Heading into the team's 88-85 victory over Kemba Walker and the Charlotte Bobcats, Gasol was averaging only 14.4 points, 9.4 rebounds and 3.0 assists per contest, and he was mixing it up with a certain mustachioed head coach.
As reported by Bill Plaschke of the Los Angeles Times, Gasol actually claimed that his role in the offense was affecting his intensity:
The fact that I'm not getting the ball in the post affects directly my aggressiveness. When I'm not getting the ball where I want to, where I'm most effective, where I can bang guys and utilize my skill, that affects my aggressiveness and overall intensity.
Yikes.
Apparently, Gasol has been teaching classes on how to frustrate your teammates and organization during his off days, because his comments show that he's a true master in the field. And Mike D'Antoni took the bait, running with it in this quote that comes via the Los Angeles Daily News' Mark Medina:
It's also a nice excuse not to play hard. You don't have trouble getting up to the pay stub line. You know what you need to do to get your check. They don't want to do it that way. I understand that. That's when you have to accept it or not. But there's no reason not to play hard.
Effort aside, Gasol has been producing solid per-game numbers, but nothing like the special ones Lakers Nation has become accustomed to seeing him produce. That's especially true when you include his 42.3 percent shooting from the field, a mark that is—by far—the worst of his career.
Against the Bobcats, though, Gasol started to...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
