Pau Gasol and Mike D'Antoni are not on the same page

Besides Nash, I don't think any Lakers are on the same page with MDA.

I am starting to think that he hopes he gets fired so that he can take the Lakers' money, retire very very rich, and play a lot of golf.

The lack of any adjustments, any flexibility in his system, failure to get his team to execute in close games, and failures to get anything special out of Dwight, Meeks, Ebanks, etc.

He literraly has added no value. And the team is rarely ready to jump out early on teams.

MDA has made plenty of adjustments and has been very flexible. Just because they haven't worked doesn't mean he's sitting on his butt and just hoping the players figure it out on their own. People need to at least come up with legitimate reasons to attack the guy.

JoelMyersScrotalSack wrote:MDA has made plenty of adjustments and has been very flexible. Just because they haven't worked doesn't mean he's sitting on his butt and just hoping the players figure it out on their own. People need to at least come up with legitimate reasons to attack the guy.

Crappy results. You need to photoshop your avatar image with D'Antoni's face. Paint it brown to match if you have to.

Punk -this is not college hoops or 2K13............ you absolutely have to cater and know the RIGHT buttons to push with professionals............ that is the huge difference when you elevate to professional sports, the players are absolutely bigger than the coach and the pay scale shows that......... it's not even worth a debate really.

Your point is missing one key thing when you go into your progression of 2a,2b to C lol....... Jackson openly said he thought it was a mistake to feature Bynum........... and it was within his offense........ You can't feature a big that can't make good basketball decisions out of the post....period.... I don;t care how many post moves the guy has or developed, you need to be able to pass and understand the concepts out of the post other than scoring. The only big on the Lakers that could do this in the last decade is Gasol as a triple threat from the post....... something everyone just doesn't seem to get for some reason when the hole Bynum fiasco started.

Like I said in an ideal world I would agree with your assessment but what Jackson openly admitted is the big elephant in the room........... this experiment has failed because this team had literally taken their only triple threat out of the post in favor for a 1 trick pony...first Bynum and now Howard. That is the mistake and many fans would still force that mistake to this day. .......... sad to me, just tells me that many fans understand stats but not the actual game.

--------------------------------------

My question to you is simple.......... what are you going to say once Gasol gets traded and than it's Howard who all of a sudden can't play either? that is exactly what is going to happen once a new bulls eye has to be hung up when the losing continues sans Gasol.

Than will you put down the kool-aid and look at the coach and the overall layout here regarding the last 2 hires? Does he have to chase away and alienate all our bigs before the FO and some fans here get a clue?


I'm so frustrated right now, not with Punk (you know I love ya man), with this situation I said would happen before the guy even got off the plane and here we are.............

I'm still force feeding my point because it was SPOT on regarding this clown........... but hey you can lead a horse to water but you can't force him to drink.

I'd say they're not even on the same book nowadays.

I'd say they're not even on the same book nowadays.

MC: I think we both agree that Pau would still be fairly dominant if he was never bumped from the clear-cut primary post option. The only place we differ is this:

I find it unacceptable that Gasol could not share the spotlight at all to even be 2a and 2b with Bynum and Howard. As soon as he has to share, he pouts and losses interest and forces the coaches to involve him less and less.

You find that attitude acceptable, or maybe at least understandable and think the coaches should have never done that anyway.

I would agree with you if Pau went from championship post player to complete outcast in the blink of an eye. Then, sure I'd back him for being upset. I don't back him for being a primadonna just because he had to be 2b to Bynum's 2a. I know Phil said this was a mistake, probably in hindsight because he didn't anticipate pau being a b**** about it. He was playing psychologist. I think if he never pouted and lost focus, he'd still be 2b to Howard in MDA's system as well, but he hasn't earned it. Pau would be deadly in the Diaw or Amare role. Diaw had plenty of post ups. Remember when we kept switching Smush in the PnR and Diaw abused him in the post. I know MDA has openly said that he doesn't favor his bigs posting up, but there would be plenty of opportunities for it through his system through PnR and mismatches. It was beautiful in Phoenix.

RE: Howard having a bullseye if pau is traded. I agree. There is something rotten in that lockerroom beyond pau possibly being a cancer. Howard is as well.

I don't even think Nash is on the same page with MDA.

odom1year wrote:Besides Nash, I don't think any Lakers are on the same page with MDA.

therealdeal wrote:

432J wrote:

karacha wrote:It's not like he was playing his best for Phil either.

honestly, pau's game has noticeably started sucking since phil's left after 10-11

No it didn't, it started in the 2011 playoffs.

i didn't say it started sucking when phil left

he's gradually declined since the 10-11 season and then in the new orleans series it started to get noticeable. ever since then he's been on a rapid decline. obviously dan tony's horrible system is the worst fit for him but it's clear he's declining as well

432J wrote:

therealdeal wrote:

432J wrote:

karacha wrote:It's not like he was playing his best for Phil either.

honestly, pau's game has noticeably started sucking since phil's left after 10-11

No it didn't, it started in the 2011 playoffs.

i didn't say it started sucking when phil left

he's gradually declined since the 10-11 season and then in the new orleans series it started to get noticeable. ever since then he's been on a rapid decline. obviously dan tony's horrible system is the worst fit for him but it's clear he's declining as well

I know you didn't say that, I pointed it out... Pau started sucking the 2011 playoffs.

Pau even sucks in 2k13.Can't make a layup.

I know the guy's not playing his best ball right now, and part of that is on him and his effort/focus level.

Bill Simmons made an interesting point in his grantland column today:

Here's a good rule of thumb: If you're a professional basketball coach and your system is telling you, "I should play Earl Clark more than Pau Gasol," you need a new system.

It's seriously one of the dumbest things I've ever watched. I hate the Lakers and even I'm offended by this — purely as a basketball fan, it's insulting to watch good players being criminally misused like this.

http://www.grantland.com/story/_/id/8872264/lakers

I love what Earl Clark is doing, but do you guys think there's any truth to this?

Objectively, Pau is a superior basketball player to Earl Clark. So is it a "fit" issue" or have we lost sight of the forest through the trees on this nightmare season?

When Pau and Dwight were running high low in the 4th quarter vs the bulls, they looked good.

^Pau is still a decent piece. He's just not a piece on a championship team anymore. He's had problems in Phil's last season in the PO's, Mike Brown and now MDA. He's inconsistent and now with the injury issues he's suffering has barely any lift at all. He's best coming off the bench because it gives him the opportunity to operate in the post while Dwight is on the bench.

Addtionally, he's horrigle defensively. It's not just fitting him into a role offensively. We suffer when he's out there and somebody his beating him off the dribble or he's getting raped in the paint. Earl brings a different dynamic defensively which is the biggest reason why Pau is on the bench...

Simmons has it backwards. If Pau played with Earl Clark's attitude, heart, and desire, he'd be thriving...even in this system that admittedly isn't the best match for him.

Punk-101 wrote:Simmons has it backwards. If Pau played with Earl Clark's attitude, heart, and desire, he'd be thriving...even in this system that admittedly isn't the best match for him.

Exactly. Although I'm not sure which is more pathetic a coach who can't figure out how to use his players or a player who doesn't want to play.

therealdeal wrote:

Punk-101 wrote:Simmons has it backwards. If Pau played with Earl Clark's attitude, heart, and desire, he'd be thriving...even in this system that admittedly isn't the best match for him.

Exactly. Although I'm not sure which is more pathetic a coach who can't figure out how to use his players or a player who doesn't want to play.

To be fair Pau has not been playing well under different head coaches too. Hes simply done. He wants to be the primary post player and yet doesn't post up. How can he point the finger when his problems have been there under 2 other head coaches as well. Pau is getting open looks and shots in the paints hes not converting at an acceptable rate right now (outside of the last 2 games)

The Rock wrote:

therealdeal wrote:

Punk-101 wrote:Simmons has it backwards. If Pau played with Earl Clark's attitude, heart, and desire, he'd be thriving...even in this system that admittedly isn't the best match for him.

Exactly. Although I'm not sure which is more pathetic a coach who can't figure out how to use his players or a player who doesn't want to play.

To be fair Pau has not been playing well under different head coaches too. Hes simply done. He wants to be the primary post player and yet doesn't post up. How can he point the finger when his problems have been there under 2 other head coaches as well. Pau is getting open looks and shots in the paints hes not converting at an acceptable rate right now (outside of the last 2 games)

We're not disagreeing, so need to be fair to anybody.

The answer is simple: everyone is to blame for where we're at. D'Antoni, Kobe, Nash, Howard, Pau, the Busses, the fans. Everybody.

But the easiest solution is trading Pau away and getting rid of that rift. The next easiest is firing D'Antoni and that's not easy at all.

I'm onboard with this idea of letting Pau play center. Just... Do it. Play pickup ball, get him posted and let him shoot it 15 or 20 times. We're losing anyway, so what the hell. See if Pau still has it.

I can tell you one thing: The Lakers are NOT riding Howard to a trophy.

SpencerHarrison wrote:I'm onboard with this idea of letting Pau play center. Just... Do it. Play pickup ball, get him posted and let him shoot it 15 or 20 times. We're losing anyway, so what the hell. See if Pau still has it.

I can tell you one thing: The Lakers are NOT riding Howard to a trophy.

But we're riding Gasol to one?

he should start tonight, I dont like his play but I cringe thinking bout Artest or Clark trying to guard Zbo.

therealdeal wrote:

SpencerHarrison wrote:I'm onboard with this idea of letting Pau play center. Just... Do it. Play pickup ball, get him posted and let him shoot it 15 or 20 times. We're losing anyway, so what the hell. See if Pau still has it.

I can tell you one thing: The Lakers are NOT riding Howard to a trophy.

But we're riding Gasol to one?

No - but I think that letting him find his game only helps the Lakers win. Either now, with better chemistry and execution, or by raising his future trade value and giving the league a good look at what Gasol has left.

If he's done, he's done. But at least we will KNOW.

Howard, in my view, doesn't seem to have the fire to lead. Not now, not ever. If we're talking about what players we want to keep and which ones to deal... Howard has to go. Gasol might too, but that ugly Spaniard has done some pretty epic things for LA, and has the full trust and support of Kobe and Nash. That DOES mean something.

We KNOW he's done NOW. The guy hasn't shown me anything to prove otherwise since the 2011 regular season which was 2 years ago!

He's done for this team RIGHT NOW.

We know Dwight can improve when he heals up this summer, but when Gasol gets to this summer his talent only decreases. Just because you don't like Dwight Howard or his leadership doesn't mean we should then depend on Gasol and his lackthereof.

Agree to disagree. I think the hollywood twist ending here is that Howard is the cancer. Just my opinion