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Translation: "Waaaaahhh...OOoH....OOOhh..WaaaAaaaahhh....
"
Lakers' Odom angry at Coach Phil
Ding column: Lamar commits fouls of frustration, plays fewer minutes.
Kevin Ding
LOS ANGELES There were a lot of big-headed Lakers trying to play one-on-one basketball Friday night, so the Lakers got what they deserved: their perfect season ruined.
Here’s what could be far worse for them as this all plays out: Lamar Odom, the guy who started training camp griping about his individual place on the team, left Staples Center with renewed strain in his relationship with Lakers coach Phil Jackson.
Upon being yanked from the game by Jackson with 4:30 to play after committing consecutive frustration fouls, Odom reached the bench and gave a quick, dismissive wave with his left hand in Jackson’s direction.
Odom immediately began unwinding the tape from his wrist and spent the rest of the game sulking, slumped back in his chair even when every other teammate on the bench leaned forward with hope during a brief Kobe Bryant-led Lakers surge.
Afterward, the usually genial Odom was clearly disturbed – stepping all over Patrick O’Neal’s questions to rush through a Fox Sports interview, turning his back to the camera before it was over. Odom then delivered more clipped responses to other reporters before speed-walking away.
Despite having success in the post against Detroit’s Tayshaun Prince in the second quarter, Odom played 20:08 – his least playing time in any game this season or last.
Odom balked initially at the start of training camp in light of Jackson’s desire to take away his starting job in the final year of his contract. Once Jackson did shift Odom to the bench, the coach made Odom the first Laker off the bench, consistently replacing either Andrew Bynum or Pau Gasol midway through the first and third quarters.
But Wednesday night in New Orleans, Odom didn’t enter the game until later in the first and third quarters. And Friday night against Detroit, it went back further: Odom didn’t come in until 2:34 remained in the first. He didn’t come in until 1:49 remained in the third (even though Trevor Ariza entered with 6:20 on the clock).
Odom actually made all five shots he took from the field, although one unforced turnover with a minute left in the third quarter and the Lakers down by 10 points was an egregious error.
Odom was mostly on the bench while other Lakers – particularly Bryant, Derek Fisher, Jordan Farmar, Gasol and Vladimir Radmanovic – looked too early and often to attack through individual offense instead of through the pass.
And when Odom watched Gasol toss up a missed shot after another solo foray with 5:09 to play and Detroit ahead, 89-71. Odom immediately ran and committed an obvious backcourt foul on Detroit’s Rasheed Wallace – and because the Lakers were beyond the five-foul penalty limit for the quarter, Wallace got to walk down and make two free throws for a 91-71 lead.
Less than a minute later, Odom fouled Wallace in the backcourt again after a Lakers miss, Wallace went to make two more free throws, and Jackson gave Odom the hook.
After the game Jackson went out of his way to bring up with reporters “fouling out of frustration in situations that were unnecessary and put them on the foul line” as one of the “things we can learn from.”
And when answering a question about Prince, Jackson said: “I thought Lamar played well against him at the (offensive) end of the floor. He was effective. But Lamar got frustrated out there a little bit in the fourth quarter.”
Asked about Odom’s minutes being down, Jackson answered cryptically: “Matchups and rhythm of our offense – just doing the right thing out there and creating the right spacing – I thought we misplayed a lot of those situations.”
Odom didn’t have much to say in his comments.
“We didn’t take good shots as a team,” he said. “We didn’t do nothing good as a team.”
The truth of it is that other Lakers were far more responsible for this first loss than Odom. At emotional heart, Odom is a team player who will eventually tap back into his light, affable spirit.
Nevertheless, he does have a history of detaching himself when things go bad.
And besides suffering injuries, nothing ranks higher on the to-don’t list for the Lakers this season than what befell this deep, skilled team Friday night: individualism.
It’s Farmar’s little-man complex emerging once Iverson bested him a couple of times. It’s Radmanovic feeling as if he deserved to go right down and jack up a 3-point shot after looking bad on Prince’s dunk that happened because Bynum didn’t properly help when Radmanovic funneled Prince toward him.
It’s especially a frustrated Odom losing trust in his teammates and his coach.
Champions respond to adversity by using it to come together. From the Lakers’ first defeat of the season, though, Odom walked away wholly alone.
Translation: "Waaaaahhh...OOoH....OOOhh..WaaaAaaaahhh
Lamar Scrotum sounds like he got his Odom caught in his zipper
Does this surprise anyone?
Other than the guy in my fantasy league keeps trying to trade me Odom in random packages for LeBron under the guise of me needing "depth."
I'll be glad when his contract is up.
Allanon's not gonna like this thread.
Odom's being a baby, but I agree with him to a certain extent why he's upset. He should be playing more than 20 minutes a game against a team like Detroit, especially with how he was playing despite those two frustration fouls. He can match up with Prince or Rasheed when Rasheed is strictly camping out at the three point line. Plus, Kobe and Fisher were volume shooting and Pau was non-existent. He has to play more in that game. He's being a baby, but I almost understand why he is being a baby.
I missed the game and only caught the very end. But out of anybody Odom has the least to complain. His play has been substandard for awhile.
That is why no other West team other than the Spurs can win a championship. Everyone wants to be a star.
Bawwwww
So you're saying this season's NBA champion will come from the Eastern Conference then, cuz San Antonio sure as ain't winning a championship this year.
Lakers will win Team of the Decade
we're not done yet!
According to Spur fans, SA isn't done, but PHX is
LOS ANGELES There were a lot of big-headed Lakers trying to play one-on-one basketball Friday night, so the Lakers got what they deserved: their perfect season ruined.I wanted to stop reading after this line.
I bet he's actually angry that the Lakers now don't have any reason to shoot for 82-0.
Ehh, let him smoke some kush.
He'll be fine
The whole question is whether or not Odom will accept his reserve role and want to contribute that way to the team. Season is early. Sure the Lakers just lost, but that was going to happen. Clear the air now, and get down to business.
Spurs fan:
"PHX IS DONE, LAKERS SUCK.....we woulda won if the refs didn't cheat"
Reality:
PHX: 7-3
LAL: 7-1
SAS: 3-5
By no means am I defending Spursdynasty but he has a point. Since 2002 no one but the Spurs has won the le. Would not surprise me to see an east team (most likely Boston) win it unless we somehow make it back to the Finals.
74 games left. I wouldn't count the Spurs out yet.
The Blazers will win the le this season.
Spurs are 3-5, but the rest of the West is starting the season slow enough that we won't be very behind once Manu and TP are back. Plus our younger bench guys are getting into rhythm and will be solid off the bench in December.
The fact our two main perimeter players are injured at this early point in the season, is only going to factor well for us in the long run. I'd say we're a much better than bet than everyone in the west save LA.
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