By Alex Kirschenbaum. By Sam Yip. By Brook Smith. See More. Business Visionaries. Hot Property. Times Events. Times Store. Facebook Twitter Show more sharing options Share Close extra sharing options. By Broderick Turner Staff Writer. Say what you will about how Gasol gets those shots, but Gasol's lack of shooting prowess doesn't fall at D'Antoni's feet.
His jumpers are flat, and he's hit only As for an overarching reason for those struggles? It's almost inarguable that Gasol is somewhat fatigued. He went through the NBA's game shortened season in , followed it up by being the most important player on Spain's Olympic team and then essentially started the cycle all over.
Gasol is a year-old seven-footer. His body doesn't heal nearly as well as it used to, and that problem has only been exacerbated by Gasol's bout with knee tendinitis. As a player gets older, tendinitis reoccurs more and becomes more difficult to battle through.
If you're looking for a reason Gasol looks slow and hasn't been able to get the same elevation when in the post, it likely centers on those knee problems. That's obviously not an excuse. Plenty of players stay on the court through tendinitis and stay effective. However, if Gasol is hurt, unhappy with his role and doesn't love his coach, there are very few reasons for him to be giving percent on a nightly basis.
How to Fix Gasol's Struggles. No matter which way you want to slice it, D'Antoni has been a disastrous hire from the moment he arrived in Los Angeles. The Lakers are since his arrival, including a disastrous during the month of January. They now stand four full games out of the Western Conference Playoffs and would have to win 60 percent of their games the remainder of the season just to hit.
D'Antoni has also completely mishandled his personnel, especially Gasol, so horrendously that one has to wonder whether the relationship is salvageable.
One of D'Antoni's very first moves as Lakers head coach was to bench Gasol against the Memphis Grizzlies and then throw him under the bus after the game. Unfortunately for Lakers fans, if one of them goes, it's Gasol. The Lakers aren't firing D'Antoni—at least this season. If he does, there may only be enough minutes available for a single backup, Howard. If he doesn't, the Lakers could still use him as a floor-spacer in their starting five as they did early last season. Just because Gasol is "not a lock" to return to the Lakers does not mean that he absolutely won't.
He himself said that he planned to and until he or his representation says otherwise, that should be the assumption. The Lakers still have three roster spots available, and to this point, they have primarily worked out guards for those spots.
If they believed Gasol was not going to be on their team next season, they'd likely be linked to more big men. Until they are, the assumption should be that Gasol returns next season.
By Sam Quinn. Aug 21, at am ET 3 min read.
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