Pau Gasol Hopes to Learn from Playoff Failures

Pau Gasol, who took most of the blame for the Lakers’ epic collapse against Dallas, says he will take time this summer to figure out where it all went wrong for him (on and off the court.) The LA Times reports: “It’s going to be a long flight home,’ Gasol said. ‘It’s been a long, tough season, too.’ Gasol had just 10 points on four-for-10 shooting in Game 4 of the Western Conference semifinals against the Dallas Mavericks. He had eight rebounds and six assists. But it wasn’t enough to stop the Lakers from being swept, 4-0. When asked to look back on the series against the Mavericks, Gasol made the conversation about his personal life. He had addressed the Internet rumors Saturday about him and Kobe Bryant having problems and that they weren’t speaking to each other because Bryant was the cause of Gasol breaking up with his girlfriend. Gasol said it wasn’t true, but he talked after Sunday’s game about how a season of turmoil affected him. ‘Individually, I want to learn from it,’ Gasol said. ‘Just look back and savor everything that’s been going on and try to handle it better. And just whatever goes on, on or off the court, just try to keep it that way and not let it affect anything that goes on on the floor.'”