<div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">INDIANAPOLIS?Sasha Vujacic screamed at Lamar Odom, ?Shut the (expletive) up!? That furious exclamation ended an intense argument ? one that had featured towels thrown in anger ? between the Lakers teammates. Kobe Bryant hugged Vujacic?s head and calmed him down. Odom stood away from his teammates with his hands on his hips, pacing and angling his gaze 90 degrees away from them all until Brian Cook finally walked by and gave him a gentle pat. That misdirected emotion in a timeout early in the fourth quarter Friday night came with the score tied, and the Lakers never recovered. With Odom playing one of his worst games, the Lakers collapsed in a 95-84 loss to the Indiana Pacers. It was a defeat directly attributable to immaturity, particularly bothersome for the Lakers with regard to Odom, who had vowed this season would feature more professional behavior as a team leader. Immediately before the argument, Odom had been unable to hold a unit together while Bryant rested and Indiana scored the first seven points of the fourth quarter. ?Especially when Kobe goes out, we give up six points or whatever,? Odom said. ?We act like we don?t know what ? we?re doing.? Afterward, Lakers coach Phil Jackson lamented that the argument couldn?t energize his players and likened their depression to having sunlight deprivation from Seasonal Affective Disorder. More seriously, he questioned the trust he placed in Odom at the start of the final quarter. ?I might?ve been putting too big a responsibility on Lamar out there with the younger kids,? Jackson said. Bryant returned to the game at that timeout, and Vujacic came out, but Odom continued to appear high strung. After he missed a layup, committed a charging foul and hung his head, Bryant called to him in the ensuing timeout and made a gesture imploring him to calm down. Bryant told Odom to run the simple play that called for the two Lakers stars to play a two-man game. ?You and me,? Bryant told Odom. Bryant did feed Odom the ball on the next play, getting Odom two free throws, but that was as good as it got for him. Odom shot 0 for 3 with no assists and two turnovers in the fourth, which was even worse than his three-turnover first quarter and his disappearing act Wednesday when the Lakers won at Boston. Bryant made 13 of 25 shots in that game. He was 7 for 25 from the field with 22 points) against the Pacers. With the Pacers up, 80-76, Bryant drove and missed inside. Odom stood there watching Bryant instead of getting back on defense. The result: Danny Granger hustled out and wound up throwing a fastbreak dunk down on Odom, who trudged into another Lakers timeout with a shoelace untied.</div> Source No comment.
What the hell is happening to our team. It seems like the chemistry is going down. But Sasha does have a history of pissing teammates off. Turiaf and Bynum are an example.
<div class="quote_poster">Bobcats Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Wow, that's hilarious.</div> Glad you are enjoying the downfall of our team. Anyways, I remember that play in the timeout, Odom threw down the towel, and I'm glad White Mamba stood up for himself. Odom did not have a good game by ANY means and he had no right to yell at Sasha if he made a mistake for the few minutes he was in the game, he was trying atleast out there, I don't know what the argument was over anyways. I think we'll be fine, road trips is where teams really start getting closer together cause you're away from home for a couple weeks, I think they'll be fine. White Mamba and LO, kiss and make up!
<div class="quote_poster">Brian Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">What the hell is happening to our team. It seems like the chemistry is going down. But Sasha does have a history of pissing teammates off. Turiaf and Bynum are an example.</div> Even Kobe. This is unsettling news. I hope this doesn't affect our team chemistry....
But seriously though, we have one of the closest knit teams in the league. I actually don't really think this situation is that big of a deal. I guess it's good to see our players show some fire, and some frustration after all the losses. At least they care. I'd rather have our players beat themselves up after the loss rather than joking and fooling around
Odom is really playing bad the team is better whit Walton and not whit Odom we are 1-3 since he return i think he never gonna be the player Kobe and the lakers needs,and he dont play defence at all, its my opinion i started to hate him in the lakers squad a long time ago.
<div class="quote_poster">Jorgito kb24 Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Odom is really playing bad the team is better whit Walton and not whit Odom we are 1-3 since he return i think he never gonna be the player Kobe and the lakers needs,and he dont play defence at all, its my opinion i started to hate him in the lakers squad a long time ago.</div> The guy is just coming off an injury after missing 20 games or so. He still needs time to adjust. Give him a break. He was playing terrifically before the injury, and I see no reason why he shouldn't continue. He just has to shake off the rust, that's all
<div class="quote_poster">Brian Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Well, you can't really blame Lamar. I'd be pissed to if a skinny white boy with a horrible accent </div>racist/xenophobic?
<div class="quote_poster">phunDamentalz Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">racist/xenophobic?</div> I was thinking the exact same thing. I could bring race into this just as easily, so please don't Brian.
LOL, let's not be women about this and over-react. This is minor, it's not going to "destroy our chemistry." Things like this happen all the time. They are grown men, they aren't going to say "omg I cannot believe you just told me to fu*k off, I want a trade now."
I don't know much about this guy but Sasha Vujacic is the kind of guy who would p!ss me off too. Just looking at him I would like to beat the living crap out of him. It's clear this scrub has no respect for the top tier players either talking to Odom like that.
To be fair, Odom didn't have the best of games either. Also, when in a team, you don't blame one player, you get on with it. Kobe has the right attitude: Sasha Vujacic screamed at Lamar Odom, “Shut the (expletive) up!” <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">That furious exclamation ended an intense argument — one that had featured towels thrown in anger — between the Lakers teammates. Kobe Bryant hugged Vujacic’s head and calmed him down. Odom stood away from his teammates with his hands on his hips, pacing and angling his gaze 90 degrees away from them all until Brian Cook finally walked by and gave him a gentle pat. Of the dispute between Odom and Vujacic, Bryant said: “They’ve just got to learn that there’s nothing they can do about it. That’s what I was telling ’em. It’s almost comical. There’s nothing you can do by shouting or yelling. “If my wife’s mad at me because I didn’t put the toilet seat down, what am I going to do? I’ve got to put it down the next time. What are you going to do? You can’t sit there and bite my head off. I didn’t put it down; I’ll put it down next time. Right? So you’ve just got to move on.” </div>
If this was Odom telling Sasha to shut the F*&^ up, then I would worry. Sasha, a guy who isn't very effective in most games, is not going to ruin this team's chemistry.
<div class="quote_poster">YourNewChef Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">If this was Odom telling Sasha to shut the F*&^ up, then I would worry. Sasha, a guy who isn't very effective in most games, is not going to ruin this team's chemistry.</div> Its not even that. Unless it was somebody telling Phil Jackson to STFU, the team would not undergo chemistry problems.
<div class="quote_poster">Laker_fan Wrote</div><div class="quote_post">Its not even that. Unless it was somebody telling Phil Jackson to STFU, the team would not undergo chemistry problems.</div> haha i don't think ANYONE would tell Phil that.
Where's the fool that came in the Houston Rockets board after the LAL kicked our asses when we didn't have T-Mac? He was making really biased assertions claiming Odom was as good or even better than T-Mac...well well well. It looks like Odom may not even be a Laker after the 22nd. I think his name was heuevonokiller.
Wait I read the article, but can someone please explain to me how Odom is in the wrong here? Just because Sasha is too sensitive it makes Odom a bad leader?
