Gasol says Lakers aren't a championship team

http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap;_ylc=X3oDMTBpZmFlcXBpBF9TAzk1ODYxOTQ4BHNlY
wN0aA--?gid=2004122013&prov=ap

``It was rewarding. We never won in my first three years here, so it felt
really good to pull a win out of here,'' Pao Gasol said. ``That team without
Shaquille is different because he was a big presence inside. But they had
issues with him, and it was their decision to trade him. It's their loss,
because he's one of the most dominating players in the league.

``They have a lot of good players who can produce and are playing well, but
I don't think they are at that championship level right now,'' Gasol said.
``They have to have a bigger presence inside, I think.''

``They played great defensively,'' Bryant said. ``They just sagged in and
turned us into an all-perimeter team. They just kept me out on the
perimeter. Most of my shots were bail-out shots with the clock winding down,
or shots with a hand in my face.''

s_knight8 wrote:

> http://sports.yahoo.com/nba/recap;_ylc=X3oDMTBpZmFlcXBpBF9TAzk1ODYxOTQ4BHNlY
> wN0aA--?gid=2004122013&prov=ap
>
> ``It was rewarding. We never won in my first three years here, so it felt
> really good to pull a win out of here,'' Pao Gasol said. ``That team without
> Shaquille is different because he was a big presence inside. But they had
> issues with him, and it was their decision to trade him. It's their loss,
> because he's one of the most dominating players in the league.
>
> ``They have a lot of good players who can produce and are playing well, but
> I don't think they are at that championship level right now,'' Gasol said.
> ``They have to have a bigger presence inside, I think.''

Maybe Pau wants to join.


> ``They played great defensively,'' Bryant said. ``They just sagged in and
> turned us into an all-perimeter team. They just kept me out on the
> perimeter. Most of my shots were bail-out shots with the clock winding down,
> or shots with a hand in my face.''

I completely agree with his observation. It's no wonder the guy is
shooting so miserably.

One thing that has to be said for the Triangle offense is that it
instructs the team to take what the defense gives it. This Laker team
seems to have no alternative when the entire defense is set upon denying
Kobe Bryant the ball. He starts off in the post, and invariably has to
come out to the three-point line to receive the ball, WITH HIS BACK TO
THE BASKET. This comes after about ten seconds burn off just trying to
make that pass. By the time they actually start running a play, or Kobe
comes around a screen, He's three feet beyond the arc with the clock
running down... fallaway three-pointer. Great Googly Moogly!

Geez! If the defense is so intent upon keeping the ball out of his
hands, swing it to the other side! What do you need to run the offense
through Kobe for, if he's ALREADY drawing the entire defense to his half
of the floor before he even has the ball. The other side of the floor
is open.

But, hey, this is something that's got to come from the coaching staff.
If they want to force it into Bryant's hands, then they must know
something. But I know that when teams overplayed Shaq, Jackson either
taught them how to change the angles for the entry pass (by making a
pass to another player for entry) or just went somewhere else altogether.