Fan contradiction about Odom and LAL

[novano2004]

when LAL loses with Odom on, we say its Odom's fault, when he is out we say LAL can't win without him.

I really feel bad about some of the fans just don’t know what they want and keep changing their minds so many times about a player. Odom or no Odom that is the question.
With Odom on the team LAL has 50/50 chance to win, without Odom LAL has 20/80 chance to win, that’s the stats you can check for your self. i don’t see any difference. Odom can take some pressure off Kobe at some times, but also it put more pressure on other players and they are not responding. Losing Mihm to me is big; Kwame is still living dreamland in his mind. but lets just give this team a chance to figure things out in the next few weeks before the all-star. A trade will not help unless its a trade that has an expiring contract for next season otherwise no trade can help because not everyone can play triangle and learn it in few months.

One big problem is, most of the players on the roster don’t know or don’t understand their role yet. And its not enough to just know their role they have to know how to achieve it which it has not been done yet, including Kobe (nothing against him, but it has to do with everyone). When the team loses the leader will have also part of the responsibility even if he is putting numbers and doing what he has to do, that’s why they call him a leader.
All what I hope for is that this team can still make the payoff just an experience continuation for the new guys so they can see it all and then move on. The playoffs means a lot for the young players it gives you more confidence and a difference prospective about the game and matchups.

[B-Scott]

i think ppl underestimate Lamar's rebounding ability. The guy gets key rebounds at the right times. Allows kobe to play without the ball in his hands.

Without Lamar,even if we play solid defense on a possession,we will give up that frustrating rebound. AND 1. 3 point play

That happened last yr,thats why we finished 2-18

[LA_Lakers_Rule]

Great post novano2004...

And I certainly do agree with you B-Scott. Last year's finish without Odom is telling... Not to mention the recent one sided losses without Odom.

Odom and Mihm are critical players on this roster and will impact our W/L percentage certainly in a negative way until we get them both back.

We have lost a ton of rebounding, which asks a lot of the players to make up for. Also teams will tend to key even more on Kobe until we get healthy.

So many people complain that we don't have a bonfide "2nd option" in Odom. But the fact remains that Odom does a number of (unselfish) things on the court which helps the other players do better.

And if anyone doesn't think losing Mihm isn't a big time loss, just look at his recent stats (last 4 games only):

mpg: 30 ppg: 14 rpg: 8 fg%: 52 ft%: 80

Some have actually suggested Mihm is our "2nd best" player, maybe a bit overstated, but it shows how much Mihm has improved in the past few weeks.
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Rule = win titles

Good judgment comes from experience and a lot of that comes from bad judgment. - Will Rogers ...

[KobeButler]

I agree. When something goes wrong, they have to point fingers at someone. Last year it was Chucky. This year its Odom.
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Pain is temporary, at the end of pain is success...

[LakersRGolden]

Odom is what he is. A newbie Facilitator that rebounds and is only average at defense. If we had more scorers around Odom, his value would skyrocket.

What good is a gun if there's no bullets? But do you sell your only gun to buy bullets?

I want to keep Odom, and get at least one more scorer - even if it takes till '07. But, if he went for a first tier scorer (Pierce) or quality Big, I wouldn't mind because there are a few other facilitators we could shoot for.

[LA_Lakers_Rule]

^ Excellent post, totally agree.

I like your analogy:

[drzucchini]

Who is "we" again? The party that says Odom is at fault is not the same group that says that the team can't win without him. :roll:

[Sage_10]

[Mamba]

Ive brought this point up before but i think it needs to be addressed once more. Lamar Odom should be a post up player. In Miami he did so and got 19 a night. If the term "point forward" is what Lamar Odom really is, then why does he never post up anymore. Basically its either post up Kobe or post up Chris Mihm. Lamar Odom is a unique player but his body is too big to be out on the perimeter all of the time. He is constantly getting offensive fouls called on him when he drives to the basket and he is not a consistent shooter to say the least. He belongs on the block because thats where his talent lies. Its up to Phil to realize that. If anybody knows how to get the best talent from a good player its Phil.

[Aeneas Hunter]

1. Thanks for starting yet another Lamar Odom post. We really needed another one.

2. The belief that Odom is a flawed player is not inconsistent with the belief that we're worse without him. That's because we don't have a quality backup at the position. Just because Odom is better than George, Cook, and Walton does not mean that Odom is a star quality player. Mihm is a mediocre center, but we're worse without him, too.

[6]

We can't win with him and we can't win without him.

What I mean when I say that is that we aren't going to be a contender with ONLY Odom playing alongside with Kobe, we need another player, a 2nd scorer. At the same time, we can't trade Odom away, he makes life a LOT easier for Kobe Bryant.

[TEEGUNN]

Considering that we have Gump and Luke backing up Lamar, Lamar is gonna look pretty good when he is out. And the same can be said for Mihm and his backups. Reality is that Lamar and Mihm are our 2nd and 3rd best players. That ain't gonna get it done. But when they are hurt we really get to see how sad our "bench" is. Nice job, Mitch. You put together a real stinker of a roster here.
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"Why do you think bad things happen, anyway???" "So we have something good to look forward to."

Jake Speed, 1986

[vanexelent]

[The Dagger]

This is the exact reason why we can never trade Odom, as long as we can get that elusive second scorer without giving him up. Odom is a third option who fills in the holes for everything else. Every championship calibur team needs a player like him. Like him or not, he does everything consistent except score and those things are as important to winning as scoring.
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The great Laker Center Tradition continues.....Mikan, Wilt, Kareem, Shaq, Gasol, AD....Gasol.

[LA_Lakers_Rule]

^ Another exellent post...

We need a 2nd option to score, but otherwise Odom can be invaluable to a team in regards to so many other things he does.

Of course the big question remains is there enough $ to go around and keep Odom.
_________________
Rule = win titles

Good judgment comes from experience and a lot of that comes from bad judgment. - Will Rogers ...

[LA_Lakers_Rule]

vanexelent wrote:

[Mr. EiGhTy-OnE]

[The Dagger]

[GameCock-MD]

[qreus-76]

[Fan0Bynum17]

it's not odom's fault, it's the fault of the team that just isn't that good outside kobe. odom just isn't what the lakers need and it would be extremely hard for them to add someone that will make a difference without getting rid of odom in the process. i don't think anyone is denying that lamar is a good player, so obviously the lakers are going to be weaker without him, but that doesn't mean he's the difference between the lakers being a contender and last place, he's not THAT good. i'd just prefer the lakers to replace him with someone better, because they can't do it with just kobe and odom, but they could with say bosh and kobe.

[postandpivot]

[Ziggy]

I don't think many fans are flip flopping. One side just becomes more vocal, that's all. Most people realize Odom is overpaid and has a LONG way to go if he's ever going to fulfill his potential. This team is just ridiculously thin, which only exacerbates the loss of a role player such as Odom.

[pawn]

[40ptmachine]