Who Should Adjust?

[Asianiac_24]

I've never seen a team ask one of their star players to adjust to a new unproven coach. It is MDA's job to utilize the tools he has on this team, not having the players adjusting to him.

[H00PDREAMS]

Dwight should adjust. Kid needs to practice his free throws. Until he is sinking some free throws down the stretch I don't want see his lips moving on the subject of Pau.

[Penberthy]

Here's an idea, play Pau only the last four/five minutes of every quarter at Center. Benefits include:
-Jamison gets to play most minutes at 4, maximizing Dan Tony's offense, Hill gets to play as well.
-Pau plays mostly against back-up centers and dominates each and every one
-Pau stays fresh every game
-Pau is fresh come playoff time
-We don't have to worry about dwight missing free throws
-Dwight stays fresh b/c he is only playing ~30 min/gm
-Dwight doesn't have to worry about free throws
-Dwight still gets us into bonus early in the quarter

[twinthunder3]

Only way for D'Antoni to adapt is play Gasol off the bench.

[GOODKIDmAAdCITY]

i rather have pau come off the bench than even think about trading him. give him some more time to get healthy tho

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[Jajwanda]

You could bring back Dwight very late in the fourth quarter with Gasol there until say the 3 minute mark or so. Use it as a breather for Dwight to finish the game and limit the hack-a-Dwight to two possessions.

[MrBigShot]

Dude nobody is saying Pau had no part in the 3 finals run and the past 2 championships. The Pau we are seeing isn't the Pau we've saw during those championship runs.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPQlXrRPNV4[/youtube]
^^^This is the Pau Gasol that has something to prove, something to gain. The one we are seeing today isn't the same. He has no fire, no emotion, and no effort.

I wish everybody would just stop talking about the whole 3 finals run and 2 championships. IT'S THE PAST, I'm sorry to say this but take some of the Laker haters' advise and quit living in the past.

Oh give me a break, Phil was able to utilize Gasol better then anyone. NOT Brown, nor Dantoni. Is he older and not the same player anymore? yes, but thats like anyone aging in the NBA. He needs to be utilized the way he was in the those 3 years we made it to the finals. Haters arent living in the moment, they're just typical casual fans with their knee jerk reaction. Pau Gasol is still one of the best PF's in the NBA, he didnt just fall of the earth after 2010, he just been victim of morons who dont know how to use him.

I agree with bigdong23 on this one. Sure, Pau may not be as hungry/motivated as he has in the past, or just straight as good as he use to be due to age, but the way he's being utilized is a bigger issue here in my opinion.

He's being used the same way Chris Bosh was really early on when the Heat were struggling in 2010-2011...purely as a jumpshooter. I think D' Antoni needs to make some adjustments here. In my opinion, Pau should either:

1. Come off the bench and go straight to him when he's in the game like a Manu/Harden/Jason Terry sixth man.

2. Continue to start and be used as the 1st option early in the game, on post ups with the occasional Kobe/Pau pick and roll. I know I may get some flak for this comment, but I don't think it's unreasonable for the bigmen to get involved early on on the game. It gets them going and motivates them to rebound/defend, and also gets other bigs in foul trouble. If you don't agree that he should be the 1st option, then at least the 2nd option behind Dwight.

Kobe doesn't need to carry the offensive load in the regular season with the talent on this team...he should not be shooting 31 times. Post up Pau and allow him to work in the post. He's great at that...he finds cutters and passes well out of the post, and he has an array of moves. He's at his best when he's in the post...

THEN later in the game, let #24 do what he does best...

[LateRoundFlyer]

:lol: , okay ballboy

I may not be a mod, but I would think intentionally goading people based upon their post count or join date would warrant some kind of reprimand here. Then again, I must be biased.

[BEazy]

:lol: , okay ballboy

I may not be a mod, but I would think intentionally goading people based upon their post count or join date would warrant some kind of reprimand here. Then again, I must be biased.

.....

[Kilroy]

:lol: , okay ballboy

I may not be a mod, but I would think intentionally goading people based upon their post count or join date would warrant some kind of reprimand here. Then again, I must be biased.

He's not a ballboy anymore... He's waived... Go ahead and attack him all you want.
He was a troll and a previously banned poster and the one who initiated all the personal attacks. He's fair game.

But back to the intent of this thread... Pau isn't the only issue...

If you look at our roster, the only players really suited for Nashtoni's system are Nash/Jamison/Meeks maybe Duhon and possibly Clark... I don't think anyone wants that as our core.

Kobe, MWP, and Dwight, can get up and down the floor, but it really doesn't play to their strengths, and you don't really want a guy like Kobe, who's had a hard time staying healthy, running the floor that much.
Pau is clearly not suited for an up-tempo, high scoring offense, Ebanks and Hill are young and can run, but neither are good scorers and they aren't score first players.

So either D'Antoni has a lot of adjustments to make.... A whole lot of adjustments... Or we need to blow it up to get what he needs... Honestly neither scenario makes a whole lot of sense.

Honestly, I keep going back to when Phil first came to LA... Not that I think current Phil is the only coach that could make this team work... But when Phil first came to LA, the Shaq lakers started winning immediately. They were a different team almost over night. For all the talk about the Triangle being hard to implement, Phil was smart enough not to try to force a system on a group of guys who weren't ready for it or suited for it... He worked it in over time and as a result the team looked pretty good from the start... They were dismantled by a better team in the WCF, but you could see the vision and the unity building... Maybe it will as time goes on for this team, but their age worries me, and the longer we go looking lost, the less confident I am that it will work out when it counts.

[madmaxmedia]

Only way for D'Antoni to adapt is play Gasol off the bench.

And vice versa...

[Doormatt]

bahaha he's a PF

actually a vast majority of his minutes from 08-10 were spent at center. not until bynum's emergence (and healthiness) and the departure of odom did we see gasol start to spend more time at power forward.

also he spent his entire career for memphis playing center.

so no, youre quite wrong, hes a center who can play power forward, much like tim duncan.

[Kupchak9]

turning Gasol into a player like Dirk is pretty messed up, no matter what, it seems like Gasol is the scapegoat of the team. Why not have Kobe adapt by probing and cutting around the court instead of standing still waiting for the bigs to feed him back the ball? If you noticed, Howard gets stripped a ton of times from the opposing players assigned to guard Kobe rather than the defending big men.

[Doormatt]

if you get stripped, its nobody's fault but your own really. being able to understand when to kick it back out when someone's man is cheating on you and when to go aggressive against a double team is what makes a big man great.

much like kobe has nobody to blame when he gets stripped driving into 3 people.

other than floor spacing, but thats a team construction fault really, and again, there is nobody to blame for that other than management i guess.

[wasfan]

lakers fans should adjust.....

[kobe808lak]

DAntoni needs to adjust. We have the best interior advantage in the league. We do not have that advantage in the other areas of our team. You wanna fix something, fix the other positions. 2-7footers. We shouldnt have to give up that edge to be successful. I bet phil jackson would take the team as is and be successful. Why cant DAntoni?

With D'Antoni he is turning our biggest strength (size) into our biggest disadvantage. Only with a terrible coach is this possible.

Fire D'Antoni, there I said it!

This team is not built in any way to be a run and gun team. We are still a half court team that should abuse teams on the inside every game.