Lakers need a bench… what we have now isn’t a bench.
OC Register: Attached to the flinging arrow was the zinging word that Phil Jackson knows really cuts Gasol.
“Pau was soft,” Jackson said Friday night.
On Saturday night, the 7-foot Gasol came out and found daring single coverage from Houston’s 6-6 Chuck Hayes, who rather closely resembles the stocky Rockets mascot bear “Clutch.”
Perhaps with Jackson’s Charmin still stuffed in his ears, Gasol tried to barge through Hayes and shoot over him. Hayes stayed low and stayed attached, affecting shots but not drawing whistles.
Gasol was incensed as an early Lakers lead was erased. He stormed to the Lakers’ bench. In that timeout is when Lakers assistant coach Brian Shaw went to Gasol, did some swim moves to get past his scowls and frustrations and pointedly told Gasol to use his speed and skills to get away from Hayes.
Shaw demonstrated a post-pivot move to remind Gasol to spin and spin back the other way and reach for all the tricks in his bag. Jackson, even though he’d thrown that “soft” ball out there Friday night, had been thinking the same thing.
That’s why after Gasol listened to Shaw and finished with a season-high 30 points, Jackson smiled thinly and said of Gasol this time: “He was nifty.”
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