Monday, June 14th, 2010 at 11:34 am  |  149 responses

Pau Gasol Faltering Under Pressure?

by Tzvi Twersky

Two games into the 2010 NBA Finals, Pau Gasol was almost there.

Coming off a 23 and 14 performance in Game 1 and a 25 and 8 in Game 2, he was almost at the point where the labels “soft” and “not clutch” were inaccurate (and maybe they still are). But then last night’s Game 5 happened–with two minutes left in the third quater, Pau had scored a silent two points; he finished with 12–and the doubts resurfaced.

Is Pau Gasol a big-time player?

Kevin Ding weighs in:

That’s because Pau Gasol, for all his sweet skills and how pivotal he has been to the Lakers’ greatness these past three years, has been passive, indecisive and – yes – soft when the pressure is on, the footing is unfamiliar and the faces are even more so.

Gasol faltered yet again Sunday night on the road and in the clutch, pushing the Lakers to a 3-2 NBA Finals deficit.

It was the same old spiel from Gasol afterward, reminding himself to “be the aggressor” the next game. He said his plan for Game 6 is to be “very, very aggressive, very confident, and understand the situation we’re at now.”

And there is a great possibility Gasol does redouble his efforts and push himself into those tight spaces and dark places he doesn’t just go by nature. He’s that smart and self-aware that he can do that, so maybe in the long-term future he can fix what has been wrong in his past, too.

…

It’s not easy to be great with the pressure on and the fans against you. It doesn’t mean Gasol is not a true All-Star. It’s not that he can’t play on the road, either: He averaged exactly 18.3 points home and away this season, shooting 54 percent home and 53 percent away.

It just takes a little extra grit and spit to come through against such extreme adversity.

And even though he’s a champion now, these are days when you have to remember that Gasol never won a playoff game before joining Bryant.

Not a playoff series, but a single playoff game. Gasol went 0-12.

Though they’re down 3-2 in the series, and though he’s once again “soft”, it’s not over just yet for the Los Angeles Lakers or Pau Gasol.

They–he–have one, maybe two more chances to show what they’re made of.

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  • http://nba.com/cavaliers Stephon

    No doubt Pau hasn’t been performing to his expectations. He needs to step up. And fast!

  • http://www.slamonline.com/ Myles Brown

    Thank you, Mr.Ding. Pause. That stat isn’t referenced nearly enough. Especially by idiots who proclaim Pau the Lakers MVP.

  • El Chinas.

    It works both ways. His team did not pass him the ball, nor did he demand they pass him the ball. He should have screamed for it when Kobe was jacking everything (even though Kobe made most). The Lakers play well when they dump the ball in and move smartly, with Kobe doing his thing only in selective spurts.

    I have to say this, when Pau plays well, the media dubs him the next Kevin Mchale / Tim Duncan; when he doesn’t, the media says he’s soft. Pau is no Hakeem, but Kobe has to trust and get his teammates involved too. If that doesn’t happen, I’m good as a Celts fan.

  • Ronald

    Seriously?! One bad game and he’s soft? Did any of you watch KG during game 1? If Pau is soft then KG is in the HOF for softness.

  • namik

    Myles, I tried to point it out many time. It was duly ignored.

  • namik

    And no, I don’t think Pau is faltering. He has his hands full guarding KG and then on rebounds, unlike the Lakers, the entire Celtics team is crashing the glass. Dude is not a physical monster, and he’s done better than Dwight so far. With Drew out, he just has too much on his plate. Rebound, defend KG one on one, then be the defensive center on defensive breakdowns. And then score on top of that. He’ll be better at home. Lets just hope its good enough to get the Lakers a win or two.

  • http://double-technical.blogspot.com Zee!

    And by idiots, Myles I would assume you mean hater like Eboy and his groupies? Cause you’d be right!

  • http://fklf.com Jukai

    In fairness, he must have touched the ball seven or eight times tops.

  • http://slamonline.com/ Tzvi Twersky

    I don’t think he’s soft. The author of the original story was kinda saying that. I think he needs to prove himself in Games 6 and 7, though, if he wants to be known as a great Laker.

  • riggs

    @ronald: have u watched games 4 and 5?

  • http://www.twitter.com/dfrance21 dfrance

    Gasol is a softee, thats just the way he is. That doesn’t mean he can’t dominate a game. he was still a softee in games 1 & 2, the difference is, he got touches down low in those games. After that, they stopped getting the ball inside and he’s not the type to demand the ball. Its up to Phil and ultimately Kobe(since he always has the ball) to make sure he gets the ball.

  • http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com Eboy

    Groupies….and you fu*king numbskulls aren’t a cult bathed in the seamen of Kobe Bryant game in and game out? Keep my screenname off your dopey fingers, Zee, you’re stalking me. If you don’t think the Lakers are a BETTER unit WITH Pau being just as much as a offensive threat then when your creme filled warrior is shooting horrible shots around like he was using you for a bukake target, then you truly are a miscreant. Or maybe you can’t read numbers and can make heads or tails of the figure that says Kobe has taken DOUBLE the number of shots Pau has (not sure of the exact number, something like 120 to 60)leaving Pau to stand around and try to do two things he really isn’t 1)be a shut-down defender against KG and 2)trying to be the most talented and skilled screen setter in NBA history.

  • KB24

    Eboy, GET OFF KOBE’S NUTS YOU HOMO, GET A LIFE!

  • http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com Eboy

    I haven’t spoke a bad word about Kobe the entire Finals, you should-have-been-aborted-douche, just the heart off the rest of the team.

  • heh8meN1

    Phillip, Cleamons, Shaw, Fish, Kobe- someone. IMPLORE pau-lamar-ron-drew to TRAP and/or DOUBLE Paul or Ray when they get the ball on screen and rolls. THEY DO NOT PASS.

    REPEAT, THEY DO NOT PASS.

    Time to make gangrene remember why Staples Center has been an opponent’s house of HORRORS.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1seRoDHmOMw

  • http://stapledesign.com Spaceship Jay

    Europe + Pressure = Soft.

  • riggs

    umm pau DOES ask for the ball wtf?

  • http://www.lacuevacrosscountry.com Slick Nick Da Ruler

    Eboy, you’ve been really impartial to the host of Lakers lovers around here during the Finals. You’ve probably been enjoying the great games, everybody needs to simmer down.

    Pau needs more touches, Kobe needs more assists.

  • onlyclipsfanonslam

    Pau is soft, but that doesn’t take away from the fact that he is a top 5 big man in the league. Pau does need more touches, but he isn’t getting great position on the blocks. He is also settling for too many jumpers. If you are looking for anyone to blame on the Lakers it is Ron Artest. Pierce is doubling anyone that has the ball and is close to the paint.

  • http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com Eboy

    Nick, I think like the rest of you guys, I’ve enjoyed the games except for the bullsh*t foul calls on BOTH sides. It’s took away from the series potential and probably will taint the finish for either team that wins this series.

  • http://fklf.com Jukai

    No but really, thinking about the look on the face of all those d-bags who were trying to convince me that once Kobe wins his fifth ring, he’s knocking on the door of Jordan… well I just get a hearty laugh thinking about it.

  • vtrobot

    @ ronald: that’s funny to say that KG is softer than pau. there haven’t been too many “soft” players who have been MVP AND DPOY. pau is a great player, but there’s no way in hell that he can have the impact on a game, series, team, franchise, that KG can. everyone saw last night how the team is totally different when KG plays a game like that. gasol is both soft and great. during the first two games, it looked like the C’s were going to have some trouble with pau. not so much anymore.

  • Fred

    Flopper

  • http://www.slamonline.com/ Myles Brown

    Pau isn’t necessarily soft. He’s a finesse player, but has put on some bulk and developed an ability to take contact. Howeva, he’s been denied position and continually snuffed by players half his size and skill. He’s lost some assertiveness and the Celtics have denied him opportunities by filling the lane and attacking from the weak side. They’ve even denied the few pick and rolls LA has tried to run. He came up small, but he can bounce back.

  • Yesse

    “Nobody has been living up to their expectations except Kobe Bryant” – Jeff Van Gundy

  • http://www.slamonline.com/ Myles Brown

    But he isn’t a leader and he’s definitely not the Lakers MVP. Anyone who says such is doing so simply to denigrate Kobe.

  • Nel-O

    i think he’s lost a step

  • Knick94

    Not that Eboy needs any support, but he is just right about Kobe. All you guys need to chill and learn the lesson delivered by the Celtics TEAM. This is what basketball is ultimately about. The strong mean team beats the talented individual. All Playoffs long.

    Copy this from Celticsblog for you Kobelovers:

    “BBDavis is the type of guy you’d want to share a foxhole with.
    how many others can you say that about? No one on the Lakers, that’s for sure.
    Kobe – would think his life is worth more than yours and leave at first chance
    Bynum – would be running off to see the medics before the battle starts
    Fisher – maybe him, but he’d eventually be KIA, and maybe take you with
    Gasol – interesting in that we don’t know if he’d hold his ground or not. If yes, he’d fight like mad.
    Odom – deserter
    KG – true warrior would go down in battle like the Navaho Marine went down alone with his knife against the Japanese in the movie Windtalkers
    Allen – great snipers fight from church towers, like the one in Saving Private Ryan
    Perkins – see Fisher
    Rondo – would hold his ground
    Pierce – would throw himself on a grenade to save his buddy
    TA – don’t let him near the explosives but he’d do fine with a rifle by your side
    Nate – crazy enough to lead a bayonet charge
    Davis – would be charging right behind Nate”

    Ultimate teams of warriors:
    80ies Celtics and Pistons
    90ies Knicks
    2000s Pistons and Celtics

    Celtics in 6 and have a good summer Lakers fans.

  • http://www.stuffwhitepeoplelike.com Tarzan Cooper

    Fakers 09 title was a fluke

  • http://www.lacuevacrosscountry.com Slick Nick Da Ruler

    Myles, I agree with Pau not being a leader. However, he is regularly the most effective Laker, and the Celtic’s insistence on shutting down Pau is single-handedly neutralizing Kobe’s individual brilliance/ball hogging.

  • MB

    Alot of you guys are saying kobe was taking too many shots. From what I saw in last nights game he was making them. I also don’t blame Pau. He has to guard KG. I blame the lakers defense. I wish fisher will stop flopping and just play his man.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    i have never seen a man score 19 in a quarter and get blasted so much. Damn, some of y’all really dislike Kobe, who I believe is a joy to watch score.
    I agree with Myles. Pau is finesse and in some situations, finesse looks soft. But, dude is really, REALLY skilled and he understands the game.
    The problem is that now KG feels confident and comfortable against him, and he and Pau are pretty evenly matched skill-wise. Therefore, it comes down to heart and effort, and honestly, I think KG wins that battle eight days a week. I thought Pau would have a much larger skill advantage, and he seemed to early in the series, but now that looks to have dried up. We shall see if thinks change in L.A..

  • Tommy Patron

    IMO the Lakers do not have a high collective basketball IQ. Aside from Pau and Kobe and Fisher, which Lakers regulars can be described as high basketball IQ? That triangle offense is devastating, but not with that rotation.

  • http://www.twitter.com/Th3_R3al_Chris Th3_R3al_Chris

    If Kevin Garnett/PJ Brown were giving Gasol problems two years ago, then how did anybody NOT foresee that KG and Rasheed Wallace would emasculate him him as the series went on? Rasheed’s physical defense on Pau has really made him ineffective in games 4 and 5. Hopefully we get crazy ‘Sheed in game 6 to close this thing out before he gets a tech/suspension.

  • http://double-technical.blogspot.com Zee!

    The Laker haters smell blood, but it’s all good. If my team was stuck in a vortex of obscurity I’d be a hater too.

  • http://double-technical.blogspot.com Zee!

    And Eboy, no one is “stalking” your punk a*s. I’m telling it like it is. You get salty whenever the Lakers/Kobe are mentioned. You say it’s cause you hate the fans, and Kobe, but we all you the hate is cause your cuckhold D-Wade isn’t gonna get another ring in Miami (BTW he was there rooting for Kobe, just so you know). For the record, we all know the Lakers click when Pau and co are all working and producing you idiot. And last time I checked you said you weren’t posting on here anymore? Am I right? Why don’t you stop spouting homoerotic fueled crap, and just go live out your fantasies you pawn off on others?

  • http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com Eboy

    Zee……you’re a loser. Like your team. A loser with no heart. Deal with it. Or not. You’ll be rubbing your SLAM special edition Kobe issue all over yourself this summer since there won’t be any Lakers 2010 Championship magazines to smush with when your tears well up thinking about what COULD have been. For the third time in your boys career. 3 time loser.

  • andre anglais

    Pau isn’t soft, just soft compared to KG (the last two games, at least). Simply put, in games 4 and 5, KG flipped a switch and turned the clock back. He’s not younger, physically, he just found his internal @sshole bully, that spark of intense aggressive ego that the rest of team feeds off. When KG lets that beast out, there’s little a cerebral player like Gasol can do. Pau isn’t soft, KG just treats him like it. It will be interesting to see what happens back in LA.

  • The Philosopher

    Pau Gasol is one of the very best players in the world. Period.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    philosopher
    Everybody in the NBA is one of the best players in the world. lol

  • The Philosopher

    Allen, what about Kwame? lol.

  • http://www.slamonline.com/ The Promise

    @Eboy: I’m on your side. Kobe will never be Jordan, not even a discussion to me, his arrogance makes me sick. I gotcha back son.

  • http://www.slamonline.com/ The Promise

    And, this time around they played a real a real team, this isn’t the Magic. Boston wraps this up next game as the pressure becomes too much for the supporting cast. Kobe will again try to be the hero but will fail once again, because 1 will never beat 5.

  • The Philosopher

    I am feeling a little vindicated at this moment in time, for The Promise is a sensible commenter on these threads. He truly understands AND accepts the truth concerning the debate between Michael and Kobe. There IS no debate. Michael Jordan is just better than Kobe Bryant. Shout out @The Promise.

  • Lz – Cphfinest3

    Philosopher, Promise, Eboy; well anyone who claims that Kobe is better (or at the same level) than Mike is either in denial, has a bad memory, or have an affinity for spoiled kids.

  • Lz – Cphfinest3

    After PP stripped Kobe of that rebound, Kobe’s reaction was exactly like that annoying kid at the toystore who acts out because his parents for once won’t get him the new gaming console. I personally had a good long chuckle.

  • http://www.shawn-kemps-offspring.blogspot.com Eboy

    Very true, Lz.

  • The Philosopher

    @Lz – Cphfinest3: Hold on there, cowboy… I’ve NEVER, EVER, IN MY LIFE said that Kobe is as good as or better than Michael Jordan. NEVER. Go look me up, if you have to.

  • The Philosopher

    As far as I’M concerned, Kobe isn’t EVEN on LeBron’s level.

  • http://slamonline.com Allenp

    I can’t say that Kobe isn’t arrogant or spoiled.
    I also can’t say that he ISN’T one of the greatest shot makers in NBA history, bar none.
    If you don’t respect Kobe, if you don’t have him as the number two shooting guard of all time and top 10 of all-time, then I think you’re just a hater. Point blank period.

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