This is not a knee-jerk thread. Nor is it to sound malicious. I'm an avid Rockets fan, but I've been following the Lakers since the Van Axel days. In all these year's I've never seen a player give less **** about winning than the Pau Gasol of the last two years. It's been a developing trend I've noticed. The guy literally gives no effort on D, gets killed on PnR plays, gets killed anyway 1v1, and can't out rebound anybody under the age of 30. Had a horrendous game last night, including an atrocious first half, and got played on the Pacers game winner. Yet in the post-game interview he doesn't even acknowledge that. Showed no passion, no disappointment. Same old "it takes time" BS. YOUR A BASKETBALL PLAYER, NOT A ****ING BROKEN RECORD. The fact that Morey offered Scola, Goran, and Kmart for this guy makes me sick. The fact that some of you still want this guy makes me crindge.
Good. He got tired of being Kobe's b****. And now d-hoe chews him out too. He should've left a long time ago.
I'm sorry, it makes you sick that we almost gave up the guy we amnestied, the guy we let walk, and the guy who was only good as an expiring contract? I mean, yeah, Gasol's sucked so far this year and is clearly on the decline but Dragic and Scola are hardly paying any higher dividends for the Rockets at the moment (unique situation of the Thunder trade/Martin's contract aside).
Gasol is still very good. He does hae a tendency to sulk and give less than 100% when things don't go right.
Gasol is not a leader. If he's the best player on your team, you aren't going anywhere. He's just not an emotionally tough guy. But he is still a very good player. After Phil Jackson left, the Lakers have been devoid of a leader. Kobe is not getting any better in terms of trusting and empowering his teammates. You'd think this should go with age. But he's still the brash "look at me balling" guy like he was more than a decade ago.
Whatever.... the Lakers do not win their last few titles without Gasol. In fact he was their best player in the Finals against Boston. The guy is a very good player and has had to take a lot of **** from Kobe and the Lakers. I hope the Lakers deal him because they will not get equal value. I find it hilarious that you rip his effort when you have Howard next to him on the front line.
There's a reason why Phil Jackson gets paid the big bucks. It's because he can get players like Gasol to perform optimally. But since Phil's departure, starting with all the Rondo talks and later Rockets trade, it's pretty clear the Lakers have put Gasol in the backburner. It was all nice and well when he was the 2nd option behind Kobe while winning championships. Now he's on a dysfunctional team where everyone feels like he's the 4th option, and gets blamed for everything since Dwight Howard and Kobe would never get any heat. The Lakers have no one to blame but themselves for Gasol's poor play. They should've either traded him while he had value, or do their best to keep his morale up. You'd think they'd care a little more for a guy they're paying like $30mil/yr if you account for the luxury tax.
Lol typo geez guys. Cut me a break. I actually hated young Coby ,and couldn't believe they dealt Divaque for him. Really loved Shach for the first few years, and then loved the early 2000's gang with Deving Jorge, Robburt O'Reilly, and Ralph Fox. Became a Rockets fan in the early decade when Yell got drafted. Thing is, GaLOL got nothing on those guys in terms of passion and desire. That's what I hate to see, is not you losing, but not playing with heart and learning from your mistakes.
Kobe did have a poor game, despite putting up huge numbers and coming through in the clutch. It wasn't even Gasol's offense that ticked me off, but him letting himself be West's B word everytime they match up on D. Laker's overall just had a poor shooting night, and despite that they still should have won that one. If Gasol had been any use on D or offensive rebounding, they'd have walked away with an easy W.
This is the first time in the history of the internets that an era in nba basketball was referred to as the "Van Exel Days" lol man that made me laugh. That would be like me saying I've been following the Houston Rockets since the "Mike James days" lol
