Pau Gasol makes some interesting Comments and talks about ..

[BballFanAddict]

I consider Gasol soft because of his play in the championship. There were so many times he got the ball in the paint and instead of getting his shot off he passed back out.

Also, I do not get why they did not go to him more on the post. Kobe was being handled on the perimeter, and if Gasol is the 2nd best option, why did they not go to Gasol more often. If Gasol actually established post position, and was agressive about getting his shot when he got the ball deep in the paint, then he could have opened things up for Kobe.

I have to wonder if Phil, Kobe and the rest of Lakers gave up on Gasol in the paint due to him not establishing position often enough, and because when he did, he passed out more than took his shot.

If Kobe is your first option, and Defense from the opposition is gearing to stop him, then the 2nd option has to be very assertive. Gasol wasn't.

Now, was this all Gasol's fault? I don't know, because I have no idea what Phil's plan was; but, it sure looked like Gasol wasn't be aggressive enough.

[superBlazerFan]

sounds like he just needs to get a little more used to playing in LA where he is going to be under the microscope more

[microfib4thewin]

Gasol did what he can. He is definitely too soft to play center, but when the Lakers acquired him they were planning on using him at the 4 spot. In all seriousness I didn't expect the Lakers to go this far in beating the Spurs and win 2 games against the best defense in the league. There are some criticism that is certainly warranted, such as his low base strength and his below average rebounding, but considering he played with the team for only half a season and was able to propel them to the finals, there's not much more that you could have asked of him without telling him to do something beyond his own limit.

[CB4MiamiHeat]

Gasol averaged 15-10 50% against arguably the best post defender in all of basketball and he played good man D.He actually did better on Garnett than Rasheed Wallace did.

He was horrible rotating and team defense, and he was horrible at holding on to the ball on offense and getting stripped.

But if anyone gets the majority of the blame its not him, cause he actually did some things right. I saw some Lakers do absolutely nothing on both ends.

[PPAW4Life]

Duncan and KG didn't play well....Gasol had a little to do with it but not really much.

What made him look was his total play.

He's a finesse player and does a lot of fakes and spin moves to get off a good look. He isn't that big and doesn't go up strong often (only on the fastbreak or open lane dunk).

He did make one particular strong move against KG and dunked the ball but other than that he didn't do much of anything that was considered "strong" or made an impact.

The guy didn't grab any big rebounds, didn't have many easy shots/dunks, didn't have any big time blocks, and didn't make any purposeful shots.

After the Finals Gasol will be known for falling down under the basket because he was more than willing to "flop" instead of hold his ground and stand up for himself and his team.

Most of the Lakers will be considered "soft" because they basically let the C's do whatever they wanted in that Game 6 without any consequence. And then at home in Game 4 and 5 they let the C's come back numerous times and didn't stop them on the defensive end.....consistently letting their man beat them off the dribble for interior scores.

That's why they are viewed as "soft".

[That Nicka]

Duncan and KG didn't play well....Gasol had a little to do with it but not really much.

of course

[IEcelticfan]

he needs to grow a pair

[JellosJigglin]

Just as Pau made us forget some of Odom's weaknesses, Bynum will cover up some of Pau's.

Pau is going to kill it when he goes back to his face-up game from the high post next season. He'll also be able to find open cutters from there with his great passing. I just can't wait to see Pau's first lob to Bynum.

[LakerFanMan]

Gasol averaged 15-10 50% against arguably the best post defender in all of basketball and he played good man D.He actually did better on Garnett than Rasheed Wallace did.

He was horrible rotating and team defense, and he was horrible at holding on to the ball on offense and getting stripped.

But if anyone gets the majority of the blame its not him, cause he actually did some things right. I saw some Lakers do absolutely nothing on both ends.

Thank you. it wasn't his man D that was weak. It was his team D and rotating that was weak. He played very good man D.

[wezbo]

pau is soft, but it doesnt matter when bynum comes back

[_BBIB_]

Gasol is absolutely not supposed to be playing the 5.

FUnny how so many people make basketball about height, but height takes a back seat to strength and length and Gasol does not have the strength (mentally or physically) to play the 5.

He will look much more comfortable at the 4 spot.

[Chubby Chaser]

Pau is going to absolutely blow up once Bynum returns. Think of how much Shaq opened the floor for Amare this year. Pau is going to have the same benefits. Lakers will definitely be a force once they're 100%

[thegreatblaze]

"You play a good game and you're the king of the world," he said. "You don't play a good game, then all of a sudden you're soft and you didn't play well and it's your fault.

Welcome to LA-LA land, Pau.