Article: LA Daily News - Gasol's injury might hurt Odom most

[SoCalMike]

To view the entire article, click on the source below:
--------------------------------------------------

There's little question that the Lakers won't be the same team while 7-foot center Pau Gasol is sidelined by a sprained left ankle. But Lamar Odom might be hurt the most by Gasol's absence.


After all, Odom's numbers are up significantly since Gasol's arrival. He is scoring more points, shooting a higher percentage, grabbing more rebounds and setting up his teammates for baskets more frequently.

"I think it's just a more efficient game because Pau is such a good passer and the court opens up," Odom said before Gasol was injured in the first quarter of Friday's game against the New Orleans Hornets. "It's the efficiency that's surprising me."

Odom averaged 14.7 points in the first 20 games after the Lakers traded for Gasol on Feb.1, up from his season average of 13.7. His field-goal percentage jumped to 63.1 from 51.5 percent. His rebounding average was 11.2, up from 10.1. He also averaged 4.2 assists, up from 3.4.

Source: Gasol's injury might hurt Odom most

[gts]

thanks socal...
we'll see how it goes... it will be interesting to see what sundays starting lineup looks like.

[MJ(Mean John)]

Yeah it will afect not only odom but our Defense.
Now we only have 1 center we can really count on and play and thats turiaf(6'10)
Odom has to go back to worry about the other teams bigs and down low it just becomes a bit harder but not tonight. The rockets dont have bigs that eat up that paint.

[SoCalMike]

Originally Posted by MJ(Mean John)

Yeah it will afect not only odom but our Defense.
Now we only have 1 center we can really count on and play and thats turiaf(6'10)
Odom has to go back to worry about the other teams bigs and down low it just becomes a bit harder but not tonight. The rockets dont have bigs that eat up that paint.

So thats a good point... what has happened to MBenga? He has sat on the pine pretty much since the Clippers game... is he in the dog house??????