A struggling Odom, hobbled Bynum spell doom for Lakers
June 12th, 2010 Posted in NBA basketball newsIf its not the ridiculously obnoxious chants aimed at him from Boston Celtics fans, its Glen Davis beating him to a pulp or criticism for his occasional lack of aggression being tattooed across his forehead. Or a bunch of other things. In other words, its been a rough NBA Finals for Lamar Odom.
Odom is a prideful and professional man. Whats happening to Odom, his disappearing game coming smack dab in the middle of the NBA Finals, must be eating him alive inside.
Odom is a crucial cog in the Lakers empire. If he continues to struggle, and center Andrew Bynums body remains a thin sheet of porcelain, the Lakers are done. Thats it. That is all. They wont win.
Lakers coach Phil Jackson is in a difficult spot. Bynums injury means Odom must have more of an inside physical presence but for now, Odom isnt up to the task. He looks tentative, almost nervous. Odom clearly is uncomfortable with being almost solely responsible for toughening up the Lakers gut with Bynum in a state of flux.
“I know whats expected,” Odom explained, “but as a team, we have to really adapt and figure things out. Weve got to get our shots where we need to get them and shrink the court a little bit more. We have to shrink the court and make teams beat us from the outside. We have to defensive rebound as a unit.
“Its not about me. When we win a game, its not because I played great, and when we lose a game its not because I played badly. Today the Lakers got beat, and its important for us to fix that. Its important for us to fix what we have to do as a team.”
Odom responded to the loss of Bynum with 10 points and seven rebounds in 39 minutes of play. At halftime, he had four points and six rebounds. Odom was pedestrian at a time when the Lakers needed him to be great.
Odom cant say much with sparkplug Nate Robinson in his face. (Getty Images) Some of whats happening with Odom is coaching. In many ways, Bostons Doc Rivers is putting on a clinic while Jackson is still searching for ways to make up for Bynums injury. Rivers has gotten the most from his admittedly deeper Celtics team while Jackson hasnt.
“Ill tell you what hes done well, hes done well with matchups,” Jackson said of Rivers. “Hes done well in attacking some of our weaker guys out there on the floor in situations thats given them an advantage. I thought hes used his bench exceptionally well.”
When Jackson was asked if there was any way to get Odom jumpstarted, Jackson quipped, “I was thinking of an electrode, you know. Something that would really be a stimulus. What do you suggest?”
Jumper cables?
“Lamar struggled two years ago in this series in this matchup,” Jackson said, “and he has to break through kind of that mental gap that he had from that experience to move forward.”
Odom did struggle two years ago against the Celtics so isnt it Jacksons job to make him not struggle?
“Weve got to get the ball moving as a team,” Odom said. “Weve got to get the ball moving. I cant just iso my man, take him off the dribble and shoot 25 shots. Thats not how we got here. Thats not how we play. We all have to figure out what Andrew gives us and what were gonna miss and how we can make up for it.”
The Lakers need a vibrant Odom and they need him fast or the Celtics are going to beat the Lakers in the Finals. Again.
