Pau Gasol: Potential Concern?

[PaKii94]

There is no doubt Pau has been a great upgrade to Boozer

but with Rose's recent struggles and the win streak that was going on, his dip in performance has been pushed to the background.
He started off really well: in Nov. he averaged 20 points on 50% shooting, 54% TS. while 54% TS is considered "league average" pau was doing it on high volume which created other opportunities playing the inside out game.

However, last month that number dipped to 16 points on 45% shooting, 52% TS. Both months he averaged 35mpg. I thought he would decline with minutes, but i didnt expect it this much this fast. Thib's has been a bit better with big man minutes but there is no reason Gasol should be playing full quarters. The reason we wanted depth is to space out the minutes, its time we do that.

To put those numbers into perspective, 2012-2013 boozer averaged 16 on 48% shooting, 51% TS so almost as bad.

I want the gasol from November back.

[RedBulls23]

IMO, Gasol needs to be rested on back to backs and limited to 30 mins a game. Thibs needs to not be stubborn about this. We have the big man depth to make it work and he needs to utilize it.

If you look at the game log, generally in the games he played big minutes or on the back end of a back to back, Pau struggled.

I think it really is that simple.

Edit: To add, this is why trading Taj is out of the question. Who btw is having his best year efficiency wise. 18 PER and 56%ts

[[e]]

Need to limit his minutes.

I'd honestly be playing Taj the most minutes out of our bigs. Then give Niko extended minutes if he's playing well. Get Pau and Noah some rest down the stretch, it'll help out a lot with the grind of the season.

[dumbell78]

Tim Duncan plan, rinse repeat. It's that simple.

[WindyCityBorn]

He just needs to play less. 30 minutes and no full quarters. Thibs is slow to adjust so who knows if it will ever happen.

[Justrec]

Pau's ball control. I'll keep saying it until people realize. He is very sloppy with the Ball and gets it taken from him when he tries to do moves in the paint, tries to catch the ball, or just plain doing nothing worth losing the ball over at all. Watch the game vs Denver tonight. He carelessly loses the ball into turnovers at least twice.

[Keller61]

There are definitely some games where we would be better off with more Taj and less Pau. I feel bad that Taj is in his prime and is getting way less minutes than what players of his caliber usually get. I think Thibs needs to take better advantage of our depth and recognize who has it going and who doesn't in each individual game.

[Rerisen]

Need more Mirotic.

[Mbrahv0528]

Pau's ball control. I'll keep saying it until people realize. He is very sloppy with the Ball and gets it taken from him when he tries to do moves in the paint, tries to catch the ball, or just plain doing nothing worth losing the ball over at all. Watch the game vs Denver tonight. He carelessly loses the ball into turnovers at least twice.

Lol.

[kodo]

Pau is performing virtually identically as he was last year, and not massively below his championship season.

2014: 17.4 ppg 9.7 rpg 3.4 apg 2.4 TO
2015: 17.6 ppg 11.1 rpg 2.7 apg 2.1 TO
2010 (championship): 18.3 ppg 11.3 rpg 3.5 apg 2.2 TO

Yes he played better in Nov but players don't perform at the same level all year long, and Nov is filled with a lot of teams adjusting and getting back into shape...basically a lot of garbage defense around the league.

If someone is expecting more from Pau than what he's giving on offense & rebounding, that's delusional. We got a $7M free agent PF, not max franchise player like Anthony Davis or Blake Griffin.

He can improve on defense other than shotblocking, I hope to see better effort on that end once the playoffs start. But at 34 he has to pace his body just like Ray Allen, which means not a lot of regular season defense from a guy his age.

[Mech Engineer]

I think the injuries to Taj hurt Thibs's plans. If Taj remains healthy and Noah keeps improving, Pau should get less minutes. That plus Derrick's stretch of absence led Thibs to rely on Pau.

Pau seems to be a good candidate for injury/slowing down if overplayed. Unleash whoever is Noah/Rose's minute controller on Thibs to do the same for Pau. And, GarPax better hold a sign showing Pau's age in front of Thibs every game.

[Mk0]

Pau is a great addition and he along with Butler carried us to start the season. I have no issue with his production considering other guys have been stepping up recently.

At the same time the board's motto should be "Need more Niko!"

[pylb]

Taj was injured. I expect Pau's minutes to come down a little.

[ElPolloLoco]

Limit his minutes its that simple. We have taj and niko who both can play 20 minutes or more easy. Its just upto thibs.

[RememberLu]

I expected him to nail his open mid range J's more often

we need to run more pick and pop with him and derrick in general

[AAU Teammate]

Need more Mirotic.

His fouling rate is too high for massive minutes. Right now he's best used as offensive bench spark, and when defensive improvement happens--great

[Mbrahv0528]

Need more Mirotic.

His fouling rate is too high for massive minutes. Right now he's best used as offensive bench spark, and when defensive improvement happens--great

His defense has improved actually..like leaps and bounds better than when he first got out there. He needs more minutes, period. We are a better and more complete team with him out on the floor, there's really no debating that.

[Stratmaster]

Yes. We should always be concerned with our all-stars while trying to get Brooks and Moore as many minutes as possible.

Seriously though, no I am not concerned about Gasol. He is doing great. Like many, I would like to see more Niko giving Pau more rest.

[AAU Teammate]

17, 9 and 9(blocks) is gonna work for me

[PaKii94]

17, 9 and 9(blocks) is gonna work for me

he got that on 7/17 shooting. still not efficient for a big