Maybe. But if they aren't ready defensively, probably better off with Asik-Gasol. Or maybe Parsons at 4. Or maybe convince the Bulls to take back Asik for Noah! Obviously no chance but Gasol-Noah would be an awesome fit. Noah would be able to handle most of the defensive load and cover the harder assignment, and he has good hands, passing and a little bit of range.
It'd be great if Asik's defender soft double 1. Gasol makes great passes from the post to a open Asik 2. Doubling Gasol in the post basically means a gree offensive rebound and putback for Asik
I'm not talking about posting up, I'm talking about crowding the paint. Lakers have been dealing with this problem for years. With the triangle, they were able to make it work (somewhat) by putting Bynum on the strong side low post and having Pau run 2 man game on the weakside. Once they dropped the triangle, they had no clue what to do with Pau. If Pau is trying to post up, you're gonna make Asik hang out at the wing where he can't rebound? You gonna run 4-5 pnr? You gonna use Pau as playmaker or for his midrange only? Mike Brown did all this and it failed. Lakers have been trying to make 2 7 footers coexist outside of the triangle for the past year and a half with 5's way better than Asik and it's not working. Which is why he's now on the bench
There's no need to give Asik open layups. Just give him open jumpers, pack the paint. Whenever Pau posts up there are going to be two defenders in the low post. It will limit options for Pau and close down lanes for perimeter players. Sure, once in a while Pau will obliterate his man and force the other guy to fully commit and Asik will have an open layup, if he catches the pass and no one recovers in time. But that's a much higher degree of difficulty compared to having someone like Millsap in there next to Pau. Or compared to Sampson/Hakeem pairing, or Duncan/Robinson pairing. I think Pau would still help because he's simply a much more talented player compared to current Rockets' PFs. But his impact would be diminished in that setting. In fact, pushing Parsons to 4 and opening up room for Pau and guards would probably be better. Defense at 5 would get much worse but defense at 4 would get better and offense would be much better.
If Yao Ming managed to be effective next to Chuck Hayes, Gasol can be effective next to Asik (if Gasol is not just too washed up to be good next to anybody).
Not trying to take anything away from Chuck Hayes But Pau and Chuck Hayes aren't the same type of player and if you're not gonna use Pau as the primary post scoring option, I don't know why you'd want him
what about each of the last 2 postseasons? Vs Ibaka. 12 points ,44% FG 2nd round vs Faried 13 points 43% FG 1st round 2011 vs Dirk 12 points 42% FG 2nd round vs Landry 13 points 41.8% FG 1st round From 3 to 10 feet hes shooting 29%, from 10 to 15 feet hes shooting 27% http://www.hoopdata.com/player.aspx?name=Pau Gasol Pau's January FG% is 44%...hes playing next to Nash mind you Hes as cooked as a roast turkey. Hes done.
I think he meant in this situation Pau plays Yao's role while Asik plays Chuck's role which is defense and intangibles.
I still think he needs a 4 who's a threat to give him some space but maybe I'm biased from watching him play out of position all these years thanks bro! **** you too!
Whats the point of playing him and howard together if your just gonna roam him around the perimeter. D'antoni needs to adjust his game plan slow the game down and just dump the ball inside to Gasol and let howard clean up misses. Gasol is still the best low post player in the game. So stupid
