Odom's play keeps improving - Laker Nation

Odom’s play keeps improving

0domL.A. Times: Lamar Odom stared at his left leg before Sunday’s game against the Minnesota Timberwolves. There was a knot below the kneecap that verged on golf-ball size, the result of a “battle in the trenches” he called it, probably from the Lakers’ game against New Orleans a couple of days earlier, though he wasn’t quite sure.

Then he went out, scored 25 points and took 14 rebounds, his sixth double-double in the last seven games, his knot to be forgotten against the size-challenged Timberwolves.

“I feel pretty comfortable right now,” he said, in case his play hadn’t demonstrated it.

Odom has increased his aggressiveness with drives to the basket but has also worked on his finesse game.

The extra time invested in his outside shot was evident Sunday when he hit from 13 feet, 19 feet and 21 feet.

He is also moving better without the ball, knowing when to cut to the basket to get the ball down low and when to curl off a screen to hit a jump shot.

“That’s something I couldn’t do two seasons ago,” he said. “I didn’t know when to cut and how to make the play without the ball. Playing with Kobe [Bryant] and then playing with Pau [Gasol], and then Andrew [Bynum] started coming along, it’s not like I’m going to be able to just take my man one on one. I’ve got to stay in the flow, and that’s usually without the ball.”

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