Odom May Thrive With Pau (and Bynum, when he comes back)

[EHL]

ugh, again, I hope so, but I doubt it. LUXURY TAX, a lot of it. Unless Odom is willing to take a major paycut, I think we have a 2-year lease on Odom.

How will he fit? Well, if he keeps hitting outside shots like he did tonight, he's going to do really well. If he doesn't, like he hasn't for most of the year, he's not going to fit too well.

Agreed all around.

[critical_beatdown]

I don't think anyone really knows how long Lamar will stick around, or if he would sign another contract for us, and for what amount, not even the front office, or Lamar, but I do think it's safe to say he's going to thrive in this new setup, because historically teams have doubled Kobe and shaded Lamar to his right and with help defenders if he drives/posts (we saw less of that this season since he was struggling though), and with the arrival of Gasol those days are over, and teams will largely have to play Lamar straight up or he will punish them with deft passes to Pau, who will catch and finish, or to open jump shooters.

We even saw some of that in the week or two before Drew got injured, when Lamar was getting comfortable playing off Drew, and gaining confidence in him. With both Pau and Drew in there, Lamar will be a force along the lines of his role on the US Olympic Team (though obviously he was a C then I think, but still an overall enabler and swiss army knife).

[Slava]

He did fine today. Crashed the boards like it were the NBA finals and played perfect unselfish basketball alongside some really good offensive threats. Also took a lot of pressure off Pau for a good amount of time. I'd hang onto this guy unless there's a particularly good deal available.

[B-Scott]

4th man, 5th man

If he's giving me 14 points 15 boards and 5 assist, i dont care if he's the 6th man when it comes to scoring. Especially on a team stacked with offensive talent. Those are some great all around numbers

[B-Scott]

-= original quote snipped =-



Kukoc could shoot.

True,but he couldn't rebound as proven when he was the Bulls starting PF in the 1994/1995 playoffs and Horace Grant of Orlando dominated him on the boards. This is why the Bulls went out and got Rodman.

There games are similair when it comes to versatility. Both are stronger then the other in certain areas.

shooting - kukoc

ball handling - Lamar, even though Kukoc was a decent ball handler

Rebounding - Lamar

Post up ability - Lamar


The only edge i see Kukoc having over Lamar is shooting

[EHL]

^ ROFL. And the only thing Jordan did better than Pippen was score.

[EHL]

dp

[ock]

numbers, schmumbers.

the most important thing was how he fit in with the team. usually, he's the odd rover out at the 3 point line who used to gun away at the 3, recently chicken to shoot outside j's at all.

last night, he hit a few jumpers, but most importantly was driving, dishing. actually, the best thing about his game was the way he was attacking the boards. both gasol and odom were really going at them. warmed my heart.

the misfit may actually fit.

[BringYoAGame]

I'm wiling to let this Odom thing ride out this year to see how well he can mesh. Odom is like the New York Giants, he only excels when people expect nothing of him.

Let's be clear: the Lakers do not need any more offense. They're saturated as it is. They're fortunate that Gasol also looks to pass, but it maybe a blessing to have a player that doesn't look to score like Odom in that (eventually) 3 slot. I liked what I saw of him in this new role, and hopefully he keeps it up against western competition down the road.

[B-Scott]

^ ROFL. And the only thing Jordan did better than Pippen was score.

16 points and 10 rebounds - 2006/2007 regular season

19 and 13 in the playoffs

Please name a season Kukoc did this.

Your overating Kukoc because of your hate for Lamar

Kukoc was a 6th man off the bench who gave you 12 to 14 points and 4 rebounds.

http://basketballreference.com/teams/te ... =n&yr=1996


Lakers would sure be better with a PF averaging 4 rebounds.

[EHL]

^ They'd be better with a player that actually impacted the game beyond his stats. Kukoc did that, Odom does not. I'm not advocating Kukoc play PF either, not sure what you're smoking there. I was just pointing out how horrid your argument was.