Pass Him the Ball!

When Lakers center Andrew Bynum told reporters following game 2 of their series against the Mavericks that his team has "trust issues," it was easy to question the timing and forum in which he voiced that opinion.  Yet, what's not open for debate is whether he was correct.  Bynum was the biggest victim of LA's trust issues last night, which were on full display during the Laker's game 3 loss to Dallas.  A loss that leaves the team just one more trust-issue ridden game away from seeing the end of an era. 

Bynum's angry-face after barely touching the ball down the stretch

The young big-man played a superb game going 9-16 from the floor with 10 boards.  Even more noticeable than the impressive stat-line was his focus on both ends of the court. Under pressure to perform due to his honest yet controversial comments following game 2, Bynum was the best Laker on the floor most of the night.  Until the fourth quarter, that is, when Bynum's teammates seemingly did everything possible to keep the ball out of the big man's hands.

LA-based ESPN writer Andy Kamenetzky summed it up best: "If anything, the biggest knock on [Bynum's] performance might have been his failure to bum rush the perimeter and physically rip the ball out of the hands of teammates not looking in his direction down the stretch."