Odom as your 6th man?

[numbas]

u gotta start odom at first when every1 is back to see wut they can do if not then LO needs to be traded in offseason of become 6th man and i like sasha as a nice little piece off the bench but i really dont want him averaging almost 20 min every game

[Sedale Threatt]

When we got Gasol, I looked at it as a golden opportunity to swap him for Battier, whom I still think would be the perfect complement to the current roster. At this point, I'd say that Buss' wallet is officially opened. He can smell the blood and will do what it takes to get that last piece.

But, having watched two games where Lamar seemingly is playing without that pressure, simply roaming around in his low profile way, quietly grabbing 10+ boards, putting up 15 points and dishing out assists, I'm not so sure anymore. I still want to watch a few more games before I have my opinion clear to myself. Either way, this is a nice problem to have...

Rebounding and defense wins rings. If we stay put, Bynum, Gasol and Lamar will be an extremely tough front-court to out-rebound.

If he can give us what he's giving us now from the 3 spot, and he's not a major liability in terms of shooting and/or defense, I would be really tempted to let that ride. Lamar's biggest strength is that he can contribute without scoring; players like that aren't easy to find.

That's why I'm advocating that we keep him for the remainder of the season -- considering out lack of frontcourt depth, it's virtually guaranteed that Lamar stays put anyway -- to see how all the pieces fit together.

If it isn't working, we can make a definitive decision next season.

[milesfides]

1.5 year lease on Odom unless he takes a major paycut.

Regarding his play, with all that pressure off him, Odom is playing much better, or at least he's not hurting us as he was earlier.

However, watching Odom right now is not indicative of what his role will be when our team is fully healthy.

Because when Bynum comes back, the three major pieces of the offense is going to be Kobe, Pau, and Bynum. The question is, is there enough room in our offense to utilize Odom's talents?

Some projections can be made. Will Odom maintain his rebounding numbers? Will Odom be an afterthought on offense? Will he be a great defender?

Because when Bynum comes back, I see Odom as a 12 point, 7 rebound, 3 assist player. Good defender in some cases, so-so in others. Inconsistent jumpshot.

Considering his contract, that's grossly overpaying for a player whose production or fit with the team will most likely be lacking.

Battier is a perfect fit. Great outside shooter, great defense, smart halfcourt player.

The problem is, he fits perfectly in Houston too, so I'm not sure why they'd do that.

If the Rockets trade Battier for Odom, they'd be a worse version of the Lakers prior the Gasol trade.

[Gerald3Wallace]

odoms been the most consistant since the trade..i think?

[Dexmor]

Why do some people want to have inferior talent play over superior talent? Why would you start Walton or Ariza or one of the guards over Odom if Odom is better?
People try and make basketball harder then it is. Unless the players have 0 chemistry and mess each other up on the floor you want the best players on the court. That is Odom at the 3 or for now the 4. Why would you want to give yourself 3 stars in the starting lineup when you can have 4?

[LLcoleJ]

Why do some people want to have inferior talent play over superior talent? Why would you start Walton or Ariza or one of the guards over Odom if Odom is better?
People try and make basketball harder then it is. Unless the players have 0 chemistry and mess each other up on the floor you want the best players on the court. That is Odom at the 3 or for now the 4. Why would you want to give yourself 3 stars in the starting lineup when you can have 4?

The majority of the people believe that Odom will start... and the person who will start Odom will be your buddy Phil Jackson... so there it is there.

[Fenix]

-= original quote snipped =-



u must have never watched a laker game in your life, be a Suns or Spurs fan, or just real dumb. Which one is it?

That's a very profound observation.

My basic point was that Odom should be playing 6th man when Bryant, Bynum AND Gasol are in the starting lineup. Of course you should try them first start all of them, but you wouldn't get max output out of them. You wouldn't sacrifice rebounding if you had Odom coming off the bench. Bynum and Gasol are very good rebounders and would replace most of Odom's impact on the boards and scoring, while Odom would make your second unit much strong in those areas. I'm not making a case that Odom sucks or that Ariza and Walton are better than him, it's just that he's going to be just a role player on this team and his skills would be much better utilized if he had a bigger role on offense, which is only possible with him coming off the bench. Ginobili is one of the best players in the League and he's still a 6th, simply because they already have enough weapons in the starting lineup. That makes their team much better balanced.