Bynum PC and Lakers' Progress

After a lot of thought, I finally decided to start a PC on Andrew Bynum. Drew has come out this year with amazing improvement, and proven himself to be one of the best centers in the league. His scoring, rebounding, and shot-blocking capabilities make him an essential ingredient to the Lakers lineup. It's such a shame he only got to play during a small part of the season and none of the playoffs. This young allstar-to-be will probably become another Abdul-Jabbar in the years to come, and eventually lead his team to many victories. That's why I decided to start collecting as many cards of him as possible, staring with his rookies. His 2005-06 Topps Chrome cards are fairly cheap right now. I can probably secure the base, refractor (/999), and black refractor (/399) for around $50. The gold refractor (/99) and xfractor (/90) will be harder, as they combine for close to $500. I'll be spending quite some time on ebay, waiting for cheap prices...



In other news... the Lakers are doing pretty well right now. They managed to survive their home games against the jazz and go up 2-0 before losing in Utah (no surprise there). Hopefully they can steal a game in Salt Lake City before heading back home, to win the series 4-1. The key will be beating out the Jazz early on and getting some valuable rest before taking on either the hornets or spurs (both difficult teams). The only problem is the Lakers' failure to outrebound the likes of Okur and Boozer. These two players have consistently beaten Odom and Gasol on the glass, oftentimes getting 2nd chance opportunities. I was outraged on Friday night when Boozer missed his 2nd free throw, but managed to get his own rebound and slam it home for a 3-point play. And with Fisher guarding Deron Williams, he's often in foul trouble, leaving the job to Jordan Farmar. I loved Jordan during the regular season, but he's been practically nonexistent in this 2nd round series. He can never get a good look with the allstar-caliber Williams defending him, and he's proven to be ineffective at guarding the bulkier and stronger point guard on the other end of the floor. Fisher's gonna have to manage to guard Deron without fouling or this series will be a long one.