Gasol: Lakers Need Better Offensive Flow

[The Regime]

The Lakers have struggled recently and forward Pau Gasol believes the issues can be attributed to their poor offensive flow.

 

"We haven't been playing with a good flow out there offensively and it takes a lot of people out of their rhythm," Gasol said. "We need to figure out how to move the ball a lot more so there's a flow out there, there's a rhythm."

 

Gasol added that he doesn't know if Los Angeles has struggled offensively because of how many shots Kobe Bryant has been taking lately.

 

"Kobe's a great player," Gasol said. "We have to find balance as a team, as a unit out there. Kobe's a great player and he's probably the best offensive player out there. We understand that. ... But at the same time, we need to find that balance and we need to find balance with our interior game developing ... using it a little more and moving the ball and changing sides more, because that's the triangle, that's what it does. ... We need to get focused on that a little more. To find that balance, to find that flow."

 

http://realgm.com/src_wiretap_archives/65217/20100308/gasol_lakers_need_better_offensive_flow/

[YugoRocketsFan]

This is a cheapshot at Kobe.

[bigdog17k]

It always seems to be Gasol saying this sort of thing.

[kingfish]

Im gettin sick of Pau goin to the media after all his poor performances, he needs to stop playin soft and do somethin about it if he wants improvement. Cant have him gettin dunked on by Beasley, punked by the Bobcats power forwards, and then still dropping passes, blowing layups, missing free throws in clutch situations. Pau was becoming a legitimate superstar, now hes going more in Kwame Browns direction.

[Poe]

In other words, Gasol wants more touches.

[bigdog17k]

Im gettin sick of Pau goin to the media after all his poor performances, he needs to stop playin soft and do somethin about it if he wants improvement. Cant have him gettin dunked on by Beasley, punked by the Bobcats power forwards, and then still dropping passes, blowing layups, missing free throws in clutch situations. Pau was becoming a legitimate superstar, now hes going more in Kwame Browns direction.

 

I'm always seeing him getting the ball stolen too, I wish he would limit the turnovers. A part of me likes Pau.

[Cleveland's Finest]

In other words, Gasol wants more touches.

First thing I thought of also when I saw the topic title.

[Warren2ThaG]

I wish we had Smush and Medvedenko back.

[Real Deal]

Pau has already asked for more touches, just last month. This is the same thing.

 

Kobe was the only reason we were in the game through that fourth quarter, since everyone else was too brittle to fight for the first three quarters: 74-64 at the end of the third, 7-15 for 18 points before missing the attempted game-winning shot.

 

What does Gasol suggest Kobe does? We were down ten after Kobe threw six assists in three quarters, with 15 shot attempts.

 

If you'd like to know what Gasol did in the fourth...he had two personal fouls, a flagrant foul, a dunk (assisted by Bryant), three offensive boards and two tip-ins, a missed layup and a defensive board.

 

Bryant (the selfish one) led the team throughout the entire game not only in points, steals, and rebounds, but also assists, racking up a 34/7/7 game while turning the ball over just one time (less than Gasol's three).

 

Against a contender, it shouldn't be the Bryant show, it should be the Lakers show. If Gasol wants more touches, shots, or better ball movement, he and the rest of the team will need to move without the ball, establish position deeper in the post, roll out of screens correctly, and stop passing the ball to Kobe with three seconds left on the shot clock when he's 25 feet away from the rim.

 

Gasol attempted 13 shots yesterday. He averaged 13.7 FGA per game during his career in Memphis, as the primary option, on a team with few scorers.

 

2/23 vs. Memphis - 18 FGA

2/24 vs. Dallas - 9 FGA

2/26 vs. Philly - 17 FGA

2/28 vs. Denver - 14 FGA

3/2 vs. Indiana - 11 FGA

3/4 vs. Miami - 11 FGA

3/5 vs. Charlotte - 14 FGA

3/7 vs. Orlando - 13 FGA

 

That's 13.4 FGA per game over the last eight (since Bryant's return), on a team with multiple scoring options.

 

Just to find someone to compare that with...Dwight Howard is averaging 12.3 FGA in his last eight, on a team with multiple scoring options, and the Magic are 7-1 through those eight.

 

Gasol is also shooting a hair under 49% in the last eight games...three of those games, he shot under 45%, and two of those three, he shot under 37%.

 

If he wants more touches and more shot attempts, he needs to step his game up.

[MainEv3nt]

the lakers shud just for one night only, run the offense thru pau gasol, give him all his touches an when it fails maybe he will come back to earth.

[Art]

And the rift between kobe and Pau thickens.

[Warren2ThaG]

Fisher and Bynum are the wrong type of players for the triangle. Fisher = bricks and missed layups. Bynum = shoot if u get it. That breaks the flow a bit.

 

Farmar/Kobe/Artest/Odom/Pau would be wonderful but it won't happen. and our bench will take a hit without Odom, which is why we should of a deal or two.

[Real Deal]

Fisher and Bynum are the wrong type of players for the triangle. Fisher = bricks and missed layups. Bynum = shoot if u get it. That breaks the flow a bit.

 

Farmar/Kobe/Artest/Odom/Pau would be wonderful but it won't happen. and our bench will take a hit without Odom, which is why we should of a deal or two.

Yep. I mentioned that over at TLN, actually.

 

Start Odom. Have Bynum come off the bench as that second unit's primary option. He's capable of scoring 15+ a game doing that, and the second unit wouldn't have trouble deferring to him, since they are bottom five in scoring to begin with.

[Check my Stats]

The entire team is shooting [expletive] %'s right now. Kobe has been pretty much pathetic as of late as well though. Shooting over 45% once over the stretch of 9 games is absolutely inexcuseable for a player of Kobe Bryant's stature, especially when he is insistent on taking 20 shots a game.

 

I am just looking at some game logs here, and since the start of March (small sample size since I don't wanna look past there since I am lazy), the Lakers are undefeated when Kobe takes less than 20 shots. All their losses in March and beyond he has taken over 20 shots, save the games he missed of course.

 

I know some of you hate Pau, but his points are valid.

Edited March 9, 2010 by travesy3

[Real Deal]

The entire team is shooting [expletive] %'s right now. Kobe has been pretty much pathetic as of late as well though. Shooting over 45% once over the stretch of 9 games is absolutely inexcuseable for a player of Kobe Bryant's stature, especially when he is insistent on taking 20 shots a game.

 

I am just looking at some game logs here, and since the start of March (small sample size since I don't wanna look past there since I am lazy), the Lakers are undefeated when Kobe takes less than 20 shots. All their losses in March and beyond he has taken over 20 shots, save the games he missed of course.

 

I know some of you hate Pau, but his points are valid.

Take the last game as an example, then. We were down by 10 at the end of the third quarter, in Orlando. Had Kobe not taken 15 shots in the fourth quarter, we would've lost by 15-20 points.

 

The losses we have, and Kobe's shot attempts, are related in that he has to start launching when we are about to crash and burn in the fourth quarter. Many Lakers fans realize this by now, and we're used to it.

 

Gasol doesn't have a point. He wants more shots? How many more? He has never averaged over 15 in his career, even as a primary option in Memphis, because he's not a physical and aggressive player. He's just talking to make himself look like a leader, that's all.

[Real Deal]

Ball went down low to our bigs quite a bit throughout the first three quarters against the Raptors tonight, once again, and the Lakers were still losing the game to start the fourth.

 

Then, Kobe takes over, scores 14-16 points in the fourth. We catch up, take the lead, eventually win the game off of his contested jumper.

 

Surprise, surprise...Gasol shoots 4-11, and Bynum scores three points in the fourth. Result? Lakers make the comeback off of Bryant, and we snap the three-game losing streak.

 

Just one example. I guess I could've given more throughout the season. There's a reason Bryant has the ball in his hands in the fourth, and why he has 6-7 game-winners. We play big, and we STAY within a jumper or two. We go to Bryant, and we win the damn game.

 

This team needs to play off of Kobe. They need to move and get open, let him draw doubles and then have him pass the ball out of them, instead of standing around and hoping he splits through or chucks a lucky shot. They need to move. Practice what they preach. You play through the player you build around, not the complete opposite.

 

/end thread.