Saturday, March 3, 2012

Time for Answers

Tonight most people in the Dallas Fort Worth Metroplex were expecting to see Lamar Odom suit up, for the Texas Legends in Frisco. The game was completely sold out. Instead Lamar Odom is going to suit up for the Mavericks against the Utah Jazz. After losing the 4th consecutive game and owning a depleted bench the Mavericks don't have anymore time to wait on Lamar Odom.

Rick Carlisle said patience was wearing thin, and it was time to find out if Lamar Odom was in or out as a member of this team. As Coach has said the stat sheet might not provide the answers everyone is looking for. He is going to be watching the effort of his Forward on the court. Also keep an eye on his body language. Having a player who is not entirely into the situation, it shows, as does having someone who is into it.

We will see how many minutes he plays tonight and if he gets to about 20 minutes or so we should get a good idea of how the rest of the season is going to go. With the Mavericks struggling to find an Identity and direction a fired up Lamar Odom would be a huge lift. Will there finally be answers for every Mavericks player, coach, management and fan who love this team? The Utah Jazz are going to get a front row seat to the either the end of this Lamar Odom saga, or the beginning of what could be a nasty divorce.

Renewed Importance of Roddy B

The Mavericks are in the middle of a stretch of 9 games in 12 days and with the age of most of the members of the Maverick back court Roddy Beaubouis has a new importance for this team. In the past it has always been about his potential stardom. How he was untouchable. We aren't here to debate whether or not he will live up to his potential, if he has hit his ceiling or if he is just an underachiever.

For the Mavericks and Roddy B the time to debate all those questions are in the offseason. Right now he is a vital member of the rotation. He has been seeing increased minutes after the all star break. With Delonte West out he is needed to pick up some of his minutes, but he also is picking up minutes to keep Jason Kidd, Vince Carter and Jason Terry fresh. Not to mention giving the Matrix a break from having to cover point guards every night. With Roddy's quickness he is able to guard the point guards and let Jason Kidd continue to guard 2s.

Defense is not the only the place he is providing relief. Over the last three games he has scored 11, 16, and 25 points. Helping with the scoring load is huge as well. Outside of Dirk Nowitzki and games at home for Jason Terry the offense has been brutal. Having him on the floor has helped a very stagnant offense that has been struggling mightily with scoring.

For Roddy B the future is now and he has been performing admirably over the past 3 games. He is going to be tested over the week or so with a ton of games, and likely a ton of minutes. Including a back to back to back at the end of the week. With the team struggling and fighting for a playoff spot, currently 7th in the west, there is a renewed importance on Roddy B's performance on the court.