Think We Need a Rim Protecting Big? (LAL rank 23rd in Defending Points in Paint)
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lakersfever714
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 10:56 am    Post subject:

MJST wrote:
lakersfever714 wrote:

We know for certain Gasol isn't gonna jump higher or be more mobile or have more energy than Howard. That much we know for sure. As far as how savvy Gasol will be as a defender, we'd need to see it from him. If you ask me today, then I would still rather have Howard because I think Howard is better.


Alright, look here.

Gasol had a plus/minus differential of 7.7.
On offense, the team scores 0.8 fewer points when he’s on the court, however on defense, the team allows 8.5 fewer points when he is on the court which is the 95th percentile among all players in the NBA.

Gasol also spent 78.5% of his time defending bigs, according to Krishna Narsu's versatility statistic, and ranked in the 96th percentile in post defense, according to NBA stats.

He allowed just 0.47 points per post touch, the tenth fewest among NBA players.

Gasol was also
91st percentile overall defensively
79th percentile against PnR ballhandlers
88th percentile against single high PnRs

Last year as well his defensive plus/minus was the 2nd best it'd been for his entire career, which includes his DPOY season.

In addition to that Gasol ranked

96th Percentile - Rim Deterrence
91st Percentile - % of Rim Shots Contested
85th Percentile - Rim Contests
80th Percentile - Blocks
72nd Percentile - Rim dFG% vs Expected
89th Percentile - Rim Points saved
100th Percentile - Lineup Perimeter Defense
https://twitter.com/Tim_NBA/status/1330676484160286723


Do you see how fortunate we were to get Gasol in place of Howard and McGee and also to obtain Harrell in the process?


Still waiting for this Gasol to show up, though. Keep in mind Gasol has played a lot more games in playoffs and regular season than Howard did so he might be more worn down.

That's why the eye test is so important. The stat sheet doesn't show a player bouncing around running the floor and hustling. 35 year old Gasol =/= 35 year old Howard.
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MJST
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 11:28 am    Post subject:

if you're waiting on that Gasol to show up it's gonna take longer than one game and barely playing the pre-season. It's gonna be a few games till he works himself into a rhythm and game shape.

Same for Gasol and Davis and Shroeder.
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 11:59 am    Post subject:

MJST wrote:
King Randle wrote:
MJST wrote:
lakersfever714 wrote:
MJST wrote:
it's almost as if people don't know Harrell has a 7'5 wingspan and was one of our few that got blocks last night or something.

Anyway, Gasol made some good plays at the rim when Kawhi drove to the basket. A lot of the 'fouls' he got called for were questionable to say the least.

Gasol is here for three things.

1) His passing
I think it's safe to say offense isn't gonna be a problem for us this year so we don't need anymore of it.

2) His ability to stretch the floor with LeBron here

Again, we don't his three point shooting. Howard and McGee probably didn't even attempt a 3-pt shot last season and we won the championship. Howard was a constant lob threat on offense that teams always have to watch out for. Gasol isn't a lob threat because he has a 3-inch vertical.

3) His defensive savvy

Definitely not as good a shotblock as Howard

All of which he flexed last year. Considering he barely played in the pre-season and doesn't have chemistry with the team yet, it's far too early to take anything away from the game concerning him.


What we need is DEFENSE and Howard was 3-time DPOY. Gasol just doesn't jump quite high enough to contest/block shots.


Gasol doesn't need to 'jump high' to contest shots. Again, he has good rotation timing, strength and verticality and defensive savvy. It's one of the reasons he was so solid defensively for Toronto last year, particularly in the paint.

Just because another player is flashier when playing defense doesn't mean they're more effective. Gasol was particularly good at defending the paint in Toronto and it wasn't because he jumped high.


Sorry MJ....offense wasn’t the problem...we won last year because of our D... no one could get to the rim. Dwight is superior to Marc defensively and it’s not close.



You're right it wasn't close... Gasol was a lot better.

Gasol had a plus/minus differential of 7.7.
On offense, the team scores 0.8 fewer points when he’s on the court, however on defense, the team allows 8.5 fewer points when he is on the court which is the 95th percentile among all players in the NBA.

Gasol also spent 78.5% of his time defending bigs, according to Krishna Narsu's versatility statistic, and ranked in the 96th percentile in post defense, according to NBA stats.

He allowed just 0.47 points per post touch, the tenth fewest among NBA players.

Gasol was also
91st percentile overall defensively
79th percentile against PnR ballhandlers
88th percentile against single high PnRs

Last year as well his defensive plus/minus was the 2nd best it'd been for his entire career, which includes his DPOY season.

In addition to that Gasol ranked

96th Percentile - Rim Deterrence
91st Percentile - % of Rim Shots Contested
85th Percentile - Rim Contests
80th Percentile - Blocks
72nd Percentile - Rim dFG% vs Expected
89th Percentile - Rim Points saved
100th Percentile - Lineup Perimeter Defense
https://twitter.com/Tim_NBA/status/1330676484160286723

So yeah, the TLDR is... Gasol's still got it defensively and was one of the best defensive bigs in the league last year. Just because Dwight jumped higher and was more athletic didn't mean Gasol wasn't still a beast defensively.

So you're definitely right when you say it 'wasn't close', but it wasn't Dwight who was better.

It would behoove you and anyone else that has... to stop underestimating Gasol and the value he brings to a team defensively, and understand how fortunate the Lakers are to have him.


You can stat until your blue in the face....did u watch the game? Embarrassing? Dwight is superior...period. Gasol is a joke at 36....he’s done being productive. Old, slow, overweight, stiff. Better than Dwight....yeah right.
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Mike@LG
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 12:17 pm    Post subject:

Quote:
You can stat until your blue in the face....did u watch the game? Embarrassing? Dwight is superior...period. Gasol is a joke at 36....he’s done being productive. Old, slow, overweight, stiff. Better than Dwight....yeah right.


I watched. Also saw how Marc Gasol wasn't the guy that lost the game.
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wolfpaclaker
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 12:23 pm    Post subject:

The thing about Gasol, to bring up last year's numbers or past success is not really relevant. He is physical decline and had a very bad playoffs. He may be in his last year in the league. Dwight was on a bounce back year, and was still showing athleticism close to his prime, and defensively, at their best, Dwight is one of the best defensive Cs in league history, and Gasol is not as talented defensively, even if he is smarter.

But having Dwight yesterday, does not mean LA wins. Result is same, and Clippers send a 3rd guy on AD in the paint, as they would not respect Dwight's scoring. So offense is even harder, and I say this as a big Dwight Howard fan (always have big time respected his game dating back to when Laker fans hated him).

What we need to do is just figure out roles and figure out team schemes. Yesterday there was none of that, to start. Looked a bit better in the 3rd though until Gasol picked up his 5th. I recall, Marc doing a lot better in the 3rd than the 1st and the team as well. So give it time. Come playoffs, I will be shocked if we don't go full time to AD at the 5. That is what we did most of the playoffs last season, and I think with Kieff/Trez and even Bron able to play the 4, our starting 5 in the playoffs will be AD. We're most likely going to end up using Gasol as a 2nd unit point Center in the playoffs for 5-6 min runs each half, in situational match ups that make sense. I don't think unless he starts to show some of his play of 2-3 years ago, that we will start him in the playoffs. Think about McGee. He barely played in the playoffs. And he started most of the RS. This is all because we need to protect AD from banging and playing physical all RS. He is not naturally a post banger, and we need AD to be fresh in the playoffs.
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AFireInside619
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 12:28 pm    Post subject:

Can we pick up Dwight when he get released, or our cap situation won’t allow it.
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 12:37 pm    Post subject:

wolfpaclaker wrote:
The thing about Gasol, to bring up last year's numbers or past success is not really relevant. He is physical decline and had a very bad playoffs. He may be in his last year in the league. Dwight was on a bounce back year, and was still showing athleticism close to his prime, and defensively, at their best, Dwight is one of the best defensive Cs in league history, and Gasol is not as talented defensively, even if he is smarter.

But having Dwight yesterday, does not mean LA wins. Result is same, and Clippers send a 3rd guy on AD in the paint, as they would not respect Dwight's scoring. So offense is even harder, and I say this as a big Dwight Howard fan (always have big time respected his game dating back to when Laker fans hated him).

What we need to do is just figure out roles and figure out team schemes. Yesterday there was none of that, to start. Looked a bit better in the 3rd though until Gasol picked up his 5th. I recall, Marc doing a lot better in the 3rd than the 1st and the team as well. So give it time. Come playoffs, I will be shocked if we don't go full time to AD at the 5. That is what we did most of the playoffs last season, and I think with Kieff/Trez and even Bron able to play the 4, our starting 5 in the playoffs will be AD. We're most likely going to end up using Gasol as a 2nd unit point Center in the playoffs for 5-6 min runs each half, in situational match ups that make sense. I don't think unless he starts to show some of his play of 2-3 years ago, that we will start him in the playoffs. Think about McGee. He barely played in the playoffs. And he started most of the RS. This is all because we need to protect AD from banging and playing physical all RS. He is not naturally a post banger, and we need AD to be fresh in the playoffs.


It's only a "bad playoffs" because he was low FGA and didn't hit a ton of shots.

But sure as hell looked good on +/- which is all that matters.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/gasolma01/gamelog-playoffs/
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 12:39 pm    Post subject:

Gasol is gonna end up making a difference but can you imagine if we had someone like Jarrett Allen starting at C? then you can bring Marc off the bench so he won’t have the pressure to deliver that he has now.
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 12:55 pm    Post subject:

CandyCanes wrote:
What’s nuts is that we traded McGee so that we would have room to sign Gasol. Dwight got a minimum contract in Philly. Should have re-signed him and also gotten Harrell.


Exactly. I would really like to know why Lakers/Rob did not bring back Howard. Seemed like a no-brainer to me.
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 12:58 pm    Post subject:

Mike@LG wrote:
wolfpaclaker wrote:
The thing about Gasol, to bring up last year's numbers or past success is not really relevant. He is physical decline and had a very bad playoffs. He may be in his last year in the league. Dwight was on a bounce back year, and was still showing athleticism close to his prime, and defensively, at their best, Dwight is one of the best defensive Cs in league history, and Gasol is not as talented defensively, even if he is smarter.

But having Dwight yesterday, does not mean LA wins. Result is same, and Clippers send a 3rd guy on AD in the paint, as they would not respect Dwight's scoring. So offense is even harder, and I say this as a big Dwight Howard fan (always have big time respected his game dating back to when Laker fans hated him).

What we need to do is just figure out roles and figure out team schemes. Yesterday there was none of that, to start. Looked a bit better in the 3rd though until Gasol picked up his 5th. I recall, Marc doing a lot better in the 3rd than the 1st and the team as well. So give it time. Come playoffs, I will be shocked if we don't go full time to AD at the 5. That is what we did most of the playoffs last season, and I think with Kieff/Trez and even Bron able to play the 4, our starting 5 in the playoffs will be AD. We're most likely going to end up using Gasol as a 2nd unit point Center in the playoffs for 5-6 min runs each half, in situational match ups that make sense. I don't think unless he starts to show some of his play of 2-3 years ago, that we will start him in the playoffs. Think about McGee. He barely played in the playoffs. And he started most of the RS. This is all because we need to protect AD from banging and playing physical all RS. He is not naturally a post banger, and we need AD to be fresh in the playoffs.


It's only a "bad playoffs" because he was low FGA and didn't hit a ton of shots.

But sure as hell looked good on +/- which is all that matters.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/gasolma01/gamelog-playoffs/

I am with you Mike on Gasol potential value, I loved the signing, but the Raps run their starters sort of how we would run our second unit. Zero superstars on that team, two all-star caliber guys like Lowry and Siakam, and some really good team work. They trust Gasol to make plays again and again.

We are a post oriented team, and less athletic than those Raps. We are trying to get AD the ball in the paint as a 4, and we want Marc up high. Yet, in order to do so, we need some spacing and good 3 point shooting. They can probably figure that out, within some games.

Defensively though, until Bron is in top shape, it can get rough. Mistakes are not going to helped by Gasol blocking shots. If you get beat, Gasol will not block the shot or anchor. That is a big defensive change from AD-McGee or AD-Howard, where if Avery Bradley played you real tight, or a motivated in shape Bron, and you let your man beat you, there was elite rim protection.

We have to acknowledge the following IMO. Gasol could work out as a starter, but it will need to come at a price. He should improve our O execution vs what it was with McGee or Howard, But teams will also get more scores on us, because we do not have the same rim protection or athletic speed at the 5. It is basically something where we will improve on O, but probably get a little worse on D.

Now by playoffs, you can solve that by starting Caruso, Wesley etc and also moving AD to the 5. That is what we will do, I think. I have no remorse in trading basically McGee for Gasol. But we lost a few things in this change and gained some.

Gains:

3 point shooting
Passing
IQ

Losses:

Rim protection
Fastbreak points (Howard-McGee were better post sprinters).
Above the rim plays


Last edited by wolfpaclaker on Wed Dec 23, 2020 1:01 pm; edited 1 time in total
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yinoma2001
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 1:00 pm    Post subject:

HermosaJoe wrote:
CandyCanes wrote:
What’s nuts is that we traded McGee so that we would have room to sign Gasol. Dwight got a minimum contract in Philly. Should have re-signed him and also gotten Harrell.


Exactly. I would really like to know why Lakers/Rob did not bring back Howard. Seemed like a no-brainer to me.


I think part of that was on Dwight. He prematurely announced he was returning, the Lakers said hold up. Then Dwight looked like he was upset and raged join the 76ers for less money.
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 2:30 pm    Post subject:

Mike@LG wrote:
wolfpaclaker wrote:
The thing about Gasol, to bring up last year's numbers or past success is not really relevant. He is physical decline and had a very bad playoffs. He may be in his last year in the league. Dwight was on a bounce back year, and was still showing athleticism close to his prime, and defensively, at their best, Dwight is one of the best defensive Cs in league history, and Gasol is not as talented defensively, even if he is smarter.

But having Dwight yesterday, does not mean LA wins. Result is same, and Clippers send a 3rd guy on AD in the paint, as they would not respect Dwight's scoring. So offense is even harder, and I say this as a big Dwight Howard fan (always have big time respected his game dating back to when Laker fans hated him).

What we need to do is just figure out roles and figure out team schemes. Yesterday there was none of that, to start. Looked a bit better in the 3rd though until Gasol picked up his 5th. I recall, Marc doing a lot better in the 3rd than the 1st and the team as well. So give it time. Come playoffs, I will be shocked if we don't go full time to AD at the 5. That is what we did most of the playoffs last season, and I think with Kieff/Trez and even Bron able to play the 4, our starting 5 in the playoffs will be AD. We're most likely going to end up using Gasol as a 2nd unit point Center in the playoffs for 5-6 min runs each half, in situational match ups that make sense. I don't think unless he starts to show some of his play of 2-3 years ago, that we will start him in the playoffs. Think about McGee. He barely played in the playoffs. And he started most of the RS. This is all because we need to protect AD from banging and playing physical all RS. He is not naturally a post banger, and we need AD to be fresh in the playoffs.


It's only a "bad playoffs" because he was low FGA and didn't hit a ton of shots.

But sure as hell looked good on +/- which is all that matters.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/gasolma01/gamelog-playoffs/


Mike you’ve been a fan of the Gasol signing ... I get you... but u underestimate what Dwight did in certain situations. Time will tell as we go through the season. I never liked the Danny Green signing last year and I guess the FO didn’t either because he was sent packing. I see the same thing happening here. The only difference Gasol is gone after this year. Pay attention the year Dwight has for the sixers. He’ll be much more productive with them than Gasol will here.
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 2:34 pm    Post subject:

I cannot say I'm privy to any communication between Dwight and the Rob Pelinka, but Dwight might have been asking for more money than Rob was willing to offer.

More importantly, we're pretending that the happy honeymoon between Dwight and the Lakers would continue into this season. I am not confident that the bliss would have continued. The man has a long record of pissing off teammates and coaches with his behavior, demands and distractions.
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 2:55 pm    Post subject:

angrypuppy wrote:
I cannot say I'm privy to any communication between Dwight and the Rob Pelinka, but Dwight might have been asking for more money than Rob was willing to offer.

More importantly, we're pretending that the happy honeymoon between Dwight and the Lakers would continue into this season. I am not confident that the bliss would have continued. The man has a long record of pissing off teammates and coaches with his behavior, demands and distractions.


You're projecting a chemistry issue that didn't exist, nor were there signs that it would have.
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 2:59 pm    Post subject:

King Randle wrote:
Mike@LG wrote:
wolfpaclaker wrote:
The thing about Gasol, to bring up last year's numbers or past success is not really relevant. He is physical decline and had a very bad playoffs. He may be in his last year in the league. Dwight was on a bounce back year, and was still showing athleticism close to his prime, and defensively, at their best, Dwight is one of the best defensive Cs in league history, and Gasol is not as talented defensively, even if he is smarter.

But having Dwight yesterday, does not mean LA wins. Result is same, and Clippers send a 3rd guy on AD in the paint, as they would not respect Dwight's scoring. So offense is even harder, and I say this as a big Dwight Howard fan (always have big time respected his game dating back to when Laker fans hated him).

What we need to do is just figure out roles and figure out team schemes. Yesterday there was none of that, to start. Looked a bit better in the 3rd though until Gasol picked up his 5th. I recall, Marc doing a lot better in the 3rd than the 1st and the team as well. So give it time. Come playoffs, I will be shocked if we don't go full time to AD at the 5. That is what we did most of the playoffs last season, and I think with Kieff/Trez and even Bron able to play the 4, our starting 5 in the playoffs will be AD. We're most likely going to end up using Gasol as a 2nd unit point Center in the playoffs for 5-6 min runs each half, in situational match ups that make sense. I don't think unless he starts to show some of his play of 2-3 years ago, that we will start him in the playoffs. Think about McGee. He barely played in the playoffs. And he started most of the RS. This is all because we need to protect AD from banging and playing physical all RS. He is not naturally a post banger, and we need AD to be fresh in the playoffs.


It's only a "bad playoffs" because he was low FGA and didn't hit a ton of shots.

But sure as hell looked good on +/- which is all that matters.
https://www.basketball-reference.com/players/g/gasolma01/gamelog-playoffs/


Mike you’ve been a fan of the Gasol signing ... I get you... but u underestimate what Dwight did in certain situations. Time will tell as we go through the season. I never liked the Danny Green signing last year and I guess the FO didn’t either because he was sent packing. I see the same thing happening here. The only difference Gasol is gone after this year. Pay attention the year Dwight has for the sixers. He’ll be much more productive with them than Gasol will here.


I'm not underestimating it.

I think people are overestimating the idea that all players are ready, in shape, and ready to go on both sides of the floor in Game 1 of a shortened offseason.

I also think people are really overblowing this whole thing considering the best players didn't even close the game, and lineups were absolutely not optimal in order to try and win.

Yet, I see Gasol being blamed, and he's no higher than 7th on the list of issues.

Quote:
He’ll be much more productive with them than Gasol will here.


I judge productivity differently.

https://twitter.com/jovanbuha/status/1341879556358074368/photo/1
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 2:59 pm    Post subject:

Rob did a great job this off-season in my opinion.. I do think not bringing back Howard and letting McGee go were mistakes.

Are we going to be a terrible team because of this? Is the world coming to an end because of this? No.. But it was a mistake. Our offense wasn't perfect, but whatever benefits we gain from Gasol's presence is off-set by his defensive deficiencies.
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MJST
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 3:39 pm    Post subject:

King Randle wrote:
MJST wrote:


You're right it wasn't close... Gasol was a lot better.

Gasol had a plus/minus differential of 7.7.
On offense, the team scores 0.8 fewer points when he’s on the court, however on defense, the team allows 8.5 fewer points when he is on the court which is the 95th percentile among all players in the NBA.

Gasol also spent 78.5% of his time defending bigs, according to Krishna Narsu's versatility statistic, and ranked in the 96th percentile in post defense, according to NBA stats.

He allowed just 0.47 points per post touch, the tenth fewest among NBA players.

Gasol was also
91st percentile overall defensively
79th percentile against PnR ballhandlers
88th percentile against single high PnRs

Last year as well his defensive plus/minus was the 2nd best it'd been for his entire career, which includes his DPOY season.

In addition to that Gasol ranked

96th Percentile - Rim Deterrence
91st Percentile - % of Rim Shots Contested
85th Percentile - Rim Contests
80th Percentile - Blocks
72nd Percentile - Rim dFG% vs Expected
89th Percentile - Rim Points saved
100th Percentile - Lineup Perimeter Defense
https://twitter.com/Tim_NBA/status/1330676484160286723

So yeah, the TLDR is... Gasol's still got it defensively and was one of the best defensive bigs in the league last year. Just because Dwight jumped higher and was more athletic didn't mean Gasol wasn't still a beast defensively.

So you're definitely right when you say it 'wasn't close', but it wasn't Dwight who was better.

It would behoove you and anyone else that has... to stop underestimating Gasol and the value he brings to a team defensively, and understand how fortunate the Lakers are to have him.


You can stat until your blue in the face....did u watch the game? Embarrassing? Dwight is superior...period. Gasol is a joke at 36....he’s done being productive. Old, slow, overweight, stiff. Better than Dwight....yeah right.



So your argument is "I don't care about the overhwelming evidence that Gasol was one of the best defensive centers in the league last year. What I saw in Game 1 of the Season tells me EVERYTHING I NEED!"
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 3:48 pm    Post subject:

SocalDevin wrote:
Rob did a great job this off-season in my opinion.. I do think not bringing back Howard and letting McGee go were mistakes.

Are we going to be a terrible team because of this? Is the world coming to an end because of this? No.. But it was a mistake. Our offense wasn't perfect, but whatever benefits we gain from Gasol's presence is off-set by his defensive deficiencies.


It shouldn’t be too hard to pick one up later in the season, but yeah the most ideal situation would have been retaining Dwight.
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 3:53 pm    Post subject:

Talk about overreactions. Vets take longer to get going. LBJ, Gasol are not there yet. Matthews either. We had AD on Kawhi because our guards cannot handle him and Lebron isn't going to exert this early in the season on defense. Kawhi dropped 26 on 10/26 and 1/8 3pt. Wasn't exactly tearing it up. Team lost due to a bad 1st and 4th. 1st was rust and missing shots. 4th PG took over and the Lakers had no one to stop him. Until the Lakers add someone, they will struggle with Celtics and Clippers. Teams with multiple athletic, taller wings gave the team fits last year and last night. This team lacks a SG/SF dawg to shut guys down when they get going. Dwight does not solve that and didn't last year either. He played great for the Lakers last year, but he isn't the same player.
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cthroatgtr
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 3:54 pm    Post subject:

Lakers best lineup is with AD at the 5. They will save that so they don't wear down AD just like the Lakers used to bring Lamar off the bench and play Pau at PF to start the game to not wear those guys down either.
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Mike@LG
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 3:54 pm    Post subject:

cthroatgtr wrote:
Talk about overreactions. Vets take longer to get going. LBJ, Gasol are not there yet. Matthews either. We had AD on Kawhi because our guards cannot handle him and Lebron isn't going to exert this early in the season on defense. Kawhi dropped 26 on 10/26 and 1/8 3pt. Wasn't exactly tearing it up. Team lost due to a bad 1st and 4th. 1st was rust and missing shots. 4th PG took over and the Lakers had no one to stop him. Until the Lakers add someone, they will struggle with Celtics and Clippers. Teams with multiple athletic, taller wings gave the team fits last year and last night. This team lacks a SG/SF dawg to shut guys down when they get going. Dwight does not solve that and didn't last year either. He played great for the Lakers last year, but he isn't the same player.


Honestly, the game shouldn't have even been that close.
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angrypuppy
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 4:08 pm    Post subject:

SocalDevin wrote:
angrypuppy wrote:
I cannot say I'm privy to any communication between Dwight and the Rob Pelinka, but Dwight might have been asking for more money than Rob was willing to offer.

More importantly, we're pretending that the happy honeymoon between Dwight and the Lakers would continue into this season. I am not confident that the bliss would have continued. The man has a long record of pissing off teammates and coaches with his behavior, demands and distractions.


You're projecting a chemistry issue that didn't exist, nor were there signs that it would have.



You mean a chemistry issue that didn't exist during a shortened season, when all other avenues of NBA employment were closed off to him. That's why the team had the leverage to offer only a non-guaranteed contract. If he screwed up last season, he knew it was his last rodeo.

There's a lengthy history of franchises, players and coaches who were continuously pissed off at Dwight, including Kobe Bryant. If you think he's suddenly found Jesus one night, fine, but it runs counter to the history of Dwight Howard.
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_#1_
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 4:24 pm    Post subject:

It wasn't all sunshine and lollipops last season for Gasol. +/- has to be taken in context on both ends and is far from the end all.

"......Over the course of the season and as it progressed, Marc Gasol looked a little less spritely, saw his offensive game regress to frankly unimaginable levels at times, allowed more blow-bys on defense than he surely would have liked and saw his minutes load steadily decline due largely in part to matchups that exposed his weaknesses as the season and playoffs wore on..."

Author wanted him back though and so do I. Just he's part B of the center position. Missing A.

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.raptorshq.com/platform/amp/2020/9/28/21452311/nba-player-review-2019-20-toronto-raptors-marc-gasol-retire-comeback
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SocalDevin
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 4:24 pm    Post subject:

angrypuppy wrote:
SocalDevin wrote:
angrypuppy wrote:
I cannot say I'm privy to any communication between Dwight and the Rob Pelinka, but Dwight might have been asking for more money than Rob was willing to offer.

More importantly, we're pretending that the happy honeymoon between Dwight and the Lakers would continue into this season. I am not confident that the bliss would have continued. The man has a long record of pissing off teammates and coaches with his behavior, demands and distractions.


You're projecting a chemistry issue that didn't exist, nor were there signs that it would have.



You mean a chemistry issue that didn't exist during a shortened season, when all other avenues of NBA employment were closed off to him. That's why the team had the leverage to offer only a non-guaranteed contract. If he screwed up last season, he knew it was his last rodeo.

There's a lengthy history of franchises, players and coaches who were continuously pissed off at Dwight, including Kobe Bryant. If you think he's suddenly found Jesus one night, fine, but it runs counter to the history of Dwight Howard.


Fact remains.. You're projecting conflict. With no evidence that there was any brewing. Howard was fine. smh.
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LakerLanny
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PostPosted: Wed Dec 23, 2020 4:59 pm    Post subject:

lakersfever714 wrote:
Zero lob points and zero transition points from Gasol. I miss the days when Howard would just run the floor and get easy dunks because the other bigs couldn't keep up with him.


Letting Dwight get away was the one thing this off season that I didn't like, everything else was perfect.

It takes two to tango though and Dwight somehow panicked and managed to get himself out of town by accident really I think.

One game does not make a season, but Howard's lob finishing and interior defense were stellar last season and right now Gasol is doing none of that.
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