Odom is taking the foul trouble personally
LOS ANGELES - At the request of an overcaffeinated talk radio host, Lamar Odom provided play-by-play for the NBA championship-winning shot he imagined hitting as a kid in New York. It was always a 3-pointer with his team trailing by 2 late in the fourth quarter.
"Odom gets the ball on the wing," said the Lakers power forward, summoning his best radio voice. "He's triple-teamed. He's covered. Clock counts down . . . five, four, three, two, one . . . he spins around for a fadeaway jumper. Nothing but the bottom of the net. Everybody goes crazy."
By the time he finished narrating his fantasy Finals moment, Odom looked slightly embarrassed. He probably realized the absurdity and awkwardness of the play-by-play, especially in light of his subpar performances during the NBA Finals.
If Odom were averaging more than 9.3 points per game and shooting better than 41.9 percent against the Celtics, the prospect of him launching a game-winner from 3-point range wouldn't seem so strange. But after three games, Odom has gone from being the Lakers' X-factor to a nonfactor, spending long stretches on the bench with foul trouble.
Judging from the crowd of reporters that surrounded him yesterday after practice at Staples Center, however, Odom is far from forgotten. A big game from him could mean a big Game 4 for the Lakers tonight. Odom plans to contribute any way he can, just as he tried to do in Game 3 when plagued by poor shooting and foul trouble.
"When you're having a bad game and you're on the court and you're not shooting the ball well, you can still make plays that get you into rhythm," he said. "Finding assists. Getting to the free throw line. Of course, when you're used to playing but you're on the bench, it takes some time.
"I was able to persevere and still make some plays that we needed down the stretch in the fourth quarter. The most important thing is that we won. We're not talking about a game that we lost and boo-hoo, don't you feel bad. The way Lamar Odom looks at it is that 'Wow, we won a game and I only had 4 points and didn't play.' "
Odom is not the only one who looks at his offense and defensive struggles that way. Sure, Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett struggled in Game 3, but so did Pau Gasol and Odom. The former University of Rhode Island star finished with 4 points (2 for 9), 9 rebounds, 4 assists, and 5 fouls.
Watched through purple-and-gold-tinted glasses, Game 3 provided the Lakers with just as much reason for optimism as it did the Celtics. And the fact that Odom spent only 28 minutes on the floor compared with his playoff average of 37 minutes was a big reason.
When asked about the Lakers needing more from Gasol and Odom, Kobe Bryant said, "They'll be fine. They'll be fine . . . It's a matter of them figuring out where those spots are going to be [for making shots] and attacking them. They're both very smart, intelligent basketball players and they'll be fine. Lamar was playing OK, he just couldn't seem to stay on the floor."
Foul trouble kept Odom from getting comfortable in Game 3. As soon as he seemed on the right track, there were more whistles. Barely two minutes after Odom found Sasha Vujacic for a 3-pointer that pushed the Lakers ahead, 63-62, at the start of the final quarter, the power forward picked up his fourth personal on a charge. Once again, Odom headed to the bench when his team needed him. He returned with 6:27 remaining and came up with a big steal and another big assist on a Vujacic 3-pointer.
"You just keep playing basketball," said Odom. "And slowly but surely, once you give enough hustle, then things will start to go your way . . . You can't expect for every game to be a 20-point game in the Finals. You just persevere and find a way to help the team. I'll go watch the tape over and over again and see what I can do throughout the game, when the ball's not going down for me, what can I do to help this team win a basketball game."
Odom knows he can start with the obvious - staying out of foul trouble and "playing with a higher IQ." After practice yesterday, he was already thinking about how he could defend better while dismissing the notion he committed careless fouls.
"If I charge, I would call that careless," he said. "But I'm just trying to protect the rim as much as possible. If there's penetration, [that means] stepping up, try to wall up. But I'm getting called for the fouls. Maybe I need to be more aggressive and make a play on the ball, rather than just wall up."
Odom was confident that fewer fouls and more time on the floor would translate into a better Game 4 performance. That more playing time would mean his layups and open jumpers would fall with regularity. In fact, Odom sounded surprisingly confident, considering he is averaging 7.7 rebounds, 2.3 assists, and 5 personals per game in the Finals.
"Not one man in the world can guard me one-on-one," said Odom. "[The Celtics] do a great job as a team. Every great hitter goes through his slumps in baseball. It's the same thing. I just keep playing. I'm still getting the shots that I want. I'm not finishing. It's just about converting and making the right decisions and staying out there."
Tonight, Odom plans to do much more than just show up and watch the action. If he is more of a spectator, that could bode well for the Celtics.
