D’Antoni again benched Gasol in final minutes. Again Gasol didn’t like it.

[Deb]

D’Antoni again benched Gasol in final minutes. Again Gasol didn’t like it.

Kurt Helin
Dec 19, 2012, 10:20 AM EST




The pattern at the end of the Lakers win over the Bobcats was unmistakable — Pau Gasol would sub for Dwight Howard, then a few minutes later Howard would sub for Gasol.

There’s a reason for that — lineups with both Gasol and Howard were -22. Against the Bobcats. Mike D’Antoni isn’t stupid, he saw what wasn’t working and went away from it.

But that meant someone sat late — Pau Gasol was in the game for the key hack-a-Dwight time before the final two minutes, but as has happened before this season Howard was on the floor and Gasol was on the bench in the key final minutes. This time the Lakers held on for the win.

After the game D’Antoni tried to play this off as happened because Gasol is getting back into shape following missing eight games with knee tendonitis. Sure. But Gasol was not too happy about it, as Kevin Ding of the Orange County Register reported after the game on Sulia.

“When the game is on the line, I need to be on the court. That’s what I get paid to do.”

Gasol also said: “Hopefully, that won’t happen too often.”

[scoobay]

sorry to any laker fans out there but can't help but be glad that they're having so much turmoil...

[Reg]

D'Antoni is an idiot.

He doesn't like post play at all. He calls it "inefficient". So his offense doesn't allow two players in the post at the same time (see Shaq & Amar'e clunking in Phoenix together). So, when Ka-PAU & D-12 play together, Ka-PAU...one of the best post players in the NBA...has to play on the perimeter and is therefore ineffective. D'Antoni is too stubborn and stupid to modify his "vaunted" offensive scheme to accommodate two talented 7-footers...something no other team has.

It's a self-fulfilling prophecy under development. D'Antoni will shield his own ego by mis-using Ka-PAU, "proving" he doesn't fit and then convince dumbass Jim Buss to force Kupchak to trade Ka-PAU. Of course, if I can see this, so can every GM in the NBA. Therefore, the MIGHTIES will get butt-fugged...with no lube...in the trade.

[scoobay]

Originally Posted by Reg

D'Antoni is an idiot.

He doesn't like post play at all. He calls it "inefficient". So his offense doesn't allow two players in the post at the same time (see Shaq & Amar'e clunking in Phoenix together). So, when Ka-PAU & D-12 play together, Ka-PAU...one of the best post players in the NBA...has to play on the perimeter and is therefore ineffective. D'Antoni is too stubborn and stupid to modify his "vaunted" offensive scheme to accommodate two talented 7-footers...something no other team has.

It's a self-fulfilling prophecy under development. D'Antoni will shield his own ego by mis-using Ka-PAU, "proving" he doesn't fit and then convince dumbass Jim Buss to force Kupchak to trade Ka-PAU. Of course, if I can see this, so can every GM in the NBA. Therefore, the MIGHTIES will get butt-fugged...with no lube...in the trade.

yeah Dantony doesn't have it in him to game plan using the strengths of his team. thank goodness they hired him and not Phil. i wonder how things will go with Nash coming back - will he give Nash the reigns or will Kobe put a stop to that.

as a non laker fan, if the lakers do trade Gasol and get peanuts back for him it's only justice... they pretty much paid peanuts to get him in the first plcae.

[SoonerChuck]

Yeah it is kind of stupid to hire a coach who runs an offense that your team does not have the personnel to execute. It is not any better then Brown trying to install the Princeton offense.

[Reg]

Originally Posted by scoobay

yeah Dantony doesn't have it in him to game plan using the strengths of his team. thank goodness they hired him and not Phil. i wonder how things will go with Nash coming back - will he give Nash the reigns or will Kobe put a stop to that.

as a non laker fan, if the lakers do trade Gasol and get peanuts back for him it's only justice... they pretty much paid peanuts to get him in the first plcae.

Young selfish Kobe woulda put a stop to Nash taking the reins. However, current Kobe will gladly let Nash run the offense. Kobe knows he and others will get easier shots with Nash dishing. Last year when Ramon Sessions came onboard to play PG, Kobe would many times go get the inbound pass and immediately pass it to Ramon to bring it across mid-court and initiate the offense. Kobe waits for his teammates to make stuff happen. Then if they don't, he goes to the Kobe offense.

The Pau trade, at the time, looked like highway robbery. However, now given that his brother Marc, who was in that trade, has blossomed into an all-star center, that trade looks pretty even, if not in the Grizzlies' favor.

[scoobay]

Originally Posted by Reg

The Pau trade, at the time, looked like highway robbery. However, now given that his brother Marc, who was in that trade, has blossomed into an all-star center, that trade looks pretty even, if not in the Grizzlies' favor.

nah it's still highway robbery - the lakers have a championship to show for it and the grizzlies nothing yet.

i think even if the lakers put it all together, it's not going to be this year - took miami 2 years to get it right - i think the lakers will need at least that much but unfortunately for them, their key pieces are much older, esp. Nash.

[Reg]

Gasol: D'Antoni's system 'makes it tough'

08:07 AM ET 12.20 | Whether Pau Gasol can thrive under Mike D'Antoni is a question even Gasol can't answer. [Gasol] -- who will spend the next weeks and possibly months in an informal tryout of sorts while the Lakers decide whether or not he needs to be traded -- admitted to USA TODAY Sports that the uncertainty remains about whether or not both he and center Dwight Howard can flourish in D'Antoni's spread offense. "I don't find (playing with Howard) tough," Gasol said as he stood at the loading dock. "It's more the system right now that makes it tough at times, because (D'Antoni) wants four guys to be spread and one interior guy and it's a guard-oriented system, so that makes it tough. I think there's enough looks for both of us."

USA TODAY Sports