Okay, so after having Pau Gasol in Los Angeles for a little over three years now we should be able to recognize a few of his quirks.
Prefers to not get muscled-out around the rim. Check. Will settle for an outside shot if it means not having to get mauled by a defender. Check. Frequently bleeds. Check.
Maybe it’s time to add, doesn’t like the Sunday, 12:30 pm start time.
I suppose this is the part where I’d take the time to harp on the “soft” label he was bestowed with, make several legitimate claims as to why he hasn’t quite shed it and then quickly try to cover-up all his discrepancies with a highlight of his 2010 finals, game seven performance against Boston.
No, I won’t do that. I’ll leave the accusations and judgments on Gasol’s physicality, or lack thereof, to Amar’e Stoudemire, Kendrick Perkins and the like. Ron Artest and Kobe Bryant can do the clean-up duties on Gasol’s reputation, although after his lack-luster performance against the New Orleans Hornets Sunday afternoon, Gasol would be hard pressed to hear even his most loyal supporters defend him.
Instead it’s time to face the facts.
Gasol doesn’t like to be physical and guess what, he doesn’t have to be. Three years and two championship parades later, the Lakers’ coaching staff isn’t going to ask Gasol to change his approach. They’re perfectly content with Gasol being the brains to Andrew Bynum’s brawn.
When the defense gets rough, Gasol has a tendency to back off and work around the bullying from his opponents. Some nights it works, but then there’s the rare occasion it doesn’t. We’ve seen Gasol play physical—if you want to label it as such, but if he avoids elbows and jabs in-and-around the paint he can’t afford to also mentally check-out of the game. If he insists on relying on intellect and finesse as opposed to brute strength, then he needs to out-maneuver and out-smart his opponents, something that he didn’t do Sunday against the Hornets.
“I was just not very sharp,” Gasol said. “I couldn’t get into a good rhythm in the first quarter. I didn’t get myself going at all, so it’s up to me to get some energy out there and be a little more aggressive, and find ways to find that rhythm.”
Next: Gasol’s stat line tells the tale of a half-hazard Sunday effort
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You can’t always read too much into a box score or a stat line, at times it doesn’t always reflect the impact a player can have on a game. In Gasol’s case, against the Hornets, the numbers that came up on the stat sheet really do tell the whole story.
8: Points Gasol had in 38-minutes of play. If you asked 100 avid Lakers fans who they thought was guarding Gasol on his 8-point night, I’d be willing to bet that one out of those 100 would guess Carl Landry and that person would probably think I was talking about the Lakers 2009 first-round series against the Houston Rockets. In Gasol terms that translates to a big fat no bueno.
9: Shots attempted, only two makes. Talk about having options—Gasol has them all. He can hit hook shots with either hand. Stifle defenders in the post. Hit a mid-range jump shot with relative ease. He can take to the rim and although this is never his first option, it usually spells results for the Lakers. Again, Gasol has all the tools, but lacked creativity against the Hornets.
6: Assists Gasol collected. The Lakers don’t always acknowledge Gasol’s existence in the post, and yes their ball movement on Sunday was suspect, but if your No. 2 option on offense has six assists in a game where he only scored eight points—that’s a problem. I hate to get all cheerleader on Gasol, but he really needed to be more aggressive. Be be aggressive.
4: Free throws attempted and subsequent makes. I’m a half-glass full kind of gal. I found a positive. You’re welcome.
0: Offensive rebounds. One of the biggest concerns for the Lakers, and Phil Jackson touched on this in his post-game presser, was Gasol’s inability to get in the post. Too often when shots went up, the Lakers second-best rebounder was nowhere near the vicinity of an offensive board. Second chance points are vital to the Lakers success and could’ve been the way to take the Hornets out of the game early on.
Next: The Hornets played good defense, got Gasol out of rhythm
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The Hornets did an excellent job of defending Gasol by getting him out of his comfort zone, I’ll give them that. So much of the reason why the Lakers went on a 17-1 surge after the All-Star break was because of the defensive production they were getting from Bynum. With Bynum at the helm on defense, Gasol was able to focus on offense and leave the bulk of the paint-protection duties to his fellow seven-footer. Bynum only played 22 minutes in this game, was that a factor? Yes, but even that’s a stretch. Gasol had to cover the six-foot-nine Landry who ended the game with 17 points.
The Lakers went up against a team they had dominated during the regular season. When they came close to getting over the hump against the Hornets, they never really had enough energy and focus to take the lead or even keep it. They let their lackadaisical ways follow them into the post-season and that’s just unfortunate.
You win as a team, you lose as a team and the loss doesn’t fall solely on Gasol’s shoulders. The Lakers can’t have more nights that include Bryant having five turnovers, Lamar Odom grabbing only one rebound and Jackson ending the day with the quip, “Ron [Artest] was probably the best player we had out there today.”
That being said, Bryant can’t do it alone. Fisher isn’t always going to have the opportunity to hit the clutch 3-point shot and bottom line, more was expected from Gasol. For the record, Bryant isn’t the least bit worried about Gasol being ready for the next game and what’s even more encouraging, the Lakers won’t have another 12:30 pm start in the first round.
“Pau is our guy,” Bryant said in response to Gasol’s performance Sunday. “He’s our guy, he’s the next in line. Responsibility and pressure comes along with that. He’ll be ready to go next game.”
Gasol’s track record is too pristine, too consistent for him to have another blunder of a game like the one he had to start the playoffs. Here’s to hoping he got it out of his system.
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