Is it me or are the Lakers playing better basketball without Andrew Bynum?

Don’t get me wrong, Andrew is still a beast and having him as a backup center (yes, backup center) certainly raises the chances of the Lakers winning it all this season.

However, watching the Lakers play without Bynum, you can’t help but notice that they play a bit faster and is more agile defensively.  Rebounding is not a problem as Lamar Odom and Pau Gasol more than makes up for it.  What the Laker may miss is the defensive presence of Bynum at the middle.  If he comes back in time, that’s where the Lakers can plug him in.

My point is if Bynum comes back, there’s this high probability that he messes up the chemistry of the current starting five (and ending five).  Why not make Bynum a reliever of Pau Gasol or Lamar Odom when he comes back?  He can be the defensive presence that the Lakers will need from the second unit – to even the score a bit while the starters rest.

When I say “even the score”, I mean that the opponent doesn’t rally while the Lakers starters rest.  From what I’m seeing now, the opponents rally when the Lakers starters rest… and Phil Jackson is letting the second unit play through it… and sometimes the first unit ends up playing more tiring minutes just to undo what the second unit has done.

Do it, Phil.