DALLAS -- Lamar Odom missed 12 of 14 shots Wednesday night. Darko Milicic -- the dude Detroit drafted between LeBron James and Carmelo Anthony in the 2003 draft -- blocked his shot five times.

And Odom spent the game's last 19 minutes on the bench.

Lamar Odom is trying to remain patient after missing 12 of 14 shots against the Timberwolves and getting benched for the fourth quarter. Jerome Miron/US Presswire

This feels like rock bottom for Odom. Nowhere to go but up, right?

He's so much better than the player we've seen in the first month of the Dallas Mavericks' season.

Odom was the league's Sixth Man of the Year last season, and he starred on the Los Angeles Lakers when they won consecutive titles in 2009 and 2010.

He hasn't forgotten how to play the game he's loved since he was kid in the Big Apple. As Odom said after the Mavs' 105-90 loss to Minnesota at the American Airlines Center, he's always been a good player.

Until now.

"All I can do is remain patient," he said.

Then he paused.

"All I can do is remain patient. An old friend of mine used to tell me, 'It's not what you're gonna do. It's what can you do. What can you do?'"

Well?

"Just play well," he said. "I mean, I still got it."

It was hard to figure out whether Odom was trying to persuade himself or the folks asking the questions.

So much of professional sports is about confidence. Right now, Shawn Marion believes he's one of the league's best players, and he's playing like it.