and successful career. Ronny Turiaf is a tremendous story. This is a guy who went through open heart surgery last year, and now he's out there really helping us. He's fearless.

"But he's more than just an energy guy. He passes and he can shoot the 15- to 20-footer."

Another 19-year-old, Jordan Farmar - he will turn 20 on Nov. 30 - also has exceeded early expectations.

"Jordan has a maturity about him, and he knows his point guard position well," says Kupchak. "He has tremendous confidence in his abilities. He gets upset with himself when he doesn't play well, but he doesn't stay down."

The Lakers have jumped off to their positive beginning even though Kobe Bryant hasn't been his usual dominant self, as he gets himself into shape after undergoing summer knee surgery.

"Kobe is about at 60 percent," said Kupchak. "But he's going to be all right. We're not worried about Kobe. It's just a matter of time before he's back in top form."

Actually, I thought the Lakers looked like a more well-rounded team in those games when Bryant, uncharacteristically, deferred to his teammates, as he did in the Minnesota game when he took only seven shots, scored 17 points and had six assists in his team's 95-88 win.

Perhaps it's only a coincidence, but when Bryant decided to assert himself more the next night against the Trail Blazers - he took 19 shots, scored 32 points but had only one assist - his team lost by 11 points

Still, Mitch Kupchak believes these Lakers are better than they were a year ago when they went 45-37 in the Pacific Division and came within one rebound of beating the Phoenix Suns in the playoffs and advancing to the Western Conference semifinals.

"We've become more talented and deeper than we were last year with the addition of people like Vladimir Radmanovic and Maurice Evans," says Kupchak. "And, obviously, it would be nice if the young guys continue to make contributions."

It is the view of one venerable observer, Mr. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, that at least one of them, Andrew Bynum, with whom Abdul-Jabbar works constantly, will continue to make a contribution - if he's given a chance to do so.

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