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Good to hear. Once again, Duncan228 with a great article.
It sounds like he's settling in.
Odom finds the second unit is a fun place to be
Ding column: Lakers forward embraces new role.
Kevin Ding
LOS ANGELES-There is a leader in there. Only because we’re so conditioned in sports that leaders must be either foul-mouthed jerks or by-example heroes do we miss the ways that Lamar Odom wiggles and shrugs and laughs to lift his teammates’ hearts.
The past weekend at Staples Center was a reminder of this special connector the Lakers have in Odom, who inspired two fun-filled exhibition victories with neither sage advice nor estimable work ethic.
As much as was said about Odom causing the biggest furor of the Lakers’ training camp with his initial indignant at ude over possibly coming off the bench, more needs to be said about how smoothly the dust has settled.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson started Odom in the first two exhibition games. Before the third one in Las Vegas on Oct. 12, the change was made. When I stopped Odom just outside the Lakers’ locker room before that game, he declared he would not be “detrimental” to the Lakers’ championship cause as a reserve – even as all the nuances in his tone revealed he still wanted to start.
The way Odom stood limply that night on the outer edge of the team’s pregame huddle for just the bench players – he left the gathering even before it had finished – reinforced that Odom was trying, but he wasn’t all aboard yet. (Maybe he was also a little tired from the team party he had hosted at the Mirage the night before, which just might’ve played a part in Jackson canceling the team’s morning shootaround. “We did some team bonding last night,” Odom acknowledged.)
Not quite a week later, the Lakers resumed their exhibition schedule – again with Odom not starting. That meant a second chance Saturday night for Odom to join the bench huddle.
Did he take part in it? He was, as a matter of fact, dancing in the middle of it.
Dancing, talking, motivating, energizing – all the other Lakers reserves encircling Odom and Odom alone. No one asked him to do it. He didn’t tell anyone he was going to do it. He just felt like it, and it felt right.
It was his leadership.
“I just did it,” Odom said when asked how he could possibly become the hub of the reserves’ circle on just his second day in their office. “That’s who I am.”
Odom went on to engage the courtside fans repeatedly in smiling conversation and play a lovely, up-tempo game in tandem with Jordan Farmar, the Lakers’ Jack Russell point guard.
This was proof how right Jackson is when he says Odom plays better with a lighter heart.
“He was having a lot of fun last night,” Jackson said before the game against Toronto on Sunday night. “We’ll see what tonight brings.”
It was much the same, though instead of Odom dancing in the dark of the reserves’ huddle, he switched it up. He hopped and smiled.
“I guess everybody leads in their own ways, you know?” Odom said. “I’m just myself, every day. You get the same Lamar. If not, people are like, ‘What’s wrong with you, man?’
“I love that role. It’s important for everyone to be loose and have fun. Things can become so serious. But at the end of the day, what are we here to watch? What do they call it? A game.”
The Lakers’ second unit, with Farmar and Odom doing most of the creating, was again a tornado in beating Toronto. This was everything that Jackson envisioned in shifting Odom to the speed-seeking second team: If Kobe Bryant and the big boys, Andrew Bynum and Pau Gasol, don’t knock you out early, brace yourself for something else you might not see coming or going.
“We’ve got the big lineup,” Farmar said, “and then a fast lineup coming off the bench.”
The Lakers’ performance left Toronto coach Sam Mitc saying this: “The good thing is that we play them only twice a year. The Lakers are obviously the best basketball team – with or without Bynum.”
Although Jackson remains noncommittal publicly, this is how it’s going to be. The only question is whether Jackson sticks with sharp-shooting Vladimir Radmanovic as the starting small forward or goes back to his initial brainstorm of starting defensive ace Trevor Ariza.
“With the big (starting) lineup, these other teams are going to want to pack it in and drop back, and for Vladi, that seems like a perfect fit for him,” Jackson said. “He can extend the defense, and we’ll have some space out there to get the ball inside to these big guys who are going to be the impact of our game.”
Odom’s impact this season? It might not be what everyone – Odom included – dreams of when you consider his epic talent. But there can still be something magical about a guy who everyone knows lost his mother, grandmother and infant son still serving as a lifeline for others.
Last season, Odom played dynamically after Bynum’s injury but ended up letting the pressure of the NBA Finals and the tendinitis in his knees conspire to quiet him. Odom’s challenge this season is to be true to himself – and thus key to his team – all the way to the end, no matter that this could be Odom’s last season in what he calls “the best place to play in the world: L.A.”
Good to hear. Once again, Duncan228 with a great article.
All elite teams have an ace off the bench....the lakers with Odom off the bench is as good as they can get. Also, after all of these years I believe Odom plays better without Kobe.
Farmar
Machine
Ariza
Odom
Mihm
That's a great second unit and you throw in Josh Powell and it's even faster.
Blazers 2nd Unit > Lakers 2nd Unit
Yup, sure they are. I have no idea who's even on their second unit let alone first unit.
Good at ude.
I approve
You will soon.
No Seriously, who's on their second unit. I don't usually follow bubble teams, so I'm intrigued to know who the 8th or 9th seed will be this year.You will soon.
And this is why Odom's my favorite player, he's not selfish and a great locker room guy.
Last year, I think he spent $80,000 on team dinners during camp
This year, he throws a party for the guys at the mirage.
He just finds a way to fit in no matter the situation.
And if you watched Odom the last couple of games, he really was killin' on the 2nd unit with Farmar & Ariza.
8th or 9th seed? Lakers.
I know you hate them, but c'mon........
He's done whatever that lakers have asked of him. Lamar's a trooper!
Lakers could use some of this on their second unit...
C-Bynum
PF-Gasol
SF-Radmonovic
SG-Bryant
PG-Fisher
Good lineup....i still think the pistons have the best though.
That's a sweet dunk, no doubt.
Portland will be getting some soon enough
Rudy is UNBEAVABLE!
http://www.nba.com/video/games/kings...layer=whatsnew
This highlights package in NBA.COM has a better vid of Rudy's dunk. Dude has mad hops!
Lakers 2nd unit > Blazers 1st Unit
Blazers 1st Unit > Lakers 1st Unit
Odom will probably find out that being on another team is a fun place to be.
I'm still waiting for you to post who's on your first unit...because if a dude of Steve Blake's caliber is on it.......
i get a feeling Odom will be on the market this year......
Doesn't Derek Fisher start for you guys???
good for odom.. even better for the lakers...
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