NBA Playoffs 2011: Why Andrew Bynum Is Key to the Lakers Playoff Run

The title of this piece is a bit obvious; everyone knows how important center Andrew Bynum is to the Lakers' success. The point of this post, though, is not just to tell you that Bynum's presence is the difference between a ring and falling short. It's to tell you why. People seem to believe he's important without explaining it. Let's remedy that, shall we?

When Andrew Bynum hurt his knee against San Antonio on Tuesday night, Lakers Nation went silent. As back-and-forth as the Lakers have been all season, Andrew Bynum has been one of their few consistent aspects. Not only does the dude have amazing footwork down low in the post, but his aggression and activity in the paint is ridiculous. He makes every defensive rebound 10 times harder for the opponent and disrupts the timing on their every drive down the middle. 

Though the Lakers are still a great team without him, they're not a championship team. For L.A., the difference between winner and loser is Andrew Bynum. 

But why?

Teams have adjusted like crazy over the past three years, and not just to get better. They've adjusted to get bigger, longer—just to compete with the Lakers.

It's the reason Tyson Chandler was picked up by the Mavericks. It's the reason why the Oklahoma City Thunder snatched up Nazr Mohammed and Kendrick Perkins at the trading deadline. It's why the Blazers paid Marcus Camby a ton of money; why the Celtics picked up Jermaine and Shaquille O'Neal; why Al Horford has been central to the Hawks' success; and why the Heat have been trying to find a solid defensive center.

Before, no matter how many superstars you had on your team, the Lakers would beat you with their length alone, on both the offensive and defensive ends.

It's not just Bynum though. All three of the Lakers bigs—Bynum, Pau Gasol, and Lamar Odom—are freakishly versatile and well-rounded.

If the opponent is a great perimeter shooting team (like the Mavericks), the Lakers' rotations send out a seven-footer; arms outstretched, about 11 feet; add a little hop and that's about 12 feet of defense in the shooter's face (rough numbers of course, but you get the idea). A little six-foot-something guard is going to have to shoot high; that's more arc to the shot. Odds are that they miss.

Kudos if you're one of those teams that found the pieces to match up. Now you have to figure out how to deal with the Lakers' length on the offensive end.

Both Bynum and Gasol can work outside-in by pounding the ball inside (more characteristic of Bynum than Gasol) or methodically lulling you to sleep and driving inside like a point guard, picking up a foul in the process (more characteristic of Gasol than Bynum). Say you stopped one. Count on him throwing the ball up high—anywhere—and the other big catching it (because of his ability to stretch) and finishing. 

Offensively, it's impossible to stop them when they're in playoff mode, when the level of play elevates. 

Without Bynum though, things change.

Lamar Odom isn't a seven-foot center and his skill set mirrors that of a point forward. While he is versatile enough to play inside-out, it's not his style and it won't hold up for an entire game. Without Bynum, Gasol is forced to play center and, while he can do that for a game, teams can now adjust, more so than ever, to alleviate Gasol's impact. They can body-up on him and move him physically.

This messes with the entire rotation. Matt Barnes or Shannon Brown become the Lakers' go-to bench guys, and neither are consistent (or healthy) enough to provide anything near what Odom brings.

Defensively, the second unit is apt. But they play an entirely different defensive set than the first, and when the two combine (with the exception of when Gasol or Bynum stay out there with the bench), the Lakers play their worst defense.

With Bynum out, the bench rotations get screwy, and too-old-for-this big men Theo Ratliff and Joe Smith are now huge centers they have to rely on.

It's a terrible situation no matter how you spin it. While the Lakers can get past teams like the Blazers—who lack offensive talent inside—and the Hornets—who lack everything outside of Chris Paul—they won't get past elites such as the Thunder, the Spurs, certainly the Heat who can isolate and drive-kick all day long on the Lakers, and the Celtics, who are ridiculously deep at center.

Basically, without Bynum, the Lakers' championship run is more than in danger—it's flattened, completely.