Pau Gasol maintaining positive attitude about heavy playing time
Any time Andrew Bynum rehabilitates his surgically repaired right knee during Lakers practice, it serves as a visual reminder for Pau Gasol as to why Coach Phil Jackson has asked him to assume a heavier workload.
Considering Jackson doesn't anticipate Bynum will begin practicing at least until after the Lakers' three-game trip this week, Gasol's large responsibility will likely remain the same Saturday night at Staples Center against Phoenix. That's why it's not a surprise that when Gasol sees Bynum in practice, he's counting down the days as every Lakers fan does for when he'll finally step on the court in an actual game.
"Whenever that is, we'll be all happy about it," Gasol said. "Probably one of the first ones will be me."
That comment drew laughs from reporters and led them to ask the exact reason why Gasol will feel so elated. "I don't know," Gasol replied sheepishly.
The reason doesn't need to be stated. Bynum's return will make it nearly impossible for teams to stop the Lakers' frontline considering it will feature two 7-footers. It will help sharpen the team's defensive rotations in terms of size, length and stopping players from penetrating the lane. And it will help relieve some of Gasol's playing time, a team-leading 38.4 minutes per game that Jackson described as "tremendous."
Unlike a certain player in South Beach, however, you won't hear Gasol complaining about that workload.
"Not a chance. I enjoy playing," Gasol said when asked whether he has popped off about playing 44 minutes in a game, the amount of time that caused LeBron James to complain about his responsibility in Miami's 112-107 loss Thursday to Boston and the amount of time Gasol logged in three of the past five contests. "Some nights those 44 [minutes] are going to feel a lot more than others, depending on the opponent. But I'm fine playing the way I'm playing right now. Obviously it's not ideal at this point in the year, but it is what it is and the circumstances we're in."
So while James is backtracking and saying his quotes were taken out of context, Gasol's quotes this season have already added enough context. Clearly, Gasol thinks the heavy minutes have proved challenging, but it's nothing he's skirting. He opened the first week with Western Conference player-of-the-week honors, began the past week logging his fourth career triple-double, and his 22.7 points per game only rank behind Kobe Bryant's 25.2 points per game clip, and his 52.9% mark from the field only trails Lamar Odom's shooting percentage (59.1%).
Gasol's play has rarely featured many hiccups, though the most recent one came in the Lakers' 118-112 loss Thursday to the Denver Nuggets where he clouded his double-double (17 points, 20 rebounds) with a six-of-17 showing from the field and three turnovers.
"He just had an off night," Jackson said.
Nonetheless, Jackson has wondered aloud for the past week how he needs to limit those minutes. He's floated different lineup combinations, ranging from accelerating the learning curve for rookie Derrick Caracter, forcing Theo Ratliff to test his left knee tendinitis, switching Ron Artest at power forward and even considering have rookie Devin Ebanks also assume some time at that position. Jackson has taken measures to find ways for players to rest whenever possible. He gave the team the day off twice in the past week and even encourages Gasol to decrease his intensity level during practice so he can sustain that for the game. And though Jackson concedes Gasol's playing time "wears a little bit at him with the weight of this," it's something he'll have to somehow shoulder for at least a few more weeks.
But when he sees Bynum running on an anti-gravity treadmill, performing various exercises on a medicine ball or receiving treatment, Gasol doesn't just immediately envision how soon he won't have to handle as much responsibility. He also reflects on his strained left hamstring that sidelined him during the 2009-2010 season for the first 11 games, the anxiety surrounding his return and the need to be patient with the rehab process. Likewise, Gasol expresses sympathy for Bynum because the psychological components likely remain the same for his teammate, though Bynum's rehab involves fully recovering from off-season surgery on his right knee. That shows that the importance surrounding Bynum's return goes beyond easing Gasol's workload and his reluctant willingness to embrace it.
So while Gasol says regarding James, "that's up to him if he doesn't want to play," the Lakers' recently converted center will continue marching forward.
"There's no excuses," Gasol said. "There's no point on debating or discussing it. You gotta do what you gotta do."
--Mark Medina
E-mail the Lakers blog at mgmedin@gmail.com
Photo: Lakers forward Pau Gasol tries to make his way past Denver center Nene during the third quarter of the Lakers' 118-112 loss Thursday. Credit: Rick Giase/EPA.
It's game day!
We will see if the lakers have addressed the deficiencies demonstrated during the last 2 games, or if they continue to have issues in the interior defense department. I'm certain that someone will step up and will the Lakers to a win tonight. If that is not the case, and as a team they haven't figured out what ails them, expect Phoenix to capitalize. My prediction is, the Lakers win in a shootout type game, again. Let's go Lakers!!!
Posted by: lakerJ | November 14, 2010 at 09:44 AM
Good Game Day morning, Laker Amigos!
Lakers at home after embarrassing loss = Redemption Blowout. Kobe, Gasol, and Lamar and the Killer Bees are going to exorcise that Denver fiasco with another beatdown of the Suns.
Posted by: CornerJ | November 14, 2010 at 10:02 AM
Good evening Fam :)
Hope you're all having a pleasant Sunday...
I am here to share a hug and a cheer and a wishful smile for tonight, already so taken by the fact in 30 minutes Inter-Milan plays so my sport side is already completely devoted to that and for a bunch of hours I won't think of anything else than "derby... derby... DERBY!!!!".
But of course then there's tonight, soon awake and (if Internet doesn't keep being a creep...) a chat allowed for me too.
I have a quite faithful and positive expectation towards tonight's game.
I want to catch signs of understanding among players that failed to impress me (and the Thuggets) in the previous one.
Congrats to rridge for his laurel in the RCOTD, a kiss to Rick (yeah man, we try to be in our best composure aren't we?) and an applause to Laker Tom for his great homage to LRob, who truly has that objective perspective about all Lakers stuff I also enjoy a lot to read and catch up with.
I also loved the "Chemistry Beat Biology" note... though, being a scholar of both, I'd rather say Chemistry IS Biology after all.
Just wider than it.
So obviously it's huger and better ;))
Hope Ron had a great birthday time... to me today is a not fully perfect sporty day cos Ferrari suicided themselves and lost race championship title (but then I never really liked Alonso so... I think who won finally deserved it more than us, full stop).
A great enlightening came instead from my beloved Roberto Baggio getting the Peace Award from Nobel Peace Winners in Hiroshima today, the day when Aung Sun Suu-Kiy got freed.
Balance of Zen is okay after all.
Hopefully in Laker Land too ;)
I had a very intense weekend and the song I chose today is a soothing number that I love in the original version of Harold Melvin, but I really really enjoy in this latest John Legend & The Roots (with lovely Melanie Fiona and Common) take.
Wake Up Everybody, ladies and gents:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DR8a37wdwIY
LLL, Z :)
Posted by: ZairaAmaterasu | November 14, 2010 at 11:09 AM
@LROB… LOL! Just like the player sometimes have off games, so do the bloggers. I was pretty much always in Kobe’s corner and he’s been my favorite player since Jerry West traded Vlade Divac for him. As a true GHF fan, I’ve always had faith in Jerry Buss and Phil Jackson and rooted for every Laker. The closest I’ve ever been to being a hater was with Kwame Brown and Smush Parker. I was wrong in my predictions about Jordan Farmar and at times have played with the idea of trading Lamar Odom, once for the draft rights to Brandon Roy and most recently for Darren Collison from the Hornets. And I obviously stand steadfast that Andrew Bynum is going to be the next great Lakers center.
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As for Kobe Bryant, what fans have to understand is that you cannot have the unstoppable heart and championship drive Kobe has without there being games like Thursday night where Kobe basically shot the team into and out of the game. Kobe treats regular season games much as Phil treats them and right now he is trying to get himself back to being 100%. Trust me, as great as Kobe’s supporting cast on this team is, there will be times in our quest for a three-peat when we will need Kobe to go off. All he is trying to do is get back to that point physically as part of rehabilitating his injured knee.
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Too many fans don’t read between the lines or understand the emotional context in which games and performances need to be measured. Despite what Kobe may say, he knows he took too many shots in the Denver game, even though he is not going to admit that to you because as far as he is concerned, this was just a small step in a long season and the team is going to need his scoring in order to 3-peat. To me, both Phil and Kobe were sacrificing the Denver game as part of their strategy for the season, Phil to get the team to refocus on their defense and Kobe to get his high octane offense in gear.
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@JAMF… Thanks for the kind words. I stopped by the chat last night while you and HTJ were reprising the cats versus dogs debate. LOL! What’s fascinating about this blog is that even though we are all in some state of anonymity, personalities and character are pretty hard to hide when you are a regular commenter and responder. For the most part, like souls tend to take like positions most of the time. GHE and GHF tendencies in real life follow what we see in the blog. We are what we write.
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Nevertheless, that does alleviate the pressure on you or 63 or other regulars from submitting your blog profile. After all, we’ve shown you ours so now it’s only fair you show us yours. You’ve become one of the most beloved and admired poster on the blog and you have total control over what you want to reveal and what you don’t when you submit your profile. So enough of the staged shyness and funny repartee, you can’t continue to be the life of the party without sharing like the rest of us.
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@I LEARNED THAT… “Chemistry beats biology. I think Miami has the A+ in biology, but chemistry is a C.” That was a great comment. I love it when a simple analogy can summarize an encyclopedia of discussion. Very intelligently said. Makes me wonder what bloggers are chemists or biologists.
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@NMLL… I have to admit to wondering on occasion how Steve Nash would do as the Lakers point guard. Nash feeding Drew would have given the Lakers offense an entirely new dimension. While I never thought Steve should have won that second MVP, I always believed Lakers fans did not respect or appreciate how great a player Nash was and still is. I admit that I thought he was done when Phoenix signed him as he always seemed to be another sprint from turning old. At his best, Steve is still the best passing and smartest point guard in the league.
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I was sorry to hear about his baby boy and divorce. Being an absent parent, no matter how hard you try or how much you care, can be heartbreaking and is a far cry from being the one who puts the kid to bed every night and takes care of the every day triumph and turmoil of life. I hope Steve accepts the challenge and works hard to remain a father even if absent. Every kid deserves to have a dad.
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TOM
Posted by: LakerTom | November 14, 2010 at 11:14 AM
Gasol is a man of words!! This is what I love about this laker team, they are all humble men who don't complain to the press. They do what needs to get done to win, and thats that! Certain babies in south beach could learn a thing or two from our players.. maybe then they might actually have something to show for it.
Posted by: Diandra | November 14, 2010 at 01:21 PM
He's the best! He can handle it. For those interested lowpostnews is doing an international players week: http://www.lowpostnews.com/nba/its-a-small-world11152010/
Posted by: nay99 | November 15, 2010 at 11:01 AM