Gentry Holding Odom to a Higher Standard

Expectations are indeed high when Lamar Odom falls two assists shy of a triple-double in Thursday’s loss to the Houston Rockets and Coach Alvin Gentry is still moved to say, “Lamar hasn’t played well.”

Odom, the Clippers’ small forward, seemed to be pressing last week against the Rockets and the San Antonio Spurs. Instead of letting the game come to him, he appeared to be trying to do too much to lead the Clippers in their first two games of the new season.

He averaged 12 points, 11.5 rebounds and 4.5 assists after two games and had 10 points, 10 rebounds and eight assists. But Gentry’s assessment was on the notion that Odom can do so much more. Certainly, the Clippers expect more from Odom, who led the team with a 17-point average last season.

“It’s not a mystery to anyone who watched him play,” Gentry said. “He was putting too much pressure on himself. I say that and he was two assists away from a triple-double the other night.

“But that’s the kind of standards he’s set for himself. I think he was probably pressing a little bit. I’d rather have it that way than having him playing passively.”

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Elton Brand wasn’t a particularly good free-throw shooter in two seasons with the Chicago Bulls. In fact, he was pretty average at the line, making 68.5% last season and 70.8% as a rookie.

But he made 14 of 17 against the Rockets and nine of 10 against the Spurs last week.

“He didn’t make 13 in a row like Shaq did the other night,” Gentry joked, referring to Laker center Shaquille O’Neal.

As a team, the Clippers made 79.4% of their free throws going into Saturday’s home opener against the Golden State Warriors.

“Obviously, anywhere from the mid 70s on up as a team is pretty good,” Gentry said of where he would like the team’s free-throw percentage to be. “I thought Elton has shot the ball well in the first couple of games. In his first couple of years in the league, he’s struggled.”

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Saturday marked the first doubleheader of the season at Staples Center, with the arena changing over from hockey to basketball in 2 hours 14 minutes. That’s off last season’s record time of 1:50, according to Michael Roth, the Staples Center public relations czar.

“We have a few new systems this season,” Roth said. “We also have a few new people in the crew of 40.”