Pau and D'Antoni

[GailGoodrich]

I get it: if the sun is up, that's a good reason to trade Pau. He's never going to be a "real Laker" for a lot of fans for a long list of reasons that are at best stupid and at worst racist. But it's still fair to ask if Pau can play with D'Antoni.

To which I ask: did anybody actually watch Spain in the Olympics? Because I don't remember Spain playing grind-it-out ball against the second-best collection of basketball talent in the history of the game in the gold medal game.

Pau Gasol isn't fast, but he can make better decisions on the run and in the flow of the game than almost anybody you can name who isn't Steve Nash. D'Antoni's offense isn't so much about running and gunning as it is about taking advantage of the opposing defense before it sets up -- which is exactly what Spain did against the US in the Olympics, with Pau playing center.

Pau is our steadiest player in all aspects of the game. Kobe may be our steadiest scorer, but it's also clear that Kobe gets Kobe-lock sometimes and forgets that there's a team around him. Pau never forgets. He's a stabilizing influence whenever he's on the floor, and in a frantic game he will always be the player who hits the cutter or the open man.

Nobody other than Nash will make the transition to D'Antoni's system easier than Pau will, and that will directly translate into a couple of wins at least between now and the end of the year. If you really want to see run-and-gun basketball then by all means trade Pau. But if you want the Lakers to have a shot at title at the end of the year, he's one of the last person you should want to push out the door because you're never going to be able to replace him.

[mufridaz]

bye paula hello paul! like how he stuck his butt out on the post last game and got low. but gail there is only one problem here...

pau excels at the low post, on the block. that is his strength and mike doesn't play on the block on the post. remember stoudamire he had no post game b/c he wasn't allowed to play it.

and who do we have d12, mwp, kobe, pau, jamison all who's strength is on the low block.

so turning pau into a 25 ft jump shooter instead of a 3ft low post player isn't good for pau and its one reason his rebounds is down b/c he's shooting all outside shots and why his percentage is down. pau hasn't declined in skill but hiis production was down last year b/c he's just been asked to do something that is outside his strength that is his low post game and forced to be a jump shooter.

[Iron24th]

I'm not a fan of Pau the last two years, just talking about effort, but he's the most skilled big man for sure, and he can run.

I still have faith in him, he and Dantoni, it could work.

[mufridaz]

you saw his left handed hook last game. that is his strength. if he has to clear out of the lane to make room for d12's pick and roll how does that help pau's game.

pau can fit in with any team b/c of his skill and unselfishness. but a lot of the knocks on pau is he's too unselfish especially when he's the lone starter with the scrubs out there. when hes' aggressive looks to score he's a beast. and everyone knows pau is great they just get upsets b/c they know he needs to be more aggressive at times and not always try to be the nice guy passing up open shots.

[Gritz]

Lakers management knows this, that's why he isn't going to be traded. Too many 2k gms on here.

[GailGoodrich]

bye paula hello paul! like how he stuck his butt out on the post last game and got low. but gail there is only one problem here...

pau excels at the low post, on the block. that is his strength and mike doesn't play on the block on the post. remember stoudamire he had no post game b/c he wasn't allowed to play it.

and who do we have d12, mwp, kobe, pau, jamison all who's strength is on the low block.

so turning pau into a 25 ft jump shooter instead of a 3ft low post player isn't good for pau and its one reason his rebounds is done b/c he's shooting all outside shots and why his percentage is done. pau hasn't declined in skill but hiis production was down last year b/c he's just been asked to do something that is outside his strength that is his low post game and forced to be a jump shooter.

Take a moment and think about both Phoenix and the Knicks under D'Antoni. Half the time they're bombing from deep, but what about the rest of the time? Easy, open looks and attacks on the basket that are facilitated by excellent passes -- which is why D'Antoni's system almost demands an elite point guard.

But what if you have another great passer on your team, and he's seven feet tall? Are you telling me that D'Antoni can't figure out how to use this guy as a facilitator in the high post? I'm betting D'Antoni is salivating at the prospect.

Pau's production was down last year for one main reason: Bynum was elevated in the rotation to the main low-post player. Pau can play anywhere. D12 has 10x mobility than Bynum -- and that was before Bynum's knees put him down this year.

Name any player that you'd like coming down the lane behind Steve Nash on the break more than Pau. If the defense clogs the center and stops both of those guys either one will find the open man guaranteed.

Finally, the idea that D'Antoni never noticed a mismatch and allowed a player to post up is crazy. It's not how his offense is designed, but he's a world-class coach and one of the few who could even take this job. If CP3 switches onto Pau or D12 in the pick-and-roll, I guarantee you the ball is going into the post.

[Pluvious]

Take a moment and think about both Phoenix and the Knicks under D'Antoni. Half the time they're bombing from deep, but what about the rest of the time? Easy, open looks and attacks on the basket that are facilitated by excellent passes -- which is why D'Antoni's system almost demands an elite point guard.

But what if you have another great passer on your team, and he's seven feet tall? Are you telling me that D'Antoni can't figure out how to use this guy as a facilitator in the high post? I'm betting D'Antoni is salivating at the prospect.

Pau's production was down last year for one main reason: Bynum was elevated in the rotation to the main low-post player. Pau can play anywhere. D12 has 10x mobility than Bynum -- and that was before Bynum's knees put him down this year.

Name any player that you'd like coming down the lane behind Steve Nash on the break more than Pau. If the defense clogs the center and stops both of those guys either one will find the open man guaranteed.

Finally, the idea that D'Antoni never noticed a mismatch and allowed a player to post up is crazy. It's not how his offense is designed, but he's a world-class coach and one of the few who could even take this job. If CP3 switches onto Pau or D12 in the pick-and-roll, I guarantee you the ball is going into the post.

Diaw is very similar to Gasol. Almost the same player really. He dominated in Phoenix.

[mufridaz]

2 games ago pau got 5 points and he makes 20 million dollars. kobe makes 30 but at least usually scores his 20-30 night in and night out.

there is no reason why pau can't get 10 boards a game. last game he did well he was aggressive and got a ton of boards and like 20 pts.

everyone knows pau is skilled, that he's a great player. they get upset when he complains about eveytime he is fouled and isn't called. or like when he grabbed a rebound and someone ripped it out of his hands. or when he gets pushed off the block. or when he's playing with 4 bench guys and they look for him to be the go to guy and he keeps passing up shots and there is 24 sec violation. phil got into pau's face b/c he knew how to motivate pau. he knew pau's strength is on the block.

phil would yell at pau if he saw him jacking up 2 3's a game. and yet that is what he is now a 25 ft jump shooter. and since he doesn't follow his shot he won't get close to 10 rebounds a game this year. maybe 18 pts 8 rebounds. he needs to be on the block and will get more points better percentage shooting and more rebounds.

sorry but if your making 20 million a year and taking up 1/3 of the salary cap space you owe it to your team and to the city to score more than 5 points in a game like he did just 2 games ago. and need to grab 10 rebounds a game.

[LakersMaster24]

@LA_SportsTalk: "If you're down on this move, you're down on Jerry Buss. How many mistakes has he made?" -- John Ireland. Agree or disagree? @LakersNation

[mufridaz]

i think jim put some poison in jim's cup and maybe he knows about mitch making out with a laker girl and using that as blackmail to go along with this.

how can you turn down a 11 time world champion over a coach that has never won 1? just blasphemous.

that said i hope it works out. the regular season i'm not worried about. i'm worried about the playoffs. and whether or not we can win a ring or not. hope nash gets healthy soon is all i gotta say

[lakers4sho]

the other side of this is we might need shooters, and we might need to give up Pau to acquire said shooters

[Tymathee]

Pau will be fine in this offense, D'Antoni will love him.

He was offensive coach with the olympic team and he worked with Bosh who is sorta like Pau in that he's not really an athletic big but more of a skilled big and he did fine.

YOu guys talk about d'antoni like he's a dumb coach and wont conform to his personnel, he's not, he has more talent with the lakers than if you took the suns and knicks combined.

[GailGoodrich]

the other side of this is we might need shooters, and we might need to give up Pau to acquire said shooters

We do need shooters. Under Mike Brown, however, we never found out which of the players on this year's roster might become reliable shooters because he jerked them around too much.

One thing shooters love is freedom, and D'Antoni is going to give it to them. So we'll have to see.

After that, if roster moves need to be made, I'll trust the FO that brought in Nash and Howard to do the right thing.

[lakeshow12]

Fact is, Gasol won't fit in a D'Antoni offense. If we don't make some trades to get some shooters or athletic Forwards who can RUN, this whole process of basically hiring D'Antoni and firing Brown, would be pointless. This is a Mike D'Antoni league. The NBA likes to RUN and is very quick and fast paced. If we had hired Phil or maybe Jerry Sloan it would have been a different story, because they both are basically the God's on half-court offense. We need to trade Gasol. Nothing stupid about that.

[Blackryder45]

Fact is, Gasol won't fit in a D'Antoni offense. If we don't make some trades to get some shooters or athletic Forwards who can RUN, this whole process of basically hiring D'Antoni and firing Brown, would be pointless. This is a Mike D'Antoni league. The NBA likes to RUN and is very quick and fast paced. If we had hired Phil or maybe Jerry Sloan it would have been a different story, because they both are basically the God's on half-court offense. We need to trade Gasol. Nothing stupid about that.

No we dont trade Pau we never gonna be as fast as OKC or Miami.

IF it doesnt work we go into production of FIRE MIKE 2