Is Pau Gasol the true MVP of the Lakers right now?

[Lakers Fan]

Have you ever seen someone help on Gasol in the post...even once?wonder why..you ever wonder why he gets like 5-6 open 8 footers a game...its because no one is worried about him

WTF are you seeing? When he is out there with no Bynum and he is hitting his shots, he is getting mugged! With both Bynum and Pau playing, players can't cheat on him as easy. Plus even if "no one is worried about him", then how come he isn't fed more by the other Lakers, including Kobe, instead of taking low % jumpers? IMHO Kobe should already have several 15 assist games with both Pau and Bynum down low.

[Knoe Itawl]

its called watching the games and assessing them from an unbiased point of view. mdogs reply was obviously trolling as noted by his hundreds of replies in laker threads.

you take pippen off the 96 bulls and they may not win 60 games. Does that make pippen the mvp? obviously no..

Forget about the Bulls. This isn't a situation where one player is playing OBVIOUSLY better than anyone else on the team (as was Jordan). I have watched the games, and Gasol is damn tough down low. He bails them out all the time on the blocks and causes havoc for opposing defenses. Not to mention that, along with Bynum, he is an imposing defensive presence. I'm not saying Gasol is BETTER than Kobe, but to roll your eyes sarcastically at the very idea that Gasol can be mentioned as MVP for the Lakers this season is ridiculous and indicative of the whole "never question Kobe's status" mentality. Fact of the matter is that so far this season, when Kobe hasn't been playing all world ball, Gasol can and SHOULD be mentioned as MVP for the Lakers. THAT is the unbiased view.

[Knoe Itawl]

WTF are you seeing? When he is out there with no Bynum and he is hitting his shots, he is getting mugged! With both Bynum and Pau playing, players can't cheat on him as easy. Plus even if "no one is worried about him", then how come he isn't fed more by the other Lakers, including Kobe, instead of taking low % jumpers? IMHO Kobe should already have several 15 assist games with both Pau and Bynum down low.

An honest post! Younggrease is wrong. I've routinely seen Gasol get double teamed on the block, and if not the defenders are certainly very aware of where he is when he gets the ball/starts making a move. He gets plenty of defensive attention.

[ihatetimthomas]

Pau has been the best Laker this year easily. He has been the most consistent player in both their wins and losses. As of today, yes he is the Lakers MVP. Granted having the threat of Kobe on the floor helps Gasol and everyone, but Gasol has been phenomenal. His jumper is dropping and he is abusing guys in the post. Rebounding extremely wel and running the floor well.

Not concerned with Kobe's slow start though. He hasnt been exerting a ton of energy, so i am hoping he can be fresh the 2nd half of the season. I do believe he will turn it up next year and will once again become the Lakers MVP. But as of now, hands down Gasol has been the best Laker

[YAWN]

Forget about the Bulls. This isn't a situation where one player is playing OBVIOUSLY better than anyone else on the team (as was Jordan). I have watched the games, and Gasol is damn tough down low. He bails them out all the time on the blocks and causes havoc for opposing defenses. Not to mention that, along with Bynum, he is an imposing defensive presence. I'm not saying Gasol is BETTER than Kobe, but to roll your eyes sarcastically at the very idea that Gasol can be mentioned as MVP for the Lakers this season is ridiculous and indicative of the whole "never question Kobe's status" mentality. Fact of the matter is that so far this season, when Kobe hasn't been playing all world ball, Gasol can and SHOULD be mentioned as MVP for the Lakers. THAT is the unbiased view.

gasol was the mvp of last nights game vs the suns; but not the overwhelming mvp of the lakers thus far this season. happy?

[Smokee]

Bynum has been playing very good lately too just like Pau and playing better defense than most of the Lakers too. Have you been watching all the Laker's games? Bynum suffers from the same problem Pau does, in the Lakers not looking to get him enough touches. Bynum is shooting 56% and Pau 57%(they both should be fed more!) but have little doubt that Bynum's shooting percentage will be over 60% by end of season because he struggled in the first 10 games or so.

Bynum gets give me baskets more often than Gasol. I don't think you can say they are the same at all. Like Bynum posting up isn't nearly the same as Gasol in front of the rim shooting that half hook. Bynum gets stuff thats there, and he has easy position and yeah he makes stuff other times too, not saying he's bad, but he's not Gasol in terms of getting that consistent high quality shot and trusting it.

Gasol has been consistent since the start of the season, Bynum has only lately been coming on...

[Knoe Itawl]

gasol was the mvp of last nights game vs the suns; but not the mvp of the lakers thus far this season. happy?

It's not just the Suns though, and others in this very thread have noticed the same thing (even Lakers fans). Gasol has been balling, Bryant has been good but not great. Not just last night, but in GENERAL. It's not so much that you believe Bryant is the MVP of the Lakers, it's your apparent attitude that it shouldn't even be CONSIDERED that Gasol has been, when that's far from the case. Again, it's all part of the "Never question Kobe's status no matter what" mentality some people have.

[Smokee]

Have you ever seen someone help on Gasol in the post...even once?wonder why..you ever wonder why he gets like 5-6 open 8 footers a game...its because no one is worried about him

But right now Pau is playing better then Kobe(there are a lot of people playing better then Kobe now). Kobe is having a bad start to the year...he is entitled to that as long as he gets his act together. All I know is that I have zero faith in Pau in any situation that has any bit of pressure involved. He also runs from shots at times

You could say the same about Kobe, and him trying to get off a jumper with 2 people on him. Like i said i'd take Gasol's half hook that he consistently gets 3ft in front of the basket most of the time, even if they tried to double that i don't think they could really stop it. Gasol isn't a dumb player whatsoever, i trust him enough to either kick out or take it if it looks good. I'm not even talking about that top of the free throw line jumper he consistently can make but the half hooks that should go in like 90% of the time tbh.

Gasol also fills the lanes and is the easy assist waiting to happen SO MUCH. I can't tell you how often he makes that no look Kobe pass and finish so easy. Sure some of its Kobe, but some of its also Gasol being however tall he is, mobile, and naturally long where he doesn't have to jump to get a clean layup, dunk, or shot.

Its his natural longness that makes him such an asset i guess, which Bynum has too, but Gasol is just smarter, more trustworthy, and has finesse with better range.

[YAWN]

It's not just the Suns though, and others in this very thread have noticed the same thing (even Lakers fans). Gasol has been balling, Bryant has been good but not great. Not just last night, but in GENERAL. It's not so much that you believe Bryant is the MVP of the Lakers, it's your apparent attitude that it shouldn't even be CONSIDERED that Gasol has been, when that's far from the case. Again, it's all part of the "Never question Kobe's status no matter what" mentality some people have.

not really. i mean i do think its pretty obvious who the best basketball player on the lakers is. but it hasnt been clear cut who has been playing the best. As im sure you have noticed alot of the lakers fan base has knee jerk reactions and they vary game by game. If kobe puts up 35/6/6 on 50% shooting next game they will all be all over this board declaring him the mvp of the league.

I simply think Gasol has been playing well and Kobe has not to his standards. But even then. I still see kobe as the mvp of the team.

Even in last nights games when he would actually do the smart thing and penetrate, the entire defense would collapse on him, which led to wide open jumpers by fisher, vujacic and even gasol.

[Lakers Fan]

Gasol has been consistent since the start of the season, Bynum has only lately been coming on...

I don't think anyone expected otherwise after him sitting out so long with an injury. Healthy big men stay more consistent than smalls and I expect both Bynum and Gasol to be solid for the Lakers all year long.

[chains5000]

I posted something like this in another thread a week or so before. Who's the MVP/better player aside, I'd say a Pau injury would hurt the Lakers more than a Kobe one.
Opinions?

[ihatetimthomas]

I posted something like this in another thread a week or so before. Who's the MVP/better player aside, I'd say a Pau injury would hurt the Lakers more than a Kobe one.
Opinions?

tough call, but i still gotta go with Kobe being injured being the worst for the Lakers. Gasol has been the best laker thus far, but LO replacing Gasol is far better than Sasha replacing Kobe. Lamar is really a starter, so him replacing Gasol wouldnt hurt as much as having a one dimensional shooter in Sasha

[tamaraw08]

Bynum has been playing very good lately too just like Pau and playing better defense than most of the Lakers too. Have you been watching all the Laker's games? Bynum suffers from the same problem Pau does, in the Lakers not looking to get him enough touches. Bynum is shooting 56% and Pau 57%(they both should be fed more!) but have little doubt that Bynum's shooting percentage will be over 60% by end of season because he struggled in the first 10 games or so.

I thought you made a mistake stating that Bynum is shooting 56% because I thought he was shooting less than that, but you are right. About him shooting a higher % later in the season, this will really happen if he starts to be more assertive establishing deeper position inside. My complain about him is he lurks beyond 15 ft too much, opting to catch the ball way too far IMO, Odom and Kobe at times are more assertive pinning their man inside than Drew. I undertand they like to open the lanes more for other players to operate, but Bynum can just tear the defense up if he is more aggresive.

[Mdog1]

Ok so I did some research to back up my point. Bynum went down 35 games into the season. The Lakers from that time until they got Pau went 5-5 aka .500. They went from 25-11 (.694) (24-11 was the game he went down in) to 30-16 (.652) during that span. When they got Pau they went 27-9 after they got him, but I know that he got hurt for a few games. That brought their percentage back up to 695.

Without Pau the team would possibly have continued to play .500 ball and won 48 games. Bam all over you.

[chains5000]

tough call, but i still gotta go with Kobe being injured being the worst for the Lakers. Gasol has been the best laker thus far, but LO replacing Gasol is far better than Sasha replacing Kobe. Lamar is really a starter, so him replacing Gasol wouldnt hurt as much as having a one dimensional shooter in Sasha

You could trade Odom for a guard, but think about the playoffs. With their current play, I'd rather have Gasol and Bynum surrounded by shooters than Odom playing PF against some other West PF big names.