well guys, i hope that i'm not gonna have shoes thrown on my face here is my point: with our current young athletic team, Yao when he'll be back would break this up-tempo style of playing. I'd rather have Gasol in the lineup who can run quickly and be versatile in both ends of the floor, which is Rick Adelman's style Yao is one of the best hard workers I've ever seen for sure, and probably one of the best centers of all time, but I'm concerned about his speed and stiffness. his weakness is: 1) he's not able to get the ball when double-teammed 2) when he is fronted, he struggles to get the right position 3) defensively, he is very bad at guarding his man when he goes far from the paint, we've seen this many times Gasol has proven to be a solid versatile athletic center, that could compete with any strong center in the league in the both ends of the floor( against Howard, Yao). So what do you think guys? Would Gasol best fit with Adelman's system and our current roster?
Still don't want the Ostrich. Yao was the Nr. 1 center in the league. BIG IF. If he wasn't that injury prone this thread would never come up.
Plus he's more of a PF and the Fakers have Bynum go up against starting C's more than Gaysol. Then again, you can reunite him with Shane Battier. Have a big hug and kiss like Kobe & Brain Cook had.
This is not as bad as the E. Curry for Yao trade but still pretty bad. Besides there is no way Laker would trade Gasol when they are competing for another championship.
I'd rather have Chris Bosh play Center than Gasol. Scola did Gasol in the playoffs. (Not to take anything away from Luis) What does that say when a 6'9 PF can use you like that?
Scola could score on Gasol, and Hayes could defend against Gasol. But I don't think Bosh is a better defender than Gasol. They're both on the same level. That's why I said add in Odom.
I think that's a bit of revisionist history on your part. Gasol clearly had the better series, consistently scoring over the Rockets front line, including Scola. Scola played his heart out as usual, but to say he used Gasol, well that's just incorrect. In fact, Gasol was significantly better in every category. Gasol: 18.5 ppg, 12.0 rpg, 2.6 apg, 2.0 bpg, 53.1% FG Scola: 12.9 ppg, 9.9 rpg, 1.7 apg, 0.4 bpg, 42.9% FG
No thanks. If you've noticed Morey and Adelmen are looking for specific qualities in their players. Tough, hard working, and NOT soft euro centers. No thanks.
Edit: nevermind the "slightly younger". I was wrong. Gasol is slightly younger, more durable. He has more well rounded skills offensively, is a better passer. Defensively, not the same interior presence, but still possesses good size, is a shot-blocking threat, and is more capable of stepping out guarding players away from the basket. He can run the floor better. Both will be owed the same money next year. My guess is that it would be cheaper to retain Gasol than Yao, though that's hard to project. I would lean towards "yes".
No. Yao has earned our loyalty. He'll be ok in a running offense, too, just like Kareem was with Showtime.
In a heartbeat. To be honest I'd trade him for either Gasol. I just don't like having a guy eat cap space when he doesn't play.
That would be a downgrade for the Lakers. Gasol's skill set fits the triangle much better than Yao's. Plus, they have a young, quality, up-and-coming true center in Bynum.
Based on Gasol's versatility both defensively and offensively, he would be a better fit in Adelman's offense than Yao. And considering Yao's injury history on top of this, I would lean towards "yes". HOWEVER, I am still skeptical of Pau's ability to be the focal point of an offense. He was good in Memphis, but he had nowhere near the same amount of impact as Yao did with us. Pau is one of the most underrated players in the NBA in Memphis and still somewhat in LA. But, you have to wonder whether Pau's dominant performance in the playoffs was more to the evolution of him or was it because he was playing with the best player in the NBA. The jury is still out on that, so while I lean towards yes, it is mainly because of Yao's injury history and the uncertainty of his future contributions with the Rockets.
Haha no. Yao Ming doesn't buckle under the pressure of Chuck Hayes, Pau did. Honestly, the chuckwagon made Gasol look like a little girl, the Lake show just got a variety of amazingly good calls. Gasol does not match up against real centers of even semi-centers at that. The lakers got lucky with their matchups last season. A healthy KG would have really given that team a shake up, oh wait, he did....
