Andrew Bynum, Lakers Blow By Wizards

Bouncing back from his worst game of the summer, Andrew Bynum threw down 19 points to lead the Lakers over the Washington Wizards, 114-85, Friday night at the Pyramid in Long Beach.

The Lakers maintained a steady, double-digit lead throughout most of the game, until blowing the game out of reach in the fourth quarter.

“He played much better,” coach Kurt Rambis said of Bynum after the game. “He was more focused and more determined. I left him out there for some very long stretches, so I know he got tired, but that’s something he’s going to have to learn how to fight through and play through.”

Doron Perkins would add 19 for the Lakers, followed by Jordan Farmar, Devin Green and Danilo Pinnock, who all finished with 13 points.

With this win, the Lakers improved to 4-1 in this year’s Summer Pro League.

Andrew Bynum
A solid job from Bynum of responding to a poor performance in the previous game.

Andrew finished the game with 19 points, 8 rebounds and 2 blocked shots. In addition, he continued to show some solid shooting, going 9 of 13 from the field.

Bynum endured a true test of size, matching up against’s Washington’s 7′3″ center Peter John Ramos, who has considerably bulked up as of late.

Ramos’ size didn’t give him much trouble, however, as Bynum seemed more comfortable than ever when operating in the post. He showed more of a polished post game than he had shown in his previous 4 games in Long Beach. Bynum returned to playing aggressive down low, after a poor showing a couple days before against the Mavericks.

To open the game, Andrew gave Ramos a spin move to free himself and hit an open jumper in the low post. In the second quarter he finally used a jump hook (it appears he shows this in flashes) and scored down low.

Andrew used a smart pump-fake to get Ramos off his feet in the 3rd quarter and get the layup. He showed yet another solid post move in the fourth with the soft touch on a fadeaway in the paint.

I asked Andrew how he felt going up against someone who had a bit of size on him in Ramos.

“I felt pretty comfortable,” Bynum said. “He wasn’t really fronting or anything like that. He was kind of letting me catch the ball, which helps me out. That makes my moves easier and then I just try to attack him. And it turned out all right.”

So did he get any advice before the game from the coaching staff that allowed him to operate with more confidence? I posed this question to both Bynum and coach Kurt Rambis.

“They just told me that they were coming to me today,” Bynum said. “That’s pretty much it. I just new that I was going to get the ball, so I had to do something with it.”

“Andrew’s got the skills to do just about anything that he wants on the post,” Rambis told me. “He doesn’t necessarily have the strength to accomplish all the things that he wants. But one of the things that we’re teaching him is just to be patient, poised, let the offense work and then be able to read the defense and react to it. He’s tall, he’s big, he’s long.”

“We’re working on him, stabilizing his position in the post, so he doesn’t get pushed all over the place. But he’s got hook shots with the left and right hand, he’s got turnaround jumpers, he’s got jump hooks. He’s got a lot of stuff inside. He’s just got to develop the confidence that he can execute those in a game situation.”

Bynum held his ground against Ramos and constantly was a shot-blocking threat down low (as he has been all summer).

Andrew should keep up these games and look to build off of them as well.

Jordan Farmar
Jordan didn’t have as much of an impact on the floor as he did in his previous three showings at the SPL.

Farmar wasn’t much of a playmaker in this one, recording just 1 assist to go along with his 13 points. To open the game, he struggled with his jump shot, hitting just 2 of 6 at the half. He responded by shooting 2 of 3 in the second half, however, looking to penetrate more.

In the fourth quarter, Farmar showed a nice sign, in able to use both hands at the hoop. After getting into traffic, Jordan switched the ball to his left and delivered a floater in the lane. It’s a positive sign to know that he’ll be able to switch hands when going up against shot blockers that are more skilled in the NBA.

His jumpshot still is inconsistent, but he has the ability to make them — it’s all about practice from here on out.

On defense, Jordan’s performance wasn’t up to par with what he was able to accomplish previously this summer. On a few occasions, he let his man blow by him and picked up some unnecessary fouls. Farmar finished with 5 of those and only denied penetration sporadically.

Jordan has been working his way through a “slight groin strain,” possibly a reason he was out of sync (at least to start) on Friday night.

This game aside, Farmar has put up some impressive performances at the SPL. I asked him if making the starting lineup was out of the question.

“I don’t think it’s out of the possibility,” Farmar replied. “But I don’t even think about it. It’s not important right now. As long as I improve, get better and learn something every day, that’s what I’m focused on. The rest of the stuff will take care of itself.”

“When my time comes, I’ll be ready.”

Doron Perkins
This was easily Perkins’ best performance at the SPL.

Perkins recorded 19 points and four steals in this game, a contest that could possibly have featured a “breakout performance” for him.

He played aggressive, solid defense against Will Solomon of the Wizards and consistently denied penetration. In addition, Perkins showed some quick hands, taking it away four times (five if you ignore a phantom call by one of the officials).

Coach Rambis talked about his defensive abilities after the game ended.

“Doron’s been teriffic,” Rambis said. “He’s a nasty defender. He gets up — he made quite a few steals. [He was] wreaking havoc, particularly in the first half, with his defense. He did a great job of setting the tone for us defensively. He’s knocking down shots [and] he’s running our offense.”

“And of course he’s a Santa Clara graduate, where I went to school, so you know he’s a very smart ballplayer,” Rambis smirked.

Perkins isn’t your classic distributor point guard, but can get in the lane at times, allowing it to kick it out to a teammate. He had a crossover move in the fourth quarter that broke his man down off the dribble and allowed him to get into the paint.

The most consistent thing Perkins did was knock down the outside shot. He showed three point range, and little hesitancy to shoot (when open) from that distance. It’s a valuable attribute to carry when potentially playing with playmakers like Lamar Odom and Kobe Bryant.

If Perkins can string together a couple of these performances to close out the SPL, he may find himself receiving a camp invite.

Danilo “J.R.” Pinnock
Pinnock had quite an efficient game, finishing with 13 points & 4 assists on 6 of 7 shooting.

J.R. didn’t have much trouble getting to the basket or finishing there. He’s got a soft touch on a six foot jump shot in his arsenal, reminiscent of Josh Howard’s game. Pinnock is able to make adjustments to his shots and still score as well, knocking down a short fadeaway shot from the baseline late in the game.

What’s nice to see from a shooting guard that can create his own shot is that he can finish in traffic. Pinnock also will move well without the ball at hands, getting open and getting opportunities to score, such as a mid range shot he hit in the fourth quarter after running around to free himself up.

He was a bit late on some defensive rotations on Friday night, and would have more trouble with that in a faster-paced NBA game.

Nevertheless, Pinnock played very well for 21 minutes out there and seemed to be wise in picking his spots.

Devin Green
Devin had a solid game, scoring 13 points and pulling down 4 boards.

More than anything he stayed within the offense and looked at ease out there. He’s continued to show patience and confidence when attacking the hoop. Green surprised some when he burned his man in the 3rd quarter, using a crossover and spin move to get himself an easy layup.

I asked him how he has felt overall through 5 games at the SPL.

“I’ve felt pretty good. I think we’re getting better and better every game as far as running our offense. Pretty much, in the whole scheme of things, that’s the big picture. All the players [have to] come together and we just run our offense.”

He’s one of the more experienced players in the Triangle and much of his success has followed his ability to know the offense. I asked Devin if he tries to assert himself as a leader on the floor, having a year of playing within the system to his advantage.

“Yeah, I think it comes pretty natural,” Green said. “Knowing the offense, you can’t help but to step up and lead. So I think I’m doing a pretty good job as far as helping the younger guys come in and learn the system.”

Von Wafer
Again he didn’t have a very good game. I thought he forced up a couple shots and didn’t play well within the confines of the offense. Wafer only received 11 minutes of playing time in this one.

Interestingly enough, Rambis acknowledged Wafer’s spotty play but felt he did a good job of running the offense in the second half.

“Von did a real good job in the second half of running the offense,” Rambis said. “That’s one of the things that he’s going to have to continue to work on in that off-guard spot. He’s not used to being one of the guards that brings the ball up the floor and gets us into the offense and I thought he did a real good job in the second half.”

The remainder of the team either didn’t provide a significant contribution or did not receive enough playing time for proper evaluation.

Keep tuned in for more interviews and analysis with BDG’s SPL Exclusive reports and ClubLakers.com’s complete coverage of the Summer Pro League over the next couple of weeks.

Comments on this report? Agree/disagree with these evaluations? Want to talk about the game? Sound off in our CL.com SPL discussion.

Huge thanks go out to hZm for providing photos of tonight’s game. For more pictures, click here.

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