Dallas Mavericks coach Rick Carlisle expressed disappointment with Lamar Odom's ongoing absence from the team and bluntly stated that the forward will face scrutiny upon his return, from owner Mark Cuban to the players in the locker room.
Odom will play Saturday night for the Mavs' D-League affiliate in nearby Frisco and then is expected to re-join the Mavs for the first time since Feb. 20 when the team travels to Oklahoma City for Monday's game, Carlisle said.
Odom left the Mavs on Feb. 22 to tend to a family matter and missed his fourth consecutive game Friday night when Dallas played New Orleans. He will also miss Saturday's game against the Utah Jazz. Odom left the team to attend to his ill father in Los Angeles, sources told ESPNDallas.com.
The Mavs need Odom's presence off the bench in the midst of nine games in 12 nights, the most grueling stretch of the season.
"Mark asks a fundamental question of anybody in our franchise: Are they in or are they not in?" Carlisle said. "Our fans want to know that Lamar's in. Our players want to know that Lamar's in. It's not about how many points he's scoring or rebounds; those things are a factor. Our fans, our players want to see the guy playing like his pants are on fire and we haven't seen that so far and that's got to change."
Texas Legends owner and Mavericks president of basketball operations Donnie Nelson confirmed Friday that it was Odom's idea to play with the Legends first.
Carlisle said he would expect that Odom will address his teammates before Monday's big road game against the Western Conference-leading Thunder.
"It's got to be few words and strong action and it's got to go from there, and I'm sure he'll address the team," Carlisle said. "But, from this point going forward it's attitude and action.
"We're going to do everything we can to get the guy ready to play ... but he's well aware now of exactly what's expected. And it's not about the stats. It's about how he approaches it in terms of his actions on the court, his engagement in the game, being into it and intensity, passion, all those kind of things."
Carlisle acknowledged that Odom is dealing with a personal issue, but he said he does not know specific details. Even so, Carlisle said that Odom's underwhelming season, the worst in his 13-year career, combined with the off-court drama, is wearing thin on a veteran core of players attempting to defend its championship.
"There is a personal issue here and we do not know the extent of it or the details of it," Carlisle said. "There is a fine line between compassion, which our owner is showing, and gross insensitivity."
If there was ever anything to make you wish to God (with a capital G) that Molly Ivins were alive and sitting right next to you with a glass of Maker's, providing a running commentary, it is ABC's new series "GCB." I will not be as good at reviewing this fictional Texas scenarios as Ivins was at critiquing things that actually happened in Texas. Have you ever read her take on the Texas legislature? It was a beautiful thing to behold, but I am not there yet. Additional handicaps: 1) I am from the South and grew up visiting relatives in Texas, but I am not a Lone Star native. 2) My taste in television tends toward "The Bachelor" and "Criminal Minds." Consider your source.
Here's what I do know: Generally speaking, it's not terribly effective to give a film or series that you want people to remember a name that is an acronym -- especially an acronym easily confused with CBGB or BCBG. Fortunately, there's an easy way to remember this one -- just remind yourself what the series was going to be called before a lot of people got very upset: "Good Christian Bitches." (For a while, the title was going to be "Good Christian Belles," which would have been no fun at all.)
Billed as a Texas version of "Desperate Housewives," the show is based on the book "Good Christian Bitches" by Kim Gatlin, who also co-wrote the series. The premise is this: Recently widowed former mean girl Amanda Vaughn (Leslie Bibb) is forced to move back to her hometown of Dallas with her two kids to live with her socialite mother, played by Annie Potts. The women Amanda terrorized in high school, who in her absence have grown up to control the Dallas society machine, are less than thrilled by Ms. Vaughn's return, especially since their husbands definitely are thrilled. The GCBs, led by Carlene Cockburn (Broadway veteran Kristin Chenoweth), thus conspire to make Amanda's life hell. A lot of the conspiring and hell-raising happens to take place in church.
As Brooks Barnes noted in the New York Times, "If the first episode is any guide, the series ... will be way, way (way) over the top."
I'd say so. The entire thing begins with a failed Ponzi scheme and oral sex that proves fatal to both parties.
It's understandable that some Christians feel that this show misrepresents them: God here is made an accessory to the GCBs outfits and their antics. Some have argued that naming any show "______ Bitches" is demeaning to women in general. That's probably true, and if so, an acronym hardly fixes the problem. And I suppose it threatens to misrepresent Texas women, specifically, to the larger world.
Harvey Weinstein really wants to get into the Katy Perry business. During a pre-Oscar party at Soho House in Los Angeles, Weinstein was talking to Perry about co-starring in new drama about British opera singer and reality television star, Paul Potts.
"I was talking to Katy about a new project, a possible dramatic role in the Paul Potts movie, which will be shooting in England soon," Weinstein told Page Six. "We'd really like someone like Katy or Adele to play the role of Potts' wife, and Katy seemed genuinely interested."
What makes that sorta funny? Potts's real-life wife, Julie-Ann, isn't a singer at all.
As for Paul Potts himself, if the names sounds familiar-ish, perhaps that's because you are one of the 89 million YouTube users who watched the former mobile phone salesman sing "Nessun Dorma" on "Britain's Got Talent." Potts went on to win the reality competition, which launched him to international fame.
This isn't the first time Weinstein has courted Perry for something. Last year, Weinstein said he wanted Perry to play Marilyn Monroe in a stage version of "My Week With Marilyn." He also used her song, "The One That Got Away," during marketing for "Marilyn." Guy really loves "Teenage Dream," apparently. (Who doesn't, but still.)
Mallika Sherawat Sizzles at Cannes Film Festival. Mallika Sherawat sizzles at the premiere of Wall Street: Money Never Sleeps during ongoing Cannes International Film Festival 2010. Mallika Sherawat looks horrible at the event in that dress. Mallika Sherawat who is almost forgotten in bollywood by her movies, remains in news due to public appearances in particular her lust to get place in Hollywood. Mallika Sherawat is planning to host a bash at Cannes with some of the big names in world cinema at the ongoing Cannes Film Festival. Mallika is throwing a big bash at the festival and sources say she is inviting top bosses of several Hollywood production companies and other international personalities. Let’s see how much success she get with this gimmick. Checkout Mallika Sherawat Cannes Pictures.
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