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

They really need to change Chris Kaman's pic. He doesn't look nearly as drunk caveman-like now.

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

Detroit (Feb. 03, 2013)

Halftime Report:

i'm not really sure to priase him today or bash him but 4th qtr was embarrasing but that goes for EVERYBODY

He can be a Top-5 Center in the league if he wants to, he is also more skilled then his brother... but he had a bad run in the 4th quarter... just like the whole team

Good game. I think he averages 20/10 @ Center until Dwight comes back. The whole positional change thing was true... his offense looks better.

No real complaints about offense -- other than those two shots inside of 3 feet in the last two minutes. he needs to try to dunk those and get fouls instead of the quick flip or fade away intended to avoid any contact.

His defense though -- It is beyond that he can't jump. He has no reaction impulses. Like trying to swat things after the ball leaves the shooters hands, or trying to grab rebounds after they already bounced off his hands or off his chest. Still too much fumble-itis.

But that all said, glad we have him over Sacre with Dwight out.

I hope the team feels like they lost today. Need to focus tomorrow on why they are blowing leads and failing to execute.

Weezy wrote:Ok, he amy jump AND he's slow as hell.

go home iPhone, you're drunk!

If only his defense wasn't bad.

It is obvious he has no lift or lateral movement. Reaching for rebounds, barely moving to block out, nearly getting outjumped on that alley oop for the last play of the game. Tendinitis...plantar fascitis...whatever. The "G" in his last name stands for glacier. Gasol is doing what he can but his mobility and explosion [not much to begin with] is not there. Having said that, managing 23 and 10 against a younger, athletic Piston front line is nothing to scoff at however...

The injuries slowed him down to the point that he really can't defend at all, although he is kind of trying... sometimes he wants to go for a dunk on offense, like he used to, but he just gets stuck with the ball. He gets trapped before he can even put the ball on the floor.

The only reason why Pau is able to alter some shots right now is because he has a 7-5 wingspan. Seriously. If he was 6-8 he would not be able to dunk anymore. He has absolutely no explosion. He can still score in a variety of ways, which is terrific. We'll have to live with his D.

A pau with this aggression, and without knee tendinitis, is probably the best pf in basketball. Even with the injury, if he can continue playing like this, I still think he's the best pf in basketball. Who else is there? Love and nowitzki is injured. His defense is bad. But his man to man d is pretty solid.

He is not a 4 anymore. I think he'll never be a 4 again.

Is it possible for him to get his explosiveness back, with an offseason of rest? Maybe a Germanic procedure?

Honestly, he would go back to being old Pau if it weren't for his knees, which really sucks.

Weezy wrote:Ok, he can't jump AND he's slow as hell. My point is he can't play help defense, his body doesn't allow it anymore, so I don't feel like complaining about it because it isn't going up change. He can still play solid man defense though, so that's something. If he's going to stay here I'd rather start to focus on the good he's doing rather than the bad defense or or things he isn't doing, I'm kinda tired of complaining about Pau. Fact is he's played well these last 6 games, and we don't win the last 2 without him.

Yeah, saying Pau sucks on D as many are doing here is really only telling half the story. He's actually defended man on man very well the last few games. His help D sucks a lot as he just doesn't have the movement, and a lot of the time his defense on driving guards has been weak. But he did the job in the paint against Pek the other night and got three blocks while altering a few others down low.

He's not ever going to be a D12 replacement defensively. That's not really fair to expect. And while his help D sucks, his man on has been good and we've got to live with that. That makes his D only half bad/half good.

Meanwhile he's getting good numbers on offense and on the boards.

I actually thought Gasol's defense wasn't that bad in this game.

He simply faded because he had to play 40 minutes tonight. You saw a dropoff in his production at the end of the game.

His confidence is so important to him. As long as he's on our team, he needs to be playing closer to the basket, period.

Lakerjones wrote:Yeah, saying Pau sucks on D as many are doing here is really only telling half the story. He's actually defended man on man very well the last few games.

He hasn't exactly played anyone of note in the post either. No one on Detroit posted up and Gortat/Pek don't do damage from the post, but rather pick and roll and putbacks. If D12 doesn't play Tuesday, we will see how well his post defense is, when he goes up against Lopez.

His help D sucks a lot as he just doesn't have the movement, and a lot of the time his defense on driving guards has been weak. But he did the job in the paint against Pek the other night and got three blocks while altering a few others down low.

When teams are running 75% pick and roll and 25% actual straight up post plays, his help defense gets magnified because he can't help and recover. Hence the turn style defense we see and layup lines when Pau is playing center. I don't know how many times a guard has either drove and got to the opposite side of the hoop on Pau or taken it straight to his chest and scored because there is no resistance. If his only skill defensively is 1 on 1 post defense and teams are a majority of the time doing the opposite of that and attacking his biggest weakness, that's a problem.

D12 goes out and it's a layup line at the rim. Sure he might get a block here or there and play 1 on 1 defense vs. non-traditional post players, but that's happening about 10% of the game, while the other 90% is teams running sets that expose Pau.

He's not ever going to be a D12 replacement defensively. That's not really fair to expect. And while his help D sucks, his man on has been good and we've got to live with that. That makes his D only half bad/half good.

It makes his D 90% bad and 10% good when you account for what is actually going down on the court.

^^ Doc, I know you are down on Pau and I understand that but are you really going to say that 90% of Pau's defense was bad over the past few games? I don't buy that. I don't disagree that his lack of mobility is rough and is causing him to suck at times, but 90% bad defense? I get your point, but I think it's a bit overstated.

I'm with BDG, I think Pau's actually looked better on D at times than I've expected these past few games. At the very least I see him trying. The drop off between him and Dwight was going to be big no matter what. But you are completely dismissing the good that he's actually doing. You and others said before the Minny game that Pek was going to beat him up in the post. The opposite happened. Pek got one or two decent shots up against him. The other times he got blocked or Pau used his length to alter his attempts. I just think if people are going to rip him, and I've done the same, at least credit him for the things he's doing well. And the percentage is not 10% to 90%. Maybe you're right and it's more bad than good, but I don't think it's anywhere near that extreme. When Pau comes out we truly suck on D.

His defense has been surprisingly alright lately actually. He's actually jumping on occasion and challenging shots which is nice.

He's just too slow to cover ground the way a Center should. It's not necessarily his fault, it just is what it is. I'll give him credit: he's playing really well. Much better than I thought he had in him anymore. I thought he was done physically and mentally, but this benching has really revived him mentally.

Pau's defense is not improving. Just because he scores a little more points than he allows for 1 game doesn't mean anything. Teams look to drive into the paint when Howard isn't in the game and Pau is guarding the middle. As far as I'm concerned he's a 19 million dollar role player and the Lakers should jump at any decent value they can get for him.

Lakerjones wrote:^^ Doc, I know you are down on Pau and I understand that but are you really going to say that 90% of Pau's defense was bad over the past few games? I don't buy that. I don't disagree that his lack of mobility is rough and is causing him to suck at times, but 90% bad defense? I get your point, but I think it's a bit overstated.

The percentages are overstated, but the point still stands. If a team ran 100% pick and roll and made Pau move his defense would be awful. If teams ran 100% post up on Pau, his defense would be pretty good. It's all relative to what the opposing team is running and recently it's been a lot of the pick and roll + movement against us. That's my point, Pau's defense is an issue because we are seeing more of teams exposing his weakness as opposed to playing him to his strength.

I'm with BDG, I think Pau's actually looked better on D at times than I've expected these past few games. At the very least I see him trying. The drop off between him and Dwight was going to be big no matter what. But you are completely dismissing the good that he's actually doing.

I'm not dismissing it, there's a few scattered posts recently giving Pau some love.

You and others said before the Minny game that Pek was going to beat him up in the post.

I don't believe I ever said that. Defensively yes Pek could, but Pek on offense isn't a post up player so he couldn't beat Pau up. If you are thinking my comment about Pau being a Doberman was it, we will have to discuss that elsewhere.

Maybe you're right and it's more bad than good, but I don't think it's anywhere near that extreme. When Pau comes out we truly suck on D.

I agree, but that's only because we have no one else right now to play center. If Hill was still healthy and playing, I would disagree.

Pau in the huddle: