The welcome banner for Lamar Odom and Khloe Kardashian in Dallas seems to be fading, and their series, “Khloe & Lamar,” may be headed for the loss column.

Much of the focus of the E! reality show’s upcoming season will revolve around the couple’s sudden and unexpected move after the Los Angeles Lakers’ star was traded to the world champion Dallas Mavericks. But producers now also have an unexpected story to deal with — Odom’s unimpressive performance thus far with the Mavericks, who are struggling with a 2-4 record this season.

Odom’s initially uninspired play has already sparked noisy grumbles in Dallas. In his first game, he scored only four points on one-for-six shooting before being thrown out in the second half for whining about a charging call. In his second game, he made only one of 10 shots and ended up with six points. And in his third game, he only scored four points in a two-for-11 shooting disaster.

So far Odom seems to be on the opposite track that earned him the NBA’s Sixth Man award last season for being the NBA’s best player coming off the bench. Times sports writer Ben Bolch wrote about Odom’s decline last Sunday in an item with the headline, “Sixth man to nowhere man.”

And Erik Lambert of the website Gather.com said Odom has been ”a non-factor” with the Mavericks, sitting at the root of the problem for the team. Wrote Lambert: “…The 33-year-old big man has let an extended off-season and the family life with wife Khloe Kardashian ruin his drive to succeed.”

How the show will reflect Odom’s lackluster debut remains to be seen — the series ignored Odom getting tossed in the fourth game of the NBA Western Division semifinals last season against the Mavericks when he became combative with his opponents. But so far, the man that Kardashian calls “Lam Lam” has been a “dud dud.”

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Photo: Former Lakers star Lamar Odom walks off the court in his first game with the Dallas Mavericks after being ejected in the second half against the Miami Heat on Dec. 25, 2011, in Dallas.

Credit: Larry W. Smith / EPA / Corbis Out

 

 

The Dallas Mavericks are slowly turning the corner on their poor performances in the first three games of the season.  They have now won two of their last three games and stand at an early season record of 2-4.

Vince Carter and Lamar Odom

Last year’s NBA champions, the Mavericks shuffled a lot of people from their lineup, and are busy trying to incorporate veterans Vince Carter and Lamar Odom into it.  Carter has been especially important in the two victories, while Lamar Odom still seems to be stuck on I-10 somewhere between Van Horn and Pecos, Texas, on his way from Los Angeles where he enjoyed success as a Laker.

In last night’s game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Odom had his best game yet as a Maverick, playing more minutes and scoring more points than he had scored to date.  He is not yet locked in to his game, but his presence is felt, and his teammates are finding ways to spotlight his talents.

Coach Rick Carlisle of the Mavs appears to be running plays for the specific purposes of incorporating the talents of Carter and Odom, and it is helping fans to see how much the two of them bring to the table, as they have been grieving the losses of J.J. Barea, Tyson Chandler, and Caron Butler.

Delonte West

The brightest spot among the new players for the Mavs is Delonte West.  Working his way into becoming a fan favorite in Dallas, West is showing all the characteristics he was touted to have: toughness, great ball-handling skills, and a decent penetration guy and playmaker on the offense.  As West gives Jason Kidd a little more time to rest on the bench, both players will become more effective.  West is already ahead of schedule, so Mavs fans are putting J.J. Barea behind them more and more with every outing.

The Dallas Mavericks finally delivered the Oklahoma City Thunder their first loss of the 2011-12 season. Unlike the rest of the season, Oklahoma City only led once in this game, after a Russell Westbrook layup to open things up, and Dallas forced their hand and finished the contest with a 100-87 win.

After opening the season with four straight 30-point games, Kevin Durant has now played two in a row without reaching that mark. However, the Thunder star led both teams in scoring in the game with 27. He wasn’t the only Thunder player to play well, the only problem being that the Mavericks were playing better.

Dallas shot 48.8-percent in the game, their best totals of the year and the highest anyone has shot against the Thunder so far this season as well. While the Mavericks have not been playing like defending NBA Champions, they are too good to continue to struggle. There are a number of new players in Dallas and it takes a little while to grow onto each other.

One player that is fitting in quite nicely in Dallas is Vince Carter. Look back to the last game that Dallas played the Thunder and it was Carter who hit what should have been the game winning three. This time around, Carter scored 14 points and the Thunder never had the chance for Durant to save the day.

For the Thunder, a couple of the newcomers who saw their first playing time against Phoenix played here as well. Lazar Hayward notched 10:14 in the game but went 0-for-4 from the field while rookie Reggie Jackson got limited playing time, missing all three of his attempts from 3-point land.

The stars were there, with Westbrook finishing with 18 points, James Harden adding 16 and Serge Ibaka having his second double-digit scoring game with 10 points and two more rebounds, pushing his season total to 13.

The Thunder hope to get back on track with a home contest with division rival Portland Trail Blazers. The Thunder and Trail Blazers used to be border rivals when the Thunder was located in Seattle but things have cooled on the rivalry since moving to Oklahoma City. Portland is currently 3-1, one game back from Oklahoma City in the Northwest Division.

Author Shawn S. Lealos has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from the University of Oklahoma (2000) and is an avid sports fan that has lived in Oklahoma for over 40 years. He used to religiously follow the Dallas Mavericks until Oklahoma City found a team to call their own.

Source: Yahoo! Sports

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The game between the Dallas Mavericks and Oklahoma City Thunder was decided by Kevin Durant’s last second buzzer beating basket. The Thunder was lucky and they know it. This morning I read comments and questions like, “Are the Mavericks the Worst Champions Since 1961?” and “The Mavericks should at least put up a fight.” This is my reaction to analyst comments like these.

The Dallas Mavericks don’t get the respect they deserve after winning the 2011 NBA Championship. The Mavericks earned the Larry O’brian Trophy. It wasn’t handed to them on a platter by poorly playing opponents. The 2012 version of the Mavericks are not the same team, but have the potential to be as good or better. I briefly discuss the changes here, but the core of the team has changed. They are having problems coming together as a team. The lockout and short preseason didn’t help. Old guys don’t bounce back as quick as young guys. Using the game against the Thunder we can analyze play of individual players and determine how well the team is integrating.

Dirk Nowitski, Jason Kid and Jason Terry played like veteran players who have been together a long time. Shawn Marion also played well, but seemed to have some trouble handling the ball—probably because of the broken little finger. These guys know their place on the team. I have confidence in this core group.

Delonte West looked impressive scoring 15 points, along with six assists and four rebounds. I don’t think he has any problem working with the team and will only get better as games stack up.

Haywood, Mahinmi and Williams rotated in as centers. I really liked what I saw. They attacked the basket, scored, rebounded and blocked six shots. I credit their effort and coaching. If they keep this up the Mavericks center play will be an asset.

Vince Carter still has some game left in him. His team integration looks a little raw, but should improve. Carter played aggressively, created shots, and made some of them. I’m not sure he understands his exact role yet.

Lamar Odom looks lost and confused. I believe he lost a little confidence in the trade from the Los Angeles Lakers. We know he is a good player. It’s just a matter of time before he embraces his role in the system. When Odom becomes part of the “team” we will see good things from him.

I’m not happy with an 0-3 start in a 66 game season. I’d like 3-0 much better. I think the wins will come. The Mavericks have plenty of individual talent, but they need to work as a team to make a run. It will be up to the coaches to help them become that team. Analysts and reporters make snap statements sometimes to sell a story. I think they’ll have to eat some of those sensationally negative words before the season is over.

Gerald is an outdoor sportsman who has followed the Dallas Mavericks since the mid 80s. He would like nothing better than to see the Mavericks win two more Championships with Jason Kidd and Dirk Nowitski.

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