What to do with Gasol in game 5? i mean he single handedly ignited the lakers fourth quarter run that gave us some trouble. not taking anything away from hayes, cuz chuck shut down Pau in the first 3 quaters, but in the fourth he seems to be scoring easily against Hayes.
We should put Ron Artest on Gasol. This will neutralize Gasol's quickness, and Artest can muscle Gasol and keep him out of his comfort areas.
Just have Chuck guard him like he did today. If that happens, Gasol might not get looks until the 4th, which is better than previous games.
Double team? I don't fear Gasol when he's a stright jump shooter, but when he's doing his little post moves and crossovers(god that should be illegal for a big man), I don't care who's guarding him, Chuck or Yao, someone needs to help, cause he's gonna either score, or draw fouls. Even if that means leave someone open for a 3, hell a open 3 still has about 40-50% chance to miss.
if lakers let gasol and odom continue attacking the rim,we will have problem..let's wait and see next games..
Hmm, jump out to 29 point lead, leave Gasol alone. Seems the Rockets have this strat down pat. Gasol does not seem to do as well when the game is close. When its +10 or -10 for the Lakers, Gasol is a real weapon. He presses too much when there is any kind of pressure. My prediction is he wont do too much in game 5 until there is a 10-15 point margin.
Having Chuck defend Gasol one-on-one gives us our best chance to win. I trust Chuck enough to slow him down.
I actually did see Scola front Gasol for a couple of posessions, but as a result Shannon Brown or farmar dilled the 3.
If Gasol figures out he is best at facing up Chuck Hayes instead of trying to back him down, this could be bad news for the Rockets. He was doing more of this in the 4th quarter. The Rockets may need to add some help defense if Gasol starts to shoot over Hayes too easily.
Rough him up. Slap him when he catches the ball. Keep him far from the post. Do the same as they to Yao. Yao has 5 inches on Gasol, now Gasol has 5 inches on Hayes.
Gasol seemed to figure out how to score on Hayes in the 4th. Figures, Gasol is not a dumb or slow player like Ron Artest or Aaron Brooks. I suggest double team and fronting him with Scola and Hayes. Let Ariza shoot the 3 or Odom shoot it, they are both below average shooters.
Don't worry about skinny Giraffe Gasol. With Kobe on their team, he won't get many touches. Chuck will not let him do anything inside. The reason he get some easy buckets at the end is because the game is already over.
Chuck was making Gasol think that he had him figured out in the 4th so that he won't try to make too many changes for the next game
I gotta agree with this, and JVG said as much. Gasol and Brown scoring garbage points mean absolutely nothing. The Rockets' defensive intensity was significantly lower than the first 3 quarters.
One more time: Ron Artest on Gasol. Gasol will not be able to front Artest and get around him, and Artest is physical enough to keep him far away. Artest can turn Gasol into a jump shooter - that's what we want. A jump shot by Gasol 15 feet out guarded by artest is far better than one from Kobe Bryant.
Gasol does seem to be pretty intelligent, he adjusted and learned how to score on Hayes, he decided to play him face up instead of back to the basket, JVG was quick on noticing how to play against Hayes. Hayes should start off on Gasol then we should put Artest on him.
No change necessary. Let Hayes stay on him. Gasol can't put 2 games together like he had today. I would look for them to pressure Brooks more when bringing the ball up and leaving Hayes all alone. I'm sure the coaching staff will figure out something to combat that.
