Sure, Mihm puts up some decent numbers at times but he actually is given a green light and encouraged to look for his offensive game.
Which is kinda my point, if Bynum's offensive game has surpassed that of Mihm's, I should think a coach with the competetance of PJ would give Andrew the "green light". If Bynum did a MUCH better job of controlling the paint on the defensive side than Mihm and Brown, wouldn't Phil make sure he got more than 8 minutes a game, most of which is in garbage time.
Now I did read an article where Phil thinks Bynum's development and impressive play against the Spurs the other night has warranted a tad more playing time to see what the rook can bring with consistent playing time. His rebound and especially block PER 40 are pretty good.
I've seen some Laker games but unfortunately Bynum didn't see any playing time in those games. I still think that to state that Bynum at this stage is a "better" player than either Mihm and Brown at this stage is way too premature. Perhaps soon (if he's good), perhaps later (if he's slow to develop), but definitely not now.
I personally think he is the better player right now because he is playing better defense and controlling the glass better than Mihm is. Not only is Mihm not playing good defense in the paint he is actually putting the Lakers over the limit in every game with his AT&T defense...he loves to reach out and touch someone instead of getting better position. The Lakers defense is the biggest problem with this team right now. While it would be nice to have more points in the paint it would be even nicer to have the other team have LESS points in the paint. The last 4 Laker losses have all been mainly because of easy buckets they are giving up. Either during a push to get caught up (ie. Spurs the other night) or when they are in the lead (Bulls the other night). Manu and Parker were getting layups left and right each trip down it seemed. When Bynum came in that started to trickle down and that is when the Lakers were able to make a push towards them. The Spurs were not getting very many easy layups and Bynum was snatching rebounds to make it one and out for the Spurs. During the major push they had in the 2nd quarter he had 6 rebounds in 7 minutes.
His offensive game is not better than Chris Mihm's at this point and thats not where I was basing him being better. Mihm has 2 post moves and has not been going up strong unless he has a wide open dunk. He has a jump shot over Bynum and of course the fact that he has been chosen to be our weapon in the paint. Part of the reason, IMO, comes from the fact that Bynum has yet to learn how to use his body to score rather than his length.
There are a few reasons why Bynum, even though he is doing a better job defensively than both guys, is not getting as much playing time
1) PJ doesnt like to play rookies regardless. He wasnt given much of a chance because he is young and a rookie (not that I blame Phil for that) . Phil has been forced to use him now and I think he is showing Phil he can play.
2) He is trying to learn NBA basketball and learn the triangle offense at the same time. There are seasoned vets on this team that cant grasp the triangle LOL. Mihm knows the triangle better than Bynum at this point.
3) Phil really would like to work Kwame into a better player than he is currently and has given him more time based on that. Does he deserve it? IMO no because ive yet to see 2 games where he has played very well.
