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By the time the game ended, Bryant had taken more shots — 26 — than any three teammates combined, and Gasol admitted it affected him.

"I let that get to me a little bit, I can't let that happen," said Gasol, adding, "I've got to make myself available whether the ball is coming or not, and I can't get discouraged if the ball is not coming."

Odom, while not mentioning Bryant by name, added, "We didn't get guys involved in the game … Everyone who is in this locker room, we have to use them."

When asked the usual questions about the disparity in shots — Bryant took nine shots in the fourth quarter even though he missed six straight — Kobe gave the usual answer. If he doesn't do it, who will?

"The effort wasn't there, and I'm not going to wait around if it isn't, especially in the playoffs," Bryant said.

Blame him early. Don't blame him late. But, really, this time, you can blame them all. Blame Fisher for his inability to even slow Chris Paul, blame a bench that was outscored, 39-21, and even blame Jackson for failing to inspire his team in a postseason opener for the first time in years.

SlavaMedvedenko wrote:This is kind of misleading. The reporters were imploring Gasol with 10 different questions and throwing Kobe's name in there to get a reaction. To his credit Pau didn't really feed them anything except for that quote.

Sedale Threatt wrote:The eternal chicken-or-the-egg dilemma that is Kobe Bryant. Too aggressive, or teammates not aggressive enough?

I know this -- touches or not, Pau was miserable yesterday. One of the worst games I've ever seen him play. We simply can't afford that.

And then Fish on Paul, that's just a disaster waiting to happen.

Nor did Gasol bite when the assembled media asked in multiple ways if his anemic stats were due to a lack of touches. "Maybe I let that effect me a little bit early on in the game, but I can't afford that," he said. "I've got to be more aggressive. I've got to make myself available, whether the ball is coming or not. I've got to be there, and get myself active and don't get discouraged whatsoever if the ball is not coming. You've got to pursue it sometimes, and in different ways. I had zero offensive rebounds, that's something I don't like at all."

Sports talk radio Monday will have a field day Monday, but Gasol found a great deal of support from Kobe Bryant on Sunday.

"He'll play better the next game," he said.

It wasn't the last time Pau's name came up during Bryant's postgame press conference. Asked whether the Lakers could have gotten more out of Lamar Odom, whose game Sunday was similarly awful, Bryant again took the opportunity to pump up Gasol. "We could have gotten a little bit more out of everybody. But Pau is our guy. He's our guy. He's the next in line. Responsibility and the pressure comes along with that," he said, "and he'll be ready to go next game."

Kudos to Kobe for busting out a modified Uncle Ben, as well for constructively reminding Gasol of the expectations surrounding him and how much the Lakers need him to come through in Wednesday's Game 2.

"Rightfully so. I put pressure on myself. It's one and two, it's me and him. We've got to deal with it. When you get all the praise when things go your way, [you also] get all the blame when things don't. It's part of the seats we sit in," Kobe said of the pressure he's putting on Gasol. "It's just [a matter of] him being aggressive. He's one of the best in the world."

Bryant has, since Gasol arrived, freely heaped praise on his frontcourt wingman, fully understanding the recent additions made to his jewelry collection don't happen if Gasol isn't around. Still, periodically (Sunday included), he'll also poke Gasol's natural inclination towards the communal, his often slavish devotion to making the right play even when it's at the expense of his own game, and the natural differences in their on-court attitudes.

The White Swan/Black Swan moment earlier this season wasn't Kobe delving into film criticism.

"He wants to do the right thing all the time, which is fine," Bryant said Sunday, "but sometimes you've just got to be more aggressive. Say the hell with it."

Jay From LA wrote:Then **** sack up and make your plays instead of totally disappearing the entire game. I don't want to hear them complaining about lack of touches when they were total non factors when they did get touches.

DEEP3CL wrote:How about this for LO and Pau........touch some damn rebounds first then we can talk about the other part.