"Lamar Odom sucks!" and other myths about the Lakers

dewit8 · Sixth Man Joined: 11 Jan 2006 Posts: 28

After reading about people just ripping apart everyone on this team (except Kobe), I decided to help bring other Laker fans back to reality by dispelling the myths surrounding this team.

Lamar Odom sucks, is overrated, etc.-- That is far from the truth. Odom just does not fit the triangle. His jumper is not consistent enough, and he makes too many mistakes. But that doesn't mean he sucks. Put him on Dallas and he'd put up a triple-double almost every night.

Kobe is the only good player on this team-- If that were the case, why do so many teams want George, Cook, Bynum, etc. These players could all be good pros, but Kobe refuses to trust them. They lose their confidence and get frsutrated. And they all hate his guts. Phil doesn't help by yanking someone as soon as they screw up. That's why most of them hate him too.

Our bigs couldn't guard Kevin McHale... at age 50-- While it's true they're not Bill Russell, the real defensive problem lies on the perimeter. We were torched by Gary Payton, Juan Dixon and Steve Blake, and Eddie House. Smuch plays matador defense, Kobe overextends, and the bech is slow. Our bigs pick up fouls trying to help out or take a charge.

We'd be better off starting Bynum-- No way! Mihm is a quality center who actually seams to be starting to fit in with the triangle. Starting Bynum would only hurt his confidence with Phil yelling at him all the time. Plus, he's not that good. Yet.

If Phill didn't have a job in the NBA, Walton wouldn't either-- Wrong. Yes, I don't think Luke is good. But after seeing who Charlotte trotted out last night, I know one team he could play for.

Kobe is the MVP of the league-- Please! He might be the best player in the league. But he is a terrible team leader and does not make any of his teammates better. Yes, we win because of him, but you can say that about a lot of stars.

We got took in the Kwame Brown trade-- On paper, yes. But he's still young and brings a wide body. And he fits the triangle a little better than Butler. Butler is better, but probably not for our offense.

Cook is the biggest 2-guard in the league-- Yes, he shoots a lot of jumpers and has some rebounding trouble. But he just does what Phil wants. Cook started two games as a rookie and got double figures in boards both games. And last year he hit 25 and 12 against the Bucks. He just does what he's asked to do. And whether you like it or not, we were better off when he started and Brown came off the bench.

We should have traded for Artest-- Yes, he's a great defender. But offensively, he's a shorter, less-rebounding Odom. And his ego may be bigger than Kobe's.

This year's team is better than last year's-- Record-wise, yes. But it ends there. I enjoyed watching last year's frantic pace and 3-point shooting. It felt like we could win every game, and I didn't feel like Kobe tried to do everything. This year's team beats NY by 40, then loses back to back games to teams that lost 6 and 13 games in a row.

dadamookie

Kobe2Clark · Star Player Joined: 15 Feb 2004 Posts: 6047

qreus-76 · Starting Rotation Joined: 21 Oct 2004 Posts: 384

The biggest myth is that someone could actually MAKE someone else better.

ThePageDude · Star Player Joined: 25 Jul 2002 Posts: 2593

Very interesting strategy, dispel myths by creating new myths ...

kobe_somebody_odom · Star Player Joined: 02 Feb 2006 Posts: 1661

Artest has a horrible mid-range game. Stats don't lie. He has more impact but his Offense is terrible. People on LG overrate Artests skill set on the Offensive end.

Sage_10 · Star Player Joined: 24 Dec 2005 Posts: 6668

I agree with most of what you said but like qreis -76 said the myth is that someone will make someone else better. These guys had ample opportunities to score on wide open shots..they couldn't do it. The fact that Kobe hasn't really ripped them in the media shows how good of a leader he is. I also haven't heard about him complaining to the front office about how he needs better talent around him ala Snaq.

NoMoreGame7s

Scoffs · Starting Rotation Joined: 12 Aug 2001 Posts: 875

I see our biggest problem as defense. Artest is much better on defense than Lamar. Smush and Sasha are lousy defenders. We are still getting killed by the likes of Bibby and T-Hud. Luke can not guard anyone with any footspeed as evidenced by the Kenny Thomas matchup. Cook is not a bad defender, but hardly a defensive presence. Mihm and Kobe are our best defenders and that's not enough to go far into the playoffs. Get some more athleticism and desire on this team please.

GameCock-MD · Star Player Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 4498

GameCock-MD · Star Player Joined: 14 Dec 2004 Posts: 4498

Fan0Bynum17 · Franchise Player Joined: 30 Nov 2005 Posts: 15436

of course he doesnt suck, but he's just not good enough and he hast to be traded for the better of the team.

jim155 · Starting Rotation Joined: 24 Dec 2004 Posts: 382

cr8zy0 · Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 11:58 am Post subject:

the thing is, yes kobe is surrounded w/ crap, we all know that. to a degree though he has to learn to hit players where they can score. and don't say there is no way they can score. he needs to get on them about cutting when he is doubled. only pass to players like cook, smush, sasha on the perimter. get other players to cut. kobe has to help build confidence in his teamates as hard as that might be, because until he does, we will suck. sure his teamates are below average, however he has to help them find a rhythm because kobe can't lead us to the playoffs by himself and kupchack is a dumbass. kobe has to realize that he needs his (bleep) teamates to start producing and do more then just hit them for shots. he has to tell them to do things to get easier shots and not trail at the 3pt line if they can't make that shot. he has to get on odom about playing w/ passion and feeling the game out to know when to attack and how to pace urself. he can't just hope they figure it out themselves.
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SMUSH FOR MVP

Waterboy · Starting Rotation Joined: 17 Oct 2005 Posts: 166

Here are some myths:

Lamar Odom is worth every penny on his paycheck.
Lamar Odom is consistent.
Lamar Odom has the best basketball IQ on the Lakers.
Lamar Odom still hasn't reached his full potential.
Lamar Odom has a right hand.
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Phil recalling his conversation with Kobe - "I said tongue-in-cheek that when we have a mismatch we want to take advantage of it," Jackson said. "He said, `I have a mismatch every game."'

tgf5

dadamookie · Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 4:17 pm Post subject:

bounty · Star Player Joined: 15 Aug 2005 Posts: 3946

lakerzpimp08 · Posted: Sat Feb 04, 2006 6:14 pm Post subject:

the fact is tha lamar does suck. 12 million a year for what? nothing? for games of 4 out of 12 shooting? the sad part is that we probably cant even trade him. he has no real value. no one is gonna take him with his huge contract. were basiclly just stuck with him unless he fails a drug test which i pray he does just to clear cap space so we can sign a REAL player
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