USA - Odom starting to look like Lamar of old

DALLAS (NBA/Olympics) - Lamar Odom could be playing himself back into contention for a spot in the USA Olympic team.

The co-captain of the Americans' gold-medal winning side at the 2010 FIBA World Championship in Turkey, Odom has endured one of his toughest seasons since leaving the Los Angeles Lakers after the NBA Lockout and joining the Mavericks.

Odom hasn’t been shooting well of late, but Mavs coach Rick Carlisle says the versatile big man is showing signs that he's returning to top form.

"Activity," Carlisle said. "He's making plays.

“He has a presence on the court and his shots are going to fall."

The French connection

Odom isn't the only Maverick who's wondering if he'll be at the London Games.

Red-hot Roddy Beaubois is going to garner strong consideration for a place in the France squad.

For the defending NBA champions, Beaubois has scored 12, 19, 14 and 16 points in his last four games.

Against France superstar Tony Parker of San Antonio on Saturday night, Beaubois was eight of 16 from the floor and also corralled eight rebounds in a 106-99 Mavs win.

Beaubois hit a couple of big shots in the fourth quarter.

Ian Mahinmi, meanwhile, played a lot of minutes early on this season for Dallas but then had a big reduction in time on the court.

He could be working his way back into favor with Carlisle because against his former team, the Spurs, the 2.11m center played 29 minutes and had seven points and eight rebounds.

Mahinmi has played big minutes in Dallas' last nine games.

FIBA