Pau Gasol struggles without Kobe

[Jakay]

Pau with another meaningless triple double.. He is a great playmaking big man... Who can't defend or really shoot worth a damn more than 10 feet from the basket.

Love you Pau! Pero adios muchacho!!!

But who's perpetually out of position. Imagine him next to Blake or someone dominating the PF post. Not Odom. He's like a huge SF.

Spoiler:

Meaningless triple double... they didn't win, sure. He came to play.

[leeprettyp]

I hope this isnt Pau's last game with us

[kblo247]

0-16

Will miss Pau but he's not good enough to be a starting 4 in the nba. No shot, no d, no athleticism, no strength, and no speed. He's also oh so dependent upon Kobe to be useful. That's his last laker game IMO and its sad to see him follow up 3 great playoff years with 3 which sucked sadly. His fall off happened so out the blue

[leeprettyp]

i hear u bro, I just think the bigger issue is the FO and coaching philosophy

[kblo247]

I stl, think he can be a solid 5 or locker room leader for some teams but I just don't see him surviving here. If nene wasnt such a walking injury, I would gladly take him and Ariza.

[Mamba Venom]

22/64 = 34%

3 for 17 vs SAS last week
7 for 17 vs HOU
7 for 16 vs SAS gm 1
5 for 14 vs SAS gm 2


I love Pau and some of the blame has to go on Mike D for having him shoot so far from the basket. But lets be real here Pau began playing his best basketball in years because he was playing with Kobe Bryant getting all the attention (I'd even argue playing with Kobe helped elevate prime Pau Gasol to a top 10 player in basketball during our 3 final run 2008-2010). I still believe with the right coach and role players (Jordan Hill, Earl Clark, Blake) this core of Dwight, Kobe and Gasol can get it done. But maybe this recent scoring slump (for a big is really revealing to me) can help people appreciate what Bean brings to this team. People always question Kobe's leadership but what I see out there is a bunch of guys playing with no confidence and confused. In Nash case u could argue injuries have really slowed him down this year but in reality he isnt a starting playmaking PG on a championship team anymore. I just wish management wouldnt blow up this core and just got younger and athletic on the wing positions. Only bring back Metta if he agrees to opt out and comeback for around $2-4million. As much as I love Nash we need to get more defensive at the starting PG position and alot younger. A spot up 3 pt shooter and above avg defender is what we need at that position more than anything. But then again adding another legit playmaker would help big time also. Biggest reason being we dont know what kinda player Kobe will be whenever (if ever) he comes back next season. We just know whatever level he comes back as he busted his butt getting to.

Gasol had how many tripple doubles???

[leeprettyp]

22/64 = 34%

3 for 17 vs SAS last week
7 for 17 vs HOU
7 for 16 vs SAS gm 1
5 for 14 vs SAS gm 2


I love Pau and some of the blame has to go on Mike D for having him shoot so far from the basket. But lets be real here Pau began playing his best basketball in years because he was playing with Kobe Bryant getting all the attention (I'd even argue playing with Kobe helped elevate prime Pau Gasol to a top 10 player in basketball during our 3 final run 2008-2010). I still believe with the right coach and role players (Jordan Hill, Earl Clark, Blake) this core of Dwight, Kobe and Gasol can get it done. But maybe this recent scoring slump (for a big is really revealing to me) can help people appreciate what Bean brings to this team. People always question Kobe's leadership but what I see out there is a bunch of guys playing with no confidence and confused. In Nash case u could argue injuries have really slowed him down this year but in reality he isnt a starting playmaking PG on a championship team anymore. I just wish management wouldnt blow up this core and just got younger and athletic on the wing positions. Only bring back Metta if he agrees to opt out and comeback for around $2-4million. As much as I love Nash we need to get more defensive at the starting PG position and alot younger. A spot up 3 pt shooter and above avg defender is what we need at that position more than anything. But then again adding another legit playmaker would help big time also. Biggest reason being we dont know what kinda player Kobe will be whenever (if ever) he comes back next season. We just know whatever level he comes back as he busted his butt getting to.

Gasol had how many tripple doubles???

How was Gasol Impact on these playoff games? Numbers can lie and sometimes dont explain the full story. IF thats the case Zach Randolph is pretty much a 20ppg 10rpg PF and should be considered one of the great PF (which he isnt). We all watched the same games and can easily make an argument that Pau didnt dominate any of these games. Numbers can lie sometimes if u just look at the boxscore. Tim Duncan at age 37 outplayed both our Bigs (Dwight and Gasol) in that series

[leeprettyp]

BTW like i've been saying I love Pau and hope we keep him and Dwight. But he has to stop with the "I need more touches and to be the focal point of the offense" whining. He is a #2 option on a contending team only and nothings wrong with that. Still the most skilled Big in basketball overall.

[ngcoolman]

I think pau is completely misused by us. Offensively, he has more low-post move than Dwight and we never try to exploit that. Defensively, he no longer can guard quick PF but Dwight can. I think Dwigth and Gasol can occasionally swapped their defensive assignment. I think Dwigth and Gasol can definitely work together, just not by a coach like MDA.

[leeprettyp]

I think pau is completely misused by us. Offensively, he has more low-post move than Dwight and we never try to exploit that. Defensively, he no longer can guard quick PF but Dwight can. I think Dwigth and Gasol can occasionally swapped their defensive assignment. I think Dwigth and Gasol can definitely work together, just not by a coach like MDA.

This!!!!

[Michael Lucky]

ugh he might struggle without Kobe which is natural since low post bigs need good (at least decent) wing players to be successful, but he was still the only one who bothered to come out and play last night.

he actually averaged 14 points 11.5RPG 6.5assists on 48%FG with bummed knees this series. Get yourself to germany and i'm pretty sure he'll be a very effective player next year on offense.

[Run-MKE 311]

Interesting topic, I would believe that Pau would play better without Kobe because of an increased number of looks. It is no secret that when Pau is not involved early on the offensive end, he tends to lose interest for most of the game.

But Kobe could be a source of focus for Pau, which helps to lock him in further. Who knows, but when Pau first came to LA, he & Kobe played a nasty two man game during their title runs.

[kblo247]

I think pau is completely misused by us. Offensively, he has more low-post move than Dwight and we never try to exploit that. Defensively, he no longer can guard quick PF but Dwight can. I think Dwigth and Gasol can occasionally swapped their defensive assignment. I think Dwigth and Gasol can definitely work together, just not by a coach like MDA.

This!!!!

No this. Metta was a PF for a stretch with Pau as C, moving his feet like Odom did. But unlike Pau of 09 or 10 he couldn't guard the rim either

[kblo247]

I think pau is completely misused by us. Offensively, he has more low-post move than Dwight and we never try to exploit that. Defensively, he no longer can guard quick PF but Dwight can. I think Dwigth and Gasol can occasionally swapped their defensive assignment. I think Dwigth and Gasol can definitely work together, just not by a coach like MDA.

This!!!!

No this. Metta was a PF for a stretch with Pau as C, moving his feet like Odom did. But unlike Pau of 09 or 10 he couldn't guard the rim either at C. You don't put Dwight at PF on D with Nash and Metta because you take away his help ability with all the stretch 4s n place a fresh meat sign on pau

[ngcoolman]

No this. Metta was a PF for a stretch with Pau as C, moving his feet like Odom did. But unlike Pau of 09 or 10 he couldn't guard the rim either at C. You don't put Dwight at PF on D with Nash and Metta because you take away his help ability with all the stretch 4s n place a fresh meat sign on pau

I am not saying move Dwigth to PF all the time. It need to be done case by case. Use SAS series as an example, it was obvious that Gasol can't guard Duncan properly. Why not move Dwight on Duncan and Gasol on Splitter? Gasol can switch to defend PF when Booner is out for example. Another example is Clippers, why not move Dwight to defend Griffin and Gasol on Jordan? During the season, I don't seem to see that happening.

On the other hand, during the SAS series, I don't understand why not let Gasol goto the low post when Booner is guarding him. Why keep Gasol at the high post to attempt pass to Dwight at the low post who is defended by Duncan? I just don't understand.

[kblo247]

Because Pau can't deter Tony Parker, who led the league in pt paints for years. TNT would average 20 in the paint if Dwight stayed on Duncan like he should and Pau was an anchor.

I think Pau would be fine if we were actually a team that ran zone, but we never did

[AcecardZ]

Here's the problem with Gasol as I see it.

He struggled this year for two reasons:

A) He wasn't 100% healthy. He had to deal with plantar facitis and knee tendinitis.

B) For much of the season he played out of position.


Now for the dilemma. Should we want Pau to return along with his ridiculous $19 million a year salary? I would love Pau back if he can get his body right this offseason but I'm doubtful this is possible because he's been pretty bad for us at the end of each of the last three seasons. Why will he magically be able to get himself right all of a sudden? Forget what he did for Spain last Summer. He's capable of playing like that for two week stretches but not for an 82 game season plus the playoffs. His athleticism is gone and along with it so has much of his value as a professional basketball player. Feel free to disagree with me if you want but the doesn't move well at all and short of some German miracle knee fix I don't see that changing anytime soon.

Now, if we no longer want Pau because he lost his athleticism how are we going to convince another team to give him a shot? That's the $19 million a year question!

[GeneralNash]

22/64 = 34%

3 for 17 vs SAS last week
7 for 17 vs HOU
7 for 16 vs SAS gm 1
5 for 14 vs SAS gm 2


I love Pau and some of the blame has to go on Mike D for having him shoot so far from the basket. But lets be real here Pau began playing his best basketball in years because he was playing with Kobe Bryant getting all the attention (I'd even argue playing with Kobe helped elevate prime Pau Gasol to a top 10 player in basketball during our 3 final run 2008-2010). I still believe with the right coach and role players (Jordan Hill, Earl Clark, Blake) this core of Dwight, Kobe and Gasol can get it done.

I see what your saying. Kobe really does elevate the rest of the team. I definitely took that forgranted after seeing this pss poor line up. Kobe is a true game changer.

Teams still had to double him this season. Gasol and Dwight benefit from Kobe but Kobe and any 2 guard also benefits greatly from having gasol and dwight. I still think we can win with this core three....it is the other guys we have to worry about.

We need good role players like the clippers or knicks have...like jr smith or crawford for example...and that is a challenge by having all these huge contracts.

sent by pony express

[leeprettyp]

22/64 = 34%

3 for 17 vs SAS last week
7 for 17 vs HOU
7 for 16 vs SAS gm 1
5 for 14 vs SAS gm 2


I love Pau and some of the blame has to go on Mike D for having him shoot so far from the basket. But lets be real here Pau began playing his best basketball in years because he was playing with Kobe Bryant getting all the attention (I'd even argue playing with Kobe helped elevate prime Pau Gasol to a top 10 player in basketball during our 3 final run 2008-2010). I still believe with the right coach and role players (Jordan Hill, Earl Clark, Blake) this core of Dwight, Kobe and Gasol can get it done.

I see what your saying. Kobe really does elevate the rest of the team. I definitely took that forgranted after seeing this pss poor line up. Kobe is a true game changer.

Teams still had to double him this season. Gasol and Dwight benefit from Kobe but Kobe and any 2 guard also benefits greatly from having gasol and dwight. I still think we can win with this core three....it is the other guys we have to worry about.

We need good role players like the clippers or knicks have...like jr smith or crawford for example...and that is a challenge by having all these huge contracts.

sent by pony express

I hear u General Nash but my issue with that last statement in regards to the FO negligence to bring in help for this roster. There were players available for CHEAP that could've helped us this season. For instance Nate Robinson, Jarryd Bayless, and even Aaron Brooks were ALL available late in the preseason for 1-2mill dollar price range and we didnt even bother bringing one of those playmakers in that could've helped. And lets not get on the Kenyon Martin situation, just look at the defensive intensity and rebounding effort he gives the Knicks on a night in night out basis. Yes Kmart may have lockerroom issues (and even I didnt want him at the beginning of the season) but when the injuries plowed up it was no reason Mitch and Jim shouldn't have given the guy a call. In turn what happens is core players playing heavy mins in the regular season, injuries and not having much gas left coming playoff time