Player Development with Dwight Howard and Andrew Bynum

In April, Dan Patrick asked Phil Jackson who he would pick to start a team. Jackson answered Dwight Howard. I reacted.

In the comments, I made an outrageous statement. I wrote:

I’m still not convinced that he’s better than Andrew Bynum if Bynum could stay healthy.

Howard will always be a better defender, but Bynum is a better offensive player. He has better touch, a better shot and a better feel. Howard is  an athletic beast on the offensive end; Bynum has size, quickness and agility, plus he has nice moves and touch.

The difference is that Howard was drafted to a team in rebuilding mode. He became the team’s franchise player almost from Day 1 and allowed to play through mistakes. He knows when he takes the court that he will not come out of the game if he misses a shot or if his man gets a rebound because he tries to block a shot. He knows that his coach and his teammates trust him, and he has had several years in this situation to develop through game situations and game play. He has grown into a dominant force because he was allowed to make mistakes, and he had the personality to cope with mistakes and failures. He took the mistakes as learning experiences because he was allowed to play through them and make adjustments.

Bynum, on the other hand, was drafted to a team in win-now mode with a coach who favors veterans and an unrelenting superstar who does not accept mistakes. He plays on a crowded front line with other talented players fighting for playing time. If he misses a block out or misses a shot, his minutes dwindle. He does not have the same feelings of confidence because he has teammates getting on him and a coach who gives him inconsistent playing time (the injuries obviously have affected his growth and the way he is perceived as well). Rather than viewing mistakes as learning experiences and playing through them, he has pressure to perform to earn more playing time. In this environment, mistakes are unacceptable and a sign of failure, not a learning experience.

If Bynum had been traded to the Kings during his rookie season, as was rumored, and the Kings coaching staff installed him as the starting center and franchise player, I believe he would be a completely different player right than what we see during his brief, inconsistent minutes with the Lakers.

Greg Oden also faces a challenge similar to Bynum’s: when he returns to full health for a full season, will McMillan give him the minutes and allow him to learn through mistakes, like Howard’s experience in Orlando, or will his minutes depend on performance from game to game, like Bynum’s experience in Los Angeles? If Oden suffers from a similar situation to Bynum’s, he may never maximize his full potential.

Who knows if Oden or Bynum have the mental make-up to be “The Man” on a championship caliber team? But, unless they are give the opportunity to make and learn from mistakes while playing with teammates who trust them and a coach who gives them consistent minutes, we may never know.

I believe that a player has to play to develop. I strongly believe that NBA teams who do not have room in their rotation for a rookie should use the NBA Development League to give the player playing time. I believe that players drafted to be the franchise player – typically players taken in the top 5 picks depending on the year – need to play right away and need a coach willing to give the players room to develop.

The Magic organization gave Howard the confidence to play and the minutes to develop. They invested in his development. The Lakers, due to their differing situations and coaches (and injuries), have not invested in Bynum in a similar fashion.

Howard has said he wants to be the best player in the NBA. He has that mentality. I have never heard Bynum say anything to that effect. Maybe Howard has developed because of his mentality, while Bynum struggles for playing time because he lacks the same kind of mentality.

However, with young players, I do not believe the myth that players develop by watching. They need to play and they need to be in situations where the coach lets them play through mistakes and with teammates who trust the young player. Howard had that opportunity; Bynum has not. We’ll see what happens next season if Bynum stays healthy, gets consistent minutes and gains the trust of his teammates.

~ by Brian McCormick on May 29, 2009.