Pau Gasol 'probably not' open to coming off the bench

Fricking diva.

' yes i am a spanish Goddess i can't be benched'

he used to be a top 3 PF in the NBA. used to.

charvin wrote:When has he ever been a "star starter"? There's a reason why he and his Memphis teams got swept each and every time they got to the playoffs.

Take your pouting elsewhere ya big galoot.

Well, he was, but his team sucked balls...

Unfortunately so. I'm sorry to bring up a (probably) misinterpreted stereotype for American-born NBA players, but you would think that someone from Spain (which I'm inclined to believe that Europeans are taught to play team ball and care more about the team vs individual accolades) would not bring up this me-me-me attitude.

Bad comparisons, but players like Bryant and Jordan adapted their games as they aged - can't outrun the guys, but don't need to, just play smarter. This is as you put it, can't accept reality, can't accept that his skills have diminished, can't accept playing off the bench, and can't accept the fact that he's been "put" on the trading block for the past 3 years.

I thought with Bryant's "guarantee" of a no-trade clause for Pau, it would have given him some confidence back, I stand corrected on that.

Armani wrote:

charvin wrote:When has he ever been a "star starter"? There's a reason why he and his Memphis teams got swept each and every time they got to the playoffs.

Take your pouting elsewhere ya big galoot.

Let's not bring up the past. He was an undisputed star and an invaluable player during our title runs.

This is just the case of a player that can't accept reality. His skills have declined, and he is a shadow of his former self. He can shine as a 6th man now... and he isn't ready to accept that.

charvin wrote:When has he ever been a "star starter"? There's a reason why he and his Memphis teams got swept each and every time they got to the playoffs.

Take your pouting elsewhere ya big galoot.

When he was the second best player on the back-to-back Champion Lakers? Just because his attitude sucks now, doesn't take away from everything he did for us.

therealdeal wrote:

charvin wrote:When has he ever been a "star starter"? There's a reason why he and his Memphis teams got swept each and every time they got to the playoffs.

Take your pouting elsewhere ya big galoot.

When he was the second best player on the back-to-back Champion Lakers? Just because his attitude sucks now, doesn't take away from everything he did for us.

you are much more of a kinder gentler person now.

good, hopefully he asks for a trade.

KB24 wrote:good, hopefully he asks for a trade.

Why? To lower his value even more All his talking doesn't help anyways.

kenzo wrote:

KB24 wrote:good, hopefully he asks for a trade.

Why? To lower his value even more All his talking doesn't help anyways.

his value is already at the bottom. He doesn't have to do it publicly BTW.

KB24 wrote:

kenzo wrote:

KB24 wrote:good, hopefully he asks for a trade.

Why? To lower his value even more All his talking doesn't help anyways.

his value is already at the bottom. He doesn't have to do it publicly BTW.

I get what you mean. I just still hope someone (Minny, ATL, Mem) is "kind" enough to take him from our hands... for something more than peanuts.

Well as long as Pau is still on the Lakers, I still believe in him.

borri wrote:

dj vitus wrote:I'm surprised we've held onto him for so long, especially after trading him for CP3. Guess there really aren't any great deals at all out there.

I know I've been very critical of Josh Smith's outside shooting and ugly free throws, but he does everything else great, especially DEFENSE, which is what we sorely need. If we could get a third team in the mix...

Oh but there was! HOU essentially gave up Dragic, Martin and Scola to get Pau, in the CP3 fiasco. All we had to do was offer Pau for those 3 and done deal. ORL wanted no part of Pau and his salary so it would have had NO effect on getting Howard here.

Where would we be right now with those 3 instead of Duhon, Morris and Jamison..........

Not true because was going to be a free agent at the time so might had walked anyways to the Suns, and Nash would still be here and so will Duhon and Morris. Just Meeks won't be here if Martin was here, and yes Jamison will still be here too.

there's something wrong with pau if he thinks he's still playing like a "star starter"

he should watch his highlights from 08-08 and 09-10 and then he'll realize how wrong he is

Justin Bailey wrote:Well as long as Pau is still on the Lakers, I still believe in him.

I have some magic beans i want to sell you.

Gasoft coming off the bench is just an invitation to the opponent to dominate in the low post and get easy lay ups and dunks while he's in the game.

Better to give the minutes to someone who is actually going to work hard to sustain whatever momentum the starters create.

Mr_Hollywood - are you suggesting our other bigs not named Howard are any different lol........ please..... the bench is paper masher defensively no matter what combo of bigs you put out there and unless you stop turning over the ball or stop giving up long rebounds resulting in easy transition hoops nothing will change. Gasol playing or not playing the 5 off the bench does not solve that............ dumazz and his offensive philosophy is the issue when you look at our roster.... a good coach in the NBA has to adjust to his roster..... bad coaches try and adapt players to a single minded philosophy and get canned every couple of years...... guess where MDA fits here?

Up to this point I've been one of his few supporters. He's not fitting in well and isn't playing with agression, but I've still felt he was worth keeping, thinking he'd turn it around once he got healthy.

After reading his comments I think you have to trade him. If Odom and Artest both were able to adjust to coming off the bench, using a team first attitude, and Pau thinks he's above that, he has to go. When all the evidence suggests having him on the court with Howard is detrimental to the team, and he refuses to do something to make the team better? Let him be a starter somewhere else. Problem is, he's played himself right out of any GM's trade targeting. No team that can absorb his bloated salary (and largely unearned the past few years) wants him anymore.

they're not winning even with him off the bench, I could see why he would hate it even more so now.

Eric, thoughts and prayers for your wife and the rest of your family. Sorry about your loss...