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

karacha wrote:Pau, I am almost speechless. But I'll make an effort and post something.

Next time when a reporter asks you about being on the bench -- especially in crunch time -- feel free to tell them you deserve it. You are almost as slow as big Z was in his last years in the league. You have absolutely no lift. You have showed a 1-inch vertical last night when you tried to take it to the basket. You started shooting hooks with your feet planted to the ground.

You defensive efforts are almost non-existant. You can't protect the rim and are allowing easy layups. Without Dwight, our interior defense looks pathetic and guess whose responsibility that is? It's not just that you can't do it physically anymore, you are not even showing the effort. At least that's how it looks like. It's sad.

Please do not complain about the bench thing ever again. You should've stopped some layups there. You got 37 minutes and got 5 rebounds, and you played without Dwight late in the game. In comparison, Dwight got 14 with a bad back and a busted shoulder BTW. 5 of which were offensive.

You're 7-1 and you shot under 50% from the field. Your FT shooting is beyond horrible right now.

That's all for now, but I'll be back with more later.

TIME wrote:(time to bust out the old Tin-Pau avvy)

khmrP wrote:

TIME wrote:(time to bust out the old Tin-Pau avvy)

can someone make one of Artest as Scarecrow cause he's need a brain

MINNEAPOLIS -- Ricky Rubio is standing up for his fellow Spaniard Pau Gasol, saying he doesn't think it's fair that the Los Angeles Lakers are bringing Gasol off the bench this season.

Rubio was asked about his close friend Gasol on Thursday, one day before his Minnesota Timberwolves were scheduled to host the Lakers. The two talk often during the season and seek each other out during tough stretches.

It's been a difficult season for Gasol, who was coming off a dominant performance for Spain at the London Olympics. He's missed big chunks of time with tendinitis in his knees and a concussion and hasn't seemed to find a role in Mike D'Antoni's offense. D'Antoni has been starting journeyman Earl Clark in Gasol's place, something that Gasol and Rubio don't like.

"He proved to the league he is one of the best," Rubio said. "He can pass. He can shoot. He can rebound. He can do a lot of things. I think if you use him in the right way he is a top player in this league. If they don't want him, we are more than welcome to get him."

Gasol has been the subject of trade rumors for the last few seasons now, much to the chagrin of Kobe Bryant, who has openly campaigned not just to keep one of the league's most gifted post players, but to continue featuring him on offense.

"It's been the last two years that it seems like they don't want him, but actually they need him," Rubio said. "He's a great player. He can do a lot of things and he had some issues with the knees, too. It's been a lot of years without resting for him. But he's a veteran. He knows how to play."

The Timberwolves have often been mentioned as a potential landing spot for Gasol. Wolves coach Rick Adelman has long been intrigued by the possibilities of a Gasol-Kevin Love pairing in the frontcourt, seeing similarities to the Chris Webber-Vlade Divac tandem that he employed to great success with the Sacramento Kings.

But the Wolves have been decimated by injuries this season and are 17-25, a distant 12th in the Western Conference, so making a trade for a highly paid veteran like Gasol seems like a stretch. The 32-year-old Gasol is making $19 million both this season and next, a big salary that makes it difficult to trade him.

"It's hard, when you are hearing things with the rumors that you are going to be traded, to be focused," Rubio said. "Like he says, he's a professional and he's been playing for a long time and he's going to keep doing what he doing."

Gasol is averaging a career-worst 12.8 points per game and is shooting a career-low 44.8 percent during this messy Lakers season. Not normally one to vent publicly, Gasol has complained about his role, most recently when he was benched for the entire fourth quarter of a win over the Hornets.

"Well, you know, `all for one' didn't last (very) long, did it?" D'Antoni quipped to reporters before the loss to Phoenix. "Forty-eight-hour shelf life. That's not bad. We'll take what we can get."

It's been one thing after another for D'Antoni and the Lakers, who were considered one of the favorites for the title after acquiring Dwight Howard in a trade in the offseason. Mike Brown was fired five games into the season, with D'Antoni getting the job over Phil Jackson. Howard hasn't been his usual dominant self for much of the year while recovering from a back injury last season and also has been bothered by a right shoulder injury over the last month.

Howard aggravated his shoulder injury in a loss to Phoenix on Wednesday night. The Lakers announced that he was evaluated on Thursday and is considered day-to-day.

The Lakers have shown signs of life in the last week, with consecutive victories over the Jazz, Thunder and Hornets. But they're still just 20-26 and in 10th place in the West, four games behind Houston for the eighth and final playoff spot.

noobiew wrote:Did Minny offer Derrick Williams and Nikola Pekovic still on the table ?

Kit wrote:Let's sign Kmart. At least he is tough.

If they don't want him we will gladly take him

Chillbongo wrote:There is probably a thread on this somewhere, but Ricky Rubio openly commented on Pau's frustrations and said something to the effect of

If they don't want him we will gladly take him

All right Mr. GM Rubio, Just throw in K-Love and first rounder. You get Ebanks.

easyguy wrote:

Kit wrote:Let's sign Kmart. At least he is tough.

Stop with trading for older dudes, look at our younger guys, Clark and Hill, they have a lot more potentials than Kmart.

phoenixrisingla wrote:I've been a Gasol supporter almost the entire time, but there's something wrong. Not sure if it's motivation or his body starting to break down, but what limited mobility he had in his prime looks even worse.

It's a layup drill on us any time he's out there by himself and the worst part is I dont think he realizes it.

borri wrote: It's been 3 str8 years now that his D has gone from barely acceptable to now....total turnstyle.