| Odom Goes With Flow, And So Do Lakers Authored by Graham Flashner - February 25, 2008 - 3:06 pm
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A Melo Behind The SuperstarsCarmelo Anthony has never been one of the league's most efficient offensive players.
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Since picking Memphis’ pocket for Pau Gasol, however – a steal so flagrant that conspiracy theorists could see David Stern smiling all the way to the bank – the Lakers have been unstoppable. Now 10-1 since the seven-foot Spaniard joined the lineup, the Lakers season can be divided into three neat chapters: the 25-11 record they compiled with Andrew Bynum in the lineup; the 4-5 record they slid to when Bynum went down, and the seamless transition to what will now simply be referred to as, the AG era: After Gasol.
And no one has been more liberated by Gasol’s arrival than Lamar Odom, who has racked up a double-double in eight of his last ten games, shooting better than 60%, and is at last becoming the aggressive force that Phil Jackson has been clamoring for.
“The flow has opened up for me,” said Odom before Saturday night’s game against the Clippers. “I can play a great floor game when the game opens up.” If everyone else seemed surprised by Odom’s resurgence, Odom himself did not. “It’s all about understanding your role out there,” he said. “I've found a way to fit in, make some plays and grab some offensive rebounds.”
What’s really happened is that, with the pressure finally off, Odom has found his game, and with it, his confidence. More of an under-the-radar guy than the take-charge No. 2 scoring option that fans and coaches envisioned, Odom is thriving as the No. 3, even No. 4 option, and is having the time of his life. With Gasol and Bryant running the high pick-and-rolls as if they’ve been doing it for years, and Derek Fisher and Sasha Vujacic spreading defenses, Odom is getting the ball in advantageous positions, posting up in the lane, and forcing opponents to pick their poison.
Without the pressure to score, Odom is scoring, and sensing that his time has arrived.
“For me, this is about carpe diem,” Odom said. “Seize the moment.”
The Lakers appear to be doing the same. A pressure defense, combined with an unselfish offense, has made this team almost unrecognizable from early in the season, when Bryant was still expected to carry the load. In their 113-95 win over the undermanned Clippers, no Laker took more than 12 shots; seven scored in double figures, and Bryant, perhaps looking to coast after a thrilling Wednesday victory at Phoenix, scored a quiet 17 after slightly pulling a rib in the first quarter.
“We have to give Kobe a rest sometimes from shooting 27, 28 times," said Odom afterwards. “We have 10, 11 guys who can go ahead and make shots."
At 39-17, riding an eight-game win streak after a Sunday win in Seattle, the Lakers are playing their best basketball since the Kobe-Shaq era, and this team may be more athletic and have even more weapons, especially when Bynum returns to the lineup, now projected to be around early April.
More importantly, they’ve come full circle since the summer of Kobe Bryant’s disenchantment. I asked Bryant if he could have ever envisioned the Lakers being where they were at this point in time, and he shook his head. “I think they had me buying [Michael Jordan’s] house in Chicago,” Bryant said, only half-jokingly.
Turning serious, Bryant said, “It worked out for the best. I didn’t want to leave here. Circumstances being what they were, it was very difficult to see myself still being here, but I’m very thankful that it did work out. Everything happens for a reason.”
Lamar Odom would no doubt be the first to agree. |
