The Lakers have plenty to work on after a disjointed, error-riddled 99-90 loss to the Jazz in their exhibition opener. The team committed 24 turnovers and allowed the Jazz to shoot 48.1 percent.
The two players who drew the most criticism from Lakers fill-in coach Kurt Rambis were Lamar Odom and Andrew Bynum, both of whom had up-and-down performances.
The 6-foot-10 Odom didn't exactly thrive in his debut bringing the ball up the court for the Lakers, scoring three points, dishing out only three assists and struggling defensively against smaller quicker Utah wings. Rambis summed up Odom's performance as "fair to middling, maybe poor," suggesting that the veteran forward struggled guarding quicker Jazz wings off the dribble and "didn't seem focused out there."
Bynum came off the bench to score 15 points and grab 8 rebounds in 24 minutes, but Rambis was not impressed with Bynum's defense.
"It was basically what he showed in practice," Rambis said. "We keep impressing on him that he has to do a much better job of running the floor to both ends and a much better job of anchoring our defense. It's a big man's responsibility to not only control his own man but be the help man whenever people are driving to the basket. When a team is getting 40 points in the paint against you and our defense is designed to stop that sort of action, it lets you know the defense has a long way to go."

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