The last two Lakers games Pau Gasol has been a rebounding beast — he had to be if he wanted to touch the ball.
The Lakers number one offensive option has a broken finger. And as much as Kobe Bryant can play through anything, other Lakers need to step up and shoulder the burden. That should start with offensive option number two — Gasol. But for him to do that, his teammates need to get him the ball, and they are not. At least not as much as Gasol would like — and he said so after the last Lakers game.
Gasol had 11 shots against the Utah Jazz last Saturday night — and a number of those came on second chance baskets after he grabbed an offensive rebound (he had nine of those). The night before in a win against Minnesota, Gasol had 14 shots but again a number of those came off his eight offensive rebounds.
Meanwhile, broken finger and all, Kobe had 42 shots in the two games
Gasol likes to get the ball close to the basket in the post, but he is finding that space more crowded — not only is Andrew Bynum there but Kobe is going to the low block a lot more this year and then there are games, like Utah, where Ron Artest wants the ball down there so he can just outmuscle his defender.
More than just shots, it’s about the flow of the offense. Gasol is the best passing big man in basketball, and his teammates know that — when Gasol gets the ball they make cuts and slide to the open spaces of the floor looking for a pass. (You don’t see that as much with Bynum, who prefers clear outs so he can try to score, fortunately he does that well.)
This is not the first time that his teammates have seemed to forget about Gasol — there were stretches last year where this happened. Even in the playoffs. And Gasol complained to the media. Phil Jackson basically always agrees — he thinks Gasol should get more touches — but Jackson also believes that teams need to figure these things out themselves. He could mandate it, but that’s not Jackson’s way — he doesn’t want a team that just follows orders, he wants them to figure out and understand why they should do things. So he watches and does little.
The Lakers are not struggling as a team — they are 18-4 and have the best record in the West. But the long slog of the NBA season is about building good habits that will serve the team well in the heat of the playoffs. One of those good habits would be getting Pau Gasol the ball more. And it’s time the team started working on that.
Kurt Helin lives in Los Angeles where he is runs the NBA/Lakers blog Forum Blue & Gold (which you can also follow in twitter).
