After a hiatus, Halftime Hype returns...
The playoffs have come around and guess who's been leading the Los Angeles Lakers thus far? If you guessed Kobe Bryant, you're incorrect. The native New Yorkers of the squad, Lamar Odom and Ron Artest, have kept their team afloat. Indeed, Pau Gasol has shot a poor 4-for-19 from the field (21%), while Bryant only scored 11 points on 3-for-10 shooting in Game 2.
Interestingly enough, throughout the course of the season, Odom and Artest probably received more criticism than any of their teammates. In fact, when Odom won the Sixth Man of the Year award on Wednesday, Los Angeles Times columnist Bill Plaschke wrote of how the forward's new reality show would provide a major distraction. Although Plaschke's column was credible, the versatile Odom responded with a commendable 16 points on 8-for-12 shooting.
True, Odom did not have a notable outing in the first game of the series - 10 points, but only one board to show for 30 minutes of playing time. However, unlike the rest of the team, the media, and Lakers fans, he wasn't phased by a Game 1 loss to the lowly Hornets. When everyone flipped out about Gasol's no-show, Odom shrugged it off.
"There isn't a player in the world who plays a sport that hasn't had a bad game," Odom told reporters.
Then there's his buddy from Queens, Artest. The former defensive player of the year has been averaging 15.5 points, 45.5% shooting, a couple three's a game, and 8.5 rebounds during the series. The 11 boards Ron grabbed on Wednesday night was a season-high. Yes, this is the same guy who began the month with point totals of 7, 5,9, and 2. There were multiple dry spells during the season, too. About a month before the All-Star break, TNT analyst Charles Barkley asked, "Does Ron Artest know the season has started already?"
Well, Artest is certainly aware that the playoffs have started.
"Ron was probably the best player we had out there," Coach Phil Jackson said after Game 1. "Kobe had a lot of points, but Ron was, I thought, keyed and ready to go and played well."
In retrospect, if someone predicted Gasol would average 8 points and 5.5 rebounds in the first two games, I would be skeptical of the Lakers' chances. If someone told me that Odom and Artest would be the key players, I would laugh. Sure, Bynum has been big - that was to be expected. Okay, Bryant scored a ton in Game 1. Yet, it is interesting that the players who constantly received flak for their unimpressive stat sheets during the season are the ones being praised during the playoffs.
Throughout the Los Angeles Lakers' tour of Europe, the best player was not Kobe Bryant, who shot a combined 2-19 (10.5%) in two games. Neither was it Pau Gasol, who followed up a seven-point, five-foul, four-turnover effort against the Minnesota Timberwolves by shooting seven-for-21 against Regal FC Barcelona. The best performance came from Lamar Odom, who spent the off-season helping the United States win a gold medal at the FIBA World Championship.
In spite of the team's poor play, it was easy to overlook Odom's rather remarkable statistics. Against the Timberwolves, he scored a game-high 17 points in 27 minutes. He continued to impress with 12 points and 18 rebounds in a hefty 41 minutes against FC Barcelona.
Odom's performances are especially noteworthy because he will be filling in the void left by an injured Andrew Bynum until November or December. Time and again, Odom has proved to be an extremely useful Swiss Army knife; he has always stepped up in Bynum's multiple absences in the past few years.
When Bynum suffered a knee injury in the 2007-08 season, it was Odom who plugged the hole with averages of 15.3 points, 12 rebounds, and 4 assists in the center's absence. The following season, when Bynum got injured (again) in January, Odom would go to average 16.5 points, 13.4 rebounds, 2.4 assists, 1.4 blocks, and 0.9 steals in the month of February.
The one memory that truly stands out from that season was Odom taking over in Cleveland. His 15-point third quarter leapfrogged the Lakers from down 12 to a 10 point victory. The Lakers had managed a road win against LeBron James & Co. on the shoulders of Odom.
There are many games in which fans wish to see the Odom from Quickens Loans Arena in February 2009. However, one must understand that Odom's role has never been clearly defined - just like his position. He's capable of playing virtually all five spots, but on a team with Bryant, Gasol, and Artest, among others, he can't crack the starting five.
Fans continually assert that he's inconsistent, whereas reality dictates just that. On certain nights, he doesn't need to put up more than 10 points. On other nights, he'll have no problem grabbing boards and running coast-to-coast. It's not a matter of turning his game on; it all matters on the circumstances.
For his part, Odom realizes that. He's heard the "inconsistent" label too many times to count. He simply responds by saying he's playing within his role, which changes each night. However, with Bynum out for the next two or three months and Bryant still healing from a knee injury, the Lakers must have the versatile World Championship Odom. In order to stay top dogs, the Lake Show will need the Odom from February '09 .
The United States so-called "B-Team" won the FIBA World Basketball Championship in a 81-64 over Turkey in Istanbul on Sunday. The win gave the U.S. a berth in the 2012 London Olympics. With instant offense from the Oklahoma City Thunder's Kevin Durant, as well as the veteran leadership of the Denver Nuggets' Chauncey Billups and the Los Angeles Lakers' Lamar Odom, the United States won its first World Basketball Championship in 16 years.
Without intimidating height and any star-studded members of the 2008 Olympics Gold Medal team, many were skeptic of the United States' potential, hence the term "B-Team." In fact, only three players on the U.S. team had previously played for the national team.
The young faces, however, proved to be a nice breath of fresh air. The United States went undefeated, with only one game that came down to the wire, a 70-68 victory over Brazil. After that narrow win, Durant would go on to say, "We need this game. The atmosphere was great, Brazil did a great job, they put pressure on us. It's a learning experience for us. It's the game we needed."
From that point on, it was mostly easy sailing for the U.S. The championship game was no different. After trailing 17-14, Team USA gained control of the game. Nevertheless, Turkey is to be commended for going so far as to earn its first FIBA World Championship medal. During the past few weeks, fans rallied around the host country and the team impressed many.
USA Head Coach Mike Kryzewski praised Turkey's run, saying "I want to congratulate the Turkish team for a truly perfect tournament. They epitomized what a team should be and we had to be at our very best to beat them. It was a terrific tournament and [Istanbul was] a truly wonderful city. I’ve never seen a country celebrate a team better than Turkey. It created a great atmosphere for the tournament."
Despite being only 21 years old, Durant was undoubtedly the United States' leader. Durant, who led the NBA in scoring last season, averaged 22.8 points throughout the tournament. Additionally, he set the record for most points in a FIBA World Championship game by an American by scoring 38 points in the United States' 89-74 victory over Lithuania in the semifinal.
Odom, one of the elder statesmen on Team USA, now has extra bragging rights since he has earned a NBA and FIBA championship - in the same year. In a telephone interview with the Los Angeles Times' Broderick Turner, Odom shared his thoughts on such an honor: "The thought of being a world champion twice in one year is cool, you know? I could brag to Kobe [Bryant] and tell him this is something he doesn't got."
After winning the gold medal, the "B-Team" nickname is no longer symbolic of inferiority, but is representative of "best team."
Having five NBA games on Christmas Day was definietly an interesting experiment for the league. At first, it makes some sense. The NBA was trying to reach a wider demographic, so by scheduling more games, 10 teams - not the typical 4 - were involved. Therefore, it's logical to assume more fans would watch the games or come to the arenas to support their team. However, critics had voiced their opinions. Commentator Jeff Van Gundy believed the games weren't as special, sacrificing quality for quantity.
I, for one, wasn't sure what to make of it. Often times, for some reason or another, nationally-televised games are close. That certainly wasn't the case yesterday. The average margin of defeat, seperating the winners from the losers, was 14.4 points. The majority of games were lost by double digits, excluding the Magic's 9-point loss to the Celtics. If they had been closer, there would be reason to believe that the 5-game lineup could be considered a success.
Ironically, the closest game was probably one of the lesser viewed nationally, between Miami and New York. Unless you were a dedicated fan on the West Coast, you probably didn't tune in to watch the Heat play against the Knicks at 9 AM. Understandably, though, this game didn't really concern anybody on the West Coast, and as long as people on the East Coast were watching at noon, all was well. Gallinari continues to prove he's more than a three-point threat, successful on all his seven free-throw attempts and collecting 8 rebounds. As commentator Marv Albert used to say, the "high man" for the Knicks had to be David Lee with 19 points (9-14 shooting) and 16 boards. The Knicks, much like the Magic, however, had a difficult time from the perimeter, successful on only 5 of 28 threes (17.9%). It also didn't help that Al Harrington, who played 32 minutes, went 5-for-20. For the Heat, the storyline was, as usual, dominated by D-Wade (30 points, 9 rebounds, 5 assists) with a touch of Beasley (19 points on 7-for-16 shooting) and Jermaine O'Neal (11 points, 8rebounds).
The Celtics-Magic game was arguably the matchup of the day, considering that the Cavs blew out the Lakers in a sleeper. It was genuinely exciting to watch the two best teams in the Eastern Conference battle it out, as the Celtics pulled off a road win. Credit to Boston, for prevailing in the wake of Paul Pierce's surgery. Rajon Rondo had an amazing performance, finishing with 17 points, 13 rebounds, and 8 assists - the only lowlight was his 8 turnovers (giving him a 1:1 assist/turnover ratio for the game). Despite Vince Carter's 27 points on 10-20 shooting and 4 steals, I had expected the Magic to win handily and exploit Pierce's absence. On the plus side for the Magic, they did convert on 20 out of 24 free-throw attempts (83.3.%), which means they did capitalize in that sense. On the contrary, I'm surprised the phrase "Hack-a-Rondo" hasn't been coined yet, as he really needs to work on his foul shots. What really seemed to kill the Magic was a tendency to settle behind the arc, hitting only 5 of their 26 three-point attempts (19.2%).
The much-hyped matchup with the Cavaliers facing the Lakers in Los Angeles ended badly - especially for the Lakers. With 4:04 remaining, and the Lakers trailing by about 20 points, Odom was ejected after receiving his second technical, Phil Jackson picked up a T after he neglected to insert a sub, and fans hurled foam fingers followed by a water bottle or two. It was just that kind of day for L.A. Kobe had a rare off-night, shooting 11-for-32 (34.4%), despite hitting all 12 of his free throws with a broken finger. Well, he wasn't totally off with 9 rebounds and 8 assists, which compensated for the play of...Derek Fisher, who finished with 0 assists, acted out of line with a technical foul and foul out of frustration against Mo Williams, followed by some jawing with Lebron James. Bynum and Gasol scored a combined total of 15 points, and according to Kobe, were simply "outworked." Artest fouled out with several minutes to go.
On the other hand, if you were a Cavs fan, you probably relished every moment of it, with contribution from Shaq (11 points, 7 rebounds), Lebron (26 points, 9 rebounds, 4assists), and most surprising, Mo Williams (28 points, 7 assists, 6 rebounds). You have to be happy with your reserves, who outscored L.A.'s reserves 31-17. Overall, just a frustrating Christmas for the Lakers and their fans, with the complete opposite holding true for the Cavaliers and their fans.
The Clippers @ Phoenix game wasn't much better, especially for Angelenos, who had to endure yet another embarassing defeat on Christmas Day. Premier center, Marcus Camby, had to leave the game early with an injury and Eric Gordon could not hit a shot, going just 4-for-15. The Clippers' reserves, similar to those of the Lakers, didn't fare much better, only making 12-of-37 (32.4%). The highlights for L.A. were Kaman's 19 points and 10 boards, along with Rasual Butler's 22 points and 7 rebounds, both players increasingly becoming more relevant for the C's. For the Suns, seven players scored at least 12 or more points, showing that their bench deserves its due credit. Statistically for Phoenix, the notable players were Amare (26 points, 9 rebounds), J Rich (18 points, 8 rebounds), and of course, even at 35 years of age, Steve Nash (14 points, 8 assists). Off the bench, Admunson also managed to grab 10 boards. The story of the night, though, belonged to Grant Hill, who banked a three with three quarters of the court seperating him from the basket at the buzzer before halftime. The Clippers, who were almost at .500, now have an uphill battle ahead of them, with a record of (12-17).
Lastly, the Portland Trailblazers rode Brandon Roy's 41 points all the way to a 107-96 victory over the Nuggets. Despite 32 points and 9 rebounds by Carmelo and an impressive 12 points and 14 rebounds by K-Mart, Andre Miller's 14 rebounds and 8 assists, along with other contributions, allowed him to prevail over his former team. It was fair game until the fourth quarter, where Steve Blake drained five 3's in the last four minutes. Though the Nuggets could have used more contributions from their bench, reserve J.R. Smith mustered 20 points, although he it took 23 field-goal attempts to get there. Not to be forgotten are Birdman's 5 blocks, proving yet again that swatting the ball may, indeed, be the only thing he's good for.
At the end of the day, I, as I'm sure many of you all, was tired. Five games was simply too much, even though I didn't watch them all. Three games is acceptable, but anything more is pushing things a little too far. I couldn't watch SportsCenter, as ESPN once again decided it had nothing else to do than glorify Lebron James and nothing else and I didn't find much consolation in the rather odd Saturday Night Live Christmas Bash that I had been looking forward to. Anyway, lesson learned - hopefully.
You win some, you lose some. Finally, the man made up his mind. After weeks of ongoing negotiations, rumors of heading to South Beach, and pure pandemonium Lamar Odom has chosen to resign with the Lakers. The report initially came from Halftime Hype's longtime fav, J.A. Adande, with L.O. reportedly earning $33 mil in the next four years. This move doesn't just equalize the playing field between an Eastern Conference dominated free agency, but almost ensures another ring for the Lake Show.
Even before Odom was resigned, if you think about it, the Lakers still had the pieces necessary for contention: clutch shots and the IQ of D-Fish, the best player in the game, Kobe, one of the best defensive players and total mad-dog, Ron Artest, finesse, post-play, and some mid-range game in Pau, and lots of potential ready to burst at any time from Bynum. However, you and I can only imagine the stress on these starters - after all, the once infamous "Bench Mob" is no longer much of a threat.
Odom's acquisition actually does several unique things. First off, it buys Ron Artest more time to learn the triangle offense and get settled in. I predict that Lamar would be starting during the initial stretch of the season, maybe just a few games, until Ron Ron gets the hang of things. Secondly, once Artest does start, fans and the team alike can be sure that the Lakers' five on the floor won't plummet when a substitution is made. Plus, there's always that possibility that Artest gets thrown out of the game and a replacement is needed right away.
Before one gets too carried away, though, one should examine what Odom turned down. The Trailblazers, a team that has desperately been negotiating with free agents but all to no avail, was ready to pay the champ $40 mil in 5 years - slightly, less than his current contract. The Heat, on the other hand, who seemed anxious to sign Lamar after hearing D-Wade's demands, offered a deal of $34 mil for 5 years - equal to $6.8 mil a season.
So far, there's nothing to my knowledge that could've changed Odom's mind other than a bit more cash. Although, there was news that his teammates, Fisher and Kobe, were trying to reach his cell, but that was happening weeks ago. Maybe L.O. couldn't help but to nostalgically remember his days in the Sunshine State. After all, in his lone season with the Heat, he averaged 17 points and about 10 rebounds. He also was healthy (and talented) enough to start in 80 games, a career-best which he's only matched once. And if he chose to venture off to Portland, he would be arriving to a young team and would play the role of the wise veteran (translation: the whole team would look up to him).
It may have just been the championship giddiness that caused the delay. Of course, in the end it probably came down to money - and the possiblity of winning another championship.
Need to see more of this
If you think about it, LO's one of the league's most underrated warriors. Take a moment to think about all the adversity he's overcome in his life. Growing up in a ghetto in Queens, living under his mom (his dad was an alcoholic) until she died when Odom was 12. After receiving a scholarship to play at UNLV, a Sports Illustrated investigation into his grades completely messed up his college plans and forced him to study at Rhode Island U. Then he was taken care of by his grandmother, who died in 2000. In his first few years in the league, he had needed to eliminate his weed addiction or leave the NBA. In '06, when Lamar was chosen to play for Team USA and emotions riding high, everything special in his life seemingly disappeared with the death of his 6-month old son. Now, think of what he's achieved and how much more time he has left in career to really leave his mark.
We saw bursts of the man's energy earlier in the year when Bynum went down and the Lakers successfully defeated some of the top teams. But when searching for his highlights on Youtube, there actually aren't many emphatic clips of Odom. Besides jawing with Jarret Jack, slapping KG in the butt, and finishing an eloquent lay-up off a nice pass, he doesn't really have his own clips. One of the big things we're still waiting to see from Odom, is his own style. He needs a certain type of jump shot, a special post-up maneuver, a tear-drop - just some trademark move he can turn to once he touches the ball. When he learns how to do this, there, indeed, may be no stopping those looooooooooooooong arms of his.
Another thing we're waiting to see from Lamar is consistency. Can he score more than 10 points - shooting a decent percentage, of course - over consecutive games. Can he block more than two shots each game for the rest of the playoffs? These are all questions that still need to be answered. Every blue moon he decides to give the performance of his career, before humbly setting it aside and resuming his duties as being Lamar. If only we saw him crashing the boards every singly night. If only we saw him knocking down 3-pointers casually ever game. If only he drove to the basket with a heart like no other every time somebody passed him the ball. If only, if only...
Most importantly, though, is Odom finding his niche. This season he took over the job of 6th man, but has proved that he can be very effective as a starter. While whining at the beginning of the season for being the 6th man, he's come around and realized it was for the best interest of the team. It's taken awhile, but this season has been the first full season where we've seen Lamar actually have a meaningful impact on the game. I'm not just saying this in spite of his performance last night - although, I must say, that did inspire me to write this post. Lakers fans may believe that lanky Lamar has basically shown up about once every ten games. However, if you think aboutthe versatility, endurance, and experience he brings to the game every night, we have to reconsider him. It's not every day that we can watch a 6'10" forward handle the ball, hang in there defensively, and shout at the top of the lungs after every highlight.
I'm not saying Odom is going to be a consistent double-double player. I'm declaring that the fact that his lean figure is out on the court has an unprecedented impact on the game - maybe even more so than that of a double-double player. It's time that the media gives this warrior the credit he deserves. And while the Lakers are evaluating every minute he plays right now in determining whether or not they should resign him, I just hope they keep in mind the significant play he can bring every day - whether he's dunking on a 7-footer or hollering for his teammates, he is the Lamar Odom.
DANGER: Andrew Bynum has returned. As if the Lakers weren't already dangerous enough, they got their 7-footer back. Great news for the Lakers and another weapon to defend for the opposition. It's hard to believe that this kid scored 42 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and had 3 blocked shots on January 21 - only to suffer a 9-week injury 10 days later. After two games, Lakers fans have been impressed with his conditioning, but obviously he still has a ways to go. I, personally, was surprised by his scoring on his first game back: 16 points on 7-for-11 shooting (and 7 rebounds).
However, one has to consider that the Lakers did go 25-7 without Bynum. And while I'm not suggesting that Bynum makes the team worse, you have to consider how much he really adds to the squad. I think his defense is truly what's been scaring guards out of the lane, thus building his reputation. But offensively, the front line is quicker without the big guy. Think about how much Odom (who deserves a post of his own later on) has improved while playing with the starters. We have really seen how quick and decisive he can play - while also experimenting with how a contract year can really motivate a player. So, I guess the point I'm trying to make here is that, while we're welcoming Bynum back into the rotation, we should think of how the Lakers have grown. We now know how much more reliable Odom is. We also have seen how the "Bench Mob" lacks a floor leader. We've seen that Fisher can deal with more minutes - and how Pau has a little less stamina. How Shannon Brown deserves more minutes.
Just some food for thought. Let me know if you agree or think I'm completely crazy with a comment.
Here is today's "Dope Jam"
(Note: For your reference, anything in italics is hyper-linked. Ex. click on the title of the track to download the song)
MSTRKRFT (ft. E-40) - Click Click (YSI) - A track off Mstrkrft's latest album, Fist of God, which I will review in a later post. This song successfully combines the fast spit of rap by E-40 with Mstrkrft's enticing electronic beats.
- Ben
4/11/09