Lakers' Odom unhappy with sixth-man status

[[Double LC]]

NEWS...

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/rumors/post ... nba,111454

LA LAKERS next move Looking for trade .....

[j.23]

shut up odom.

[NovU]

it's about time...

[bowdown]

he is an idiot. has a great chance to contribute to a championship contender but his ego is too far up his ass

[Fitzy]

whose gonna play SF for the Lakers? couldnt he play that position

[Patr1ck]

Hopefully this is one of those things that coaches do to wake up players who don't appear to be playing up to their full potential. With Lamar Odom, you never know what you are going to get on the court.

[axare]

whose gonna play SF for the Lakers? couldnt he play that position

Apparently Ariza's going to start....

[bee-boy]

odom should start period

[adv1s5]

If he plays as consistently as Phil wants him to play, he should have no problem with minutes.

[Patr1ck]

They should bring Kobe off the bench.

[Impakt]

This could work. They already have enough people who can score in the starting line up Bynum, Gasol and Kobe. If they use Ariza as the starting SF, he can guard the opposing teams best player which gives Kobe more energy om offense.

Then bring in Odom with the second unit.

[Fitzy]

This could work. They already have enough people who can score in the starting line up Bynum, Gasol and Kobe. If they use Ariza as the starting SF, he can guard the opposing teams best player which gives Kobe more energy om offense.

Then bring in Odom with the second unit.

Thats one way to look at it, personally id rather start with a full strength starting 5, including odom

[Lamrock]

Odom off the bench works for various reasons. A) He is inconsistent as fuck and would be a good spark off the bench. B) Be can play every position, and C) Manu did it, and he had the best season of his career.

When you are the best team in the NBA, trading your third best player away (yes, I still count Lamar as better than Bynum) doesn't make sense, and thus, I think Lamar stays.

[Andrew]

It's natural to criticise the player in a situation like this and in all fairness, if he's a team player then a bit more selflessness wouldn't go astray but his reaction also suggests that Phil Jackson hasn't discussed the possibility with him before mentioning it to the media and I'd suggest that isn't entirely appropriate either. I know teams and players do seem to communicate through the media at times but I would think ideally, that's not the way to go.

If Odom is willing to curb his ego and Jackson works out such a role for him then it's probably worth trying. It couldn't hurt the Lakers to bolster their second unit the way the Spurs have done with Ginobili, if it doesn't work out then it's easy enough to go to a different lineup. Trading him just because he spoke out isn't necessary; smooth things over and try the intended plan first.

[BigGameJames]

Phil just using his Jedi mind tricks.

[Doobie]

Trevor Ariza probably wouldn't start, Luke Walton will most likely get the starting nod, and Odom would probably be a hell of a sixth man, but if your a starter your whole career it will take some getting used to.

[Martti.]

I think Radmanovic will get the nod, did so throughout the Playoffs.

But Odom's better in every way. I think he should still start at SF.

[[Q]]

he is an idiot. has a great chance to contribute to a championship contender but his ego is too far up his ass

wtf are you talking about? he has taken nothing but criticism ever since he came to LA. He has been nothing but a team player aka letting Kobe take over and his play has vastly improved with the acquisition of Gasol.

[BiGrEd819]

now only if he could hit a jump shot... at least an open one that is

[Lamrock]

As long as Radmanovic doesn't start (can you say contract year phenomenon?), I support Odom coming off the bench.

[Andrew]

Trevor Ariza probably wouldn't start, Luke Walton will most likely get the starting nod, and Odom would probably be a hell of a sixth man, but if your a starter your whole career it will take some getting used to.

I would've expected Walton to start too if Odom is going to be the sixth man but the suggestion actually was that Ariza would start in his place.

[Sauru]

i think odom coming off the bench makes perfect sense with the team they have, like lamrock said, the man can play any where you need him too

[Sam The Man]

I think playing Odom off the bench would be a good idea.
They could start either Walton or Ariza at SF, with Kobe playing SG. Walton is a good offensive player, and Ariza has already shown he is already a very good defender. Or if they wanted, slide Kobe over to SF and play Vujacic at starting SG, which spreads the floor for them.

Since Mihm wont probably get significant minutes, Odom will get a lot of minutes at PF and spells at SF, coming off the bench. Considering Bynum will get less minutes to start the season, about 28-32, and Gasol getting 34-36, then I would expect when Bynum sits, Odom would go to PF, and Gasol playing Center, which is still a great frontcourt.

The Lakers have a lot of depth, but I would still expect Odom to get Ginobili minutes being 6th man. They could start Odom at times at SF, although this would be a very big lineup, it could still work, and they should give it a shot.

Anyway, Odom only has 1 year left on his deal, so he can just leave after the 08-09 season if he doesn't like it. Im expecting Ariza to be the Lakers future wing player.

[[Q]]

im SHOCKED Andrew hasn't mentioned this, but Odom could be the Toni Kukoc of the Lakers.

[NovU]

yeah, i agree with most of u up there, that odom is better off the bench for the lakers. but...

"He must have woke up and bumped his head. He probably hit his head on something -- boom," Odom said about Jackson. "To start off like that, you've got to be out of your . . . mind."

with that kind of attitude, i dunno...