The Los Angeles Lakers need Pau Gasol to step up
Last season, Pau Gasol was a beast near the basket in last year’s playoffs, as he had as much to do with the NBA Championship as Kobe Bryant did. This year though, Gasol is getting pushed around….especially in this series as Dirk Nowitzki is really dominating him. Gasol has played in all three games against the Mavericks so far in this series and he is averaging 36.3 minutes, 13.3 points, 9.7 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game. That is just not going to get it done. Gasol is the key player today, because if he doesn’t play well, the Lakers season is going to be over. Gasol has now played in 9 games (all starts) in the playoffs so far this year and he is averaging 36.0 minutes, 13.4 points, 7.8 rebounds, 3.6 assists and 1.8 blocked shots per game. But, he is only shooting 42.2% in the playoffs which is awful for a player of Gasol’s skill set.
Not just Pau, pretty much 1 thru 12. Pau has been the poster boy (not man)of consistency since joining the team, but he sure could not have had a worse time to be struggling (shot And Confidence. He holds ball way too long the past couple of weeks).
While Kobe is still Kobe, he has yet to Do What He Does Best – Take Over Late in Games. Ever remember a time the Lakers played like rookies in the last 2 mins during post-season?
And why do the Lakers not stay with the plan that “brung ‘em” to the dance – Inside Out and Moving the Ball around the Triangle. They’re all (except Shannon Brown) just standing around like statues waiting for Kobe to make something happen.
I’ve said it before and it bears repeating; The saying is Not the “Talent of a Champion”, it IS “The HEART of A CHAMPION”! I Hope the Lakers went to Oz and Got a Heart……We’re all Waiting. I
f Any Team can make history with 4 straight against this team they usually Own, It is them. We’ve all seen the flashes of pure poetry when they are Clicking on all cylinders. Now they just need to go out and play Perfect Ball for 16 CONSECUTIVE Quarters!!
The Lakers couldn’t even play perfect ball for one minute today Paul. I think Pau Gasol got too much of the abuse for the Lakers’ problems in the playoffs as no one really played that well. Gasol is getting a bad rap as he should have won the MVP of the NBA Finals last year and no one was complaining him of being soft then. I think the Lakers are going to make a lot of changes before the 2011-12 season begins.