The hardy souls who venture into Clipperdom as customers have largely been blaming Alvin Gentry for the bad start. When they're not booing Michael Olowokandi, that is.

Lamar Odom, so far, is getting a grace period.

So far.

	Lamar Odom averaged 21.5 points in the Clips' first four games this month.

It's deserved leeway, when Odom's numbers and long layoff are factored in, but the Los Angeles Clippers' supposed savior needn't bank on extended protection from the discontent. Not if the losing continues, and the schedule says it probably will. Friday's ESPN-televised trip to Seattle might be the easiest game L.A. gets until the end of the month, when it plays host to Chicago on Jan. 29.

Between this meeting with the equally slumping Sonics and the Bulls' visit, the Clips are looking at a daunting homestand (Dallas, Minnesota, Sacramento) and then five straight roadies: Lakers, Utah, Minnesota, Indiana and Cleveland. They aren't exactly rolling into that stretch, either, with just one win in the seven games since Odom returned from almost a year away from the game.

That win: Memphis, Wednesday, at home.

"I feel like I'm one of those guys who makes the game easier on my teammates," Odom said. "I don't shoot 30 times a game. I don't need the ball. I rebound. I push it. I don't think that's the reason why we're losing, that we're not meshing because I'm out there."

Odom's right. There are many culprits besides the obvious adjustment period required to fit him back in at small forward, alongside Elton Brand and Olowokandi and a new point guard, Andre Miller. The Clippers have only a couple recognized perimeter threats (Eric Piatkowski and Marko Jaric), and both have been hurt. Perimeter defense has also been a trouble spot, and all of the above has contributed to L.A.'s repeated habit of squandering fourth-quarter leads.

Time, surely, is what Odom and his teammates need to get reacquainted, after persistent ankle and wrist trouble shelved him last January. Who wouldn't want a 6-foot-10 ball handler in the lineup with these kind of averages: 18.7 points, 8.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists.

Time, though, isn't what the Clips have if they intend to make the playoffs the story for once as opposed to contracts and coaching changes.

Gentry has been tentatively assured of keeping his job for the rest of the season, barring his team's full slippage into blowout mode and given the fact that he hasn't had his full team even once because of an injury pileup that started in training camp. Yet there seems little hope for Gentry securing an extension in the offseason, with the Clippers (13-22) mired in last place in the Pacific Division in spite of a talent stronghold that should put them in the West's top six.

As for everyone else, the future is no more certain. Owner Donald T. Sterling's decision to withhold contract extensions from his many eligible stars last summer set the tone for the ensuing disappointment of the actual season.

"By now we've got to be over that, though," said Odom, a restricted free agent come July along with Brand and Miller. "Negotiations happen in the summer.

	“	When I'm not out there, people say, 'Lamar Odom can play.' I know I'm going to be all right. I know somebody is going to bring me on their team and take care of me. Can I say that for somebody else next to me in this locker room? No, but I'm not worried about where I'm going to be next year. ”
		— Lamar Odom

"When I'm not out there, people say, 'Lamar Odom can play.' I know I'm going to be all right. I know somebody is going to bring me on their team and take care of me. Can I say that for somebody else next to me in this locker room? No, but I'm not worried about where I'm going to be next year."

That's partially because Odom knows he was offered to Cleveland in the Miller trade, before the Cavaliers held out for Darius Miles. That's also because Odom is simply relieved to be back on the floor, after playing just 29 games last season.

The Clippers became a 39-win team without him, leaving Odom -- once L.A.'s consensus best player -- to rue his mistakes and misfortune. He began the season with his second marijuana-related drug suspension, then derailed his own comeback by tripping over a ball in practice to damage his recovering ankle.

"I think he has the most potential and he's the most talented (on the roster)," Gentry said. "But Lamar hasn't played enough in the past year and a half to make an evaluation. I think you've got to wait."

Said Odom: "It was really tough, especially because I took care of everything I needed to take care of with the league. I had the league behind me, everyone from the Players Association was backing me after the suspension. I was really ready to play, Then I got hurt again."

Now?

"My body's great," Odom said. "Everything just depends on how quick we can cut it to .500. We got to make a run before the All-Star Game."

Or else, well, put him on the list with Gentry and Kandi.

Marc Stein is the senior NBA writer for ESPN.com. To e-mail him, click here.