Oh Damn Odom

Snakebitten
Been spit in the face
But the rhymes keep fittin
Respects been givin how's ya livin? ...

The Lakers took it to the Nuggets in the 4th quarter of Game Five of the Western Conference Finals to grab a 3-2 series lead...

-Someone opened the back of Lamar Odom and switched out the batteries, as he took control of the game in the second half. It was reminiscent of the otherwise forgettable 2004 US Olympic team, in which I thought Odom and AI were the only members of Team USA selling out on the court (yeah, how's that bronze medal, Tim Duncan?) Odom had great positioning all night, not only for rebounds, but when the ball went in to Nuggets' big men, he caught them under the basket, forcing tough shots. He simply stood there, arms raised, not fouling with the Denver player pigeon-holed under the rim.

-We've completely moved past being able to rectify the inbounds pass situation in a basketball manner (practice it maybe?) So, here are some suggestions to get the ball inbounds in key situations: a)Borrow the mascot's t-shirt cannon and blast that rock in b)Simply defer the inbounds until the 2nd Half (Ref: "inbounds, Denver" KMart: "Nah, we're good") c)Just shoot the ball from the inbounds spot d)Distract the Lakers by sitting on Jack Nicholson's lap

-Catch the older dude in the multi colored leather Lakers' coat in the front row? 1991 in full effect suckers! David Puddy called and wants to replace his 8-Ball jacket with it.

-The Nuggets' top two clutch players, Melo and Chauncey, didn't help with the combined eight turnovers between them. That's more than the entire team had in the Game Four win. Chauncey had two critical TO's as the Lakers were making their move late in the third and Melo was giving the ball up while the Lakers were harassing him on each and every drive to the basket. While Melo had a game high 31 points, he hasn't quite looked the same since Ariza stole that ball at the end of Game 3 until the 4th quarter of Game 5. Part of it might be the Lakers hounding him, while part may be him trying to do too much.

-Lamar Odom wipes his mouth on his shorts. Dude, there's enough Gatorade towels at an NBA game to soak up small floods and you're bending over to wipe your mouth on your shorts.

-The Nuggets cannot rely on KMart to give the offensive game he had on Wednesday. Him shooting any further than the paint is not his game at this point in his career. Why the ball movement and open men stop when he gets the ball on the baseline is troubling in a key game. Although he was hitting the shots for the most part, no one wants those low arcing shots that more resemble a double off the centerfield wall when there are more viable options.

RELATED- Boot Camp Click - "Think Back" - "VCR's got stole, shorty asses disappeared- think back now- Izod, Le Tigre, 8 ball coats, my man Earl the Goat"