When Gasol returns who is the starting 4?

There was a member on another Lakers forum that suggested that we move Pau to center on defense and have him act as the shotblocker and make D12 the PF and have D12 act as a weakside helper.

His argument was that although Pau isn't as good as Howard as a shotblocker, Howard's abililty to help and recover at the 4 would improve our defense.

Anybody that knows my opinion over the last 2 years can guess what I thought about that idea.

Pau of course. Unless he's traded before that, we've got to showcase that's he's 1) Healthy and 2) Still have some semblance of a game left.

I think we need to find a way to reduce the minutes Gasol has to play with Howard....if we can move Gasol more in the paint he would benefit from it I think.

It really doesn't matter who starts and who doesn't. It matters what rotations we want to play.

KB24 wrote:I think we need to find a way to reduce the minutes Gasol has to play

Fixed

wcsoldier81 wrote:

KB24 wrote:I think we need to find a way to remove Gasol from this team

Fixed

Fixed

KB24 wrote:I think we need to find a way to reduce the minutes Gasol has to play with Howard....if we can move Gasol more in the paint he would benefit from it I think.

It really doesn't matter who starts and who doesn't. It matters what rotations we want to play.

But can Gasol mentally handle coming off the bench? He hasn't reacted well to being benched late in games or his diminished role on the team.

Pau will be starting at the 4 when he's back.

Though I'll be interested in seeing if they try playing Pau at the 5 and Clark at the 4 on occasion. Clark has proven to be a good help defender at the hoop, which might shore up some of Pau's deficiencies and give us good firepower on offence (assuming Clark can continue the awesome results he's had so far).

if MDA had the balls or brains, the starting 5 and rotation when Pau returns would be:

Nash
Kobe
Clark
Peace
Howard

Pau
Jamison
Duhon
Morris

This would give the starting unit a hit of much needed youth, athleticism and energy (especially with J-Hill gone for the season) and would allow D12 to be the focal point down low, AND strengthen the bench. Pau would come on and play C and be the focal point down low. Of course they could still play together for stretches and match up against taller teams. Otherwise Ron has the muscle and experience to play PF and grab boards, play good D and score down low if needed.....

Dave McMenamin ‏@mcten
D'Antoni when asked a string of questions about Pau coming off the bench: "We're going down a road I don't want to go down yet"
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KEVIN DING ‏@KevinDing
D'Antoni on starting Earl Clark after Pau's concussion return: "That would be tough. We'll see."
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Players losing confidence in Pau, coach losing confidence Pau, Pau lost confidence himself awhile ago....

Grab a knife, trim the fat and let's move on.

We are going to need Gasol if we are truly a contender. Just wish we can find the right role before its too late, and he's lost at sea. He's more then likely a Laker until the summer when he has an expiring contract

Pau is playing tonight. Clark is starting

This is what all of us wanted hopefully it works. Hope Pau takes on the role of the bench leader and takes responsibility for the offense




oh who am I kidding lol lets hope he just plays hard, grabs some rebounds

Pau will not start because he hasn't played in a week? LOL good one MDA, last time he missed like 6 games with tendonidis he still started. Good way to sneak in what we have all been wanting and bring him in with the 2nd unit!

wouldn't surprise me one bit if Battier/Lebron can prevent him from getting post position

khmrP wrote:wouldn't surprise me one bit if Battier/Lebron can prevent him from getting post position

Lebron can keep most players in the league from getting post position.. I don't know how that's a knock on Pau.

If Pau accepted the 6th man role, this team will be exactly what we were dreaming in September...

lakersin4 wrote:

khmrP wrote:wouldn't surprise me one bit if Battier/Lebron can prevent him from getting post position

Lebron can keep most players in the league from getting post position.. I don't know how that's a knock on Pau.

ok, wouldn't surprise me if Pau just plain out sucked tonight, that better?

D.B. Cooper wrote:I hope Tony has the plums to make Gasol the back up C.

This, because it just makes so much more sense based on our personnel and Pau's propensity to play in the post.

Pau could still end up with 30 mins/game and get plenty of shots, offense flowing through him, etc.

But this makes too much sense for the Lakers to at least try it out... might have to try it initially at least.

khmrP wrote:

lakersin4 wrote:

khmrP wrote:wouldn't surprise me one bit if Battier/Lebron can prevent him from getting post position

Lebron can keep most players in the league from getting post position.. I don't know how that's a knock on Pau.

ok, wouldn't surprise me if Pau just plain out sucked tonight, that better?

Its almost a certainty, no?

Gasol is a beast.

Thenextgreat wrote:Gasol is only a beast for spain.

FIXED

The Rock wrote:Pau is playing tonight. Clark is starting

Hope this does happen.
Hope Pau accepts it and accepts the role.
Hope he plays well and plays for the team.

Psychobroker wrote:

D.B. Cooper wrote:I hope Tony has the plums to make Gasol the back up C.

This, because it just makes so much more sense based on our personnel and Pau's propensity to play in the post.

Pau could still end up with 30 mins/game and get plenty of shots, offense flowing through him, etc.

But this makes too much sense for the Lakers to at least try it out... might have to try it initially at least.

^^ It needs to happen. Even Mychal Thompson said so on the radio. Gasol needs to accept the Lamar Odom type role. Be the scoring big off the bench - though at Center not PF. It just makes sense to get back to his post game, get him more touches, make him the focus of the offense with the bench. If he knew what was good for him he would accept this openly. Fact is he's been hurt all year and the pace in general has been too fast for his game. With the second unit they could slow it down somewhat and take advantage of his skill and size at the Center position. This could really be a good solution for him.

khmrP wrote:

lakersin4 wrote:

khmrP wrote:wouldn't surprise me one bit if Battier/Lebron can prevent him from getting post position

Lebron can keep most players in the league from getting post position.. I don't know how that's a knock on Pau.

ok, wouldn't surprise me if Pau just plain out sucked tonight, that better?

Yeah I won't dispute that lol. Pau is a momentum guy though. He's at his best when the team is playing great ball around him. If the rest of the guys continue their winning play, I think Pau might play inspired ball.. Hopefully inspired enough to convince ATL to take him.