I agree Yao going down probably cost us the series can't disagree with that and yes he had good role players but he was their leader, no superstar can do anything with a supporting cast..Dream didn't reach the promise land till he had the right supporting cast. Before Gasol got to the Lakers they were one and done, after...two finals apperances, one championship and if Gasol doesn't play game 7 vs the Rox I'd make a case we beat them even without Yao, Deke and Tracy.
Yes, Memphis and its playoff first round exits. And I didn't say that Gasol wasn't a very good player and one on one, couldn't take either Scola or Landry but combined the two put up probably just as effective as Gasol when all three are playing well. And let's be real, Gasol was a big help last year, but he didn't win them the title last year, so much as the Magic had no consistent offense to counter the Lakers or Kobe, due in small point to trying to bring back their former starting PG. Dude is the second best player on the Lakers but worth both Landry and Scola, I don't have the numbers but I don't think that is accurate.
The most important game the Lakers played during the playoffs was vs the Rox game 7 IMO...Gasol coming off a good game, Landry and Scola were coming off great games. Gasol had 21 ppints, 18 boards and 3 blocks Scola+Landry had 15 points 6 boards and 1 block I love Scolandry and hate to defend a greaseball like Gasol yet I can't honestly agree with you. Got to go take a shower as I feel dirty for defending a Laker.
i guess most people just think gasol/odom is better. I should included salaries into the debate. For the money thats being paid, would you still take gasol/odom over scola/landry? that woulda been better.
So going by this logic... Kobe: 20 million C-bud: 1 million 'Nuff said. IMHO Gasol and odom cost a lot, but premier talent costs a lot period. The Lakers seem to be heavy favorites to win it again this year, however that team's strength is 90% Kobe, Gasol and Odom. If one of those guys are out of the season I honestly don't see them repeating...esp. if its Kobe or Gasol. Obviously Scolandry is making an absurdly low salary, but don't think it'll last forever. Scola becomes a restricted FA next season, and he's bound to make the midlevel at least. Same goes for Landry the season after. And to be quite honest, I'd take Gasol and his 20 million salary over Scolandry at 6 any day of the week. Scolandry is amazing, but Gasdom can compete with the best in the league. Put Gasol and Odom together with a healthy Yao Ming, that's a contender right there.
34% voted for Scola/Landry. We have some extreme homerism on this board. Lets put a poll on Battier or Lebron. I'm sure some here would say "give me Battier's intangibles > Lebron's immaturity".
First of he doesn't need to back up bigger players. Pau can hit the midrange jumper really well. If you think somebody like Zeke or old shaw will actually give Pau problems one on one then you should probably watch more Laker games. As for the playoffs Gasol averaged 18 and 10 on 58% shooting so the only lakers fans who hated on him are either complete morons or (more likely) people you made up without any basis at all.
Of course you'd take Gasol over Scola or Landry. But I'd take Scola or Landry over Odom, because they bring it every night. It's true that you can't teach size or athleticism, but it's also true that you could build an entire team of big, athletic NBA players with tons of "potential" who couldn't win a game if their life depended on it.
Rookie contracts. And I just can't believe that there are people that really thinks Scola/Landry is better than Gasol/Odom. There are reasons why NBA GMs is willing to put up 24m for this 2 players.
no players in the rockets portray the warrior like landry and scola. Yeah you can say the same thing about gasol but odumb is slow in the head. Plus landry and scola have grown on me. so il take scolandry
what? gasol? of course but have to listen to gasol scream like a b*tch on every possesion might be painful.
honestly, I prefer luis/carl they 2 both have great desire to win,great chemistry with the team,less money ,and easy to be managed. paul gasol without doubt a elite player in the whole league,but he is too expensive for us,and I do like his versatile offensive weapons.but he is still a little soft ,can never be a #1 player in the team,so I perfer to choose more role players and haunt for a real superstar to be #1option as well as spiritual leader for rox. larmar odom,is a crap IMO,like tracy he never try his best,though his talent is super in the league,but lose fire and heart to win is unacceptable.So I would take any decent bule collar players than him.
I'd love to hear Lamar Odom's reaction if you told him to his face that he wasn't a "winner" and didn't have "intangibles", and that Landry and Scola are better than him because of that. He'd probably stare at you for a second in disbelief, then point to his championship ring and remind you that he had the best adjusted plus/minus on the Lakers last year.
and offer you a bite of his candy bar while showing you pics of the Kardashin sister he married... What happens in two years when Landry and Scola get their raises??? Bang for the buck MAYBE MAYBE you would consider ScoLandry but honestly even for 24 million it's really not even a conversation.
The fans at staples center were hating on pao, booing him, and on espn message boards, yahoo message boards, i dont know if you saw the series but he couldn't handle either landry or scola. gasol is avg. 17.7 points as a starter along side kobe, along side kobe, along side kobe, and odom is avg. 8.3 as a bench player landry averages 16.6 pts as a bench player, and luis 14.3 as a starter , each of these guys dont have players that command double teams, so its all on skill and effort. many of odoms points and gasols are from free open shots that kobe gets from that double and triple teams. theres a reason the lakers struggle against the rockets, scola and landry are the reasons, and aaron brooks. give me heart and hustle over size anytime.
