Phil Jackson to make Gasol the first option early in the season?

[BallsOut]

This. Who cares who's the #1 option? Pau Gasol is destroying people, Kobe is playing as efficiently as ever as both a scorer and a playmaker, and the Lakers are 6-0.

Exactly. I'm beginning to view this Laker team more and more as the Celtics of 2008 where one night its KG, another night its Ray or PP, another night its Big Baby.

Like the Celtics, this team just has so many weapons, including significantly improved benchplay. I think Kobe's starting to realize this as well, and that's why he's trusting his teammates put in a lot more work.

[Jacks3]

I am not a Kobe hater and I posted a number of posts saying how he is easily top 10 player of all time but. . . i geniunely believe the guy has too much ego to let anyone else be a #1 option at this point in his career. Once Bynum comes back, a decent number of Gasol's shots will go to him - its not like Lakers would go to interior generally more. Personally, i'd be happy as long as Gasol gets 15FGAs per game. . . something he never really came close to doing on the Lakers.

Pau was only getting 12-14 shots in Mem too. Same in LA. That's just who he is. Oh, and Kobe being the #1 has lead the Lakers to three straight Finals and back-to-back championships.

[Jacks3]

Kobe is taking more shots per minute than he did last year; His game has not changed. He's still going to take 20-21 shots a game, as he should.

[catch24]

I don't understand why people want Gasol to attempt MORE shots (i.e. more than 15+) than he's accustomed to? He's never been that type of player. Kobe as the 1st option (getting the most shots while having the ball in his hands) has led the Lakers to 3 straight Final appearances. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

That said, PG has been playing phenomenal. Phil needs to watch his minutes though -- dude played like, what, 44 yesterday?

[Doranku]

I don't understand why people want Gasol to attempt MORE shots (i.e. more than 15+) than he's accustomed to? He's never been that type of player. Kobe as the 1st option (getting the most shots while having the ball in his hands) has led the Lakers to 3 straight Final appearances. If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

That said, PG has been playing phenomenal. Phil needs to watch his minutes though -- dude played like, what, 44 yesterday?

Yeah, and Odom played 40. I might understand that if we had a long delay until the next game, but we play again tomorrow night. Still, I'm not too worried about it. I'm sure as the season progresses their minutes will start dropping, especially when Bynum returns.

[ShaqAttack3234]

Pau isn't the first option; He's just playing a lot more minutes.

PER 36 Numbers

Kobe--27/7/6/60% TS
Pau---23/10/3/58% TS

Kobe is scoring way more.

Kobe= MVP.

I think Kobe has been the best player on the Lakers, too, but if you had to call one of them the first option through the first 6 games, it'd be Pau, that's why he's played 6 more mpg, Phil said he'd look to Pau to be the first option early in the season and carry a bigger load. Nobody thinks Pau is on Kobe's level as a player. And I don't think Pau will remain the first option for much longer honestly.

Who the first option is, doesn't necessarily determine who the best player is. Kareem was still the Lakers first option in '86, but Magic had surpassed him as a player at that point, Pierce would probably be called the first option on the '08 Celtics, but Garnett was definitely their best player and Wade seems to be taking the role of first option on the Heat, but that doesn't mean he's a better overall player than Lebron.

Besides, it's a 6 game stretch, like I said, they should transition back to Kobe being the clear number 1 guy because that's proven and I don't trust Pau as a number 1 option in the playoffs. I expect this to happen soon because Kobe has proven the knee isn't an issue, though it does seem that the Lakers are going to limit Kobe's minutes more than they did last year in the regular season to keep him healthy for the playoffs. At most, I see him averaging 36 mpg like he did in 2009.

I am not a Kobe hater and I posted a number of posts saying how he is easily top 10 player of all time but. . . i geniunely believe the guy has too much ego to let anyone else be a #1 option at this point in his career. Once Bynum comes back, a decent number of Gasol's shots will go to him - its not like Lakers would go to interior generally more. Personally, i'd be happy as long as Gasol gets 15FGAs per game. . . something he never really came close to doing on the Lakers.

I really don't think the Lakers should throw the ball to Bynum in the post much. Taking shots away from Pau and giving them to Bynum will only make them worse offensively. Pau is a much better scorer and passer, plus he's more unselfish and has a higher basketball IQ.

Bynum is pretty much only missed defensively, the Lakers offense looks great right now. Bynum's length alters shots and he allows the Lakers to always have size on the floor for rebounding. That's basically his value.

Bynum will get opportunities to score when help comes when Kobe penetrates or when Pau is doubled in the post. Plus, he'll have opportunities to rebound missed shots. If he's scoring that way, he can be very effective.

If he works hard, he could get a very efficient 12 or so ppg that way.

Pau was only getting 12-14 shots in Mem too. Same in LA. That's just who he is. Oh, and Kobe being the #1 has lead the Lakers to three straight Finals and back-to-back championships.

I don't think that many unbiased posters think Pau should be the first option in the playoffs. But Pau is not just a 12-14 FGA player. He was getting about 15 shots per game in '06 and '07 and he had his best seasons in Memphis those years.

Right now, he's delivering on almost 19 shots per game, and he inreased his production when he got more shots in '09 and '10 with Bynum out.

Pau shouldn't take shots away from Kobe, but he should take them away from Bynum.

I'd try to get Kobe 20 or so shots per game if he's playing 36 mpg, and keep Pau around 17-18 per game. Bynum taking shots away from Pau definitely doesn't help the team, as I said, Bynum's value is his length defensively and if he matures, he could be a big asset on the boards and just finishing when opportunities come his way.

Is this Gasol best start of his career? No knee jerk, I know its only 6gms. But he's been productive across the board and then some.

It's funny you mention this because I actually checked earlier and it's easily his best 6 game start. Not that 6 games proves all that much, but I said before the season that I thought Pau was going to have a career year for several reasons. He's gotten better every year that he's been in Los Angeles, he plays better when Bynum is out and Phil wanted him to take on a bigger role.

I doubt he'll finish the season at 25/10/4, but 22/10 for the season wouldn't surprise me at all.

[G-Funk]

Pau is taking more shots because Bynum is not taking any touches from from him, this team is just showing us that the Lakers can fill in the gaps with no problem when 1 of their players go down.