With Kobe Bryant out for the foreseeable future, Pau Gasol was supposed to be the No. 1 option for the Los Angeles Lakers to begin the season. Many wondered if the center would recapture his once-dominant form in a wide-open Mike D’Antoni offense.
Thus far, the results have been spotty.
Gasol’s work on the glass has been there through the first five games, averaging an impressive 10.4 rebounds in just 27 minutes of play. The ability to score has been another story, however, as his touch from inside and out has come and gone. He has averaged 14.6 points on just 40.9 percent shooting from the field – terrible by his standards or any big man, for that matter. He reached a low point on Tuesday on the road against the Dallas Mavericks, managing just 10 points and eight rebounds in 31 minutes of playing time.
Chris Webber, a dominant big man in his playing days (at least before his knee gave out), saw Gasol in action and wasn’t thrilled with what he saw. As a matter of fact, he went as far as to say that Gasol is not an elite big man:
No he’s not a elite player- elite players get- Buckets-assist -rebounds 10 pts- 8 Rebs- no offensive boards- you are not a elite big man!
— Chris Webber (@realchriswebber) November 6, 2013
GASOL
— Chris Webber (@realchriswebber) November 6, 2013
To be fair, the Lakers are a mess right now as D’Antoni continues to tinker with his lineup in hopes of finding the best combination possible. Steve Nash has been a shell of himself as he continues to recover from the broken leg suffered from last season, and their best player on the wing appears to be Xavier Henry, which doesn’t exactly scream major threat for the opposition.
Gasol, meanwhile, is still recovering from respiratory issues he had from Sunday, and for all the talk from preseason about how D’Antoni wanted to go through his big man moving forward – how not playing him enough last season had to do with “politics” – the coach sure doesn’t seem to like the idea of playing him beyond 30 minutes. This is not to take all blame away from Gasol. He is by far the biggest threat on the team and has to take it upon himself to be more aggressive. Nine total shots on the road against Dallas simply won’t cut it.
While he failed to make his mark against the Mavericks, going at him this early as Webber did seems premature. Gasol still has a chance to be a major presence for the Lakers, but it looks to be a slow process as they continue to iron out the kinks. Not having Bryant with the team doesn’t help the situation any, either.
Now, if Webber is talking about the defensive end of the floor, he may be onto something.
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James Park is the chief blogger of Sheridan Hoops. You can find him on twitter@SheridanBlog.
Thank you for some other great post. Where else may anyone get that type of info
in such an ideal way of writing? I’ve a presentation subsequent week, and I am at the look for such info.
Well I guess both sides have a point, C-Web shouldn’t be the one condemning Gasol but then again Gasol has been a defensive liability and a lackadaisical re-bounder this season, it could be due to him still recovering from knee surgery and having respiratory problems this past week but you can only give him a free pass for so long, maybe Kaman should be getting more minutes until Gasol has recuperated to at least 90% and C-Web please don’t embarrass yourself.!!
SURPRISED AT YOU CHRIS WEBER…..FOR BEING SO VERY NEGATIVELY OPINIONATED REGARDING PAU GASON. HE HAS BEEN PUT IN THAT POSITION AND IS DOING HIS BEST….AGREE THERE NEED TO BE ANOTHER BIG GUY ON THE COURT BUT…..THIS IS NOT THE TIME TO BAD MOUTH HIM…..COME ON NOW…WE ARE ALL LAKER FANS AND WANT TO SEE THE BEST HAPPEN BUT MUCH SUCCESS SOMETIMES REQUIRES ANOTHER LOOK AT THE DRAWING BOARD…WE NEED YOUR SUPPORTIVE COMMENTS AND ENCOURAGEMENT…
DIANE….LAKER FAN
Says the man who has no rings and called a timeout with none available!!
Chris Webber (like the rest of his colleagues) are not doing their homework. They are just sitting around parroting cliches and conventional wisdom. To judge Gasol on the basis of this one game is silly. He should be aware that Gasol had procedures on both knees during the offseason and came to camp with poor conditioning as a result. He has not played extended minutes. It takes time to get into shape and rhythm. To say that because of the stats in this one game that Gasol is not an elite big man is just dumb. I like Chris Webber. He’s not the only one who does this. I also found most of the comments about Steve Nash ill-informed.
You’re right C-Webb…thanks for pointing that out! I mean…he is just a non-elite “2-TIME NBA CHAMPION” , 4 time all-star, 2 time Olympian, NBA Rookie of the Year……I guess if calling a time out when you don’t have any left and costing your team an NCAA title, while taking money from a booster that ultimately puts your school in hot water and never making an NBA Finals makes you “Elite”…..then you are correct…Pau is not Elite.
But it’s cool….I guess being the #2 guy on a team that makes 3 straight appearances in the NBA Finals isn’t that big a deal. Maybe you can remind us all of that when he is at the podium making his HOF induction speech and you’re at home…..wondering how this non-elite player got in…and you didn’t!
Weber, like any analyst is entitled to his opinion. He’s just saying that because Gasol isn’t carrying his time to some victories, he isn’t elite. Not saying he isn’t in the next bracket of boderline All Stars.
Of course I would say that the Lakers team, minus Gasol, is one of the worst in the NBA, so there isn’t much Pau can do.
C. Webb was never a dominate let alone a serviceable player. His position in history as a critic has no validation.
Remember late last year when Kobe went down and Pau became a triple-double machine? Yeah. But you know what, perhaps you’re right, C-Webb, Pau might not be an elite big anymore, but it’s not like you’re the one to call him out, No-Rings.
Well C-Webb you’re not HOF material. What have you done in the league that was so great? I’m waiting…..
I am with you Matthew, what has c-webb done in his basketball career other than call a time out he did not have in the NCAA championship? Elite big c-webb is not. Another point, just because you played a sport does not necessarily make you an expert. I am seek and tired of all these former players attacking the current ones. Moreover, c-webb has never won a thing…..Gasol for instance is a 3 times NBA champion, a world champion, and I believe an olympic champion (don’t remember).
Webber cost his team the national championship on the dumbest play in college history. Shut up!