Pau Thread: Surgery a success; now rehab & rest for 12 weeks

I included the halftime report graphic with the log from tonight.

Utah (Jan. 25, 2013)

Halftime Report:

Pau's trade value is sky high right now Lol

if only pau played like this every game. can he do it from here on out?

I really like Pau off the bench as our 6th man, he can be so deadly and effective against other teams bench unit.

This should have happened a while ago... anyway, the team's better off with him at the bench. If we had a competent athletic PF, we could have moved Clark there to compliment him. Jamison and Pau together = really bad D.

So yeah, if we're keeping Pau, he's clearly most effective at C and still staying down low even when Dwight comes back in. So if he's staying this is how he needs to be used, maybe 'Antoni is adjusting to how the players keep saying they need to be used.

Weezy wrote:So yeah, if we're keeping Pau, he's clearly most effective at C and still staying down low even when Dwight comes back in. So if he's staying this is how he needs to be used, maybe 'Antoni is adjusting to how the players keep saying they need to be used.

Yeah I don't know if this was D'Antoni's idea or the players' but Pau's effectiveness was at an all time high.

If he is going to stay a Laker, this is the only way. As the 6th man and as the guy in charge off the bench.

One thing the bench move did for sure is make Gasol a little chippy which is AMAZING. It MAKES him play hard all day, all game long.

I like it. He is our new Odom now. But man, he's so expensive.

hey minnesota you guys saw this game right, gasol and rubio would totally be great together just give us kevin love, dont even think about it

^ If this is the way he plays when he doesn't embrace it, then I hope he kind of hates it the rest of the season.

I haven't seen him play this well since the 2011 regular season. Hell maybe even the 2010 season. He's aggressive, he's smart, he's attacking both ends of the court. Damn.

A few more games like this and maybe Minny isn't so slow to give us Love.

Pau always seems to do well when he gets his confidence going early (except when we stop giving him the ball)

This 6th man role may be good for him in that regard.. Let him play against the other team's 2nd unit to get his confidence going & then he can play some minutes with the starters like we saw last night. Really like the direction things are heading, & Pau being effective is a large reason for that.

his play off the bench has been inspired as far as recent pau goes. i think he's turned the flames down on the trade burner a bit.

That finish over Ibaka at the end from the Kobe pass. That was it. That has what been missing...the Kobe/Pau 2 man game. They haven't played off each other well last couple of years. Looked good today

It's early in going to this new style, but if Pau keeps playing this way maybe he was being used wrong, maybe he wasn't done here after all, maybe the injuries were hampering him. I can't say from a few games, but he certainly looks almost like his old self out there playing 2 man game with Kobe, being used where he should. Dwight is still the defense and rebounding guy, but on offense Pau is a weapon right now again. That said... his trade value will never be higher again.

i still prefer to trade him...but he deserves tons of props for fow he perfomed couple last games...
he looks much better even faster and mobile...he should embrace his bench role...

one more time...

Then there's that moving across the key funky no look throw it up there prayer lefty hook that went in...

I'm glad Van Gundy called him out about his new role.
He's better suited going up against the other teams back up C.

6th man of the Year.

Gasol talked about 24 being a facilitator and props... Asked about the sixth man role...said so far, so good...for now.

....

I've been so down on Pau lately that I've been loathe to give him credit, but ever since he's moved to the bench he's been GREAT. If he can continue playing this way off the bench, I'll more than welcome him as our 6th man.

He's got his attitude back, his swagger, his confidence. It's like being moved to the bench somehow knocked him in the head and he remembered that he's a great player and a hall of famer.

He has been effective coming off the bench. Also his girly hook shots are rattling in again. He also hasn't complained or looked demoralized by being benched.

Still too expensive as a bench guy.

Way to show up against a good team

I'm still torn on whether we should trade him or not. He's thriving off the bench, but like I said in that other thread, we could use a wing like Rudy Gay to take some more pressure off of Kobe.

I never understood the need to trade Gasol for Gay/Smith/Iggy and the likes, Clark looks like a Rudy G Clone to me with less offensive explosiveness and Smith is a chucker, IT would be travesty if we trade Gasol for either of those players when we have 2 players in Peace/Clark who play like them with less expensive contracts.