Gasol looks physically done. Like Elton Brand done. He's having trouble finishing even the easy plays, so expecting him to carry the scoring load in the post like he used to is ridiculous. Many skilled big men eventually come to this: McDyess, Rasheed, Brand, Garnett, and Webber all were/are primarily jump shooters towards the end. You could see the adjustment in his game already last year.
The interior offense should run through Gasol, Howard should basically be about defense, rebounds/putbacks and shots 1 foot from the rim, he should really have no plays whatsoever run for him (similar to Chandler), but there is no way on earth Howard would accept that.
The fact that posters here are still willing to trade for him is alarming. Old, won't make us into a contender, huge contract that hampers our cap flexibility, steals minutes from our young bigs, and is playing worse than Parsons. Sounds like a great deal, let's trade Harden for him.
Dwight is a great option. They just need to find a player who's better at the role that they want to use Gasol in.
Beat it, Coby fanboi. No [/i]real[/i] Rockets fan likes da Lakers, ecspecially da Coby Lakers (see 2009 West semi-finals. You was probly rootin for them in that series wasnt you? Lel)
Also, youd play like sh#t too if you played wit some prima donna, douchebag, jerk-off, smug ******* who never passes the ball. Pau aint done, look how He plays inda Olympics when he da #1 option. Its not Pau, its Kome.
Are you serious? Does Gasol impacts the game that much more than Pat? You can sit there and say its Les money all you want, but that affects the cap space. Plus, if the Rockets trade for Pau, they have to give up their young promising players like Patterson, mainly Parsons and other young players for an older player that is declining fast and have bad knees. Do you really think Gasol would all of a sudden make this team a championship team when he's barely helping the Lakers who have more dominate players than we do. Maybe if this was like 3-4 years ago then its different, but today, Pau is 32 years old, declining big time, bad knees, no longer aggressive, lost his passion for the game, and has a big contract. Yeah its Les money but his contract would prevent this team from being able to sign younger players that would impact the team much more than this over paid declining 7 footer.
Well, Gasol got torch against David West yesterday. Gasol isn't quick laterally and has lost a step. He settled for jump shots last year. It doesn't take a serious injury to cause a player to decline. Age, mileage, and other factors can cause a player to decline. Pau was never a mentally tough. I don't know how else would he ever help this team but hold our team back financially. Given the fact that if Houston have to get Pau, they most definitely have to trade Chandler Parsons who is on a 2nd round pick contract, 9 years younger, healthy, haven't reached his prime yet, and right now has great chemistry with Harden and Lin.
Gasol took more heat than he deserved last year. Last season he was often called "horrible" but his numbers weren't that far off from what he usually averaged despite being the third option at times. Sometimes he'd have a great game, and instead of the media mentioning it, they'd gloss over it to talk about Kobe somehow. That game against New Orleans last season when Kobe had a rough night is an example, or saying how Kobe would make a great coach. Around 2009, the Lakers played well without Kobe being a factor and beat teams they shouldn't have beat and that flew under the radar. I disagree that Gasol couldn't have been the top option for a team to succeed or that he couldn't be the main option because he's not a leader. Sometimes one doesn't have to be a verbal leader to elevate a team. Gasol got blamed when the Lakers struggled in the playoffs in 2008 and 2011, yet he didn't get enough credit when no team had an answer for him in 2009 or when he held his own against Boston in 2010. He should have gotten more touches those years. The Lakers success usually came down to what Gasol did, he just didn't always have to score to make a difference. In the 2010 finals he nearly averaged as many assist as Kobe without dominating the ball. He struggled against New Orleans, but even Dirk had trouble against certain players that were smaller. Stephen A Smith made off the court excuses for Lebron struggling in playoffs, Gasol didn't the benefit of having a bad series for similar reasons. Marc being better than Pau prior to this season is also something I disagree with. Pau was more versatile, I'd give Marc the edge in defense. Pau had much more competition at his division than Marc, I think that's partly why Marc made all star team over Pau. I haven't been able to watch much of the NBA so far this season. Gasol deserves some slack if his knees really are bad. In Phil's last year, Gasol played big minutes, even in games that he didn't have to or shouldn't have. Derek Fisher took all the blame for the Lakers slacking on defense and they still got roasted on the perimeter after he was gone. I won't deny that he's overpaid if he's really declining, but if he was so worthless people wouldn't have been so relieved when the Lakers always decided to keep him or when they got Dwight without giving him up.
I wonder if there's any possibility of using Gasol to get JSmoove to LA? I doubt Atlanta would bite, but I think it'd be a good move for the Lakers. Definitely more plausible than some of the deals we've seen the Lakers pull off.
Lamar Odom...watching the Clips play the Wolves at the moment, and he has the passion and fire of a pink ice cube.
is it most definite? btw, nice quoting hehe. I basically write "he's mismatched on West types, but in most cases, he's a good defender", you bolden the "he's a good defender" part and reply "but he couldn't defend West". That's pretty hilarious. sure he does. he's a much better rebounder, better defender in most situations, and a much more skilled scorer who's blatantly misused and frustrated right now. yeah well, reread the post.
funny reading the lakers board and they are just killing him. still think he can play at a high level but he doesnt run the floor like he used to n throw down on people.
We're sitting here, and we're supposed to be talking bout a franchise player, and we're talking about Gasol. I mean listen, we're sitting here talking about Gasol, not a franchise player, not a franchise player, not a franchise player, but we're talking about Gasol. Not the franchise player that we should be going out there and dying for and playing every game like it's our last but we're talking about Gasol man. How silly is that? .... Now I know that I'm supposed to lead by example and all that but I'm not shoving that aside like it don't mean anything. I know it's important, I honestly do but we're talking about Gasol. We're talking about Gasol man. We're talking about Gasol. We're talking about Gasol. We're not talking about the franchise player. We're talking about Gasol. When you come to the arena, and you see the Rockets play, you've seen the Rockets play right, you've seen the Rockets give everything we've got, but we're talking about Gasol right now. ... Hey I hear you, it's funny to me too, hey it's strange to me too but we're talking about Gasol man, we're not even talking about the franchise player, where it actually matters, we're talking about Gasol ... How the hell can we make this team better by going after Gasol? -Allen Iverson
1) He's lost a step. His quickness used to be an advantage and its no longer there 2) General erosion of skills From 2 to 9 feet hes shooting 23% from 10 to 15 feet hes shooting 22% hes someone whos accomplished quite a bit, a championship, performed heroically for his country in the olympics, he does seem less hungry and intense. When teams are hunting down your back like the rest of hte league is combined with losing some skills/physical gifts = bad combo. Hes on a fast decline. Hes good for 10 rebounds a game like Carlos Boozer but other than that you cant really count on him to score or rebound or anything
Yea, it's too funny, they all wanna trade him, say he washed up, can't play no more, is garbage, lost a step, but if they trade him they are expecting lebron James in return or else no dice, becuz pau is just that valuable
there aren't many 7 footers who can beat David West off the dribble, and he did it. But that's not happening every time, he should be posting West up on the block -- where by the way West looked pretty helpless the couple times it happened. But that's not the Lakers' game plan. He has tendinitis, so he's going to be a bit slower. But his recent struggles look mental more than anything to me. Some of those blocks on him that game... they were bad shots to begin with. Like, 4 Pacers around him, no way to the basket, Jamison open at the 3pt line. The typical Gasol slows down and easily finds the open guy, this Gasol rushes a shot and gets blocked. It just looks like frustration / out of rhythm mentally.
