Hier übrigens noch zwei großartige Artikel, die nicht unerwähnt bleiben sollte. Besonders aufschlussreich mal wieder der von TJ Simers - Typisch Lamar Odom...
Und dann noch ein netter Artikel über die A-Bomb!
Und am Ende natürlich noch das große Finale. Drews grandioser Dunk gegen Shaq bei yousendit.com
http://s11.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0420M7U42H0T00C500JIUP70PU
LA Times (TJ Simers) schrieb:Just a Little Pep Talk Gets Odom on the Right Track
Before the two babies made nice at mid-court, I stopped by the Laker locker room to remind Lamar Odom he has the potential to be one of the best players in the NBA just like Kobe & Shaq, but to date has been a disappointment.
"The only thing keeping me from [being considered one of the game's best] is 10 more Ws in the win column," Odom argued.
The Lakers would have 10 more wins if you were the player I thought you would be, I said, and as pregame pep talks go, I thought this one was going just fine.
I said, "You should have spent the summer with your left hand tied behind your back since you can only go to your left," and he said, "People have been telling me that since I was 10 years old and here I am in the NBA."
Just imagine how good you might be if you could dribble with your right hand, I said in my best Gary Payton-like voice — some folks in the NBA referring to Odom as the "one-arm bandit."
He said some people have no idea what they are talking about when it comes to basketball so what they have to say is really irrelevant, and my guess was he was referring to Payton.
I asked Odom to define his role with the Lakers, thinking maybe he had gotten the wrong marching orders, and he said, "to facilitate, rebound and lead the team in assists."
That's why Phil Jackson likes the guy, of course, and why Kobe has to score 40 points most nights — because the second-best player on the team remains a reluctant scorer. So I told Odom he has to score more, and he said, "OK, so I'll score more tonight," and why do I get the feeling sometimes that I do more coaching than Phil?
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THE FIRST half just ended and Odom has scored more points in two quarters than what he has been averaging per game this season. Odom, playing brilliantly, scored 15 points, led the team with five assists and had six rebounds along with Chris Mihm to lead the Lakers.
As a result, the Miami Heat trailed the Lakers by 15 points, and if Odom played this aggressively all the time, the question wouldn't be whether the Lakers make the playoffs, but just how far they might advance.
The problem, of course, is that Jackson doesn't allow me into the Laker locker room at halftime, so I couldn't challenge Odom to remain aggressive for the entire game. When the third quarter began, he disappeared, and so did a good fraction of the Laker lead.
Odom's burst of energy, though, had given the Lakers the early cushion they needed against a team playing its final game of a seven-game trip, and when the game was on the line, his fall-away jumper with 19.2 seconds remaining secured the win.
That's what you'd expect from a big-time NBA scorer.
Und dann noch ein netter Artikel über die A-Bomb!
LA HOOPS: 3:31
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By Eric Pincus
for HOOPSWORLD.com
Jan 17, 2006, 05:47
3:31
That's all it took for the new era of Los Angeles Laker basketball to begin.
It wasn't the team's first win over the Shaquille O'Neal led Miami Heat, though that was part of it.
It wasn't the hug, the overtures, the burying of the hatchet. Scripted or not, that's just PR.
It wasn't Kobe's effortless jump shot after jump shot, giving the Miami Heat little room for error.
It wasn't the 19-point lead the Lakers nearly gave up before Smush Parker, Lamar Odom and Devean George staunched the bleeding . . . each with huge plays down the stretch.
The fact that it was Alonzo Mourning's defense instead of O'Neal's offense that got the Heat back in the game was part of it.
All of these details cannot be overlooked, but they pale in comparison to the 3:31.
Just eighteen years of age, facing one of his idols.
With a display of force Laker fans know well, Shaquille O'Neal fielded a Jason Williams miss. He leapt up as high as his aging legs could lift him. With one hand he threw the ball through the cylinder. With the other he threw the Laker rookie down to the floor.
The kid gets up and shakes it off. He runs right to the post and calls for the ball. The drop step. O'Neal goes right, the rook goes left and dunks it home.
Overcome, he cannot contain his excitement as the crowd subconsciously recognizes the significance of the moment.
O'Neal seems to sense it as well and doesn't take kindly to the kid's jubilation. Barely eighteen has the gall to skip down court and then jab an arm in this Diesel's back?
A forearm that could be considered worthy of suspension is thrown. The referees hand out double-technicals.
It's rare when O'Neal loses his cool, but the torch had been passed.
The Lakers have moved on. They chose Bryant. They drafted his replacement.
Will Andrew Bynum ever be worthy of comparison?
The world just got a brief glimpse of what could be . . . just three minutes and 31 seconds worth was enough.
Und am Ende natürlich noch das große Finale. Drews grandioser Dunk gegen Shaq bei yousendit.com
http://s11.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0420M7U42H0T00C500JIUP70PU