Pau Gasol not happy with the touches he is getting under Mike D’Antoni – NBA News
Mike D’Antoni has only been the Los Angeles Lakers Head Coach for a little over a week, and already there are signs in the Lakers team that things are not going well. Antoni benched Lakers four time All Star Pau Gasol for the entire of the fourth period in the game against the Memphis Grizzlies on Friday night, and Gasol said after the game that he thought he was not getting many touches to the ball in Antoni’s new system.
"I don't remember the last time that has happened in my career. All my looks are jump shots. I would like to see something closer to the basket and not just rolling, especially when Dwight is there. But we'll see. We'll figure it out. We're just starting, pretty much". said Gasol
To his defence, Antoni said that Antawn Jamison was on a roll and Gasol had been struggling from the field, shooting only 3 of 8, hence he decided to make the decision of keeping Jamison going in the final period. And although Gasol was struggling from the field, the problem is much greater than that.
Gasol and Dwight Howard have shot just 10 of 27 and scored only 28 points combined in the past two games, and Gasol has been reduced to a 15 foot jump shooter. Hence, as the touches for the big man are reduced, so has his output and efficiency.
"We have to figure out how to get him more involved," D'Antoni said. "It's not just him. It's to get Dwight more involved. We can't have our big guys shoot just five or six times,” admitted D’Antoni.
With Steve Nash out of the Lakers roster, Antoni is looking for him to return before he makes any changes in the system he is running with the team, and wants to give it another try after tweaking it a little bit to get Gasol and Howard more involved in the game. He too admitted that it is not too often that a team comprises of two bigs of the quality of Gasol and Howard, and it will take some time for them to adjust to the new system and the system to incorporate their strengths. For the sake of the Lakers, it is hoped that they can figure out their system quick.
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