Gasol: Big men should get ball more

[king a]

http://sports.espn.go.com/nba/playoffs/ ... id=4206669

[hermes]

well i think he's right, we need to work inside out

be he and bynum need to be tough and physical down there or it isn't going to work

[shobe_81]

Well Big Men should also rebound the ball and play defense more!

[Kilroy]

Well our offense is clearly most effective when the ball moves between Pau Bynum Odom and Walton...

But Fish and Kobe couldn't get the ball in to Shaq enough, so what makes us think they're going to do it now...

And.... Gasol, Bynum and Odom, are allowing themselves to get shoved around inside and are rarely in a good position to recieve the inlet pass...

But, what I don't get is when Gasol and Bynum are drawing single coverage, isolated on the side of the key, why we can't at least try to throw them the ball...

Let them drive... And if they flop and draw a charge, let our bigs stand over and call them pu$$ies...

The thing is, Odom definately has to be more effective on the offensive end of the floor... He's really the key to our inside out scheme against Denver, because he has the best chance of getting K-Mart and Birdman in foul trouble...

Odom needs to be way mor aggressive... I mean, what do we have to lose... Would we miss him if he fouled out?

[crazyeights]

Good for Pau.

We lost last night's game once PJ took Bynum out. When Lamar came in we went from being down 4 with momentum to being down 14-16 points...

Bynum and Pau came to play last night. Anderson and Nene just can't defend these two, so we need to pound them inside. If we get Martin in foul trouble their bigs can't keep up with us one on one.

The problem is if we have just Pau or just Bynum in, then they have a weak-side defender like Anderson who can alter shots.

Pound these guys.

It's also pathetic how little Kobe touched the ball in the 3rd quarter...our other guys played a terrible game, IMO. Let's work inside-out and get to the free-throw line.

[SashAlex]

...and he's right. We're strong inside. Work inside-outside to get the ball moving.

[wushui]

I think Pau is jabbing Kobe for taking so many jump shots.

[milesfides]

What?

Nobody should complain about anybody except himself.

Man up and do your freaking job. Don't play like a sissy and maybe you'll get the ball more. Seal off your man instead of getting your ass pushed around. Stop settling for the midrange jumper, big man. Why don't you take it inside since you've had a height advantage for 3 straight rounds of playoff ball.

Why don't you play defense instead of standing around? Why don't you protect the basket and give your teammates some help like all the 'lesser' role players on the Jazz, Rockets, and Nuggets?

Why don't you HIT YOUR G-DAMN free throws? Instead of choking like you always have in your career?

Players need to shut the f up. I don't care if it's Kobe or Gasol or Fish or whomever.

It's the playoffs. Keep the talking behind closed doors. Keep it among yourselves.

Talking to the media about this during a playoff series is a bitch move.

I'm VERY disappointed, but then again, I've been very disappointed in our big men this entire playoffs. Grow some balls, show some heart, and shut your face. Stop embarrassing Laker fans and your team.

[TommyTheCat]

pau's right. not enough touches going inside. i'm tired of seeing this team settle for the outside jumper.

[kobe808lak]

this could be a good thing... look at when Dwight called out his coach, while this isn't the same thing it is somewhat similar and Gasol needs to play big in G5 now.

[crazyeights]

What?

Nobody should complain about anybody except himself.

Man up and do your freaking job. Don't play like a sissy and maybe you'll get the ball more. Seal off your man instead of getting your ass pushed around. Stop settling for the midrange jumper, big man. Why don't you take it inside since you've had a height advantage for 3 straight rounds of playoff ball.

Why don't you play defense instead of standing around? Why don't you protect the basket and give your teammates some help like all the 'lesser' role players on the Jazz, Rockets, and Nuggets?

Why don't you HIT YOUR G-DAMN free throws? Instead of choking like you always have in your career?

Players need to shut the f up. I don't care if it's Kobe or Gasol or Fish or whomever.

It's the playoffs. Keep the talking behind closed doors. Keep it among yourselves.

Talking to the media about this during a playoff series is a bitch move.

I'm VERY disappointed, but then again, I've been very disappointed in our big men this entire playoffs. Grow some balls, show some heart, and shut your face. Stop embarrassing Laker fans and your team.

Miles you're better than this man.

Bynum and Pau shot 14/18 from the field. That's 77.8 percent from the field...........are you serious? You don't think he has a legitimate gripe?

They came to play. Don't worry man, nobody's bagging on your boy Kobe. It's not our bigs responsibility to foul out in the first 3 minutes of the game man. Our D was porous, no way that's solely their fault. Guards have to start chocking off drives...why you ask? Because guards pass the ball to bigs. Which, coincidentally, is why Pau has the right to ask for the ball. Because bigs need guards to make that entry pass.

This isn't him going to the media and being a tattle-telling bitch. It's him being honest. Dwight Howard did it. Shaq's done it. He doesn't care about shot counts. Especially if we win. But, Bynum and Pau had it going and we need to play smarter than that.

Enough perimeter shots. Fish was 2-7, Ariza was 1-4, Kobe 10-26, Lamar 1-8, Shannon 1-4, Luke 0-2.

Let me put it to you this way: Sasha shot a better clip than us as a team. That's never a good sign.

And as for your free-throws rant...Pau and Bynum only missed 3 total. We lost by 19, so I think maybe there are bigger fish to fry and fingers to point.

[SS_MagicMark]

My barber thinks I need more haircuts.

[Polvoron]

Miles you're better than this man.

No, he isn't.
He is a Gasol hater at his finest.
13 rebounds per game isn't enough for him because ummm...it's Pau.

Don't worry man, nobody's bagging on your boy Kobet.

Bingo.
If Lakers lose, it's somebody else fault.
If Lakers win, Kobe is the Goat, how the hell could he win with such sissy teammates?
Been there, seen that.

[milesfides]

Complete garbage about talking to the media. Honesty has nothing to do with it. Did Kobe complain to the media of not getting the ball in crunch time after Derek Fisher airballed that 3 in game 2?

It's about keeping together as a team, fighting together in the trenches. Dwight Howard should shut up and play. He called out his coach in the last series, and he's frequently yapping so much pretty much everybody is telling him to shut up - including his own teammates. Shaq also was immature for always speaking out in the media.

You're using bad examples to justify what Gasol did, because those guys were immature, unprofessional, and self-defeating.

Again, Gasol just needs to shut his face.

About getting the ball more - the entire team needs better ball movement, and the onus is on everybody, including the big men, to make that happen. If Gasol and Bynum were killing the nuggets down low, it would be a no-brainer. But they've been inconsistent down low - can anybody dispute that?

Moreover, our bigs are not playing crappy defense (including Fisher), so yapping about offense just makes them look like petty, single-minded tools.

There's a reason why Phil is pulling Bynum. And there's a reason why Denver took a page out of Boston's defense, because they knew we were soft inside. And we still are. George Karl spoke openly about it.

Sportswriters all across the country are pointing out the obvious, how Bynum has disappeared and Gasol is soft.

And please, let's not talk about free throws. Pau's bricked a ton, especially when it counts a lot, i.e., fourth quarter. He's under 70% in the playoffs, after hitting almost 80% in the reg season. Way to step up and punish teams in the post.

Lamar's shooting under 60%. Shaq would be proud.

Speaking of Shaq, Bynum is shooting 57% this series from the line. Didn't he boast he was like Shaq but could hit free throws?

Kobe's shooting 92%. Somebody is focused, and it ain't our big men.

By the way, Kobe shot 13 free throws last night. Bynum? 3. Gasol? 7. Odom? 4.

Let's not talk about who's being aggressive and attacking the Nuggets.

Basketball is a game that quickly figures out who's effective. Be aggressive and effective, and the ball will find you.

Otherwise, shut your face and play better.

[Polvoron]

And please, let's not talk about free throws. Pau's bricked a ton, especially when it counts a lot, i.e., fourth quarter. He's under 70% in the playoffs, after hitting almost 80% in the reg season. Way to step up and punish teams in the post.

Seriously, don't use stats for supporting your "facts", because they say Gasol is averaging 18,3 ppg on 56.6FG%, 11,3 rpg and 1,9 bpg in the playoffs. Not bad, uh.
In the Conf. Final he's averaging 13 rpg while the starting Nuggets froncourt averages 16,6 rpg combined, besides the tough Nuggets frontcourt is "limiting" Pau to 17,8 ppg on 62.5 FG. Pau's asisgment, Nene, is averaging 11,8 ppg after putting 16 ppg on Dallas.

warning sent for personal attack

[TommyTheCat]

And please, let's not talk about free throws. Pau's bricked a ton, especially when it counts a lot, i.e., fourth quarter. He's under 70% in the playoffs, after hitting almost 80% in the reg season. Way to step up and punish teams in the post.

Seriously, don't use stats for supporting your "facts", because they say Gasol is averaging 18,3 ppg on 56.6FG%, 11,3 rpg and 1,9 bpg in the playoffs. Not bad, uh.
In the Conf. Final he's averaging 13 rpg while the starting Nuggets froncourt averages 16,6 rpg combined, besides the tough Nuggets frontcourt is "limiting" Pau to 17,8 ppg on 62.5 FG. Pau's asisgment, Nene, is averaging 11,8 ppg after putting 16 ppg on Dallas.
edit

you did a good job making your point but your last sentence is juvenile and has no place in the discussion.

[Kilroy]

You know I was pissed at Gasol for his D too...

So I watched him close during game 4 and replayed that in my mind against games 1-3...

Gasol is by and large doing what he's supposed to on D... He's sticking with Nene...

I noticed it's not Gasol getting burned, it's usually Lamar or whoever's playing KMart and Birdman... Lots of times it's Lamar gambling on D.

So I'm cooler with Gasol...

However, I don't see how they could get him the ball more that they have... He let's himself get pushed so far away from the basket, he doesn't have a shot anyway.

Bynum is another story. He has position and is calling for the ball and our guys just look at him and pass around the perimeter...

[tlifeset]

We don't need stats ... even though they do a pretty good job making the case for us ...

Gasol and Bynum dominated the Nuggets offensively. Both got into grooves and were undermined by either Phil substituting them and/or guard du jour (Fisher, Sasha, etc.) deciding to shoot more.

Not to mention, in the first half when both were on the floor ... the Nuggets go into significant foul trouble. And when both weren't on the floor in the 4th, the Nuggets attacked the rim with reckless abandon.

To amend Shaq ... Feed the big dogs.

Denver has no answer for them.

But part of me thinks that Phil is playing one of his zen psychological tricks here to get Gasol to ask for the ball more and get Bynum to ask for more minutes. His thinking probably is ... if they want it, they'll ask for it. They'll want to prove their coach wrong.

Honestly, the game 4 loss was the best loss we could have had: coming home ... borderline blowout (even though we had our chances) that Phil can use as leverage to get under their skin ... and give JR Smith tons of confidence so he goes 2 for 20 next game ending with Billups punching him in the face ... plus, phil's got a nice beef with the refs who will respond with more home town cooking ... oh, and the Nuggets got 3 technical fouls in a win ... in their thug minds that means "Technical = Win".

[Anklebreaker702]

What?

Nobody should complain about anybody except himself.

Man up and do your freaking job. Don't play like a sissy and maybe you'll get the ball more. Seal off your man instead of getting your ass pushed around. Stop settling for the midrange jumper, big man. Why don't you take it inside since you've had a height advantage for 3 straight rounds of playoff ball.

Why don't you play defense instead of standing around? Why don't you protect the basket and give your teammates some help like all the 'lesser' role players on the Jazz, Rockets, and Nuggets?

Why don't you HIT YOUR G-DAMN free throws? Instead of choking like you always have in your career?

Players need to shut the f up. I don't care if it's Kobe or Gasol or Fish or whomever.

It's the playoffs. Keep the talking behind closed doors. Keep it among yourselves.

Talking to the media about this during a playoff series is a bitch move.

I'm VERY disappointed, but then again, I've been very disappointed in our big men this entire playoffs. Grow some balls, show some heart, and shut your face. Stop embarrassing Laker fans and your team.

Miles with the HEAT!!!!!!! Way to bring it Miles

[b shaw20]

Pau: walks into locker room and yells at the top of his lungs,...
"guys, you need to get me the baloncesto alot more so I can dominate that maricon Nene!"

Sasha: brushing his hair out..."I don't know Pau, I'm feeling a hot streak for me soon"

Fish: "stay professional Pau, even if your game dissappears and you can't throw one in the Pacific, if you show to work on time people will forgive you going 1 for 15"

Pau: "what?, I'm serious we must go inside!"

Kobe: "don't worry Pau relax, this is fun. I love this. It's a challenge and if I have to shoot from the parking lot, I will"

Bynum: mumbles..."Pau is right, we should get me the ball more, uhm I mean get us the ball more"

Phil: smoking a peace pipe..."you guys need to stay the course, trust the offense and eventually you will find the flow in it. It may not happen this year or the next, but it will happen. And Andrew, stfu kid- box out and rebound for Fish, Sasha and Luke! They need to continue to put up shots so they can find their grooves."

Pau: "increible, hijo de su puta madre!"

Sasha: "do you guys prefer my hair down or in a pony tail?"

Bynum: storming out of the locker room, bumps into Lamar "damn dog, I didn't even know you were here. I thought you had dissappeared again."

Lamar: ...takes off his headphones and proclaims "I love you guys"

Mbenga: smiling and clapping, "yea, lez du dis!!"