LAKERS NOTEBOOK: ODOM STRUGGLING WITH HIS RECOVERY.Byline: ROSS SILER Staff Writer The Lakers reconnected Sunday with Lamar Odom Lamar Joseph Odom (born November 6 1979, in South Jamaica, Queens, New York) is an American professional basketball player who currently plays power forward (also plays both forward spots and is a "point-forward") for the National Basketball Association's Los Angeles Lakers. after two weeks in which the team played on the road while Odom split his time between Los Angeles Los Angeles (lôs ăn`jələs, lŏs, ăn`jəlēz'), city (1990 pop. 3,485,398), seat of Los Angeles co., S Calif.; inc. 1850. and New York New York, state, United States New York, Middle Atlantic state of the United States. It is bordered by Vermont, Massachusetts, Connecticut, and the Atlantic Ocean (E), New Jersey and Pennsylvania (S), Lakes Erie and Ontario and the Canadian province of , continuing his recovery from a sprained knee ligament. What the Lakers are learning is that Odom's recovery has been slow going so far. The original timetable the Lakers set was that Odom would be out a minimum of four weeks after suffering the injury in a Dec. 12 game. Odom said Sunday he was hopeful of playing again in mid-January but admitted that he is struggling to get back a full range of motion with his right knee after wearing a brace for a week-and-a-half. ``I feel all right,'' Odom said. ``It's getting better. It's still going to take some time, though, a little longer than I expected.'' Lakers coach Phil Jackson
Philip Douglas "Phil" Jackson (born September 17, 1945 in Deer Lodge, Montana) is the current coach of the Los Angeles Lakers, an American professional basketball team. reminded Odom of the same thing he told reporters before Sunday's game. ``There's no timetable,'' Jackson said, ``and this is something that just has to be right before he comes back.'' Odom suffered a moderate sprain sprain, stretching or wrenching of the ligaments and tendons of a joint, often with rupture of the tissues but without dislocation. Sprains occur most commonly at the ankle, knee, or wrist joints, causing pain, swelling, and difficulty in moving the involved joint. of the medial collateral ligament The medial collateral ligament or MCL (or tibial collateral ligament) is one of the four major ligaments of the knee. It is on the medial or inner side of the joint. in his right knee, an injury that requires four to eightweeks of recovery. The Lakers have gone 5-5 without Odom. Defense first: In the aftermath of Friday's loss to Charlotte, center Kwame Brown declared, `` If you look on tape, we are the worst pick- and-roll defensive team in the league.'' It proved to be the Lakers' undoing in overtime against the Bobcats. So Jackson, of course, stressed defense to his players at what he described as an ``aggressive'' shoot-around Sunday. ``Never talked about defense once today,'' Jackson said. ``I let them watch the video of the team that they're going to play tonight, but I said, `Defense is about hustle and determination. That's all it's about.''' CAPTION(S): photo Photo: The Lakers' Luke Walton Luke Theodore Walton (born March 28 1980 in San Diego, California) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). His position is small forward. , left, and Philadelphia center Samuel Dalembert battle for a rebound Sunday. Michael Owen Baker/Staff Photographer |
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