Halftime Hype

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 .