Gasol to return vs Heat

[irishock]

http://www.foxnews.com/sports/2013/01/16/lakers-f-pau-gasol-expects-to-return-from-concussion-for-la-visit-from-miami/

Well, the spread will lower.

[whitemamba]

thats good news i guess. :depressed

[DMC]

The spread should be higher. Trying to force Gasol into the mix will just muddy the water again. Not many coaches can put a dominant big like Gasol in and not have him change the ball movement.

[whitemamba]

The spread should be higher. Trying to force Gasol into the mix will just muddy the water again. Not many coaches can put a dominant big like Gasol in and not have him change the ball movement.
i dont think gasol will affect the spread that much.. if anything hes going to throw things off

[DMC]

i dont think gasol will affect the spread that much.. if anything hes going to throw things off

That's why the spread will be higher.

[racm]

LA is a clearly better team with Howard sans Gasol, tbh... they get to play an athletic forward in Clark instead...

So Heat by 20, tbh

[whitemamba]

LA is a clearly better team with Howard sans Gasol, tbh... they get to play an athletic forward in Clark instead...

So Heat by 20, tbh

i expect the lakers to compete 20 is a bit of a stretch tbh, if antoni knows what hes doing hell feed that fucking ball in the post over and over and over again

[ElNono]

Gasol should be better from a defensive standpoint... I mean, Jamison can shoot 3s, but dude is wahsed up.

[whitemamba]

Gasol should be better from a defensive standpoint... I mean, Jamison can shoot 3s, but dude is wahsed up.

not sure if he was brought for D tbh

[ElNono]

not sure if he was brought for D tbh

He probably was not, but he was brought when Phil J was the coach and the system was different. Mike D just doesn't know what to do with him on offense, and probably trust a washed up Jamison just for the mediocre offense he brings alone.

[Bynumite]

Gasol off the bench at C imho, rather see Jamison shooting 3's than him.

With Dwight playing better without Gasol and with Hill out for the season, Pau checks in for D12 and plays in the post and nowhere near the 3 point line.

Meanwhile Sacre goes back to his natural position, bench warmer/lakergirl.

[whitemamba]

He probably was not, but he was brought when Phil J was the coach and the system was different. Mike D just doesn't know what to do with him on offense, and probably trust a washed up Jamison just for the mediocre offense he brings alone.

Pau really started to play like shit in the '11 playoffs(under Pjax) thats when it got bad, and he hasnt rebounded and become that scoring threat like he was.. hes been playing like shit since then.... sure you could say that he was a main part of the offense back then, and he lived in the post, got more touches etc.. mike brown probably didnt help not knowing what to do with him, but pau has really slown down.. maybe its his knees, or what ever, i dont blame the system, but he hasnt been the same. as for jamison i dont expect much but a few buckets here and there and some rebounds.

[baseline bum]

When does Jackson return though?

[irishock]

I still can't believe how it was only a little over 5 months ago when the Lakeshow were on top of the world. "Team to beat", "Kobe will surpass Jordan's ring count", "73 wins", "unstoppable", "showtime 2.0"


And now here we are in 2013, and the Lakers are bigger underdogs than the Warriors are to the Heat.

[ElNono]

Pau really started to play like shit in the '11 playoffs(under Pjax) thats when it got bad, and he hasnt rebounded and become that scoring threat like he was.. hes been playing like shit since then.... sure you could say that he was a main part of the offense back then, and he lived in the post, got more touches etc.. mike brown probably didnt help not knowing what to do with him, but pau has really slown down.. maybe its his knees, or what ever, i dont blame the system, but he hasnt been the same. as for jamison i dont expect much but a few buckets here and there and some rebounds.

Sure, I can agree with that. But D'Antoni is the worst remedy for that. He runs players to the ground (potato head did too), he wants Dwight all alone inside which means Pau has to play outside of his comfort zone and start jacking up long shots, and he wants the team to run which in Pau's knees current state is just terrible.

I also think Pau isn't done. He probably needs a change of air and some time to rest and heal fully. But with this Lakers start, he's not going to get that unless he's traded.